Kirito looked at Isha as she walked it was obvious that she had been affected by the demon, there was no way she couldn't have been, the extra skip that she used to give whenever she walked was gone and her smile had completely vanished.

Hew wanted to say something to her, but as much, as he tried to speak to her, he found it more and more difficult to do so.

He had always been a loner both in the real world and inside the game, but he never had trouble speaking to other guys, and despite some of the avatars being women, more often than not, it was just a random guy using it.

Isha was different, she was or is a girl-woman- female and now that he was aware of it if made it difficult to talk to her.

He noticed men and women watching over sheep and cows grazing, the shepherds ignored this group and continued to do whatever they were doing, they soon found fields growing corn on one side and wheat on the other.

The town was protected by a wall that completely encircled it, made of rocks and broken farm tools.

The people gasped as they entered the town and began to murmur until their eyes met his and they quickly lowered their heads in fear.

"I'm telling you the sailors say that you can see them all over the ocean and more than once they are forced to let go of a catch because one of them is caught in one of their nets"

"Fish men and women, like the ones of the old days."

"You all remember the stories, men and women some look like fish others like elves and some a mixture of the two" a man said loudly before a group of people began to laugh.

"Oh those are just stories, like elves or dwarfs" a woman answered the man her voice quickly losing its strength as her eyes widened at the sight in front of her.

Short men with long beards and long hair with large guts but muscle covered bodies wearing thick clothing or armor rode upon wagons pulled by unnaturally large horses.

A blond woman that wore fine silks and walked with such grace that she almost looked like an angel, her beauty however was completely unnatural and seemed to force people's eyes towards her.

Then she felt her heart stop and her breath in such a way that it nearly choked her as she saw the black swordsman Kirito, she had heard what he and those that laughed at death had done to their kind, so she quickly looked away lest she draw the Players attention to herself.

The horses stopped moving and an old dwarf jumped down from the wagon and walked towards her and her friends.

"Excuse me, but you fine people seem like people who live here. I'm looking for people that want work" Ugrack asked her and her friends as he unrolled a poster in front of them.

The woman hesitantly pointed towards the adventurers guild, it was one of many that existed in any town if it was big enough.

Ugrack gave her a wide smile and walked towards the guild, his body wobbling as he walked.

"I told you, they've returned, that woman is an Elf and those people they're dwarfs," her friend said to her his voice shaking with fear, his words caught the attention of the woman and those on the wagons as they all turned to look t her and her friends.

Somehow the elvan woman managed to stand to just inches from her friend her delicate skin seemed to shine and her long blond hair fell until it touched the foolish man's face.

"I am an Eldar, not an Elf" Isha said to the man, her voice sounded like if someone had hit the perfect note in a song when she spoke.

The sound of footsteps made her turn and she noticed that the dwarf had just continued walking towards the guild.

"Kids can't even tell the difference between a Dwarf and a Squat" Ugrack said his voice carrying his irritation, he didn't even know what a dwarf was.

"For.. forgive me" her friend said and thIsha simply used her right hand to mover her hair back before giving the man the most beautiful smile he had ever seen.

All of those observing the exchange would latter tell that Isha performed or casted a spell that cleaned the land around them before taking her seat next to the man, some would claim that she simply sat on the ground with her legs crossed, but all accounts would agree on one thing.

It was there in the center of town, where the Eldar Isha and the commoner Lancelot first met.

"Forget about it, I'll tell you what I'll forget about if you tell me about your adventures, brave knight," Isha said to the man, who looked at her with a confused expression.

"I'm no knight" Lancelot answered Isha, who just continued to smile.

"I see then, I will wait until you earn the right to call yourself a knight and tell me your stories" Isha answered Lancelot, before rising to her feet as Ugrack exited the guild.

"There's no need to stay and see what sights the town has, we still have a long way to go and we're not even halfway to the mountain" Ugrack said before looking at the small group of Humans who were all looking at Isha.

"We're leaving" Ughrack said to Isha this time his wors were firn and left no room for arguments.

"I'll see you when our paths meet" Isha said to the group of friends before realizing she didn't know any of their names.

"Arturia" The woman introduced herself

"Lancelot" the man answered

"I'm Guinevere" said the youngest amongst them.

As the wagons began to move again Kiito passed in front of the group of friends and judging by the rags they all wore, he knew they wouldn't have the best lives, so perhaps it was because he felt pity or perhaps because he saw his younger self in them, he called to his help screen and brought out three of his spare swords giving them to the three friends.

He never said a word to them, he never told them he expected anything from them and yet the three clung tightly to the swords given to them, swearing to The Black Swords Man proud and one day tell the Eldar woman the stories of the adventures they had.