Talking

Thinking

Thanks to Panthour, RomanceDagger, and Azahra for their reviews.

I don't own SAO, but you knew that already. I also don't own the tiny line of Lord of the Rings I put in the story.

Chapter VIII: The Front Lines

Even though I had agreed to continue on the front lines, I still wanted to buy a home. I was getting kind of sick of staying in random inns for two years straight. So one day, when Lisbeth and I were both sick of murdering bugbears, I went off house hunting. Algade was the place I'd already settled on when I first brought up the issue, mostly since I already had a lot of friends that lived there. Lisbeth insisted that I come live in her shop on the 48th floor, but it was already pretty cramped and I didn't want to impose. I got a glare for refusing, but nothing else came out of it. It scared me more when she stayed quiet instead of arguing. It made me think that she had something planned.

I locked the door on my week old house. It was located in the upper district of Algade, away from a lot of the dirtier slums there. I didn't want to have to deal with some of the more irritating NPCs (like the ones that could actually steal your Col and items) and the houses here were a lot nicer if a bit pricey. Mine had one big bedroom with a queen sized bed and a bathroom for some reason. It wasn't like you could even use a bathroom in SAO. I guessed it was for looks, though everything was functional, bath and all. I would have to try it at some point. The place also had a kitchen and a small living room, but I wasn't sure what I'd ever use the kitchen for. My cooking skill had never even been look at, since I'd been focused on survival from the start of SAO.

I heard a knock.

I stumbled out of my bedroom, only half-dressed in my leather armor. I was just about to hit the sack after all. I wondered who would be calling so late. I opened the door to see Klein standing there about to knock again

"Don't you think its a bit late?" I grumbled.

"Sorry." Klein smiled apologetically.

"What's up?" I yawned.

"I know you've said no a thousand times." Klein said, a pleading look on his face "But I'm gonna ask again. Would you join Fūrinkazan?"

I stood there for a long while looking at Klein before sighing and opening my mouth, "You k-know what. Sure. I'd love to join you guys."

"Wha? Really? Great!" Klein's grin grew wider than I'd ever seen before, "I'll send you an invite when I get back to the headquarters."

"So humor me," I sat down on my front step, the cold stone slightly uncomfortable since I was only wearing boxers, "Why ask again?"

Klein's face turned even more tired than it had last week, "I saw another player die again last week. That was when I realized again anyone of my friends could die at any time if they're on the front lines. It'd be good for you and the rest of the guild if we all partied together. I don't want anyone else to die if I can't help it."

"R-Right." I replied, remembering the deaths I had seen in my time in SAO. Lisbeth was almost one of them.

"You know," Klein looked up at the sky, "I feel pretty fortunate though. SAO's claimed almost 4000 people already and we're just now exploring the 74th floor."

"Mhmm." I joined him in staring at the stars, "Despite everything I feel fortunate for meeting you guys. Never had better friends in my entire life. It's g-gonna suck when I wake up in America again."

"Maybe you could convince your parents to move to Japan." Klein laughed, "It's quite nice over here this time of year."

We both began laughing uproariously at his stupid joke. I wasn't even sure why at the time. It was amazing how much had changed. I never would have chosen to willingly join a group of people just to talk or joke with them before SAO.

"Guess I can't be too angry with Kayaba."I got to my feet and brushed off my butt, "Hey Klein can Lis-?"

"I already asked Lisbeth to join before coming to ask you." Klein smirked at me, "She said she would if you did."

Something beeped in my head making me jump.

Klein answered me before I could even ask, "I sent a direct message to you that'll be on your Nerve Gear when you get out. It's the address of Agil's store in the real world. That way if you can make it over to Japan you'll know where to find me and the guild, as well as the rest of your friends in SAO. We're planning a party as soon as we can after SAO is cleared."

"Thanks Klein. For everything."

"Don't mention it." the man clapped me on the shoulder and headed down the street.

People really liked knocking at my door when I was trying to get some rest. This time it was Lisbeth. She was carrying a giant storage bag for some reason. What was she carrying that her massive weight capacity couldn't handle?

I yawned, "What is it Liz?"

"I've decided I want to move in with you."

"What." I stared at her blankly. I already said no her about staying at her place. I KNEW she had something up her sleeve

"I already sold my house/shop down on the 48th floor," Lisbeth brushed past me, "And I finalized a deal on a small blacksmiths near here."

"Fine." Lisbeth brightened at my assent, "But only till you can get your own place."

"Awwwwww." She engaged puppy dog eyes mode, "Why not?"

"B-because," I felt a blush creeping up into my cheeks, damn her for being cute, "It just doesn't feel proper."

"Hmmm..." Lisbeth tapped her chin, before she started grinning evilily

"W-what?" I took a step back from my girlfriend, who took a step forward in return.

"If you let me stay~" She kept coming closer and I kept backing up until I hit the counter behind me, "I'll make sure to do this daily~"

She wrapped her arms around the back of my neck and pulled me into a deep kiss. Way deeper than she had ever pulled me into in the past. Oh was that her tongue? Oh wow. I was suddenly very okay with her staying in my new house.

The very next day Lisbeth and I met up with the rest of Fūrinkazan. Together with them we make a complete party of eight people. It'd been about a month or so since the incident with Laughing Coffin and Lisbeth was in the low 80s, perfect for joining up with us on the front lines. She wasn't as high of a level as she could've been, but her high health and strength were perfect for party play. We immediately paired off into switch pairs, and headed off into the snow-covered forest. Lisbeth was with me, and clanked somewhat loudly behind me with her heavy armor that was a sort of metal plate that covered portions of her normal dress and apron. In her right hand, she wielded a massive mace that I wondered if my strength stat would even allow me to pick up.

