Data feels like data, this much I know. The difference between grass and hair is non-existent in the virtual world, but let me tell you: the difference between cutting grass and cutting hair is incomprehensible – it's terrifying. I never was fond of the hairdresser, but this was something else.
As I bobbed down, the sword trimmed somewhat close to a centimetre of hair off the top of my head. I could see the stray, brown pieces drift off into the wind, wondering if I'd actually lost any HP from it. I didn't have enough time to draw my rapier, so I immediately kicked off the dirt, dodged to my right, and used the opening between the Sword Art activation and cooldown timer to deliver an Embracer unarmed Sword-Skill using my left hand. Pointing the fingertips forward and together, retracting the elbow to a slingshot position, and launching.
Too slow. The cooldown timer had ended, and the aggressor used the split second he had to jump back a step, forcing my blow off target. I hadn't completely missed, but the HP it would have chipped away at would be minimal - ineffective. My hand scraped across his stomach, glowing a fiery yellow as I emitted a sharp yell.
One, two I counted in my head. The timer off the attack was done, he'd jumped back, and I did the same, putting the fight to a momentary standstill.
Griffith stood motionless next to me. The intense silence was growing rapidly; the few seconds we'd been fighting seemed like an eternity. This was exactly what I was training for, but I had no idea how to react to it. In my mind, I'd subconsciously pictured PKers as actual NPCs, but to see this man standing before me with a killing intent… My thoughts began to drift, so I mustered together my courage to speak.
"Who are you and what do you want?" I asked. If my heart wasn't beating its way out of my chest, the cliché question might've made me laugh.
"You really are stupid, aren't you?" The man replied. He had a messy brown ponytail just dangling in the wind. An ugly mug, that's for sure.
"I wasn't aware there was a 'random' option." I began to provoke. A questioned look appeared on that god awful face of his.
"The hell are you on about, kid?" The PKer aggressively questioned. He walked right into my trap.
"On facial character creation." I laughed. His reaction was exactly as I expected. I used the opportunity to draw my rapier, his face looking more disgusting as it contorted during his retaliation. He'd already begun moving towards me once more, activating a Sword-Skill I couldn't yet identify. Due to him having nothing but a one-handed blade, the most common weapon of choice due to Kirito's preference, there wasn't a large amount of attacks he could use.
A cyan glow shot across hit sword, feet pounding on the ground. Rage Spike was the attack. A basic one-hit strike designed to quickly cross large gaps of space and deal a weak but fast lunge. The moment he took his first step, I'd already activated my own Linear lunge attack, a rapier being much faster than his blade. The two of us sped towards each other at ridiculous rates of speed.
My rapier met his chest first as his sword went right off target, missing wildly past my right shoulder. His HP had dropped for sure, but from a basic attack, it wouldn't be much. Thanks to Linear being the very first Sword-Skill acquirable, its cooldown timer was less than a second.
I pushed off his gut with my boot, gaining a little under four metres distance. Instantaneously, without hesitation, I activated the ace up my sleeve, Afterimage , a Rapier Sword Skill designed around unmatchable speed and power. The cooldown was three seconds, longer than usual, but that wouldn't matter here. Leaping forward, it felt like I was being stretched apart. An afterimage was left behind as I crossed the gap between us in a half-second, blade outstretched. The yellow glow made its way along to the tip, erupting in a bright emission of light.
And then it missed.
It missed within inches of my opponent's face. I skidded to a halt directly next to him, his head leaned to one side, a yellow stream flowing directly past and an afterimage was left of where I'd aimed for a headshot. A careless mistake that almost cost me, but one more Linear should be able to…
"Three seconds…" I whispered to myself, as my arm was caught by the PKer. I'd been caught like a fish in a barrel, a result of my own smug attitude. A body shot would have easily finished it, who was I trying to impress?
"Haaaaaaa!" cried a voice from behind me. Griffith.
A moment later, a flute connected with the jaw of my captor. A flute. Jesus, a flute? I thought to myself. That's…
A blue glow of pure power, a Sword-Skill, bursting its way out of the flute and into the enemy. He'd actually done it. He must have been the first man in the world to attack with a flute. Since when did instruments even have Sword-Skills? The man I'd now identified as fogresh by his HP bar, was staggered. Even his name was ugly.
I looked down only to see at the same moment he was hit by a flute, the Sword-Skill he'd activated intended for me had…
No, no time to think, only time to move. I let loose not with a Sword-Skill, but with pure strikes from my rapier, getting faster and faster. He still had a hold of my wrist, but his grip was loosening and his HP was depleting with every strike.
