Mystic Knight Online
Chapter 17 - Take it Easy and Breathe
November 15, 2023 - Aincrad 46th Floor, Ant Hill (Field Dungeon)
Harry glanced at the time and sheathed his sword, gesturing to everyone else that it was time to leave. The field dungeon, or at least the part they were in, was small, crawling with mobs that could hit hard, though not take a hit, and they provided a lot of experience for their level. Not an insane amount, but the fact that they provided nearly double the experience they otherwise should, made this field dungeon highly popular with players.
So popular, in fact, that it was apparent that Kayaba had put a system in place to limit how much it could be used. There were four paths, one per party that entered, and the parties could only be in the dungeon for one hour before they had to leave. They could do so willingly, and get a fair amount of col and moderately valuable loot, or they could be forcibly teleported out and get nothing. After that, they had to wait six hours before they could enter again.
Even then, it could only be accessed twice per day at a maximum, and that was if the party in question was lucky, given how many tried to do at least one run in there per day. It was usually every day and a half, and would probably be that way for some time yet.
"Well, that's enough of being here for today." Kirito said as they left. "With the labyrinth open, we should probably head there tomorrow and help with the mapping and exploration."
"That's not a bad idea, Kirito." Harry replied and looked at the others. "What do you all think?"
Asuna and Silica nodded, but they knew that Harry was asking Rain and Lux.
Rain shrugged. "I got no problem with it, it's not like we're going to be taking on the floor boss." She said.
"If it's no bother, I am willing to go with you all." Lux said.
Harry restrained a sigh at Lux's statement. They really needed to work on her confidence issues. For all that she was the weakest of them, that didn't mean that she was weak. Quite the contrary, considering that she had been able to keep up with them.
She might lack Rain's enthusiasm and drive, but she was determined to get stronger as well. Having a group of red players after you tended to make you prioritize things. It also said a lot about her situation that she thought being out on the front lines was safer.
Then again, despite the name, safe zones weren't completely safe. Harry knew that there were ways to bypass the no damage restriction, a few duels gone wrong had made that abundantly clear. And those were duels where both were fully capable of acting. He could only imagine what would happen if someone figured out how to initiate a duel without the other person's consent.
Silica walked up, Pina perched on her shoulder. "What's on your mind?" She asked, breaking Harry out of his train of thought.
"Just had a thought of something I might need to bring up with Argo," he replied. "It might not be anything important, but it just might." He saw Silica's inquisitive look. "Not here."
She nodded and the group of six left Ant Hill to head back to town.
Aincrad 46th Floor, Sillendra
Keita was beginning to wonder if Hadrian and the others had decided to use a teleport crystal to a different floor when he spied the four players who had spent more than two months training up his guild enter the town. To his surprise, he saw two others with them.
Did they pick up two people to train? He thought to himself. Or have things gotten difficult enough for them to recruit two solo players. Shrugging and deciding it wasn't his business, he stepped forward to greet them.
"Hey guys!" He called. "It's been awhile."
The group stopped and looked at him with some surprise before Hadrian grinned and walked forward. "Keita!" He exclaimed, clapping him on the shoulder. "It has been awhile. What brings you up here, and how's your guild doing?"
Keita smiled. "They're doing fine, Hadrian," he replied. "We all just decided to come up here and touch base with you guys since we haven't seen you all for months."
Harry nodded, still smiling. He turned back to the group he was with and saw Silica and Asuna give Rain and Lux a gentle push forward. "That's good to know," he said. "Anyway, let me introduce these two. Keita, this is Rain and Lux, they've joined up with us for the time being. Rain, Lux, this is Keita, guild leader of the Moonlit Black Cats. We worked with them for a bit back in April and May and parted ways in June."
Rain and Lux gave their greetings and gave him a curious look while Keita shook his head. "Worked with us, he says." He commented wrily. "What he isn't saying is that he, Kirito, Asuna and Silica trained us up for preparation to tackle the challenges of the twenty-fifth floor and higher. They would have guided us through there, but after what happened in June... I can understand why they are rather soured to that floor."
"And let's not go any further on that subject," Asuna said firmly. She then looked at Keita. "So you and the others decided to come up here for a visit?"
Keita nodded.
"Well then, where is everyone?" She asked.
Keita gestured to a nearby inn. "They're already inside." He replied. "You guys up for joining us for dinner?"
"Eh, what the hell," Harry said. "I've been wondering how you all have been doing anyway. You can only get so much from Argo."
