A/N: If you haven't checked out the re-written Chapter 2, go ahead! Not much changed story wise, but I certainly brought it up to the standards of the recent chapters!
"Hello, Hello! What can I do for you today Lisbeth?" the booming voice from across the counter welcomed my vagrant expression into the little store. Tucked away between two much larger buildings, this little place held some of Aincrad's best deals and rare items. People often said its owner drove hard bargains, but in doing so, he also provided tons of rare items to many other players. He really did try to help all players, just like my blacksmithing guild. Recently, the owner had begun talk about moving floors once the rumored city on floor 67 was unlocked. But for time being he would keep calling Mishe home, still the largest hub of players outside of the town new beginnings on floor 1.
With the advent of February in the world of Aincrad, I found myself back to toiling with non-artisan weapons, instead crafting high level weapons from basic metals, common ores, and the occasional rarer ones. If anything truly special came up, I'd just hand off such an order to Zaki. It was after all, his month to craft the truly magnificent artisan blades.
"Oh you know Agil, just trying find some light Titanium Ore, how much do you have in stock?" The muscular lighthouse behind the counter stared me down for a few moments before pulling up an inventory. "Well I've bought up a number of ores recently, but I don't have any Titanium in stock, could you get by with some rare irons?"
Pouting at the news, I glanced at my own notes. An order had come in from a lone player. They wanted some of the best light fast attack blades possible. Iron's density didn't allow for it to be crafted into such a type of blade. What's more, the lone player wanted nearly fifty of the said sword-type. Ryou had been weary of the large order at first, but he just couldn't turn down the pretty penny the player was offering; nearly three times what a fast ambush blade went for. The guy was clearly an idiot, but he had insisted so much on buying the swords for such a price that we finally accepted. The lone player was stubborn, '…just like Kirito…'
"Unfortunately I can't. I need a light strong metal like Titanium. I can't craft the blades for my order otherwise." I blew out my breath in frustration. It didn't help that this order was now completely up to me, my punishment for going rogue for a few days. 'Guess I have to go out and hunt the ore down myself.'
"Thanks for the offer Agil, I'll go look for it on my own…" The door of the little shop was just within reach when I felt a strong hand pull me back in.
"Hey now, you be careful ok? I don't want to have your folks turning up to my door with tears in their eyes again ok?" Agil's hard, yet tender, eyes bore into mine as he squeezed my shoulder. "You make sure you go out with at least Zaki, you hear me? I taught him how to axe wield myself." He paused for a moment, gauging my look of surprise, "By the way how are your folks doing since you decided to join us again after that little adventure of yours?"
Wincing at the reminder of the recent debacle I put my family through, I vainly worked up an answer: "They're fine…I mean…about as fine as can be." Yeesh, remembering their outrage was more awkward than having to face Kirito after bawling next to a bridge. Guilt crept through my chest as I remembered, remembered the … less than ideal … reunion …
Two strong arms squeezed me tight before almost instantly pulling away. "LISBETH! I'm so glad you're alive! BUT WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!" My knees buckled as I stared down the older man, his eyes red with sadness as his mouth twisted into a scowl. "Two days! TWO WHOLE DAYS!" the yell only made me wince more. "You ignored all my messages, all of Gaya's and Zaki's messages! You didn't even give us the common courtesy to let us know where you'd be going!" his voice was strained with desperation, alongside a mixture of relief and agitation.
My mind churned, trying to think of a way out of this reprimand, but found none. How could I have been so reckless? These people had done so much for me and ... I had completely, unjustifiably, put them through an emotional hell for no reason at all. It would have only taken a message to let them know what I'd be doing, and in my anger, and subsequent recklessness, I had disrespected all their kindness and love they had shown me.
"What do you have to say for yourself?" exclaimed Zaki, usually the calmest of the bunch, and even he had eyes that betrayed anger, worry, and relief. Gaya stood just behind me, trying to not let the stifled sobs in his own voice break him down. Realizing how relieved these people were, how concerned they had been placed a sudden weight placed on my shoulders. How could I apologize? Apologize for being silly and stupid? For being an overconfident teenager that had nearly gotten herself killed? The dirt path before me became an utterly fascinating sight, so intoxicating was its beauty that I couldn't bring myself to look away from the dirt below me.
