The Last One Standing

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Ch 2

"Finally!" Leafa called out dramatically as they walked into the small village Horunka.

"O come on it's not that bad we're each leveled up to level 4 now." Kirito said following her. "Besides you were already up to level 3 making it easy for you."

"That just goes to show I'm not as much of a newbie as you try to imply."

"You saying that just proves how new you are." Kirito stated sighing before turning to their youngest member. "How are you holding up Silica?"

"I'm fine thanks for asking." Silica answered smiling.

"Aside from grabbing some crystals we have one quest I want to get done tonight." Kirito told his companions.

"Can't it wait?" Leafa whined.

"Afraid not. This is one of those one time only quests and the reward is worth it."

"Well if you insist." Leafa replied in defeat.

Kirito directed them to the weapons shop first. "We need better armor and to get rid of any of the unusable by us items that we've accumulated."

The two girls followed silently as Kirito emptied his items slot as there wasn't anything of use to him in there before buying a brown leather half coat. "Because we're speed types heavy metal armor won't work for us so at this stage the only thing we can use is the leather based armor." Following this line of thinking Leafa and Silica followed Kirito's lead. Leafa purchased a hunter green leather half coat. While Silica purchased a red leather half coat.

"What about these swords?" Silica asked. "Their attack power is higher than our starting equipment."

"It is but the bronze weapons don't have as high of a durability as your starter so don't bother." Kirito said as he handed his sword to the man behind the counter. "However you can increase their attack power by letting the weapon shop NPC perform maintenance on them."

Next the trio entered into the tool shop and emptied out their col purchasing as many antidotes and potions as they could.

Next the two girls followed Kirito to one of the two houses behind the weapons shop and tool shop that was across from the good sized inn, ignoring the other ten or so houses down the street.

Coming to the door, Leafa and Silica watched an NPC that could be nothing else but a housewife stir a boiling pot on the stove. As if sensing us she turned and talked while looking at Kirito.

"Good evening, journeying swordsman. You and your companions must be tired, I wish I could offer you some food, but I do not have any at the moment. All I can give is a single cup of water."

Without missing a beat Kirito answered. "That will be fine."

The NPC poured water into some old-looking cups from a water jug, and set them down on the table before us with a clunk. Silica sat on the chair tiredly as we drank the water greedily.

With a slight smile, the missus turned back towards the pot. Despite something simmering, not giving any food, was meant to be a hint. Upon waiting further the steady sound of a child's coughing could soon be heard from the other side of the door to the next room. The missus's shoulders appeared to have fallen with despair. After having waited for another few seconds a golden question mark finally lit up above the lady's head. The sign of a quest's activation. Kirito called out without a moment's delay.

"Is something troubling you?"

It was one of many possible phrases, of those used to accept quests from NPCs. Softly turning to face us, the ? mark atop the missus's head blinked constantly.

"Actually, journeying swordsman, my daughter."

And her daughter was stricken with a severe illness that was completely unfazed even when given medicine from the market, this was inside the pot, and there was no other way to cure her daughter aside from making her drink medicine gotten from the ovules of predatory plants inhabiting the forest further to the west. The problem being that plants of that particular type were extremely dangerous. On top of that, those which actually bloom were rarely seen resulting in her complete inability to obtain any hence if only a swordsman was able fetch it in her stead, to whom she will gladly offer a long sword handed down in her family along with a few other family heirlooms as an expression of gratitude. Which was the general synopsis of the missus's speech that she gave while gesturing as the trio listened on patiently. The quest would not progress if not heard to the end that and Leafa and Silica were already in tears listening to the sporadic dry coughs of her daughter during her story. The missus finally closed her mouth and the quest acceptance panel appeared in front of the trio. "Please leave it to us!" Kirito said as they made their way out of the house.

"That poor girl." Silica said tears still streaming down her face as they left the village.

"It's ok they're just NPCs it's not like they're going to die." Kirito said off handedly.

"Oh yes the great gamer maybe if you spent more time with your family you wouldn't be so cold!" Leafa yelled as they entered the forest. "Now aren't you glad you listened to me about forming a party?"

"Well I didn't believe you to begin with but I remember that the only thing you got from that quest in the beta was a long sword."

Leafa explained what she had attempted to earlier. "Yes well when mom ordered my copy they told her that because you made it farther than anybody else that you would have the reward that the guild you and I became a part of would have certain additional benefits."

"I see, it's circumstantial. Specifically with you and me Sugu." Kirito said smiling before commenting to the youngest. "Well Silica it appears that means that you're in good company."

"Yeah." Silica answered with a blush.

Kirito stopped short causing the other two to stop. "Alright before we get to much further we have one more thing to take care of." Kirito said as he opened his main menu the other two following suite. "If you go to your skill slots you'll notice that you have one empty. The first is for your weapon. For the second you have the choice of Searching or Hiding. At this time we need to choose searching."

