Thanks to the three people that reviewed. In response to the one anon, I'm not gonna take your word on anything because you anonymously reviewed. This is especially so when you get details on my story a little confused right after reading it.
I don't own SAO. That's pretty much all I'm gonna say. It's like 3 am.
Chapter III: Moving Forward
It's been around a full year or so now since I met up with Klein and his guild. I think it's January? Since then the front lines have moved forward at a staggering pace. Just last week, I teamed up with a group of soloers and a couple of the top-tier guilds to clear out floor fifty's boss. Which was a special piece of hell when it came to the usual strength of bosses. Of course that's not my usual habit. Since that unfortunate incident in the woods, when I'm not hanging with Klein and his guild, I'm killing mobs or sleeping. I've reached level 67, which is far and above what the game requires at this point. Most players were around 55-60. I wouldn't even say my obsessive grinding was in fear of the monsters. I'm still haunted by the faceless PKer that tried to end my life. The bastard lives in my nightmares.
"Hey Argo!" I tapped the side of the door that led into a humble little cottage on the outskirts of floor twenty-eight's main city, "Are you home!"
Argo "The Rat" was the go to for any sort of information. I wasn't entirely sure how, but the girl managed to know just about everything in Aincrad. Klein had pointed me to her a month or so back when I had wanted some information on my gibberish weapon. I didn't actually TELL him that's what I was looking for, just that I needed to some information nobody else could tell me. Unfortunately Argo wasn't able to help me that time, but I hoped she'd have the information I needed this time.
"Is that you Au-bou!?" I could barely hear a voice reply from inside, "I'll be right up!"
True to her word, Argo popped her whiskered face out the door in less than a minute and beckoned me inside. She sat me down at a table and shoved a cup of hot tea into my hands.
"So what do you need this time?" Argo planted herself in a chair across to me. "Hopefully its something I actually KNOW this time so we don't waste each others time like last time."
"I c-could just be here socially." my usual nervousness around other people kicked in as swift as usual, despite knowing the girl fairly well. Klein teases me about it mercilessly sometimes.
"I doubt that." Argo put her head on clasped hands and looked me in the eyes, "Since when do you make social calls with anyone besides Klein, Aurain the Shadow."
Ah yes, the moniker people had taken to giving me the last few months. Yet another thing born out of my paranoia. After the run in with that PKer, I had trained all the related stealth skills that I could. Hence the title "shadow" since that's what I seemed to players when I was actively grinding outside towns.
"I want to know about the rumors of a PKer guild forming." I took a sip of the hot tea. It had a bit of an orange flavor to it. Reminded me of tea my grandma used to make for me.
"Laughing Coffin?" Argo swished her own tea around in its cup. "I don't even know if they really exist, and I don't know much else other than the fact that their leader carries a butcher knife looking sword."
I knew I flinched a bit at that. That particular detail was far too coincidental.
"Is that it?" I drained the cup of tea, relishing the warm feeling inside my belly while it lasted. January was a hell of a cold month in SAO.
"Well maybe you need to stop asking such obscure things." Argo was pouting at this point, "I never have trouble getting info for anyone besides you! First that screwed up item, now some rabbit hole rumors of a guild made to basically murder other players!"
"Sorry sorry." I waved my hands in front of my face apologetically. "I'll pay you, and be on my way.
"Hold on a second." Argo's voice took on a strangely serious tone I didn't usually hear from her. "You're planning on trying to find Laughing Coffin aren't you?"
"I-I-I..." I heard my stutter kicking in worse than ever. It'd be nice if I could lie properly without turning into a blubbering mess.
"Just be careful Aurain..." Argo mumbled softly, "I won't try to stop you, despite how shy you act; I know you won't stop once you get behind something."
"Argo... I uh, " I felt myself tongue-tied at her words
"Anyways!" Argo slapped me on the back, laughing nervously, "How about for payment you just equip that strange item you showed me a while back. I've been dying to know what it is!"
"Ehhhh...!" I stared at her like she was crazy, "What if it harms me!?"
"Just do it," Argo gave me a deadpan look that I had learned in my time in SAO to not ignore from women. It never ended well. Especially not with Lizbeth. Never say no to that girl.
"Fine fine..." I pulled up my inventory and scrolled down to the gibberish weapon that had been taunting me for ages.
With a trembling finger, I quickly tapped the equip button. To my surprise the letters blurred, before forming into actual coherent words.
