I had literally no idea how to start this chapter. I mean, I knew exactly what stuff I was gonna put in it, but how to start it? No idea.
So. Here we are with the fifth part of Argo and Issei's story. I should have posted this earlier if I wanted to meet the deadline I'd set for myself, but that didn't happen. I really want to get to Floor 52 by the time the 7th rolls around which leaves me with, uh, a bit more than a week to write four chapters and an interlude. Then if everything goes according to plan (and rarely anything does…) I'll have finished the Aincrad arc in ten to twelve more chapters. Yay.
Oh, and prepare for a couple of surprise characters…
I should really get to work then. Twelve hours to finish this chapter. Onwards, ho!
*~B~*
Chapter Eighteen: Dragon and Rat V – Gift
[Aincrad 24nd Floor, Panareze. August 1st, 2023]
"… So what's bothering you?" I asked for the umpteenth time.
"Right now? You," Argo shot back, irritated.
Something had been on her mind from the moment we met this morning. Every few minutes or so she'd get this faraway look in her eyes and sort of black out, and I'd have to call her a few times before she responded, and of course each time that happened she'd get more irritated at me.
The obvious solution here was of course to ask her what was on her mind, which would obviously irritate her further the more I asked her. Man, this is what I get for being concerned.
"Look, you've been zoning out every now and then, staring into nothing and I'm pretty damn sure the scenery here isn't that amazing," I said. This floor did have some incredible views, especially from way out in the Outer Area, but even from one of the small islands of Panareze the view was amazing. That's where we were right now, but I was still pretty sure it wasn't that great a view that you'd get that faraway imaginative look in your eyes.
I then remembered that that old man who'd taught me everything about oppai used to get a faraway look in his eyes too. Was she – no, no, delete, DELETE! I shivered, and regaining my senses, I tried again. "Argo–"
"It's none of your business, alright?" she said sharply. That hurt. I didn't say anything else after that and just kept quiet.
After a while, Argo took a breath and then said, "Sorry. I didn't mean to be harsh. Just … I was taking a trip down memory lane."
"Hey, I just want to make sure you don't walk straight into another river while doing so … or lake, in this case."
Argo smiled at that. "Point taken-nya. It's just that the date today reminded me of stuff–" Too late, she shut her mouth. Evidently she'd let something slip.
"Something special about today?" I asked.
"Ugh, just forget it."
"Come on, just tell me," I insisted.
"You're going to keep pestering me about this, aren't you, Pervert?"
"Yeah, but you could save us both the trouble. So what is it? The day you first got those whisker marks?"
Argo stared at me. Was that a good guess? "… I don't even know what made you think that but no."
"The day you got into gaming?" I tried again.
This time she looked surprised. "Well … you're actually right, but that's not the case."
"The day you stopped using a training–"
I couldn't duck away from her punch in time. One extra step and I might have fallen straight into the water, although I did still get my hair wet.
"Okay, this impromptu quiz session is over," Argo stated, beginning to walk away.
"Hey, come on! Just tell me!" I called after her.
Her footsteps slowed and she came to a stop. I heard her sigh. "Fine. Just don't make a big deal out of it."
"Sure, no problem," I promised.
She turned back and after a bit of hesitation, she finally said, "It's … it's my birthday."
"… What?"
"It's my birthday. Seriously, everything I say to you has to be repeated at least once before you get it."
"Hold up, it's your birthday?! Happy birthday!"
She winced. "I told you not ten seconds ago…"
"Hey, you should tell me this stuff earlier! It's your birthday, we can't just not celebrate it!" Seriously, you're supposed to tell your friends this stuff … wait, if she hasn't told me, then does that mean that I don't count?
"Just drop it, Ise," Argo sighed. "There's no need for you to pretend to be excited."
"What do you mean, 'pretend'?" I asked.
Argo hesitated. "Nothing. Forget it. Besides, I don't really bother celebrating my birthday. Too much of a hassle."
"How the heck is it a hassle?"
"I said forget it. Anyways, I gotta get back to work. While we've been chatting, about a dozen messages arrived."
Without another word she walked off.
*~B~*
What the hell came over me? Argo wondered. I've only ever told two people when my birthday is, so what the heck made me tell him?
Argo supposed the pervert just had that effect on people. He was unashamedly honest about everything and that just made you trust him. Even his open lecherousness was because he didn't bother hiding it, and of course, that got him into trouble everywhere. For one amused moment, Argo wondered how his parents dealt with his blatant perverseness. Right now, of course, they were probably only worrying about his life…
Argh, do you have to turn every last thought morbid?! she scolded herself. She shook her head to clear it. The pervert was right. She couldn't just keep zoning out from time to time. She had a job to do.
A few minutes later she was back in Starting City. She headed for the house where she regularly worked on her booklets and newsletters. It was a small, quiet and modest place, with just one floor. Well, quiet meaning just the right level of noise coming from outside, so that she could focus on, well, paperwork.
Paperwork. Sure, gathering knowledge was fun. The risks and dangers made it exciting at times. But compiling it all into guidebooks every floor and into a newsletter every day was a lot of work, and she didn't much like that kind of work. Although that was probably because Akayama wasn't the most patient teacher. She learned more from the game store owner's daughter than she did from that woman.
There were at least the little tidbits of gossip she got daily from her informants, and sometimes she did get some fun out of slightly exaggerating events in some news articles.
"Well," she muttered. "Best get to work, then."
*~B~*
[Aincrad 22nd Floor]
"Why the hell would someone be sad on their birthday? Okay, fine, maybe she wasn't sad, just brooding. But a birthday is supposed to be a day when you celebrate! Eat cake, open gifts, meet h–" saying this far, I stopped, attempting to cover up my last words with a punch to a monster's face.
"Oh, go on. Finish that sentence, then tell me how you know so from experience."
"… You know, there's no need to be blunt about it, Rurin-chan."
"First off, I think you're getting the idea of a 'birthday' wrong if you think that usually happens, and secondly, I think I asked you not to call me that," she replied, smirking, landing one final punch on the last monster. "And is this really the right place to be discussing this?"
"This is the twenty-second floor," I replied, sitting down against a tree. "The monsters here are easier to kill than those five floors below. Unless, apparently, you get too close to a lake."
"Really?" she asked curiously.
"According to Argo, if you try to fish in the small lake at the border of Coral Village you get attacked by, and here's the part where she couldn't stop snickering, a fish god."
Even Rurin laughed at that. "That would be a sad way to die."
"Any way would be a sad way to die," I countered. Way to go, Issei, kill a joke.
"So are you just going to sit there or do I have to try and attack a monster swarm that's only two or three levels below me all by myself?"
"Hey, come on, take a breather."
"In a safe area, sure. If you really want to take a rest so badly then find us a safe area."
"Man, what's gotten you so driven lately?" I grumbled, getting up. "Only clearers train as hard as you are."
"You know why," Rurin said, using Sword Skills continuously to help train her skill stats. "I want to be able to stand beside Gen on equal footing. He doesn't have to be constantly watching out for me; I want to be able to take care of myself … and him."
"Because you like him?" I asked, knowing how she'd react. She blushed deep red. "Don't just say that out loud!" she complained, fumbling a step and failing to activate a Sword Skill.
If you get embarrassed that badly when someone else says it, then you've got a long, long way to go.
"Oh, and if you're so worried about Argo, then there's something very simple you could do, you know," she said. Huh. She wasn't much interested in it beforehand. Why ever would she be trying to change the topic?
I decided to let that go and instead asked, "Really? What?"
"It's her birthday, right? You said so yourself, what do people do on birthdays?"
I thought for a while. "Uh … I should treat her to cake?"
Rurin sighed heavily. "The only other guy I know also happens to be an idiot," she muttered to herself. "Just get her a gift, Ise-san."
*~B~*
"What's this about?" Akayama said to the stranger. Eleven-year-old Arisa watched from a secluded corner as she talked to someone at the doorway. She wasn't the only one: nearly every other kid in the orphanage was either out in the hallway or peeking out from the doors. Arisa pointedly kept her eyes away from all of them.
