Chapter 38

There was limited information about the game's mechanics prior to the launch. Initial reviews and hype surrounding the Nerve Gear were abundant, but unless you dug deep it was hard to find substantial information in regards to the various aspects of Sword Art Online. Now, with the game's official launch well underway knowledge was gained primarily by word of mouth or through information brokers like Argo. Her strategy guides detailed various status effects that were prominent on the two accessible floors and which enemies would employ them. Her knowledge of this was gained either through firsthand experience or from people she purchased the info from.

It was a widely accepted opinion that the first few floors were fairly simple with enemies that lacked any real abilities to contend with. Not that they weren't dangerous, but there were minimal status effects a player would need to worry about during these early levels of play. It was meant to accustom the player with combat and use of sword skills before bringing the full weight of the game to bear. The wrinkle with that particular opinion was that it had been based on the knowledge of the normal series of quests and enemies prevalent on the floor. It did not include secret quest lines or boss monsters like the one that guarded each floor.

Jayce watched his sword spin away from his body glinting slightly as it spun through the air. In SAO there were enemies that could disarm a player. There were multiple different ways this was performed and varied on the monster in question. On these low floors the worst that could happen was the enemy could make you drop the weapon. Later on it was possible that the weapon could be snatched away. Both had their dangers involved, but with backup weapons or a level head the player could react appropriately and safely. The most dangerous disarm technique was Dismemberment. A player who suffered this particular effect couldn't simply equip a backup weapon without the hand and would be at the enemy's mercy.

"Move!" Jemza charged into Jayce knocking him aside. Artemis's blade glowed brightly arcing down towards where Jayce had been. The skill Vertical impacted against the blade of Jemza's dagger as she bit down hard and shoved back deflecting the attack. Her health bar was still dangerously low, the potions effects still working slowly to fill her back to full.

"Jemza!" She looked over seeing an object sailing through the air towards her. Jayce's voice should have been full of fear or concern, but she didn't detect any of that. It truly was different now for them. They didn't need to be worried for each other. There was no need to be scared of one of them dying. As far as they were concerned they were a single unit. If one fell, they both fell and that meant the only way to win was together.

"Got it!" She leapt high into the air using her agility stat to roll and spin to avoid Artemis's next blow aimed at her chest. Mid jump she slashed her dagger wide intercepting the bottle Jayce had thrown. It shattered, coating her dagger once more in venom before she fell back to the earth landing lightly. Her body remained low to the ground juking side to side while pushing Artemis back a few steps from her wide slashes of the dagger.

"You both just won't die!" Artemis jumped to the side as Jayce dove in from behind Jemza, a simple iron sword gripped in his left hand. The man raised his sword high above his head looking to activate another Vertical skill, but Jayce used the opportunity to step forward pressing the blade of his sword against the one held in Artemis's hands. In one motion he slipped past the man pushing the blade up and over his head and behind his back pinned against Jayce's

"You first." Jemza had already activated her sword skill before Jayce had even finished his movements. The dagger pulled her forward in a lunge driving deep into the depression where the man's neck met his chest. His eyes bulged while she pushed the blade into his throat, his body convulsing. Jayce pushed forward as well keeping his arms and sword locked behind his back. Jemza twisted the blade making Artemis shudder one last time before his body broke apart and shattered.

Windows opened in front of the pair as they stood breathing heavily in front of one another now that Artemis was gone. Jayce glanced at the experience and col rewarded before reaching up and closing the window with his left index finger. He opened his menu and removed the iron sword from the slot in his left hand taking a deep breath. Jemza was still looking at the window in front of her. After a few seconds she closed it and slid her dagger back onto her hip.

"I think he was considered a boss level enemy. A mini boss I guess you could call it because the experience and money was substantial. I hit level twelve." Jayce couldn't hide the excitement which looked and sounded odd considering he only had one hand.

"Me too, can't believe we did it." Jemza pulled the mask down from her face and closed her eyes while leaning her face up towards the night sky.

"Yeah, except if he was that difficult to beat…" Jayce trailed off knowing the she would understand his train of thought.

"Kurt will be worse, yeah. If Artemis is the mini boss, then it stands to reason that Kurt would be the real boss." Jayce nodded in response. It was the exact same train of thought he had come to. The blinking icon near his health bar flashed rapidly a few times before disappearing. His hand materialized back onto his wrist and he opened and closed his fingers a few times.

"That's freaky." Jemza opened her eyes after hearing him and noticed his hand.

"I'm glad that's not permanent."

"Me too, there's still a lot we don't know about this game. We both agree that everything surrounding these quests are different than normal, but we also need to start assuming the enemies won't follow the patterns and level of difficulty associated with the floor we're on." Jemza looked away towards Marome a bit further down the road. He was right; there was nothing they could assume when it came to following this quest line.

