Yo! Let's get rolling with chapter 10.
January 13th
Hynafol Highway
The road north split at a major intersection where the western path led towards Graig, the southern path led south towards Aincrad and the north-eastern path led off into the Rhewi range. The path north-east eventually grew larger and gained the name of the Hynafol Highway. No one remembered what lay on the far side but many orcs had been seen coming south along it.
The part of the Rhewi range where the highway cut through was near the center of the range. The tallest peaks grouped themselves in the vicinity. But a medium-sized pass cut through the imposing mountains and made crossing them much simpler, especially with a large cobblestone road to follow.
The road was not in great condition however, with an untold amount of wear and tear after an unknown amount of years the cobbled stones were gouged out in places, and parts had sunk into the ground in others. It was on a whole however still easily traversable even by large groups. Only groups with wagons would find themselves in some tough situations.
It was right before the path really got into the mountain pass proper that Kirito sat atop Midnight. It was snowing hard today and his visibility was pretty low. He had been in the mountains several times in the previous month and the cold temperature of the season was harsh. He was weary of going further into the storm and having to spend the night in the pass with the terrible weather. He had no idea if the cold weather affected Midnight or not. And orcs were often seen on the road when Graig sent scouts to the area.
Kirito had bundled himself back up when he left Graig that morning. He had considered buying a blanket for Midnight but his low funds from Argo's dealings had decided for him and Midnight was left bare to the elements. Snapping himself from his thoughts, Kirito gently nudged Midnight forward into a quick trot up the road. He might as well start this crazy venture. Incase Midnight freezes over he would rather get as far as possible before then.
About an hour into the trek upward, the gradient was continuing to increase and Kirito had yet to encounter anything. The weather had remained the same but the temperature seemed to be getting colder. Curse Kayaba for some of the realism he implemented!
He was patting Midnight absently when suddenly an arrow slammed into Midnight's neck near Kirito's right hand. On instinct Kirito gripped the reins and jerked hard to the right. Aligning them up with the arrows flight path.
Two more arrows cut through the storm in their direction and one caught Kirito in the left shoulder while the third whizzed past. He cursed under his breath at the sudden pain then kicked his heels in hard and Midnight leaped forward. Kirito spotted three figures about ten yards out, the limit he could see in this weather. The first archer managed another shot which caught Midnight in the chest, the horse let out a pained cry but dutifully continued on.
They closed the distance and Kirito slashed down right across the face of one of the figures he now identified as a ‹‹Highway Patrol Orc›› level 30, something not particularly a threat to him. After the face slash he managed a follow through backward strike after passing the orc. The mob fell to the ground stunned and inflicted with a DoT.
He stopped Midnight just past the two other orcs. He dismounted and dashed to the nearest one. Both orcs had drawn swords and in a clash of metal Kirito met one's blade. Continuing his forward momentum he struck out with his hand initiating a left hook which stunned the orc for a second. He spun to the far side from the second orc and dodged the strike that was meant to hamstring him.
He stretched the spinning movement out and initiated a three strike combo sword skill, it ended with his sword stabbed through the orc's heart. He quickly pulled his sword out of the creature's chest as it fell life less to the ground only to shatter into the countless polygons associated with death.
The third orc glared at him as it stepped forward to fight. Not one to waste time on trash mobs, Kirito initiated ‹‹Sonic Leap›› and jumped the distance between the combatants and with a death stroke into the collarbone struck the orc down. The crit struck true and the orc was no more.
Swinging his sword once to each side in what he considered to be his trademark flourish, Kirito sheathed his sword as the first orc shattered into pixels from the accrued damage over time before him. He hurried over to Midnight to assess the damage.
Thankfully his partner had withstood the arrows and was waiting patiently for the projectiles to be removed, his hp meter slowly depleting from their presence in his neck and chest. Kirito quickly pulled them out and slapped a generic bandage over which replenished Midnight's depleted hp. Midnight whinnied pitifully, whether from their last encounter or the approaching storm Kirito really didn't know. Having remounted the duo continued onward into the pass.
