Hey! Kitsune is back again! Been a little while but I've got another chapter! I recently got in touch with one of my closest school friends and (as an aspiring writer that he is,) he has gracefully accepted the offer to be my official co-writer-come-beta-reader! So my grammar won't be as sucky. XD
To address an issue before we actually start the story: it is in regards to Kazuko. For those who don't know why she is a character in this game, then I would suggest you look up 'Kazuko Kawakami' from the series 'Maji De Watashi Ni Koishinnasai'. If you read her biography, it should make more sense as to why she has her 'dog' features and her name just so happens to be similar to Kazuto.
And to address the Final Fantasy twist in this fic? Yes, I will be adding aspects of FF into this fic.
With those three points out of the way, into the chapter we go! :D
~Chapter Two~
~Devil's Luck!~
~Floor One: Town of Beginnings: West Field~
"Hyaaah!"
He landed gracefully on one knee as another wild boar froze in mid-charge before exploding into a shower of blue pixels. He glanced backwards over his shoulder, taking note of the other three boars that paused in seeing one of their kin disappear forever. Apparently, it was enough to enrage the three as their eyes shifted from yellow to red; their bodies taking on a crimson aura that indicated their 'Berserk' status.
"Kuso!" Naruto cursed, noting his health had dropped into the yellow from the first bout with the four boars. Grimacing to himself, he picked himself up once more and calmly slipped into a starting stance; bringing himself into a southpaw stance, he kicked himself forward to engage the enemies with a left throw. The wild boar's jaw snapped shut from its biting position, snapping its head up from the blow and losing a good dent of damage. The two boars took note of the distraction as the next boar shunted his outstretched arm away, leaving the final boar free with a full-body tackle to his chest. Naruto rolled backwards a few times before propping himself on his feet again, his health was now sitting on forty-two percent.
Letting out another roar, he charged back into the fray and connected with the third boar; sending it away with a flying kick before quickly rounding back onto the other two boars. Aiming for the weaker of the two, he kicked the jaw of the boar and sent him airborne... only for Naruto to jump above the boar and connect with another downwards kick to send it back into the ground. He let loose a small burst of laughter when it exploded into pixels, much like its fallen kin. The second boar quickly bashed Naruto and managed to pierce his left forearm with one of its tusks.
He yelped in pain before swinging his right arm back, noticing that his fist was encased in a red glow; indicating he had just discovered his first ability. He let loose another yell as he yanked the head of the boar to its side with his pierced arm and smashed his fist, full pelt, into the face of the wild boar and smashing it into pixels. He knelt down to the floor as he gripped his numb and bleeding arm with his other, watching the last boar charge at him with a ferocious speed.
He could see his health had now dropped to sixteen percent, alongside his 'Bleeding' status and his 'Handicapped' status, the latter of which cutting his base stats by a core percentage. He picked himself up and crouched down on his feet, leaving his right leg stretched out and his left arm clutched close to his body. Once more, he was surprised he found another move to add to the list of abilities he had and waited until the boar came within striking range as he closed his eyes...
'I can hear it... the sound of the rustling grass...' he paused, taking a mental note of the sounds. 'The front legs landing closely together with its hind with a noticeable gap... around a good fifty meters away...' he smirked as his eyes snapped open, his arm now changing from a red glow to a blue aura. Deeming the boar within range, he quickly launched his attack at the boar...
... only to pale when the boar sensed the attack and swerved out of the way. Closing his eyes to his shortened end, he prepared himself for the final blow that would kill him...
"Hyyyaaaargh!"
He kept his eyes closed, not wanting to open them from fear of what he would find. After waiting for a few moments and feeling no blow to his body, he slowly opened his eyes and found himself staring at the back of a figure surrounded in a blue light; the sound effect of the pixels breaking indicated that the final boar had been slain. Seeing that, he slumped down, gripping his bleeding arm and simply stayed still.
"Are you alright?"
He lifted his head up, albeit with some difficulty, when he realized that the voice had belonged to one of a female. His theory was proven correct when he had found himself staring at the back of a figure that was a good head taller than most females he had encountered in real life. She wore a similar outfit to most of the (although few) female players he had seen the night before but she wore a shoulder-less crop and red and pink-skirt combination, instead.
He wetted his lips for a brief moment before he huskily spoke from feeling so drained of energy; "Y-Yeah... I-I thought I almost had it." he admitted, earning a small sigh from the woman as she made her way over to him and knelt before him. He noted the odd combination of short brown hair that (dare he say) clashed with her carmine eyes giving her a 'tomboyish' look but a hair-clip in her hair kept it together for her, grounding her femininity. She quickly swiped her fingers down, opening her menu, as she sifted through her inventory to find a small glass bottle.
She softly popped the cork from the top and gently tilted his head backwards and poured the green liquid down his throat; Naruto not refusing her when he saw his health slowly increase from his measly seven percent to a more solid forty-seven. He opened his eyes once more and found himself mesmerized by her eyes and couldn't help but stare at them for a few moments. She noticed and giggled before her carmine orbs took on a more mischievous glint.
"Ara ara? Am I really that good looking to leave you mesmerized by my beauty?" she playfully asked as a coy smile appeared on her face. With the relief of still being alive and being healed by this 'Goddess in human form', he simply brought himself to charmingly smile in return, noting a small dusting of her cheeks.
"I most certainly wouldn't complain." he complimented before his smile toned down into a much warmer one. "Still, I have you to thank for saving my life... so, thank you." he gratefully bowed his head, earning silence in response before a small smile appeared on her face. He was stunned to find a soft hand place itself on his cheek and tilt his head to face hers.
"You're welcome." she smiled in return before letting her hand drop from his face surprised on how long she had kept it there, simply coughing to herself to regain composure. "So... are you here leveling on your own?" she asked him as he slowly opened his own menu and took a potion himself. Slowly getting to his feet, he pulled out another potion and placed it in her hand.
"For the potion you used on me." he said, earning a small giggle as she deposited it in her inventory. "And yeah, I am. My only friend in the game decided to go solo and get as far as he can, right now. I should've pulled him aside and got him to teach me about the skills in this game, instead of finding out myself and almost dying in the process." he admitted, earning a frown from the woman.
"That was careless of you and irresponsible of your 'so-called' friend if he didn't even bother to give you any advice." she chided, earning a sheepish look from the blond that made her sigh in resignation. "Well, I'm trying to level up a little bit myself. I wouldn't mind giving you a few tips... in exchange." she grinned. Her playful look returning.
"Well... after saving my life, I have to repay you somehow." he shrugged, not minding the company or the help.
"You're no fun to tease." she huffed, puffing her cheeks up adorably with her hand on her hips. "Aren't you gonna ask me what I want?" she asked rhetorically. Earning an amused look from his face, she gave up. "You really are no fun, you know?"
"No, I just know you'd tell me anyway." he grinned foxily, earning a swat to his arm and a chuckle from the blond. "So what is it you need?" he asked, earning a small smile from her as she was finally asked. The smile soon turned into one of embarrassment as she grabbed her elbow, shyly looking away from him. He was puzzled as to why she turned like this but simply waited for her to speak up.