"Found her wandering about looking all lost so I tried asking her where she was going. She said nowhere, so I thought I'd bring her to you for her own good."
Akayama stared downwards. "She looks foreign. Are you sure she isn't just a tourist's child?"
"I asked her if she had any parents and she quite pointedly said no. I'm guessing she's a runaway and well, if she's telling the truth, also an orphan."
Akayama sighed. "I deal with enough runaways as it is. Fine, I'll keep her for now, but look around and see if any foreigners are asking for their missing children."
"Will do," the stranger said. He pushed someone through the doorway: a girl probably no more than nine wearing a hoodie and a small backpack. The girl looked around and when she turned in Arisa's direction, Arisa saw her face clearly.
She was definitely not Japanese, but there was something about her that felt off. Her skin was very pale and her eyes were a piercing golden. And … was that blue hair under her hood?
Arisa noticed the other children looking at the new girl and when they met the new girl's gaze they quickly looked away. Arisa didn't have to guess why: the new girl gave off the same feeling to them that they claimed she herself did. Except that Arisa didn't look as sleepy.
"Now then, first things first," Akayama said. The girl looked up at her, and Akayama met her gaze for a few seconds before glancing away. "Oh great, another one," she muttered. "What's your name, girl?"
"…Bennia," she replied.
*~B~*
Argo woke up to find herself in a position that would be seriously uncomfortable in real life. Groaning, she stretched and got up, and saw a message notification at the corner of her eyes.
Strange thing to dream about, she thought, that happened ages ago. She opened the messages and saw the harsh abuse of the CAPSLOCK button.
[WHERE. ARE. YOU. We haven't spoken in days! Twelfth floor, café beside the plaza. Now.]
[Argooo]
[Arisa.]
[GOKOU ARISA YOU WILL RESPOND RIGHT NOW]
[Have you even read that?]
[Are you sleeping? Do you even sleep?]
And so it went, on and on. Argo smiled. "Guess I really should pay her a visit."
*~B~*
[Aincrad 22nd Floor, Coral Village]
So I should get Argo a gift. Fine. It was a great idea.
…. But what the hell was I supposed to get her?
More than that, what the hell could I get her in this virtual world?
A new weapon? Nope, if it was worth getting, she'd know about it, and if she knew about it, she'd already have it.
Some other kind of equipment, then? Even then, it'd be useless in about ten floors' time minimum.
Maybe an accessory of some sort? … Who am I kidding, she's not that type.
Argh, thinking like this is hard! Thank God no one was around to see me pull my hair other than a bunch of NPCs…
"Is something the matter, son?"
"Huh?!" I flinched and turned around. Oh, it was just the old guy.
I was at one of the small inns on the twenty-second floor. There was this one old dude who was always sitting there at a table. This being an RPG and all, any random character could give you something useful, even I knew that. This old guy, however, wasn't really helpful. If you sat at the table beside him silently for a while, he'd ask you if something was wrong. If you said "No" to his query, then he'd just go about with his business. "Yes," and he'd offer to buy you a bottle of beer. That was basically all. Try to ask him about himself – something you could do on Aincrad, ask some NPCs about themselves – and he'd tell you he was a tailor.
"It's nothing," I replied, even though I didn't need to. "Just need to get someone a gift."
In hindsight, I'm pretty sure those are words nobody had yet tried to tell him, because come on, the chances of that were pretty damn low. In hindsight, I also realized that ace info broker or not, there're always some things that slip your attention.
I really didn't expect the NPC to say, "A gift, eh? You know, back in my day I used to be a fine tailor, if I do say so myself." I turned in surprise and saw him take a swig. "Hows about I make you something? An old guy like me needs something to do to pass the time."
… Sometimes I really wondered how the hell I could get so lucky.
*~B~*
If a certain being trapped in a Longinus had at that moment had a physical body, it might have sneezed.
*~B~*
"So … what kind of stuff do you make?" I asked carefully. And then a menu screen appeared in front of me.
There was a list of about two dozen items. "The kind of garb I used to make … well, they was special, they was. Finding the necessary materials weren't easy."
Yeah, he got that right! The requirements for the items, what was all this stuff?! Fae Weave? Kobold Hide? Goblin Metal? Wait, why does he need metal …?
And then one item caught my eye. That … that was perfect.
*~B~*
[Aincrad 12th Floor, Taft]
"… And then the Flash practically tells the Army dude to suck it! Well, she didn't use those exact words, but seriously, if you were there, even you would've felt like that seeing her gaze!"
"You know something funny, Rei-yo?" Argo said, looking up. "I was there. And you're wrong. That's not what it felt like."
"Oh, come on! You can't be serious–"
"It felt more like she was telling him to eat his own shit."
Rei burst out laughing. "Okay, you one-upped me. Is there anything you don't know?"
"Doubt it," Argo replied confidently. "By the way, did you really bring me all the way down here just to shower me with gossip I already know?"
"Hey, don't be like that!" the girl frowned. Her name was Rei, otherwise known as Kusaka Reya, otherwise known as the random game store owner's daughter. She was the one who all those years ago had introduced Argo to gaming. "I can't exactly wish you through messages, it's a bit dull if I can do so face to face."
"Wish … oh," Argo said. "You know, you really don't have to."
Rei stared straight at her for a few seconds. Suddenly she took a deep breath. Alarms went off in Argo's head and she quickly reached over the table.
"HAPPY–" was all she managed to shout.
"People can hear you, you idiot!" Argo hissed, covering her friend's mouth.
"Mmph-mmph?"
"So I don't want other people knowing!"
Rei rolled her eyes and motioned for Argo to let her go. "I really don't get it," Rei said, shaking her head. "Why are you so insistent on being secretive about something like this?"
"Why are you so insistent on acting so cheerful nowadays?" Argo countered.
For a minute or so, neither of them spoke. Finally Argo said, "Sorry. That was uncalled for."
"It wasn't really a sad day, was it?" Rei asked quietly.
"You were one of the only two friends I had back then, and then she had to leave." And then her bastard of an old man somehow left me with my headache problem. Nice birthday gift.
"Yeah, but I'm still here, and thanks to you, Argo – Arisa. If you hadn't found me back on day one of this game…"
"You'd have found someone else to cheer you up, someone who'd probably do a better job."
Rei sighed, twirling her long brown hair. "Say, you know all the clearers, right? You know how well they're actually doing."
"Yeah, I guess."
"Tell me, completely honestly: do we really have a chance of getting back out?"
"You would ask a pessimist to give you optimism?" Argo deadpanned.
Rei glared at her. "We do have a chance. If you'd seen how hard the front lines are working, then you'd be encouraged too," Argo promised. "By the way, I didn't say you being cheerful was a bad thing. You seem more like you used to be-yo."
Rei smiled. "Thanks. Hey, since when did you start using those verbal tics of yours when talking with me?"
Argo paused. Really? I thought I was doing it less and less.
"Okay, alright, that's enough sad talk. Back to business!" Rei exclaimed, slamming her palms onto the table. "What do you want?"
"Huh?"
"What do you want me to get you as a gift?"
"Reya, I don't really want anything."
"You didn't want your first gaming console either until I made you want it."
"Firstly, that sounds wrong, and secondly, look where that got us now."
Rei glared some more. "Sorry," Argo apologized sheepishly. "Just trying to lighten the mood."
"We need to do something about your sense of humor. Hmm…. Do they sell joke-books in Aincrad?" She sounded completely serious.
"I don't know about any," Argo replied, as if that answered the question. "And really, you don't need to do anything."
"I don't need to, but I'm still going to. It's your birthday, for crying out loud!"
"And that's two people today who're making a big deal out of it…" Argo muttered. Rei froze. "What was that?"
…Oops. I didn't tell her about the pervert, did I?
