Author's Note: Merry Christmas Eve (Or Christmas, if you live that many hours ahead of the USA)! Damn, it's been over 8 months. It's also a bit longer than the 4k words I said future chapters would be. Thank you to everyone who stuck out the long wait, people like you help motivate me to keep writing after several years. It's a lot of fun to work on DDN, but extra reasons to do so are always appreciated.
Major thanks to Ryu1284 for kindly being the beta for this chapter. Little mistakes tend to go unnoticed when reading something for the thousandth time, and they helped straighten those out. Ryu has an SAO story of their own called Warmth, which I really enjoyed myself, so please check it out and show support if you have the chance; it's saved in my Favorites tab, so finding it should be easy.
30 July 2024
Floor 58, Oldwyn, Kynian Fields
18:58
It's been just over a week since our meeting at the KoB HQ, and in that time, Heathcliff was able to work out all the details for my duel with Derek. He caught wind of a mid-level tournament happening this Friday - three days from now - and convinced the organizers to schedule the duel shortly after the championship match. From what I've heard, gladiator-style tournaments haven't been drawing the crowds they used to, but are still common for people who wanna settle differences, show off for guilds they wish to join, or even place bets.
The rules of the duel are nearly identical to those of the tournament: Half Loss mode, no recovery or buffing consumables, and no mid-match gear replacement. My victory means I'm back on the assault team immediately, my loss means Derek decides when - if ever - I can rejoin. Lastly, half of the tournament profits get split between me, Derek, Lind, and Heathcliff. I'm not sure how Heathcliff managed to negotiate that large of a share, but money's really at the bottom of my list of concerns.
"Ready to get back to the mobs? We only need a few more pelts for the armor order," Liz sat up and asked.
"Yeah, in a second." I stretched before getting up off the blanket. With a few taps, it was back in my inventory, and we were off to the steppes.
Lisbeth's business life returned to reasonable normalcy a couple days after the meeting, so she and I are back to our usual material hunting. This time, it was a series of matching leather armor sets for a guild that neither of us have a quarrel with.
"Thinking about the duel? You've had that serious face since we first got out here."
"Somewhat. On one hand, I'm not worried because of the level gap and sheer experience advantage I have over him; on the other hand, he knows everything about the skill that I do, so he's probably preparing tirelessly for any sword skills or combos I might throw at him. He seemed pretty determined to keep me off the team."
"When was the last time you fought another player?" she asked.
"It was probably back in March against Asuna," I laughed.
"Really? How'd that happen?"
"You know how there's a field boss that guards each floor's main dungeon tower, right?"
"Yeah?"
"So we were at a strategy meeting to figure out how to take out the boss, and we had pretty different ideas in how to go about accomplishing that."
"I'm not even surprised," she chuckled and shook her head. "What were the differences?"
"You see, that boss had a high damage output in the early parts of battles, but grew weaker as time went on, doing less damage and growing more vulnerable. Asuna suggested that we use the village NPCs as bait since there were a lot of them in the area and they respawned eventually, but I suggested we did something that wasn't that. I understood her reasoning, but it just didn't sit well with me. The assault team was pretty split, so we settled it with a first-strike duel. I ended up winning that one, and we made it past the field boss cleanly."
"So it's definitely been a while. You two sure do butt heads a lot.." Lisbeth mused as she slowly gazed down to the shin-high grass.
"It happens with a lot of people during planning meetings," I threw my arm around her and swayed for a moment, "Even Klein and I have had less-than-friendly exchanges."
Liz laughed and glanced back up. "If you say so. Hey, I think there's a herd of Behaarts over in that depression."
We ducked into the grass and inched closer to our hill's zenith. A moment later we spotted five or six buffalo-like creatures feeding on the grass about 15 meters away.
"How do you want to approach this one?" I asked. "I can't exactly sneak up at this distance since I'm in all black, and we can't bum rush them like last time since there are more than two..."
"What's the reach of your longest sword skill? Maybe you could use that to close the distance before they stampede?"
"Vorpal strike has the most reach, but it only has the range of a pike or halberd. I could use it to launch forward though..."
"And its cool down period?"
"Few seconds. These look a little beffier than the rest, so it'll take a couple more strikes to take them down."
"How about we just go straight in? If they aggro, we'll divide and conquer; if they run away, we'll just find another group."
I looked over to her, then back toward the herd. "Gosh, I never realized how much we rub off on each other until we start having conversations like these."
"As if that were a bad thing," she gave a smirk and punched my shoulder. "We going ahead with that or no?"
"Yeah," I rose to a runner's starting position and drew my tandem blades, "Try to keep them contained, and don't hesitate to let one go if it's too dangerous to keep him around."
"Got it, on your go." She took a similar stance and readied her Gunstock.