"I-It's..." she trailed off, "I-I want to do something more than just fight. My dad... back in the real world, he owns a blacksmith shop and he makes weapons for a living." she started explaining, earning his full attention. "I picked up a few skills from him and I want to do the same here; by doing my part, by making the weapons that'll save people's lives." she softly finished.
She stayed silent a moment, averting her gaze however when she looked up to his face she was shocked to find him staring at her with another soft smile on his face. "What? Thought I'd laugh at that?" he asked her, earning a shy nod in response to his question. "Nope. I think that's an awesome idea and I admire that." he complimented her. "I'm thinking of taking up a craft as well but I'm not sure what." he commented off-handedly. Her eyes widened in surprise at his claim but she could see the same fire in his eyes that he saw in hers...
... the fires of determination.
"What would you take up?" she asked, curious as to what he would say next. He paused for a moment as he thought about his choices and opened up his character page, noting that he had several slots available; the main-hand, off-hand, chest, hands, feet, belt, cape, necklace, charm slot and two rings. He soon found some gears turning in his head as he took note of the last four items and finding that he may have just stumbled across what craft he would take up.
"Y'know what?" he started to speak, earning a quizzed look from the brunette beside him. "I think I may just have found my answer." he grinned.
"Well, sorry to burst your bubble, Whiskers," she coyly smiled, earning a look for the new nickname she had given him, "But before you even think of making stuff, you need the materials to make the items... which is where you're gonna repay that favour of mine." she grinned, earning a small pause from the blond before a similar grin appeared on his face. He quickly opened his menu up and pressed a few buttons on his screen, prompting the pop-up box to appear in her menu.
*Naruto has sent you a friend request and a party invite! Accept/Decline?*
"Naruto, huh? Never thought I'd find someone named after 'fishcake'." she grinned, delighting in the groan that came from his throat. She giggled briefly before accepting the friend request and accepting the party invite. "Well, name's Lisbeth but I don't mind being called Liz." she smiled, offering her hand to shake. He nodded and quickly shook her hand...
... before a burst of blue light appeared around them and finding themselves surrounded by another four boars.
"Kuso! I forgot about the re-spawn!" Naruto cursed as he swiped open his menu once more and decided to err to caution and pulled out the weapon he had finally decided for himself; a broad two-handed sword. The hilt was wrapped in a plain white cloth, seemingly ingrained into the metal that made the massive sword he held. The metal was a shined black polish with silver edges primed to slice through things with ease. Holding it in front of him in a katana-stance, he noticed that Liz had pulled out a simple mace.
"Skills, you'll notice, require certain actions to be performed, stance, positioning, some even occur when under specific requirements." Lisbeth began explaining as she grabbed her mace with both hands and held it out to the side, prompting the start of a skill. She then reached the first boar and quickly drove it down straight on top of the boar's head, killing it instantly.
A screen appeared soon after it, revealing their rewards for killing it in terms of Col, Exp and any items that were dropped. She was shocked to find a [Prime Boar Meat] drop on the first floor, after hearing from Beta players that any kind of rare item would not drop until after the tenth floor. Not looking a gift-horse in the mouth, she pocketed it and turned back round to Naruto, who was watching her closely.
"That's pretty much all there is to it." she finished as she lowered her arms back down. "The game mechanics will ensure that the attacks always land and that the accuracy is spot on."
She watched him slowly nod as he remembered a stance he had learned from one of his mentors and took his left hand off the sword and lifted up with one-hand, shocking her with the pure strength it must have taken him to do so. He ran past her as he tilted the sword backwards a little bit and noted a blue sheen cover the edge of the sword. Running in the midst of the three boars that had focused on them, he swung his right arm around and caught the sword with his left hand, allowing him to spin in place and cleaving through the three boars with ease. He finished with a flourish by bringing his sword out to his side and crouched down on the grass.
'Wow...' was all that she could think when she watched him sling the sword over his back and into the straps that had appeared in place, finding herself mesmerized by how he had dispatched the boars with ease. She wasn't paying attention as she soon found him snapping his fingers in front of her face; leaping back a few steps from finding his face near hers. "I-I'm sorry! What did you say?" she asked lamely.
"Just asked if you were alright. You spaced out for a sec, there." he grinned. She shook her head clear before she perked back up, leaning in close and poking his chest a few times.
"I'm fine, Whiskers. Now, you ready to get down to some material farming?" she coyly smiled once more, earning a laugh from the blond as the two found themselves drawing their weapons once more; Lisbeth bringing her mace out while Naruto cracked his knuckles with a loud pop.
"We got till lunchtime, Mistress!" Naruto spoke up with a challenging grin on his face, laughing at the sour look given for his nickname for her. "Loser pays for lunch. See how many boars we can kill before five." he suggested. Lisbeth simply readied her weapon before the duo crouched slightly...
"Go!"
~SAO:AC~
~Floor One: Town of Beginnings: Restaurant~
"Well I'll be damned..." Naruto mused to himself as he watched the sheer delighted look on his partner's face as a massive dessert was placed in front of her. "Are you really gonna eat all that?" he asked innocently, earning a glare from Lisbeth as she dug her spoon in and took a massive bite of her 'Godfather'; a dessert made up of crumbled twin-chocolate brownies, fudge, crushed chocolate flakes, vanilla ice-cream scoops topped with three different kinds of chocolate and topped with chocolate sprinkles and chocolate sauce.
"Is that a problem?" she whispered in a cold tone, leaving Naruto sweat slightly under the pressure.
"N-Nope!"
"Good!" she beamed happily, taking another spoonful of dessert. "Still, I'm surprised just how much loot we got today! Even with a larger team, this would be incredibly uncommon." she explained, earning a curious look from the blond. "Well, I heard that they had introduced a new stat into the game. Apparently, item drops are based on what your 'Luck' is." she explained, missing the look of hilarity on Naruto's face as the news sunk in. If word got out about his luck stat, then he'd likely break the game in terms of drops!
"We both managed to level up a few times, so that's a good start!" Naruto grinned, masking his shit-eating grin the best he could. "We bot got points but this is my first game and I have no idea what to do with them." he confessed lowly, earning a small pat on her shoulder from Lisbeth.
"It's alright, it's my first time as well. Just open up your menu and select your 'Stats' screen." she nodded as she swiped her index and middle fingers down in front of him, bringing up the menu. "Stats are just the numbers to show you how strong you are, how fast you are and all the statistical things about you. Underneath that will be your current available skills and perks if you have any. You upgrade the skills the more you use them and then have the chance to learn new moves that branch off of them." she explained, showing her own menu as a guide. "You usually earn skill points for every ten levels you improve on your weapon, which you can spend to unlock new moves and abilities."