*~B~*
[Aincrad 3rd Floor]
It was called the Oracle's Cloak and it was a massive pain in the ass to try and get. And I'd barely started on getting the first required item!
After I'd selected the item and obtained the quest from the old man, I'd taken a look through Argo's guidebooks. Turned out, each of the items required to make the cloak had their own individual subquests.
The first item was called Elven Twill. A rare material that could be found way down on the third floor in the Forest Elves' palaces. According to the book, if way back on the third floor, this one massive multi-floor spanning quest had been started in favor of the forest elves, then there might have been an easier way of getting it.
Argo took the time to snark in the book about how some retard dressed in black chose to side with the Dark Elves instead simply because they also wore black, and as a result the present situation was far less rewarding than it was in the beta, where they had sided with the Forest Elves.
Why did I have a feeling I knew who she was talking about? What I was surprised by, was that she was freely divulging beta test information just like that. Maybe it helped calm the haters, who knows.
Getting back to the point, the present quest for obtaining the Elven Twill was … well, it was basically a theft. A heist.
And that was why I was hiding behind a tree at the base of the Forest Elves' palace. The palace itself was basically a glorified tree house. A particularly thick tree – it was probably as wide as three cars side by side – had a spiraling staircase carved into it. Steps jutted out from the tree trunk that looked just the right combination between natural and artificial to be impossible. Well, they were Elves after all.
There were three such trees in the foggy forests of the third floor, and each of them were guarded by two soldiers who were so still you'd think they were statues. But get too close, and well, you can't outrun these guys. Try and defeat them and with their last breath they'd sound an alarm and before you could get even a dozen steps up a whole platoon would be either dashing down the stairs or straight up falling from above and the next thing you know, you either teleport out, or game over.
Genryuu had done this quest before and it was the material he'd used to get his current gear made with from an NPC on the ninth floor. And he'd told me a pretty neat trick to use.
I searched my inventory for the beginner set of throwing picks every player had. Carefully handling one, I looked at their position and, finding a suitable tree about two feet from me, threw it.
The Sword Skill activated and the pick dug into the tree with a loud thunk. Immediately the guards sharply turned away and ran in the opposite direction of where the pick had landed, searching for an assailant that wasn't there.
The guards were apparently programmed to run in the opposite direction of where a long range attack came from, because that was obviously where the attacker was. Genryuu and a bunch of other players had figured out how to use that programming against them. You hid behind a tree, found a suitable tree trunk near you, shot the pick at it at a rough angle that made it seem like it had come from the other side of the clearing where the staircase tree was, and the guards would go off to find the nonexistent attacker.
A player wouldn't register in their "sight" unless they stepped into the clearing or was directly in front of them among the trees, so it wasn't exactly very hard to use that little trick. But I only had a short window.
I had to get up the stairs, head to their store slash treasury where they kept their stuff, grab the Twill and head back down before the guards returned to the tree. That was the hard part.
The instant they stepped foot out of the clearing I ran for the tree and I dashed up, skipping as many steps as I could. At the top, I stopped for a brief instant to wonder at the lack of elves around, before quickly dashing east, where the storage room was.
The palace was huge. Bridges were hung across branches of several trees, staircases went further upwards towards more floors. It was all made of wood, but some of that wood was as white as marble.
In a few seconds I arrived at the door. Now here was another tricky part. The lock on the door was made of a metal that made ridiculous amounts of noise even with the slightest tap. A lock that did double duty as its own burglar alarm, impressive, isn't it? If your lock-picking skill was high enough you could get in and out with minimum sound, but I didn't have a lock-picking skill. You could smash it with a powerful enough Sword Skill, but the unholy noise it made would bring in the hordes. And there were very few female Elves, too!
As soon as you enter the room, head directly to the left and open the topmost box. Grab a roll of the Twill and just run, Genryuu had said.
Well. Here goes nothing. My fist glowed deep red and I rammed the lock with Beast Slayer.
BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG.
"Ow!" I yelped, covering my ears and running in once the delay wore off. I found the box, threw the lid open, grabbed the dark green cloth and ran out.
I made it down the stairs and was about to whoop – until I came face to face with the returned guards.
Option A) Use a teleport crystal to escape but, as per the rules of the quest, lose the Twill and fail the quest.
Option B) Run like a bat out of hell.
Like a bat out of hell followed by fifteen very angry elves it was.
*~B~*
July 18th, 2020. It was one of the days the orphans would be allowed to wander the surrounding few blocks, provided the younger ones were being supervised by the older kids.
Of course, Arisa was put under the charge of Saki and Ami. She gave them the slip easily, like she always did. Those two teens couldn't care less what happened to her anyway.
Everything was the same as always, with just one small difference. Arisa turned around. "Why are you following me?"
A silent and sleepy gaze was all the answer she got. The new girl, Bennia, had been quietly shadowing her ever since she had arrived three days ago. She always had her little backpack with her, wherever she went.
Arisa huffed and turned around to start walking away. Finally Bennia spoke up.
"Why do they hate you so much?"
Arisa stopped and turned back. "Why do they?" Bennia repeated. Something about her voice had always felt off to Arisa, like she was forcing it.
"… I don't know," Arisa answered. "I don't know. They tell me I look at them weird."
"Do you?"
"I don't know!" Arisa said angrily. "Why don't you tell me? They don't like you for the same reason."
"I'm different. Are you different?"
"Eh?" Arisa said, confused.
Bennia didn't reply, instead digging out another foreign manga from her bag. Was that all she carried in there? Arisa wondered. And they were all very weird.
Deciding to ignore her, Arisa turned around to look for anything interesting. That one shop caught her eyes again.
Arisa walked up to the store front and stared at the many gadgets that were on display. Saki had one of those things, and she called it a video game console. "For normal people like us, not you," she'd add to Arisa when she was around.
Arisa stared at all the colorful pictures and videos within the store. A child's imagination was pretty big, after all. All those pictures spoke of some other wonderful little worlds to Arisa. In her dreams at night, she was in some of those worlds, having fun with the characters whose pictures she saw here, to whom she'd give names and stories in her dreams.
Arisa turned to the right – and found a girl her age staring at her. Arisa yelped and stumbled back. Suddenly Bennia was at her side for some reason.
The brown haired girl inside the shop opened the door and walked out. She stared at the two of them, light-brown eyes unreadable.
For about three seconds nobody said a word. Then suddenly the girl declared. "Okay, I'm ready! What's the mission?"
"…Eh?"
*~B~*
[Aincrad 7th Floor]
"You know, you're really going to a lot of trouble for a gift," Genryuu remarked. "Do you maybe like her?"
"What, as a friend? Of course!" I replied.
"…Never mind," he said. "So what's the item we're looking for here?"
"Uh, it's called Goblin Silver. And to get it, we need to beat something called… hold on… Orc Mattersmith?"
"I think you mean Metalsmith."
"Sounds the same to me. Seriously, the random English words are annoying."
"… Okay, what's the catch?" Genryuu asked. Damn, he'd noticed.
"Uhm, nothing?" I tried. He narrowed his eyes. "Okay, so maybe the old man said it's found in a goblin settlement north of Monster Arena … which no other player seems to know about and isn't in Argo's guidebooks."
"… Is that even possible?"
"Hey, the quest I'm doing for the cloak is something she also doesn't know about in the first place."
"Speaking of which, if the guy's a tailor and it's a cloak you're trying to get, then why the damn hell do you need silver?"
"I don't know. Some sort of fastener or clasp?"
"And no one knows where this place we're trying to find is?" Genryuu asked again.
"As far as I've heard … nope. But hey, that could be because the clearers are like two dozen floors ahead of us, so no serious player is interested in the seventh floor! Or because I'm the first lucky one to find that quest from the old dude."
"Whatever. Lead the way to Shangri-La, Ise."
"Very funny," I muttered.
Ten minutes later, we arrived at a rock formation about twelve feet high and fifty feet wide. "Check around that side," I told Genryuu, pointing to the right while I went left.
It was also a hundred feet in length. Pretty big slab.