It was now late at night, and they still hadn't come across a downward slope. So Kirito called it quits and since he had no idea what was around him he decided to camp right where they were. At least the ground was flat here. So he deployed his campsite and set the campfire heat to full blast. Even then the small fire struggled to provide heat in this environment.
Kirito parked Midnight near the fire, his horse wouldn't wander so he didn't bother staking him down. Kirito quickly ate and then tried to block the tent entrance off to keep any semblance of heat inside. He then materialized every bit of cloth and clothing he owned and buried himself within.
The next morning Kirito awoke to a strange sight. The storm had worn itself out over the course of the night and Midnight was laying down tinged blue in places lightly dusted in snow. Not to mention frozen stiff as a board. Apparently the cold did get to Midnight as he had frozen to death at some point that night. He felt bad for the horse but then again Midnight was just his summon-able mount, why worry?
'Well I imagine that could have been me if I was less prepared. Death by the elements in a game where fighting trolls and dragons is the norm, ha! What a way to go that would be. I wonder if I need to break Midnight's body up so that I can re-summon him tomorrow. Better safe than sorry I guess.'
And with the destruction of his frozen horse Kirito packed the campsite away and began to trek off onward down the Hynafol Highway.
'Now to continue farther northward, let's hope it's not too much colder...'
-[S]-[A]-[O]-
January 16th
Hynafol Expanse
Waking up early Kirito summoned Midnight and found himself finally looking downwards. The pass was now leading him out of the mountain range. So he managed to make his way and out onto flat barren snow-covered terrain before early evening. A large message in bold appeared before his vision, telling him of his area change and naming the new zone ‹‹Hynafol Tundra››. The only features he could make out were the mountains behind him and the slight depression where the road could be discerned.
He had not encountered any more orc patrols since several days ago. This was the third day since he had entered the pass and he was finally out and ready to explore.
With no other option, Kirito continued on the highway. After several hours he could see something on the horizon. Hoping to find a place to stay the night he sped up slightly. As the setting sun started bleeding into the sky he was able to make out what looked like a series of huts halfway built into the ground. The roof of each hut was a thick mat of interwoven grasses turned brown from age each dusted with snow.
Campfires were scattered everywhere on the ground. The huts were built in two concentric circles around a giant rock that stuck 20 feet into the air. The village was a ten minute walk off the side of the highway. When he entered the village it was completely deserted. But the smell of smoke hung in the air and footprints littered the ground everywhere. He walked through the village toward the central rock and as he approached he noticed a small entrance near the base of rock.
When he went to investigate a figure had burst out of the opening and tackled him. His head slammed hard into the ground. A heavy weight kept Kirito pinned down and he felt something sharp pressed against his throat. He heard voices murmuring but he couldn't figure them out as he felt like he was slowly suffocating under the large mass pinning him. How someone had access to his neck while he was trapped below, he had no idea. He was soon relieved of the pressure on him when the figure got off.
He quickly stood up and found himself facing some very odd creatures. They wore very minimal clothing, only enough to cover private areas. They appeared to be some cross between humans and what Kirito could only guess as a walrus. Their lower half was a set of thick legs that slowly congealed around their midriff into the fat blubber likeness of skin colored grayish brown. Each sported a set of long white tusks that hung down from their mushy whiskered face blobs.
They had beady black eyes which stared at him with, glee? He wasn't certain. Instead of flippers they did possess short thick arms that just seemed to stretch out of where the shoulders would be. Three stood in front of him pointing weapons his way that consisted of a long stick with a tusk strapped on.
They were actually extremely funny looking with such short limbs attached to their large upper body. And Kirito couldn't help himself once realizing this he burst into a fit of laughter. One of the spear wielders stepped closer and poked at him with the weapon, it then spoke up. It sounded very strained to speak and its voice was wheezy.
"You, why have you come here? Why do you laugh?"
Calming himself Kirito managed a response.
"I apologize, the knock to my head caused me to remember an old event that was funny."
He lied to cover his laughter. Not that the npc would know any different. He could have told it the reason he was laughing was because he was the King of England for all the difference it would have made. And his answer left the npc clearly confused.
"I came here to on a quest to gain strength. I can help your village out with any problems you might have as well."
The creature now acknowledged that Kirito had said something it could understand. It spoke up again.