"Are you guys Lisbeth's family?" came a confused voice. I immediately knew its owner. "Adoptive family of sorts, yes, thank you sir for bringing Lisbeth back. She's not a fighter, we feared for the worst." Gaya's voice answered. Ignoring Gaya's little protective jab at my skill, I twirled around to find a black warrior standing just behind me. In dealing with Ryou's emotional outburst I had nearly forgot that Kirito walked back with me, walked all the way from the bridge with me holding onto his arm. Today had just been a whole emotional roller coaster. From waking up to Kirito digging out dragon poop, to bawling my eyes out over feeling I had no chance with him, to now this guilt-riddled reunion with the family that had given up so much for me, and that I had ignored without a second thought.
But if any of this seemed to bother Kirito, he didn't show it. "Well she's an incredible blacksmith, that's for sure." His voice was calm, cool, collected as he showered some praise to lighten the mood. "She's not too bad with a Mace either." I looked into his eyes as he gave me a brief wink. "You guys must be proud of her." Gaya smiled back at him before looking at me. "We sure as hell are. You have no idea how relieved we are to see her alive." Ryou interjected as he wrapped a protective arm around me, "What happened that we couldn't see Lisbeth's status on the map? Or send her messages?" Kirito chuckled and waved off the concern. "Oh it's just the mechanic for when you're stuck in a dungeon. You gotta fight your way out, and you can't really ask for support." Ryou turned to me in shock. "You went into a dungeon all by yourself Lisbeth?! You didn't even care to tell us!"
I felt so helpless in that moment. I had no excuse. Nothing to justify myself, but thankfully…I didn't need one. Kirito read the situation unfolding before him perfectly. "Well, uh, sir…I don't think she thought it was necessary," he began, drawing the shocked looks of the three men, "I'm on the Assault team, and we never went to the front lines. So I was sure I could protect her." His voice was confident, even, in control. He turned to Gaya with a certain look of recognition. "Hey, were you part of the beta?" Gaya, startled by the question responded with a merely bashful look, "Well indeed I was, I guess I was one of the few people that chose back then to keep my own appearance! I take it you were in the beta too!" Kirito smiled as he extended his hand. "I sure was, not many beta players like to admit they were here before it all began, but well, don't worry, I had Lisbeth…protected." Kirito hastily tacked on the last word and I could see from his rather wordy response that he was nervous talking so much. But he was doing me a tremendous favor, giving me an excuse for not having contacted my family. Second time he was already sticking out his neck for me, in less than a week.
And yet, at the same time, he was letting me in on his past. I had only known of Gaya as a beta tester. Suddenly seeing Kirito as one only made me respect him more. He didn't seem to flaunt his status, his knowledge, or skill. Instead he was focused on subtlety letting his abilities known. Yet here I was kicking myself mentally for having underestimated him so dramatically. For crying out loud, the guy was so decorated! Beta tester, Assault team, Kickass knight to save me! What couldn't he do?
My voice, finding its courage, chipped in, "We went kinda slow too, I didn't think we'd spend two days in there, sorry Dad." Relief, with a bit of guilt flavoring, crept into my body as Ryou processed the new information. His face was getting back its color as he began to believe that I was never in any real danger. It was the best outcome I could hope for.
Telling him the truth, of how I had believed I would die…falling from the sky…until Kirito threw himself after me…it would have been too much for him. Kirito, this confident black knight standing beside me, he had risked his life for my sake, and yet here I was trying to downplay his bravado, making the whole ordeal seem like a walk in the park. Sometimes a lie was indeed better than the truth. But telling such lies took a toll on my integrity.
"Well…if that's the case," came Ryou's somewhat calm, but still shaken, voice, "then I can see why you set out…" Zaki stole his thunder however, "But don't you ever do that again Liz! You had everyone here worried sick!" Gaya chuckled as he wiped tears from his eyes, "It got so bad none of us could sleep, I was about to message Asuna to go search for you when you appeared back on the map!"