"Battle Claws?" I stared down at the unfamiliar things on my arms. They were essentially gauntlets with 4 claw like blades coming off of it, "I didn't really see this one coming."
"Check your skill menu." Argo looked positively fascinated by the development, "Didn't you say there was a skill garbled in the same manner?"
"Er yeah," I swapped to my skill menu and saw a skill simply named Claws. The only attack skill I could use right now was something called 'Reave' ,"H-hey Argo?"
"Hmm?" the girl in question was currently examining my claw up and down, completely unnerving me.
"D-do you mind not giving this information away to anyone?" I unequipped the claws, much to Argo's disappointment if the frown on her face was anything to go by, "You know how players are. I'd be h-harrased day and night."
"Well... I guess." Argo smirked up at me before standing to her feet and tending to some pot on her stove, "But only because you're so cute when you're nervous."
I felt heat immediately rise to my cheeks. What kind of reason is that!? Muttering obscenities about crazy girls with rat whiskers painted on their faces, I rushed out the door, banging my knee on the door frame in my rush.
I faced down a level thirty Savage Bear with my new claws equipped. This was a fairly obscure part of floor 28 so I wasn't worried about anyone spying on me. This bear was practically a mini boss anyways. My knees were shaking despite my vastly superior level. I had no idea how these stupid things worked.
The bear charged me. I selected the 'Reave' skill in my head and felt the system take over my movements. I rushed forward to meet the bear, my arms tucked tightly at my side. The bear opened its mouth and lunged, intent on biting my head off. I ducked right under its jaws, and tore the front of its chest right open. The bear's hp shot down like rocket. Not really surprising since this was such a low floor for my level
"Holy..." I gave the claws a once over. I had out sped that bear by a massive margin, "I don't remember being that fast."
I flipped into my item screen and pulled up the weapon's item description. I let out a gasp when I read out the special effect on it. It was capable of quadrupling my already high speed. Not to mention according to the description its stats rose along with my levels. Of course if that was the case, what was that book that Kayaba gave me supposed to be used for? I originally thought it was a blacksmithing manual for making more of this claw weapon back when I didn't know what the weapon was.
I summoned the item and question and let it fall into my hands with a thump. Just like before, the words seemed to shift and twist before my eyes before they finally became legible.
'Beta Weapon: Experimental Battle Claws' was what the newly translated cover read. I pulled open the cover, finding blocks of information. None of it was particularly useful from what I could see, just a list of the skills useable be the weapons, as well as wealth of information about the weapon's development process and eventual trashing. Evidently the coding was still in the game though, since Kayaba was able to give it to me.
"Why would he give me this?" I flipped through the pages, my mind working furiously, "This is just a bunch of useless documentation..."
After a good ten minutes, I sighed in defeat and flopped to the ground sighing deeply. What is it with megalomaniacs and cryptic plans? It'd be nice if Kayaba didn't match up with every deranged villain I'd read about in my comic books.
"Hey what book is that?"
My mind went into red-alert mode, and I instantly scrambled to my feet and faced the...pink haired girl that I had seen a weird amount of lately. Not really sure why, I don't really fancy many of my qualities appealing to many girls, even for just being their friend. Especially Japanese girls, considering I'm a foreigner and all.
"H-hi Lisbeth," I could feel my heart slowly calming down, "Could you P-PLEASE try not to sneak up on me like that. My stealth skills don't alert me when you're there, since I added an exception for you on and everyone else on my friends list."
"S-sorry," Her face pinked slightly, "I saw you leaving town and decided to follow. I was curious since you wouldn't normally waste your time on such a low floor like this one."
"A-ah," I scratched the back of my head, "Apology accepted. S-Sorry for shouting."
"Could you answer my question?" the blacksmith poked me in the chest, obviously not missing my poor attempt to hide the book behind my back.
"I-I'd rather not," My nervousness grew as the girl pressed herself closer to me; the anger on her face getting more and more obvious.
"Tell. Me. Now." Lisbeth jabbed her finger into my chest at each word, "It's just a book and I'm curious!"
