Chapter 21.- Stee1 & Sw0rds
January-7th-2023
First Floor of Aincrad – Starting City
Alshep
I have to admit, I feel pretty psyched. Getting this sort of thing started is something that in the back of my head feels long overdue. This freaking world has just been filled with pain and violence. I guess in some way people could say I'm being hypocritical; after all, you don't get to be the level I am by just being a hippie scaredy-cat that fights for peace. But in the end, everyone needs to realize that we're all in the same boat and we should help each other instead of hindering the others' progress in this goddamned prison. Also, I guess it needs to be said that I feel like an idiot, walking around Starting City looking for strangers that might need help.
"Any low-levels looking for help?" Kayla firmly states as she walks beside me.
She glances a few times at me but keeps walking. She suddenly stops and looks at me, with her hand grabbing her chin. She tilts her head and sighs.
"I just can't get used to your new hairstyle," she says, pursing her lips.
I brush my fingers through my now combed back hair and chuckle softly.
"I just figure I need to look a bit more…authoritative now," I confess.
"I mean, of course it sort of suits you, but I had gotten used to those odd curls of you," she responds.
I laugh halfheartedly and look down the empty street; I sigh loudly and keep walking in this weird search for people. Lately, Starting City hasn't been particularly lively, not that it ever was. Particularly, right now it's mostly empty because everyone has already moved on to other floors. Yet some people are still hanging back, afraid and alone. It's not surprising though, hell, if it weren't cause of Daath I would probably be hanging back here as well.
Currently the idea is to walk around the city, trying to recruit new people. This is proving to be quite hard. Everyone seems dodgy. So far three players have approached me and Kayla. They were definitely curious but all three of them backed out once we started explaining what our guild was. They are all very wary about the whole deal…not like I blame them anyways.
"Damn…I'm getting bummed out by all of this…" I mutter.
Kayla turns towards me, albeit incredibly vaguely, but keeps her pace steady as she gazes at the city streets surrounding us.
"We will most definitely find someone, don't worry," she says reassuringly.
"Most definitely?"
"Probably…maybe…" she replies.
I acknowledge her and keep walking next to her. I see a few cursors ahead and clear my throat quickly. I bring my hands up to my mouth as I get ready to raise my voice.
"You guys need any help? We are a guild looking for members, trying to help people!" I yell.
I see the slightly far away players look sternly at us and then turn their backs on us as they walk away elsewhere.
"Oh bother…" Kayla utters.
"Yeah…" I mutter with a surprising lack of profanity.
"Well what were you guys expecting?" says a voice too close to my left.
I turn my body quickly and see a girl standing close to me. She has long, silky ash white hair that flows down her body just a bit past her shoulders. She is wearing regular clothes, a beige fluffy looking sweater and a fit pair of gray pants. No sword or anything on her either. I wonder how she managed to sneak up on me so easily. She crosses her arms and tilts her head to the side, her long white hair swaying slightly as she does this.
"Well?" she presses.
"None of yo…" I say but stop myself, "something better to be honest…we just want to help out…"
She stares at Kayla and I as if analyzing us thoroughly. I just now notice her eyes. Each one has a different color, kind of alluring. The right one is blue and her left one is brown. In a brief moment of paranoia I scan around, looking for orange cursors or anything that might look fishy. I come up with nothing and once I turn around I have the short girl standing awfully close to me, she seems to be standing on her tiptoes to get a better look at my face. She's only a little shorter than me, so she doesn't need to stand on her tip toes, but for some reason she feels the need to get all up in my face.
"You have to admit, you guys look a little weird," she says, "you know, going around the city screaming out for players to join your guild."
Kayla stands behind me being surprisingly quiet. I mean it's not like I expect her to join in the weird conversation like someone like Aeri might've already done but she is usually not that reserved.
"Well I guess it does look a bit weird," I admit.
The girl goes back on her feet and takes two steps back. She tilts her head again to side, trying to get a better look at Kayla.
"Is your friend mute?" she teases.
"I am not," Kayla replies with a hard tone.
The girl smiles and puts her hands behind her back.
"So what is your pitch anyways?" the girl asks.
This is amazingly uncomfortable, it's not like she poses a threat or anything but the whole direction she's given to the conversation just feels weird. At any rate I humor her.