Ryou let out a half-hearted chuckle along with a sigh, "It's true…none of us got much sleep last night, did you think about us as you camped out?" My eyes watered as I thought back on the moment when I was falling, feeling no hope of surviving, "I did, I didn't know I couldn't send messages in a dungeon…I just hoped you'd all be fine when I got back…" Ryou's eyes were finally at ease, pulling me back into yet another embrace, his infections laughter spread through me. "Goodness, if we all make it back to the real world, your father won't hear the end of this." His hearty chuckle let relief course through his body. "I'll have to tell him to make sure you text home every day!" I smiled. Feeling somewhat relieved that they had stopped their questioning, and believed I had been safe all along. I just couldn't tell them the truth.
Zaki spoke up as he looked at Kirito, "Say if you're a beta tester, then you certainly know the mechanics of the game well, what did you come to Liz here for anyway?" Kirito, now looking tranquil, seeing as he wasn't doing any talking, responded with a simple sword draw. My green blue sword came into focus. "This. Lisbeth here put her soul into it." His lips smiled just looking at the weapon. "I usually buy all sorts of swords, but this…this might just be an endgame weapon." He looked at me with the same eyes he had when we were stuck in the pit, "Thanks a million times over Liz, I'll come back to you when it needs maintenance."
My heart swelled with pride at his words. It was all too much. All I could so was let out a cheerful smile and goodbye as Ryou hugged my arm tightly. Our little dragon hunting adventure seemed to have a happy ending, but it had been a close one. One fraught with danger and emotional upheaval. I could only wonder at what a future adventure with Kirito would look like, there was no way anything would top this…
I thought back on the reunion for a moment. "They're doing fine … really! But I kinda got grounded." Agil's face of concern turned into a mischievous smile. "Is that so?" Oh fine, I'd humor him a little bit, "Yeah…I got to make fifty swords from rare Titanium, worst punishment ever. It's going to take me forever just to collect the metal!" Agil only slapped his knee in a fit of playful teasing, "Serves you right for abandoning your family!" he laughed more as I stood there, patiently waiting to get my permission to leave.
"Alrighty then, you get on with that. I hear there's a still a few rich veins of Titanium near Ronbaru, you should go there, I'm sure they've been cleared of enemies long ago, but still. Take at least Gaya with you." I rolled my eyes as he brought up the idea of an escort again. Ever since coming back, it was becoming a running joke, that I had to be with an escort if I went out into any dangerous area. I could only guess at how protective my family would get if I went off into some uncharted area. They'd probably have a heart attack. Shaking myself from my own thoughtful mind I thanked Agil for the tip and left the shop, all too eager to just get this ordeal done.
The bright sunlight hurt my eyes for a moment. Even in a video game, this world simply felt so real. The blue sky and wonderfully white clouds were just the hallmarks of another beautiful day in world of Aincrad. Sometimes I really did forget to appreciate it and take it all in.
"So did Agil have what you wanted or are we hunting for ore?" a familiar voice spoke out to me. I looked at the black dressed figure leaning against the wall of the shop. "You know, if you would have gone in with me, you'd already know the answer…" I replied with a smirk across my face, his presence today was all that I needed. "Nah, I'd rather not get bored hearing you two talk about metals."
A quick punch to his arm dissuaded any further jokes. "Hey now, you could learn some of this stuff, you might even find some good metals for me out there on the front lines." Letting my voice tease him I looked up into the two black orbs on Kirito's face. Just like he had said, he came back towards the end of the week to join me on another adventure. While he had sent me messages about different floors we could explore and some interesting quests, I felt I was letting him down with today's ore hunting quest. But Kirito hadn't complained, and in fact he seemed almost relieved. An easy day for him with some friendly company must have certainly been a welcome change of pace.
As we walked through the alleys of Mishe, I couldn't help but feel a feeling of elation sweep over me. Sure I had led Zaki through these same streets excitedly to show him a new anvil, and Asuna and I had ogled at ever single clothing store in the city, but I had never walked around these streets with someone like Kirito. He laughed at my jokes and little whines about my little guild and customers; he listened when I talked about some of the ore collecting mechanics, and he gave me attention that I felt no one had ever given me before. It was incredible, for all the stealthy black he wore, his eyes were a real ray of sunshine.
