Lily groaned as an obnoxious ring forced its way to her ears. Nobody else in all of Aincrad would hear the noise, she knew, but after only a few days the alarm had quickly become the sound of her nightmares. She loved mornings; it was waking up that caused her to plead for just five more minutes of peace. But alas, the girl forced herself awake and gently slid from the bed, not wanting to rouse her sister in the process. She had three and a half hours… Had she gotten enough sleep? Likely not, but if she factored in the amount of time it would take to find a hunting spot as well as time to return, she likely had only two and a half hours to train alone. It was dangerous, but she had been doing it nearly every morning since their third day and after the encounter of the night prior, she couldn't let herself fall into a position where her sister may actually get hurt; after all, Rose was the pride of the family.
It was nearly eight when she began – the sun was blaring from the east as wolves and boars alike shattered into crystalline pixels. It was a bittersweet kind of beautiful; in part, it was an almost constant reminder that this was a game that had trapped them – the sound was cold and distant, yet touching how it could simultaneously be so personal. Things in this world did not die away or deteriorate: they simply were or were not compiled by codes and scripts. Furthermore, within minutes, they would typically return anew with no recollection of who had destroyed them in a former life.
She had to be stronger. She had to be faster. The area was void of other players so early, Tolbana was a sleepy town and nobody was ready to march into that tower and find out how difficult the boss would actually be. Nothing existed save for the monster before her and the experience it would yield.
"What are you doing out here so early?" Came a formidable, familiar voice.
Lily snapped from her focus for just a moment and the activated skill she was using disappeared in a flash as a boar leapt at her and threw her to the ground. After regaining her senses, the girl threw it onto its back beside her and she scrambled to her feet in a single fluid motion, pulling a knife from her belt and instantly throwing it with a powerful golden glow. The beast let out a squeal as rigor mortis instantaneously set in followed by a shatter. Her face was red and her brow was furrowed as she turned to Bara.
"What were you thinking? That was extremely rude," She pointed out, dodging his initial question. "You couldn't wait until I was done?"
"Sorry, sheesh… I didn't think it would be a huge issue – you take care of them so quickly it was hard to catch you between mobs. You were attacking one before you had even finished with the final blow to the last. I find it a little rude myself that you're so blunt with a stranger who was only trying to help you yesterday," He replied, putting his hands up in defense.
"I know, I'm sorry and I am grateful for your help. I just zone out when I train… It's hard to explain. But, why are you up? You were going to get us at eleven, right? It's only ten… I figured I would head back in about fifteen or twenty minutes… How'd you even find me?"
"Well, I wasn't looking for you. I was coming out for my own session – my other hunting spot dried up, and I didn't say I was waking up at eleven… Hey, where's Hana?"
"Asleep. I wanted to let her rest and I've never been big on sleeping; going to bed only means waking up anyway. Well, this is my place, so I guess you'll need to find yourself another," She said coldly before swiping her hand and scrolling through her menu. She hadn't yet spent her attribute points for her last level up and she figured now was as good a time as any.
"What happened? Did I say something..? I mean, yesterday you were-"
"Tired and afraid… and again, I'm thankful that you came to help, but I'm sorry, I'm just a generally focused person… Let's just get back to town now – not going to get much else done and we've got some time before Hana wakes up. I hear Tolbana has one of the best restaurants on this floor, though I skipped a few of the towns… I can pay for a meal, seeing as you paid for most of the rooms last night. Deal?" She proposed, slashing an 'X' through the air before sliding her blade back into the sheath at her hip.
Bara nodded, raising an eyebrow, "Alright. As long as you're not going to cut me off mid-conversation again." The young man gave a small laugh, looking toward the path back to the town.
Lily was less than amused, rolling her eyes; when Rose was absent and Lily was out in the field, there was almost no joking for her. She took after the heavily armoured male, a hand resting on the hilt of her blade until they stepped back inside of a safe zone. She was quickly in her menu and, as they walked, her armour flashed as different clothing materialized in its place; a maroon jacket over a white shirt were coupled with a pair of jeans and combat-style boots. She kept her appearance plain, but wanted to be comfortable.
Bara clearly had no desire to keep his bulky protection on any longer as he shifted into a plain black long coat with jeans and a crimson t-shirt. His long blade remained on his back over the jacket. He pushed a hand through his white hair, letting out a light sigh, "It is way too early…"
"It's past ten, Bara, how is that too early?"
"I'm more of a two in the afternoon kind of guy…" He replied with a wave of his hand, turning to look at her.
"You're going to have a hard time around me then," Lily said with a small, teasing smirk. "I'm an early-riser, big guy," She pointed out, pushing her hands into the pockets of her jacket, lightening up as a sense of security fell over her.
They stepped into a restaurant around the large plaza of the town; a small joint with a sign overhead that would read The Oldstone Taverne; it had an openness about it with most of the dining tables resting in an outside area, as though it was created to be enjoyed for lunch. Despite the time, it was still slightly busy and several of the players were in their equipment, clearly preparing for the day's meeting about finally making an assault on the field boss. An NPC appeared and took their orders before Bara relaxed in his chair and rested his eyes on Lily.
"So… How do two girls like you and your sister end up in a place like Aincrad?" He asked, quirking an eyebrow at her.
Lily scowled slightly, her good mood broken a bit by his repeated rudeness. "That's a little bit personal… Don't tanks usually have a party or something..? I mean, you were hunting last night and you didn't have anybody with you today."
"You call me impolite… But yeah, typically somebody like me will have a group, but my friends couldn't get a copy of the game themselves… I figured I could find a guild for myself as the floors go on. I didn't see all of this coming…" He muttered with a shrug. The artificial waiter returned with their orders and placed them on the table; the restaurants were always so quick to deliver food.
"I see… We'll cope, I'm sure of it…" She said, beginning to pick at her meal; they were right, this had been the best food she found since being trapped in Sword Art Online. "So, what's this about a meeting today? What is it about?"
"Well, they reached the field boss just yesterday… Apparently the tower is going to be about twenty floors and can only be unlocked by taking him down. I think it's a primate sort of monster… It was during the beta test, anyway. Fairly large, but we'll have more than enough to take him down; It wasn't a difficult one during the beta. Hopefully it won't take long to get to the boss room and we can move on… This first floor will be the hardest," He said thoughtfully, digging into his food as he finished.
The discussion began to fade as the two enjoyed their meal, checked the clock, and headed back to the hotel in order to wake up Rose. She didn't fight very hard as she scrambled from the bed and quickly prepared for going out, a little bit flustered that she had been able to sleep for so long. It gave Lily a small smile that she had been able to let her sister get all the sleep she needed so desperately.