"We are just looking for people who want to level up, you know, people that don't go out hunting or feel like they could get better at this," I explain, "…you are awfully weird…"
"People tell me that," she says, "anyways, can I join you guys?"
A bit surprised I take a step back and turn my head slightly to glance at Kayla. She is standing firmly with her arms crossed and a serious look on her face. She notices me turning and nods slightly. I turn again to the small looking girl.
"Sure…" I huff. "How old are you anyways?"
"Oh god, how bashful," she says in an exaggerated lady like tone.
"Christ Al, some manners please," Kayla seconds.
I shake my head and cough loudly to clear my throat.
"A name then, what's your name?" I ask.
"Ruri," she answers softly, "nice to meet you Al, and…?"
"Kayla," Kayla promptly responds.
"So glad you are not mute," Ruri says with a bright smile.
I can see Kayla get upset by her attitude which is surprising, I chuckle under my breath and pat her shoulder quickly before turning around.
"Alright let's make our way back to the center of the city, maybe the others had better luck," I say making my way to the main street.
There's something about this Ruri girl. I'm surprised by her name, mostly because it's the same as an old crush of mine. She isn't much taller than myself but something makes me think she might be older than me, but at the same time I'm not that sure at all. I find myself glancing back at her a couple of times and when she notices she gives me this big smile. I can't help but to notice how the two colors make her eyes really pop out. It's almost hypnotizing, like when you know you shouldn't stare but you still do.
"I'll admit, you two make a cute couple."
Kayla and I stop on our tracks and turn to look at Ruri.
"Haha, oh god no, you are mistaken," Kayla says.
"That is hurtful…" I mutter.
"I would agree, he is a very handsome guy," Ruri says. "You are also pretty good looking," she adds while turning to Kayla.
I look at her a little dumbfounded and she smiles, staring at me with cunning eyes.
"He is taken anyways," Kayla clarifies.
I stop caring about the conversation and turn myself to keep heading to the meeting point. I hear Kayla and Ruri start walking again behind me, I rub my neck a little and stretch my arm making it crack.
"That's a real bummer," Ruri says with a disappointed tone.
I glance back quickly but realize this is exactly what she wanted. Yet again I see her smile while she is looking at me with those alluring eyes of hers. Something is really throwing me off about her.
"What about you? Are you taken?" Ruri asks.
I chortle loudly but clear my throat to stop myself.
"I…what? No…I mean…what?" Kayla struggles.
"Not into girls?" Ruri questions adamantly.
Kayla remains in uncomfortable silence as we keep walking, suddenly and thankfully Daath comes into view. He lifts his hand in the air and beckons me over. I speed up my pace a little with the urgent need to get away from the peculiar situation.
"Hey, you found someone huh?" He asks.
I nod and finally clear my throat.
"Yeah, it's…uh…she…yeah," I huff.
"You need to be a little more descriptive mate," he says.
I see Owl arrive with another guy almost as huge as him, they seem to be chatting, but none of them seem to be particularly invested in the conversation.
"Oh yeah," Daath says, "We found someone as well."
"How's it going?" Owl asks as he arrives and stands next to me.
"Not much, who's this?" I reply.
"Kato," says the guy standing next to Owl.
If it weren't cause this guy is wearing game armor and has a sword I would definitely place this guy in a biker gang or something like that. He has this scary face and menacing posture, not the type of person I would expect to be playing games. Not like it surprises me that much but, he looks like the kind of guy you would expect to skip classes and beat up people at school. The scar on his right cheek doesn't help either, almost looks like his face was slashed. Then again, I'm just saying this from his looks. For some reason I'm now picturing how this guy would look rocking a pompadour hairstyle instead of his just plain brown hair.
"He is level three," Owl explains.
Kato blows air through his nose and crosses his arms as if he didn't want that information to be divulged.
"Now that you say that we didn't ask her, her level…" Kayla mutters as she arrives.
"Well just ask," Ruri replies softly but clearly with intent to tease.
"What level are you then?" Kayla asks promptly starting to get pissed.
Ruri close her eyes and smiles as she raises two fingers in her right hand.
"Two, huh?" Daath mumbles.
