Alright, let's get the next chapter started. It's time for Sinon to get her Sniping skill!
When we left our protagonists, Akinym was just pondering over ways to help Sinon improve when she suddenly knocked on his door, asking him about a certain "something new".
Disclaimer: I don't own Sword Art Online Re:Hollow Fragment or Sword Art Online in general.
Akinym looked at Sinon with a quizzical expression.
Akinym: "Something new"?
Sinon [hesitantly]: Yes… A new skill. I don't have any idea why it's suddenly available, so I came here to ask about it.
Akinym: I see. Well, that was a good idea. What is it called?
Sinon: Well… "Sniping".
Akinym's eyes widened in surprise. Sniping?!
In hindsight, he didn't even know what he should've expected. By all accounts, Sinon shouldn't have got a new skill all of a sudden. Sure, Akinym didn't know every single skill in SAO by memory, but he couldn't think of anything Sinon had done that would unlock a new skill.
Akinym checked his database to see if there was such a skill. Maybe he just didn't remember.
Akinym: What kind of skill is that? Combat? Support?
Sinon: It's a weapon skill.
Upon hearing that, Akinym stopped the scrolling movement of his hand. For a moment, it looked as if he had frozen.
A weapon skill? Now he was completely at a loss. Akinym had considered the possibility that this skill might increase accuracy, maybe for certain weapons like throwing picks. But a weapon skill…? Akinym couldn't think of any weapon that this would refer to.
While he was trying to think of anything, Sinon became quite nervous and frustrated.
Frustrated because she had worked up quite a lot of courage to go to Akinym to ask him that. What had happened during training had shaken her, and it had only become worse once she considered that Akinym might still be mad at her because of what had happened.
She couldn't really blame him once she had thought this whole issue through. Akinym had given her instructions, and she had ignored them. In the end, it had even been necessary for him to jump in and save her…
At first, Sinon had wanted to stay clear of Akinym, at least for today. However, when she browsed her skill menu to see if there was anything that could help her, she came across this mysterious skill, and now she couldn't take her mind off of it.
Well, and she was nervous because...
Sinon [worriedly]: Sniping… That… [shakily] Th-that means… [gulps] guns, d-doesn't it?
Akinym closed his database before he answered. He wouldn't find an answer in it anyway.
He kept thinking about it for a moment while he turned to Sinon. By all accounts, the answer was clear.
Akinym also thought that it was a bit strange how much this seemed to worry her. Sure, a lot of people weren't comfortable with firearms, but right now, Sinon looked as if she wanted to hide under her blanket just because of the thought of them… He shrugged it off since there was no actual issue anyway as far as he could see.
Akinym: That's actually not possible. There are no firearms in SAO. If nothing else, it simply wouldn't fit the theme. There are throwing weapons, but that's an entirely different skill. In all honesty, there are no ranged weapons in…
Akinym stopped mid-sentence when he realised something. He had been wrong, there were ranged weapons in SAO.
He remembered the time he had spent with Kirito in the Hollow Area and thought about the archers he had seen there. There really were ranged weapons. It was just that players didn't use them. At least not yet.
Akinym [contemplatively]: Archery. I think this is an archery skill. It's probably for bows or crossbows or something like that. But would that turn up in...
As he thought about the question why this skill had suddenly appeared, Akinym remembered what Kirito had told him about the Hollow Area. There were a lot of new skills, and by doing these Hollow Missions, he could unlock them.
Maybe this was similar. It could be that something Kirito had done in the Hollow Area unlocked new content. It was just that – for whatever reason – the system didn't give Kirito access to this new skill. Only to Sinon, though…
Akinym looked at her, his expression conveying a mix of doubt and contemplation.
While Akinym was thinking about all this, Sinon felt somewhat relieved that this new skill might not have anything to do with guns. She had hoped that being trapped in SAO would somehow help her with overcoming her past, but she wasn't on board with getting a gun put into her hands…
At the same time, she wondered how she would feel about bows. Bows… weren't guns, obviously. They bore a certain resemblance to guns in her mind as they were also used to kill from afar, but maybe that was a good thing. Maybe bows were different enough for her to be comfortable with them, while they were similar enough for this experience to help her.
