"There is no escape from this world," the creator of Sword Art Online said in his quiet yet reverberating voice. Shirou felt his grip tighten around the mirror, fear and horror shrouding his features. His right foot slowly moved back as though he was wished to turn and run but the hand gripping his arm forced him to stay in place.
"Shirou-kun," Sakura muttered, her fear evident in her voice. Kayaba looked down on the Town of Beginnings, his face covered by the shadow of his cowl, and began speaking again. But Shirou barely listened, he circled his hands around Sakura and hugged her close to her chest as a little girl nearby suddenly screamed.
Everybody began running in different directions, their bodies slamming into the two unmoving statues. Even as Sakura silently tighten her fingers around the color of his shirt, the crisp feel of fabric moving and the sensation of touch rippling through his body, Shirou suddenly realised a horrifying truth. In this world, no matter the contrary, was undoubtedly real.
"Ah...damn," Shirou grimaced as he cut his finger. The red pixelized trail was unwelcome sight for Shirou as he dropped a low-level healing salve on it. Sighing to himself he dropped his tools on his desk as he stared at the braces in front of him.
They were a custom order from somebody that was starting to become a regular sight in his shop. Arturia, whose Avatar name was apparently Saber, seemed to enjoy coming over to his shop with whatever damage her armor sustained. She had apparently been part of a group of Clearers trying to take out a boss mob and her arms had taken the brunt of a brutal attack. Shirou slightly wondered about the fight but quickly, forcibly even, ripped that thought away as he screwed in a piece into one of the armor's joints.
He had to admit, like most of her items, Arturia's armor was of a very high quality. He silently wondered just how she had come to acquire it but had thought better of asking her about it. Her personal life was something he had no part of.
After a few more minutes of tinkering he finished fixing the piece of armor and hung it up on a rack in his workshop. This part of his shop was a little bit cramped with unfinished armor pieces and tools. Unlike the front of the shop, it was severely less organized. Barrels full of metal pieces took up most of the space, with the shelves lining the walls full of ingots smelted from old armors or ore that Shirou had mined. The floor was cluttered with boots ranging from leather to more exotic metals.
Shirou scratched the back of his head as the thought of cleaning it all up left a bitter taste in his mouth. He enjoyed cleaning, really he did, but a lot of this stuff was really heavy. He sighed and clipped his own piece of armor, a light speed base chest plate made up of segmented pieces with medium boots and braces. He shifted his back, slowly getting used to wearing it again, before exiting his shop with a hand to his chin.
"I'll need to buy some iron ingots, maybe some copper and bronze while I'm at it. Could do with a few more heavy metal though, a speed base one wouldn't be too bad to have handy either," Shirou muttered as he walked down the streets of Ridien, some people recognising him and waving in greeting. He returned their gestures, recalling each of their names as he passed.
Ridien was one of the main towns in level 26, it was a major area of trade and shopping, with copious amounts of rare metals lying about on the level surface. It wasn't where Shirou had his start as a blacksmith and craftsmen but it was a nice place to settle down.
He entered one of the taverns, which Ridien seemed to have a surplus supply of, on the third street from where his shop was located in. Ridien town was blessed by the powers that be with even and well designed cobblestone roads. Several pentagon-like platforms were built into corners and on the road proper to provide a place to sit as well as a place for trees and flowers to grow. The flowers were surely unlike anything Shirou had seen as they were of dazzling different colors, had too many petals to be normal and seem to be in bloom twenty times a year.
Shirou thought that it was a pretty good place to live in. It certainly felt like a good place. He pushed those thoughts aside as his feet thumped against hard oak wood and smiled when he caught his friend Ryuu, whose real name was Issei, sitting carefully down on his chair.
"Hey Ryu," Shirou greeted his friend who slid an extra cup to him as he took a seat down.
"Hey Shirou," Ryu grinned, "So how's the shop?" Shirou grimaced as he rolled his sleeves back, there was no way for one to get intoxicated in SAO but you can get pretty damn close and while Shirou didn't make a habit of it, he quite enjoyed spending time with his friend like this.
"Had another troublesome one," Shirou said tiredly. While he had no qualms with fixing Arturia's gear, they really placed a toll on his supplies.
"Oh? What kind of stats are we talking about here?" Issei whispered conspiratorially as he leaned in close.
Shirou grinned but shook his head, "You know the blacksmiths code." It was an unspoken agreement between any honorable and fair blacksmith that they wouldn't divulge the stats of someone's equipment to third parties. It would be a dishonor against their profession.
Issei crossed his arms as he leaned back against his chair. He tucked his chin close to his chest and made a small sigh, though Shirou could see his playful smile. "Now what is the point of a tavern if we weren't sharing confidential information." Issei said in faux irritation.