Character: Lisbeth
Level: 4
Stats:
Strength: 10 (+8)
Vitality: 9 (+1)
Dexterity: 6
Agility: 7
Accuracy: 11
Crit.: 4
Evasion: 14
Attack: 96
Defence: 25
Luck: 9
Weapons:
Maces: 127/1000
Abilities:
Maces:
Silent Blow: 20/1000
Power Strike: 17/1000
Perks:
Ironblood: 25% Increased efficiency to all Blacksmith skills.
"The stats goes as follows: Base stats (including allocated stat points), stat boosts from abilities and perks, stat boosts from gear and then there's the chance to embed crystals; but the crystals don't kick in until level forty." Liz explained as she closed her menu down. Naruto nodded as he checked his menu, waiting for the response he'd get when he noticed she had paused her eating and leaned over the table to see his numbers.
Character: Naruto
Level: 4
Stat Points Available: 26
Skill Points Available: 16
Strength: 17 (+10)
Vitality: 11 (+13)
Dexterity: 13 (+2)
Agility: 4
Accuracy: 11
Crit.: 9
Evasion: 15
Attack: 116
Defence: 21
Luck*: 115
Weapons:
Zanbatō (2H-Sword): 94/1000
Hand-to-Hand: 77/1000
Abilities:
Zanbatō:
Avalanche: 19/1000
Blast: 25/1000
Fighting Gloves:
Uzumaki-Ryū*: 17/1000
Kitsune no Ken*: 16/1000
Active Perks:
Uzumaki Blessing: Gain Vitality based on half your current base Strength Stat.
*Devil's Luck: Your Luck Stat is massively boosted... in turn for increased mission/quest difficulty. (Perk liable to be lost if you fail, repeatedly.)
?: ?
Pure silence settled between the two of them as Naruto shyly looked up, only to find Lisbeth's carmine eyes staring straight into his own cerulean. He knew why as she slowly placed her spoon in her (now forgotten) dessert and reached over the table and slowly grabbed the hem of his armour and pulled him in to her face. She didn't even rush the action, just a normal pace... and that was what was scaring him.
"One hundred and fifteen."
"Yeah..."
"... your Luck stat is one hundred and fifteen..." she repeated.
"Yeah." Naruto quietly spoke back, sweating heavily. She nodded a few times before a small smile appeared on her face, slowly growing into a smirk, then into a grin that threatened to split her face in half.
"Awesome." she whispered back in giddiness as she patted his cheek a few times before leaning back and tucking back into her dessert. Naruto shivered violently when she sat down, feeling like his time in here had just been taken away from him by the same girl that sat in front of him. He simply sighed to himself as he brought up his 'Skills' menu and glanced down at the skills that had currently been set in front of him. He noted that the weapons available in the game were all placed into categories; noting that his Hand-to-Hand and Two-Handed Swords were barely filled. He saw boxes that represented the level-up bonuses that he would unlock further into his weapon masteries.
He saw a bunch of skills branching off from the weapons and noted they were likely abilities and perks that were available to him but still locked. The three he saw unlocked were Close Combat, Conditioning and Forgotten Arts. He found that the three perks would only cost him one point each, so he decided to click on each of them and accept them. He opened the screens up and saw additional skills that would be unlocked if he spent the points to use them. He noted the effects that each perk had given him; the Close Combat perk granted him a twenty-five percent bonus in hand-to-hand combat, Conditioning increased his strength stat by thirty percent and Forgotten Arts had a bunch of question marks underneath it. Leaving it for now, he closed the menu; just in time to see Lisbeth finish off her dessert.
"Anything interesting?" she asked as she noted how intently he was staring at the screen. He simply gave her a smile and closed the screen down, leaving her guessing at what he had found.
"A few things but nothing concrete, yet." he admitted, seeing her 'gerbil-face' from how adorable she looked when she puffed her cheeks up. "My main question is how you start a crafting class." he asked her, earning a small nod.
"The crating list is available to everyone and split into several categories. Focusing on one of the classes will automatically unlock a few set crafts that depending on the craft, you can make anything after it based on your imagination." Lisbeth explained as she opened up her inventory to check out the vast amount of ores she had gained with her partner. That thought made her pause briefly, wondering where it came from, before closing the menu.
"Right. I should be okay with the items I have for now. Do you still need anything, Liz?" he asked, taking a small bite of the bowl of ramen that he was slowly savouring. She placed her finger to her chin and tapped it a few times before sending a quick glance to him.
"Well, if it's alright with you... I'd like to call it enough for today and spend the rest of the day tinkering with my blacksmithing and start getting that up to shape." she professed, earning a reassuring nod from Naruto as he could agree with the sentiment. "I still want to know what craft you'll be taking up!" she pointed at him, earning a small chuckle from the blond as he wagged his finger. The two simply decided to keep the pleasant atmosphere for a little while longer before splitting ways.
~SAO:AC~
~Floor One: Horunka Village: Outskirts~
Wiping a bead of sweat from his brow, he slowly trekked through the heavily-wooded forest that threatened to soak him all the way to the bone from the humidity of the afternoon sun; forcing him to forego his armour and simply travel bare-chested. He silently cursed to himself as he shook his hand from the phantom pains of the nettles embedding themselves into his hand, simply focusing on remembering the path to get one of the best weapons for this floor.
He could have knelt down on his knees and prayed in thanks when he saw the small village finally come into view, gazing towards the small houses that occupied this seemingly remote village. He took note of the few NPC's that were walking about, going through their day-by-day programmed tasks and, though he'd not admit it, it did give off a homely vibe. For a split moment, he thought about Naruto before telling himself he'd be alright. Placing the t-shirt part of his armour back on, he slid down the small slope and skidded neatly into the middle of the path that entered the village. Praising himself and wishing he had a camera for his moment of 'coolness', he soon made his way.
He didn't waste any time as he quickly ran up to the NPC that initiated the quest and clicked on the Accept button; mentally rolling his eyes from the long-winded explanation the man gave, wanting to run out and get a decent sword, get that small edge over the competition. Having enough courtesy to thank the man, he quickly opened up his map and made a marker where he needed to go to and quickly took off.
~SAO:AC~
(Time Skip: Town of Beginnings: Eastern Ravine)
"What's taking them so long?"
Naruto sighed defeatedly as he took another bite out of the sandwich he had purchased back at the Town of Beginnings, just shortly before heading out into the fields once more to take on some of the more difficult enemies. It had been another close call at several points, almost repeating his performance from yesterday and killing himself from carelessness but he had attempted taking down some of the monsters whose names were titled in red, instead of a normal white.
He knew red meant powerful. He also saw a black titled enemy and knew not to go anywhere near it.
Much to his surprise, the experience he had received from the main force of spawnable enemies; Dire Wolves and Alpha Dire Wolves was impressive. Both were titled in red proving a challenge for him to keep up. He had a few close calls when trying to pull just one wolf he'd end up chain-pulling three or four; pushing his reflexes to the max. He let loose a smile as he opened up his menu and noted he had jumped up in weapon mastery and the amount of 'Skill Points' he had to spend.
He would keep it under wraps that taking and defeating a red-named monster would grant a skill point upon successful kill.
