Oh man, this week was weird. Every time I went to write my mind just went "Naaah... Let's lay down and chillax." I managed to get a lot of bare bones stuff on my phone, and most of that was the framework that I used for reference later on.
#Cut your run short. Busy day today.#
"And I was just getting ready for the actual stuff, too." I closed out of the message and looped back down the hill. The night before I had been taking another look at my sound options. At the bottom of that section was a toggle feature as for background music as well as a greyed out bar for how loud it was. It was quite nice listening to the looping melody of what seemed to be a variety of marimba type instruments, accompanied by the occasional pat of a tambourine and gong of a bell. The way the metal resonated seemed very much like the sound of the smiths in the north carrying across the town in unison.
It seemed entirely incidental to me that the decision to activate ambient music brought about an energy that had never been in «Tolbana» before. Rumors on the wind spoke of how an attempt at the boss room would be made today, and that a group of some forty odd members had been seen the previous evening at the ampitheatre on the western mountainside.
Personally, I didn't care for fighting the bosses of each floor, but I supposed that in a few months time my attitude would reverse when I inevitably decided that I was tired of living in a world that comprised of 1's and 0's. Perhaps more so than the simulated reality theory.
As I entered the inn we were staying at, I thumbed over to a different shirt, a dazzle of light briefly surrounding my torso as the change took place. In the center of the room, the seven males were situated around the rectangular arrangement we used when able to move tables around. "I'm a little surprised all of you look so awake. You normally need at least another hour or two before I can hold decent conversation."
Klein could only laugh at my comment. "Kirito sent us an invitation to join up with today's push towards the boss room. Apparently a group managed to find the place two days ago and they had a meeting about it yesterday."
I hummed, wondering if it was the group in question belonged to the blue haired shield user we had left the day before.
"We're going to upgrade our equipment before trying to join up with them in the safe zone in the forest north of here." Harry turned away from his conversation with Kunimitzz, the seventeen year old shaking his head at something on his interface. "Asuna's supposed to join up with us at the forges, but she's having difficulty working the marker system for the map. Really, it's like she never played a game before."
"To be fair, you guys had to explain to me what DPS stood for an a bunch of whole acronyms, so be nice to the poor girl. We can't all be shut in recluses that never see the light of day," I joked, resting my arms on the unused chair beside Haru.
"No, you just have to be a battle crazy woman with a penchant for pins and attacks that would be incredibly deadly in real life. If it weren't for you being a foreigner- actually, I take that back. You probably are a crime boss somewhere in the world."
I broke into a coughing fit, my eyes tearing up at Kunimittz' words. "It's not okay how you can say stuff like that with a such a straight face."
"You think I'm joking," He deadpanned.
I chuckled and tapped my nose. "Because you amuse me so, I shall spare you if the time ever comes. But know that my generosity has limits, young one."
"We're ten years apart, at most." Kunimitzz shifted, moving his head off the table and onto his hand. I had assumed he didn't like me that much, but looking at him now it seemed to me that he just had a really strong resting bitch face.
"I'm twenty seven," I stated, looking over at Klein when he rose.
"Five years, then."
"Time to head out guys. Once we get into the fields, we're going to ignore any monsters we find until we get into the Tower. Gotta keep up our durability for the main event." At Klein's count, we clapped a single time, the sound reverberating around the room.
I'm glad I met these guys.
{ } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { }
December 4th, 2022. An hour ago, at 1300, it would have been exactly four weeks since some ten thousand people became trapped in this floating castle and only now were we attempting any progress at escape, though not for lack of trying.
I weaved around the left leg of a «Ruin Kobold Tropper», treating its thigh like a punching bag. In front of it, Issin gored through the other leg, the combined «Threat» from our attacks allowing Choryu to safely land a «Stalking Prey» from behind. The ability naturally had a high critical hit chance. Combined with the slight power up from attacking from the rear, the dagger user was able fell the beast with the single strike.
Before we had left «Tolbana», my «Steel Kopis» had received a single upgrade to both Quickness and Sharpness, granting a minor decrease in how long my «Post Motion» duration was as well as enhancing my overall damage with the weapon. Even with those upgrades, I had still imposed a challenge on myself; I had been neglecting my unarmed combat skills. Regardless of whether or not I was inflicting significant damage, practicing the motions would help me when we eventually escaped.
The floors before us had been passing in a blur. Our nine parties, two of which were a man down, had been constantly rotating through each fight to make sure nobody was low on durability. Kirito had told us that his experiences in the beta taught him that the required amount of people for a Tower Boss to be safely beaten was 96 people, two Raid Parties that tagged out to maintain their health. With 52 people, I doubted that we would be able to achieve a non-pyrrhic victory.