"I'm sure Argo was a beta tester. She won't confirm nor deny it, but she has to be. We should talk with her right away before we go after Kurt and see what she thinks. If she is a tester, then she's probably been to higher floors and might know things we should watch out for. I don't think we have a better alternative." Jemza explained and Jayce couldn't deny that her plan was sound.

"Alright do it. We only have until tomorrow night though so twenty four hours tops. We can't risk anymore than that." Jemza opened her menu quickly and began typing quickly. After a minute or two she closed it and looked back at Jayce.

"Done, hopefully she…" Jemza squinted as she stopped talking and opened her menu once more. Jayce laughed shaking his head.

"Already responded, didn't she?"

"She types fast, but yeah she said to meet her in Urbus at noon." As Jemza spoke Jayce thought of something that could potentially help explain things to Argo.

"Tell her to meet us at the entrance to the alley. We'll take her to the Infiltrator's Den and we can meet there. She can see for herself what's different for us on this quest." Jemza nodded with a smile and quickly typed the response up and sent it.

"Good idea." She reached up to close the window, but hesitated and switched the windows around until she got to her inventory.

"Everything alright?" She seemed torn between excitement and anxiety as she scrolled down through her items.

"Here, you should have this." A long bladed sword appeared in her hands wrapped in a black scabbard. She held the weapon towards Jayce who stared at it questioningly.

"What…is that?" The hilt and scabbard were etched in red accents adorned with a ruby on the pommel.

"Artemis was considered a boss you're right. I got the final attack bonus on him and received a bonus item. Or rather I had a choice of items." Jayce looked up at her incredulously.

"A choice, but why did you pick…"

"I picked it for you." She interrupted him holding the sword closer to him. He grabbed the weapon slowly turning it over so he could grasp the handle. He pulled the blade free examining the edge closely. It had a slight curve towards the tip, with a single edge as opposed to the double edged Anneal Blade. A handful of runes glowed along the side of the blade close to the hilt in a dull red.

"Silence. That's the name of it. Jemza, this sword is beautiful and far outclasses the Anneal Blade. This thing looks like it belongs on floor three or four, maybe even five. Wasn't there something that would have benefited you? Why pick this for me?" He looked up from the weapon and met her eyes as she smiled back.

"I wish I had some quirky remark or some romantic reason I could give, but honestly that would make it feel cheap. Our choices from now on should be made based on how they will affect us as a whole not as individuals. Your Anneal Blade is one of the best weapons, if not the best weapon a one handed sword user can get early on. The physical danger and emotional stress you went through to get that sword was more than I could imagine. That Anneal Blade was earned through blood, sweat, and tears. However, it was earned by the old Jayce, before you became who you are now. You should have a weapon that isn't remembered by the pain it took to get it. I want you to use this sword, because I gave it to you." She reached out and pushed the weapon he held closer to his chest.

"That was still pretty romantic sounding you know?" Jayce grinned holding the sword tight against his body. She laughed lightly and nodded.

"Yeah, I suppose so, but it's the truth. Someday you can return the favor." Jayce opened his inventory and equipped the sword into the slot where is Anneal Blade was. The sword disappeared from his hands and materialized onto his belt after the Anneal Blade vanished.

"Well?" Jayce stepped back and spun, modeling the sword for her. She clapped sarcastically and then used a hand to fan her face.

"Oh my, so dashing!" He laughed in response to her mock tone of voice and walked forward wrapping and arm around her pulling her towards Marome alongside him.

"Come on, we have another long night ahead of us tomorrow. Actually, knowing Argo we have a long afternoon first." Jemza giggled and nodded in agreement putting her arm around his waist. The levity in their walk ended once they returned to the room that had been provided for them. They had both forgotten about the one problem this room had that was situated in the corner of the room.

"Right…one bed." Jemza said out loud and Jayce shook his head.

"It's fine, I can sleep in the chair over there. Not an issue really." Jemza looked over at him and grabbed his breastplate pushing him towards the bed. With strength he often forgot she had, he was thrown onto the bed forcefully. Before he could react she landed atop him pinning him down.

"I'm not tired." He swallowed hard hearing her voice in a low tone. She was breathing heavily and he tried to push himself up to kiss her only for her to push him back down onto the bed.

"Jemza?" She closed her eyes and bit her lip before opening her eyes once more.

"I want you to listen to me. I need to tell you everything, and once I'm done if you still want me, you can have me. This could be our last night together, so if I die, I want it to be with a clear conscious. You deserve to know who I really am and if I'm worth all this. Will you listen to me?" She asked the question quietly and he knew her heart rate and breathing wasn't just from the position they were in. She was scared, but mustering all the courage she could.

"Yes…I'll listen."