"Okay.. 3... 2... 1... Go!"
I zeroed in on the first Behaart and charged a Tornado: a three-hit, dual-blade skill that's essentially a downward Slant followed by a pair of spinning parallel Horizontals. All three hits sliced through its upper shoulder, taking out about two-thirds of its HP thanks to the Surprise Attack bonus. During my cooldown, Liz came in and smashed its skull with a Meteor Strike, finishing him off.
"Left!" she called out, rushing forward to keep one of the mobs in the depression.
To my ten o'clock, one of the Behaarts was charging towards me at full speed, head down and horns forward. I moved the Elucidator to a reverse-blade grip in my right hand and started my own charge towards him.
Haven't tried this trick before, so let's see how this goes!
Before he could snap his head upwards, I jumped onto his back, making sure to slash the Elucidator into him as I ran towards the ground. One last Horizontal severed the hind legs and took away the remaining HP.
"Liz, did you see that?!" I exclaimed, looking excitedly in her direction.
"Yes, but watch it, dummy!" she warned.
Watch for wh- Fuck!
In my excitement, I lost track of one of the Behaarts, leaving it in my blind spot and giving it the perfect position to charge me from. The hit didn't knock off much HP, but managed to send me flying a few meters and knocked the Elucidator from my grip.
"You okay?" Liz called back before rolling away from a charge. By now each of us had taken one down, and as far as I could tell, a pair had already ran off.
"Yeah! Just a little rattled!"
My eyes darted around for my black blade, which should be easy to see on the green background of the floor, but the grass was too tall and thick to see through. Taking the time to comb through everything also brought the risk of another charge attack connecting.
Damn it, I'll just have to find it after we're done.
"Come on, I'm not done with you!"
The bison-like creature turned to face me and kicked his hind legs out behind him, signalling another charge. With my free hand, I grabbed a few throwing spikes to try to blind him and make an opening.
I'm glad I kept these equipped, but it's been a while...
When he was a few meters away, I raised my arm over my opposite shoulder and threw them in a loose group. My aim was a little off, so I wound up hitting his nose with one of the needles. The rest of them either landed in the ground or the lower part of his legs.
Oh man, I think I only pissed him off! Shoulda just used the stupid skill, even if it meant a cooldown.
I jumped aside and gave a quick slash along his left flank, but odd timing meant inflicting less damage than expected. Ironically, the bad strike also threw the giant, fuzzy mammal off balance enough to stumble and fall over. Upon rolling over, it released a sharp cry, and an extra cut appeared almost perpendicular to the one I'd just made. I guess I found out where my sword landed.
Before he could get up, I bolted in his direction and fired off a Vorpal Strike into his shoulder. The rest of his health bar disappeared in an instant, and the shattering sound effect included a faint ping, indicating a critical hit. I waved off the rewards window after retrieving my blade and made my way to where Liz was keeping her Behaarts contained.
Numerical gains aside, it looks like she's gotten a lot stronger compared to when we first started hunting together.
Rather than striking each one as they made a pass, she tapped - if such a thing was possible with a mace - their rear flank as they passed to keep them in their aggro setting. If she committed to attacking one, the other would have a clear opening to hit her with a charging attack.
"Do you wanna take the XP from these two?" I called. Being a regular on the front lines, the XP gains from fighting mobs on this floor would be minimal at best; the points would be a lot more helpful for Liz.
"Yeah, just keep this other one off of me!" she responded as she rolled away from the Behaart in front of her.
And far more graceful.
"Gotcha!"
I flipped my Elucidator to a reverse grip once more and closed the distance on the second Behaart. A reverse grip isn't my first choice in combat, since I'm predominantly offensive as a dual wielder, but it's proven to be pretty helpful in this skirmish. Strikes from below are a lot easier to block, counterattacking is a little faster, and there are a few more attack angles that I wouldn't have with a conventional grip.
A quick glance over my shoulder found Liz delivering an upward strike as her bison creature tried sticking her with its dagger-like horns.
She's also learned when to use her sword skills to maximize her effectiveness... It's almost beautiful to wa-
"Agh, dammit!" I cried out as a horn pierced into my side and threw me back. My swords didn't go anywhere this time, so I took a knee for a second and checked the wound. A healing potion recovered the HP lost and removed the Bleeding effect.
Pay attention, you idiot! You can't afford to keep getting distracted!
"I got him!" Liz called as she sprinted over. Apparently she finished hers off immediately after I got hit.
"Okay, switch!"
From my kneeling position, I jumped away to clear a path for Liz's Meteor Strike. Definitely not something I want to be in the way of!
Ah, I can't help getting distracted now.. there's something different about her... demeanor... her strength...
Once again, Lisbeth made quick work of the beast following her switch, delivering hard-hitting, methodical strikes.
