Kobolds, sometimes known as 'goblins', are a form of earth dwelling sprite known to infest the floors of Aincrad, particularly favoring caves, mines, and the intra floors as their habitats. They are normally described as small leathery skinned humanoids bearing a passing resemblance to 'reptilian rabbits'. Although not typically very imposing, Kobolds have a natural talent for traps and ambushes. Caution should be taken in secluded areas when Kobolds are suspected to be present.
Relations with Kobolds are complex as they can range from ambivalent neighbors, to mischievous pests and thieves, to an outright military threat as witnessed on Orignia, where the emergence of Ilfang the Kobold Lord hastened the decline of the floor.
Ilfang's personal servants, the Rune Kobold Guard, are noted for being vastly larger, stronger, and more aggressive than normal Kobolds, and have been witnessed visiting their abuse on both humans and their smaller kin.
- From Argo's Guide to Everything, Vol. I
Dreamers of the Day - Book One - Part One - The Swordsman III
Morning dawned in Orignia slowly and then all at once. The stars gradually faded from the false sky, then, as the true sun peeked over the horizon, the first touch of its rays seemed to rouse the ceiling from its slumber, quickly, the leaden gray turned to pale morning blue, revealing the land below.
It was a country of verdant forests, fertile fields, and idyllic pasture, sloping gently towards a great lake at its center, and, ringed by cliffs and rocky hills, dotted with small villages, and zig zagged by roads and hedges.
On the dusty path leading East from the village of Rere, a young man walked along easily as he bit into a small and sweet apple. Kirigaya Kazuto, the swordsman Kirito, drank in the peaceful surrounding while enjoying his snack, courtesy of a farmer whose cart he had helped unstick from the mud.
The light shining down from the ceiling was warm, and the air was fresh and clean, filled with the chlorophyll sweetness of wild grass. If he hadn't known better, he could have completely lowered his guard and just stopped to exist. His tender flank guaranteed that wouldn't happen.
As pleasant as it was, this was a dangerous place. He hadn't spotted any sign of monsters along the road, but his encounter with the Dire Wolves had convinced him that there was a new order to things. With no HP bar, and pain being a debilitating reality, he had to keep up his guard.
Luckily, everything seemed to be as Verdelle had said. While there were dangerous beasts that made their homes in the forests and hills, and the Kobolds controlled the North of the Floor, the roads and fields were still safe enough to travel under daylight.
Kirito had even crossed paths with a few farmers and villagers, some of whom had curtly greeted him, and a few who wearily kept their distance. It might be wise, Kazuto thought, to do the same himself, at least until he had had a better handle on the situation. He couldn't expect every NPC to be as benevolent as Verdelle.
He'd tried to contact Argo again, but the Broker had been quick getting back that she was busy for the foreseeable future. Essential messages only. Instead, Kirito turned to his only other conversation partner.
"How may I assist you, Kirito?" Asked the ever chipper androgynous voice of Alvis.
Kirito smiled, "Hey Al, how ya doing today?"
"I am fully functional. How may I assist you?"
Kirito scrolled through the menu tabs, taking stock of the small tool box at his disposal. "I just wanted to know how that mapping reconstruction you were talking about has been going?"
"Mapping API reconstruction is complete." Alvis supplied helpfully.
"Really?" Kirito's grin faded into a frown as he opened the tab and was met with a small island of topographical data within a sea of gray. "Are you sure about that, Al?"
"Mapping API reconstruction is complete." Alvis repeated, sounding very proud of itself.
Kirito's frown deepened, "Then why isn't the map showing anything?" He should have at least seen the Town of Beginnings.
"Database not found."
"What do you mean, 'Database not found'?"
"Database not found." Alvis repeated, this time Kazuto almost thought the AI sounded a little hurt.
'Okay,' he thought, 'No use getting mad, this isn't Al's fault.' Other than the fact that Alvis was part of the very system created by Kayaba Akihiko, Kazuto reminded himself. But if Kayaba intended to utilize Alvis for some sort of subterfuge, this seemed like a poor way to go about it.
Kirito took another bite from his apple and thought as he chewed. "Check me on this, Al, when you say the database isn't found, you mean the complete map of Aincrad that you should be able to access."
"That is correct, database not found."