Group A, one of the two groups designated as a Tank unit, charged past us without a word, crashing into the next group of monsters that were on our path. With this many people organized into full groups, the monsters would appear with one or two extra spawns than their usual appearance to compensate for the perceived competition of resources. In rare cases, the amount of monsters that spawned were double the normal amount. When that happened, the group that was coming up from behind would lend their aid to dispatch the targets. Though it was more a unified mob aiming for the same goal than something properly organized, it was still inspiring to be apart of.
"Hey c'mon, Asasaki! If you don't catch up you won't get to have any fun!" Klein ran backwards past me, taking a page from my book and spinning forward between steps.
"We only have two more floors to go. It's not like that door is going anywhere," I said, keeping his pace. Kirito and Asuna alone were more than enough to take care of any monsters that were meant for us, the two displaying a surprising amount of coordination for people that had only met three days ago.
"Ah man, you're such a downer. We're about to fight the first boss of this world! How can you not be excited?!" He asked, raising his weapon in the air.
I pursed my lips, not wanting to speak so bluntly. At some point during our trek up the Tower, the realization of what we were actually doing had hit me with full force. I wanted nothing more than for my group to not participate, to do whatever I could to keep those I had grown attached to in the past two week from dieing. Seeing them grin and cheer as if this were a night out to the movies or an amusement park had made it hard for me to voice my concerns. "This is supposed to be a boss fight, right?"
"Yup," he replied, the second half of the word partially cut off.
I waved my hand over my head in thanks as we jogged past Group B, led by a tall back male who went by the name of Agil. "And aren't bosses normally big, giant things with hard hitting, wide attack patterns?"
"Oh yeah." When we passed Diavel's group, Klein let out a rousing cry to boost their morale.
"And aren't we limited to a single life in this world?" We moved to the side of the hall, spiriting past the trio of «Ruin Kobold Troopers» that Group D, one of our primary damage groups, was engaged in combat with.
"Yup."
I blinked in confusion, speeding up marginally so I could view Klein's expression. "You are remarkably excited for this," I muttered, an unspoken question lingering in the air.
"I mean of course I'm scared, but it's like Harry said this morning. If we can't find any joy or laughter in this, we've already lost."
I couldn't resist giving an amused scoff, recalling my very words that the black haired shield user had shared with the rest of the group as a pep talk. "Very well. My joy and laughter in this shall be going all out, without a care in the world; losing myself in the song of battle against digital constructs that have no motives or desires other than to erase me from existence. I can't possibly feel bad about killing something that has no other desires; no family, no loved ones. Just something that was born to destroy."
"I know I should be concerned about that, and I'll get the story out of you one day, but for now I'm just going to cheer for you." Klein laughed, moving into a proper run. "Keep up, Little Miss Developer! There's levels to be gained!"
"Slow down! I can't hack my stats to make me faster than you!" I shot back, purposely keeping ahead of him for several seconds before falling back a step.
The sibling teams of Group H and Group I that consisted of Furinkazan and Co. were unique in that we were a miniature raid group in our own right. While Groups F and G had also been designated as support, they were primarily composed of polearms and other weapons capable of using crowd control abilities. Our groups were designed so that we could take on any monster on our own, working around either the two polearms in Group F or Harry in Group G.
Klein and Harry had decided that we would need a rapid response team and thusly had changed our composition from the previous day to consist of what we believed to be the faster people within our group of ten, using Harry as our anchor slash rally point.
"Hey, Asasaki. How about a bet?" Klein asked during a moment of silence. "Whoever kills the most monsters inside the boss room gets one favor from the other person."
I snorted. "I like the idea, but shelve it for the time being. If I took you up on that, I might end up doing something stupid and nearly get killed."
"So at a later date then?" He asked.
"At a later date," I repeated.
"Hey, catch you in a bit. The next group of monsters belongs to us." I continued running with Klein, wishing him luck we we caught back up with my group.
"Is a push to the boss room really a good time to flirt, Auntie?" Kirito grinned, his sword held along his back just a few inches shy from entering a «Pre-Motion» stance.
"Any time is a good time to flirt," I told Kirito. "Just need to balance it between the rest of your responsibilities."
"You know, with how short you are, Asasaki, I'm curious as to whether or not I could get away with calling the cops on Klein."
I wasn't proud to admit that I stumbled on my next few steps. "I expected something like that out of Kirito or Issin, but you, Harry? Did I wake up in a different universe or something?"
"Our morning blossom brand alarm clocks weren't functioning this morning. It's much nicer waking up to a Klein sanctioned wake up call." I heard the grin on Harry's face, glad to know our morale was still high.
I chuckled, remembering that I had once explained where my handle originated from. "If I let you guys have your way, we probably wouldn't have been able to attend the party."
"But the party hasn't even started yet. Dibs!" Kirito shot forward, his weapon trailing a brilliant blue as he released a sword skill.
"Save you strength! We haven't even gotten to the main course yet!" I shook my head, turning to talk to Asuna. "So are you feeling excited- and you're not here." I looked behind me, raising a brow at how the red haired rapier user quietly slipped off to join Kirito. "Must have had one amazing talk last night when we separated."
{ } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { }
As we gathered outside the heavy doors that led to the boss room, I overheard Kirito reminding Asuna about how their sub-group would operate, more for his nerves than hers. When he knocked one of the monsters off balance, Asuna would go in and attack the throat. Whether in oversight or purposeful design, the «Ruin Kobold Sentries» that we would be facing alongside «Illfang the Kobold Lord» didn't wear any type of protective gear for their throats, only heavy platemail over their torsos, limbs, and a full helm on their head.
"Remember, everyone. The primary strategy we'll be using today is "Switch and Pot". Call out for others to take your place when you force an opening, and if you take enough damage for a potion to be of complete use, tag out so you can recover. Let's get through this with no deaths, everybody!"
"For freedom!" I instinctively let out, raising a fist. The gathering of 52 people reiterated my cry, sending a pleasant chill up my spine.
We piled through the entrance, spreading out into our groups. Behind us, the heavy ornate doors remained open, something Kirito had informed us would occur in case we needed to abort the battle.
The blood red torches situated on the stone pillars flickered, changing into a vibrant blue. Behind, a pulse of white light raced down the hall, painting the white and grey of the room with a kaleidoscope of colors. A large spawning matrix formed on the throne on the other side, materializing a beast of a creature. Slowly it stood, picking up the massive axe and shield at it sides. With a roar, six additional matrices appeared, summoning the armored fodder that would appear every time one of their leader's health bars was depleted.
"This isn't right," Kirito breathed. "There was only supposed to be three."
"Things change, kid. Better get used to it. Harry! Direct me as you will!" I drew my blade, moving into a ready stance. At the front of our gathering, the blue haired leader raised his sword in the air, commanding our forces forward.
{ } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { }
I grinned darkly. Realizing that we would not be able to take care of all the monsters with conventional methods, Harry had decided to turn me loose, letting me go as I pleased. I had taken to wielding both my «Steel Kopis» and my «Iron Dao». Doing so prevented me from using any sword skills, but the training I had allowed me to use the somewhat short weapons effectively. Because of the size of them as well as I wasn't able to perform all the fancy tricks that I would ordinarily be able to, but against opponents who only knew how to slash in one of eight directions, simply able to redirect momentum was all I needed.
My weapons blinked from a block into a three hit combo that knocked the sentry to the ground and suffering from a bleed effect. Behind me, the other kobold that I was dealing with finally recovered from its stun and tumble, picking its spiked mace from the ground. "I should have taken Klein up on his bet. I would have won for sure!" I shot my dao out, using the back to forcefully raise my target's sword arm into the air and exposing its armpit, moving it over my head. My kopis smoothly inserted into its torso from the opening, sliding back out and dealing a significant amount of damage for a normal attack if the screech was anything to go by.
The programming that these monsters had seemed incapable of dealing with pins and holds, something I abused freely. "When they patch this game, they should add blood to the morality settings! It's no fun fighting you things if you they bleed or show pain!" I cackled, sliding behind it and slitting its throat before kicking it away to collide with its companion.
It was slow going, dealing with this fodder without being able to use any sword skills. But nobody else, even as a group, seemed willing to hold their own against two monsters at the same time, instead dividing the work so that each monster had at least two people against it.
In the corner of my eye, I watched Harry's health bar inch back and forth from 70%, the shield user actively drinking potions in the middle of combat to keep himself at the front. At first, he had fallen down to 40%, but after slowly making his way back up to the point where his yellow bar started becoming green, it constantly teetered between the two colors. I would have loved to have fought beside him, watching how he maintained his health to such a precise degree.
In the center of the room, the third bar of Illfang's health inched away. "I hate to cut this conversation short, but you need to go now. The time limit for our little date is running out." I leapt atop the two monsters, viciously stabbing my kopis through the chinks in their armor over and over until they exploded into particles. I stood up form my kneeling position and tilted my head to the side. There was absolutely no conflict in this for me. I knew without a doubt that I would kill all my marks without so much as a hint of the word struggle being used to describe the conflict. It was like playing tag with children. You only amused them because you wanted to entertain them, not because it was much actual fun for yourself.
A bestial roar erupted from the seven foot tall boss, heralding the another round of monsters. I let go of my dao, tackling the closest sentry to the floor. "Hello there! My name Dawn Lakewood. You killed my friend. Prepare to die." My left hand shoved its head against the floor, the rabbit esque creature struggling to push me off. Its efforts were in vain; with my kopis jammed through the central eye slot on its helm, its health vanished in large amounts as I blended whatever constituted for a brain into goo.
"Don't think you can sneak up on me," I whispered, rolling off the soon to be corpse. A glowing warhammer slammed into the prone body of the sentry, finishing the job. "They call it friendly fire," I hooked the wrist of the extended limb into the crook of my right arm, roughly pushing behind the elbow with my left hand. "But is it ever really friendly?" The tumble status was inflicted on the creature, a significant portion of its health disappearing along with the broken limb. I yanked its head back, exposing its neck. "The rock monsters are more difficult than you!" I screamed, driving my weapon into its throat.