Is it that I finally... Probably... Well, she deserves to know...
The last Behaart's pixels drifted away as Liz was panting and looking through the drops she received. For some reason, I couldn't help but start laughing.
She closed her menu and started walking in my direction. "Something happen? What's so funny?"
"I just truly realized how much of an idiot I am," I answered while my snickers died down.
"Why do you say that? You managed to kill most of the mobs to get the raw materials." Liz stopped in front of me, glancing for stragglers or surprises.
"It has nothing to do with that, dummy!" I grabbed her hand pulled her in for a tight kiss.
You're simply perfect, I don't ever want to lose any part of you...
Her initial protests quickly died down, but the thump of her mace on the ground and dangling of her arms hinted that I should probably stop and give my overdue confession.
However, right when I started to pull back, she threw her arms around my back and moved one of her hands to the back of my neck, bringing us even closer.
Each time feels like the first.. I'm sorry for waiting so long, Liz…
Liz pulled away a moment later and rested her forehead on my chin.
"W- what was that for.?" She asked, seemingly short of breath.
I wrapped my arms around her upper back and moved her head over to my shoulder.
Okay, here goes.. do it before you change your mind!
"I get that it's only been a month since I first visited your shop, but getting to spend nearly every second with you since then has made me happier than I could describe. Even going on a routine hunt with you gives me a really warm, fuzzy feeling inside. There's really no way to put it other than that you've quickly become the most important person to me, and I want to spend every moment I have left with you…"
She moved back enough to look back up towards me, then tightened her grip on the back of my coat.
"What are you… saying.?"
I peered back into her eyes unable to contain a large, probably goofy looking smile.
"I'm saying that I love you, and I want to take a chance on us… romantically. I've ignored the feelings I have for you for too long, thinking of different fears or how little time's passed since meeting you, but just now, I realized how stupid I was to be that way. The amount of time spent together hardly matters when the quality of it has been the way it has. We've played, worked, fought, argued, rested, and confided with each other, and I never wished to be around anyone else for any of it!"
I paused, regaining my breath before continuing.
"I love falling asleep next to you and waking up to see you there; I love going on material hunts with you and watching you forge masterpieces; I love wandering around with you while talking about whatever comes to our heads; most importantly, I love working through whatever problems are thrown at us. You're perfect in any way I could ask.. and… if it's something you still want... I'd love the chance to be your swordsman."
Liz started blinking rapidly as tears started to collect, then buried her face in my chest and squeezed her arms around me.
Wow, you're… so… strong!
Suffocation is never a concern in the virtual world as long as our actual bodies keep breathing, but that doesn't make the sensation any less real.
"S-say it again.!" she pleaded, muffled from my coat and torso.
How about I try doing one better…
I lowered my head until my face was close to her ear and began to whisper.
"Rika.. I want to spend every instant with you from now until the end. I love you, and would be the luckiest person in the world if you'd accept me as your swordsman."
"Kazuto?" she whispered back.
"Y-yes?"
She loosened her hug and pulled back enough to look up towards me. With one of her hands, she moved some of my hair out of my forehead.
"You really mean those things.?"
"I really mean it; I wouldn't have said those if I didn't, silly." I leaned down and pecked her nose.
Rika giggled, blushed, and returned the peck.
"I'm sorry, I just wanted to make sure," she smiled, "I'd love to accept you, dummy!"
Instead of simply squeezing the virtual breath out of me, she completely jumped back into my arms, even bending her knees to get her feet off the ground. Seeing a perfect opportunity, I started spinning in place and held onto her tighter.
"Hey, what are you doing?!" She exclaimed.
"Spinning you around, you dummy!" I laughed while I continued. "The more I think about it, the more I realize that this is how you make me feel inside!"
I set her back down after a few more full spins, dizziness beginning to kick in.
"Kazuto, I just have to know.. Where's all this coming from? As happy and eager as I am that we can say we're each other's... what made you decide here and now that that's how you felt? I'm not questioning anything! I just wanted to know.."
"It's okay, I know what you mean. You see, first there was the promise of telling you the moment I wanted that kind of relationship between us. But.. honestly a lot of the serious consideration came after that conversation I had with Klein before getting kicked off the raiding team."
"Right.. I remember you saying you'd explain later, but we never got around to it.."
"Yeah, that one. Well, Klein warned me about waiting too long to realize and communicate my feelings, especially with people who matter dearly. We don't always know whether our next outing will be the last, and I don't know how I'd handle it if somehow I lost you. You make me feel happy and almost invincible from the big and little moments we share... and... I wouldn't want to share those times with someone who isn't you. It shouldn't take one of us being in serious danger for me to come to terms with that... just a bit of thinking and trust." I smiled and rubbed the top of her head.