With the extra points, he had noticed that the crafting class he was interested in had appeared on his list and decided to invest a good ten skill points to unlock a few new abilities for his recently-discovered Goldsmithing craft class; namely using five points to unlock a recipe book and the other five on two skills, one which added a small boost in quality on all items made and Desynthesis, which allowed him to take an item and dismantle it to get bonus materials and potentially rare items as well. The two skills branched out further and there were many other perks that could be taken, but he needed to raise his level before he could unlock them.
Talking with Lisbeth from the night before, crafting worked differently from battle classes in terms of skill points; meaning it would be one skill point every twenty points of mastery and a bonus point on every two-plus rarity item he makes (at this level).
Thinking about the girl he had spent most of the day with yesterday, he had sent her a message (and one to Kirito as he would likely chew his ass out if he wasn't told) about stumbling across an easily-overlooked cave entrance that, he assumed, was a hidden dungeon. This had been over an hour ago and there had been no sighting of either of them, much to his surprise. As he thought about sending another message, he glanced around and quickly swiped open his inbox and pulled up the same inbox he had received from Kayaba, himself. He clicked on Open and tried to keep his face impassive as he read the message.
Sender: Kayaba Akihiko (GM)
Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze; I will admit that I am surprised that you would be one of the ten-thousand trapped here but, nevertheless, I have sent this to you with some noteworthy pieces of information. Please know that even I am not stupid to incur the wrath of Hiruzen-dono, so your safety will be assured as long as you comply to the game mechanics.
The first piece of news relates to your abnormally high 'Luck' stat. As incredible as it is, I will have to balance the mechanics out by making all your quests and missions harder for you to counterbalance this anomaly. Note, however: if you accept a quest while within a party, then this effect will be reduced based on the number of members you have within said party the moment you accept the quest. Despite this, the mission will always be much more difficult than normal. Despite the increase of difficulty for the quest, the rewards for said quests will also be higher than normal and even have special rewards that only a few players can achieve.
The second piece of news is to do with this; I will set you onto the path of a hidden class I have set aside for you, and you alone. Whether you think it's fair or not that you would have an extra advantage over other players, there will still be restrictions and handicaps to counter-balance the positives from making you too strong. One of the requirements for this bonus is that you cannot and will not be allowed to join a Guild for the first half of the game or rather until completion of Floor Fifty. From Floor Fifty-One and up, I will remove this limitation and you will be free to do as you please.
Thirdly, I wish to express my interest in you. I have read into the background of each person who had registered for the use of this game and I will admit that I am a little... biased. While I still wish to keep people within this game of mine, I can't help but admit that there is a sentimental notion from what I've discovered about your upbringing and I wish to turn the tides, so to speak, and give you a small boost... if it were.
Finally, I mentioned during the installation of the patch of the possibility to Dual-Wield a weapon. Unfortunately, only one person will be capable of attaining the class and use it within game parameters. The only way to gain it is to attain the best reaction time out of all ten thousand players.
Good luck.
Naruto simply paused for a few moments as he digested all the information in. He was excited about having another exclusive class to play as but he knew that there would have to be some kind of catch and he knew that things would only continue to prove difficult for him as long as he stayed in the game. He re-read the part of himself not being able to join a guild until floor Fifty-One and that irked him as he would've liked to start a guild and build it up. Sighing to himself, he simply moved the message to a saved folder and quickly opened up his inventory to pull out a piece of bread he had bought before leaving town.
"Whiskers!"
Naruto spun his head around to find his fellow companion from yesterday jogging up to his position with a smile on her face. He simply waved as he took another bite of his bread as she jumped to a stop in front of him. She smirked slightly as she took the bread from his mouth and held it away from his face, earning an amused look from Naruto as he chewed on the piece in his mouth. Much to his surprise, though, she had took a bite of the bread and popped the final bite into his mouth.
"Damn! Three days in and already getting cosy with a chick! Wonder what your sister will have to say about that?"
He simply grinned as he didn't even bother to face the third member of their rag-tag group. "Least I'm getting 'cosy with a woman', unlike someone I know who seems to keep gunning for women who're off-limits and out of their league!" Naruto shot back, earning a loud guffaw from Lisbeth as she laughed at the sharp comeback.
"Dammit." Kirito sighed as he finally converged on their position. "You've got me. So what's this about? And who's the chick?" he asked bluntly, earning a disapproving look from Lisbeth at his comment.
"The chick is called Lisbeth, Bucko." Liz introduced herself to him with a frown on his face. She almost lost it when he gave her a dismissive wave and simply tuned her out. She was about to move when a firm hand was placed on her shoulder. Turning to follow the arm up, she noticed Naruto shaking his head with a smile on his face, causing her to huff before standing down.
"This is Kirito, Liz." Naruto introduced briefly before moving on. "As for why I called you two for... I believe this is the side-dungeon for this floor!" he grinned. "So, whaddya think?" he asked the two as they both stared at the cave in response. Before an answer could be given a notification popped up in red:
~~WARNING! RECOMMENDED LEVEL ENTRY: 10~~
"Well," Lisbeth mused as she rolled her shoulder with a challenging grin on her face, "We won't know until we try it, right?" she rhetorically asked, earning smiles and nods from the others as the three slowly entered the cave; activating the dungeon as a blue barrier appeared behind them. They couldn't get out now, so they resolved themselves to make it through this dungeon and get back out on the other side. They glanced around and found themselves awed by the slightly glowing formation of gems inside of the place. Having nothing to lose, the three of them decided to make their way further down the clearing and deeper into the cave.
The three had been walking for five minutes or so when they heard a chattering noise just ahead of them. They noted a small sprouting plant appear out of the floor, just before the earth around it loosened and gave way to a small Seedling. They all noted that it was a level twelve monster so it shouldn't be too bad with the three of them...
Of course, they forgot that premature conclusions often jinx the situation as another twelve seedlings appeared in front of them as well.
"Well..." Naruto paused as he pulled his weapon off his back before cutting himself with the blade before swinging it once again, activating the [Blood Vengeance] attack he had discovered during the 'Pig Hunt' yesterday. "Fuck." he summarized perfectly. He turned to Lisbeth, noting her mace was shining red when he nodded to her. She prepared herself to time her jump, finding the perfect chance as soon as Naruto's zanbatō came just behind him. Jumping onto the flat of his blade, she leaped up into the air, allowing herself to somersault backwards in the air before being her mace down into the middle of the Seedlings.
The impact against them stunned them momentarily, allowing Naruto to rush up behind her and hit his own move, taking a good 36% of each Seedling's health. He noted that they all turned their attention to him, he had their aggro locked on him. Kirito and Lisbeth darted up from the sides as they both worked on each Seedling one by one, whittling them down before all three landed a three-way blow on the last one. They paused as several notifications appeared, telling them of the new skills they had unlocked. Deciding to leave the menus for until they were back in the inn, the three continued onwards. It proved a little tedious when a few more mobs of Seedlings spawned, noting that they were slightly easier to manage in big groups than in twos or threes. Curious, after finishing off the last one in the current mob, Lisbeth asked just that.