"But wouldn't hiding help us against monsters?" Silica asked raising her hand.

"You don't have to raise your hand this isn't school." Kirito said.

"Oh, okay." Silica said looking sheepish.

Ignoring this Kirito explained. "And no our targets don't have eyes so hiding is useless. Besides the searching skill will be a great help down the road as it allows you to see things that would normally get you killed."

"Ok data is logged for future reference." Leafa said as she and Silica filled their skill slots.

"Alright now activate it and I'll show you something helpful. And kind of cool." The girls did as they were told.

"Whoa I can see just like it's daylight." Leafa said impressed.

"And the higher proficiency it is the greater distance you can see as well as being able to find things that are hidden." Kirito answered smiling at the two in front of him acting like kids in a candy store. "Now see that cursor over there?" Kirito asked as Leafa and Silica nodded that they did. "As you can see it's orange in color. That means that we could defeat it with one person. The redder it is the stronger it is compared to you, the whiter it is the weaker. Deep red almost black means that it's too strong and it's almost guaranteed you'd die if you fought them. And FYI that cursor over there is one of our targets. You can tell by its yellow border meaning that it's for our quest."

"Then let's go already." Leafa said impatiently only to be stopped by a hand on her shoulder by Kirito.

"That's a Little Nepent there is a specific way you have to kill them. Allow me to demonstrate." Kirito said as he approached the hidden enemy.

On its lower body that brings the Nepenthes species to mind, countless roots were writhing about as it used them to move. Vines, with pointed leaves attached, twined about at its side and it had a mouth for consumption of prey close to where its head should be, dribbling a viscous liquid as it snapped open and shut.

"A miss." Kirito muttered softly. "Occasionally, one with a large flower blooming atop its mouth will appear. The key item needed for our quest, Little Nepent's Ovule, drops from a Nepent with that flower attached. And the rate of one with the flower appearing is likely less than one percent. However even though it's not the one we're looking for we get much needed exp anyways. Though at a higher rate than the one with the flower the type of Nepent with a round fruit attached might appear. That fruit is a trap if the fruit is broken it'll let out fumes with an unpleasant smell. The fumes possess neither poison nor corrosive properties, but it has the extremely troublesome special trait of calling together its fellow Nepents from the surroundings. Not many would be called if the population rate of the area is running low, but with the current circumstances, an overwhelming number would gather together and attack." Kirito stated as he looked it over confirming the lack of the fruit on the enemy he pulled out the sword sheathed on his back. The Nepent noticed them at the same time, raising its two vines up high threateningly. "The attack patterns for this mob are to use the pointed edge of its ivy to slash and stab, like a dagger, and expelling corrosive fluids from its mouth. It has more variety compared to the blue wild boar that merely charge recklessly. But as it does not use sword skills it 's easier than semi-human mobs such as Kobolds and Goblins. And most importantly its ability leans a fair amount towards the offensive side with its defense weak. Even in the beta I actually liked these sorts of monsters. After all as long as you don't receive any of the attacks it is possible to take down several of them within a short time."

Stopping his lecture as he dodged the Nepents attacks he attacked the stalk that attached the pitcher to the base with a sword skill destroying the Nepent. "Now let's carry on we have valuable exp to gather."

"Right." Leafa called happily as she drew her curved one handed sword. Silica nodded drawing what passed as a long dagger. A half hour passed with a few close calls and over 120 Nepents destroyed without finding their objective. "Are you serious? This is getting tiring." Leafa said after killing her most recent opponent.

"Just bear with it there's nothing more to do till we're finished!" Kirito called from where he was in the trees. Not a minute later he saw a Nepent which had a flower that had yet to turn into a fruit. Seeing this he ran over and destroyed it acquiring the necessary quest item. "I've got it. Let's get out of here."

"Yay!" Silica called as the level screen showed up in front of her showing that she was now a level six.

"Alright back to town." Kirito said as he looked at his sword. "These have about had it anyways."

Leafa looked at her sword that looked like something that had been allowed to weather the elements for some time and started laughing nervously. They made it back to Horunka without too much trouble.

According to the system clock it was almost nine o'clock and the the NPCs had yet to change over to their night time patterns. There were other players gathering outside of the inn Kirito ignored them and headed straight for the house they got their quest from. Striking the knocker for courtesy's sake he opened the door the missus turned around with something simmering on the stove like before. Floating above her head was the golden ! That denoted a quest in progress.

Stepping up to her Kirito took out a sphere that faintly shown a light green from inside the pouch at his waist, the Little Nepent's Ovule, and handed it over. The missus's face lit up looking as though she was twenty years younger in an instant and accepted the ovule. As she babbled on with words of gratitude the quest log in front of us updated. This left Kirito confused because the last times he played he could've sworn that he had received the quest item by now.