"I guess I'm really glad he had that talk with you, I was almost beginning to worry that I ended up in a place that's somehow better and worse than a friend zone..." she explained.
"What do you mean 'better and worse?'"
Lisbeth picked up her mace, grabbed my hand, and started walking us back to Oldwyn's teleport gate.
"It's... a lot closer than a friend zone kind of thing, but still not in a relationship. Better because we still get to be playful and mostly affectionate, but worse because that last step into a relationship is still missing..."
I squeezed her hand tighter and started walking a little closer to her.
"I think I understand... You never have to worry about that again, silly... I love you! And since we're officially a couple, you could be as playful or affectionate as you'd like."
It's funny, even saying that now gives me butterflies.
She put away her mace, then wrapped her free hand around the inside of my elbow and leaned her head on my shoulder.
"The same goes for you! I love you too, Kazuto..."
And hearing it makes them even stronger... She's really the best...
"I'm glad you do... Thank you for being patient all this time, it must've been really hard to actively wait for so long."
"It was.. but.. I had a feeling you would come around at some point.."
"I didn't expect to tell you in the fields over there, honestly... Seeing how graceful you were and how quickly you came to help me out just kind of... assured me of what I already felt," I chuckled, "And I didn't want to wait any longer than I already had."
The city guards gave a short nod as we walked through Oldwyn's main gate, a few residents greeted us with a smile as we passed by.
"I don't know whether to ask you to stop or to keep talking," Liz squeezed my hand and giggled, "On one hand I like hearing cute things like that come out of you, but I also feel my face growing red and warm from hearing those things."
"I'm sure there'll be more times to be cute like that, silly." I used my free hand to pat her head and started picking up our pace. "Let's get your order complete and delivered!"
"Oh okay, but we'd better go out when we're done!"
"Anywhere you want! Choose wisely where you want our first date to be!"
"I... don't think that's possible.." Liz glanced away as her cheeks grew red.
"How come? Too many places in mind?" It wouldn't be the first time she's had trouble picking where to go for anything. Whenever she was unsure in the past, I'd pick a place at random and she'd make up her mind an instant later.
"It's not that... I just.. consider our outing from that time at Agil's flat to be our first date! So I'd be picking a place for our second date!"
You clever, adorable one...
"Looking back on it, it's pretty fair to call that a date.. It wasn't the first time I noticed how beautiful you are, but it was the first time I actively thought about it."
"There you go with those cute things again," she giggled and pecked my cheek.
"Hey, you started it!" I teased. "So where do you wanna go for our second date?"
"Hmm... Probably someplace that's open later, just in case the armor sets take longer than expected to finish. I think I'll need a couple hours to have everything ready. Let's try to leave here by 10:30-ish"
"That'll work. A lot of places on the first floor stay open pretty late, thankfully. So many players leveled up and moved to the higher floors, forcing shops to extend hours just to keep business."
We arrived at the teleport gate and returned to Lindas.
"Hey, maybe that'll work! I could even show you where I had my first shop!" She exclaimed.
"Sounds like a plan to me!"
"What are you gonna do in the meantime?"
"Probably go to the front lines and grind, I wanna see if I can level up before the duel."
"Okay. I'll message you when I'm done with everything."
"Sure thing, I'll take off when you're safe in your shop." We crossed over the crest of a low hill about a hundred yards from the shop entrance.
"Thanks, silly..."
A few minutes later, she was firing up her forge and I was walking back to the town's teleport gate.
Floor 66, Duatri
Midtown Market
20:34
Ever since the first boss was defeated, there had never been a floor that I wasn't among the first to see. Following over sixty floor boss raids, one of the first things I consistently did was explore the immediate area for map and quest data; seeing a handful of players wandering about and a couple info brokers already selling data made me feel pretty frustrated about the last few days' events.
The Sky Runners hadn't just left me out of a fight, they broke a cycle that I had created and perfected over the last twenty months. For the first time I was late for initial floor exploration, which took away thousands of Col from info sales, uninterrupted solo time in good hunting grounds, and probably even a quick level or two.
But lamenting over what I missed out on isn't going to get any of those things back.
"Twelve thousand col for a map and breakdown of every hunting ground plus quests for two of the towns," a short, slender broker said from beneath their burgundy hooded cloak. "Deal?"
Or the money that I have to pay this person.
"Yeah, deal," I grumbled, handing the broker coins as I took a small book from their other hand.
"It was a pleasure," he said. Before I turned around, he was already back within the shadows.
Buying from him wasn't my first choice, but Argo was working on the next issue of her weekly paper and every broker I've met to that point wanted nearly double for the same info. If we weren't in a rush to beat this damn game, I would probably pick up info dealing on the side; I'd usually sell the info I just received for ten thousand after going through all sorts of danger to gather it in the first place.