"Where do you come from?"
"Aincrad."
"We have legends of Aincrad, back when the fortress of Hynafol ruled these lands our people interacted with men such as yourself. But the cycles have come and gone many, many times since then. None here have ever met one such as yourself. We are the ‹‹Umarus›› warrior, and we try not to have conflict. When orcs and creatures fiercer come, we hide within our rock. But times are dark, evil creature's prowl the land and darker ones still live within the walls of Hynafol. If you clear the lands of these aggressors we will compensate you however possible. And within the great fortress you may find old treasures too."
"I accept, I will clear this wasteland. Now please, which way is it to this fortress?"
Kirito queried. He was very interested in this fortress the walrus man had mentioned.
-[S]-[A]-[O]-
After his discussion with the Umarus, he was pointed in the direction of the tribe's nearest deadly foe. Another tribe, but this one was made of creatures called ‹‹Amarolf››. Kirito was given no description, only told.
"They are my people's ancestral rivals. For unknown millennia we have waged cold and active war with them. Be wary, they currently grow bold from the other fearsome creature's presence in our lands. They will give you no mercy, so give them none."
So he didn't have a lot to go on. Other than supposedly he should:
1) Light at least half the huts on fire.
2) Kill 10 Amarolf warriors.
3) Release the ‹‹Dire Wolves›› they held in pens there.
And for a bonus
4) Kill their chieftain.
A rather typical grind order he thought. He had no idea how strong these creatures would be. He had walked across the landscape for several hours, before spotting the rival tribe. Much to his surprise the village was almost identical to the Umarus village, giant rock and everything. Except for the large ditch dug around the small village with one raised dirt path across.
He could see no pens full of Dire Wolves. He was on the fence whether that was good or bad. Approaching the village he could see it was not empty like the Umarus's had been. He could make out plenty of figures moving around. As there was simply no way for him to hide is approach he walked straight up to the dirt causeway. He didn't have any clothes to blend into the snowy background and the land was so flat there was nowhere he could try to sneak through.
So the first villager to see him signaled an alarm by yelling something Kirito didn't catch. As he was about 200 yards out, 18 figures rushed across the causeway and fanned out as they came his way. About half of them rode atop massive wolves. Kirito assumed these to be the Dire Wolves. They looked somewhat like typical wolves only three times the size and much sturdier looking. Rather like parts of a bear mixed with a wolf.
All of the wolves were pure white with some slight gray markings mixed in. Kirito was surrounded by the mounted figures and the others on foot rushed to catch up to add more intimidation he assumed. He wasn't sure what he had expected from these Amarolf, but when he finally saw one he wasn't even that surprised.
Like their rival tribe, the Amarolf had the lower half of a human while their upper half was that of a wolf. Strange really, but they were much more streamlined and predatory looking then the tubby Umarus. The surrounding Amarolf had mixed fur of gray and white with some black tinges, they all wore black pants made out of some animal hide. Each wolf-man had bone pierces on their face in unique patterns.
Except for the one that was mounted front and center of the others. This one was at least a foot taller than the others which had to have him standing over seven feet. His upper furred half was pitch black. The black wolf-man's left ear was ripped half off. Seeing all the wolves and half wolves glaring at him or suspiciously staring awoke his basic survival instincts. He drew his sword and was instantly on guard. His sudden movement caused all in attendance to let out a low threatening growl.
The black Amarolf had only stared at Kirito, suddenly he stepped forward halting the rising hostilities. He took a huge sniff, then glared at Kirito before speaking.
"Human, why do you reek of those cowardly Umarus?"
The voice that came from the black Amarolf was deep and gruff, his words were spoken with a slight growl.
Kirito took note of one thing at that moment. All of these Amarolf were armed with wicked looking tooth and bone daggers, one in each hand for most cases. Some, mostly the mounted ones, had long bone shaft spears tipped with a vicious looking fang.
'Well they certainly got it right calling the Umarus cowardly, they all hid away while I wandered their village then sneak attacked me only to send me off to fight their battles.'
"I said human, why do you reek? Answer or we will be forced to take measures."
This was followed by another round of snarling growls.