"Yesssir," Ruri sings.
"I wonder if Elina and Esra found someone as well," I huff and stretch a little.
"Hey!"
Speaking of the devil. I turn around, Elina and Esra are walking to us with a third tagging along next to them. Another guy, all dressed up in beginner gear, carrying a sword and shield. He stands a bit taller than Elina and he's got what has to be the most easygoing face I've seen since we started playing this game. It's a welcome change.
"Hey, hey, we found someone!" Elina says once they are within earshot.
"Awesome," I say.
They finally gather around with the rest of us and the new guy makes a point to being in the middle of everyone.
"Yoh! My name is Reginald!" he says enthusiastically, "very much obliged to be able to join other brave souls in this game!"
He puffs his chest out and stands proudly in the center of the circle like formation we made as we arrived. It was pretty hilarious for me. Here you have a guy with the most basic gear in the game standing around four other people who have better gear, boasting proudly about bravery.
"And of course," he huffs and brushes his hand past his messy black hair, "more than happy to be able to be around good looking ladies."
He says this as he turns to look at Esra and Elina and I just hold back the urge to burst out laughing. Esra practically turns around as she hides her blushing face and Elina just stands there oblivious to the guy's comment. I hear Owl snicker but see him hold his right hand close to his mouth to keep his laughter at bay.
"What's your level?" Daath asks.
"Level two!" Reginald states proudly as he holds his fist to his puffed out chest.
"Great, I dare say this was quite the fruitful task," Daath says with a smile.
"I guess we should head back, we left Yu and Aeri back at the inn," Owl comments.
"We could do with some training first, well for the new guys I mean." Daath suggests.
Owl, Daath, Elina and Kayla suddenly stare at me as if waiting for something. I raise my eyebrow and tilt my head slightly feeling very confused but then I realize.
"Right right, Guild leader." I mutter while pointing at myself.
"Pfft, off to a great start," Daath mumbles as he starts walking down the main road that leads to the City's exit.
I laugh nervously to myself but cough quickly to change my tone.
"Alright, so we are off to the plains just outside the city," I say, trying to sound as imposing as I can, "I assume you all have some basic gear right?"
Kato hits his chest plate loudly and rest his hand on the pommel of his starter long sword. It hangs on his left side with straps that wrap around his hip. Reginald just checks his sword and shield are in place if he had lost track of them.
"Oh, yeah, I think, hang on," Ruri mumbles.
Swiping her hand up she brings up her menu and quickly equips more battle ready gear. Her town clothes disappear quickly and are replaced with the starter leather light armor set. It consists of bracers, boots, and a piece of leather that is tightly strapped across her chest. Underneath this basic armor are just a plain blue colored shirt and brown pants.
"Great, you'll also need a weapon though," I add.
She nods quickly and reaches behind her hip with her left hand. She then takes out a silver dagger, nothing too fancy but it has a nice design to it. She holds it up in front of her face and quickly switches her grip on it, making the blade face the opposite direction of her previous hold of the thing. I bet she was one of those kids that played around with knifes when her parents told her not to.
Soon enough I'm straggling behind everyone, too many thoughts going through my mind. I am to lead these guys, to help them get better, to make them realize there's hope. How exactly do I do that? Am I even fit for such a task?
"In over your head?" Daath asks.
I see now that he stayed back with me, probably to talk with me about something relating to this very matter.
"Read my mind…" I huff.
"Hey, it's alright, we'll just help you," he says. "That's what we are here for."
He pats my back and I place my hand on his shoulder as we keep walking, drawing closer to the city's exit.
"Thanks man."
He nods with a grin and starts walking a bit faster to get ahead of the group. I match his pace and reach the city limit after going through the group of people. I stand right under the gates arch and turn myself around to face everyone.
"Alright I want everyone to have their weapons ready," I order.
The three new additions step in front from the rest and they all ready their weapons. Kato looks determined, with a hint of anger in his expression, but maybe that's just his face. He rests his blade on his shoulder as he holds the grip loosely with his right hand. Awkwardly Reginald holds both his shield and sword close to him as if he never had held them before. I guess it makes sense since he has spent the last months doing probably nothing. Ruri starts whistling a random tune as she balances her dagger on the tip of her index finger.
