Survive the Database
"Absolutely disgusting."
That was what went through the mind of Kazuto Kirigaya as he filled his mouth with that heresy.
"Daddy, I feel you're thinking rude things," said Yui. "Are you alright?"
"I would leave him alone, sweetie," said Asuna. "He's pretty moody today."
"...Over a piece of bread?" said Sinon.
Sure, said bread tasted like the worst rice ball that one could imagine, but that was already getting ridiculous.
The quartet, surprisingly, was the first of the two groups to reach the meeting point, a restaurant a bit far away from Akiba's center. Klein chose that point because it was close to where he appeared in Elder Tale, and it would be easy to go there from the plaza. Also, a nice bonus, the place was empty, except for Kirito, Asuna, Yui, Sinon, and two other players, a bulky Guardian and a thin Enchanter. The duo had disgruntled faces, having the first taste of the food from the new world.
Kirito could feel them. The restaurant, unfortunately, lacked fundamental ingredients -not even fruits or vegetables. The only things they had were bread and water. It was cheap, but Kirito couldn't help but complain.
"You are too used to Asuna's food," said Sinon. "You shouldn't set your standards so high."
"I can't help it," said Kirito. "This tastes like cardboard."
"So stop eating," replied the sniper.
"I'm hungry! How aren't you two feeling the same?"
"Kirito, you shouldn't eat with a full mouth," said Asuna.
The Swashbuckler gulped, eating all the remaining bread at once.
"Because we ate something before leaving," said Sinon. "You only ate that sandwich -that you spat and didn't finish to eat -and drank milk. We ate Asuna's vegetables. Even Yui did that."
The little girl smiled. In her teeth, there was a broccoli lint.
"We need to teach you how to brush your teeth," said Kirito.
The two players in the other table glanced at him, clearly confused by the talk. Kirito's eyes went to the Enchanter. For some reason, he seemed familiar. Before the Swashbuckler could reflect on the motive, the group of Klein arrived.
"Yo! Sorry for being late!" said the Samurai. "Got a bit lost."
"Klein, you led us to three dead ends," said Leafa, annoyed. "You were more than a little lost."
"Hey! Give me a break, alright? It's harder to move in real-time in this city. We were lucky that Recon was in the IRL Akihabara once."
"And we still got late," said Alice, sighing, taking a green leaf from her lupine ear. "And we destroyed the cabbages of an old man. I'm never going to live that down."
"...I would laugh at that, but eating cardboard bread, it's not doing wonders to my sense of humor."
Klein pulled a chair from an empty table, his companions following suit.
"What a drag. Moving through this city seemed so easy when this was a game. Now my feet hurt from walking so much."
"And don't forget about going up and down through a 20-floor building," added Leafa.
"It wasn't so bad," said Alice. "Compared to the Central Cathedral stairways..."
"Yeah, flex up as much as you can," said Recon.
"No, no, she has a point," said Kirito. "That place has a lot of stairs. I think you can train only from climbing the whole thing in one go."
Alice's face said everything.
"I'm glad that you didn't have the opportunity to meet Bercouli. You two would create some insane training regiment together."
"Great minds think alike," hummed the swordsman.
"Anyway," said Klein. "I think we should discuss what we found out."
The next half-hour, they shared everything they got in their searches. While Kirito's side knew about the misadventures of Klein's troupe thanks to the message, the Samurai added more details to his side of the story, like how he suspected that his contact was another survivor from SAO.
"It was surreal, man," said the Human Samurai. "She had that calm air. If she isn't another survivor, I bet she was a soldier or something like that on the other side."
Kirito glanced at the others, who nodded.
"Compared to the other Adventurers," said Recon. "She was stone-cold sober. A weird type, let me tell you."
"But I think she's reliable," said Alice. "She'll be a great help to us."
"And Klein actually behaved in front of her," said Leafa. "Maybe you still have a shot in getting love."
"Oi!" said the guild leader, red ears. "That phrasing makes me look like a womanizer! I'm a perfect gentleman!"
"Yeah, you aren't bad with the ladies," said Asuna. "You're only exaggerating. Better than Sugou Nobuyuki, at least."
The mention of that name was enough for the fencer to shudder. Only from invoking that rotten name, she gets on the edge.
"That's a real low standard," said Klein. "It's almost offensive."
The Cleric scratched her head, muttering a low-voiced "sorry."
After that, Kirito told his side of the story, up to the point where he beat Siegfroid.
"That's the good old you!" said Klein, smirking. "Showing who's the boss here!"
The Enchanter and the Guardian glanced at the group, curious.
"You don't need to scream to the world about my victory," said Kirito, grimacing.
The Human Samurai's cheeks went red.
"Uh, right. Sorry. I got excited. It's just that it's good to see one of those dandies get wrecked."
"...You do realize I was once one of them, don't you?"
"Gah!"
"Daddy's just teasing you, Klein," said Yui. "He doesn't care."
The leader of the Fuurikazan gave a sheepish smile.
"Oh. Right. I knew that. Totally."
The others chuckled at the Samurai's antics.
"So, in the end, nothing of Lisbeth," said Alice. "But we at least have people to help find her."
"Pretty much," said Sinon. "I don't think we can expect the Black Sword to search for Liz actively, but, by what that Isaac fellow said, everyone in the guild will keep their ears open. So, with luck, we'll find her in the next few days. And then, we'll be able to get Silica in that city where Hokkaido is. What's the name, anyway?"
"Susukino," said Klein. "It's part of the Ezzo Empire. Like the real Hokkaido, that place is a winter haven. It snows all through the years, not even stopping in the summer. As you could figure out, it's not a lovely place, but Susukino was in a spot where one could get to low-level raids early on. If we had the Intercity Teleport Gate, this would be easy."
"But we don't have them," said Recon. "That means we'll need to travel on foot, right?" said the Ritian, scratching his back. Even if he was a shoddy flier, he was severely missing his wings now.
"Not necessarily," said Klein. "There are the Fairy Rings. I didn't hear anything about them. If they still work..."