##
Silica smiled as they all entered the inn, the rest of the Moonlit Black Cats having taken a table that was clearly visible from the entrance. It had been months since she had seen them, their groups having gone separate ways since the incident in June.
They had understood, even without Harry going into detail about the events. The very brief explanation about things having gone horribly wrong had said enough for them, though she wouldn't be surprised if they got more details from Argo later.
Even so, she knew that Harry and Kirito had kept track of their progress, and that Harry had on occasion sent them little bits of info on some lucrative quests or areas for grinding experience, col and mats.
Still, it was nice to have a chance to meet up with them again.
As she took her seat at the table, Harry waiting until she was seated before taking his own seat right next to her, she looked across it and smiled at Sachi, who returned the smile and nodded. She let go of Pina, and the feathered dragon took wing and landed on the table right in front of her. She saw that Rain and Lux were still standing, looking a bit lost until she waved them over. She stood up and got everyone's attention.
"Everyone, we all know each other, save for these two," she said, gesturing to Rain and Lux. "This is Rain and Lux, two players who joined up with us last month. They have their reasons, and if they don't feel like bringing them up, just let it be. Rain, Lux, this is the Moonlit Black Cats guild. You two have already been introduced to Keita, so I'll introduce you to the others.
"Right across from me is Sachi, the only girl in the group and someone I personally trained in my fighting style. Next to her is Tetsuo, their primary tank, and going down from there is Ducker, a knife user and Sasamaru, who preferred spears when we last saw each other."
"I still use spears, though mostly partisans and halberds now," Sasamaru said. "We found that I work best with weapons designed more for defensive roles."
Silica nodded. "So you tend to work on defending the group's flank, or keeping mobs at a distance when Tetsuo needs to break off?"
Sasamaru nodded. "Sometimes." He replied. "Most of the time, I'm pinning a mob down that Tetsuo couldn't get aggro on while Sachi, Ducker, or Keita kill it. Or pinning it for Tetsuo to get aggro."
"Really?" Harry asked. "Interesting. I can see how that could work, but it can be risky."
Sasamaru snorted. "It can be, so I also have this." He pulled out a large knife. "A grosse messer works well as an OS weapon."
"OS weapon?" Lux asked.
Harry snorted. "Officially, OS stands for Off Spec. Basically a weapon you carry as a secondary in case the one you normally use might not be appropriate." He explained. "Asuna uses a spear as an OS. An OS weapon can also mean it's your 'Oh Shit' weapon. As in, 'Oh shit, the mob's right on top of me and I need to stab it before it eats me.'" He turned his attention to Sachi. "What about you, Sachi? Still using a one-handed weapon and shield, or did you go back to using a spear?"
"A bit of both," she said. "It depends on what we do for the day, but I'm often using a mace and shield, so I've kept in practice."
Harry nodded.
"So, you're also a tank?" Lux asked.
Sachi shook her head. "No, I'm not. Keita initially wanted to make me one, but I don't use heavy armor and I'm not built for it."
"I've been wondering about that," Rain said. "I've heard Hadrian and the others talk about that, but I don't understand what it means. Isn't it all determined by stats?"
Silica shook her head. "Not entirely, Rain." She said. "Stats do matter, but the fact is, that your body's build does determine what weapons and roles work best for you. Tanks tend towards being bigger and stockier, as the extra mass helps them absorb blows better when properly armored. Harry could try it, but he's too wiry to make a good tank, not to mention that heavy armor would restrict his movement."
"Yeah," Harry said. "That and the fact that a good solid hit like what a tank would take would knock me on my arse due to Sir Isaac Newton."
Lux gave him a confused look.
"He means that Newton's First Law of Motion still applies." Asuna explained. "When a mob hits you, you end up moving from the hit. Depending on the amount of force and your ability to counter or absorb it, you either move a little, get knocked flat, or in a couple of cases I've seen, get sent flying. His style is all about redirecting that force, or using it to help him position himself, not taking it and being an immovable wall. It's still better to not be hit, though."
A look of understanding dawned on their faces after Asuna's explanation.
One of the easiest things to forget about being in SAO, is that the developers aimed for as much realism as reasonable. Things like how using a weapon was based on research on the actual weapons, or that the laws of physics more or less applied. Things were muddied when combined with the fact that players were capable of things that would otherwise be outside of human capability. They were stronger, faster, and more durable than what any human would be capable of in the real world.