"So, we want to follow the little traces of metal on the ceiling…right?" "Exactly!" my pink orbs beamed at him with pride as we stepped off of the teleport gate. From the warm sun of Mishe, to the coolness of Ronbaru, transportation between floors happened in an instant. The first few jumps back in the game's beginning were jarring and disorienting at times. Often a weird feeling of vertigo persisted, but routine jumps had put a swift end to that.
Unlike Mishe, where a light jacket kept me warm under the sun, Ronbaru, shrouded in its constant darkness was a much colder place. Like the rest of Floor 27, one could feel the February cold in their chest. After equipping a heavier jacket, that obviously went with my usual outfit, I started walking towards the mountains when I felt an arm wrap around shoulder.
"Glad you brought a jacket this time, I didn't really want to share my jacket again." Really? Bringing that up again? Low hanging fruit. "Whatever happened to Mister 'you don't feel cold if you're disciplined' huh?" Kirito blinked for a moment, registering when he had said that comment, before retorting, "Yeah well…I just wanted to get that crystal, I didn't want to waste time." I giggled, "Uh huh...Suuuurrreee…" He could try and be all defensive about it, but I knew what he was trying to pull, and I sure as hell wasn't going to let him guilt me about it.
The walk to the mountain was easy. Leaving the city behind us, we journeyed up the trails that slowly gave way to a dim forest. In the cold chill of February, we trekked onward. Our feet crunching the snow beneath us as our breaths wisped out of our mouths. It still felt surreal to be walking with Kirito. He stood like a bulwark against anything I could face.
Genuine safety, unyielding protection.
Even though he had caught me crying, broken by the bridge; even though he had made me feel that I was now the center of his attention, my reason, my logic…told me to be patient. Either that or I didn't have the courage to bring up the topic of love. Kirito cared for me. That much was clear. He had sent me several messages all through the week and even hugged me when he stopped by the shop yesterday. But…since having to try and piece myself together after believing that Asuna was dating him…I didn't think I could handle a real rejection. Besides…wasn't this enough? Wasn't going on another adventure with him, distracting him from the front lines enough?
My arm wrapped itself around his…careful to not appear too romantic. I wanted him as a friend…as more than that. But he was on the front lines. Even in his messages over the past week, he made it clear he wouldn't be able to respond during long stretches of each day. A dungeon was a dungeon after all. What if we did become something more than close friends? We had known each other just a week anyway!
But what if…what if he set out one day…and didn't come back?
The thought wrenched more at my mind as we hiked up the snow-covered path towards the mountain. Why didn't I fear for Asuna like that? 'Well…because she has a guild.' Kirito…he was a solo player. I had learnt that much from Asuna's little rant at him in my shop, but it was only later that I learned that he really did fight completely on his own. No back-up within sight. If he died, probably no one would even be around to see him die. It was an atrociously sobering thought.
"Hey, is everything alright?" my eyes focused immediately on the source of the voice. Kirito had stopped on the trail, looking down at me with a bit of a confused expression. "You're kinda hurting my arm."
First a yelp of my voice, followed by an immediate release of his said appendage. "I'm sorry…" I muttered. "I got lost in thought." His eyes narrowed with a smirk. "You know you get daydreamy a lot." Any other moment I might have tried to jab back or fight off his little comment. But I only stared into his eyes, unwavering my view. What if he didn't come back one day? I didn't know anyone else like him. Alone, fighting unafraid of this game's harsh, unforgiving world. Why did he do it?
"Kirito to Lisbeth…are you there?" a black glove waved in front of my pinkish eyes.
Instinctively my cold white gloves slapped my cheeks. "Yes! Yes! I'm here…I'm just so freaking out of it." "I'd say…come on, we're nearly up to the mountain, where is this ore anyway?" The weirdness of our first journey together was still there…faintly. It wasn't nearly as awkward as trekking up an icy mountain with a guy I barely knew…but it was still weird…
I gestured up towards a tunnel entrance, "It's in there. The ore we want is in the Labyrinth, or dungeon of this floor. We just go inside, and start looking for tell tale signs of ore. I have a pretty good guess about where to go."