She was so deep in thought that it took her a moment to notice that Akinym was looking at her.
Sinon [slightly nervously]: Um, w-what is it?
Akinym [slightly surprised]: Hm? Oh, um, nothing. I… [calmly] I was just thinking about that skill, what could be behind that. It could be a special skill that only you've been given access to. Of course I'd have to confirm that, [mutters] and I'll probably ask Argo-san about that, [says aloud] but it could be a Unique Skill, and you've been – for whatever reason – chosen by the system to use it.
Chosen by the system… Sinon couldn't help but think that this sounded as if she was some sort of legendary chosen one, which just seemed ridiculous in her opinion. Yet she couldn't help but think that it had a nice ring to it, and she liked the implications.
Sinon: A unique skill, huh?
Akinym: Yes, like Kirito-san's Dual Wielding. A skill that is only given to one player who meets certain conditions.
Sinon was slightly taken aback. So that's what he had meant by "unique".
She liked the thought, though. Sinon had heard about Kirito's Unique Skill. In fact, the others talked about it quite often, especially Asuna and Lisbeth. Asuna almost made it sound as if Kirito with his two swords was some sort of legendary hero…
Sinon could somewhat understand where she was coming from, though, and that made her strangely happy. Now she had her own Unique Skill, such a skill given to "chosen heroes", a special strength. A strength only she would have…
Sinon quickly opened the menu and went straight to the skill selection. She moved so singlemindedly that it seemed as if her body was moving on its own. She chose the new Sniping skill and put it into one of her free skill slots.
She had barely registered what she had done when she saw Akinym looking at her with a somewhat surprised expression.
Sinon: Is something wrong?
Akinym: Well, not really. It's just that you've learnt this skill in a heartbeat. You've never shown that kind of determination when it came to choice of equipment or skills.
Sinon [slightly surprised]: Oh, right. I guess… [calmly] Yes, I guess I did.
Sinon allowed herself to put on a small smile. This Unique Skill gave her a strange feeling of confidence after not even one minute, and she hadn't even used it yet! Speaking of which…
Sinon [contemplatively]: But… Where can I get a bow to use this skill? Or arrows?
Akinym [slightly worriedly]: Well, that might be a problem. To my knowledge, there are no such things in SAO. I guess the system put it into the game if it gave you that skill, but that still leaves the question where to search for it…
Sinon [worriedly]: I… see. What should I do? Should I have not learnt that skill yet?
Now that she thought about it, they didn't know anything about this skill. What if it was bugged or something like that? Maybe it wasn't as powerful as she had thought, or maybe it was downright useless…
Akinym [flatly]: You don't have to let this newfound confidence slip away that easily, you know? [reassuringly] If the skill is available, there should be equipment to use it. And even if there isn't, you can just replace the skill in the skill slot, and that's the worst case scenario. If you want to use that skill, I'll help you figure out how to put it to good use. I'll try to find a weapon for you to use, and I'll help you with testing out that skill.
Sinon nodded determinedly.
This day had easily been one of the most exhausting and miserable ones she had had recently. Not one of the worst days of her life, of course, she had experienced days that had been way worse, but still. The fact that it ended on such a hopeful note was unexpectedly pleasant.
The next day, it was Sinon's turn to receive a visitor in her room. She was basically staring at her skill menu – at the Sniping skill, to be precise – when someone knocked on the door.
Sinon: Huh? Who is it?
Akinym: It's me. I'm here because of that skill.
Sinon: Akinym-san? [mutters] The Sniping skill… Maybe he found something. [says aloud] Come in!
Akinym entered and closed the door behind him.
He'd prefer to keep the information about Sinon's Unique Skill confidential for now, at least as much as possible. After all, he was a bit worried how other players would react to the completely new Unique Skill. The last two Unique Skills had caused… a bit of an uproar.