"Isn't that risky, though?" said Kirito. "If I remember right, those things are almost impossible to predict without the help of a chart. Otherwise, you can enter one, and next thing you know, you're in Brazil and have to go home the hard way," as Leafa opened her mouth, the Swashbuckler answered the question of his cousin. "Long story, maybe I'll tell later. The point is that the Fairy Gate timetable is unavailable to us. Even the best scenario leaves one of us far away from the other. We still don't know how we'll get to Agil and Trish, what to say about Silica."
"So the best way is on foot, isn't it?" said Alice. "Is it an easy trip?"
"Maybe for Kirito and me," said Klein. "There are a few difficulty spikes in the way, but it shouldn't be too much of an issue if we avoid them. However, the trip will take a long time. Even with horses, it takes three weeks to reach Susukino from Akiba. I have a mount that can cut some time, and I know of a dungeon that allows me to cut part of the route, but it's dangerous, even more for a beginner like Silica. And my mount can only take two people. Kirito, do you..."
The swordsman shook his head.
"No such luck. Only a few pure-blood summoned horses. The guild lent me other whistles if I needed them. Now, I don't think they'll do that. Being able to move quickly is something they'll need in the next few days."
"In that case, I'm the only one who can move the fastest from us all. But I'll either be forced to take a detour that'll add at least one more week to get through in the trip back or try to risk it by going through the passage I mentioned."
"So what do we do?" asked Leafa, anguished.
"I think that we should wait," said Asuna. "I'm also worried for Silica, but it's no use to lose our heads yet. She's still a survivor from SAO, no matter how we see her. She can get by for some time. Maybe until then, the gates will turn on again, or we'll find a way to use these Fairy Rings to take where we want."
"I can try asking the others to come from Minami," said Klein. "With the rest of the Fuurinkazan, I would be able to get to Susukino with ease. Maybe I can try to ask them to move straight there. The route there is less rocky and would allow us to reunite with the others. It still would take two weeks, but it would give me time to find Silica."
"It sounds like a good idea," said Alice. "But I agree with Asuna. Before we do something extreme, it may be a good idea to wait and see what happens."
"Just throwing ideas," said the Human Samurai. "We have options, thankfully."
Kirito crossed his arms, thoughtful.
"Hm...yet, another thing to discuss later," said Kirito. "Let's rest now. We still have a whole afternoon to search for Lisbeth. Let's try to extend our parameters a little bit. However, I want us to meet at seven o'clock at the north exit of the town. If we hope to get out of here, we need to figure out how to get stronger."
18:50
North Exit
"Let's stop here," said Kirito, pointing to a bench.
Asuna nodded, panting. She was honestly surprised that she felt so exhausted. The Cleric wouldn't call herself athletic, but the girl as if she had run a marathon.
Then again, the two of them were running through the city the whole afternoon, barely stopping to rest.
After a frugal lunch composed of tasteless bread and some vegetables, the group divided itself into duos. They were assigned one area of the city to search for Lisbeth. Kirito and Asuna chose to look at the north; Klein and Recon were at the east; Leafa and Yui at the west; and, finally, Alice and Sinon at the south.
Their afternoon was fruitless, though: no matter how much the couple tried, they didn't find any sign of Lisbeth. So, after a quick passage to the Guild Center to stow some of their items -as her boyfriend explained, dying in Elder Tale led to half of the items in someone's inventory dropping in the ground -they went straight to the north gate to wait for their friends.
"Ugh," grumbled Asuna in a non-feminine way. She wouldn't care for that before being a man for a few hours, but there she was. "I feel as if my feet hate me."
"Do you feel too bad?" asked Kirito, worried for the state of his girlfriend. "We can delay the trip if you want."
The Cleric shook her head.
"No. I only need a few minutes to take my breath. I'll be fine. How are you not tired?"
"I should ask how you're tired," said Kirito. "While we walked a lot, we still had a lot of pauses. Even then, you're looking like an empty bag."
"Is this something to say to your girlfriend?" asked Asuna. "One would like to hear something like 'you're looking beautiful.'"
"Hm," said the Swashbuckler. "Do I need to say something that you already know? And do you know what I will say without hesitation? Well, then you're this world's most beautiful empty bag. Satisfied, sweetie?"
The Cleric couldn't help but chuckle.
"Your jokes are still awful."
"Wha?!" exclaimed the swordsman in mock shock. "They're not! Yui laughs at them all the time."
"Even worse. Dad jokes. My dad told one particularly awful story about two plumbers in a flooded building..."
"Are they named Mario Mario and Luigi Mario?"
"No. And there weren't any fire-breathing turtles on it."
"Yeah, you're right. It's not very good."
The girl put her head on her boyfriend's shoulder.
"Please, stop. Laughing hurts."
"So don't give me such good opportunities to joke," replied the boy, kissing the girl's forehead.
The two then stayed sitting on the bench, watching the movement from people -People of the Earth mostly, some adventurer here and there -in silence.
Indeed, too much silence. Asuna glanced at Kirito with the corner of her eye and saw a thoughtful expression on his face.
"Coin for your thoughts?" said the Cleric.
"I know you don't have any money," replied Kirito. "You deposited all the gold a beginner can have when they enter the game."
"Fair enough," said the fencer. "But you look thoughtful. What's in your head?"
"Hair?"
"You know what I mean," said the girl, with serious eyes. "When you have that expression in your face, it means you're thinking about something important."
"What face?" asked the boy. He, honestly, didn't have any idea of what his girlfriend was saying.
"Well, your eyebrows come together, your nose twists a little bit, you bite your lip with your front teeth..."
"Alright, I get it," said Kirito, smirking. "You know the expression that I use when thinking. I got it."
The boy paused, looking at the streets.
"I'm just thinking about the state of Akiba," said the Swashbuckler. "How things changed."
"Of course, some things changed," said Asuna. "You were far away for a long time. It's not too surprising that some things aren't the same."
"No, not in the sense of time," said Kirito. "It's more as if something essential had changed."
"Essential?"
"As I said, it's tough to explain. This conclusion came from the many changes that Elder Tale is having concerning when it was a game. For instance, the People of the Earth."
"It's about the attendant of Klein?" asked Asuna.
"It's not only about her," said Kirito. "It's also about numbers. Today, I saw more People of the Earth walking through the streets than I saw in my whole life as a player of Elder Tale."
Asuna raised an eyebrow.