Well, any human not trained to a basic standard in martial arts, Silica thought. Basic by Nerima standards, at least. And she had met that basic standard. Being the granddaughter of a martial arts grandmaster meant that she did receive that kind of training. None of the more advanced techniques, she would have to choose pursuing mastery for that, but she had a firm grounding in the basics of her family style.
She turned away from those thoughts, and focused on the group. She heard Harry make a comment about treating this like a reality in its own right and turned her attention to him. "Harry, what do you mean by treating this place as its own reality?" She asked.
Harry blinked as everyone turned their attention to him. "Well," he started before clearing his throat. "It's like this. While we know this isn't the real world, this place has rules of its own which are consistent. I don't know much about games, but the fact is, treating this place as its own reality is probably safer than treating it as the game everyone thought it would be." He gestured at the table, with its food, drink, and Pina eating food off of Ducker's plate.
"Hey!" Ducker shouted. "Quit eating my food, you overgrown feather duster!" He gave the feathered dragon a firm poke and shove towards Silica. Everyone shared a laugh at that, Pina's habits were well known to them all, including her penchant for going after food if people weren't paying attention to it.
"Well, aside from Pina stealing food off of someone else's plate, and at least it's not mine this time, we need food and drink to generally survive. I don't know how long you can go without eating or drinking before it affects you here, and I am not interested in trying, but we all feel hunger and thirst, so we eat and drink. We sleep when we are tired, and we still have many of the responses we would otherwise have in the real world."
"But there are differences, Hadrian." Asuna said. "Food doesn't taste the same, though given that most of these are Western inspired, you would know better about how close they come. We also don't feel things the same way, and smell is sometimes off. There were a lot of things we had to adjust to because they were different."
"And let me ask you, Asuna, how often do you really notice it unless you stop and think about it?" Harry asked. "The fact is, we've adapted to this place, to its rules."
"He's right," Keita said. "We all have. I still remember you all talking to us during that time you trained us, and how you hammered it in that we shouldn't treat this place as a game, despite how it operates. Once we did, we started doing much better, as we started using our other senses more often. I don't know if you guys noticed, but because of how vision works here, you tend to rely much more on your ears and even sense of smell, now that I think of it."
Rain nodded. "That makes sense, now that you mention it." She said. "There's also the fact that they can't program in just how much our bodies take in and filter out." At Harry's confused look she clarified. "I was thinking of studying to become a doctor, so I did some research. The fact is, the real world sends our bodies signals at a phenomenal rate, and our bodies filter most of that out as a matter of course."
Kirito blinked and then swore. "Damn, when we get out, our senses are going to be adapted to this place, not the real world. Our bodies are still there, so the mechanisms are in place, but our ability to process and filter all of that information is stuck here. We'll be hypersensitive until we readjust."
Harry winced. "Oh, ouch. That'll make the first few days out fairly rough when we get out." He replied. He then signalled over a waitress. "Well, outside of all of that, why don't we order some more drinks and continue talking. I want to know how all of you have been doing, and we will share some of our stories from the front lines."
Everyone nodded and they large group spent a few hours playing catch up. At the same time, Silica noticed that Rain and Lux looked a bit lost at times, until Asuna dragged Lux into a conversation with Sachi, while Kirito got Rain involved in a debate with Keita and Tetsuo about something. Before long, it was as if the two had been a part of the group for a while.
She smiled at that. They had all wondered about how to make those two feel like they were a part of the group. This would make for a good start for them, giving them an opportunity to share their own stories, and to finally integrate in.
November 19, 2023 - Aincrad 47th Floor, Floria
"You know, I didn't expect to run into a floor that was a giant garden," Harry said as they walked back into the town. "Also, the mobs on this floor? Not cool."
"It's not like they're that powerful," Kirito commented.
Harry shrugged. "True, but I don't think the ladies really appreciate the nature of the mobs," He said, looking back to see the girls looking more than a little irate.
"Perverted mobs," Asuna grumbled.
Rain was muttering darkly under her breath in Russian. Harry couldn't understand what she said, but he assumed that whatever it was, was fairly vile and promising some painful retribution on them.
Those two ended up getting rather well acquainted with land anemones, which seemed to be hell bent on wrapping them up in ways that were rather… intimate. On the other hand, Lux and Silica ended up giving everyone a free show when they all stumbled on a bunch of gerberas. Who knew that the roots of those things were prehensile?
"I'm finding some way to set my blade on fire, and then I'm going hunting," Silica growled. "Force me to flash everyone will they?" Lux nodded in agreement, her face still flushed in embarrassment.