"Hey, Whiskers?" she asked, earning said blond's attention and a raised eyebrow from Kirito in regards to the nickname, "Why does it seem easier to face a bigger group than a smaller group?"
"Ah," Kirito nodded as he sheathed his sword, "It's a mechanic used in a lot of games; it's like a balance-formula." he began, trying to find the right words to use. "Say the mob has a total of a thousand health. If the mob was split into ten, then we'd have ten monsters with a hundred health each. If we had, say, five? Then we'd have a group of five monsters with two hundred each. If it was just the one monster? It would have the full one-thousand health and be much harder. The same principle would work for stats as well such as strength, defence and so-on." he explained, earning an 'ooh' from the brunette as they decided to carry on. Seeing as there was no major threat presented right now, Naruto sheathed his weapon and opted to go melee for a little while.
The three soon got bored from the continuous spawn of Seedlings but soon encountered a few Saplings, slightly higher leveled versions being level thirteens, and having an ability called [Spore]; making it impossible for Naruto to hit with melee attacks as it would paralyze him if the spores came in contact with him. There was one close call with Naruto when he had the paralysis debuff and constant attacks aimed at him dropped him to under 30% health; prompting two potions and an intervention from Kirito as he took them down. This pretty much was the main plan for an hour, when they soon stumbled across a large clearing; glistening with glowing crystals but they all focused on a flower which lay in the middle.
"Oh, what a beautiful flower!" Lisbeth smiled as she made her way towards it. Naruto simply shook his head when he saw her get so carried away by a flower of all things, when a pop-up appeared in front of him;
*You sense bloodlust ahead of you!*
Paling at the thought, he yelled out, "Liz! Get away now!" he yelled brandishing his weapon. He saw the earth quake a little bit before he saw a green vine burst out of the floor, aiming to penetrate the stunned brunette. She screamed as it came for her but she found the vine cut off just before it reached her. Putting an arm around her waist, Naruto leaped back with her in tow; just to see more vines appear from the floor and whip around wildly as a behemoth of a figure soon appeared before them all.
Naruto had to shudder slightly at the sight of the creature creature before them, vines whipping around it defensively. On top of its head was a red and orange flower, fading to the lone white flower that was visible before... which didn't subtract from the massive gaping maw of razor-filled teeth that stared them down. He glanced up to see the name of the monster and checked its level; not feeling confident from the sight of four health bars on said monster. He discovered he unlocked a new ability; Scan, and decided to use it on the thing before them.
Name: NM: Rotting Ochu
Level: 18
HP: 24500/25000
MP: 50/50
"Oh wow," Kirito drawled out as he unsheathed his sword, "I would have never have guessed that a flower in the middle of a creepy cavern would be completely harmless!" he yelled, not watching his surroundings when Lisbeth slugged him across the face and sent him stumbling to the floor. "Owowowow!" he hissed in pain, cradling his right cheek where the haymaker landed. "The hell was that for!?" he argued back at the blacksmith, glaring. She huffed as she glared at him in return.
"Look I'm new to all this, baka!" she retorted angrily, stopping and calming down when Naruto placed a hand on her shoulder. She turned her attention to the patiently waiting Ochu and turned to see the worried look on his face. "Naruto? What's wrong?" she asked. He pointed to the boss, namely the four health bars that curved around the frame of the Ochu. "Oh..." she trailed off, catching his drift.
"Yep. Rotting Ochu, level eighteen, twenty-four and a half thousand health and fifty mana." he summarized from what he could observe from his [Scan] ability. "If what we faced are any giveaways, then melee attacks are probably best avoided here, or used only for the final strike and to try to [Mug] him if I get the chance." he planned, earning a slight nod from her as Kirito moved back to the group, deciding to stand on Naruto's side. "Kirito. Any ideas how to run this?" he asked, turning to the former Beta tester.
"The best way I can think of is to keep 'switching' attacks." he spoke seriously, knowing he'd need to elaborate further for the new players' sake. "Switching, one person goes in, lands a few attacks and then parries a major attack allowing the 'switch' with another person who'll have a clear shot of the boss, repeat for the next person. Keep doing this till it dies. Pull out if your health goes into yellow; no pushing it to red this time." he commanded, earning serious nods from the two of them. Naruto prepped his [Deadly Throw] move while Lisbeth readied her mace for her newly acquired [Diving Smash] attack. "Ready?" he asked, readying his own move.
"Hai!" the two replied in unison as Naruto grinned foxily and allowed the sword to fly in a perfect circular arc, smiling and inwardly cheering when his attack landed critical blows on two of the vines and dropped the boss' health down by a further thousand health. He noted a red aura as the Ochu stared at him, knowing he held aggro right now. He ran down the slope with his sword held behind him, glowing red as he readied the incoming attack on his position when he moved close enough. The boss tried taking him out with another pair of vines but he soon ducked under them and slid onto his back for a few seconds before launching his attack and leaving a large gash on its lower jaw.
"Get the vines! Each one downed takes five hundred health off it!" Naruto shouted back to the others. They shifted focus to the vines that began whipping around madly. Naruto was so focused on the others, he didn't see the vine smack him face on and launch him back. He bounced off the floor and rolled a couple of times before stopping in an undignified heap. Naruto noted his health had taken a whopping 23% hit and he cursed when he found himself paralyzed thanks to the spores.
He saw the Ochu crouching slightly and his eyes widened in panic when he saw the behemoth plant launch itself into the air, aiming to crush him underneath. Thankfully, Lisbeth had seen him get hit and quickly rushed to his position and dragged him away just before the boss landed where he once was. The force behind the attack sent them both flying away as Naruto quickly regained control of his body and spun them around so he would take most of the damage and protect her. He sighed when her health hadn't dipped from green and rested on a respectable 82%... in contrast to his 47%. She quickly gave him a potion to drink as Kirito quickly moved in front of them to try and keep its attention.
"Hey! I feel really sorry for your mom when she gave birth to you! I mean... I bet she couldn't tell if she slapped your ass or your face!" Kirito smugly [Provoke]d, thanking his lucky(?) stars that aggro shifted from Naruto to him. Kirito dodged the incoming vines as he deftly avoided them all before capitalizing on Naruto's previous shot and aim for its lower jaw again. It screeched in pain before it jumped back a little. Naruto, who had gotten back on his feet, hit his [Scan] ability once more.
HP: 12307/25000
"Keep an eye on those vines. If they connect, it'll hit you with paralysis spores; just like the saplings." Naruto warned as he saw his health back up to 77%. "Ideally, we need to take them down above all-" he began before the Ochu suddenly screeched loudly; dazing them all for a few seconds as a wave of Seedlings and Saplings appeared before them. "How the fuck is this a level ten dungeon!?" Naruto rhetorically asked as he quickly dashed in, brandishing his sword as he placed it behind him in a swinging stance.
"Aaaaargh! [Silver Cyclone!]" he roared as he ran into the middle of the group and swung his zanbatō in a circle while landing hits against a majority of the seedlings and taking a good third of them out in one move. He couldn't move for two seconds afterwards but Kirito and Lisbeth both honed in on his location and quickly took care of the remaining minions and leaving themselves with the boss once more.