"Are you sure? It may be that Akiba had an explosion in quest givers. You said that this was a hub town in Yamato."
"I wouldn't say this to you if I weren't sure," said Kirito. "There's just too many People of the Earth in the same area. That would result in just a blatant overload of quests. No, I'm sure. There are many more people than before."
The girl took her head off from her boyfriend's shoulder.
"What does this mean in the end?" asked the Cleric.
"I still haven't calculated every possibility," admitted the Swashbuckler. "But the implications are enormous. As you said, some may be quest givers. What if a quest becomes inaccessible because someone completed his requirements, and it's supposed to be a one-time deal? Or if a quest giver doesn't have a fixed point to stay, moving around the city? Worse, People of the Earth, in-lore, aren't immortal. Heck, I think some NPCs would be dead if we followed in our time flux. What happens now?"
"...Dammit, Kirito. I'm trying to relax, not having my head overloaded with worries."
"You asked. And I'm doing that for free. No need for a penny."
"Worrying for free isn't a good trade, Kirito," said Asuna, deadpan.
"Yeah, I thought so..."
The two became silent for a few seconds.
"These people...I think we should stop calling them-"
"NPCs," concluded Kirito. "I agree. Even in the worst case, they feel more like Kizmel than artificial intelligence."
Kizmel. That Dark Elf was the first time that Kirito and Asuna saw the potential of the Cardinal system. An NPC that, by all means, should be unremarkable and yet grew beyond her function as sacrificial sheep to start the Elf Wars quest in Sword Art Online. And, more important, a friend to the two, no matter where she was.
"And in the best case..." continued Asuna. "They're like the inhabitants of the Underworld. In either case, they possess great intelligence. They're people, like you, me, and any other Adventurer trapped in this land. So calling them NPCs feels..."
"Degrading," concluded the Swashbuckler. "Heck, even referring to this world by Elder Tale feels wrong. Not by implying that this place is a game. Heck, I'm starting to think this is not such a thing. There are so many crucial differences that I feel this is not the Elder Tales I once knew. No, this world is Theldesia. Maybe Elder Tales after, but Theldesia before."
Asuna thought that the wording was a little confusing, but she understood. While there were things that they could take Elder Tale as a basis, they should think of that first as a new world with its own set of rules, many yet to be known.
"So it's more like one of those old-school isekais that I read when I was younger," thought Asuna. Then, she shivered. "I hope this world is more like that one with the explosion mage than the one with the skeleton guy. Or else, we're in deep shit."
She felt Kirito's elbow poke her chest. The boy pointed at the exit. She recognized Sinon's blue hair in the middle of the crowd, soon followed by Leafa's blonde ponytail. Finally, Recon was, for some reason, carrying Yui on his shoulders, the Traveler's head above everyone.
"It's time," said Kirito. "Now, it's time to learn the strings in fighting."
The group moved to the lowest-level area of Akiba. The name of the place was Station of Beginnings. As the name indicated, its design had as a basis the station of Akihabara, even though its location was actually two kilometers away from the city.
Kirito sighed, a nostalgic sound coming out of his mouth. He was walking in the street of nostalgia today.
"Will you stop from staring at the air and do something?" said Sinon. Kirito had the impression she was always the first to go straight to the point, probably because she was, more often than not.
The Swashbuckler coughed, a little embarrassed.
"Sorry. I got a little distracted."
"No issues, man," said Klein. "I also remember my first time here. The name is a hell of appropriate."
"So this is the starting area, daddy?" asked Yui. Her bare feet now had a leather sneaker. It turns out that the transition changed more than they expected about Yui. Before, as an unkillable AI that could switch to a fairy on her whim, she didn't have such troubles as 'getting sore feet.'
She didn't have such things in this world.
And, until today, she never felt physical pain. If Recon hadn't noticed that she looked odd, it was likely that they would only catch on that very later on.
One more reminder that Theldesia still had many surprises on the box.
"Yes," said Kirito. "The Station of Beginnings is the area with the weakest mobs in Akiba. As the name says, the OG starting point. Even the strongest monster only has a max level of 10. However, that's deeper in the station. We won't go this far today."
"Before we enter, we'll split into two teams," said Klein. "A group can have a maximum of six people. As we're in seven -no Yui, I don't think you count for fighting -one group will have me and either Alice or Leafa to serve as tanks. Meanwhile, the other will have Asuna, as she's the one healer we have. And, by consequence, Kirito will lead that group."
The two lovers nodded. Alice raised her hand.
"I would like to go with Kirito's group."
Asuna glared at the knight, but Kirito nodded.
"It'll be better. Klein and Leafa are Samurai: better that she learns the strings from someone experienced. Unfortunately, I didn't use either of the classes, so you'll have to learn things the hard way with me."
The brunette frowned, but in the end, nodded. It made some sense.
"So I'm going with Mommy and Daddy!" said Yui.
The two parents nodded. After their initial carelessness with Yui, they didn't want the girl far away from them for a long time.
"So it's decided. Recon, Leafa, and Sinon. We're going to the railway. You three stay in the station proper."
Kirito nodded. Two of the four members of the group were long-range fighters. It would be better to train in the clear, unobstructed railway than in the smaller size of the station's interior.
"Alright. We meet in one hour to trade notes and see what changed in combat."
With that, the two groups split.
Kirito's group went inside the station, seeing Klein's group going straight to the railway.
"So, you're going to fight monsters now, Daddy?"
He scratched the head of the AI.
"Not yet, sweetie."
He knew that fighting wouldn't be the issue. Both Asuna and Alice were renowned fighters on their own. Alone, they wouldn't be weak by any means, even with some of the class's limitations.
However, the core of Elder Tale was teamwork and good use of skills. And that was the reason that Kirito decided to ask:
"What do you two know about the classes of Elder Tale?"
The two girls frowned.
"Judging by my high defenses..." said Alice, her wolf ears trembling. "I'm supposed to be a defensive type, right?"
"And I played enough games to know that a Cleric is a type of healer," said Asuna. "Like the Undine in Alfheim."
The Swashbuckler nodded.
"Correct. But there's more to that."
He glanced at Yui, passing a stick he picked up from the ground.
"Yui, draw a circle around us. Then, split in four."