He had already sworn Sinon to silence, and when he had consulted Argo about the Sniping skill, he had asked her to lay low for now, too.
Speaking of consulting Argo...
Akinym: I've asked the info broker Argo-san about the Sniping skill today. She was quite surprised about it. Judging from what she has told me, there doesn't seem to be another player with that skill, so it might really be a Unique Skill.
Sinon: I see. [slightly happily] Oh, and I've discovered some new things about the skill. For instance, another skill popped up. It's called "Arrow Generation".
Sinon used that skill, and an arrow materialised in her hand.
Sinon: That's how I'll get arrows. It only stays a few seconds, and I can get only one at a time, but now I don't have to worry about ammo. And I think it shows that this skill is the real deal, and that it's about bows.
Akinym was glad to hear that. Arrows were on the list of things he would have to find, and he had yet to find them. At first, he had thought that an NPC shop might've started selling them, but none of the weapon or battle supply shops had them in stock.
As he observed the vanishing arrow in Sinon's hand, Akinym thought about the restrictions of that skill. They had yet to find out what leveling that skill up would cause. It could be that it would allow her to generate more arrows at a time, or that the arrows would last longer.
Sinon [slightly exasperatedly]: Now I'd only need something to shoot them with…
Akinym: Well, about that…
Akinym opened his inventory and transformed one of the items into an object. Sinon's eyes widened in surprise when she saw a bow appear in Akinym's hands. It was a plain wooden bow, but it was a bow.
Sinon: You've already found one?!
Akinym: Yes, I was quite surprised myself. I wanted to check an NPC store that the players call "Antique Shop". It's basically a shop where players dump all kinds of knickknacks or trinkets. A rundown shop in a remote part of Arc Sophia, the perfect dumpster.
At first, Sinon was a bit taken aback and even slightly upset that Akinym would look for a weapon for her at such a place, but she figured that a bow would be useless to anyone without her Sniping skill, so it made sense to search at such a place.
Akinym: On my way there, I ran into a group of players who got a "rare drop" from a powerful monster on the seventy-ninth floor. However, they were quite disappointed to see that it was just a bow, completely useless. What really caught my attention was that they complained about "it even being classified as a weapon". They wanted to pawn it at the Antique Shop, but… I've made them a better offer.
Sinon: Wait… You've told them about the Sniping skill?
Akinym: Don't be ridiculous! If I had told them that this is a weapon for someone with a Unique Skill, they would've charged an insane price for it. No, I've told them that I wanted it as a souvenir, claiming I was an archer in the real world, and offered them a price slightly above what an NPC would pay for it.
Sinon: Okay, I kinda get that, [slightly annoyed] but… you claimed you was? That honestly sounds like you scammed them!
Akinym [slightly exasperatedly]: If anything, I avoided being scammed. In all honesty, [produces the bow] this is just a useless item to them, so it was a good offer. If I had told them the truth, they would've demanded a ridiculous price, and it would've been out of nothing but greed. This way, they got a good offer, I had to pay a smaller margin than what the NPC would've charged, and the playerbase might benefit from having an archer among their ranks.
Sinon [slightly doubtfully]: So, all's well that ends well? [calmly] Well, anyway, thanks for getting that bow. [slightly nervously] You said you've paid for it, right? How much did you pay? I don't have much money, but I'll pay you back…
Akinym raised a hand, signaling Sinon to stop.
Akinym: That's not necessary! You should keep the money for more important things. I think you should know my attitude towards this matter already: If you want to repay me, use this weapon to contribute to clearing the game!
Sinon wasn't really willing to accept that just like that. In her opinion, she was already indebted to Akinym because of her dagger, and she didn't like that feeling.
In the end, Akinym managed to convince her to accept the bow as "an early Christmas present". Frankly, he thought that this was ridiculous, they were by no means close enough for him to give her a Christmas present, but the only thing that truly mattered to him was that Sinon stopped arguing.