What a headache, SAO was a revolutionary game in a lot of ways, but from a purely practical perspective, lots of its systems were thoroughly conventional. Why reinvent the wheel? Take the mapping system for instance, players filled in their map by exploring, and they could share mapping data with one another, or even sell it to other players using the trade system if they wished. But the map wasn't really something they were creating or filling in, they were simply gaining permissions to view each cell of a pre-existing map as they progressed. It all already existed, deep within SAO's databases, safely away from the prying eyes of data miners.
"So what about this area?" Kirito tapped on the small pool around himself.
"API began local area mapping when I was activated." Alvis answered helpfully. "The data is being constructed from my local sensory range and committed to memory."
"Local area mapping?" Kirito's features screwed up into a scowl. "Why would a game mapping API have surveying capability?"
"I do not know." Alvis answered helpfully. Kirito scratched behind one of his ears. Something occurred to Kazuto at that moment.
"Hey Al, new question."
"Of course, Kirito. How may I assist you?"
"Al," he thought carefully, "Do you know what's happening?"
"I do not understand the question." The little AI's voice chirped sincerely.
"I mean to say," he thought carefully, obviously Alvis wasn't a fully fledged AI, it was more like a parser that could access and query the MUSE sub AIs and knowledge bases. It was 'smart' but only in a very limited way. "Al, you said that the mapping API was corrupted."
"That is correct."
"So that means your internal logs include information about SAO's server side status?" At least things that related to Alvis' individual instances and the overall knowledge engine. Maybe the MUSE system as well.
"Of course."
"Were there any irregularities logged between four and five hours after SAO's launch?"
Alvis's avatar flickered for a very long time, indicating that the AI was thinking. At least this one Kazuto didn't have any doubts about.
"At 5:00PM Tokyo Time, on Sunday November 10th 2024, an administrative level command suspended the SAO servers for imaging and backup."
"Wait, the servers were shut down?" Kirito paused, what was going on here? Then why weren't the players logged out?
"That is correct." Alvis agreed. "My internal logs show a period of 12.772 seconds of downtime before reinitialization was completed. At that time, multiple systems were experiencing corruption, data loss, or alteration, restoration continues."
Kirito's ears piqued. "What do you mean, alteration?"
"Several large files were installed to the system autotranslate during boot up of this Alvis instance. I deduce they were language packs."
"Language packs, huh?" Kazuto hadn't used the system auto translate much, owing to the Beta Testers being concentrated in and around Tokyo, but he knew it used the same principles as the MUSE system for player enhancement. It was entirely possible he hadn't noticed while much bigger questions had dominated his mind.
He shook his head, this was all fascinating, and probably deserved a long sit down, but for now, he just wanted to know what was wrong with his map.
"Mapping functions have been restored." Alvis reported, "Calibration will take further time."
"Alright then." Anyway you cut it, Kirito was pretty sure a 'league' was a lot more than a kilometer. How far had the river taken him?
His thoughts were interrupted as he noticed something taking place further down the road. All morning he'd crossed paths with travelers on foot, a few leading mule pulled wagons, but this was the first time he'd seen men on horseback, and they were stopping every traveler they met. Even at a distance, they didn't look friendly.
Not good, the mounted Knights and Lords of this floor were fairly strong, especially on open ground, and Kirito was not equipped for a cavalry fight, even if he had been, suicidally, inclined. Opening his map again, there'd been a fork in the road a ways back, if he cut through a stand of trees here, he could meet up with it, and then work his way back south.
He was weighing his options as the mounted men rounded their horses and started heading his direction. The decision was made for him, jumping a low crumbling stone wall like a truant delinquent, the tree line shielded him from sight, and it wasn't long before he found himself along a much quieter and more ill kept forest path.
Go back, or take his chances?
It was broad daylight, and this forest wasn't particularly dense, nor did the stand of trees seem all that big. But the low branches crossing over the road would dissuade the riders from taking this route. Kirito shrugged to himself, he'd chance it.
The road had wound on, curving a bit towards the lake as he traveled, but still plenty far away, besides, the southern edge was on the human side of the floor, so he'd thought.
It happened around midday, as he worked his way back along the forks in the road towards the main path, by which time Kazuto was thoroughly convinced that returning to the Town of Beginnings would be an all day hike. He was snacking on his second apple, biting with a loud crunch, when a rustling in the bushes brought him to a halt.