"Hey," I scoff.
Her eyes advert to me and she stares as she keeps balancing the weapon on the tip of her finger.
"Try to take this seriously alright?" I beg, "I don't want any of you getting hurt."
She nods understandingly and holds the dagger so the blade is pointing out over her thumb and index finger. I see Kato sigh profoundly and I just feel an urgent need to get this over with.
"Close to this city we can find some boars," Daath interjects, "these are easy enemies and all three of you can easily dispatch them, but you still need to be careful."
Nice assist.
"Let's just get this over with," Kato says rashly as he passes me and Daath, exiting the city.
Ruri follows behind him and brushes her hand over my shoulder as she goes through. Annoyed I turn around and start following them into the huge grasslands. Quickly enough the sound of steps and clanking armor become more apparent as everyone starts walking out of the city. I turn around just to check and everyone is following, everyone except Reginald.
He stands right at the edge of the city, his legs shaking and his gaze fixed on a point that just seems to be past us.
"Are you alright?" Elina asks.
He seems to be zoning out as he doesn't reply nor even acknowledges Elina's question. I walk back to him and stand just a few feet away from him.
"Hey man are yo-"
"Yeah! Yeah, I'm alright just…I'm alright!" he yells.
"Well, come on then…" I mutter.
"Yeah! Yeah…just give me a second," he says and stares at his feet.
I can see his legs shaking, he has a really panicked expression crawling all over his face. He slowly puts his right foot in front of the left and with one slow step crosses the city's gate. He then violently turns his head to me and smiles.
"Easy peasy! Just as I expected it to be!" he boasts. "Let's move along, brave soul!"
He easily walks past me and joins the small gathering of people in front of us. I can see Elina staring at me with a perplexed expression. I just shrug and shake my head as I join her with everybody.
"This is gonna be fun, huh?" I mumble sarcastically.
"Hey now, give them a chance," Elina replies.
It took a while to get Reginald to do anything useful, the first boar he went up against could've killed him if it weren't cause of Daath's tips and easy to pick up explanations. Reginald just went out flailing his sword at the enemy, he didn't even ready up a sword skill. It turns out he had no idea about them even existing. Daath and I thoroughly tried to explain how to get them to work. Even Elina offered herself as an example and properly demonstrated how you should attack the boar.
Ruri was another story, she had a vague idea of the combat system, so she at least knew about sword skills. She was able to take down the boars she went up against but her movements were slow and too easy to read. Kayla ended up trying to teach her a proper stance and how to move with her weapon. It ended up on a long discussion that started when Ruri purposely said she moved like a "majestic hippo". In the end Ruri managed to pick up some of Kayla's tips and actually had a proper stance once she started killing boars on her own again.
And now it was Kato's turn. Owl suggested he would help me give him an idea of the basics since Kato had a heavy armor and weapon just like him.
"So what you want to do is focus," Owl says softly, "Focus on your weapon, focus on the enemy."
Owl stands in-between Kato and a boar that just recently noticed us and is getting ready to attack. Kato is paying attention but at the same time just looks annoyed. I cross my arms and stare at him, trying to figure him out.
"Look for an opening and always try to be able to dodge, since I don't see you using a shield you might want for the boar to attack then step away and have an easy hit as he is getting ready again," Owl explains.
As he finishes his sentence the boar lunges towards him, Owl swiftly steps away from the boar's path and has a clear hit from the side.
"Just like this," he says calmly.
Right after that he readies a skill on his spear and stabs through the boar, killing it with one hit. He stands straight and presses the bottom of his spear on the ground, he looks back at Kato with a satisfied look on his face but he quickly erases it.
"This is dumb…" Kato mutters under his breath.
"You just have to get the hang o-"
"No, shut up, this is dumb as hell!" Kato interrupts. "Why even bother?"
I feel a little irritated and walk towards Owl, who's being motionless and unresponsive. He isn't one to dive into conflict head on anyways.
"Hey, we are just trying to help you out here, if you didn't want this why did you even tag along?" I say.
Kato clenches his open fist and throws his sword to the ground. It stabs the ground and sticks there by itself.
"It's just dumb, this game is dumb, everything here is stupid as hell," he says, "You guys are risking your damn lives trying to actually play this bullshit."