The little girl nodded, doing as her dad asked. The swordsman then walked into the upper-right corner.
"You two, pick a corner to stay."
Asuna picked the bottom-left corner, staying face-to-face with his lover. Meanwhile, Alice picked up the upper-left corner, right at Kirito's side. The two girls exchanged a silent glance but said nothing.
"Yui, now write at my side DPS. On Alice's side, put tank, and In Asuna's, healer. And in the space without anyone, you put magic."
The girl did so.
"Tank, healer, magic, DPS..." muttered Asuna. "I see. So some classes have specialization towards certain roles?"
"Indeed," said Kirito. "This was intentional, with the divide between the twelve classes in four categories."
"Weapon Attack, Magic Attack, Warrior, and Recovery," said Alice. She remembered that the character creation included something about that. "I'm a Warrior. So that means I'm a tank?"
Kirito nodded.
"Your class is Guardian. They specialize in high defenses and many skills to attract enemy hate to themselves. Your weakness is a piss poor attack stat. However, you also picked the Wolf Fang class, which possesses a racial trait that increases your strength stat. That means you can defend well and, with good equipment, hit like a truck."
The blonde girl glanced at her arms on the back, a shortsword, and a knight shield.
"That sounds nice," said Alice. "But I don't like the weight of the shield. It's messing with my balance."
"Well, you don't need to keep using it," said Kirito. "While it's standard equipment, and the reason why Guardians surpass in numbers the defense of Samurai, it's not necessary. For now, I suggest you keep using it. Otherwise, you lose a lot of bulk, and there are certain requirements to use the alternate builds of the class."
The girl didn't seem to like it but recognized the point of the swordsman.
"Now comes the one after the tank, or the DPS. In this case, me," said Kirito. "I'm a Swashbuckler. While all the Weapon classes can do great amounts of damage -Assassins with their high attack stat, and Bards with their diverse spell-songs -Swashbucklers are defined by their skill to attack in a large area."
"Area attacks?" said Asuna. "I remember that Dual Blades could make a mess with single targets."
"Yeah, don't expect me to solo a boss monster any time soon," remarked Kirito. "Anyway, Swashbucklers also have many skills at their disposal, being one of the more buffed. As a downside, our overall damage is not as good as one would think. That is, without the debuffs. With them, it's a way different story. And we're the bulkiest of the Weapon Attack classes, meaning we can serve as off-tanks."
"Off-tanks?" asked Alice, raising an eyebrow.
"It's an online term," explained Yui. "What Daddy means is someone that can serve as a tank in the lack of a better option."
"Yeah, we had this happen a lot in Aincrad," said Asuna. "Even more after the Aincrad Liberation Force, which had the most tanks, retreated after the calamity of the 25th floor."
Daughter and parents winced. Alice could tell that calamity was little to describe whatever happened on that day.
"Anyway..." said Kirito. "That's it with the Swashbuckler. I'll explain the Magic Attack class later. For now, let's focus on the Recovery class."
"The healer," said Asuna, to which her boyfriend nodded.
"However, it isn't like Alfheim. Each of the Recovery classes specializes in a different area and has a gimmick to their healing. In the Cleric's case, that is Reactive Healing."
"Reactive Healing?"
Kirito nodded.
"Cleric's can buff their allies with their skills. These buffs stay latent until their time runs out or the affected player suffers damage. Upon being hit, the magic affects the player, healing him."
"Hm...I see," said Asuna. "Do these buffs stack?"
"No. That's the specialty of the Druid class. Later levels offer some spells that can do instant healing, though they aren't many. However, most of Cleric's magics have a long staying time. And, by the time you got the ones with a small time frame, I trust you'll know enough to do it at your best."
The girl blushed.
"Thanks, Kirito."
Alice glanced at the boy, who hurriedly answered:
"I-I'm sure you'll also do fine, Alice!"
The girl nodded, satisfied. For once, Asuna knew that Alice also wanted to tease the boy.
"Though he's far easier to tease than normal," thought Asuna. "Better to enjoy while we can."
"What?" asked Yui.
"Nothing, sweetie," said Asuna. Sheesh, she should be warier of her mouth.
Kirito pointed to one of the abandoned shops in the station, red eyes shining in the dark.
"Of course, I talked all this for you to have a conscience of what you can do and what you cannot. However, we still lack one thing, that we'll win now."
The two girls already knew what was about to happen.
"Experience."
"AUGH!"
"Recon, for fuck's sake, get yourself together!" said Klein, exasperated.
"EEP!"
"Leafa, you can tank it! Come on! It's not so different from Alfheim!"
"It's way different! I can feel the pain! I nearly lost an eye, and I know how that hurts!"
TAP!
While Leafa was distracted retorting to Klein, Sinon put an arrow in the middle of the zombie about to attack her fellow Elf.
"Less talk, more action!"
Klein sighed, scratching his head. And everything started so well!
The quartet, as planned, had followed the railway into the northeast direction, as the southwest led to a higher level zone. On the way, Klein decided to explain a few things about the classes of his companions. Sinon already knew the skills of the Assassin, as she had researched which one of the classes was the best in long-range fighting. So he dedicated himself to explaining things to Leafa and Recon, who managed to grasp the concepts pretty quickly.
Everything went to hell, though, when the monsters appeared.
Klein had committed an admittedly dumb mistake. In his rush to teach his friends, he forgot one of the essential rules of Elder Tale: the greater the level, the higher are the chances for you to attract monsters. Unfortunately, he only remembered this when he activated the Teacher System to level down with his companions. So, rather than a buffed level 67 Samurai, Klein was a measly level 7, struggling to fend off a Novice Zombie.
Novice Zombies were the lowliest of the undead mobs, even lower than the Skeletons that filled the mid level dungeons. They were similar in some regards: their reanimation involved injecting magic energy into a recipient, and they were pretty fragile. However, while Skeletons were fast thanks to their light body and carried weapons, Novice Zombies didn't have such things.
They didn't look like the popular zombie, with greenish skins and pieces of its body lacking. Instead, they had relatively normal skin, albeit absurdly wrinkled. Their eyes didn't show the iris, instead showing a deep white. Klein remembered that, in an interview, the developers of Elder Tale said that they based that monster in the original zombie concept, from Haiti, as vengeful spirits reanimated by sorcerers.