After taking a few minutes to look through the hunting ground summaries, I narrowed down the best location for the next couple hours and made my way to the outer wall gate. Fortunately the ground I wanted wasn't far from Duatri, so I didn't have to spend much time getting there.
The listed monsters in this area were mostly bug-type creatures, so swords probably weren't going to be very effective against them. My best shot at dealing damage was likely going to be striking where their body parts meet and hope my numbers are good enough to land critical hits.
The first area was a pretty standard clearing that was dotted with natural monolithic structures and minor depressions. On the monoliths were giant fly-like creatures called Liphors, spitting an acid-type substance on the rocks and sucking up the dissolved muck.
Disgusting, I hope the stuff it's spitting up isn't corrosive on metal. The summary mentioned their acid, but only said that it wears down shields at an uncomfortable rate; nothing about weapons.
The nearest monolith had about four Liphors doing the spit-suck process on it, so I charged the crowd and fired off a Vorpal Strike on a pair that were lined up. My aim was a little too focused on the center mass of the first fly, so the blade went entirely though that one while barely penetrating the second. All the Liphors that weren't actively skewered hopped off of the rock and started circling around, probably surveying for other threats. The first fly kept squirming around until the new cuts it was making dealt the last bits of damage to finish it off.
Like the manual said, the remaining Liphors hovered about 3 meters off the ground surrounding me, each one sitting equidistant from me and the others. If I remember correctly, that's about as coordinated as they get since their ranged acid attacks are generally wild in timing and aim; depending on how quick I am, friendly fire won't be uncommon.
The first volley of attacks came almost simultaneously, converging on my spot in the center. A quick roll to my left sent me closer to the injured fly, but before I could aim a slash at it, another pair of acid blobs came flying at me.
Damn their firing rate, at least they have a low velocity.
A single strike isn't going to kill the injured fly outright, which is all I could squeeze in with the other Liphors attacking, but clipping the wings off would take away a dimension of attack. Thanks to the points I'd invested into my AGI, I was easily able to get close enough to make a pass on the injured Liphor after a running start. Manually hitting the base of his wings with a Slant was enough to shear them right off, and the mob was effectively turned into a walk.
As expected, the Liphors that could still fly had fired off their next volley after my hit connected, narrowly missing my legs and dealing splash damage to my coat.
A pike or polearm would be really helpful right now! Or a certain mace user to deal actual damage to these damn bugs…
I leapt a second time, then a third, severing a different set of wings in each pass. With all three Liphors contained to the ground, their volleys became much easier to predict and avoid. Probably the closest thing I'd get to shooting fish in a barrel in Aincrad.
My first target was the first injured Liphor, which was furiously fluttering what remained of its wings. A quick Vorpal Strike to where the head met the thorax was enough to erase the last chunk of health it had, and it shattered into shining polygons the next instant. During the sword skill's cooldown, a blob of acid landed on the back of my left shoulder while another flew right above my head.
Dammit, that burns! I forgot that the other flies could still walk to improve their aim.
I ran up to the one that I assumed dealt the burning hit and released a Slant across its face. A quick sidestep put that fly between me and the other clipped Liphor, who accidentally hit the newly-slashed fly with enough damage to finish him off.
The last Liphor managed to land his spit about halfway up the Elucidator before I landed the first serious blow, but instead of splattering into a mess, the blob stuck around that section of the blade and started to bubble. Ignoring the obvious strain on the weapon condition, I charged and released a Double Circular before he could get his next shot off.
My first hunting session on the new floor went a little more clumsily than I would've liked, but each of the Liphors gave a decent chunk of XP, and the eggs that they dropped seemed like they would catch a solid price at the lower-floor markets. With the first group of mobs killed, I was finally able to turn my attention to the bubbling mess on my second favorite blade.
Oh man, this is gonna be hell on the durability if it happens every fight...
I materialized a spare shirt and tried wiping the slime-acid off, but the durability gave out before I could finish the second side. Rubbing the blade on the grass did a decent enough job removing the rest. To keep any residual acid from wearing away at the durability any further, I simply put the sword in my inventory and left the Dark Repulsor on my back before turning back to find more swarms.
The next couple of hours gradually got better as I fought and killed more of the Liphors. For a while, all of the effects of the stupid guild politics felt like they never happened. Running into members of the Divine Dragon Alliance and Knights of the Blood Oath managed to bring those memories back, however. By that point I found myself bumped up to level 91 and halfway to 92, so I started returning to Duatri and called it a night. The walk back to the gate was a little farther than I remembered, but about halfway there I saw a familiar face coming over a gradient.
"Asuna? That you?" I called.