"Isn't this way too conspicuous?" Genryuu asked. "No, hold on, I remember this. If you climb on top of it then near the middle is some gold half buried in the rock. You could sell that to any shop on this floor for a hell lot of Col."
So then, this wasn't it? Something was giving me déjà vu though…
That was when I realized something. "That old tailor, all the other players thought he just gave away a bottle of beer, so that was probably another reason why they never found out about his item quests."
"Okay, so?" Genryuu asked. I pointed to the rock. "Tailor." I pointed to the top of the rock. "Beer bottle."
He seemed to realize it, too. "There's something else about this rock, you think?"
"It's worth a shot. Come on. Try tapping along the sides."
A minute later my suspicions were rewarded. There was a groaning and rumbling noise and Genryuu made a sound of surprise. "Uh… yeah, I think I found the item quest."
I ran to his side and found part of the rock moving outwards and aside, revealing an opening that led underground. I grinned. "Yep. Come on, then."
Barely two dozen steps in and little green runts started attacking. Goblin Berserkers, they were called. One of the stages of Monster Arena would have you fight about twenty of these things at once.
Come to think about it, the way out of this floor was to beat the Monster Arena boss, so maybe that's why the clearers didn't bother exploring much. All they had to do was fight the Field Boss guarding the arena and make their way up the ranks of the arena itself.
Anyway, those little bastards were fast, but not that strong. I equipped Combat Blade and stabbed through the closest Goblin, which died instantly.
What was that term? Right, Zerg Rush. Hmm. A Zerg Rush of busty women, that would be a dream come true…
Dammit, focus! Genryuu's whip snaked over my head and slammed away several Goblins and hit the left wall. I kicked towards my right and squeezed one against the right wall. While in that position, another three tried to jump me. Two flinched away due to Genryuu's throwing picks and I drove my blade up the head of the third. The Goblin behind my foot shattered and I heard Genryuu curse. "There's too little space. I can't use the whip properly!"
Oh, so here he was useless, huh? As if to punctuate the point, his whip passed within millimeters of my face and missed its target. "Sorry!" he said.
Man, what'd I even bring him for? Oh, right, fighting the miniboss that's beyond these things.
*~B~*
[Aincrad 35th Floor]
"A new sword?" Argo asked.
"The thirty-sixth floor boss raid is coming up soon, and it's high time I changed up my equipment. Do you know any good places or any good blacksmiths?"
"I assume you'll be wanting a rapier, Asu-chan?"
"Of course," KoB vice-commander Asuna the Flash replied shortly. "So how much do you need?"
"Geez, Asu-chan, you're all business nowadays-sa," Argo said.
"I have a responsibility to uphold, Argo-san, and I intend to do so."
"You used to be more fun, though. Remember the first floor?"
"I don't have time for 'fun,' Argo-san. I have a job that needs doing."
Argo scrutinized Asuna's face. Odds were if this was in the real world, she would probably have had bags under her eyes, which would be red from lack of sleep.
"So do you know a place?" Asuna insisted.
Argo sighed. "You really hafta ask? Of course I know a place."
"Fine, then. Name your price."
"Hmm, well, it's not my price," Argo said. Asuna narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean? I don't really have time for games."
Argo pondered for a second. No, keep going, this is exactly what she asked me to do. "You see, a while back, I met a certain very accomplished blacksmith and she made me a deal, which, if I upheld, she would pay me 15000Col-nya."
Asuna frowned at that. "What is your point?" she asked.
"Well," Argo continued, looking straight at Asuna with complete seriousness, "she told me that, the next time I saw 'that idiot Asuna' I was to direct her straight to Lizbeth's Shop of Special Weapons and if she said no, then I was to paralyze her and drag her there myself. In which case she'd pay me 5000 more, so you know, I'm half-hoping you say no."
At the mention of the name Asuna actually winced. "You were avoiding her, weren't you?" Argo asked. "Forgive me for being nosy – actually, don't forgive me, it's my job to be nosy."
"… I suppose I really do owe her a talk," Asuna sighed. "I'll be off, then."
"I'm coming with you-na. I've got to collect my payment."
"…Fine."
*~B~*
At long freaking last we arrived at an underground forge.
"Finally," Genryuu said, "space."
I tapped his shoulder. "Look."
At one corner of the room was this immense pile of silver nuggets. Right beside it was some big ugly grey guy hammering away at something. He must've been, what, twice my height? Where his body wasn't scarred, it was covered in crudely shaped silver trinkets.
Suddenly, the hammering stopped. With a grunt he turned around and saw us. "Hrm? What are you maggots doing in here?" he bellowed.
"Why do they always say maggots?" Genryuu muttered.
The hammer slammed against the ground. Huh. That was a pretty big hammer. The head was the size of my torso, and the shaft was as tall as he was. "You're after our silver, aren't you?!" he roared. "Well, you can't have it! Now die!"
Aaaand, they always say that too, don't they? The red cursor appeared above the big dude and the name Orc Metalsmith appeared in my vision.
"So, miniboss battle," Genryuu said. His voice shook slightly at the last bit.
"Yep."
"By ourselves, just the two of us."
"It's the seventh floor, how hard can it…"
"Don't say it! Don't you dare say it! Saying it will make it worse!"
I'll admit it, I was pretty scared. But if all else failed, I had at least three teleport crystals I could use. And quite a lot of potions.
And suddenly I realized that Argo's strange ability to find something's weaknesses would've come in really handy right about now.
The big freaking hammer went up and then it slammed down on my position. I quickly dodged right as it hit the ground. The impact made the ground shake and the tremors held both of us in place. Oh. A Hold effect. Great.
"Duck!" Genryuu shouted. I complied without hesitation and dropped to a crouch just as the hammer swung through where my head would've been.
"Graaargh!" I glanced up to see the Orc grasping at his eyes. "Nice aim!" I said, jumping ahead. His hands were raised above his head, the hammer temporarily released. The position was perfect. I jumped high over him, both legs and my blade glowing green.
Triple Drop, the first Combat Blade skill Argo saw me use. I landed a dropkick on the grey bastard's fugly face, then simultaneously kicked his shoulder hard and slashed through his right wrist. The monster roared and, in the final motion of my Sword Skill, I jumped back out of reach and then the delay began.
Throwing picks zoomed past me, a couple of them landing criticals. "The neck!" Genryuu shouted.
Guess one didn't always require an Argo-sense. The Orc picked up his hammer again and lifted it above his head. "When the hammer lands, jump!" Genryuu ordered. "Maybe we can avoid the tremor then!"
The block came down and we both jumped, Genryuu staying where he was. I, however, leaped towards the Orc, trying to cover some distance while it tried to lift the hammer again. This time I decided to aim low, and so it was that Beast Slayer hit his groin like a battering ram.
The word CRITICAL floated up above the Orc and it stumbled back. I glanced at its HP. Ten percent down, ninety to go. "Guess we're gonna be here for a while," I commented.
Ten minutes later the Orc let out one final roar and then collapsed to the ground. A moment later all that was left of it were blue polygons and that huge hammer.
"The spoils of war," Genryuu said.
"That's not what we need."
"Maybe not, but I'm taking that with me."
"That's fine, but you don't even have the Hammer skill," I said, confused.
"It's a rare drop, man. I could probably sell it for a crapload."
I smirked. "Yeah, I suppose so." I then turned to the pile of silver and picked one from the top. I wasn't an idiot, I knew what happened if you grabbed something from the bottom of a pile like that.
… But does that happen in Aincrad? Ah, doesn't matter. I tapped the silver and a window opened, titled Goblin Silver Nugget. Yeah, that matched the description all right. "Hey, isn't stuff like this usually named so-and-so Ingot?" I asked Genryuu.
"Well, from what I've read, there are two types. Ingots are the bigger blocks and they're used to make armors, weapons and other relatively large equipment. Nuggets are the smaller ones and they can be used to create accessories."
"… Okay, I wasn't expecting to get a detailed answer, but since I did: you actually study in this world?"