I huffed and reclaimed my «Iron Dao», dismissing it to my quick access bar. Around me, the other sentries were slowly being taken down. Tank Squad A and Damage Squad C surrounded the Kobold Leader as it discarded its weapons in favor of an long elegant weapon. "Following the lines of sheer appearances, it's probably going to use wide attacks. Being a boss with this many targets, I'm willing to bet mostly horizontal, switching to vertical if only a single person exposes themself." I watched as it raised its blade into the air, screaming a challenge.
"No! Get back! Everyone, jump back as far as you can!"
Kirito's voice barely reached me over the din of combat. Secure in the knowledge that there was nothing that could target me, I turned to look at him, frowning at the sheer panic on his face. Illfang leapt into the air, contorting its body and unleashing a spinning attack that created a visible gust of wind in the wake of its weapon. I found myself appreciating the beauty of the strike, how a trail of white left yellow currents of color dancing across the bodies of all those it knocked back.
The part of me that wasn't lost in the senseless carnage internally screamed with fear, recognizing Kirito's warning of a follow up attack. My eyes honed in on the figure of the blue haired shield user known as Diavel, watching him get juggled by a four hit combo that ended with a thrust. His body arced through the air, landing gracefully near Kirito, the former managing to say something before shattering into glimmering chaff.
No.
I felt myself let out a sigh, annoyance surging through my entire being. "Is this how it's going to be? Give up at the first sign of difficulty? I swear we were stronger than this. Fighting the good fight, standing up for what was right. We didn't almost become a Ranger just to break down, did we?"
No…!
"Man, I am such a mess. Can't even respond to questions properly. Good thing we know how to fight, or else you'd be nothing but a far off memory." The being known as Asasaki grinned viciously, the dozens of screams releasing into the air masking our footsteps. "Get off your asses and kill this fucker!" We soared into the air, neon blue marking the leaping strike of «Sparrow in Flight». As we fell, our kopis snaked out, scoring a half dozen system assisted thrusts on the unarmored body of Illfang.
"Control your output! You're going to OT!" The voice sounded familiar, but in my rage I was unable to place it.
"Piss off! As if I'm going to let some no name civilian dictate what I should or shouldn't do!" We dashed forward, spinning around in a maneuver that could only ever work against a complete novice.
"Hey, we're trying to keep you alive!" The guttural screams of several people rang out, one after another, accompanied by a flash of light.
"And I'm trying to end this sonuvabitch!" We stabbed our weapon into Illfang's calf, inflicting a minor bleed as we tore it out through the side.
Stop being such an ass! They're trying to help!
Shut up! I need to focus!
We continued our dance around the legs of Illfang, our sword twirling away with every step to slash away its health pixel by pixel.
"Everybody! Ten steps towards the exit! He won't use any AoE if he's not surrounded!"
I followed the command, instinctively recognizing that somebody had a proper plan. In the corner of our vision, obscured by the four other health bars of those in our party, Illfang positioned his blade in a particular way. "Like hell!" I brought my blade to my side, left hand resting atop the tang. In an instant the system took over, our mind adding our own strength into the motions to slam the butt of our sword into Illfang's right knee. A static pulse of yellow emanated from the strike zone, the second strike of «Comet Cannon» bringing us behind the monster.
In that moment, the room was utterly silent, in the next, the ringing sound of metal against metal echoed. Kirito landed at my side, his face contorting with strain. "Pot back up while we buy time!" He yelled back at the others.
I let out a bark of laughter. "Now you're speaking my language!" I swiped my interface open, quickly materializing my dao in my left hand. "Who cares about defense? It's a literal fucking Goliath! I'll just shave away its health until it explodes like every other piece of shit in this place!"
I ran at Illfang, sliding underneath the swipe of its free paw on my knees completely uncaring of how my health lowered slightly from the action. My blades flitted about in a familiar pattern; at any given time a weapon was chambered to block an attack that would never come thanks to the height differential while the other sliced inconsequential wounds that would add up over time. At the edges of my sight, twin stars of red and blue shot about, intercepting and countering every blow that was meant for someone.
Are you happy now? We're playing nice. We're letting others help.
I ran up a leg, stabbing my way up Illfang's back until I reached its neck, driving my kopis in and out like a jackhammer.
Does it feel good? Knowing that they're all going to die, regardless of what you do?
Shut up.
With its health bar hovering above my head, I couldn't tell how much damage my strikes were doing, but the way the giant flinched and roared with every strike was an adequate signal.
Just like Satoru.
Shut up!
I let out a scream of fury, bringing my weapons across its throat.
Just like Parker.
SHUT UP!