"Hey," Asuna waved back. "Funny running into you on the front lines."
"I could say the same to you, aren't you usually with a group of Knights?"
"Yeah, but I went out alone tonight to get away from everyone for a bit. Training mid-level members to guild standards is rewarding and all, but it's exhausting to spend every waking second training them instead of yourself."
"I... have an idea of what that was like, but I can't say it got exhausting for me."
"Really? The best solo player in the game took time to train mid-level players and didn't go crazy? I really need to hear about this."
Right, I never told her about the Black Cats. I guess I assumed that I already had at some point. At least it doesn't kill me to talk about them anymore.
"I used to be part of a guild almost a year ago, but... they all died when we were caught in a trap on the 27th floor. We were grinding for money to furnish the house we just bought, but... their numbers just weren't high enough to make it out." I stared at the ground as I gave the oversimplified story; the more bitter details don't have to come up in a regular conversation. Besides, she's most likely lost people she was responsible for as well.
Asuna brought a hand to her neck. "Gosh, I'm sorry you had to go through that."
"It's okay, Liz helped me make peace with it a while back," I reassured.
"That's good, talking to people really helps make things easier. Speaking of Lisbeth, how are you two doing?"
I guess that's one way to change to a brighter topic, but... I'm honestly a little eager to talk about her anyway.
"We're doing really well, we actually started dating today," I said with a smile.
"Congrats!" she smiled and patted my shoulder. "Should I ask you how it happened, or leave that to her?"
"I think she might enjoy being the one to tell you, you're her best friend after all."
"Maybe I'll head there tomorrow, the acid from the Liphors really wore away at my rapier and the shell from the Veneurs took the edge off the tip, so I'm really due for repairs." She drew her Lambent Light and looked closely at the latter half of the blade.
"Veneurs? Those didn't come up on the guide for this floor. What are those like?"
God, I hope I didn't get ripped off even worse than I thought.
"They're hornet-type mobs outside the second town. Really agile and have a lingering poison effect if they hit you with their stinger. If you manage to avoid being hit, they drop their venom sac, which is supposed to be pretty valuable."
Second town? Looks like I got shafted.
"Ah okay, thanks for that. I know what you mean about the Liphors though, the acid and brittle wings really did a number to my swords' durability. How long had you been here for?"
"At least a few hours. There was a bit of time to make up for what went to the recruits, and I heard that there were valuable drops from the mobs, so I told the guild officers that I was taking an evening for myself and came up here."
"I didn't know a rapier user could make quick work of the mobs here like that, especially fighting alone."
"It was pretty hard at first, but then I started aiming for their eyes or where their body segments met. After that, I started taking a lot less time to kill those stupid bugs."
"That's good to hear. I found it easier to just slash at their wings and hack them on the ground. Any idea how much venom from the Veneurs is worth?"
"Not sure, but apparently alchemists and rogue-type players are the best shot for a high price. Be careful who you sell it to, one of the KoB officers mentioned a rumor that Laughing Coffin's numbers are climbing, and they don't need anything to make their exploits easier."
"Thanks for the heads up. I might know a guy who might not pay market value, but at least he won't sell it to shady players."
"Agil?"
"Yeah, how'd you know?" I asked.
"I've overheard a few conversations between you and Klein when you'd complain about being ripped off," she shook her head and laughed.
"Oh, don't remind me." I chuckled and ran my hand through my hair.
At least I know he constantly helps out mid-level players when they're short on col for their gear.
My ears suddenly filled with a short buzz and ping from an incoming message.
"Give me a second, I gotta check this," I told Asuna.
Sender: Lisbeth
Subject: Armor Delay
Message: Hey Kazuto! I know I said two hours, but I got a message from the guild leader requesting a layer of chainmail under the torso and reinforced pauldrons. Last-minute requests are usually turned down, but his added offer was too good to pass up. I'm sorry, we'll have to reschedule going out and seeing the sites we mentioned. We could still have something at my place if you like?
"Let me guess, Liz?"
"Yeah. We were supposed to go out tonight after she finished an armor order, but the buyer wanted an add-on," I sighed.
Subject: RE: Armor Delay
Message: You're forgiven, especially since there's more to the order than fulfilling a sale; I trust your judgement on that kind of stuff. We might be too tired to make something by the time we're each done, so I'll pick something up for us on the way back. Is there anything you want?
Message sent!
"Maybe the guy did you two a favor, since you'll get to spend more time on a later, maybe proper date."
"I guess that's one way to look at it, thanks for that. But I can't help but feel a little down about it."
"Unfortunately for you, I'm not sure what else I could say since I have no experience in that field," she shrugged, "Even before SAO, I spent all day and night doing school stuff."
That's a surprise, she seemed like she'd be popular with her classmates. Looks can be deceiving though.