When he handed her the bow, she slowly wrapped her hands around it. Sinon took in the feeling for a moment. She was relieved to see that she was totally fine with holding the weapon in her hands. A part of her had been worried that it actually would be as bad as holding a gun, but now, these worries seemed pointless to her.
This was her bow, and she would be perfectly fine with using it…
Akinym and Sinon left the town for some shooting practice. They had yet to test this new weapon, so they went to a relatively quiet, remote area on the 76th floor.
There, they picked a tree as a target for shooting practice. Sinon took position about ten metres away from it and got ready. She generated an arrow and was about to string her bow when she noticed something.
Sinon looked at the bow with a quizzical expression. This was the first time she held a bow in her hands, and she knew hardly anything about archery. Was she even holding the bow correctly? She had no idea…
With a lot of questions on her mind, Sinon decided that she'd need help with figuring this new weapon out. Now, who could help her, though? Given that this was a completely new skill, not even Akinym could tell her anything. Well, she could've ask a real archer if she had known one.
The only "person" who knew anything about this Sniping skill was… Sinon paused as a realisation hit her. The system. The system could help her. Now she had an idea as to what to do.
She put her bow down for a moment and opened her menu. She went straight to the information on the Sniping skill, and she checked the one Sword Skill she had right now. It was a simple skill for shooting a single arrow, nothing special about it.
Sinon took the starting stance for the Sword Skill. Unfortunately, her arrow was gone by now, so she had to generate a new one. Sinon really hoped that her ammunition would last longer once she gained more proficiency points for the Arrow Generation skill.
Anyway, with a new arrow, she took the correct stance. She set her eyes on her target and aimed her bow and arrow downward at a 45 degree angle. The arrow started to glow.
Sinon unleashed the Sword Skill, which led to her raising the bow while attaching the arrow to it properly, aiming, pulling back the bowstring and finally shooting the arrow at the target. The aim was slightly off, so the arrow grazed the tree rather than hitting it head-on.
Akinym [slightly curiously]: Going straight for Sword Skills? I would've thought you'd try normal shots for now.
Sinon: I wanted to do that at first to get a feeling for the bow, but… I just realised that I wasn't sure how to hold the bow or the arrow... or anything. Like, I wasn't even sure if I would be able to pull the bowstring back while holding the bow steady. So I figured I let the system show me how it's done.
Akinym needed a moment to think about what Sinon had just said, but he quickly figured out what she meant.
Akinym: Oh, I see. You used that Sword Skill so that the system assistant would make all the necessary movements, and by simply observing how your body moved, you've learnt something about the proper technique.
Sinon: Yes, that's right. That should be a legitimate approach, shouldn't it?
Akinym: It is! If anything, it's good to see that you try to use the system assistant like that.
Akinym was genuinely happy that Sinon had figured out the system to that degree. It really showed that Sinon understood the basics of the system (at least to some extent), and she knew how to use it in a creative way. He was always glad to receive a reminder of that since that ability might come in handy every now and then.
Akinym watched Sinon practice for a while. At first, she tried a few more shots with the system assistant to get a good feeling for how to handle the bow. Once she was confident enough, she shot a few arrows on her own.
Sinon mentioned that it took a certain amount of strength to pull the bowstring, especially if she wanted to hold it steady. Akinym thought about that for a moment. It could be a matter of equipment since this bow seemed to be of rather low quality, and a better bow might cause less trouble like that, but it was probably an intentional issue which had to be solved through stat point distribution. Akinym told her to make sure to put enough points into Strength.
Strength probably wasn't the only relevant parameter, though. Akinym also noticed something about Sinon's aim. When using a bow Sword Skill, the arrows hit the practice target at very different spots, although she always started from nearly the exact same position. The exact direction the system assistant aimed at seemed to be a little bit random. Akinym guessed that the automatic aiming would improve if the user's Dexterity went up.
Speaking of Sinon's aim, her manual aiming was surprisingly good. Most of her arrows hit the target. Given that this was her first time using a bow, she had remarkable talent.