Gently putting the ovule into the pot the missus, who now appears to be a young wife, stood there a minute or two letting the pot simmer before she took out a wooden cup from the shelves and filled it with the pot's contents using a ladle. Holding the steaming cup with both hands with great care. Kirito stood up without any real reason and followed behind the wife. The NPC that opened the door stepped towards a dimly lit room. "If I'm not mistaken during the βeta period when I tried to open this door myself it was locked by the system." Kirito stated as he followed the NPC through the door with Leafa and Silica following close behind.

Within was a small bedroom. It was furnished with a dresser by the wall and a bed by the window, along with a single small chair next to an equally small table. And lying on the bed was a girl who looked to be seven or eight years of age. The paleness on her face was apparent even under the moonlight. Her neck was thin with the shoulders peeking out from beneath the sheets also being bony.

Upon noticing her mother the girl lifted her eyelids slightly and next she looked at the trio. Kirito and the two girls stood stock still with that thought those lips lacking in color formed into a faint smile. The mother reached out with her right hand propping up the girl's back. That instant the girl's body bent over gripped by a coughing fit. Those light brown braids shook weakly over the back covered in a white negligee.

Kirito checked the color cursor displayed near the girl once more. The NPC tag was unmistakably attached to it. Her name was Agatha. Leafa and Silica where in tears by now seeing what was in front of them.

While stroking Agatha's back gently with her right hand the mother sat down on the chair by the side and spoke.

"Agatha. The travelers here got some medicine for you from the forest. If you drink this you'll get better for sure." And she made the girl take a hold of the cup that her left hand held.

"Okay." Agatha nodded with a cute voice, and holding on to the cup with her small hands, she gulped it down. As Agatha lowered the cup it appeared that a slight tinge of red returned to her cheeks.

Returning the now empty cup to her mother, Agatha turned her gaze to Kirito as he was frozen on that spot and grinned. Her lips moved her somewhat stuttering words flowed out like demure jewels.

"Thank you, onii-chan."

Kirito was unable to give an answer as his eyes bugged out as his voice made a strangled cry of surprise causing him to see someone else's face.

Kirito flashback

In the far off past, it felt like something like this had happened. My sister... Suguha caught a cold, and had to stay in bed. My father was appointed overseas as always and my mother was unable to cancel a trip that she had to make to the company she worked for, hence I was in charge of nursing her for a mere two hours. That was during elementary school. Just which grade was it in? Honestly I did think of it as a little bothersome but I didn't leave her alone to go play and wiped down Suguha's sweat changing the washcloth on her forehead. When I did that Suguha suddenly said that she wanted to drink some ginger tea.

I had reluctantly called my mother and asked for the recipe. It just needed ginger extract and honey to be dissolved in hot water. A procedure more simple even than cooking in Aincrad if done carelessly, but to me who had never even dabbled in cooking it was extremely difficult. After carrying the ginger tea made while getting my own fingers grated when I used the grater, to Suguha's bedside that girl who's usually full of spiteful language, looked up to me with a meek face that had a grateful smile on it.

Flashback end

Without any warning Kirito suddenly collapsed as his legs gave out with both hands landing on Agatha's bed. He gripped the white sheets tight as he began sobbing.

"What's the matter onii-chan?" Hearing that voice a soft palm nervously touched Kirito's cheek. That hand soon started stroking his hair awkwardly. Over and over again. Until he stopped crying that small hand never stopped moving. Leafa and Silica for their part couldn't stop crying either as they held each other for support and watched what was occurring in front of them.

While this was going on the mother set a few items out on the table. First a long sword in a red scabbard known as the Anneal Sword next was a single edged curved long sword known as a Scimitar and lastly was an eighteen inch long dagger known as the Assassin's blade. "Thank you again for all of your help." The mother said when Kirito stood up wiping his eyes. With that the quest log window showed that the quest was now complete showing the tally of the exp and Col they earned along with the extra items they received on top of the new weapons.

Though it was unnecessary Kirito bade the mother and Agatha goodbye as they tried to leave.

The NPC on the other hand insisted that they stay the night as part of the repayment for helping her daughter.

After caving in and settling in for the night Kirito stood at the window looking out toward the sky. "Sugu. I mean Leafa, Silica I think I understand why Kayaba made this world." Kirito began looking up at the virtual stars shown above. "He wanted to make an alternate world that wasn't just played but lived."

The pair of girls came over to the window and following his gaze gasped. "Amazing." The pair said in sync as they took in the realism that was over their heads.

"Yes it is." Kirito answered smiling.

OOooOOooOO