"Don't worry, it's nothing her and I can't figure out. It was good talking, but I've gotta look around for somewhere that has decent takeout this late."
"Okay, well I'm going to keep exploring for a while. See you later, Kirito."
"See you later, Asuna," I raised my hand to give her a high five as she walked past me.
"By the way," she turned and said after putting five meters between us, "you're welcome for the chance at a duel this Friday!"
Wait a second, what? That was her?!
"Okay, so I have so many questions," I nearly shouted from disbelief.
"Derek begged for a duel when he was being a jerk at the meeting, and I would've wanted to slash away at him if I were you, so I asked around Aincrad for tournaments during the media frenzy and handed the reins to Heathcliff when the details were getting worked out. Like I said, I'm on your side here. Still have any questions?" A sly smirk grew on her face.
"I... think that covers them for now," I answered, still shocked. "Thank you, I really mean that. How could I return the favor?"
"Two things: put that idiot in his place at the arena, and make sure to treat Lisbeth well. Saying that she's really into you doesn't even begin to cover it." Asuna turned back on her path away from the town.
"Deal!"
She disappeared over a hill crest as I gave my affirmation, but I'm sure she heard me.
Ping!
Subject: RE: Armor Delay
Message: Thanks for trusting me. Something from Jesse's or Herot would be great, whichever is open and more convenient. I'll let you know if I finish before you get back. Be safe! xoxo
"Will do," I said under my breath before pulling out a teleport crystal.
Floor 48, Lindas
Lisbeth's Smith Shop
23:34
"Rika! I'm back!" I returned my shop key to my inventory and locked the door behind me. By the time I got to Herot, the cooking gear was removed from the hearths and everyone was in full tavern mode: a drink in every hand and a song in the air. The owners and most of the players recognized me from the recent media circus - miraculously on my side through the whole mess - and took the time to cook something fresh for me and Lisbeth. They were even kind enough to waive the charges in exchange for showing them a few dual-blade skills. However, as good as it felt to be given the hero-king-from-distant-lands treatment at Herot, I was eager to get back to have dinner with my fair lady. If I didn't leave when I did, they might've kept me there until sunrise.
Wait a second, there's no way she could hear me calling from a closed door. I guess an eventful day makes people forget things they usually don't.
I walked past the filled display cases and counter, then passed through the doorway that leads to the forge room. There, I found Lisbeth with her leather shaping tools standing over a full set of body armor. About another dozen sat in a neat pyramid on a nearby table.
"It's the last one, I promise," she said without looking up.
"It's okay, I figured as much. How are you holding up?"
She set the tools down and breathed a sigh of relief, then quickly switched outfits to a baggy, pink, long-sleeve shirt and gray pajama pants.
"Tired, and really hungry." She walked over and pulled me in for a hug, then plopped her head on my shoulder. "I'm really sorry again for pushing our evening back so far... He put a thirty-percent bonus for the last-minute additions if they were ready by opening time tomorrow."
"I remember reading that in your message, but I didn't expect that much more. Great job, silly." I hugged her back and pecked the top of her head. "Wanna go upstairs for dinner?"
She squeezed me tighter for a second after nodding her head, then pulled me to the door in the back of the forge. Once upstairs, she went to turn the kitchen lights on while I pulled the food from my inventory and started setting the table.
"What did you bring back?" Lisbeth asked as she looked through the cabinets and drawers for silverware and drinks.
"Nothing elaborate, just a few steaks with vegetables." I set a plate in front of her chair, then moved to sit in mine.
"You're the best, it's actually what I was craving ever since I sent that message." She put down a few cups and a pitcher of tea before running back for the silverware.
"I had a feeling, or rather the people at Herot did. I mentioned your name once and they restarted the fires to make our order."
"Really? That was nice of them, especially since that means we don't have to rush to beat the durability expiration."
"For sure." I started cutting my steak into ribbons and taking bites from the pieces. Glancing up, I saw Lisbeth's fork playing tug-of-war with her teeth, her steak acting as the rope.
Of course, I couldn't keep myself from laughing at the sight.
"Wha sho hunny?" She asked, doing her best to talk with meat between her teeth.
"You look so adorable when you do that," I laughed a little more. "I've always known you to be very adamant in getting what you want, and I just think that you eating your food that way is a good..."
"Metaphor?" Her mouth was empty after swallowing her piece.
"Yeah, that's the word I was looking for. A good metaphor for how you are with that kind of thing. It's not a bad thing at all," I reached across the table to grab her free hand, "I don't think we'd be here if not for that. I just found it adorable."
"You really have a way of thinking of cute things to say," she blushed, then squeezed my hand. "Here I was worried you would get after me for bad manners or something."