Illfang released another spinning strike, launching me through the air. Before the wave of white crashed into me, I managed to right myself midair, landing in a crouching position as yellow arcs danced along my body.
Do you want to die?
I stared up at the black blade, watching as it glowed a demonic red. Illfang's omnipresent grin seemed stronger in that instant.
I do…
Then do it.
The weapon slowly fell, all thought and emotion parting before its edge.
"Hraaagh!" A heavy clang rang out above my head, a pair of legs clothed in white sliding out of my vision. "And this is why you need to keep your damage low enough for the tanks to keep aggro." A dark skinned arm wrapped around my stomach, ferrying me away.
"Got your lady. Feisty one, she is." The man I now recognized as Agil set me gently against a pillar, the worried face of Klein appearing in my vision.
"Dammit Asasaki, what were you thinking!" He demanded.
"Hey, I'm all for reunions and all that, but we still have a boss to fight. The mobs are dead so we better wait for the kid to give us his orders." The two handed axe user dissapeared from my vision, my red haired leader taking front and center.
"We're talking when this is done." Klein glared at me, one that had no effect against my drained self. I looked to the side, tracking the progression of sensation as it returned to my body. His footsteps faded away, blending into the sounds of combat.
Why did you do that to me?
Nobody responded. I bit my lower lip, recalling the damning words one of my doctors had delivered to me. "I'm too old for this shit," I whispered. I raised my head, resting it against the masonry to watch the rest of the fight unfold.
Under Kirito's direction, the Tanking units and rotating DPS squads whittled away Illfang's health. With the knowledge that Kirito had been in the beta, the way he countered one of Illfang's strikes with a «Sonic Leap» seemed as if it had been scripted, the beast crashing to the ground as the «Tumble» status appeared under its single gauge.
"Everyone on it, now!" The 50 remaining people that were capable of fighting tore into the boss monster with impunity. In the chaos of it all, my eyes focused on the two child soldiers, watching them remove the last few numbers of health that allowed Illfang to live.
{ } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { }
He's such an idiot.
My body moved of its own volition. Kirito's words had left everybody in a stunned silence, their anger returned as he ascended up the stairs. Even if I wasn't entirely back yet, my convictions refused to let him suffer alone.
"You know they're going to target you if you follow after me, Granny," the teen said when I caught up to him.
"I thought I told you to call me Auntie," I responded, forcing a bit of mirth into my voice.
"I think Granny's better right now. It's easier to deal with what I saw." Kirito stopped walking, refusing to meet my gaze. The stairwell behind throne was a massive tower of empty space, the spiraling steps surrounded by darkness were the only things lit by a soft pale translucent light. In truth, it seemed very much like the stairwell from the opening animation from a game one of my cousins was heavily invested in.
"I'll explain some day. Probably." I stopped a step above him, turning to look at the source of footsteps that were trampling up the stairwell.
"Like we'd let you two go through this alone." Klein walked up to me, enveloping me into a hug. "I dunno what that was about, but I want you to know that I'm here whenever you're ready," he whispered.
"We all are," Issin said. Behind him, the rest of Furinkazan softly voiced their support.
I gently pushed away from Klein, closing my eyes to keep a handle on my emotions. "Thank you. All of you. Kirito?" He paused when I called his name, a hand resting on the gray door decorated with a large trapezoid and a top heavy humanoid standing on either side. "What do we do from here? You're the beta tester. We have no experience on what to do."
The swordsman turned around to look at our gathering, a jolt of pain shooting through me at how quickly his gazed passed over me. "Activate the warp gate in «Urbus», then head out into the fields for some level grinding while everybody's still getting used to the new zone." The black haired bishie turned back around, hesitating.
"Ah man. I was really looking forward to taking a break for the day." Klein scratched his head, the other males sighing as one. "Whelp. Guess there's no helping it. How about it, guys? Feel like fighting some new monsters?" Above us, the the doors briefly groaned.
"So long as we come back down to finish all the quests. You know how I feel about leaving things unfinished, Klein." I hummed at Harry's words, recalling that we had arrived at the decision to grind our way up to level 15 before tackling the rest of the quests.
"You guys should see this." Kirito grinned, pushing the doors open the rest of the way.
My expression shifted into one of pleasure at the expanse of land that spread out before us. Bathed in the light of the afternoon sun, a vast open plain spread out before us, stopping at the sheer cliffs of a plateau halfway towards the Tower at the southern end and partially to the east.
"Oh, wow. Okay, on a list of things that I always wanted to cross off my bucket list, I think I can firmly say looking out from the top of a mountain is firmly cross off that list." I snickered at Issin's comment, appreciating the sentiment. "Oi! Don't laugh! I've never gone hiking before. I was always stuck in the city."
"Not even a tall building?" I asked, joining Kirito on the carved steps that led the way down.
"No. Not for a sunset. Though I think I'll do that once we get out of here." The rest of our group took a seat at the top of the stairs, each losing themselves in their thoughts.