A few minutes more of walking in silence and we were at the mouth of the cave. "Ready?" I asked to my silent black warrior companion. A simple nod and off we were, the crunching of snow replaced by the tapping of boots on the stone floor. But soon, stone gave way to a green luminescent floor. The whole labyrinth was a series of green and blue hexagonal walls and corridors. The various halls all seemed like one another to the untrained eye of a random player, but to my blacksmith eyes, looking for tell tale signs of ores, these corridors were all different. I had spent a large amount of time down these tunnels. Ronbaru was known for its wealth of ores after all.
It didn't take me long to trace my steps to a hidden ore vein. I had found it several months ago, and refused to tell anyone. Knowing how difficult it could be to find a rare ore vein, the last thing I wanted was for someone else to take it! The silver bit of metal sparkled, contrasting with the green blue walls of the Labyrinth. "This way!" I called out as I began running down the corridor. Each step brought me closer to the ore's origin, and I was ready to just grab the metal and get out. The less time I spent digging this metal out, the more I had to spend time with Kirito doing something that was actually fun, adventurous even. The ore's trace widened even more in the ceiling until it disappeared behind a wall.
The wall stood imposing at the end of the tunnel, but there was a faint outline around its center. Realizing what this infernal death game was trying to do, I approached the wall and traced the faint outline with my gloved finger. As if on cue, there was a loud rumbling followed by a seam in the wall opening up. The green hue of the crystal wall shook as a door formed and let me peer into a square room. There was brown chest in the center along with a rich luster of silver metal ore in one corner of the room. My eyes widened with surprise and joy. 'I hit the jackpot! Yes!'
The treasure beckoned me, begging for me to rush into the room with reckless abandon, but if there was one skill I had invested several points into, it was my trap disabling skill. I stood at the door's entry way and gazed at its perimeter. Immediately my pink orbs narrowed on a nearly invisible wire near the entry's way floor. A trip wire. My lips contorted into a sly smile. "Gotcha." I muttered with glee. As my hand reached to disable the wire a loud yell of desperation broke the stillness of the corridor.
"LISBETH! WAIT NO! DON'T GO IN THERE!"
Kirito's eyes were wide with fear. Fear of something had overcome him. His panicked orbs raced towards before I stood up and motioned to him to slow down. "Whoa! Whoa! What's wrong?" I asked calmly, trying to not let his sudden agitation get to me. I thought he had been in just another corridor, walking around aimlessly. But to find him so panicked lurched my mind into overdrive. Did he see a high-level monster? Was he being followed by some player killer? What was it that had driven him this desperate? My body didn't work well under pressure, jumping in front of a dragon was proof enough of that, but right now, in this peaceful network of tunnels, I was having dread and fear creep up into every crevice of my chest. "Calm down Kirito!" I begged. My voice now strained as his black eyes, so often peaceful, stared into mine with panic dancing inside them. Usually I was the one who was a nervous wreck, not the other way around.
When he didn't respond I took his hands in mine. But…unlike in the dragon's nest, they weren't warm or full of life. Instead they felt cold and clammy. "Kirito…please what's wrong!" my voice pleaded of him. What on earth could make a warrior as powerful as him worry this much? I gestured to the wire at the base of the door. "It's just a silly trap! I saw it! What's wrong?" I looked past his armor and down the hall. Straining my ears I couldn't hear anything following him, just the breath of his panting, panicked body.
His dark orbs looked me up and down and at the wire of the door. Finally his breathing began to even a little. "Right…you saw the trap…" he let go of my hands and stumbled back a step. His eyes betrayed him however, something was going on in his mind and he wasn't telling me what. "What happened to you Kirito?" my voice questioned, to no response. I wanted to ask him what exactly was he afraid of? Did he think I was going to die from a silly trap? Or was he afraid of something else? Either way I turned back to the wire and quickly disabled it. The cold taps of my boots on the crystal floor sounded even more hollow as I walked over to him, placing the broken wire in his hands. My voice softly tried to reach out to him, "See…it was just a trip wire…don't worry…can you relax now?" He clutched the wire so strongly his hand went white from his grip on the poor string. For the first time ever, I felt at a loss of what to do, clearly something was bothering him, but I had no idea what.. I moved my arm around his and led him into the room with me. His breath sharpened as we walked in, his entire body tensing up as if ready for combat. Yet nothing happened.