"First of all, you're you and I wouldn't want to change that." I moved my hand from hers to fill my cup with the pitcher. "Second, you eating that way without a worry means you're just that comfortable around me, which makes me pretty happy."
Lisbeth used her fork to pick up a ribbon from my plate, then held the piece in front of my mouth with her right hand.
"If you keep talking, you might actually make me blush to the point to where I won't stop!" Her left hand was doing its best to cover the pinkish-red area spreading around her cheeks, but doing little to cover her giant smile.
"If you say so, Rika." I smiled back and bit the dangling piece off of the fork.
That's probably the nicest way someone's ever told me to shut up.
The two of us focused on finishing what I'd brought back after she fed me the offered piece of meat, since we were already drained from what we'd each done to that point. After that, we decided that we'd worry about the mess in the morning and started heading to Lisbeth's room.
Lisbeth settled down on the left side of the bed, fluffing up her pillow while I changed into my usual dark pajama pants and shirt. When I crawled under the comforter, she sat up and started working into it.
"Something wrong with the pillow? You've been at it for a while," I chuckled.
"It's fine, I guess I'm just being picky with it right now." Her eyes stayed fixed on the white, rectangular cushion.
"It looks like you've got something running around your head, what's up?"
She set her pillow about where it belongs and rolled over to bury her face in it.
Lisbeth:
Why is it so hard to just ask him? We finally became official and both know we deeply care for each other, but why is my stomach turning in knots when I think about bringing up the question? He practically lives here already, so making that permanent shouldn't be that difficult, and it logically makes sense for him, too. If he didn't want to spend most nights here, he would surely stay somewhere else..! Okay, I've been forthcoming with everything to this point, so this shouldn't be any different!
"Rika?" Kirito tapped my shoulder after a moment of silence.
I turned over and slid under his arm, then looked up to his face. The window in the room was small compared to others in the house, but let in enough light to show his concerned - no, maybe 'caring' is a better word - expression and onyx eyes.
I want to see this every night, here and in real life, I know it! There's no way I'm not doing it tonight.
"You usually rent an inn near the front when you don't sleep here, right?" By now, I could feel my heart pounding out of my chest and body trembling from a mixture of nervousness and anticipation.
"It's been happening less frequently, but yeah. Why do you ask?" He moved closer and rested his hand on my side.
So far so good, now for the actual question!
"Well... why not live here from now on? I know it's not close to the front lines... but... it's somewhere you could call home!"
Kirito:
Her rosy eyes gazed up with a certain nervousness, and her lower lip had the slightest tremble.
Home... A word I'd sarcastically called inns, frontline tents, and even sleeping bags for over two years; places that served no use outside of sleep and solitude. Those places offered some respite from the endless cycle of grinding, eating, and sleeping, but never comfort... at least the kind I found in the Bavarian property outside of Lindas.
"It.. also saves the cost and time of buying a place of your own.!" She continued, making an effort to hide the trembling that had already spread throughout her body.
I felt a couple of tears forming and a strong warmth in place of a usual tightness in my chest. With a giant smile and sudden impulse, I leaned close enough to her face so our lips barely touched.
"As long as it's with you," I whispered, grazing her lips with each movement, "I'd be happy to live anywhere."
"Then welcome home, my swordsman," she whispered back. With a grin, she rested her hand on my cheek and pulled me in for the kiss.
You're so... perfect!
A few seconds later, Lisbeth pulled back and let out a giggle, then pulled me into a tight embrace.
"Haha, I'm so happy that we can be like this!"
"You seem a bit energetic for how late it is," I laughed with her and returned the hug.
"Of course I am, I didn't expect this to feel so... warm."
"Even though we've been like this before?"
"It's different now, dummy..." she nuzzled her face between my shoulder and neck. "There's no question about what we are, and we could be affectionate and adorable without scaring or worrying each other!"
"You're right about that, silly one." I started petting the side of her head. "By the way, don't ever hesitate if you want to be lovey-dovey when we're out in public; you're somebody I'm proud to be seen with."
"That's good to know, but I wasn't planning on hesitating!" She turned her head back up and began pecking short kisses all over my cheek.
"Good, and neither was I. It might take a while to move my extra stuff from my room downtown, but there's a good reason for it." I turned and started returning the pecks to her forehead.
Between playful affection and newfound elation, I'm not sure if either of us were able to fall asleep that night. But that's okay, because I'm sure there'll be many more evenings to make that happen.
Author's Note: For those who missed it: the length updates for future chapters will be in my bio, that way there's some reassurance that I haven't abandoned the story. I update it just about every time I write, so keep an eye on that if you like.
Time to watch episode 3 on repeat and get inspired to work on the Black Cats rewrite :P
DMs are always open to suggestions, feedback, and questions if you have any. Until next time!