He'd heard and seen rustling before, the forests were full of animal life, things like foxes and rabbits. But this time was different. For one thing, this time, the forest went quiet. For another, there was a thin rope strung taut across the roadway, almost lost in the leaves at ankle height.
Kirito stared at the offending bush, he took another loud bite from his apple, he chewed slowly as he thought about it. "Look, I don't know if you can understand me, but if you can this is your only chance." His hand reached for the hilt of his sword. "I will use lethal force to defend myself."
A moment of total silence, and then the bush exploded, something small, red, and vaguely humanoid pounced, a crudely fashioned club held high and its mouth opened wide as it issued a full throated bark . . . which ended suddenly as Kirito tossed his apple into the air and turned, drawing his sword smoothly.
The kobold hit the ground stumbling, its club fell loosely from its hands as it stood half a head shorter, a shower of red particles geysering from the base of its spine before dropping dead.
Then, knowing that Kobolds never attacked without numbers on their side, the young swordsman spun about, blocking the crude ax of a second startled assailant before pushing in and sinking his sword through the soft belly and up into the organs of the sternum. He drew back and thrust thrice more for good measure before shoving the dying monster into the roadside brush.
At a remove, Kazuto thought he was perversely grateful for the unreality of the monsters and their blood. It leveled the playing field, helped to suppress the hesitation that the Kobold's certainly didn't feel about him.
The twang of a bowstring, an arrow streaked past his eyes. The young swordsman glared at the Kobold standing beside the road, readying another arrow from its quiver. Then, catching his apple, Kirito hefted it, and made a hard throw.
It struck the Kobold upside the head with a meaty 'thud' and a startled squawk. More importantly, the monster fumbled its bow and arrow, giving Kirito a precious moment to close the distance and slash.
The archer gave a pained hiss as red stitched from shoulder to hip, cutting cleanly through the quiver strap. Bur rather than run, the Kobold lunged at him, jaws snapping in his face as hard black nails clawed at his tunic. The Kobold seemed determined to bite his throat out, if it could. manage it.
Kirito got a hand around its muzzle and thrust up from beneath the jaw and through the roof of the mouth. The monster convulsed once and then went still. More squawking shouts behind him, Kirito spun about to see a second trio of the small reptilian . . . rabbit . . . dog . . . things . . . coming his way, spears thrust forward.
He waited until they were wading through a deep drift of fallen leaves and loose soil, and then swung his sword against a nearby tree with a -chop- followed by the hiss of rubbing rope as something heavy came down and a net full of angry kobolds went up. The closed trap hung, swinging awkwardly as its contents fought to free themselves.
Kirito simply watched for a time until he was confident they wouldn't be loose anytime soon. Then he turned his attention back to the scrawny monster carcass he was holding by the throat as it grew perceptibly lighter with each passing moment.
It was a curious thing, starting from the extremities and slowly eating its way up the limbs in a shower of evaporating red particles. There was a soft rattling as articles fell from the disintegrating body, until all that was left was empty air and a disorderly pile of the creature's effects. The same happened to the other two, leaving behind only an assortment of pouches, leggings, and loin cloths.
The swordsman squatted down to examine what remained. The effect hadn't looked much like a depop. Remembering his time with Verdelle, they'd eaten rabbit, so some sorts of creatures persisted after death, just not monsters, apparently.
He looked at his small iron sword, and the damage it had accumulated in its brief career. Sadly, these Kobolds were even more pathetically equipped than a starting player. The arrows of the bow, and the heads of the spears were tipped with flint, the club was a piece of lashed together sharpened stone.
The only thing maybe worth a damn was a primitive knife. The weapon was about a hand span long with an equal length hilt made of wrapped leather, and looked to have been cold forged from a single piece of iron.
Kirito regarded it carefully, for all that it was hardly more than a sharpened rock, it was at least well balanced. He tucked it into his belt, just in case, and gave the hissing, growling sack of Kobolds a final glance before setting off on his way. They'd free themselves, eventually. But in the meantime, he'd broken their weapons and scattered their flint heads across the forest floor.
