Thanks everyone for coming to read this. This prompt week has been a labor of love, and I would like everyone to check out Agent 94, the fellow instigator of this ship week on the SAO Fanfiction Central Discord at /Gchhu3sK There are many authors writing for this event, try to track down all of them!

First Meeting

"Why the hell is the meeting all the way out here?" I grumbled as I pushed through the brush. I got the need for secrecy; apparently this player —this info broker— wasn't a fighter despite the entire point of SAO being combat. But protecting his identity made it harder for people to retaliate against him. Some speculation that I had heard said that they had found a way to hide their name; that Argo wasn't even the real name of this info broker.

Given how elusive he was turning out to be, I would believe it.

"Wasn't there some hidden room in town that they could hide in?" I continued complaining under my breath. Maybe then I wouldn't have had to trudge through inch-deep mud in what only barely avoided being a swamp. Normally I would have been rather impressed by the detail that went into how the wet soil clumped around my shoes and squelched as I stepped, but I had been walking through it for half an hour now, and any sense of awe or appreciation had long since worn off. On top of all that, I still had about five more minutes left to go.

"There's no reason to set up all the way out here; it's far too distant from the towns and a quagmire besides." I groaned as I slid around what looked uncomfortably like a quicksand pit, trying to make my ire with the unknown info broker heard. Even if no one was around to hear it.

"Ah, but then I wouldn't get ta watch people grumble as they tried ta find me then, would I?" A voice called out from off to my left. I nodded in agreement.

"I guess that would be a good reason," I hedged, brushing a hanging branch out of the way.

"It really is," The voice said, moving closer. It was distinctly feminine, even if the accent was strange, a rural accent, maybe? "So, what's an' adventurer like ya doin' all the way out here? Ya got somethin' ta search fer?"

"More like someone," I grumbled.

"They must really hate people, if they live all the way out here," the now-visible young woman said. Surprisingly enough, it was another player. I didn't know why she was all the way out here, but hopefully she knew some way to beat this mud. Not only did it seep through my boots and just feel uncomfortable, it gave me a -10 AGI debuff.

I paused to give the newcomer a once-over. She was wearing a brown cloak that almost completely concealed her features, hanging down so low that it almost dragged in the mud. Beneath the hood that cast her face into shadow, I could just barely make out a pair of eyes that gleamed with cunning.

As she walked, her steps seemed almost normal, with none of the squelching that had become a constant companion during my journey through the mud. "Now, who is it yer' lookin' fer?" The cloaked woman spread her arms wide, revealing a tightly-woven brown gambeson, interlaced with metal studs. It was a sensible light armor choice; not as stiff as leather, but with more protection than just cloth. "I can track 'em down fer ya, fer a price." The figure, no—the info broker—grinned.

Who else would be out here indeed?

"Thanks," I said, dismissing the trade window that had popped up after the info broker had spoken. "But I think I've found who I'm looking for."

"Oh?" Argo —if that really was her name— tilted her head, her eyes sharp and calculating. "Yer all the way out here, lookin' fer little old me?" A quick glance above her head signaled that yes, this was the mysterious info broker I had been searching for for the past half hour.

I sighed. I really wasn't in the mood for this, not after twenty minutes of slogging through mud. "Alright, Argo, why did you set up a meeting all the way out here?"

The cloaked woman muttered something, letting her hands drop.

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked, leaning forward.

"Oh, it's nothing," The info broker said, waving off my concern. "As for the info?" the info broker tapped the side of her face with a finger, "That'll be… 1500 Col."

"1500 Col?" I yelped. I could buy a whole set of healing pots for that much money. That was almost half an hour's worth of grinding! I could have farmed that instead of slogging through this swamp!

"What, ya think info grows on trees?" The cloaked woman said, waving an arm. "I worked really hard ta get this info, an' it's really valuable."

"Alright, no need to shout," I said, summoning up my own trade window and flicking a request toward the woman in front of me. With a flourish, she accepted the trade, and a window where we could put down what we had opened.

"Huh, her name really is Argo," I muttered to myself even as I inputted a donation of 1500 CoL. The window closed and I winced. I'd be able to get the money back soon enough, but it still felt a little painful to lose effectively 3000 CoL for something that I probably could have learned for free later on.

"Now, ta answer yer question," Argo said, turning around and waving a hand for me to follow. "I found a rare miniboss out here, an' ya were the first guy above level twenty ta try an' schedule a meetin' with me, so I thought that I might as well knock out two birds with one stone."

"A miniboss? Those have good drops." I said, falling into step behind the info broker. This changed things. A hidden miniboss, and presumably one that I'd be able to handle? The day was looking up already. If there was even one unique drop, I'd be able to sell it for well over 1500 CoL.

Half an hour later, Argo and I were covered in so much muck that you couldn't even tell that my shirt used to be blue, down to a quarter health each, and waiting for the paralysis timers to run out.

The [Terror of The Fens] lay dead at our feet.

As the debuff wore off, I clambered to my feet, wincing from the phantom ache of getting thrown through a tree.

"Well, Kii-bou, I think this is the start of a fruitful partnership!" Argo said, smiling as she paged through the post-battle loot, not seeming to care about how muddy she was.

I glared at the grinning info-broker, before turning my attention to my own loot window.

The very first item on the list was a sword with a +10 bonus to [STR] compared to my current one.

"You know what, Argo?" I said, hitting the equip button and feeling a new blade manifest in my hand. "I think it is."