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«Floor 10.5: Virtual Christmas»
It was that time of the year again. It's been almost one year since the death game began in Aincrad; as for the countries playing the game, a mere eight or nine months - no one really knew how long they've been in the game and all of them lost track. For them, it already felt like a whole year went by, after levelling up floor after floor for days straight.
When they all woke up the next day, they received a message from Yao, telling them to meet him outside. To save some Cols, all of them were staying in a large flat on the third floor of one of the buildings, close to the Town Square (as of Christmas Eve, they stayed in «Floor 49»). Without any question, they got up, dressed and headed downstairs, only to find the city covered with snow.
"Wahhh!" Feliciano blurted out with surprise. "It's snowing!" But then he began to shiver. "Brr, but it's cold!" Without a word, he rushed back inside.
"So you woke us up to see the place covered in snow?" Arthur asked, letting out a huge yawn as they saw Yao approaching them, carrying a huge pile of presents.
"Ah, Arthur, is that you?" Yao asked behind the pile, struggling to balance himself. Suddenly, he slipped on a spot of ice and fell backwards, throwing the presents into the air. Ludwig quickly rushed towards him while Ivan and Alfred caught the presents.
"You could've called one of us to come with you," Ludwig said to Yao, as he helped him get up. "You know, because of that…" He was referring to the fact that Yao is much older than the others, despite his somewhat youthful figure.
"What's with the presents anyway?" Arthur asked, taking one of them from Ivan's pile. "Are they for us?"
Yao nodded. "Yep," he answered. "And I made them myself, too."
"Are they going to help us?" Alfred asked, gazing back as he heard Feliciano coming out of the building now bundled up.
"Well, I thought about the stats everyone has right now, as one of the things while I made the items for each of you. Especially with what happened in our last battle with «Nicholas the Renegade». I mean, had Alfred not show up in time, we would've been killed right then and there. I don't want that to happen again...not this time."
"Do you think we should go level up a little bit?" Francis wondered. "I don't want to stay inside all day just to wait until nighttime when we can open those gifts. And besides I still think we're a little underleveled, too."
"He's got a point," Ivan agreed, nodding.
So with Ivan and Alfred carrying the presents up the stairs, they redressed into their normal outfits, while keeping themselves warm at the same time, and strapped their weapons on.
"You know," Alfred began, as he opened his player and menu and checked his inventory, "I think other players are thinking the same thing."
"Like what?" Yao asked, tucking the presents under his bed (since he, Ivan and Alfred share a room together). "Levelling up during the holidays?"
"Yeah. There's no TV here, so that kinda ruins the fun. And for some, they don't want to read books; they want to get out of here, from this death game." Then Alfred paused. "And to tell you the truth, those bosses at the upper floors...They're really powerful. No wonder Kiku is waiting for us up there."
"He's afraid that he won't make it, no matter how powerful he is."
"Pretty much."
"Come on, let's go join with the others."
For much of the day, all of them increased their levels by having random encounters in the forest outside the city. They did earn some Cols and EXP along the way, but some of them also learnt some new moves as well.
Alfred learnt an advanced skill called «Deadly Sins», which consists of 360-turns and somersaults while also making an 8-hit sword combo. Arthur earned a skill called «Serration Wave», which fills more of a support-type since it doesn't do any damage but it does hinder an enemy's movement. Yao got «Snake Bite» as his new sword skill, which comes with two-hits but one hits causes the damage. He also earned an «Extra Skill», which is «Martial Arts». ("Kinda fits you well, doesn't it?" Alfred asked him, when Yao found out about it after their training.)
Ludwig didn't earn any new skills, but he started thinking about switching into a double-handed sword like Ivan. He had been thinking about it for quite some time.
"It's just that they're not common weapons around here," he said, when they stopped for a lunch break around a bonfire. "I don't know if there's any other skill besides «Whirlwind», but if that's it, I should change my weapon before we could go up there."
"Are you okay with that?" Arthur asked. He took a bite of his bread. "I don't think it'll be easy switching over from two-handed axe to a two-handed sword."
Yao shook his head. "I don't think it should be that hard, if you're still fighting with a two-handed weapon," he answered. "The skills might be something to work on, but besides that, we're fine with it."