"Meteor Crush!" Lisbeth switched with me and smashed her now flaming mace into a Lizardman Warrior's skull, sending it crashing into the ground. It let out a brief cry of pain before exploding into crystals and dissolving into nothing.

"Nice." I high fived her. That was the last Lizardman Warrior in the area. Grinding with a big group was definitely more efficient at these higher floors. I wasn't able to move nearly as fast, but it was a lot less taxing and dangerous. Especially with the crazy patterns the enemies were starting to exhibit. I would have loved it if my life wasn't on the line.

"Whew," Lisbeth wiped sweat off of her brow, before voicing my exact thoughts, "These enemies are so much more complicated than those bugbears we grinded off for weeks."

"Yeah. It makes sense from a game standpoint. The game's supposed to get harder as we climb higher." I followed after Klein who was waving at me and Lisbeth to follow him. We were going back to a safe area to rest. Grinding in cycles with rest every few cycles was safe and efficient.

I handed Lisbeth a water bottle ,sat down on a large rock in the safe area, and wrapped my hooded cloak around me. Floor 74 was cold, even more so than the earlier snowy floors. I wondered briefly if it was due to us being so high in the floating "castle" of Aincrad. I took a sip of the water, enjoying the taste and the surge of energy from the water lessening my fatigue. It was mineral water from a spring on floor 56, and was very good for lowering the fatigue that built up while grinding. The good taste was never a bad thing either.

I looked up to the sun to see it setting. Darn. Guess we weren't going to map as much of the floor as Klein wanted to today. That's fine I suppose. Despite my motivation to clear the game, there was still a long way to go, and no point in risking lives to go faster.

"Alright guys." Klein stretched, "Time to head back to headquarters."

Everyone activated their teleport crystals and headed to the 50th floor where Fūrinkazan's headquarters were located. It seemed like almost everyone I was acquainted with lived there. That was the reason I picked the 50th floor as my home. The only exceptions were Asuna and Argo, though to be honest I never knew where Argo was. She had stopped living in her old house and just sort of wandered collecting information and selling it.

I took my off armor, leaving myself in a pair of shorts and a loose long-sleeve shirt and flopped down in a chair at the guild's table. Klein quickly distributed the loot for the day and everyone went on their everyday routine. That's probably one of the things I loved most. Nobody in the guild complained about the loot distribution. They never complained because they implicitly trusted Klein to be fair, which he was. Three of the guild members stayed behind to play chess and talk for a while, but Lisbeth and I headed back to my home. It had been a long day, and I was itching to sit in front of my fireplace in that cushy armchair I bought and read a book.

The books I found were amazing because they were actual books from the real world. I had found the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy which was an amazing classic. I half wondered how much Kayaba had to pay for the rights, or if he just stole it. Either way I wasn't complaining.

That was one of the things I had somehow just now discovered. SAO had bookstores with real well written novels to buy. I immediately bought an entire armful and had carried them back to my place a few days ago. I was working through them in my free time after grinding sessions. The activity was something that felt weirdly... normal compared to the usual routine. I used to do it all the time back home.

"So whatcha reading this time?" Lisbeth squeezed into the armchair next to me, though she ended up more on my lap than anything. It wasn't really designed for two people.

I wrapped an arm around her and kept on reading, "Lord of the Rings. It's a fantasy novel from the 1900s written by J.R.R. Tolkien. It's really famous and it's still popular to this day."

"What's it about?"

"Well..." I grinned, "The abridged version is that a bunch of midgets save the world."

"And the actual plot?" Lisbeth rolled her eyes.

"Well I could read it out loud to you if you want." I replied, "I haven't gotten far."

"Okay." Lisbeth laid her head on my shoulder, the tips of her hair tickling my nose, "I wouldn't mind."

"When Mr. Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced that he would shortly..." I began reading the hefty book.

I was so engrossed in the book, I didn't notice Lisbeth softly snoring until she probably had been for quite some time. Oh well. I was going to have to catch her up on the book over dinner tomorrow or something. I ran my fingers through her pink hair, briefly wondering what color her hair was in real life.

"Guess I'll find out when I make it over to Japan or if we video chat at some point." I wiggled out from under her, picked up the Japanese girl, walked into the bedroom, and gently laid her in the bed before slipping into the sheets on the other side.

"I just realized that if the days kept going on like this I wouldn't mind." I mumbled to myself, "Wonder if that's what Kayaba was aiming for. Creating a virtual environment that people would learn to accept as a sort of home. I can't think like that though, I've got to keep moving forward with Lisbeth, Klein, and the rest of Fūrinkazan to clear the game."

I think the roughest part of writing Aurain lately is establishing his personality past being quiet and shy now that he's slowly moving away from that. I'm trying to write him as kind, humble, and with a slight hero complex due to the kindness more than anything. Also this chapter was really different from how I usually write. I'm not entirely sure why it turned out this way. Not to mention I finished two chapters in one day. Weird. I think I'll try to get one chapter up a day for the rest of this week. On one last side note, I think some of you will like the next chapter. It happens to be a flashback of when Lisbeth and Aurain meet.

-Forscythe