After a time, I looked around, wondering where the red haired girl we had helped was. "I'm surprised Asuna isn't joining us."
"She should be here soon. She's just a little lost over the situation that sprung up after Kirito pulled the trigger on any chance of socialising with the clearers."
"Nice description, Klein." The man stood and gave an exaggerated bow, rolling his hand in front of him towards an imaginary audience. "But really though. Are you going to be okay, Kirito?" I asked, pushing my breakdown to the back of my mind.
"I'll deal with it. I mostly play solo anyway, so it's not like anything really changed. What about you guys? I imagine your reputations can't be in a very good spot right about now."
"Ah, about that." Klein the back of his neck, groaning nervously.
"Congratulations, Kirito. You're the leader of a cult!" Issin grinned, giving the teen two thumbs up.
"What!?" Kirito lurched forward in shock, nearly tumbling down if I hadn't saved him by the back of his new coat.
"When one of Diavel's party members called us out on following after you and Asasaki, Klein said a few things on the spot that made us seem like we were following you as some kind of chosen one." Dale sighed and shook his head in disapproval.
"The one who will save us all! The prophesied hero who shall unite us all under one banner! Lord Kirito shall pave the way towards freedom!" Issin stood up, striking various dramatic poses that I found myself quietly applauding for.
"Please tell me you're joking?" Kirito's voice cracked towards the end, his grin looking fairly pained.
"You wish he was joking. I wish he was joking. Choryu and Issin didn't help matters, and Harry ended up breaking his usual stoic personality to talk about how he'd follow you to the ends of the earth." Kunimitzz stared at the four of us on the bottom step through a half lidded eye, propping his head on his right hand.
"In my defence, the whole situation was essentially the premise of a manga. Do you really think I could have let that pass without a word?" Harry smiled, leaning back on his hands.
Kirito turned his gaze downward, his shoulders falling slightly.
"Hey, Kirito. I don't care if you need to run off ahead to stay ahead of the curve. I don't care if you play solo. You helped me out when this whole mess started. And by proxy, you helped all of us out. You'll always have a place with Furinkazan, no matter what." I turned away from the bromance Klein was creating, shaking with laughter..
"You okay, Miss Asasaki?"
I took a moment to calm myself before looking up at Choryu. "Y'all really know how to make a gal feel special, you know that?" I breathed, feeling the edges of my vision start to tear up.
"Ah?" Haru seemed incredibly lost, blinking several times with his mouth open.
"Hey guys?" I leaned back, resting my head on the knees of a surprised Dynamm. "Thanks for putting up with me. I really appreciate it." I closed my eyes, basking in the presence of my companions. We stayed that way for a few minutes, the silence of the wind broken by the sound of tapping footfalls.
"Oh, Asuna-san. Glad you could make it. Great view, isn't it?"
Asuna didn't respond to Klein's greeting, her footsteps slowly approaching us. "What was that about?" she eventually asked.
"You're going to have to specify, Miss. We just had a discussion on Klein's spark of insanity in response to Kirito's martyrdom." Kunimitzz let out a long groan, settling for expressing his displeasure by smacking his head into his palms repeatedly.
"Both, then." Asuna sat down beside Choryu, glancing at my position.
"The majority of the group was starting to turn against beta testers as a whole," Dale started. "Their biggest targets at the time were Argo and Kirito. Kirito took it upon himself to make him look like the real bad guy to try and protect Argo the rest of the testers. Sort of like the villain you'd see in shows or stories who doesn't care for anybody and is only looking out for themself."
I sat up, taking over when Dale paused to take a breath. "What Scruffles ended up doing was basically one big show of solidarity, though in probably a really poorly executed way."
"What kind of people would we be if we let one of our friends stand alone?" Issin reached down to ruffle Kirito's hair, laughing at the cry of indignation the teen gave.
"Our offer extends to you too, Asuna-san. If you ever need a group, for anything, don't be afraid to ask us. We're all in this together." Klein's words brought a gentle smile to my face.
"We should head down to «Urbus» and activate the warp gate. I imagine everybody's starting to get antsy with how long it's been since word must have been passed that we beat the floor boss." Kirito smoothed his hair back to its normal messy look, the sun framing him in light.
"By the way, Miss Asasaki. The leader of group B wanted me to let you know that he wanted to talk with you later on. Preferably before the next boss fight. He seemed really concerned." The red haired girl followed after the one handed sword user, her hair trailing behind her like a ribbon.
I let out a sigh. "Thank you, Asuna-san. I'll try and meet up with him later this week. His name was Agil, right?" I turned to Klein, mindful of the distance between each step.
"Yeah. Do you want me to set up a meeting for you two? We added each other since we were group leaders."
"That'd be great. Thanks." Kirito tilted his head slightly and muttered something. "What was that?" I skipped the last few steps of the flight, moving to his side.
"There's forty eight steps on each flight," he repeated.