Kneeling next to the chest I found the other trip wire that could still pose a threat. Making sure that Kirito was looking, my hands deftly disabled the threating mechanism and placed it in his other hand. "See? Can you please relax?" I couldn't handle his fear. There was nothing! Nothing to fear right now! Just a treasure to collect! Why on earth was he so tense! It was like I didn't even know him. Gone was the black swordsmen from the mountain, the man who had been so bold to run up a wall, the guy who had so confidently risked his life for me. In his place was this broken shadow. He was on the verge of tears, and that tugged at my heart strings. What happened to him?
"I'm going to go mine the ore ok?" I cooed to him. There wasn't much I could do. His posture barely changed but he gave me a nod in response. With a feeling of tension now infecting my chest I chipped away at the titanium ore, collecting vast amounts of the metal. It was nearly an hour of work, but eventually I had cleared about half of the stash. Setting my mining axe down, I wiped a bit of sweat from my brow. The mining had helped distract my mind from Kirito, after all, mining too was a delicate art. But instantly I found his emotional state consuming my mind when I heard a soft sob. My eyes focused on the broken man who as huddled over the unopened chest in the room. His eyes had fresh tears in them and I couldn't make out any words.
I couldn't stand it. "Would you please stop that!" I yelled at the black swordsman. Unlike what I expected however, my voice wasn't rife with anger or frustration. Instead, desperation laced my words. I could barely stand to watch him cry over something I had no way of helping with. I wanted to say something, anything to provide comfort. But he just put up a wall! A wall of steady, unrelenting, unmoving rejection. As his face turned to face mine, I saw how broken his stare was. The dark orbs looked through me as if someone else stood in my place.
In an instant however…the look disappeared. The black swordsman stood up with a cold look in his eyes. "I'm sorry…its nothing." My jaw was slack for a moment, trying to process his words. Nothing? How laughable. But with his cold empty look I couldn't bring myself to say anything. Something was bothering him, but I didn't know him well enough to pester him.
"Alright…then…lets get out of here." I cautiously offered, grabbing a few thousand col from the treasure chest, we began the walk out of the Labyrinth in silence. Kirito was distant from me, cold, and almost haunted. The tapping of our boots on the crystalline floor broke the otherwise stifling silence.
I felt an inner turmoil grip me more intensely than ever before. Helpless. That is what I was. Utterly helpless. It was uncomfortable to feel helpless and not be in combat. Facing an impossible foe at least gave one a feeling of acceptance, knowing what the adversary was. But in this case, there was nothing I could do to help my friend…my swordsman. He had to chose if he wanted to open up to me, and judging by his reclusive stance, it seemed unlikely he would do so.
Walking into the city of Ronbaru was the only thing that seemed to bring him some relief. Being away from the mountain, from that green crystal maze, seemed to be the only source of relief for his mind. His eyes softened only when the smell of bread and soup filled my nostrils, pulling me from his side and to the window of a restaurant.
"Hey…are you feeling hungry? We can get dinner if you want."
My lips smiled warily as his words filled my ears. Finally. Whatever it was, he was starting to come around. "Yes. I'm starving." I flatly stated. Excitement dampened by the relief washing over me. "Come on…I know this great place with broccoli cheese soup!" cautiously I pulled at his arm, worried about triggering some other panic in him. But he took my hand instead, letting me pull his frame around the city's streets.
His hand was warm again. Warm to my touch. Full of life once more.
A/N: Hey there, sorry about the shorter chapter, but honestly, expect this length in the future. Its just easier to write shorter chapters like this.
Be sure to leave a review or send me a PM! I love hearing from you guys! As to the one review that pointed out the floor clearing and col inflation, all I got to say is that this is only one year in, and yet I stuck pretty closely to how the floors were cleared according to the wiki. But don't worry, the pace will be eased from here on out. As for the col, Asuna's just a rich girl!