"And you've been very productive these last three months right?" I ask, enraged. "Listen up buddy, you are trapped here, with us and everyone else. We just choose not to be pathetic cowards who stay back in the first city."
Just now realizing my choice of words I expect Ruri or Reginald to look down on me but they don't even do that, they just stare at the unfolding scene.
Kato stares at me looking angry but without any words to reply to me. He kicks his sword and turns his back on me. Seconds later he turns around and points his finger at me as he starts to get closer.
"What do you know anyways?" he yells. "You probably have no life, nothing interesting to go back to!"
Looking past him I see pretty much everyone's faces catch a hint of sorrow. This makes me more pissed, pissed enough to not bother to think about the people back in the real world and more in setting this fucker straight.
"Why would I want to risk my life fighting these things and like…leveling up or whatever?!" he says. "It's just a bullshit game."
"Let me remind you it's no longer a game," I huff, "you live in this god damned place, just like us."
"Oh shut the fuck up chubs," he yells. "you are just another god damned nerd that thinks this freaking place is cool."
I start laughing loudly and go through my menu looking for this guy's name to send him an invite. I find it quickly enough and send him a duel invite to a half loss mode match. It quickly pops up in front of him and he takes a step back in surprise.
"This is what happens when I try to be nice," I cough, "bring it then, there's no way a nerd like me poses a threat right?"
He hesitates but accepts the invite. I grin at him as he picks up his sword and gets ready.
"I'll make it easier," I say and throw my sword away to the side, "there you go, Kato."
The countdown quickly reaches the last ten seconds and I stand a few feet away from Kato. I bring up my guard with just my arms and get ready for whatever this guy is about to do.
"I'm going to teach you a little something dumbass," I miff as the countdown reaches three seconds.
"Yeah, whatever I'm going to kick your ass," he replies.
The countdown reaches zero and he starts dashing towards me, I side step as he swings his sword at me. It gets stuck in the ground and, taking advantage of his momentary weakness, I kick him hard enough to send him back a few feet, his weapon still in the dirt.
"Oh you missed!" I boast as I open my arms at him, "Bring it, another go!"
He yells loudly for no reason and starts running towards me. He throws a punch that hits me in the stomach but I barely take a hit to my health points. I chuckle slightly and smirk at his dumb face.
"You see, your dumb size and attitude will do you nothing here," I mock.
I push his arm away and punch him in the stomach. He backs away from the impact and I turn my body around, delivering a roundhouse kick to his face. This hand to hand combat skill is real nice. I held back the strength a bit since I don't want to drop a lot of his HP.
"See that? This dumb game gives me an advantage," I yell, "Cause unlike you I haven't been a huge pussy and been hiding in the first city of the damn game!"
"Shut up! Shut up!" He rages as he stands up, "you are just a good for nothing!"
I chuckle and extend my right arm to him, I tease him to come over with my hand and he immediately dashes towards me again. This time he jumps at me and pushes me to the ground. He grabs my head in a lock and starts holding me tight. I manage to turn my body and kneel before elbowing him away from me.
"It's not fair," he says, "it's not fucking fair!"
"It could be though…" I mumble as I stand up and rub my neck, "I'm trying to give you a chance here."
"A chance? A chance at what?" he questions.
"A chance at fighting this damn game," I huff.
He stares at me looking surprised.
"Aren't you tired of just waiting in that city?" I ask. "Don't you want to move forward?
He punches the ground and stands up slowly. I can see a fire in him and I like it, he understands me but still wants to keep going. He smiles widely at me and cracks his fingers.
"I do want a chance," he says.
"Then bring it," I say with a grin.
This time he puts up his arms much like a boxer and how I was doing so but he seems all too professional about it. With small steps he closes the distance between me and him and soon enough we are circling each other looking for an opening. I could just take him down but I do want to give him a chance. I throw a slow punch and he quickly ducks, right after he punches me straight in the face. I actually take a few steps back from the hit and shake my head.
"Heh, nice," I comment.