Their eyes narrowed when it started to shuffle a little bit and noticed orange pollen appear and fly into the air and straight for them. The three hastily retreated, knowing it was its spores and preferred not to end up paralyzed. It kept it up for a minute spreading all over the floor, apart from where it stood. Lisbeth zoomed in on this fact as she brandished her mace in a relaxed stance. "The floor is full of its spores but the area its standing on hasn't been touched by it. The only way I can think of pulling this off is-" she began but soon stopped by Naruto, knowing where she was going.
"One of us will need to go into the spore and get paralyzed so I can launch you both to knock the boss back and claim the untouched area its standing on, right?" Naruto finished, noting the slight flinch in her eyes and guilty look for suggesting such a thing. Her eyes snapped up to his when he simply smiled at her and rubbed her head. "That's fine. I got hit a few times so I have a little resistance right now. I'm better to do this than you both are. Keep exposing myself to it and I should build up a temporary immunity." he figured, earning a short nod from Kirito. "Right!" he grinned with a glint in his eyes as he ran forward a few steps and leaped into the air and landed down with his sword held out horizontally as the paralysis hit him again. "Go!"
Lisbeth wasted no time as she took a running start and cleared the distance to reach Naruto's position and launch herself off the sword and swing her mace around a few times before positioning it into a batter's swing. "Hey, batta', batta', batta', batta'-" she started before spinning in the air and smacking the Ochu on the side of its head with a critical hit and knocking it away from its position, enough to make the untouched area accessible, "Swiiiiing~!" she giggled as she landed safely in the zone. Kirito had to laugh at the ridiculousness of her attack but soon followed suit as the two now resided in their small area. They turned to Naruto to see him take slow steps towards them, growing quicker as the paralysis was losing potency on him.
Kirito saw the Ochu coming back with all of his vines coming at them; cursing it for being smart to play a ranged game knowing they couldn't move from where they are. Thankfully for them, the vines were relatively easy to cut down, taking the remaining five vines out and lowering its health down to the final bar and into the red. They saw the boss leap into the air, aiming to crush them both, but they noted the blond rush to their position and stab his sword into the ground and hid behind it. Soon as he did, a golden glow appeared around him that soon transferred to the other two players. The attack landed but the Ochu hit the sword and found it withstanding its attack and made no ground progress on them. Naruto's health dented by a good 17%, knocking him back down to 60%, while Kirito and Lisbeth both only lost 2% thanks to Naruto's new skill.
Taking another potion, he quickly pulled his sword out and began hacking away at the overgrown plant boss with deep-slashing attacks that left it screeching after each hit as he would attack the weakest spot; its mouth. The other two got the same idea as they kept up the offensive onslaught and keeping the Ochu on the defensive. They did well as the Ochu jumped back once more, away from them. Naruto used this opportunity to scan it once more to see how much was left.
HP: 3534/25000
"It's just over thirty-five hundred health left." Naruto commented as he sheathed his sword and pulled out his gloves and equipped them. "Thanks to my immunity to his spore, I'm no longer worried about its effects as I've developed immunity to it." he smirked. "Sit back and watch the fireworks!" he grinned as he burst off in a yellow flash and immediately appeared underneath the Ochu and knocked it into the air. Cracking his knuckles, he appeared underneath it and used his incredible leg strength to kick the boss upwards and over to where the remaining two party members stood. After a series of seven kicks juggling it over to them, he landed a quick [Mug] attack. He then nodded to the final two as they all drew their weapons and readied their final combo.
Seeing the boss coming down towards them, Lisbeth smirked as she pulled off a familiar stance but it was reversed to what it normally was. "[Inverted Power Strike]!" she shouted, starting with a blow from above and slamming the mace right down on its head, stunning it. Following after her, Kirito pulled off another [Rising Strike] and launched it into the air once more, where Naruto had a two-handed grip on the sword and prepped it over his head. Lisbeth jumped into the air as she held her mace out to the side, leaving Kirito gripping his sword towards his left leg and prepared to attack.
"[Braver]!/[Annihilating Blow]!/[Vorpal Slash]!" the three yelled out in unison as their attacks landed home; Liz's attack caused a trail of fire to come out of her weapon as she pierced the right cheek of the monster and flayed a fair bit of its head off as she dragged it upwards, landing a critical hit. Kirito's sword flashed once as he dragged it through the left hand side and caused a deep gash to appear to cut open its left cheek and pierce its mouth. Naruto brought his sword from over his head and cleaved the boss into two clean halves. The three remained airborne as they watched the boss split into two before exploding into pixels that soon vanished along with the spore on the ground.
~Congratulations! You've cleared the dungeon!~
Exp: +20000
Col: +15000
Items: Ochu Flower
~Congratulations! You got the Last Attack bonus!~
Naruto: Forest Guardian's Ring+3
Lisbeth: Forest Guardian's Cloak+3
Kirito: Vine Blade+2
"Sweeeeeet!" Kirito beamed as he immediately equipped his new sword. "I finally get a better drop than you two for once!" he taunted, earning a disapproving frown from the two of them before Naruto's eyes widened slightly.
~Congratulations! Mug Skill successful!~
Naruto: Mace of K'jata+4
"Eh!?" the three of them cried out in shock as Naruto quickly opened his inventory menu and noted the drop it was on about. He soon started chuckling as he opened up a trade menu with Lisbeth, trading the new weapon with her. Lisbeth paused for a moment before she looked up into his eyes and found nothing but warmth in them. She softly smiled as she accepted the trade and briefly hugged him for the present; both ignoring the tantrum Kirito was throwing.
~Congratulations! You have leveled up!~
Naruto: 4 - 9
Lisbeth: 4 - 9
Kirito: 6 - 9
"Oh, for fuck sake!" Kirito growled, earning stupefied looks from the other two as Kirito slowly broke down from the unfairness of it all and cursing about "Fucking lucky Uzumaki" and the like. Thankfully, the three of them were teleported right back to the beginning of the dungeon and outside the cave and back into the field they started on. "You know what? I'm leaving. I'm gonna get a damn good set of drops by myself, because you-" he fumed, pointing at the blond, "-keep getting so fucking ridiculously lucky and get the best drops!" he heaved as he left the party. He flipped them the bird and them stormed off, leaving the two of them blinking owlishly.
"Uh..." Lisbeth started, "What just happened?" she asked, confused about the sudden turn in the ravenet's personality.
"I think he's annoyed at my natural luck stat." Naruto explained as he shrugged. Deciding that the two of them had enough excitement for one day, they checked the time; noting they had spent an hour in the dungeon, and it was just coming up to six in the evening. "I'm beat. I just want to wash and grab an early night. Want me to walk with you?" he asked, earning an soft nod from the brunette as they both felt too lazy to walk and decided to use a teleport crystal to take them back to the city.
