DISCLAIMER : Sword Art Online does not belong to me, but to its respective writers, developers, publishers, etc. You know how it goes. I do, however, have the right to any and all OC's that can and will appear throughout the story. That being said, let's get it done!

Eyes of the Falcon : Chapter 5

10th Floor : Hundred Snake Village

"Arrg, what be ye botherin' an ole seadog fer?" the pirate grumbled as he shifted his wooden leg against the well he was perched on.

"Uh... well Sir, I –"

"That'd be CAPTAIN to ye, laddie!" He roared while jabbing his index finger at me, his eye patch twitching and some badly-sewn patches from his sleeve floated down to the cobblestone floor. He immediately bent to pic – hook them up, muttering about how overpriced seamstresses are. Two nearby girls giggled but immediately "Eeep!"-ed when the pirate gave them a toothy snarl, and ran to the back entrance of the inn, slamming the door behind them.

I stared at the old-fashioned door and then around the town. The town, like the door, was old-fashioned. The wooden buildings, supported by grainy pillars, were lined with red lanterns. The town buzzed with colour and a sort of festive feel, like an ancient Japanese or Chinese village during a celebration. My gaze darkened as it flitted to the castle at the center. It was made of wood and stone, like a crossover of a feudal Japanese and King Arthurian castle. The tall, rising cylindrical shape of the floor's dungeon towered out of the castle's center. Although it was cleared quite a while ago, it was still a threatening sight. It always was. No matter how beautiful each floor looked, the dungeon would always serve as a reminder of this death game.

I tried asking around the inn last night about the defeat of the Level 10 boss when the answer came from another player. Inside laid "the worst beast anyone could have imagined", or so I was told by a sullen witness to the storming of the castle. He held his drink close to his tummy and shut his eyes as he recounted that event.

"Samurai snakes," he said after a pause.

"… Samurai snakes?" I repeated.

"Yeah, don't get me wrong… they were all slithery and gross wearing scaly samurai armor and have these weird claws that can hold giant swords" He shook his head as if trying to shake off the memories. "We cut their heads off, but they could still bite. We almost lost a bunch of guys just because of that." He took a swig of his drink before continuing. "And that's not the worst part. The boss was this huge ass snake, bigger than this bar, see? This snake… it…– i-it snaked around and if you looked it in the eye, you turned into stone and shattered if you got hit, game over. The front liners beat it by taking out its eyes first with whatever long-range weapons we got in this damn game; picks, daggers, you name it. Barely did any damage. But it worked anyway… although we had to lose a couple of guys from that part."

He took an even larger swig and stared into the cup. "My guy covered for me. We were childhood friends, you know? Blasted into smithereens right in my face. A really great friend–… let's drink to him!" He clinked his cup with mine and gulped down the rest of the liquid while I looked down at my own drink solemnly.

"… and AYE! That be me. Swashbucklin' extraordinaire… the finest ever in yonder seas!" The pirate guy's yelling snapped me out of my flashback.

He jumped up and brandished his cutlass like he was excitedly swinging around a tennis racquet. "And yet…" He stopped, "I was betrayed and abandoned by me own cowardly crew... Right on the verge of discoverin' the greatest treasure of all time! I uncovered me booty and - Yarr! And then that bilge rat plundered it! Plundered it, I say!" The cutlass clattered to floor as he fell to his knees and started sobbing, wiping his weather-beaten face with a dirty, holey sleeve.

"Blew me own leg off by accident trying to pistol that scurvy rodent thief. Spent almost me whole life searching fer that golden Kraken-like beauty… Arrr, now me time is spent marooned on this godfersaken excuse of a treasurehold, and doomed… doomed never to find the one thing I long fer again… "

I guessed he wasn't really up for talking as much as lamenting, so I did the next best thing. I opened up my inventory page and selected the artifact. Then I held it in front of him.

He brought his hook and hand to his face in a surprised gasp and regarded the artifact, awe filling his eye. "Shiver. Me. Timbers..." he said slowly. "That be –... me... me lost booty! Sail ho and thar' she blows! Never thought I'd be seein' it again with me own eye!" He jumped and happily clicked his peg leg to his boot heel.

I couldn't help smiling a little as he hobbled forward to collect the artifact. "Ahoy, me Precious." He crooned at it. "What say we get better re-acquainted at me ship, eh?" He turned from the well and started to walk off.

"Wait. You're leaving?" I asked confusedly. Wasn't I supposed to get an item or a prize of some sort?

"Arr – Huh? Oh, aye… almost fergot, I did." He looked back and casually tossed me a large rusty key before winking and walked off again, saying "It's all yers, laddie – every single piece. All the spoils from me useless searchin' and plunderin'. Nothin' in there can compare to me booty".

Heh. Never gets old.