Harry blinked at Silica's comments and resolved to stay out of her reach until she calmed down, or at least put her weapon out of immediate reach. She could get a bit stabby when she was angry. He then looked at Kirito. "Good thing it's afternoon," he said. "Want to just break for the rest of the day, grab a meal, let the ladies take a bath, and relax? Also, I can do with a bath as well." He grimaced. "You don't want to know how bad those flytraps smell from the inside."
Kirito snorted. "Well, I wasn't the one who the plant was trying to swallow." He said drily. "And that only served to irritate you, considering you cut yourself right out of it. Besides, it could have been worse. They could have dissolved armor and clothes."
Harry winced. "Yeah, that would have ruined anyone's day." He admitted. "At the same time, imagine if it was you." He smirked. "Asuna would have certainly gotten a view. Whether it was a good one or not, though..."
"Hadrian!" Asuna shouted, an embarrassed blush on her face.
Kirito flushed and glared at Harry. "And what if it happened to you? I can imagine Silica's reaction, though she would probably be disappointed from what she saw."
"Not at all," Silica chimed in. "He has nothing to be ashamed of, not even in that regard."
Kirito blinked and then looked at Silica, as was everyone else but Harry, who was facepalming. "What?" He asked.
Silica realized what she said and flushed.
"Oh?" Asuna asked with a grin, looking at Harry. Rain and Lux nodded, giving both Harry and Silica some speculative looks.
"You know how we often share a room, right?" Harry asked and then shrugged. "Some of them have baths, and it's happened a couple of times." His face got a slight flush with that admission.
Rain decided to interject at that point. "You know, I've been curious about something," she said. "Just what is the relationship between you two?" At their confused looks she decided to clarify. "You two, well, you two are close, closer than simply being friends. It's almost as if the jokes I heard about you two being a married couple have a bit of truth to them."
"Rain, we usually don't-" Asuna started before Harry interrupted her.
"Don't worry, Asuna." He said and then looked at Rain. "She's only asking what has been on a lot of people's minds for months, anyway. The best way to sum our relationship up is that it's complicated. We've been through too much together for it to be something as simple as friendship."
"And Rain, any more than that is private." Silica added.
Rain nodded. "I understand." She replied. She had only been curious and really hadn't been fishing for details.
Harry looked around and spotted an inn. "Well, anyway, we're near the inn." He said. "Let's go in, get some rooms, bathe, eat, rest and relax. Now that we know what kind of mobs to generally expect, we can do better with our exploration tomorrow."
"You're taking a bath first, Harry." Silica said. "That flytrap didn't do your smell any favors."
##
Silica flopped down on one of the beds in the room she and Harry had taken for the night. The inn didn't have any baths in the rooms, but it did have an attached bathhouse, and Harry had already walked down to it. She hadn't been kidding about how the flytrap mob that had tried to swallow him made him a bit on the ripe side.
They had all agreed to take a bit of time before gathering back together for dinner and planning out what they would do tomorrow. That meant that Harry was taking a bath, and she was tempted to either take some time to groom Pina, an activity the feathered dragon certainly enjoyed if the coos given off when she did were any indication, or take a nap.
Before she could decide on such, she heard a knock at the door.
"Silica? Hadrian? It's me, Rain." she heard.
She got off the bed, walked over and opened the door. "What is it?" She asked.
Rain gave a glance inside and saw that it was only Silica in the room. "I take it Hadrian's taking a bath?" She asked.
Silica nodded.
"Ah, um, I can come back later if you want." She said.
Silica sighed. "I take it Asuna took you aside and gave you an earful about that question you asked and you came to apologize." She said. "Don't worry too much about it. As Harry said, you just asked what's probably on a lot of people's minds."
"Still-"
"As I said," Silica interrupted. "Don't worry about it. The two of us are aware that people find it odd that the two of us basically live together without being in a formal relationship." She shrugged. "It's complicated, just take my word on it."
Rain nodded. "I wasn't fishing for information, just curious." She said.
"You and half the front line," Silica said drily.
November 22, 2023 - Aincrad 43rd Floor, Glorin
"When that floor gets cleared, I'm not going back there unless I have to," Silica said grumpily. "What is it with those damn plants?"
Harry shrugged as he took a drink of his beer. "Don't ask me." He said. "I wouldn't be surprised if one of the devs was a pervert, though. Still, it's not all bad, you did get something that might come in handy if something ever happened to Pina."
Silica nodded. "True, but it would be best if nothing happened to her in the first place." She said, reaching up and giving the feathered dragon a gentle scratch.