~SAO:AC~
~Floor One: Town of Beginnings: Inn~
Naruto let loose a deep groan the moment he felt the water hit his body and cascaded down his frame. He noted the water felt a bit too 'heavy' and thick but he wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. He placed his hands either side of the pipe and simply tilted his head downwards. He enjoyed the times he could just stand under the water and let his problems wash away like nothing else mattered. Deciding that he soaked long enough, he quickly washed himself up and spent a few more moments under the water.
He still had a ton of stat points to spend but he was unsure on how he was going to go about it. He had two classes he needed to take into consideration and he had a variety of skills now, thanks to the past two days. He noted that his melee was pure-offensive and could work with a strength and agility focus. However, his class with his zanbatō was more peculiar; seeing as he had a lot of offensive and supplementary moves with the one defensive mode he had picked up during the fight; [Steelguard]. Yes, he could see that his zanbatō was more designed to fit a tank class but he could see more use from having it as a DPS (Damage Per Second).
He overheard a discussion that the laws of physics here were almost exactly equal to the real world; so in terms of combat, velocity plus strength equals impressive damage output. So with that thought in mind, he decided that it'd be best to distribute his points into his strength, dexterity and agility stats... once he got out of the shower.
He decided to wrap his towel around his waist as he didn't have to worry about anyone seeing him in such a state of undress as there were no-one taking the rooms around him. Kirito had messaged them that he'll be going back to soloing for a little while and simply went on his way. He chuckled from the little tantrum Kirito had earlier but it's what made him 'him'. He quickly stepped out of the shower, thankful that the room was still nice and warm. He closed his door as he slowly took the towel from his waist and quickly ruffled his hair dry before swiping his fingers down to bring up his menu as he locked the door behind him.
~SAO:AC~
~Floor One: Town of Beginnings: Market Place~
Naruto smiled as he took in the atmosphere of the evening; despite being stuck in this game, he gave credit to those who decided to make the most of it and provide a pleasant atmosphere for everyone in an attempt to not lose hope. He watched several players walk past in groups or pairs, all turning to him and offering a polite wave; which he returned in earnest. He had found a small restaurant that sold cuisine of every continent and country. While he enjoyed his Japanese food, he will always have a love for Southern-Fried Chicken and the burgers he used to have back in the States. He spotted the place in question but soon stopped when he saw a figure sitting by themselves in the middle of an empty alleyway.
He tilted his head when he noted the posture of the figure; their two arms pressed tightly against their stomach and the slouching of their back. He could see the wince that appeared when they moved and the low rumbling noise coming from their direction. Hoping he wasn't being rude, he quickly switched directions and made his way over to them. "A-Ano, are you alright?" he asked politely, watching as the cloaked figure's head moved to stare at his face.
"I'm okay, thank you." the feminine voice replied.
"You sure? I mean, you're all alone here and you look like you want something to eat but can't afford it if your eyes and body are any indication." he grinned playfully, chuckling softly at the rumble of her stomach as her response. "C'mon, I'll buy you something. No strings attached, no hidden motives." he smiled, offering his hand to her. She stared at it for a few moments but she couldn't help but feel relaxed; he had a warm aura that made her want to believe him. It felt... safe.
"O-Okay." she whispered, taking his hand as he lifted her up to her feet. The two of them quickly made their way inside the restaurant and quickly spotted two seats available over in the corner booth, away from prying eyes. The moment the two of them sat down, an NPC waitress came over and asked them their order.
"I'll have two platters of southern fried chicken, an XXL cheeseburger and two fries; I'll also take three bowls of spicy chicken ramen, two portions of tonkatsu with dip, a large bowl of yakiniku and a portion of boiled rice and soy-fried seaweed please!" he smiled, taking note of the stunned look on his guest's face. "What's wrong?" he asked playfully.
"Y-You can eat that much!?" she squeaked in embarrassment. He chuckled sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head in response. She gaped at him a little longer before regaining her composure and glanced down at the menu. "I'll take one of the meat platter for two, please." she shyly asked, earning a smile from the waitress as she bowed and left to prepare their order.
"You know you can take that hood down." he suddenly commented, earning a startled look from her as she didn't expect him to mention that. "No-one's going to see us since I've hinted at us for a table away from prying eyes and tucked nicely into the corner; unless they actively search for you and I doubt you've done something to annoy someone off already." he grinned. She paused for a moment as she looked into his eyes and was honestly surprised that there were no ill-intentions within them. Earning a soft melodic tinkle from her, she lifted her hands to her hood and pulled it down;
Revealing her long chestnut hair that looked as smooth as the best silk he had ever seen. Her matching eyes gave her a much softer look and her small amused smile seemed to fit; innocent yet devious enough to leave you speechless if you gave her chance. Naruto paused for a moment to study her face and couldn't help the soft blush on his face at her demure beauty as he committed her face to memory.
"Now I don't understand how you'd want to hide such a pretty face, miss...?" he complimented before realizing he didn't know her name. She giggled into her hand as she leaned back into her seat.
"Asuna. Asuna Yuki." she smiled, offering her hand to shake.
"Naruto Uzumaki. Pleasure to make your acquaintance." he smiled charmingly at her and kissed the back of her knuckles, earning another laugh from the woman before him before breaking off the shake. "So how did you get into this game then?" he asked. She stiffened slightly and Naruto quickly apologized before she assured him it was fine.
"I... I don't have much family contact." she admitted, shocking herself she was being so open to this stranger, "So while my brother was away on a business meeting, he allowed me to play on his NerveGear until he came back. He was another of the Beta testers and had the account already on there. Surprisingly, he chose his avatar after my looks and my name, so it saved a lot of embarrassment on my end." she blushed, giggling at the absurdity of it all. Naruto simply grinned as he softly chuckled as well. "What about you?" she asked in return.
"Well, I was originally supposed to just get the one set but I found a lucky note in my pocket and it turned out I had enough to get two of them." he grinned, stunning the brunette by his ungodly luck. She knew that the games were hard to buy. To find someone who managed to buy two is simply unheard of.
Now Asuna was floored. Buying one copy of the game was rare enough outside the one thousand who would recieve theirs for their reward as Beta testers. Finding out that this young man in front of her was able to buy two sets was completely unreal. She turned to him slightly and asked a silly question. "Can I know what your luck stat is, please?"
"Luck?" Naruto repeated the unusual request. Nevertheless, he opened his stat page and searched for his specified stat. "Currently it's sitting on a hundred and fifteen." he smiled.
"I'm staying with you!" she firmly ordered, earning a puzzled look from the blond. "From that look... you probably don't realize that the combined Luck stats of the party are combined when it comes to drops, crafts and everything else?"
"I never knew, no." he paused, surprised at this tidbit of news. "Explains why me and Liz both get a lot more drops than our friend did when he was with us." he commented with a snicker. She giggled as well, understanding how frustrating it could be. He quickly tapped a few buttons before a text box appeared in front of her.