Why are they mad? Klein wouldn't know. But that wasn't doing any wonders for his opinion on the sorcerers.
"Hah!"
His katana decapitated the next zombie, body dissolving in polygons. He grimaced. He intended to use a skill, but his body didn't answer.
"Dammit, Kirito! Couldn't you be a little more precise in your instructions? Not everyone is a damn prodigy!"
The instructions of the swordsman didn't help much. All that he said was something about a mental trigger, and that was it. He thought, and then he did.
THWAP!
Sinon hit another zombie. This time, it didn't kill. The way she frowned said to Klein that she was also trying to use a skill.
"Dammit!" grunted the Assassin. "Using skills in Alfheim was way easier than this! Assassinate, dammit!"
An arrow flew. While it killed its target, the blow didn't have the appearance of the signature skill of the Assassin class.
If it was bad enough for Sinon to be unable to use skills, for Recon, it was even worse. While the others had reasonable attacks, the Ritian not only had a terrible Attack for being a member of the Magic Attack classes but a low Defense. As a Sorcerer unable to use his magic, that meant that the boy could be pretty well defenseless.
"EEEEEK!"
The Sorcerer ran away from three zombies trying to grab him.
"Recon!" screamed Leafa, trying to reach her friend. However, a zombie grabbed her arm. "Why you...!" screeched the Elf, hitting the beast with the hilt of her katana.
The only reason why they didn't die yet was because of Sinon, who managed to kill zombies in one-hit thanks to the absurdly high attack of the Assassin class. However, the sheer numbers of the zombies were slowly overwhelming her, and being unable to use skills meant that she couldn't use some of her best moves.
He and Leafa needed to do something. They were the Tanks, dammit!
"Samurai Challenge!" said the Samurai, raising his arm in an attempt to use the class's taunt. Nothing happened.
"Dammit!" thought the leader of the Fuurinkazan, repelling two Novice Zombies who tried to attack him by the back. "Why do you make everything so easy, Kirito?! Mental triggers, my ass! What does that even mean?!"
Sometimes, he wished that Kirito wasn't so good at video games. Even considering his time as a beta tester in SAO, he still had such natural talent that he could grasp and adapt quickly to the rules of a new game. While it was nice to have him at his side, it also could be annoying, like that on the first day of Aincrad.
"Huh. It almost feels as if an entire life has passed ever since. And I'm no geezer. It was so easy. Just make the motion, and the system does the rest for you..."
His line of thought stopped slowly.
It couldn't be that simple, right? After all, Kirito used the same system and yet didn't have any problem!
"But he has way more training."
Even compared to other survivors of SAO, Kirito was on a league of his own. Beta tester, member of vanguard ever since day one, had some training in kendo when younger. And, recently, had the mind trapped for years in an accelerated world, two of which he spent in a swordsmanship academy. Kirito was like a shonen protagonist, getting stronger and stronger from each adventure.
Sometimes, he didn't even have the system to help him. Not much different from that new land. Where they bled, dropped tears, felt hunger.
At this moment, Klein could "feel" how he was. It was like in VR. He could see his health bar at a still safe 60 and the MP bar untouched. No debuffs. Expected, Novice Zombies didn't have any tools to debuff Adventurers.
But most importantly. Klein could feel it.
That trigger.
"Samurai Challenge!"
This time, the words echoed through the battlefield. It wasn't only magic doing the job. Klein also applied his own will through the monsters, the intent to beat them until nothing was left.
The Novice Zombies felt that, turning around from their original targets to focus on that puny man.
"Yes, come on!" roared Klein. "Vacuum Slash!"
Klein swung his word, generating a wave of air that hit three zombies. While it had weak attack power, the low defenses of the Novice Zombie combined with Klein having superior equipment were enough to turn the monsters into mincemeat.
"Klein?" asked Leafa, stunned. "How are you...?"
"Don't just say the words like a dumbass!" said Klein. "Do it! Do the skill!"
The Samurai would later remark, with irony, that his advice was vague. But his companions understood.
Sinon pulled the bowstring of her bow, arrow set. Breathing deep, she muttered quietly:
"Assassinate."
For a moment, Sinon could see the silhouette of her target being hit by three arrows, piercing its eyes and throat. And then, a second later, the attacks landed, one-shotting the beast.
"Behind you!"
The archer's eyes widened as a stray zombie cornered her.
"Arc Spell!"
From the point of Recon's staff, a lightning bolt jumped against the undead, hitting straight into the chest. For a moment, the smell of burning flesh assaulted Sinon's nose until the Novice Zombie disappeared. Then, the lightning jumped to a second target, killing it too.
"Are you alright?" asked Recon.
"Yeah, I'm alright," she then saw something behind Recon. Before she could warn him, the Sorcerer's spell jumped from his previous target, hitting the undead. "What's that spell?"
"It's one of the Sorcerer's starter spells," explained the Ritian. "Arc Spell is a bolt of guided lightning that, when it hits a target, causes damage over time. It also can jump to up to three enemies, as long as the next target is up to ten meters from the previous receptacle."
"Good thing..." muttered the sniper, glancing at the battlefield.
At this point, only three zombies were remaining, all facing Leafa, who had a pissed expression on her face. She had attracted them with the Samurai Challenge and would be sure to finish them off.
The blonde breathed deep, preparing to swing with her blade.
"Take this! Whirlwind Slash!"
The Samurai blasted a wave of powerful slashes, piercing the zombies ahead of her. When she finished, the Novice Zombies were only pieces.
The blonde breathed deeply before falling on her knees, exhausted. Her friends followed suit after making sure there weren't any enemies around.
"This...was harder than it had the right to be," said Recon.
The others nodded their heads, agreeing.
"So...how did you figure out the trick, Klein?" asked Leafa.
"Simple," said the Human. "There's no trick. At all. There's no system to help execute the skills, nor something to assist the start-up. It's all manual. You need to conduct MP to use the skills. It's that simple. As the meme says, 'Just get good.'"
Recon made the motion to throw a pebble at the Samurai's head. He stopped in the middle of the way and let his arm fall.
"Do you ever wonder what would happen if VR never happened, and, thus, most of us didn't meet each other?"
