Chapter 44
"When the fighting breaks out, throw me."
"Excuse me?" Jayce stared at Argo oddly.
"What? Think I'm too heavy or something?" Argo crossed her arms angrily and Jayce quickly held his hands up while shaking his head.
"No, nothing like that, but I don't understand why."
"Agility type players rely on pinpoint precision and raw speed to overcome foes. You already know that activating sword skills engage the systems motion control right? Your character goes through the motions of the sword skill, assuming you don't cancel out of it, until it's finished." Argo explained as she hopped up onto the bar counter.
"Sure, I get that, but what does it have to do with throwing you?"
"Speed my friend. Just trust me and I'll show you when the time comes. Stand beside me here and when I give the signal put your hand under me and push as hard as you can." Argo grinned while watching the other people in the tavern taking up their positions.
"Alright, I'll go along with it."
"Oh, and no funny business like thinking you can get a quick handful." Jayce rolled his eyes while the girl next to him laughed. She had to be higher level than either him or Jemza. Whatever she wanted he was willing to concede if it helped survive the night. Living the life of a solo player meant she understood survival more than most. Considering she was also the foremost player clearing quests and exploring the floors made her irreplaceable.
Halfway over the counter Jayce watched now as Argo twisted her body midair so that she corkscrewed sideways. The brown cloak she wore fluttered wildly behind her once she adjusted her spin so that she now flew headfirst towards the nearest Blackhood Assassin. Once his feet hit the ground on the other side of bar, Argo threw both her arms forward, lights racing along the edges of her weapons and impaled the claws into the chest of the assassin. Her momentum drove the man to his back, the two sliding along the floor while Argo remained atop. Without waiting a moment further she tore the claws free and crossed both her arms in front of her chest. In one swift motion she threw her arms wide cutting across the man's throat.
She was efficient and brutal in equal parts. It made Jayce shiver briefly after seeing her initial strike. He was wrong to assume she couldn't hold her own in combat. She was every bit as capable as a pure combat oriented player. Argo said she didn't fight on the front lines with the other players who cleared the first floor, but she was most definitely the same caliber. This was what a front line player looked like. Someone who worked tirelessly to perfect their skills and talents while staying ahead of the pack. If she could be this devastating alone, how powerful were the rest of the front liners when grouped together?
The thought nearly cost Jayce his life and he had to twist his body awkwardly to dodge the hatchet aimed for his neck. The moment of surprise created by Argo was gone now. His focus shifted away from the curly brown haired girl and diverted solely to the man in front of him. The axe blade skimmed through the air once more as Jayce backpedaled out of reach. He raised the blade in a downward angle while pressing his left hand against the flat of the blade. The hatchet reversed momentum and came again sparking against Silence. Once the two weapons were locked together Jayce ducked slightly and turned sideways stepping forward into a shoulder charge that pushed the man back.
Silence glowed brightly and the games motion assistance kicked in. Using the sword skill Slant forced the man to parry at an angle that left his flank open. The weapons clanged loudly and as the skill completed he quickly dropped the blade lower and activated Horizontal. His sword drew a clean red glowing line across the Blackhood Assassin's hip staggering him. The hatchet slashed wildly making Jayce step away giving some room between the two.
It had been a clean hit, but the health bar only dropped about forty percent. It would take at least three solid blows to drop the enemy. Something that Jayce figured would not continue to be an easy task. Two of his sword skills were now on cooldown. In SAO, sword skills had a brief delay ranging from a few seconds to much longer depending on the strength of the skill. After executing one it would become unusable for the duration of the cooldown. This fact was not lost on the opponent who charged forward rolling the hatchet in his hand.
Fighting side by side with and NPC would normally feel a bit strange, but right now as far as Jemza was concerned she wasn't fighting beside an NPC. It didn't matter that she was created solely from lines of code and given life through means of computer programming. In this world, Rose was real, and she was a friend. The two women battled against Kurt and a dagger wielding Blackhood. Jemza worked her own dagger in a furious routine of slashes and thrusts meant to put the enemy off balance.
Weapons like daggers and rapiers didn't do as much damage as swords and axes traditionally. Their potential only showed when wielded by those with equal parts patience and accuracy. Where a sword or axe always did moderate damage, piercing weapons like her dagger would only do small amounts if wielded the same way. However, given their speed and accuracy a dagger or rapier wielder could unerringly strike an opponent's vital points for critical damage. It required high reflexes and dexterity, but I truly good dagger user or fencer could not only hold their own against swords and axes, but surpass them.
Every few breaths Jemza could feel Rose's shoulder brush against hers. The Blackhood Assassin wielding the dagger kept her occupied, but she stole a glance whenever possible to the woman next to her. Red hair whipped through the hair with each of her movements. The saber in her hands cut through the space between Kurt and her body parrying and riposting. The cheerful demeanor Rose normally carried was gone now. She was face to face with one of the people responsible for her husband's death.