Genryuu gave me a look. "The more you know the better, isn't it?"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," I sighed. "Come on, let's get outta here."
*~B~*
"But Tou-san, this is definitely the start of my adventure! It's like in the video games! When a normal person suddenly meets some weird people and they tell her the world has more to it than the person sees and they need her help! I'm supposed to now go find out what my special powers are!"
"The downsides of raising a kid in a video game environment," the man sighed.
Arisa couldn't help thinking it was weird that the weird girl was calling her and Bennia weird.
"Now be polite, act normal, and ask your new friends their names first," the man said.
"Okay!" the girl replied cheerfully, turning back to Arisa and Bennia. "Hi! My name's Reya! What's yours?"
"Uh, Arisa."
"…Bennia."
"Nice to meet you! Hey, do you like video games?"
"Reya, slow down," the man chuckled. "You wouldn't want to scare them off."
"Scare them off?" Reya repeated, confused. She asked Arisa. "Am I scaring you?"
"…No."
"See, Tou-san?"
"I see, I see," the man replied, cutting open the tape on a box. "You can call me Kusaka-san, by the way. Are you two lost?"
"No," Arisa replied. This was weird. This man was actually nice.
"Where are you from?"
"Akayama Orphanage."
Kusaka-san frowned at that. "Ah, that place. It used to be a good place, once."
"An orphanage? Hey, hey, what's it like?" Reya asked.
Before Arisa could say a word, Bennia spoke up. "Shitty."
Kusaka-san froze on the spot. "Tou-san, what does 'shitty' mean?"
Arisa didn't know what it meant either, but she'd heard other kids use the word before and Akayama would straight out order them not to use the word, before using it at a later date herself. Whatever happened next, would probably be funny.
Every two or three days Arisa would be able to visit that game store. Bennia would follow her every time, but Arisa didn't complain. The other kids at the orphanage started to call them the Weirduo, the Freak Twins, etc. Arisa was used to that kind of stuff already and Bennia never even blinked when they said something. They didn't talk much, but Arisa and Bennia were becoming good friends. Reya was the hyper one of their group. Kusaka-san was probably the only nice adult Arisa had known her entire life.
That was how her days went from then on. Arisa would spend the day listening to Reya rant, Bennia would sit there and comfortably read and reread the three manga volumes in her collection – she called them "komiku bookusu," or so it sounded to Arisa. Kusaka-san told her it was English for comic books.
"Bennia can read in English?" Reya asked.
"…Yes," she replied, before going back to reading. She was sitting under a table beside the counter. Arisa had no idea why she liked doing that.
"Can I see that?" Kusaka-san asked. Wordlessly, Bennia handed it over and opened another one and began to read it. Arisa watched Kusaka-san's expression change several times. "Um, Bennia-chan, you're nine, right? Aren't you a bit too young to be reading this?"
"Too young to be reading what?" Reya asked, curiosity piqued.
"…It's funny," Bennia said, as if that explained everything.
"But this – it doesn't even make sense sometimes. Why is this, Deddopooru, talking to the readers?"
"Because he can," Bennia said, eyes not lifting from the other volume. "He's cool."
Kusaka-san sighed. "That's America for you, I suppose," he muttered, handing it back. "I don't know what kind of parents would allow their kid to read this."
"The shitty one that doesn't care," Bennia replied.
"Tou-saaan, there's that word again. What does it mean?"
Kusaka-san sighed. "Bennia, I told you, that word isn't allowed under this roof."
"…Sorry."
"Does it mean something bad?" Reya asked.
"Yes it does. It's a bad word and it shouldn't be said."
Reya frowned. "Why are you using a bad word to describe your parents?" she asked Bennia.
"Because it's true."
"Parents aren't bad. Tell her Arisa!" she said, rounding on Arisa.
"My mother gave me away. I don't know my father," Arisa replied.
"Why would she do that? Maybe she had to go on a mission and couldn't take you with her!"
"For the same reason everyone else at the orphanage doesn't like me, I guess," Arisa said.
"Why's that?" Kusaka-san asked.
"They think I look like a freak because of my eyes."
Reya huffed. "Well, then both your mom and everyone else there are idiots!"
Arisa looked at her, surprised and a bit grateful.
"All adults are idiots," Bennia said.
"I'm right in the room, you know," Kusaka-san joked.
Bennia paused her reading. "… You're okay."
Another ordinary day. Sure, Arisa would be entering hell when she stepped through the orphanage doors again, but it was worth the time she spent at that game store. And at least, she wouldn't be alone at the orphanage.
*~B~*
[Aincrad 28th floor]
So here I was on the twenty-eighth floor and it finally hit me that maybe, just maybe, this was a really bad idea.
Here I was, just eight floors below the front lines, with a pathetic defense stat and standing in the middle of the Wolf Plains, where the monsters were both fast and strong. What the hell was I doing in a place like this?!
I mean, the first two items were both from single digit floors, so why the hell is the final item suddenly twenty floors higher?!
…Well, I suppose it makes sense, it is a high-level item after all. But the difference is still too damn high!
Sighing, I started moving. If I ran, that would attract monsters. If I went too slow, it would also attract monsters.
Turns out I hesitated too long anyway. Out of nowhere a wolf monster ambushed me.
Before I could react, a katana batted it away. "Hey, man, are you an idiot? Walking around alone is seriously dangerous, you know!" said a loud voice.
"Uh, yeah, thanks, I guess," I replied, turning around. An older dude with reddish hair, a bit of stubble and a bandanna stood there. Six players stood behind him – his party, I guessed.
The older dude frowned. "Hey, where's your weapon?" he asked.
"Oh, ah, I use the Martial Arts skill."
"A barehanded fighter? Well, you don't see that on the front lines…"
What did he say? "Hey, are you clearers?"
"Hm? Yeah! The name's Klein, and these guys here are my guild, Fuurinkazan!"
… Yeah, I'd heard of him all right. His guild was the only clearer guild that'd never lost a member throughout SAO. That was pretty cool. "I'm Ise," I said, offering a hand, which he accepted.
"So, what're you doing on the Wolf Plains out by yourself?" Klein asked.
"Well, I was actually headed to Shadow Woods for a quest," I said.
"There? Alone? That's even more dangerous! Hey, how high is your level anyway?"
After a bit of hesitation, I told him. "Yeah, that's pretty dangerous, man," he repeated.
"What quest is it?" one of the others asked.
I hesitated. I didn't really want to tell them. I don't know why, these were good guys. Gamer secretive instinct? … Was that even a thing?
"Hey, if he doesn't wanna say it, then he doesn't hafta say it," Klein said. "We can find out later from somewhere else if you're so interested. Whatever the case, you could come with us."
"Uh, thanks for the offer, but I think I'll be fine."
"You sure about that?" Klein insisted.
"Yeah, don't worry. In case anything happens, I've got plenty of potions and teleport crystals. And there aren't any Anti-Crystal Zones around here, are there?"
"Hm. Are there?" Klein asked one of the others. He shook his head. "That's a no, then. Still, be careful. I know another idiot who insists on soloing and…" Klein trailed off.
"Did he…?" I asked.
"Nah, he's alive, just … well, he's in a bit of a funk. Anyways, see ya around, Ise!"
Fuurinkazan headed north, deeper into Wolf Plains.
And that was probably my second horribly bad idea of the day. Why the hell did I refuse their help?! They were freaking clearers!
Sighing, I headed west towards the edges of Wolf Plains, wondering at my own stupidity.
*~B~*
"Klein… Did you sense that?"
"… Yeah, I did. That's the third one we've met so far."
"Fourth. Remember that NPC?"
"That was an NPC, man. It wasn't alive, it couldn't have been one. And anyway, he's not like the other two. He just has a Gear and it's dormant… geez, how the hell can we even do this here anyway?"
"So what do we do, then?"
"We stick around. Circle around the plains and stay close to Shadow Woods and keep your senses up. He might not want our help but if he needs it, we'll be there."