"Yeah, it'll be fine as long as you can fight," Feliciano agreed. "And that you're alive, too."
"Thanks, you guys," Ludwig replied. "I appreciate that." Even he was surprised when Ivan quietly agreed with the others.
Ivan learnt «Back Rush», a countering two-handed sword technique. Feliciano got «Star Splash», which is a high-level rapier technique that consists an eight-hit combination. And finally, Francis learned «Crucifixion», which is a 6-hit combo of three horizontal and three vertical slashes that would resemble a cross.
As for Matthew, he ended up learning three new skills: «Precognition» (the ability to predict the next move), «Insight» (the ability to predict an attack from a distance) and «Mislead» (the ability to trick a monster's AI to burden them). All of which are known as Outside System Skill. Since Matthew isn't an NPC (as he's independently controlled by himself) or a normal player in combat (which meant he couldn't fight, let alone handle weapons), the best he could do was take his invisibility into his advantage and exploit it into the virtual world. But because he has low HP it can cost his stamina. Out of everyone, Matthew only revealed this fact to Alfred.
By the time they finished, everyone was exhausted and almost out of energy. Both Alfred and Feliciano fell on the ground in a heap.
"I guess I'll carry Al on the way back," Francis said, sheathing his rapier before walking over to Alfred.
Ludwig quietly did the same for his axe while he went to carry Feliciano on his back.
"Once we're home, we're going to open the presents," Yao said, smiling. "I just really hope all of you would like it…"
When they arrived, they all slumped down into a circle, while Yao returned with the pile of presents from that morning and handed them to everyone, including Matthew, who hasn't said much the entire day. But Yao knew that despite his invisibility, he also has been trying his best to gain levels as much as he could.
"I don't know if what you'll get would be of help to you," Yao told him, as Matthew took his gift. "But I hope you'll like it."
"I think it'll help, don't worry," Matthew replied. "Oh, and thank you, too."
"You're welcome," he replied. But Yao saw that once Matthew touched the gift, it became invisible.
Meanwhile as Yao handed the gifts to Francis and Ludwig, Arthur gave Alfred a poke on his cheek to wake him up; whereas Ludwig and Francis gently shook Feliciano up and Yao gave him his gift.
"Grazie," Feliciano replied, along with a huge yawn.
"Alright, I wanna see what I got!" Alfred said, opening his.
While the rest followed suit, Ivan gave Yao a rather large gift.
"But you don't have to give me one, you know," Yao replied, when Ivan quietly insisted. Then he gazed at the others. "I don't know much about gift giving."
"Well, I don't like it if someone I fight with feels left out," Ivan answered back.
No point in arguing about that Yao thought quietly. It seemed like a straightforward answer.
"Grandpa Frost told me to give you something," Ivan added, "so I did."
Yao blinked with surprise. "Tell him thank you from me, I guess," he said, after a pause.
"Спасибо," Ivan replied, nodding as he walked away with his gift.
Alfred was the first one to see what he got from Yao, which was a pair of spectacles that would increase his accuracy by 50%, while taking less resistance from burns, shocks and the like.
"Man, this pair of glasses might just be the best one I've gotten!" Alfred took out his current pair and slipped on the newer one. "I'm still surprised that you made this yourself, Yao."
"I just hope it would help you out in the battlefield," Yao replied back with a faint smile.
"The hell it will!" Alfred grinned.
Francis was the next one. He got a dark blue frock coat from Yao that would increase his speed in proportion of his attack - the more he attacks, the faster he gets. It also has increased evasion by 15%. (Compared to Feliciano, while his evasion stats is quite inferior, his attacks are superior.)
"Really now?" Francis asked Yao. "Clothes for me?"
"Well, if you don't want it, I could just throw it away," Yao said, a little afraid of the item he had spent the most time on to be thrown out.
Stunned, Francis grabbed his new coat and held it around his arms. "No way," he answered. He shook his head. "You can't throw this away. It's too pretty for me to let it go like that."
"My turn!" Feliciano chimed in. And once he opened his presents, he jumped up with surprise at what he received: a new rapier from Yao.