At the grated well, I turned the key over in my hands, wondering what I'd find underground.

Use Rusty Key? Yes / No

As soon as I jumped in, my eyes were hit with an amber and gold lightshow.

Coins! Piles and piles of them. It was like the story, 《Ali Baba And the 40 Thieves》… except I get to take and keep this treasure fair and square!

A notification window popped up.

Quest Completed : Accept Reward? Yes / No

Uh, Yes

Nothing happened for a moment. Then I felt myself being carried upwards to the mouth of the well. I was sitting on a giant pool of coins, skyrocketing to the top. To onlookers, I guess it would have looked like a golden geyser.

I vaguely heard "Ooohing and Ahhing" with a dash of "Hey! Money!" "Lookit this! We'll be rich!" and "Grab it! Hurry!"

It all turned to, "Awww, man!" "Nuts!" and "This sucks" as the gold phased through their hands. I landed beside the well and watched the crowd march off disappointedly.

Thank god for soulbound items.

Received item - Col : 100,000 | 500,000 | 1,000,000 | 5,000,000 | 15,000,000 |…

The numbers just kept climbing. At this point, I felt slightly dazed just looking at the Col counter on my profile window.

I felt a tap on my shoulder. A tall shadow hovered over me. Turning around, I was greeted with the smiling face of a big buff bald black dude. The one I traded my standard issue sword with for throwing picks.

"C'mon." He said, leading me to a floor level portal.

35th Floor : Mishe

"… and here we have the dragon scale-infused lance. Perfect for skewering a full line of trolls or similar." He finished proudly before starting up again, "Now, this one will catch your interest–"

"Um… Sir?" I cut in. There's no way I was going to sit through another 15-minute weapons presentation.

"Please, call me Agil. We are friends, you know." He grinned broadly at me.

Somehow, I spotted money signs on his eyeballs.

But I guess it was nice of him to say that.

"Well… okay, Agil. I'm not really looking for weapons right now. I need a smith to –"

"Well, why didn't you say so? I'm a smith too. One of the best you can find!" He went behind the long table and fished out a smith's hammer, "Whadaya need fixing?"

"… I think we can start with this." I offered him one side of my Alberich glove. I didn't trust him that much to tell him about my bow just yet.

"So… you can fix it?"

His head glinted and his eyes shone with fired-up fervor, "Fix it? HA! It'll be unlike any other gaudy patch-up job; practically a rebirth I'll say!" He declared while lifting his hammer in triumph.

"… R–ight" I said uncertainly as I hung back at the bar table.

Grinning excitedly, Agil swung.

A percentage of my glove shattered… and stayed that way. Agil looked at it in surprise. "Huh, maybe with a bit more finesse this time." He said before lifting his hammer a second time.

I zoomed to the anvil fast and stored the glove away while babbling, "You know, I think I'll just leave it for another day. Here's 2 Col for your trouble. Thanks!", and ran out the door, oblivious to Agil's tearful wail of "Nooooo…!"

1st Floor : Town Of Beginnings

My feet shuffled along the 1st floor townpath as I was half-looking for Argo the Rat, thinking of giving her monetary compensation for our previous non-existent trade. Nasty laughter made me look up. About 70 meters away, 5 guys were rounding on a small girl who was on the ground.

I frowned as I sped up, hearing a part of their conversation.

"… puh-leeze. You're only a stupid chick. Why don't ya just leave the fixing to the men." One of them taunted and kicked the anvil that was near the girl before moving off with his friends, laughing as they continued down the road.

The girl mumbled unpleasantly as she took a rag and scrubbed at the spot where that guy kicked.

I went nearer and I saw that she was about my age. Brown-haired. Quite an innocent face. What was she doing on a rug with an anvil in the middle of town? A giant coin with a tarnished image of what looks like a medieval knight's helmet mixed with a design that Trojan soldiers wear; the part that looks like a broom. The words were discoloured and tiny, but they were etched deeply: "Lisbeth's Smith Shop".

She spotted me and, for a moment, I thought she was going to scowl and say, "What? You're gonna laugh at me, too?"

Instead, I got a cheery smile, "Welcome to Lisbeth's Smith Shop. Where all – well, most – of your smithing expectations are met."

"Uh… hi there…" I said, suddenly unsure of what to say. "… You have a… pretty central location here." I gestured around the town. "How's business going?"

"Oh, good, good. You know, same old, same old. Steady orders. Loyal customers–" She trailed off and slumped her shoulders sadly, "You don't want anything to do with me, do you? Sorry to keep you like this. Good day."

"What? No!" I panicked. What the hell did I say? "It's nothing like that! I was just… just curious… I mean, it's not everyday you see a… a portable store around here."

She hugged her knees, still looking upset, "Oh."