How close of a friend could I consider Lisbeth? I'd seen the things players would do if someone had some sort of unfair advantage over them. I really felt for Klein's friend Kirito. Originally I got a bit mad over how coldly Kirito acted to Klein, but after Klein explained the situation, I felt like I understood. People saw Kirito as some sort of cheater that was only out for his own good. People might see me in the same way if it got out that I had unique skills no one else could acquire. Even if they didn't, I'd be pestered day and night for my 'methods' until they came to the same conclusion as they did for Kirito. While I didn't like mingling with large groups of people, I didn't want to be an outcast to everyone. Would Lisbeth betray me to the rest of Aincrad's populace? I didn't... I didn't think so...but still.
"Hey Aurain?" Lisbeth's voice was much softer than before, "Are you okay?"
I looked up to see that Lisbeth had taken a step back and was looking at me almost... worriedly?
"I'm sorry if I was being so aggressive about the book; I know how shy you are," Lisbeth refused to even look at me once our eyes met, "But mum says I should alwa-"
"I-I'll tell you," I replied, resigning myself to the fate. The girl wouldn't do anything to hurt me, I don't know what I was thinking. Besides dragging me everywhere and convincing me that she needed to be my personal blacksmith, Lisbeth had never had anything but nice things to say to me.
"R-really!" Her face lit up, "Does it have to do with something with the things on the ground next to you?
I had forgotten to put the claws away apparently, "It actually does... Why don't we go get a private room at the inn so we can talk about it in private?"
"If it's really that important you really don't have to," Lisbeth rubbed her feet on the ground, her face turning red. What's she getting all embarrassed for? Sheesh, I'll never understand girls.
"I-It's fine really." I muttered grabbing her hand and dragging her along, "N-Now you're making me feel embarrassed."
"So it's just a book with development stuff for those claws?" Lisbeth flipped through the pages of Kayaba's book again, "Seems kinda silly for the creator of SAO to hand it over to you."
I nodded, absent-mindedly checking my clock. I was supposed to meet Klein in about an hour on floor forty-eight. We were going to go over plans for leveling in floor fifty one's labyrinth. I just wasn't really sure how to tell Lisbeth I had to leave soon, the thought making me both strangely sad and nervous.
"Ah Lisbeth?"
"Yes?" the girl still had her nose stuck in the book. She was determined to find a recipe to blacksmith the claws, even though I had told her multiple times it didn't exist.
"I need to go meet up with a friend of mine on floor forty-eight to talk about some things. Want to come?"
Lisbeth's face lit up again and she nodded vigorously. Wait a second, why did I ask her to come with!? Oh well... guess it's time to introduce her to Klein. I can't just take it back now. Hopefully Klein will keep himself under control and won't ask her about her availability like he seems to do with every girl, no matter what their age.
"Yo Aurain!" Klein's voice sounded from behind me inside the cluttered tavern located in the main town on floor forty-eight. The city and the tavern were really nice, so many players used it to plan for their trips on the forty-ninth floor. People might be using floor fifty soon though. Its main city was really big and well maintained
"H-Hey Klein." my nervousness kicked in more from the stairs than talking to the older man, "Where's the rest of your guild?"
"Getting supplies." Klein looked over at Lisbeth, "Who's the girl? Is that the cute blacksmith that keeps accosting you all the time? I don't remember you telling me she had pink hair."
"I got it changed a few weeks back," Lisbeth fingered a stand of it, "And for your information, Aurain comes willingly. I do not accost him!
"My name's Klein. Single. 23. Would you lik- urk!" Klein made that special noise he makes when someone kicks him in the balls. Happens to him every time a member of Fūrinkazan does it. Even though it doesn't hurt.
"Uh what was that?" Lisbeth looked at the guild leader with a bewildered.
"Nothing. Nothing." Klein waved a wand in front of his face nervously. Seriously though, Klein needed to get himself a girlfriend when we get out of SAO. The way he asks every single girl he meets if they're available was really starting to annoy me. I wasn't expecting him to get revenge for the kick though.
"So is this your girlfriend then?" Klein smirked, his sentence sending heat blazing into my face, "You two do sure seem to hang around each other a lot."
"N-nothing like that!" I stammered back and ducked my head.
Klein continued to tease me and Lisbeth at every turn while we made small talk until his guild returned. I had contemplated joining them before, but my nature always told me it was for the best to stay solo. I didn't want anybody being hurt by my own inevitable mistakes someday. Or by that hooded man. No one would be hurt by him on my behalf.
Well there we go. I didn't expect it to take this long, but a small amount of writer's block and college make an oddly good combination.
-Forscythe