*~B~*
The third and final item was called Shaedfox Hide. Now, I didn't know much English, but I was pretty sure the spelling was wrong somewhere in that word.
Well, at least this one wasn't an unknown monster. I knew exactly what it was, where it was and how to find it. It was a popular choice for parties to train, since it gave a lot of EXP points.
Maybe I should've spent more time wondering why it was parties and not players.
The Shaedfox was a high-level monster that was almost on the level of a miniboss. It was found only in one corner of Shadow Woods, and high Experience yield or not, all players said it was a pain in the ass to fight.
As soon as I walked past the first few trees the light dimmed rapidly. Shadow Woods was called so because while the trees weren't that thickly packed, the canopy was so thick that very little light reached the ground. It was practically a horror movie set. The only thing that made it not a horror movie set was that the trees were all pretty green and healthy, not leafless and barren.
… Hey, since when was I this knowledgeable? I guess this is what happens when you stick around Argo for too long…
I heard an odd rustle and knew I'd reached the place. There was a small clearing in front of me, enclosed by trees that were packed together tighter than anywhere else in this area. I took a step into the clearing, and I heard the rustle again, this time louder.
There was the sudden sound of rushing wind and a monster faded into sight at the other end of the clearing. The name Shaedfox appeared in my vision.
It was relatively small, compared to other monsters on this floor. Barely four feet from head to tail and covered in maroon fur. Its eyes were actually normal compared to the rest which overused glowing eyes to the point where it was a cliché of a cliché, just a normal dull yellow. Black claws jutted out from its paws and there were a couple of thin black streaks in its tail.
The HP bar appeared and I made the first move. I rushed straight at it, right arm folded back, and tried to punch it. The same wind rushing noise happened and it faded out of sight.
That's what made this thing difficult. You tried to attack it, it would fade out and then reappear somewhere else around you and attack. The only ways to keep track of it were to listen for where the whooshing noise came from, which would indicate where it had reappeared, or keep turning around like crazy. Or both.
The sound came from behind me. I turned around, but it was too late. The monster pounced from a branch and slashed its claws into my chest in an X-shape, before disappearing yet again. I glanced at my HP and froze. It had dropped way beyond yellow. From just one freaking attack?!
I heard the sound again and turned to face it. It stood silently at one edge of the clearing.
That's what this thing did. You tried to attack it, it would attack you and then go back to standing still. Rinse and repeat. The only way to hit it was in mid-attack. Panicking slightly I quickly brought out two potions and downed them and waited for my HP to heal. It waited silently, almost as still as a statue.
According to Argo's guidebook, it had three attacks. Jumping from a high up branch and slashing in a cross shape, dashing across the ground and leaping past you, dragging one claw through your stomach or appearing right in front of you and snapping at your neck, with that last one having a high critical rate. It only did that last attack when it had a third of its HP left.
High critical rate plus a vulnerable point … if I got hit by that, I was dead for sure. This thing was even worse in team battles, said the guidebook. You never know which player it might attack, and the confusion could kill. That was one reason I turned down Klein's help.
I took out my beginner throwing picks set again. I could use these to get it to attack and then try to blast it when it got close enough. Aiming one, I took a breath, prepared myself, and threw it. The deep red outline faded away and I strained my ears for the telltale sound. There, on my left! I turned quickly – and then hurriedly sidestepped, nearly tripping, its claws barely missing my waist. Damn, that thing was fast! I turned to look at it and it disappeared again, reappearing five feet to the left.
Right, weaknesses, weaknesses … come on, what did that guidebook say? That's it! Hit it from below and I can momentarily immobilize it.
… But the trick was to hit it. And I couldn't stand and wait too long, its patience was limited, not infinite.
Alright. Here goes nothing. I threw another pick and watched it phase through the Shaedfox. The sound came from my right. Here goes…!
The Shaedfox pounced, claws outstretched. I ducked and took a step to my left, with my left fist glowing orange. Its claws began to converge and I landed an uppercut on it. It yelped as it was thrown upwards – hey, that's the first sound it itself made. Rising, my right leg swung upwards, also glowing and struck it from below, before hammering it down to the ground.
Martial Arts three-consecutive -hit skill Hammer Drop. I didn't get to use that often, it wasn't that useful against larger enemies. But it did do a crapload of damage. The Shaedfox shifted again to a spot behind me.
Heh. Finally, I got a hit in. I looked at its HP and grinned. Argo could say what she liked but high attack was definitely the way to go. Fifteen percent down. It was still just a high-level monster, not a miniboss which characteristically had a lot of HP, but I could still deal that much damage do a twenty-eighth floor monster with a mid-level Martial Arts skill.
Combat Blade here wouldn't be that useful as the delay didn't really matter here. High-power skills were the way to go. I threw another pick and it teleported again. This time it reappeared on the branch that was directly above it. It pounced again, but I misjudged the speed. The cross slash half hit me as I quickly jumped to the side.
Right. It also got faster every hit. Almost forgot that, damn. So the faster it was dealt with, the better. High power it was. I downed another potion and after my HP healed, threw another pick.
Behind me, to my left! It dashed, aiming for the right of my stomach. My right fist glowed black and I struck downwards onto its snout. Ground Breaker, a skill that also caused a slight tremor in the ground that had a chance of inflicting the Hold condition. Luckily for me, it worked this time, which gave me enough time to recover from the delay and unleash my strongest skill.
I kicked the Shaedfox up into the air. Three direct kicks with my right leg. Retract, and then roundhouse. I continued spinning and landed a spinning kick with my left leg, which angled slightly upwards, carrying the monster higher. As it fell, I kneed it upwards again with my right, before taking a step back, folding my right arm back and, stepping forwards again, landing a powerful punch that blasted it away. The Shaedfox hit the tree it had pounced from, the impact dealing it just a bit more damage, before shifting again. The gold-flecked red glow faded from my limbs.
Martial Arts eight-consecutive-hit skill, Eruption. I checked its HP. Ah, it was in red. But now I really had to be fast. Chances were it would use its third attack which for me was a sure kill. As soon as I thought of that, my heartbeat rose. I suddenly saw more black than red.
It was almost funny how every monster sometimes looked like those bastards long ago. Almost. I guess I really should train my defense stat, my attack was high enough. Maybe a bit of expenditure in agility would help too.
I shook my head. I could think about that later. I had to be focused. I grabbed my last pick in my left hand, getting into position for one final skill. I threw it.
The Shaedfox disappeared and almost instantly reappeared in front of me.
"Haaah!" My fist glowed yellow and closed in on the monster, as its jaws closed in on me. Time seemed to slow to an agonizing level. Reach it, reach it, reach it…!
The jaws snapped shut as my right fist dug into its body. The Shaedfox shivered. Blue polygons replaced it as it shattered but the drop item appeared in such a way it looked like its insides just disappeared, leaving its skin hollow.
Heart in overdrive, I checked my HP. Only its foremost fangs had grazed my neck, but it had still been a critical hit, which left me just above red HP. I let out a breath and collapsed onto my knees.
"Next time," I exhaled, "I'm getting something that is way less trouble."
*~B~*
[August 1st, 2020]
It was just another day. Except it was also Arisa's birthday. And she made the fatal mistake of telling Reya and Bennia about it. Well, mostly Reya.
"Tou-saaan! It's Arisa's birthday! We need to go get cake and gifts!"
"Is it really? Well then happy birthday, Arisa," Kusaka-san said
"…Happy birthday," Bennia said from under her table.
"Come on, Tou-san! We need to go get her something!"
"Slow down, Reya, the day has just started. We can go get her something later."
"Ah… there's no need," Arisa tried.
"What? Of course there is!" Reya said excitedly.
"Even if you get me a gift, they'll just take it away," Arisa said.
"Why would someone steal a birthday gift? That's not right."
"They don't care," Arisa replied.
"Hmm! Okay, we're getting you a gift!"
"Eh?"