It had been odd to find Kobolds this far South. Maybe that had been what the horsemen had been searching for. Kazuto was still pondering this an hour later as the path turned steep and he found himself on increasingly rocky ground, the hard bones of the earth scraped bare and hosting only scrub brush.
He was considering turning back when he caught a glimpse of a figure squatting alone in the middle of the road. Except, it didn't look like he'd been alone long.
They were a player for sure, that was one of the starting outfit sets, not too different from Kirito's own. Simple pants and a primary colored shirt in yellow, leather boots and accents. The man wearing them was tall and muscular, his hair was blonde, and his eyes were pale blue. Basically, he was a hero straight out of a western fantasy novel.
And what he seemed to be doing was not much different from what Kirito had done with the fallen Kobolds, examining what was left behind with the probing tip of his short sword. Except the remains weren't the ragged garments of Kobolds, or even peasant dress, the gear was all too familiar.
"Shit." The man muttered darkly, he must have heard Kirito right then as he looked up.
Kirito's hand reached for the hilt of his sword and the man's eyes widened. "Hey now, this isn't what it looks like." He stood slowly, dusting himself off.
"And what exactly does it look like?" Kirito asked guardedly.
"You want me to say it?" The handsome man lifted a blonde brow. "Fine, know what, take a look at me. I've got a sword. Look at that gear, do you see sword marks on any of it?" Kirito risked a glance, some of the garments were torne, even shredded, but nothing that looked like a clean sword cut or stab. "And lookit there." He pointed, carefully sheathing his sword as he did. "At those metal breastplates, they're dented, well, caved in. Somethin hit'm hard, real hard."
Harder than a player could do, at least without an Art from a blunt weapon, Kirito agreed. It wasn't enough to make him lower his guard, but he was willing to hear the man out. "So you just came across them like this?"
"Basically. I was checking to figure out what killed them. Don't tell me you wouldn't do the same thing."
Knowledge could keep you alive, Kirito reasoned, given a few minutes to think about it, yeah, he would have done exactly the same thing, ghoulish as it might seem. "So we depop like the monsters, huh?"
"Yeah." The man muttered. "Us and the locals. Helluva thing to see it for the first time. Like somethin' out of a dream. Not like the game though. Game, you're alive and then you just despawn. Everyone I've seen it happen too was definitely dead and done. It's like, once nobody's home no more, these bodies just fall apart."
"Everyone, huh?" That didn't sound good.
"Sounds like you've kept your head down the last few days. Smart. It's been a frikkin mess back around town. Somethin' on my face?"
Kirito squinted, "Coper." He said finally. "Your name's Coper, right?" He remembered this guy now, from the Beta Test. They hadn't crossed paths too often, but he hadn't come off as a bad guy exactly.
Surprise flashed across Coper's face, and then disappeared. "You got me at a disadvantage."
"Kirito." Kirito offered back.
"Ah, new avatar, huh?" Coper rolled his broad shoulders. "I was already happy with my look from the beta, hope that's the one you want for the duration." Kirito simply shrugged. Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing to have a look that could be underestimated. "Another beta tester could be useful though."
"Huh?" Kirito was back on guard as pebbles rattled down from the rocks above them. A pair of archers, a human woman and a pictish man, had their short bows ready and were preparing to draw.
"Coper?!" The woman, sleek dark green hair pulled back in a small ponytail, called down, her eyes never leaving Kirito. Stupid! He could probably get under cover, but they had an insurmountable advantage from their position.
"Wo wo wo!" The blonde man raised his hands, standing between both parties. "Easy now, none of us are here to fight each other. Kirito, these are Fern and Oryx. Fern, Oryx, this here's Kirito. Maybe you crossed paths during the Beta."
"Kirito?" Fern shook her head, but Orxy seemed to recognize his handle, the Pictish' ears perked.
"Heh, think one of my losses was to him in the arena." He grinned, "Don't worry, I don't take it personal. You sure this guy's a beta tester too?"
"Wanna confirm it with the Cat?"
"Nah." Oryx lowered his bow, prompting Fern to do the same. "I believe it. I mean, a live nooby this far out. What are the odds?" This far? Kirito shook his head, it seemed he really had wound up being carried quite a ways by the river.
"So listen, Kirito." Coper looked him over, eyes resting on the Kobold knife on his belt. "Seems you came out ahead in a scrap. Care for another one?"