Even more importantly, she was perfectly calm when she used her bow. This composed sight was completely different from her awkward movements with the dagger. Akinym couldn't help but think that it might've been her destiny to become an archer here in SAO, so the universe decided to grant her that Unique Skill. Well, the only thing that kept him from actually believing that was the fact that he didn't believe in destiny.
After a while, Sinon moved to a larger distance (fifteen metres to be precise) to see how it would affect her aiming skills. She noticed that it was harder to aim properly, and the system assistant became less reliable, but it wasn't too bad.
Later, they decided to try something else. The bow had two special parameters, which Akinym had never encountered before: Minimum Range and Maximum Range. Frankly, it wasn't too hard to figure out what they referred to, but there was still the question what exactly these parameters meant.
In order to test it, Sinon moved farther away. Her current bow's Maximum Range was 20, which was probably supposed to be a distance in metres, so she moved about thirty metres away from the tree.
When she used a Sword Skill, they discovered that the arrow flew straight within the given maximum range, but after that, it quickly fell to the ground. Sinon tried a normal shot after that, and the arrow had the usual, naturally curved trajectory.
So that was behind that parameter… It indicated at which range she could use the system assistant. The most interesting observation was that she could shoot an arrow past the Maximum Range distance if she didn't use the system assistant. She only had to aim properly and keep in mind that environmental circumstances such as gravity or wind would affect the trajectory.
After figuring that out, they tried to test the effect of the Minimum Range parameter. For that purpose, they started a First Strike duel, and Akinym took position at a distance of about four metres from Sinon. Her bow's Minimum Range was 5, so this should give them an idea what would happen.
When Sinon shot an arrow at Akinym, it pretty much bounced off without doing any damage. They repeated that experiment a few times with a bow Sword Skill and with normal shots, but the result was always the same. When Akinym moved a bit farther away, Sinon tried shooting an arrow again, and this time, it hit Akinym normally.
Sinon: Well, I guess that's that. This Sniping skill seems to be interesting… So, what now? I guess I could just keep practicing here, but I'd like to try out an actual fight with this new skill.
Akinym [slightly contemplatively]: Well, I can see where you're coming from. Frankly, I'd like to see that skill in actual combat, too, but I'd rather not send you straight into an actual battle. Maybe… [slightly excitedly] Oh, maybe there is something we could try. I think I know a good target!
Akinym led Sinon to the edge of a small forest on the 78th floor. There was a stream, and on the other side of it, there was a wide grassland.
They stopped there, and Akinym started looking for something on the other side of the stream. Sinon was a bit confused as to why they didn't cross the nearby bridge if the target Akinym had in mind was on the other side. On top of that, that wasn't the only detail that confused her.
Sinon: Okay, so… I guess we're there? What is this special target anyway that it's here on the seventy-eighth floor? I honestly didn't expect you to drag me to a different floor…
To be fair, the forest was near the main town on this floor, and they had managed to avoid encounters on their way here, so getting here hadn't actually been dangerous. Still, Sinon couldn't think of any reason why Akinym, who'd normally tell her to be cautious when it came to taking on strong enemies, would bring her here of all places.
Akinym [slightly absent-mindedly]: Well, that's because… [slightly excitedly] Oh, because of that thing!
Akinym pointed at a certain spot on the meadow. Sinon had to look careful, but she could see the grass move. The tall grass obstructed her vision, but she could barely make out some kind of boar monster.
Sinon: That's the target you had in mind?
Akinym: Yes, it's a special monster I've heard some people talk about. Apparently, it moves around on that meadow on a certain path, but when a player gets even remotely close to it, it runs away at incredible speed. A lot of players have tried to take it out, but to no avail. I've heard that even Asuna-san tried to get close to it, but even at her speed, she couldn't keep up with it at all.
Now that he mentioned it, Sinon remembered Asuna telling a story like that a while ago. As far as Sinon remembered, Asuna had told her that this monster dropped a rare A-class ingredient that she wanted to get her hands on.