"Yeah! I'll just give you one of the gaming consoles we have here! If those bad kids over there will take it away, then you can just use it here!"
"B-but… I can't read very well."
"No problem! I'll teach you!" Reya replied. "I can teach you everything about a game. Except math. Don't ask me about math. Tou-san can teach you math."
"Don't I get a say in this, Reya?" Kusaka-san said lightly.
"Nope!"
"Okay, okay."
"Now, come on, Bennia!" Reya said, going to Bennia's table and dragging her out. "We need to choose a game for Arisa!"
And just like that they disappeared into the shop interior. Just then a man walked in. He didn't see Arisa because she was in a corner on the opposite side of the room, sitting just out of sight of the counter. "Hey," he greeted Kusaka-san, "I want to buy something for my son. But make sure there're no guns or violence or anything in it."
"You know, all those myths are false," Kusaka-san said.
"Yeah, right. The wrong kind of influence can really change a kid into something else. Didn't you hear about the incident at a post office in Tokyo?"
"What incident?"
"Well, there was this robbery happening and this eleven-year-old girl actually shot the guy dead with his own gun. Can you believe that? God knows what that kid's mind is like."
"If that's what happened, then that child just saved the lives of everyone in that post office," Kusaka-san said.
"The girl shot a man. She shot a man. What kind of child shoots a man dead?"
"She was terrified, sir. Whoever she is, she was very terrified and very brave."
The man gave Kusaka-san a disbelieving look. "Just give me a non-violent game."
"A racing game, then?"
"Yeah, he likes cars, so that's fine."
Three minutes later the man had his game and was out of the shop. "If children were influenced so easily, then I should be the worst person in the world right now."
Kusaka-san glanced to where she was. "You heard all that?"
Arisa walked out from her corner and nodded. "You're quite the bright young lady, aren't you?" Kusaka-san said, smiling slightly.
"If what he said was true, I should be Akayama the Second right now. Or like those two girls."
"Has she really gotten that bad?"
"She's bad tempered, she hates everyone who doesn't flatter her and her breath stinks."
"Sorry, did you say her breath smells?" Kusaka-san asked, frowning.
"Yeah. What about it?"
Kusaka-san looked thoughtful for a while. "So it hit her that hard, huh?" he muttered.
"What?"
"Nothing, nothing. Anyway, why don't you go join the other two, tell them what you would like."
"I don't know what I'd like."
"Then you should go in there to make sure Reya doesn't choose anything too weird for you."
*~B~*
A while later, Arisa and Bennia were heading back to the orphanage and found Akayama standing at the doorway.
"There you are. Get the hell inside," Akayama said. Arisa frowned. She was looking for her? That didn't sound right,
"What are you waiting for, a red carpet? Hurry up, Bennia."
Ah. That was more like it. But it was still odd. Arisa glanced at Bennia. The sleepy-looking girl's expression rarely ever changed, but Arisa could tell that she was confused.
Suddenly all her sleepiness seemed to go away. Bennia turned and tried to run away, but Akayama had expected that and had approached them. The instant she tried to take a step Akayama had grabbed her. "Running again? That's not right, not after he tried so hard to find you. I don't know how you know, but he is waiting for you."
"Who is?" Arisa asked.
"None of your damn business, girl," Akayama snapped.
"She's my friend," Arisa said.
"Oh, is she now? Well, he is her father. Now go make yourself scarce."
With that Akayama pulled Bennia inside. Arisa waited until they were out of sight and began following them.
Sneaking around was her specialty. Akayama led Bennia – more like dragged her – to the guest room, which was right beside the stairs. Perfect. She could easily hide under the stairs. Arisa watched them enter and, looking around to make sure nobody else was around, she made for the still open doorway and peeked in.
"So, here she is, Orcus-dono. Am I pronouncing it correctly?"
"Yes, it's alright. There you are."
Arisa knew a fake smile when she saw one. And this man had the fakest smile possible.
What was really odd was that Arisa couldn't make out his features. She could see bits of black hair poking out from under his hat – who wore a hat like that anymore? – but the features of his face just would not register. The only thing that she could very clearly make out was that his eyes were the same as Bennia's.
"Now, I'm sure you two need some time together after so long," Akayama said. Being nice just didn't suit her either. Two fake adults in the same room. Arisa didn't like that at all. "If you'll excuse me, I have very urgent work to do. You're welcome to use this room as long as necessary, and feel free to leave when you like." With that, she exited the room. Luckily, she didn't glance back, or she would've spotted Arisa.
{Hmph. I wouldn't like to be the one who picks that woman up}
His voice had changed. Arisa shivered. Why did it feel so … wrong?
"I'm not going with you," Bennia said, just loudly enough that Arisa could hear.
{It's not a matter of choice. From the moment you were born your life was chosen for you. You cannot turn away from this.}
"I don't care. I'm not going with you." Arisa had never heard Bennia speak so firmly.
The man called Orcus sighed. {Look here. I don't care whether you want to or not. There's nowhere else you could go. Here? With these people? You're not like them. You couldn't be further away from them.}
"My mother was like them. She was normal."
The man's face contorted. {Your mother is dead. The closest you can be to here is if you come with me.}
"Mother wouldn't want me to."
Suddenly the man slapped her. {What she wanted doesn't matter. What you want doesn't matter either.}
"So only what you want does?" Bennia asked.
{Don't screw with me, girl.} What kind of parent talked to their child like that? Arisa disliked this man more and more. {You're coming with me and that's final.}
"No. I'm not going with you. I'm not!}
Bennia's voice also seemed to change. Arisa saw the man smile. {See? Isn't it easier to not force yourself?}
Arisa didn't know what made her walk into that room. No, she did know. Bennia was her friend. They were the Weirduo. She wasn't letting this man take her wherever he liked, even if he was her father.
So she walked right in and said, "She doesn't want to go."
The man paused and turned around. "And just who are you?" he asked. There it was, that normal, but forced sounding voice.
"I'm her friend."
The man stared at her for a few seconds. Then he laughed, voice shifting yet again to that unearthly, chilling voice. {Ha ha! Are you now? So she's your friend, Bennia? The one person in this dump who is not normal, and that's the one that becomes your friend? Ha!}
{Arisa, please, leave," Bennia pleaded.
{Arisa? Is that your name?}
Suddenly Arisa was very terrified. The man was letting out some kind of pressure. {A friend? Who are you to intervene in a family matter?} the man said, all traces of humor gone. {And you,} he said, turning to Bennia, {don't need 'friends.' It's not in the job description.}
"Sh-she doesn't want to go," Arisa repeated, trembling.
{Oh? And you're going to stop me?}
Arisa was absolutely terrified. The man looked at her. He smiled. {Oh, you're very interesting. I know just what to do with you.}
{Leave her alone!} Bennia shouted.
Why can't they hear us outside? Arisa wondered. In fact, Arisa could hear nothing at all, nothing except when the people in that room spoke.
{Look at me, girl,} the man commanded. Arisa didn't look. {Look at me!} Arisa flinched at turned to look at him.
In later years she would believe that it was just her imagination and her fear that had made her see what she had seen. But for the briefest of instants, a primal terror had shrouded Arisa. Orcus's black suit and hat had for the tiniest moment seemed to be replaced by something else. Something long and sharp seemed to appear in his right hand.
And then that first headache of many happened. Arisa yelped in pain and clutched her head.
{What did you do to her?!} Bennia demanded.
{I simply woke her up. Now, that's enough. We're leaving.}
Arisa squeezed her eyes shut. When she opened them, the two of them were gone.
"What the hell are you doing in here?" a rude voice said behind her. Arisa turned around and found Akayama.
THROB.
Heart. Head. Inebriation.
Another headache occurred and words seemed to sound in her mind. She didn't even know what the last one meant. "The hell happened to you?" Akayama demanded. "Get to your room and throw yourself in bed. Go!"
Her knees wobbling, and too weak to argue, Arisa stumbled out of the room, hoping like anything that Saki and Ami weren't there.