"Better to have it and not need it, though."
Silica nodded at her partner's words. Both of them had lived by that maxim since SAO started, though the reality of things often meant that they usually needed the items they had, and more.
Not that it was a concern for them for the rest of the day. They had worked out taking the afternoon off with the rest, and were planning to make the most of it for what everyone jokingly called one of their "not dates."
No one believed it, least of all the two of them, but it was something of an inside joke amongst the group and their friends by this point. The specific details of their relationship was known only to the two of them, but everyone who knew them well, knew that there was a relationship.
November 25, 2023 - Aincrad GM Administration Area
Kayaba looked at the results which had come from the Hollow Area and nodded. Dual Blades and Shrouded Scout were working as designed, but the results from the Mystic Blade testing were still mixed. Apparently, the normal testing avatars weren't flexible enough in their processes to make the best use of the skill, and he was loathe to create an avatar that had more processes and flexibility.
Not after he had to personally put down one which had almost managed to threaten everything he was doing by trying to replace all the player data with the data for actual hollow avatars. While he might not really care what happened to the players, the end result would have killed the nearly seven thousand players still alive. He would admit that he could be considered a number of things: madman, monster, and cruel. He was not, however, wasteful. That many players dying like that would have been a needless waste.
If the players were going to die, then they would die due to their own actions, not the actions of something that had been created for a limited purpose. Anyway, he had refrained from allowing Hollow Avatars with that degree of flexibility since, and he had no intention of allowing another one. He would not let some program with delusions of being an AI interfere.
He already had two AIs that were trying to break out of where he had them contained in order to interact with players as it is. Given how one of them had actually been working to create a player avatar for herself, he figured it was only a matter of time. In the case of one, there was little risk. MHCP001-Yui, had the build and temperament of a child. From what he had gathered from the data, it, or she as it identified itself as female, was more interested in companionship, fitting with some respects to her original design. MHCP002-Strea, another AI that identified itself as female, was proving to be a handful on the other hand. Much like Yui, Strea wanted to be around the players, but her personality seems to have begun shifting itself to a desire to have fun, though she would probably help the players.
He had no issue with that, admittedly. If either of them managed to break free, so be it. He had programmed in something to revoke their admin privileges and keep them from talking about exactly what they were if they managed to. Outside of extenuating or extreme circumstances, at least.
It would be a moot point if such came to pass, after all.
He glanced at the data one more time and nodded. The testing results for Mystic Blade may have been mixed, but they did demonstrate that the unique skill would work as designed. The results for the remaining ones were also satisfactory.
All that was left was to wait for the appropriate time.
Unknown Location
Tom flicked his wand and the page of the tome he was reading was carefully turned. Without a servant handy, things had become much more difficult for him, but he hadn't become a dark lord by being unwilling to do something because of the difficulty. He might only be able to use a fraction of his magic right now, any more could disrupt the homunculus body he inhabited, but it was sufficient for the task at hand.
That being ensuring that his body continued to be sustained, and doing research for anything he could use in his current situation. Potter might have escaped what had been planned for him, but that didn't mean that he would remain out of his reach. Bringing the boy to him might be out of his ability right now, but there was nothing saying he couldn't go there.
He wasn't afraid to do things himself, after all. It just required the right means.
And from what he was currently reading, he may have just the means to do so, though it would take a little bit of time. Unfortunate and irritating, but he knew the value of patience and would make sure that everything was in place first. He had ignored that once before, and it had cost him.
Still, as he continued to read, he could barely restrain his eagerness to do this.
Aincrad, 43rd Floor, Glorin
The pain shooting from his scar caused him to wake up with a hiss as it flared painfully and then faded. It had been almost a month since the last time, so he wondered what Tom was up to this time. Over two years between events, and now twice in less than a month.
Damn it, the bastard's plotting something, he thought. And knowing him, he's looking for a way to get to me.
That worried him a bit. Magic was capable of a lot of things, often limited only by the imagination of the person using it. There were a few hard limitations, true, but the primary limitation was on what the caster could believe was possible and having the power to make that belief a reality.
From what he had heard, Tom certainly had that. Whether he could do something with the two of them effectively in different worlds was a different matter, but Harry wasn't going to discount that possibility.
Think it highly unlikely? Yes. Completely discount it? No.
At least I didn't almost wake Silica up this time, he thought as his body relaxed and he went back to sleep. He didn't notice his partner in the other bed looking at him with an eye cracked open as she watched with a slight frown.