"Our lives would be safe but boring," declared Sinon.
"Point," said Leafa. "But damn, if it wouldn't be easier. I feel worse than when I practiced kendo the whole weekend with grandpa. Some of the bruises took weeks to disappear."
"...Your grandpa was a terrible person," said the Ritian Enchanter.
"I know," said the Samurai. "Kirito and I know this well."
Klein slowly started to lift from the ground. He glanced at his mental clock.
"Come on, guys. It's a long way back. Better not get too late. Hopefully, things went smoother for Kirito's group."
As it turns out, it didn't.
In fact, some could argue it was worse than the experience of Klein's group.
As the quartet arrived at their rendezvous point, they took notice of the state of their already waiting companions.
"You look like trash," said Sinon, bluntly.
Indeed, the trio had scratches on their skins and clothes. Kirito also was, weirdly enough, covered head to toe with a smelly brown substance.
"We had a bad encounter with Thinker Bats," said Kirito.
Klein winced. Thinker Bats were one of the most common mobs in the station area. They also made their demon bat appearance justice by being one of the most annoying early monsters, made more aggravating as one of the best starter quests involved killing 20 of these.
"You had difficulty in using skills, too?" asked Recon.
"A little," said Asuna. "But that was not the problem."
Klein glanced at Kirito, noticing that his level still was at 73. Not even closer to the 7 Klein had.
"Kirito," said Klein. "You forgot to activate the Teacher System?"
The swordsman covered in poop nodded.
"I only realized that after we advanced to battle the Thinker Bat. They ignored everything Alice tried to do. It was as if I was a lamp, and these mobs were moths."
"Yeah, we discovered the hard way that the number rule is still in effect. Big numbers attract mobs. Of course, I only remembered that when I activated the Teacher system. And, of course, the monsters were close to us. Then, I couldn't go back to slay the damn things because, of course, it's not possible to deactivate the Teacher system in battle."
"Ugh. Don't even say it. I think I'll be smelling it until next week. Damn bats and their venomous poop."
"Bats don't have poisoned poop," said Recon.
"Say that to the Thinker Bats," said Asuna. "I lost count of how many times I had to cleanse Kirito after that."
"So much poison...I should have got immunity from that, from how much poison there was in my body. At least that's what anime taught me."
"Your body isn't made of rubber, brother," said Leafa. "So I don't think this would even work."
"Don't dare to try to be King of Pirates," threatened Klein, jokingly.
"Nah. Leave that to the Samurai. They're the closest thing to Pirates on this server, anyway."
Klein snickered, while the others only scratched their heads.
"I feel we're lacking a lot of context," said Sinon. The others nodded. "Come on, let's get out of here."
"Not yet," said Asuna. "Yui needed to go to the bathroom. We're waiting for her."
"Damn," said Recon. "She really became human."
"Traveler," corrected Kirito. "For whatever reason, Yui identifies herself as a Traveler."
"But travel to where?" pondered Alice. "Or, better. From where?"
Asuna shrugged.
"We don't know, nor Yui. But, in the end, this doesn't matter. Yui is the same as an AI, a Human, or else."
The Guardian raised her hands.
"I know. But I think we should keep an eye on her. I'm no detective, but this Traveler thing is likely one of the keys for why we're trapped here."
"I agree," said Kirito. "After things calm down, one of the first things I pretend to do is go to a library and see if the lore has anything about these Travelers. With how many things have changed in this world, I'll not be surprised if it has."
"Still...what a puzzle," said Klein. "Like, how things like the food changed, and then we have these dumbass things like levels, and recharge time for skills, and..."
ROOOOOAAAAAAAR!
"Ahhhhhhhhh!"
The heads of Kirito and Asuna snapped in the direction of the screams.
"Yui!"
The two warriors ran ahead of the others, Asuna surprisingly keeping up although she was many levels lower than her boyfriend. The others followed suit.
When they arrived, they saw a scene that made their blood go cold.
"Dear God..." said Asuna. "What the hell is that thing?"
Said "thing" was trying to climb a tree with its chubby paws. It looked like a bear, from head to toe. Except that bears don't have the size of a small truck, nor greenish skin, almost rotten. His eyes didn't have iris, being completely white, looking like a ghost.
And the bear was shaking the tree, trying to make Yui fall to her death.
"Mommy! Daddy! Help! I can't use my powers!"
Klein arrived soon after.
"Oh shit," said Klein. "That's the fucking Shamanic Bear."
"Shamanic Bear?" asked Asuna.
"It's a quest monster. It inhabits the woods of the station, searching for prey. But that's wrong. It's a monster that isn't supposed to spawn unless its quest is active!"
"Well, it just did! And its trying to eat Yui! Hey, ugly!"
In a fit of rage, Kirito threw a stone at the beast.
"Kirito," said Klein. "This was a terrible idea."
"Why? I'm currently level 73. If you deactivate the Teacher system, we, together, are stronger than that monster. Even the highest level monster in this area is only level 14."
"Kirito," said Klein, seriously. "That thing is not a run-of-the-mill mob. The Shamanic Bear has the honor of being one of the few quest monsters to be said to be unkillable!"
The Swashbuckler blink.
"What?"
At that moment, the bear noticed the trio.
"Alright," mumbled Klein. "Do not move. The monster is blind. He reacts to movement and sound. So we need to stay quiet."
Soon after, the others arrived.
"You!" hissed Klein. "Don't move, or else we're doomed!"
The others, following Klein's advice, stopped short in their tracks. Unfortunately, the last member in the line, Recon, got the message a little too late and collided with the member ahead of him.
That happened to be Alice, which, unable to recover her balance, fell to the ground.
CLANG!
The bear roared and then, in a demonstration of strength, jumped in their direction.
"Ok, never mind. Now it's everyone for themselves!"
It didn't even need to be said. When those 600 kilos of reanimated mass advanced towards the group, they did their best to get off the impact radio.
THUMP!
For a few seconds, the ground trembled in the wake of the bear's movement. Kirito noticed his life bar going down way too much for an attack of a monster from that level. Still on the green, but almost in the yellow range.
"What the hell! How does this thing hit so hard?!"
"He's not a normal monster, Kirito!" said Klein. "Haven't you ever played the quest Nightmare in the Forest?"