*~B~*
"So … Bennia's gone?" Reya asked sadly. Arisa could only nod. When she glanced up at Reya, a headache assaulted her again.
Head. Heart. Easily distracted.
What did he do to me? Arisa wondered.
"Alright, that's it!" Reya shouted, making Arisa jump. "We are getting you a portable gaming console!"
"What? What does that matter now?"
"We'll see her again," Reya said. Arisa looked at her, confused. "You just watch. One day, we'll see her again and we can have fun together again. So until then, the two of us just have to keep enjoying ourselves!"
"But… I can't take that back there."
"Didn't I tell you? You can play it here. And hey, I also promised to teach you to read better, right? So come on! We have to enjoy ourselves enough for Bennia's share, too, right?"
"…Yeah."
Arisa was very grateful for Reya right then. If she wasn't there, who knows what would've happened. But even Reya could only help her so much, because Arisa couldn't tell her what had happened to her.
Some birthday gift that was.
*~B~*
The message beep woke up Argo. Some dream, she thought. Guess it's because it's the same day, and because it's Aincrad.
A lot of people had said that being in Aincrad had made them relive some of their worst memories. The place just had that effect on people
She glanced at the sender of the message and then read it. Argo frowned. She looked at the sender again.
It was from the pervert. And it said [Panareze, the same spot where we talked this morning. I wanna give you something.]
So he had gotten some kind of gift to give her. Argo sighed. Does no one ever listen to me?
Still, she couldn't just ignore it and leave him hanging. That'd be very Saki-ish.
And that's how she found herself taking the Teleport Gate to the twenty fourth floor. She arrived to see the sky reddening. It was almost sunset. And Panareze was one of those floors with a very amazing sunset, so that was a bonus.
Reaching the spot, at first she didn't notice the pervert. Then she found him lying down in the sand. The heck?
Walking up to him, hands on hips, she said, "Well?"
He opened his eyes. "Why'd you look so down today?"
"… What do you mean?" Argo said, narrowing her eyes. Did he call her down here to give her some sort of advice or something?
"Like I said this morning, you looked very out of it. Ah, whatever, I know you're not going to answer anyway."
"… Is that why you called me down here? You said you had to give me something."
"Hm? Oh, right. Hang on a sec."
The pervert got up and opened his inventory. "And … there." He clicked on something and an item appeared. Argo's breath caught.
It was a hooded cloak, and from its appearance, pretty high level. The outer layer was maroon and a bit furry, the inner layer very dark green. She could see several pockets inside it. At the neck of the cloak was a smooth silver clasp that glinted in the red-gold light.
"Well, you weren't exactly an accessory wearing type, so I couldn't get you something like that," Ise said, rubbing the back of his head. "I thought about getting you some other kind of equipment, something you'd find useful and I was lucky enough to chance upon a quest for getting this. And hey, it'd look a lot better on you than that dirt-brown cloak you have on."
Her eyes shot up at him. He flinched and covered his face with the arm that wasn't holding the cloak. "Sorry! Don't hit me!"
Hesitantly, she took the cloak from him. She tapped it and an information window appeared. It was called the Oracle's Cloak and it gave a huge boost to practically every stealth skill along with a significant boost in agility.
And she'd never heard of this or seen it before. "Where … where did you get this?" she asked.
"Oh, from that old tailor dude on the twenty-second, in that tavern."
She stared back. "That guy only gives a bottle of beer."
For a couple of seconds Ise was silent. "Well, you say the right thing and he'd offer to make this cloak. Which also required me to get an item from a place that wasn't yet discovered," he said proudly.
Argo kept staring. "You … you don't know?" Ise asked.
"Tell me everything. Now."
"You really don't know about any of this?" Ise asked incredulously.
"Pervert…"
"Just, just wait for a moment. Let me savor this."
A hand shot out and grabbed his collar, dragging him close. "Tell. Now."
"I will, I will," he said. "But uh, do you like it? Coz I kinda had to fight a miniboss or technically two to get this."
This time she was genuinely shocked and she released him. "You fought a what?"
"Well, the first one is something new which I fought alongside Genryuu back on the seventh floor. The second one was a Shaedfox."
Argo stared in astonishment. "You … you went to a twenty-eighth floor dungeon just to get this made?"
"Well … yeah," he said sheepishly.
"I thought you could barely walk out past the borders of the twentieth without flinching."
"Hey!" Ise protested. "I was scared of dying, yeah, but isn't everyone? And I had high enough attack to kill that thing quickly anyway. Besides, I just wanted to do something for you, since you looked so down. Oh, and guess what? It's a unique item! One of a kind, no duplicates!"
He did all that … for me? Me?
"So, uh, do you like it?" he asked again nervously. Argo took another long look at him, which seemed to make him more nervous. She stared at that stupid face with the shonen anime haircut and that very nervous and worried expression. Finally, she couldn't help but start laughing.
"Huh?! Why're you laughing? Is it that bad?!"
"No, no," she said, a growing smile stuck on her face. "I like it. I really like it."
"But you were laughing! Wait, what'd I do this time?"
"Oh, shut up, you idiot," she said. "And thank you. Really. Thanks a lot, Ise."
What is it about him? He's an idiot, a blatant pervert, an occasional nervous wreck, really strong, surprisingly caring … wait, wait, wait, those last two are nothing like the others! The hell am I thinking?!
"So … it's okay, right?" he asked again.
"Seriously, I just told you, it's great. It's a great gift. And I don't say that often, Pervert."
Then she noticed something else about the cloak. "Ooh, there's the catch," she remarked.
"What? What's wrong?"
Once again, she couldn't help smiling at that expression. "Well," she said slowly, just to torture him further. "This cloak is two levels higher than my level-nya."
"Argh! I knew I screwed up somewhere! I knew it!"
Argo laughed. "Shut up already. I can just level up in a while and then I can use it easily."
Ise still looked unsure. "But seriously, thank you, Ise. This really means a lot," Argo said sincerely.
"What, you don't get gifts often?"
Argo smirked slyly. "Now that is classified information-nya. Buuut," she said, grabbing his collar again, dragging him up close. She most certainly did not redden at the proximity. "How you got this cloak isn't allowed to be classified. So it's time to spill."
Ignoring his protests, she began to drag him to the nearest inn. He just keeps finding new ways to surprise me, doesn't he? shemused happily.
In the next hour, she would squeeze out every new tidbit of info the pervert had found.
And if afterwards she trained really hard to get herself those two levels higher, that was no one's business but hers.
*~B~*
SURPRIIIIIIISE!
Bet you didn't see those two characters being included.
… okay, to be completely honest, adding Bennia was a relatively last-minute decision. But then I remembered her father and well, that was potential just waiting to be used. As for her comics, well, that was just lulz. Hey, he and Ise are a bit similar. Okay, maybe not, but they're both perverts.
Kusaka Reya is markedly different in character from canon. She acts more like Irina or Meguri (another one of Sona's servants) but remember, the DxD canon is still in the future of this story, so she might just become soft-spoken very soon… *ominous silence* And I would've used Meguri, but she already had a bit of a backstory in canon, so, that went out the window.
See, this is why I don't understand why people feel the need to make so many OCs everywhere. I mean, for whatever franchise, you have a slew of supporting characters who are just fountains of potential. If more people used supporting characters properly, the fanfiction world would be several times more interesting than it already is.
For those who don't know or don't recall, Kusaka Reya is Sona Sitri's Bishop and Bennia is her Knight. Bennia, by the way, is a Grim Reaper demigod.
I took a few liberties with the Grim Reaper thing … well, very few, for now at least. Oh, and all those cameos!
This was also one of those chapters that I think I had the perfect finishing sentence for. The start and the end are always the hardest parts…
Oh, and it's a pretty big chapter too. Hmm. Maybe it could've been shorter…
Next chapter is more DxD oriented, and Kirito's finally gonna show up again. Well, that's it for today.
Punitor567 out. El Psy Congroo.