"But I am interested in your services. Really." I mustered every ounce of honesty I had in that statement. For one, it was true. I already respected her for being brave enough to openly make a living from something she clearly believes herself capable of doing.

She glanced at me uncertainly, but with a touch of happiness, "R-Really?"

"Really really." I bent down till our eyes were level, "So, what kind of smithing craft are you focused on?"

She gave it some thought, "Well, all of them, I suppose. It should be in a smith's nature to want to adapt to every kind of weaponry material available. But I only have – or had – 3 customers." She briefly held up a photo of three middle-aged guys with her in the center, smiling at the camera. "I'm not even sure if I'm a good smith at all, even if…"

"Okay, tell you what. My glove needs fixing. Can you help me out?" I know I should have given her the 'unruined' glove to start with, but somehow, something told me that I could trust her completely.

Her eyes narrowed at the torn shards on my Alberich glove "That. Is the shoddiest smithing work I've ever seen. Who did this?"

"Er… someobwhat…"

"Because the technique is all wrong" she went on indignantly without waiting for my answer, "Here and here… it's just messy… and look what it's done to this poor glove." She placed the glove on the anvil and expertly employed her smithing hammer.

"There. Good as new." She said, handing me a full glove back.

I brightened as I saw her workmanship. "Wow. This is awesome work. Hey… I've got another job for you."

She sat up straighter and nodded.

"It might not be anything you've seen before, but…" I selected my bow and passed it to her.

"Fascinating…" she examined it closely, "This is one of a kind, it has to be… this game has no known form of player archery-based combat…" She looked at me interestedly and then back at the bow.

"Correct. It's nothing I've ever seen before, but I CAN tell you that I'm not unfamiliar with its materials." She started to quietly recite a line of elements and component details; more to herself than to me.

"Alright." She said determinedly after she'd finished. Her expression was serious as she confidently set her hammer to work. I could only stare at her procedure. The professionalism in her craft was astounding.

As she gave me back my bow, fully repaired, I took a quick look at its stats window. It was upgraded by +1.

"This is great!" I told her.

She shrugged shyly, "Oh… it's… you know."

"Don't I?" I said before raising my voice. "You're the best smith in the world! Hey, everyone! Look at this!" I waved my glove and bow to bystanders and the nearby strolling citizens.

"She fixed them only once and there's a bonus +1 upgrade!" I know I was really hamming it up, probably embarrassing her in the process, but no one was going to pay her any attention unless something remotely drastic was done. And hey, publicity's publicity.

It seemed to be working. A bunch of people looked excited and some even started eagerly running to her with some weapons in tow.

Suddenly, she was swamped with orders and I was human tidal-waved to the back.

"Excuse me! Here's my sword that –" "Is that a bow?" "Miss! Can you help me with –" "I really need this shield repaired–" "My dagger requires some work –"

"Okay, okay! One at a time now! Single file, please!" she called out, putting her hands up in a calming fashion. Amidst her new and potential customers, she gave me a 'what-have-you-done' face. But I saw gratefulness in there.

"Wait!" I realized, trying to elbow my way back to the front "I didn't pay you yet!"

"Never mind that! Just tell me your name!" she hollered back.

"Itami! My name's Itami!" I managed, before the gaps between the crowd closed.

"You're rich, you know? You'll never have to struggle with money. EVER!" Argo sifted her fingers happily through the pile of gold coins on her lap.

"Hmm? You mean, never ever?"

We were sitting on a bench in the 7th floor. Having found Argo, I immediately paid up an equivalent of what I previously owed her.

"Well, the legendary 'Me Lost Booty!' prize is practically the biggest treasure keep in the entirety of SAO. I mean, has your Col counter stopped yet? I don't think there're any more valuables you'd want to gain!"

Yeah, maybe… I started to think until a notification window appeared. Then I smiled.

Maybe not.

Lisbeth has sent you a Friend Request. Accept? : Yes / No

Yes

Author's Note : I live! Straight to reviews this time~

firedog1235 : Forcing myself to make chapters longer ends up delaying it for months on end sadly :( Like this! Hope it's not a complete turn-off, and hope you keep reading! :D

SwiftWhiteWolf : Hey there, glad you liked that little plot thing! I personally don't like Kirito, because he's simply established as the guy that can do anything just because. *dodges rocks* I actually have a completed drawing of him, and it's been placed as the cover of this story! I'll consider recoloring it to suit the SAO style in the future, or maybe for the next one since he will be getting new equipment eventually. Thanks for reading! :D

Moxie Danger : I bet you are :3

ScourgeofShadowsKarx (Guest) : Hi again Karx :D Thanks for checking in on the story, and sorry I haven't updated it in ages. Stuff, y'know. I'd quote you more on that song if it wasn't so morbid D: Hope you keep a keen interest on this story! :D Obligatory "Hope you sign in next time" comment~