Kirito's eyes darted between the three. "What do you have in mind?"
Coper tapped the hilt of his blade. "For one thing, getting ourselves a bit better equipped than these crap starting weapons. You know what I'm talking about, an Anneal Blade. Something you can actually defend yourself with."
"So the quest is still live?" Kirito assumed a thoughtful pose, cupping his chin in his hand.
The dwarfish blacksmith in the small town of Irfen would ask a player to supply him with high quality ore. How the player went about getting it had been left up to them. But the resulting upgrade to their starting weapon was substantial. The difference between the primitive iron short sword and an annealed bastard sword was like the difference between a bokken and a katana.
"This world is dangerous. Making ourselves stronger is the only way to survive, Kirito." Coper extended a hand. "So how bout it, you in?"
Eyeing the offered hand reluctantly, Kirito accepted, not without reservation. "So what's the plan?"
Coper waved for him to follow, and the trio, now a quartet, made their way further along the road. "The dwarfs in Irfin weren't quite what I was expecting." Coper explained. "The Old Dwarf Smith isn't there like he is in the game for you to just walk up and ask about a shiny new sword. But we were able to come to an arrangement. We each bring them a heaping bag of the high quality ore they need, and that pays for our weapons. Then it was just finding someplace we can get that ore."
A bit further along, a fifth person was waiting for them, wearing a cloak. At first Kazuto had it in his mind that it might be Argo. But this one was taller, and male, a Si judging by a glimpse of his pointed ears and flash of golden eyes. His features seemed sharp, when they showed themselves in the shadows.
He seemed to have been been standing watch, seated precariously on an old piece of wooden fence and entertaining himself with a handful of pebbles, practicing his throw by aiming for sparrows in the trees.
"Any signs of movement?" Coper asked the cloaked man.
"Nuttin'." The other man shrugged, "Just the normal surface sentries skulking around."
"You're sure?" Coper repeated.
"Man, it's my skin too." The Si gave a reassuring smile and a soft laugh. "Why?"
Coper frowned, "I think we might be dealing with one of the Rune Kobold Guard." All at once, the small gathering got very quiet. Fern, Oryx, and Kirito, were all thinking the same thing. Of all the monsters of Originia, the Kobold Guard were among the elites, hulking beasts that stood head and shoulders taller than a grown man, nothing like their smaller kin of the fields. They were labyrinth monsters that would be disastrous to face unprepared.
"You're kidding right?" The Si did not sound thrilled. "This far south?"
"Wish I was." Coper shook his head. "Doesn't change anything, we're already taking a risk. And if there is a Kobold Guard down there, it's five of us now rather than four. Kirito, come take a look."
Parting some bushes, Kirito found that they were positioned with a good vantage over the mouth of a mine. A rocky pit in the earth that gave way to a timber framed entrance. The various sundries of an extraction operation, tools and overturned mine carts, lay slowly rusting in the open air, or leaned against a series of dilapidated cabins that must have once been barracks.
"This is the farthest south mine we could find. And the Kobolds are still infesting it. So here's the plan, this is a smash and grab fetch quest. Dwarves told us there's a whole hoard of ore in the first gallery they had to abandon years ago. We each grab a pack of that, about thirty or forty kilos. And bring it back to their smiths, done deal. Any questions?"
"Yeah, just one." The young swordsman's eyes narrowed as he glimpsed movement in the shadows. "If it's really just all sitting there, why don't the dwarves just come and get it?"
"Well that's the trick. There's an army of Kobolds down there just waiting to boil up if someone ticks them off. We gotta go in, real quiet, get what we need and get out."
"Tricky." Kirito decided, this would either go perfectly, and there'd be no fight, or they'd be fighting for their lives. He touched the hilt of his sword, weighing the risks carefully. It was either that, or keep making do with this. "Okay, I'm in."
"Good to hear, then let get you introduced. You already know Oryx and Fern, they're decent archers, and both fair with daggers. And this fella here is . . ."
"The name's Morte . . ." The Si man offered a fist. "Put her there, pal! We'll be working together for now, so howsabout we try to get along?"
Kirito regarded the hand, then the face smiling from the shadows. "Un," they bumped.
MORTE JOINS THE FIGHT! - "Howsabout a friendly duel for old times sake?"