The bear advanced straight to the Swashbuckler, as he had the most hate from the group. The swordsman did the logical thing and started to run from the zombified beast.
"You can't expect me to remember every single quest in a game that I haven't played in years!" said the swordsman, screaming with all the strength his lungs could muster. "Now, could you stop chastising me and say how we kill this thing?"
"We can't!" said the Samurai, anguished. "I said that this monster was immortal!"
Sinon aimed an arrow at the creature's eye.
"Assassinate!"
The most damaging attack from the Assassin class flew from Sinon's bow. To her bitter surprise, not only didn't the skill do any damage, but the bear didn't even notice her.
"Wha? But I hit it!"
"I already said, the bear is immortal!" repeated Klein. "It's one of the few invincible mobs in the game. The Shamanic Bear's existence depends on the woods around this area! You're supposed to do a series of rituals that would break the curse put by the shaman that created him and allow his spirit to pass to the afterlife!"
"Great!" said Asuna. "And how do we do these rituals?"
"We can't! The points of ritual are kilometers away from this area!"
"Eeep!"
Kirito dodged one claw move that nearly decapitated him.
"So let's get out of here! I'll try to distract this ugly asshole! Take Yui and get your asses out of here!"
He saw Asuna nodding as she ran to the tree. The bear noticed this and tried to go for Asuna, but Kirito wouldn't let that happen on his watch.
"Hiya!"
The Swashbuckler unleashed Viper's Thrash in the quest monster, piercing his legs tendons. He felt the sword trying to slash the meat but failed at it, the blade rebounding as if it had hit stone. However, it did have the desired effect of taking the bear's attention out of Asuna.
Unfortunately, Kirito still was recovering from using the skill, so he was too slow to dodge the retaliating strike.
How it felt to be hit by a zombie bear, you may ask?
Not very good for Kirito's ribs, that's for sure.
The Swashbuckler flew for a good ten seconds before hitting a wall and sliding to the ground. Kirito, still dizzy, managed to see his health bar. It was in the red area.
"Ugh...seriously, who had the idea to make this thing hit so hard?!" thought the swordsman, putting his hand in the chest -that surprisingly wasn't crushed in bone dust by the attack but had three wounds from the bear's claws. "Goddammit, this is somehow worse than fighting a Magnatherium! At least you could kill the goddamn thing."
The Shamanic Bear charged at Kirito, using its great speed to become a furry demolition ball. At the last moment, Kirito managed to roll out of the way. The undead didn't get to correct his course, so it crashed into the wall.
THUMP!
The head penetrated the wall, leaving the bear stuck there.
Kirito blinked, stunned at that turn of events.
"What you're doing stopped there?" screamed Alice in the distance. "Run, goddammit!"
The swordsman shook his head and started to run the fastest his legs allowed him to. A good thing because the bear managed to pull his head off from the hole in the wall a few seconds later. Roaring -because that seemed to be the only language that the beast knew -it started to run in the Swashbuckler's direction. Seeing this gave Kirito an idea.
"Alice! Invest points in the skill Vicarious Shield!"
The Wolf Fang raised an eyebrow but did as Kirito asked, opening her menu and putting the point in the skill, as the Swashbuckler positioned himself behind the Guardian.
"Hear me out. I think we can knock out that thing. Activate Vicarious Shield right as the bear attacks, and then get out of the way."
The Guardian nodded, keeping her eyes on the approaching beast. She needed to judge the best time to trigger the skill even more because she didn't read what the skill did.
However, she did trust Kirito. He wouldn't consciously put her in a situation where she would die. Maybe one where she could, but not a certain one. So she braced herself for the attack.
The bear closed the distance between the duo. Alice tensed her body, calculating when the monster would try to attack.
The beast went for a lounge, trying to bypass that puny Adventurer ahead of him.
"Got you."
"Vicarious Shield!"
The Guardian gave a step ahead, putting all her strength behind the shield.
CLANG!
She felt everything tremble as all the weight of the monster collided against her. She saw her HP bar fall to zero, then go up. Her shield also disappeared, destroyed by the attack. The bear also stopped, surprised by how she still was alive.
"Get out of the way!"
Obeying Kirito, Alice let way to the Swashbuckler.
"Pinpoint!"
The swordsman hit the bear in the middle of the eyes with his blade, making the beast stumble, staying in its two feet.
"X-Cross!"
He followed up with a double slash from his blades, forming an X-shape in the bear's chest.
"And to end, Tricky Edge!"
The blade glowed yellow, as Kirito used against the beast's legs. The monster dropped into the ground like a rock. The Swashbuckler, then, took two other swords from his inventory and pierced the monster's chest with them.
The bear roared, trying to get up, but the blades stopped his movement. The beast, then, started to shake his body, trying to get rid of those annoying restraints.
"This should stop him for some time," said Kirito. "Come on, let's get out of here."
Alice nodded, following the Swashbuckler as the two got away, the roars of the undead monster echoing their escape.
"How did I survive?" asked Alice. "I'm sure I saw my life go down to zero."
"Vicarious Shield," said Kirito. "It's one of the most niche skills from the Guardian class and one of the riskiest. It stops a fatal blow at the cost of your shield, healing you to a certain percentage. It was a risky bet because you would have died if the bear had followed up, but it worked, although you're going to have to repair the shield before trying to use it again."
"Between this and being mauled by a bear, I take material damage every time of the week. Besides, I said I'm not a shield person."
Kirito nodded, relieved.
"Though I still didn't like how luck-based was your plan," said the knight.
"Don't you know me well enough that most of my plans are spurs of the moment?"
"...darn, why do you always have fair points?"
Kirito glanced behind them as they left the forest behind.
"Alright. I think we're out of the bear's area. We must be safe."
"Area?"
Kirito nodded.
"The game, in the past, was divided into many areas interconnected between themselves. One of the golden rules for monsters was that, with a few exceptions, they tend to stay within a single region. Klein mentioned that the bear was related to the forest, so it's unlikely he'll follow us beyond this."
"And if he does?"
"Let's hope that we are already pretty far away from here," said Kirito.
One minute later, they saw Sinon shaking her hand in the air.
"They're alive!"
"Such lack of faith," mumbled the swordsman. "They probably think I would have died without you there."