Akinym: The monster won't run away as long as we're on this side of the stream, but we should be within range for shooting an arrow. A few players have tried using throwing weapons against it, but they couldn't get more than one hit, which simply wasn't enough. After all, throwing weapons aren't designed to deal massive damage with a single strike. However, an arrow might be enough to take it out.
This was another thing Sinon recalled. Asuna had mentioned that Kirito had tried to take out this monster with throwing picks, but he hadn't managed to deal enough damage.
Entertaining the idea of pulling something off that not even Asuna or Kirito could do, Sinon couldn't help but smile.
Sinon: Well, I'd sure like to try it. It should work at this distance, [doubtfully] but…
She observed the figure in the grass. It was barely visible…
Sinon: I can hardly see it… That's not really a good position. [looks around, contemplatively] Maybe from somewhere else… or perhaps… [looks up] from above. Yeah, I should get a better aim from that tree branch.
Sinon walked up to the tree in question. She wanted to climb on it. It was just… She couldn't. When she tried to jump onto the trunk and climb up, her feet slipped off almost immediately, and she couldn't get hold of the branch and heave herself up onto it.
Akinym watched her fruitless struggles for about a minute. He considered watching calmly until she asked for help, but knowing her, this could take hours. The "Sinon tries to climb a tree" show wasn't even very entertaining, kind of monotonous…
Akinym: Wait! I'll help you to get up there.
While Sinon wasn't too fond of the idea, she wanted see what Akinym had in mind at the very least.
He looked up at the tree branch and took position right beneath it. It was just high enough so that Sinon couldn't reach it properly even if she jumped, but Akinym figured that he could get up there if he was… a little bit creative.
That is, he jumped up and placed his spear on top of the branch. He grabbed the shaft with both hands, one hand to the left of the branch and one hand to the right. Now, he basically hung from it as if his spear and the tree formed some kind of circus trapeze or high bar.
A fitting description, actually, since he used his Acrobatics skill to swing onto the branch. The system assistant even made sure that he landed steadily on the nearest "ground", which, in this case, happened to be the tree branch.
Once he was up there, he put his spear back into his inventory since it would only get in the way now. He used the Searching skill to check for nearby enemies, but there was nothing dangerous around, so he could do without his weapon for the moment.
Akinym bent downward as far as he could and reached out his hand to Sinon to help her up. Sinon, however, hesitated. That was already too close for comfort as far as she was concerned. She tried to think of a good way to object.
Akinym [annoyed]: Don't look at me like that and take my hand already! We don't have all day! Or actually, we have, but I don't want to spend it like this.
Sinon huffed quietly, but she decided to just get this over with.
Akinym pulled her up high enough for her to grab the tree branch and climb onto it. Once she had a steady position, she took a look at the meadow on the other side of the stream.
Sinon [slightly determinedly]: Yeah, that should be better. I think I can do that from here.
Akinym: Okay, I'll leave this to you.
With that, Akinym jumped down again. Sinon was a little bit surprised.
Sinon: Huh? Why are you getting down again?
Akinym [flatly]: Why wouldn't I? There's not that much space on that branch, and I don't have anything to do up there. I'd only get in the way or something.
Well, good point, Sinon had to acknowledge that. Now that she thought about it, they could've bumped into each other and would've fallen down as a consequence or something like that. Upon looking downward, Sinon realised that they probably would've fallen into the stream. Who knew what kind of weird situation this might've caused…
Not to mention that Sinon felt much more comfortable without Akinym literally breathing down her neck. Seriously, what kind of idiot would even think that sitting together on this small tree branch would've been a good idea?
She turned her attention to the monster. It was still in range, but it would start to walk away again soon, so she had to hurry. Sinon took aim, but when she wanted to shoot, she hesitated.
There was something she hadn't taken into consideration so far. This wasn't like shooting at the tree earlier. This was a moving target, so she had to take that into account when deciding at which spot she should aim.
Sinon considered using a Sword Skill and letting the system assistant do the work. It should guarantee that her arrow would hit. However, Sinon decided against it. She felt that she was in her element with this ranged weapon. Now she wanted to see what she could really do with it. If possible, she wanted to take this monster down with her own strength.