*Naruto has sent you a friend request! Accept/Decline?*
"How could I possibly say no?" she teased slightly as she hit the accept button. He grinned as they noticed the waitress from before making her way over to them with their order. The two teens stared at the food with hunger evident in their eyes. Quickly paying for the hefty meal, the two of them dug in with gusto with a quick 'Itadakimatsu'. "So what weapon do you use, Naruto?" Asuna asked in between mouthfuls of food, eating her order like she hadn't had anything to eat since she had got there.
"I use two, actually." he answered honestly, earning a raised eyebrow. "My 'main' weapon is my zanbatō but my secondary weapon is myself." he winked playfully.
"Your secondary weapon is... yourself?" she repeated. Her eyes widened when she suddenly clicked on to what he meant when Naruto shook his free hands; showing her that they weren't standard gloves but padded-combat gloves. "Isn't that rather dangerous?" she asked. Naruto smiled as he took a quick sip of his water.
"It can be but I know what I'm signing up for. They'll see me and try to disarm me, making them think I'm defenseless." he began explaining, seeing it click in her eyes. "However, they won't be expecting to be just as deadly without a weapon as with one." he winked at her, earning a small tint of pink from her cheek. "So what about you?" he asked, noting a hand-guard on her weapon. "A rapier user? Don't see too many of those these days." he commented with an impressed smile, earning a smile and nod in response.
"You know..." she trailed off as she slowly ate one of her slices of tonkatsu, "I'm surprised on how at ease I feel talking to you. We haven't even met an hour ago and here I am having a meal with you and talking as if we've been friends for most of our lives. I find myself slightly scared at how comfortable you make people feel when they talk to you, You know that?" she asked him. Naruto simply nodded as he emptied his mouth before replying.
"A lot of people tell me I have an aura which makes people relax around me. I'm happy." he explained while giving a melancholic smile. "It it provides even a glimmer of hope to people to beat this game, I don't mind taking with everyone and inspiring them all." he smiled warmly, earning a shocked and awed look from the girl across from him. She simply settled for a smile in return as the two continued to discuss over little things while enjoying the meal and the company.
~SAO:AC~
~Floor One: Town of Beginnings: Inn~
"Naruto, you don't have to do this..." Asuna shyly protested as she followed behind a smiling blond as the two of them made their way back to the inn they were staying at. Naruto simply waved it off with a hand as they stepped through the door and entered the threshold.
"Ah! Naruto-san!" the NPC replied, "Will you be in need of assistance this evening?" she asked politely with a short bow to accent her greeting to the pair.
"Hai. I'd like to pay on Asuna's behalf for a room. How much would two weeks cost?" he asked, earning a startled squeak from Asuna as she felt like burying herself in a hole and hide away from embarrassment. The NPC giggled as she began writing in the book.
"For two weeks, it'll be a total of 3,500 Col." she replied. Asuna was about to protest but she soon gawked once she saw that Naruto was sitting on six-figures... a comfortable six figures. Naruto handed the money over without a second thought and the NPC smiled knowingly. "Here you go, Asuna-san. Naruto-san can show you the room as it's the one next door to his." she smiled, bowing. The two thanked her as they soon made their way up the stairs.
The two of them made their way up to the second floor of the inn and walked right down to the bottom of the plain wooden hallway, just before the windows. "Right. This is your room and you have your key already." he explained, pointing to the door that was on the right hand side. "I'm just next door if you need me for anything, okay?" he asked, earning a soft nod and a warm smile from the chestnut-haired woman. "Then I shall let you be. Sweet dreams, Asuna-chan." he smiled before making his way to his room.
She paused for a few moments; catching her by surprise when he used such a close honorific with her after only meeting with him and him offering her food. A logical part of her told her to be weary of him but her heart disagreed totally. He had been nothing but generous and had offered her food and a place to stay. She didn't tell him she hadn't eaten since the beginning of the game, nor had she slept. So she was incredibly thankful for all that Naruto had done for her. Making her way into her room, she simply sighed and collapsed onto the bed, moaning at the feel of something soft beneath her instead of a bench. Deciding to skip a shower for tonight, she quickly disrobed herself and scrambled into her bed.
It wasn't even five minutes before she fell asleep, dreaming of a generous and handsome blond she met that evening.
~SAO:AC~
~Uzumaki Residence: Living Room~
"Are you sure about this?"
We currently find two figures sitting down on the matching two-piece black-leather sofas that were placed in the middle of the room. The first figure, an elderly man who was donned in a white robe and matching hamaka bottoms, softly sipping on his jasmine tea as he gauged the response he would get from the figure sitting opposite him. His hair was short and spiked but the colour was a nice combination of his natural brown and his aged grey hair, giving him a more 'wise-like' look to him. Across of him sat Kazuko and she linked her hands together and rested her head on top of them.
"You, of all people, should know just how dangerous your request is and how fatal it can be if you don't succeed." he gently warned her, earning a small hum of agreement.
"I know, Saru-jiji." she replied, closing her eyes as her head and heart warred against one another again. "But I can't stay here while Naruto-onii-sama is in the game and is fighting for his life. I-I'd feel useless out here and I would rather be in the game and by his side." she professed, earning a silence from Hiruzen as he took another sip.
"I would dissuade you from this decision as I care greatly for your well-being. Despite understanding your position and your viewpoint on the matter, I am still your guardian and I refuse to let you endanger yourself for the sake of others if I have the power to stop it. If it were my choice, I would forbid you form making this foolish decision.." he started, earning the attention of the redhead as she looked up at him. "However, I am not cruel enough to deny someone's heartfelt wishes to save the person that they love." he smiled, opening his aged brown orbs that twinkled with pride for his surrogate-granddaughter. "Very well, I will train you. I will push you to your limits and I will see nothing less than you persevering through those limits and continuing onwards, still. If I would ask five hundred lunges, I will expect you to give me seven. I will not allow you to touch the game until you have fully met my standards and not a moment before." he commented, smiling warmly at the fires that lit up her amber eyes in determination of saving her brother.
"I will give you nothing less, Sarutobi-sensei." she proclaimed with a grin before bowing to him in her seat. 'Wait for me, Naruto-kun. I'll be there soon.'
~Chapter End!~
And done! Chapter two uploaded for you all! Surprised I've had such a wonderful response from this, already! A lot of people are liking the idea of Naruto replicating Cloud and it would prove to be awesome to see how it pans out!
The chapter seems a little... off... for some odd reason but I want to address a matter first;
Everything I'm writing is simply the set-up for the later plot. Being introduced to one or two people won't be bad but he will mainly fall into the solo-player group with a craft skill under his wraps so he can make money on the go. So please bear with me as I'm likely to work on an edit for this chapter, already.
Edit: 28/10/18
Again, just removing the details of the SCP's from the story and tidying up a few places. Also made a small note of changing the context of what was written to Naruto from Kaiyaba and want to hint at a more empathetic side of Kaiyaba but also allowing this as a foundation for ideas I will have later in the story. Also edited the rewards and levels slightly for the dungeon to make it seem more reasonable for the story at the moment and we shall see how this fares out.
Edit: 16/07/19
Again, more format edits. xD
Tired Kitsune crashing for the night! *purrs* ^_^