"Ahh, thank you so much, Yao!" Feliciano stood up and gave Yao a hug. "I didn't expect you would make me a new one!"
"Well, I found out your rapier broke in half during our fight with «Nicholas the Renegade» recently," Yao explained. "And although I tried to fix it as much as I can, it's impossible. So I made a new one, which might be even better than the one you had."
Feliciano examined his sword a little. "Well, it's a lot better," he replied, checking the stats. "Increased attack and celerity by 15%. That's almost the same as Francis'."
Arthur opened his without saying a word. He got a set of five daggers from Yao.
"It's nice and might be really helpful during battles," Arthur muttered, though everyone can hear him. "But I don't know what's great about owning daggers..."
"These aren't just some daggers," Yao said, taking one of them. "I made them so that they can paralyse the enemy for a short while - about three minutes would be enough - so these can be thrown from a distance and stay there until they disappear, once those three minutes are up." He paused for a moment as he returned the dagger back into its place. "The daggers would disappear and return inside the box. It took some trial and error to get that one right, but it should work."
Arthur smiled. "Thanks, Yao," he said.
Ludwig was next. He got from Yao a long, hooded black coat that would boost his defence by 30%, along with increased resistance and evasion during battle. (Unlike Ivan, Ludwig was slower on his attacks and takes more damage, despite having high HP.)
"Wow, this is really nice," he said. He equipped the black coat right away. "Thank you so much," he added.
"Sure," Yao replied, nodding.
After Ludwig, it's Ivan's turn. He didn't say much as he opened his two presents from Yao: a white scarf that should boost his attack and defence by 25%.
"Since your scarf was also destroyed during the last battle," Yao tried to explain, fearing that Ivan might not like it, "I thought I should make another one. I know it won't be the same as the original, but it should be harder to get it into ruin."
"Thank you" was Ivan's only reply, before putting it on. "Now I'm happier than ever…and don't worry, it's just as nice as the one I had."
Yao smiled.
Although he was invisible, Matthew opened his also invisible present in front of them. But no one can see his reaction at what he got. He received a newer pair of spectacles from Yao, which should increase his accuracy and speed in spotting an enemy's critical points by about 25%.
"Wah!" he sighed out loud in surprise. "I like the glasses a lot, Yao! Thank you!" Then he went towards Yao and gave him a hug, which the latter didn't mind.
Finally, it was Yao's turn. From Ivan, he received a new Jian sword, which is much better than the one he's currently using (a Daobao). It has increased attack and accuracy by 50%. (Yao was stunned by how much Cols Ivan had spent on this. He wanted to ask, but he found it a little rude, so he kept his mouth shut.)
"I really like it, Ivan," he said, looking down at the blade. The sword resembled a little of his old sword, but less power and sometimes misses its attacks. "Thank you."
But then, Alfred stood up and handed a present to Yao.
"It's not from me," he said, handing it to him. "We put together our share of money to get this for you."
"What is it?" Yao wondered, opening the wrapped gift. It was a box that would contain everything for weapons forgery and armour repair - more than what Yao needed to improve his skills. "You shouldn't have, you guys…"
"Well, you deserved it," Feliciano said, smiling. "You're pretty much our leader during this game...and well, tried keeping us together when Alfred was gone. And since you're pretty much our blacksmith and our tailor, you'll definitely need them."
Yao tore up a little. "Alright, thank you, really," he replied, swiping open his player menu and kept the box into his inventory. "But I want Alfred to be the sub-leader, too. He know so much about the upper floor bosses than I do."
Francis crossed his arms and gazed at Alfred. "Well, I'm fine with that as long as he doesn't ditch us again, " he said.
"Sounds like a promise, huh?" Alfred asked, grinning. "Alright, I'll keep word on that." He paused for moment. "Although I wonder how Kiku is spending his Christmas…"
"I don't think he celebrates it either," Yao replied, shaking his head a little. "So he's just wandering around the higher floors, completing other side-missions or the like. Or he could be resting like us, waiting until we all get there on the 75th floor."
"Do you think he needs a gift?"
"His only gift from us is being there with him again, fighting on his side against the boss."
"Sounds good."
A few minutes later, after looking at each other's new item they received, they decided to turn in for the night before heading off the next day.