It wasn't even that hard. All she had to do was to calculate how long her arrow would fly before it reached the target and how far (and in which direction) the monster would move during that time. That would allow her to determine which spot she should aim at.
Alright… First step: How long would the arrow fly? Well, she had always been relatively good at estimating distances, so she figured out how far away the monster was easily. The next question would be how fast an arrow was in SAO. She used the memory of her shooting practice earlier. Sinon knew how far away from the tree she had been, and she had a pretty good idea how long it had taken her arrows to reach it.
Now to the second question: Sinon observed the monster for a moment. Fortunately, it moved quite slowly if nobody seemed to be after it. After a few seconds, Sinon was confident that she figured out its speed, so she took aim at…
...at what, actually? Sinon pondered over potential spots of its body that she should hit. She considered asking Akinym, but this only made her realise that she should be able to figure it out on her own.
Akinym had told her that critical areas of monsters usually follow a certain logic. For instance, the critical areas of a heavily armored monster were usually gaps in that armor. Furthermore, if the monster resembled an actual living being, the critical areas were often vital spots such as the heart or the head.
The monster's body seemed bulky and sturdy, not exactly vulnerable. The head, on the other hand, seemed more like a good target. Okay, that took care of choosing the right spot to go for.
Sinon aimed at a spot slightly in front of the monster. While taking aim, Sinon couldn't help but think that all the efforts she had put into overcoming her fears so far seemed to pay off for once.
In order to overcome her fear of guns, she had tried to learn everything about them, even how to use them. As such, she overall knew how to take aim, even though she had never actually tried it with anything that resembled an actual gun. She hadn't been strong enough… not yet.
Aiming with a bow was a bit different, but she was able to apply the general principles. Instead of fixing her eyes on the sight, she fixed them on the arrow, imagining the shaft to extend and become a long, invisible line that would end at the point of impact.
Sinon allowed herself a small smile. She really had no trouble with the bow after all. It felt a bit strange to take monsters out from afar just as she would do with a gun, but as long as she didn't think to much about it, it was fine. She was able to stay perfectly calm while using the bow.
She had tried to imagine the bow to be a gun, but the very thought had made her stomach turn. In the end, she thought that she wasn't ready yet after all, but for the first time in who-knows-how-long, she was confident that she was getting there.
Sinon pulled back the bowstring and released it, sending the arrow towards her prey, which didn't see its end coming at all. Just as Akinym had speculated, Sinon's Sniping skill was strong enough to take the monster, which had quite low HP, out with a single shot.
Sinon [slightly excitedly]: Yush, that's one down.
It was the first monster she killed with this "gift" to heap up a pile of dead bodies. She had made up her mind: She would climb her way up that pile all the way to the end of SAO so that she could return to the real world as someone who didn't even fear the infamous death game.
Yes, someone who wouldn't fear anything anymore...
So, that's all for today. Sinon got her Unique Skill and is quite confident that it will help her to find the strength she seeks.
However, anyone who knows the events in HF (or SAO in general) could already tell that this isn't going to work that easily, and the next chapter will show that quite clearly.
This chapter includes a lot of references to Sinon's character events in HF, for instance the "heaping up a pile of bodies" line. There are also a lot of theories how her Sniping skill in HF might've worked and what her unspoken thoughts in some events might be. I have do admit that I enjoyed writing this chapter more than the last two.
Originally, I had planned another event to take place after the end of this chapter, but it's already pretty long, and the additional event isn't really that important, so I've decided against it.
I have a little announcement to make: Before I'll post the next chapter here, I'll start a collection of side stories, which will sometimes give new information on characters, so it might be advisable to follow them as well, but it should be perfectly possible to understand the main story without reading them. I'll make sure to mention whenever the main story references them and to give a little explanation.
Little Preview: Things are starting to go more smoothly on the upper floors. Or maybe not... What the hell is Sinon up to now?!