"Isn't that correct?" pointed out the blonde Guardian.
"Not the point."
"So I don't see where the hell you're going with that line of thought."
Kirito sighed. Sometimes, he would like Alice to be a little more relaxed. It made it hard to have a casual conversation with her.
Before Kirito could argue, a blur hugged his chest.
"Daddy!" said Yui, tears of relief falling from her face. "I'm sorry, I got distracted, and I had to use my power to escape the bear and-"
"It's alright, sweetie," said Kirito. "We're both at fault. We should have been more careful. We're still too used to you being invincible."
Indeed, in Kirito's book, that was a personal flaw. How could he be so careless twice in a row with his own daughter? First, he didn't notice her discomfort, and then he nearly got her killed by a monster. And they didn't know if Travelers even respawned! What if Yui-
"No. That's not going to happen. I'm not letting it happen."
"Kirito!"
Asuna is the next to hug the boy.
"Are you alright?"
"What? No rant about putting my life at risk again?" said the Swashbuckler, jokingly. "I just need a patch-up, and I'll be fine. It's Alice that's worse."
"First, I already told you so many times that, if it didn't stick before, it wouldn't stick now," said the Cleric, taking off her staff. "Second...Alice, come here."
The Guardian, who had given some space to the family, approached the Cleric. Asuna's eyes narrowed.
"Alright, then. Heal!"
A light involved the blonde, her life bar slowly going up as the one Recovery spell available to all Recovery classes did its job. The member of the Warrior class sighed in relief.
"Thanks, Asuna," said Alice.
The girl with chestnut hair nodded.
"It was only my job as a healer."
The two girls stared at the other for a moment before cutting their lines of sight.
Meanwhile, Klein, Leafa, and Recon congratulated Kirito's escapade.
"Got to admit," said Klein. "Thought that you were dead meat."
"Me too," said Recon.
"Got to say, that seemed a hard fight even for you, brother," said Leafa.
"Gee, thanks for the support, guys," said Kirito. "Makes me warm inside."
Klein chuckled.
"Sorry, man. But I saw level 90 players get their cheeks clapped by that thing. And the quest is level 50!"
"Damn," said Kirito. "And that thing is hounding the beginner's area? I only dread to think if we need to go back there."
Klein gulped.
"Yeah, that ain't good at all. Better if we avoid it for some time. Perhaps the Adventurers that triggered that quest will finish it?" said the Samurai. However, deep down, he knew that was unlikely for the time being. Silently, they decided to avoid the Station of Beginnings until things got calmer. Either way, they would be too occupied searching for Lisbeth, but it was good to keep that in mind.
"That was the scariest thing that I ever had to do," said Recon. "It was worse than the Underworld excursion."
"At least I didn't lose an eye," said Leafa. "That would be unbearable."
Silence. The others glanced at Leafa.
"Expression of language, guys!" said the Elf Samurai. "Unbearable is a word, don't you know? Sheesh, your guys are beeeaaaarly..."
Leafa was going to say, 'very tired.' However, she yawned right as she said that, modifying how the phrase went out. The Elf felt her ears go red as she realized how the world came out.
This time, Kirito didn't manage to hold his laughter.
"Hahaha!" said the Swashbuckler, barely managing to breathe. "Man, that was funny. Sorry sister, but you'll have to bear with me now."
The Elf pouted.
"That's mean, Kirito!"
"Yeah," said Klein, smirking. "It's unbearivable how you think that's funny."
Kirito smirked, trading a fist with the Samurai.
"Bear jokes," said the Swashbuckler. "Never get old."
"Oh, I don't believe in you two," said Sinon. "In that pace, we'll get with the hair griz-oh come on! Look at what you made me do?"
"I think you played yourself, Sinonon," said Asuna. "Walked right in that trap. And I don't mean a bear trap, boys," added the Cleric.
Kirito gave an embarrassed smile.
"Sorry. I'm still high from fighting that bear. I haven't felt like that ever since Aincrad. Guess I just needed to relax."
"You're right," said Klein. "Look at the time. If we want to keep searching for Lisbeth, we better go back to Akiba. It's already late."
"Yeah," said the swordsman. "Let's go home."
The group didn't have any interruptions on their way to their "home" -that was the best term they found to describe that lonely building.
"So...tired," said Leafa, straightforwardly falling in her bed at the moment Klein finished putting the barrack up. The others were more restrained in their preparations to sleep, but soon after, the others were on their beds, all but two people.
"Still thinking about Yui?" asked Asuna.
Kirito sighed.
"So predictable?" said the Swashbuckler.
The couple glanced at the sleeping girl. Her tranquil appearance almost made her look like an angel.
"Two times, we underestimated this world," said Kirito. "One time, nearly fatal. I'm worried, Asuna. Have we been arrogant? We recognized that Theldesia is nothing like we faced before. It's more realistic than even the Underworld. What would happen if we didn't list Yui's scream? If the Shamanic Bear got to her? If we were slower?" He paused. "If I was slower?"
Asuna didn't say anything. That situation was eerily similar.
Asuna felt the push, unable to do anything as the caped figure switched places with the fencer.
"Sorry. I think we won't have that girl's night out."
The sound of the falling scythe echoed through the room.
"...Asuna. Asuna!" said Kirito.
"Hm? Sorry," said the Cleric. "I got distracted. Anyway, I don't think you need to worry, Kirito. You always find a way. You won't let any of us get hurt."
"That's what I thought with the Black Cats..." remarked the swordsman. "And look at what happened."
"That won't happen," said the healer. "Not with us here. We're immortal. And, if someone tries to hurt Yui, that someone will have to deal with mom and papa bear, to keep with the bear theme of tonight. We won't allow it. Right?"
Kirito glanced at the starry sky and then chuckled.
"Yeah. No way in heaven or hell," the Swashbuckler yawned. "Damn, that bear did real damage to me. I'm broke."
Asuna felt the head of her boyfriend on her shoulder. A few seconds later, she heard his snoring.
"Normally it is the guy that has to take the girl to sleep," mumbled Asuna, lifting her husband. She groaned. "Damn, movies make this look so easy..."
That night, Asuna slept well, even if she had to deal with her boyfriend using her as a pillow.