"What's so special about that?" There was value in that number, but the reason refused to reveal itself to me.
"That's how many players consist of a raid party for this game. Every single player in a group could be on a single flight at the same time. I just thought it was interesting that the designers would make it like this." Kirito looked back up the previous flight, the zigzagging pattern preventing anyone from seeing two or more flights without standing at the connecting platform between each one.
"It's a nice thought, however, I don't think they had such a divided group in mind when they were conceptualizing this place though."
I nodded at Harry's words, recalling that there was a palpable tension in the air when I had left the hall. "So where are all the cities in this place? All I saw were grassy fields and plateaus."
"The cities on this floor were dug out of the rock. The walls would act as natural protection in the real world, but at the same time a complete death trap if anything hostile got inside. There's actually a few places like that over on the eastern side, a death trap I mean. The monsters spawn fairly in there regularly, but they're also at a higher level than the rest of the area, even for the western plains. There are no safe zones around it either, so you have to go in fully stocked."
"In the east, death. In the west, also death. So what places are safe to go?" Klein asked.
"Some of the caves in the east side of the floor and the the central plains. We don't come across anything humanoid until we get closer to the Tower at the south. By the way, the easiest way to describe this floor would be the 'Cow Level'. The majority of all the drops here are leather, beef, and milk. There's some monsters in the caves that drop upgrade materials, but you have to go out of your way to hunt them down."
I killed the words as they formed in my mouth, remembering that two of our companions were still underage. "Good thing we all have the «Leather Armor» skill, right?" I said instead, quelling the image of the kinds of outfits one could make from leather.
"No kidding. Though if we finish up that quest line back in «Tolbana» we might be able to collect enough materials to make some decent metal armor. Hey, Kirito. Should we make the armor on the lower floors or create them on the higher?" Klein leaned forward to make contact with Kirito's eyes.
"I don't really mess around with metal armor, but if you can upgrade something at least four times it should last you to the next floor or two." Kirito cupped his chin. From his body motion, I assumed he was looking up at the sky. "But if you're going to get anything from the NPC's, you're probably better off doing it on a higher floor. Just about everything I used back in the beta was either player made or dropped by a monster, so I don't know if they'll have the same recipes from floor to floor."
"Ah… and now I'm wondering whether we're better off grinding for drops or if we should just get our gear crafted." Mr. Scruffles scratched his head, slowing down to talk to Harry.
"I'd get your gear crafted for the time being. It's probably better than store bought gear, and if you can always try and reference the stats to the local equipment to see if it's worthwhile, at least until Argo creates a list of the minimum requirements to safely traverse a floor."
"Would Argo really do that?" Asuna asked.
"It's how she is. With how many people are still stuck in «Town of Beginnings», she'd probably get around to it eventually." Kirito pointed out a cave in the distance that we needed to take, commenting on how it the last time he had gone through it it was straight path that was manmade.
"These fields are really empty," I commented. The starwell from the first floor had been a gradual climb down, the landings becoming larger and larger until it deposited us on the grasslands at the lowest part of the floor.
"The monsters have a reduced spawn rate for about two hours, the same length that it takes for the main portal to automatically activate. It's so that way the people who just got past the boss fight don't need to worry too much about getting into fights before they can repair their gear." Kirito stared up at the sky, his hands resting in his pockets. "But that's only for the direct path to the warp gate. If you take any detours then the spawn rate will be normal."
"The developers put a lot of thought into this world, didn't they?" Issin hefted his spear, swapping it to his other shoulder.
"Kayaba spent years working on this place. Between his own work and then input from everybody that worked for him, there's probably very little that they didn't think about." There was an undertone of admiration in Kirito's voice, one that I agreed with as much as I hated the man for trapping so many people in here.
As we neared the tunnel Kirito had mentioned, Harry pulled open his menu, a finger resting over something. "Will we need our lights?"
"Nah. There are torches set up for the primary paths. But if you go exploring on your own you'll need a light source."
True to Kirito's word, the path through the cliff face was entirely man made. There was a smooth look to it that seemed as if people had spent time improving the appearance, smoothing out the walls and creating holders for torches that never seemed to go out, a stark contrast to the jagged appearance of the curved ceiling.
"Kirito, how long did you spend in here? You sound like you've memorized a lot about this world." I jumped slightly, remembering that for once I wasn't the only female in the group of seven plus males.
"Pretty much all my free time was spent playing the beta. Honestly, I feel like if I didn't spend so much time doing quests I would've been able to get farther than I did, but if I did that I wouldn't know what's the most efficient." Kirito seemed regretful about the situation, the longing he expressed almost capable of garnering sympathy if it didn't sound like such a waste of time.
"Waah… Are you a shut-in, Kirito?" Asuna seemed a little disgusted with the black haired. I could imagine her eyes narrowing as her hands raised up in warding.