"Switch!" Jemza shouted and Rose nodded. The two girls spun, their backs pressing against one another until their positions reversed. Their weapons immediately came to life, activating their respective sword skills while both Kurt and the Blackhood Assassin tried to compensate for their sudden change in opponent. Rose's saber slashed in a V using the Vertical Arc skill while Jemza drove her dagger forward with Wasp Sting.
Kurt reacted faster spinning his sword so that the tip of the dagger slammed against the flat of his blade. Until now he had been battling Rose who wielded a saber. A dagger functioned differently and before the fight even began Rose and Jemza had planned to fight like this in the hopes it would provide them some small bit of an advantage. Kurt would be far more dangerous than his henchmen and if Jayce had known about this plan beforehand he would have been against it. Surviving tonight meant putting everything on the line and so she hoped he would forgive her for taking this large kind of risk without him knowing.
Beside her, the first motion of Rose's attack pushed the Blackhood Assassin's arm down and away. Once her saber reached the lowest point of the V it flashed upwards catching the man in the chest. He fell backwards clutching at the wound desperate to fend off any follow up attacks. Kurt pushed his sword ahead forcing Jemza back. Rose quickly took a step back as well remaining next to her partner. Jemza gave silent thanks that Rose had ignored the urge to advance into the gap.
"Your mercenaries must have cost a pretty penny. I'm flattered you thought so highly of me." Kurt twirled the blade in his hand and leveled it once more.
They're not mercenaries." Rose answered drawing laughter from Kurt.
"Oh? Don't tell me these are people you care about?" Kurt waved the tip of his sword in a circle as if he were mocking the two. He gestured with his left hand and the wounded assassin nearby produced a small glass globe.
"What is that?" Jemza stared at the clear object; dark green liquid with swirls of yellow coated the inside. Was it a potion, or poison? Jayce had shown her a number of Mixing recipes, but this didn't seem familiar. She looked over her shoulder and saw Jayce locked in combat with one of the assassins. Argo had already engaged a second enemy while Luna and Roland stood together holding their ground against the last two.
"Two separate mixtures combined in an airtight container. Harmless individually, but when mixed they become something much different. Add one final ingredient and the liquid reacts violently." Kurt reached into a pouch on his belt and held out a similar item. Jemza's anxiety began to climb.
"What ingredient?" Kurt merely smiled at Jemza's question tossing the globe a few times in his hand.
"Oxygen." Both glass containers flew through the air towards the main bar in the center of the room. Rose wrapped her arms around Jemza and shoved her to the ground covering her body with her own.
An enormous explosion echoed within the tavern. The cacophony of noise was accompanied by a bright flash of light followed by the air within her lungs forcibly sucked out. Intense heat assailed her body as Rose tried to protect Jemza. The explosion combined with the bright light had left her unable to see straight or hear properly. Rose was yelling something, but her voice seemed so far away. The redhead was already pushing herself up while trying to get Jemza on her feet.
"Up…" Her head swirled as one word found purchase in her ears. Rose gripped her hand trying to pull Jemza up.
"Uuuuuh…" Why was the tavern so bright? The room looked like it was dancing.
"Get up!" Rose's frantic shouts brought Jemza back and a quick look around answered the question she had. Flames licked the wooden supports and walls all around the bar. Where the two glass containers had impacted was a large section of splintered wood with fires reaching up along the ceiling.
"Rose…it's on fire…" Her senses were slowly coming back online and Rose threw Jemza's arm over her shoulder.
"I know my dear come on I'll get you out of here."
"Jayce…"
"I'll get him, but first you." Jemza looked back where she had seen Jayce before, but now only flames were visible. Black smoke began to fill the tavern making it harder to see as time went on.
"So, you do care about these people?" Rose cried out and Jemza fell off her shoulder as Kurt jumped through a section of burning wood and stabbed his sword through Rose's shoulder. She slashed her saber in a wide uppercut, but only found smoke where he had been. Jemza rolled to her stomach and tried to push herself to her knees, but collapsed back to the ground. The bomb had caused some sort of condition prohibiting her from moving more than a crawl.
"What have you done?" Rose screamed over the sound of crackling wood and fire spinning around in a circle ready to defend herself.
"Come now Rose, you didn't really think I was simply going to kill you and be done with it? No, I want to take everything from you first. When you die I want you to know that everything you've ever loved or cared about is gone." The saber slashed into a patch of black smoke where she heard the voice, but it failed to connect with anything of substance.
The System refused to let her move or cry out. She was helpless for as long as the effects of the bomb remained. Jemza couldn't even reach out and grab Rose's ankle to try and warn her. The blade of a sword cut through the flames for Rose's back and all Jemza could do was watch.