He smirks at me and blows air through his nose. He steps in trying to throw a punch but instead kicks me on the side with his leg. Damn that's good. I quickly recover to the side and step in, this time focusing my punch. I throw it quickly and manage to slip it right in-between his arms hitting him in the face. This ends the duel as his HP goes below half. I bring my guard down and stand next to Kato who is kneeling on the ground.
"Hey man. Don't be a dick alright? That's my job around here," I joke.
"I guess I was wrong about you, I still think this whole thing to be dumb though," he answers.
"Give us a chance to change your mind then," I say and extend my open hand to him.
He grips it tightly standing up slowly, and then he shakes it firmly.
"Alright, I guess it can't be worse than staying in that damned city."
I look past Kato and see Daath doing a slow clap. Reginald is excited beyond belief, shadow boxing the air with excited eyes. Owl exchanges Col with Kayla and they both laugh. I scratch my head as I chuckle, did someone really bet against me?
"Let's head to the inn then," I yell, raising my fist into the air.
"See it's not so bad!" Aeri bellows, "I mean come on, when's the last time you sat in such a lively table?"
Aeri is practically leaning over Kato trying to change his frown. It's quite funny to watch, because she is trying so hard. We all sit at a big table, filled with food and drinks. Quite different from the usual there's a lot more people and a lot more food. Aeri, Elina, Owl, Kayla, Daath, Esra, Yu, Reginald, Ruri, and Kato. Definitely a lot of people. Eleven to be precise, if I count myself that is. It feels nice, it feels wholesome, and it just feels great. Everyone is laughing and smiling except for Kato who is really just playing hard to please at this point. All of the sudden I get the urge of doing something that might just look dumb. I stand up with my mug of ale in my hand and thrust it into the air in front of me.
"Guys!" I say raising my voice to catch everyone's attention.
Everyone turns to me and remains silent very quickly, quicker than I expected. I clear my throat and look around the table rather nervously.
"So…this is the first night we have as an official guild, well second but uh first with new members!" I stammer, quickly correcting myself.
Owl stands up with his mug as well, Kayla does the same and soon enough everyone is standing up except for Kato. He chuckles slightly and sighs quickly as he stands with his mug as well.
"I…just want to thank you guys I guess, for giving us a chance," I state, "it really means a lot."
I find myself lacking any further words but a sudden ray of brilliance crashes through.
"I promise to make you all stronger, to give you guys a chance in this world!" I say with a very excited tone.
Kato snickers a bit but then looks straight at me as he gives me a reassuring nod. Everyone else smiles and nods at me as well.
"So for…" I huff but stop as I did not think of a way to end this.
"For steel!" Owl yells.
"And swords!" Kayla finishes.
We all thrust our mugs in the air, hitting each other's in the progress, making ale splash around as we do so. We've all come a long way, and now it's not time to stop.
Crysina here!
I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Thanks to mangachiaki for beta-reading this chapter!
More people! New faces! We are kicking another gear in so hold on to your butts.
Now off to my weekly rant. You know what I hate about writing this fic? I like staying true to the source material and I hope that so far you guys have seen this. I respect character progression, item and skill unlocks, etc. (I mean I even look up the revealed floors to see which ones I can actually mess with.) The only part where I went a little off script was in that fight Daath had with Kirito. BUT as I was saying what I hate about my love fore staying true to the source material is that I cannot really put the characters from the SAO anime and or novels in my fic. And you don't know how badly I want to have a bit of Silica in this fic. Of course I can find loop-holes and probably will (you will actually see a bit of Lisbeth soon) but the only characters I can sort of add in and even then just a little are Argo and Agil. AND LASTLY do you know why I can't have my sweet Silica around or even Lisbeth that much? CAUSE ALL OF THE CHARACTERS IN SAO REVOLVE AROUND KIRITO! They live and breathe for Kirito and this is slightly annoying to work with since I want Silica, Lisbeth and others to at least have an appearance or two. ANYWAYS!
Please leave any kind of comments, thoughts and or questions in the reviews. If you leave a question I will try to promptly answer it via PM or if you guys want I will answer them on these ANs I have at the end of the chapters in case you are curious about other people's questions. Really just leave in the reviews anything you like, I love having interaction with people that enjoy my story and hearing what you guys have to say about it overall.
Thank you for reading! See ya soon!
Next Chapter: "Testing The Waters"