"Ah.. Hello there. You must be the Amarolf? I smell as you say like those cowards, because I just came from their village."
'Why am I even talking with them? Aren't I suppose to be slaughtering them and destroying their village?'
The onlookers all burst into deep barking laughter at Kirito's answer. When the black wolf man silenced them with a hand motion.
"Well it seems they have sent another again to do their dirty work. They are sneaking conniving tricksters. They recruit many warriors like yourself and demand of them to come here and slaughter us. Well human, I say this. Join with us and help us keep these lands safe from the rising evils, or fight against us and die here now or later with the cowardly Umarus in their beds."
The wolves around the black one growled threateningly.
"The Umarus claim to be the defenders of these lands, when forever my people have held that title truly. The jealous Umarus try everything they can think of to destroy us as they believe we insult them by do the job the old gods entrusted to both our tribes. I hope you join with us as we do the workload of two tribes by ourselves and I do not wish for lives to be lost from my tribe in another Umarus ploy."
'Well shit...'
Thought Kirito.
'I am gonna join these guys just so that I maybe get awarded one of those Dire Wolves. I can just imagine riding that around Aincrad... I would look so cool...' Kirito continued falling further into his fantasy of inducing jealous awe into others, when the wolf men stepped threateningly closer.
"What will it be human, will you join us? The Amarolf, or stay with the Uncouth Umarus?"
"Do you have to ask? Half wolf men are way cooler than walrus men. I will fight with you, the Amarolf."
The Amarolf reared their heads back and let out a celebratory howl.
'I wonder if dire wolves come in black...'
-[S]-[A]-[O]-
January 7th
Aincrad Third Tier, Inn
Asuna sat in a daze. After yesterday she realized how foolish the charge had been. She had literally wasted the lives of her friends in the effort to sway recruits to join. She fancied they were invincible while atop their mounts. They had worked so smoothly in the practicing formations she never realized that, that practice experience wouldn't translate perfectly into a real combat situation.
Their initial charge had worked well enough, but the group had immediately become bogged down among the orcs and the true hand to hand had begun. As it turned out fighting while on horseback was extremely difficult when you have no experience, especially when lots of the opponents were only half as tall as your horse was. The wargs were much lower to the ground then a horse.
Asuna had believed the first charge would have swept the warg riders away and the defenders of Aincrad would cheer the success of the Knights of Ruin till the next month's event where they would again preform another spectacular, glorious, and victorious charge. Too bad her second and third in command had been killed. Along with several others.
While defeating the warg riders, the KoR were forced to limp away from the battlefield to lick their wounds and over all reconcile their wasteful charge. Nothing spectacular or glorious even if they were victorious.
It was a harsh truth for Asuna that she had caused the deaths of each KoR member who died by ordering that attack. She hadn't been able to sleep at all last night and she was laying curled in a ball on her inn bed. Images of each player lost kept flashing through her mind. Times spent together. All the good cheer and laughter of learning to ride horses together and time spent organizing and recruiting.
When she had led their first practice charge she had never been more proud as she had been when she looked left and right at her new friends as they actually accomplished something against this death game. Now it seemed so hollow. She knew somewhere in her head that she needed to get up and go gather everyone who was still alive, she now knew they had to practice in real combat.
She also realized she needed to think about the consequences her decisions could have in this game. Assuming no one quit, 17 other players still put their trust into her to lead them as the only mounted group in the game.
Yeah she realized all that somewhere in the back of her mind.
'But just not right now... It is still all too much... Garzan... Kinichi... xX3li7eXx ... Enju... Rentaro ... I am so… very sorry.'
-[S]-[A]-[O]-
Hey Kirito,
It is Klein, the guys and I have been talking and now that guilds can form, well we would like to officially extend you an invite to ‹‹Fuurinkazan››. So what do you say? I am not one to boast or anything but we are probably one of the strongest guilds there is. Your style would work well with us, you and I could cover a flank each, like we did a bit during the event. Plus I mean our guild is a total babe magnet, so... Ya you should join up with us.
P.S. Red is better than black.
-Klein
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if you want to, feel free to leave a review or write me a pm for any questions and comments. I appreciate it.