"Sorry to disappoint, Asuna-san, but the majority of people who got in here are shut ins. Remember that only ten thousand copies were developed, and that for the most part there were people who waited in line for days just to get their copies." I let out a smile, shielding my eyes with an arm when we reached the other side. Our view from the mountain gave use very little opportunity to see what the town of «Urbus» actually contained, and the change in perspective was incredible.
Klein tilted his head at the sight that lay before us. "I know this is just a game and all, but could you imagine how amazing this place would be if it was real? I mean, it looks like they dug the buildings out of the earth!"
"Not sure if they'd be structurally sound against earthquakes though. Not like they couldn't find a source of water and make bricks and rebuild from that though. Maybe think about doing something with the sod depending on how the weather is around here." I placed a hand on Klein's back, peeking around him to take a look at the constructs. "Hm. Maybe once upon a time they were actually built straight from the earth, but some of those buildings were reconstructed. Seems like the buildings that are of actual importance are still the original."
"You can see that from here?"
I turned to meet Kirito's gaze. "I have better vision than most people; our senses from the real world seem to carry over in here. Plus, you had to learn how to differentiate between several things in my line of work. If you couldn't spot the discrepancies, you wouldn't last long." I stepped around my red headed leader, lazily making my way down the stairs. "You know, I don't particularly care about it since I'm still considering myself on vacation and all, but doesn't it feel like we're taking a step forward in the world? I mean, more than just leveling up and all."
"Like an experiment done by a group of people that succeeded and supported their theories, right?" Asuna raised a finger, pleased with her analogy.
"That's kind of a weird way of putting it, but pretty much. By beating Illfang, we're basically letting everybody know that we can beat this game." Kirito stopped us at a monument. At each corner, a simple obelisk rested while on the northern edge a large wall with undecipherable script written across it rested.
"So how do we activate this thing, Kirito?" Issin rested a hand on one of the spires, slowly dragged his hand down.
"Exactly like that." Kirito gently tugged me and Asuna back by our shoulders, a nervous smile on his face. In the center of the platform, arcane glyphs formed the outline of a vertical circle, the crystalline text rotating slowly as blue motes of light floated into it.
"I vote we all step back. All in favor?" I chimed, moving Kirito in front of me as a shield. The rest of our group took notice and moved towards us, forming a line with Kirito and Asuna as the center. "Hey, how'z about we all smile? If I'm reading this right, we're get to be the greeting party." I equipped my dao through the menu, my weapons resting on either side of my hip.
More a hum than a flash, the intensity the now sphere of blue slowly gained may as well have been a roaring campfire. Barely a second after the gate formed, an arm poked through, the exuberant face of a teen soon following. "Yahoo! We're doing it! We're actually gonna get out of here!" The brown haired male danced his way across the plaza, completely ignorant of our gathering.
"So. Greeting party." I snirked at Kunimitzz' words, wondering when I would become used to his deadpan delivery.
"Give it time, Kuni. Eventually the nicer people will step through." I smiled and waved at the group of people who eventually noticed us, making sure my appearance was more demure than I usually let myself seem.
"You seem really used to this," Klein whispered in my ear.
"My extended family has a small celebration for me whenever me or somebody who was on tour comes home. It's pretty much the exact same as this, but with children of various ages that are begging to play with their favorite aunt or uncle or trying to get cool stories out of us." I returned the looks of admiration with a broad grin, watching the procession of people step through. "Not sure how I feel about the lack of little tykes holding onto my legs and begging me 'not to ever, ever, leave again, ever', though."
"What, that fond of them?"
I mentally rolled my eyes at his response, my smile turning true for a brief moment. "It's important to fight for the future generation. They're born into the mistakes that we leave behind. We should do our best to make sure they have an easier time, you know?"
"And that's why I'm going to call you Grandma." I could practically feel the smirk on the black haired swordsman to my right.
"Oi, we were having a really touching moment. You shouldn't ruin stuff like that, you never know when it'll come around."
Kirito merely snorted, doing his best to keep up his strained smile. If it wasn't for our group, I imagined that he would've slunk off to take care of whatever long ago.
"Sorry I messed up the plan," I said, still using a whisper to converse with Klein. "I know we originally wanted to try and get some grinding in before everybody started exploring, but I got caught up in the moment."
"Don't worry about it. This feels nice. Like a hero who just came back from a battle." Klein waved enthusiastically to a group of girls who were sneaking looks back at us. Part of me wanted to call him out on his behavior, but I neither had the right nor was I willing to curb his joy at the moment.
"You're not wrong though. Eh? Kirito?" I looked to my right, blinking at the retreating figure of the swordsman garbed in black. "Hey, I'm going to go help him out. No offense, but don't bother following. I'm not sure you'll be fast enough to keep up."
"Let me know if you end up having to go into a dungeon or something!"
I waved my hand in acknowledgment, pumping my arms harder to try and keep up.
What caught your attention, little Bishie?
Next chapter should be August 18th-19th.