"Die! Die!" I screamed as my speed intensified, stabs of rage hit him everywhere his armour had a gap. The face, legs, arms, chest, stomach. "Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!" I cried, louder and louder.
Within seconds, he was down to the red, and a swift kick had him tumbling onto his back. I stepped on his chest, raising my blade to his throat, but before I could say a word, he burst into shards. My foot hit the grass that was under him.
Griffith fell down next to him.
"No… No… No, no, no, no!" I yelled, ditching my rapier and dashing to his side."Griff, speak to me!"
He rolled onto his back and looked up at me, a smile plastered on his face.
"Tera…" he begun. He reached into his shirt, taking out a red bottle. "I've always hated medicine, but… I won't leave you yet. Not today." He said, tipping open the small HP potion and taking a sip.
"I really hate you, Griff." I said, tears in my eyes. "You know that?"
He silently nodded, still smiling, as his red HP began to recover. I stood up, wiping away the pointless tears I'd shed. Griffith reached up as I clasped his hand, pulling him to his feet.
"I seriously thought for a moment there, Griffith."
"I promised I'd introduce you to Foyoki, didn't I? I can't go breaking promises already." He retaliated to my statement, a hint of laughter still in his voice. I crossed my arms and looked out towards the town. I wanted to stay angry at him, but I had a question that needed raising.
"You actually used a flute there, didn't you?" I asked, glancing back to the delicate blue shards fading off into the sky. I never knew the man, only that his name was Fogresh and I'd taken his life. I'd taken his life.
"I did, it's a Sword-Skill call-" Griffith started to speak before spotting the look on my face. "Tera, don't even think about it. Please, don't think about it."
But I couldn't not think about it. I'd taken his life out of rage and it'd only just dawned on me now. I'd killed someone. I'd trained self-defensive techniques and killed someone. Dead, gone, obliterated, game over. And I almost brushed it off like it was second nature. What was wrong with me? I didn't hesitate, I just began swinging and…
"Griffith."
"Yeah?" He replied.
"You don't think he's really…" My voice trailed off.
There was a lot of things I'd noticed about this game, but there was also twice as much I hadn't, or maybe it was that I didn't want to notice. If we'd put on an optical virtual reality headset, where were we right now? Why couldn't we still operate our own bodies? Why wasn't anyone removing it? it wasn't Nervegear. What happens when someone dies in the game?
There were too many questions to answer, and Griffith knew it too. Maybe that's what he didn't want me to think about, maybe that's why he never fights.
But he did fight. He risked himself just mere moments ago on account of my own clumsiness. It was my fault.
I couldn't sleep that night. I stayed awake, just staring idly at the ceiling, wondering, questioning all the things today. Finding Griffith, almost losing him within minutes… But the one thing floating around in my head was the PKer. Whether or not he stabbed Griffith, I shouldn't have just-
My thoughts slowly became a train wreck.
But I didn't react to it. The moment he died, I turned away to Griffith; I didn't even hesitate to take a life. Am I really the kind of person that can do that?
I stayed awake for hours after, just… Thinking. When morning finally came, I met Griffith in the lobby of the tavern we were staying at. Less of a lobby, more of a bar.
"Hey, Tera." He said, smiling at me. I couldn't bring myself to look him in the eyes, I just muttered a good morning and walked over to the counter to pay. I sent the NPC tavern owner 100 col for both Griff and I, a thank you being issued in return.
All morning, Griffith had the same look on his face. Concern. We walked silently through the streets, heading towards the market district to finally rid myself of this col I hated with a passion. I didn't ask any more about his Flute-Arts, I just sluggishly forced myself onwards. We'd decided to head over to a blacksmith instead of a general store, hoping for better equipment.
"Oh, Terallian, I almost forgot." Griffith started. "Do you mind if we meet up with Foyoki afterwards?"
I nodded with a grumble. I honestly didn't feel like meeting anyone today, I just wanted to get through it all as fast as possible and get back to grinding. Now that Griff was with me, it was my responsibility to protect him - I refused a repeat of the previous day. My heart skipped a beat just thinking about it. But maybe, just maybe, this was a good opportunity to forget all about it.
I kicked a rock on the side of the sidewalk, and it skidded right between another player's boots. I looked up to be met with the eyes of a female player. She had beautiful brown hair, swept up by the wind as she looked at me with discontent.
"Oh, Foyoki!" Griffith yelled out. Foyoki? "Perfect timing, I was just going to get you to meet Tera. Meet… Tera!"
"Terallian?" She asked. A confused face crept over Griff.
I paused for a moment.
"Takita?"