Their conversation continued like normal after that, their table slowly filling with cups as they ordered refills. Swordsman entered the tavern in regular intervals, talking animatedly with their own companions and the two laughing friend entertained ideas of being like them. While Shirou was a blacksmith, Issei was a member of the Patrol Squad. It was a guild that dedicated itself to maintaining the peace and dealing with PK addicts. Issei had said he enjoyed the work but more than once throughout their night he started yelling angrily about a PK guild named Laughing Coffin.
Shirou listened intently to his friend and felt more and more revolted with what he heard. "Dash and Justice were severely drained because of them, their health was close to death point when they hauled themselves into the station," Issei shook his head as he downed another cup.
"Why not call the Knights of Blood? They've been gaining popularity lately as they helped lead the 26th floor boss clearing." Shirou sipped his drink, grimaced, and set it down. It seemed he had enough for one night.
"What makes you think they aren't?" Issei said as he slammed his cup on the table, "They've been having just as much trouble as us!" Issei shook his head and dropped a set of coins onto the table.
"That's my share for the night," Issei said, his mouth set into a foul line.
"Right," Shirou gave a toothy half smile as he dropped extra and tossed some of Issei's coin back at him. Issei hummed quietly but nodded in thanks as he stood up.
"Well, I don't know about you but this dragon feels like riding to another battle," Shirou thumbed his chest and had his arm on his hip as he assumed a dashing pose. Shirou waved him away as he stood up but just as he rose to his feet he felt an overbearing presence behind him that set him on his seat without his consent.
"Saka?" Issei yelped in surprise. Shirou frowned and glanced to his left to see a young girl standing there with her arms crossed over her chest. She had a red long-sleeved shirt with a white vest over her body that had a cape flowing down her right arm. A long skirt reaching down below her knees covered her lower half as knee high socks covered whatever skin remaining. The skirt was white with red on its borders while the socks were black that topped off to heels. Her long bouncy black hair was tied into twin-tails and there was a cold expression on her face.
"Ryuu," Saka greeted, "I am here for a report on Laughing Coffin as you are the main Patrolmen in charge of the investigation, aren't you?" She said, a look of disdain as she stared at the line of cups on the table. It was clear that she did not approve of their activities.
"This late?" Issei exclaimed. Shirou glanced at his timer and saw it click to ten o'clock.
Saka frowned and beckoned an imposing figure behind her forward, "Archer here has been placed specifically under my command in preparation to eliminate Laughing Coffin. It's best if he receives all the information he needs." Shirou took note of the Knights of Blood insignia on Archer's person.
Issei looked slightly dismayed but nonetheless nodded his head as he followed Saka out of the tavern. Archer following closely behind as he stared at Shirou for a little while.
Shirou watched them go, scratching his head as he tried to comprehend what happen. He rose to his feet with a very confused expression, waving away the bar maiden npc as he dragged himself out of the tavern.
"Well that was interesting," Shirou muttered. A familiar presence entered his private distan bubble and he glanced down at finely etched features.
"Emiya Shirou," Arturia greeted. She got around the pesky name thing by just saying his full name all the time. He didn't mind, she still didn't know that it was his actual full name and while he felt flattered she gave him her real name, she insisted it was merely an honorable formality that he didn't need to take part in.
"Saber," Shirou greeted, wary of accidentally saying her name public. He grabbed his collar and pulled, not liking how close she was to him in front of a tavern.
"Are my braces completed? I stopped by the shop earlier today only to see that it was close," Arturia explained.
"Yea they are and it's a weekend, the shop closes early on a weekend." Arturia frowned, obviously unaware of this little fact.
"That does not seem very wise. Would business not be greater at the end of week as opposed to the week itself?" Arturia asked. Shirou had to hid a chuckle as he rested his hands on his hips.
"Maybe it's that way in the real world but here everyone goes about things differently, weekends is a general holiday for us shopkeepers as players would be busy completing quests or going on mini-adventures to finish off their weeks before going back to Clearing duty." Arturia seemed to hum in contemplation as she lowered her head.
Shirou stared at her petite hands that gripped the hilt of Excalibur. The weapon was still sheathed in Avalon to hide it from players wanting to steal it. The sword had some unique properties, leading it to be capable of being robbed from a person if they're not careful. Though it'd be useless to them if they didn't have the strength points.
"You make points I had not considered," Arturia admitted, and again Shirou felt uncomfortable with her formal speech, "I will endeavor to be more mindful of my words for future discussions." Shirou shook his head and started off towards his shop, Arturia following close behind.
"It's really alright," Shirou insisted however Arturia ignored him as she entered his shop. She left the door open for him and after he passed she closed the door and flipped the store sign, which she flipped again when she remembered it was already set to close.
"You seem jittery," Shirou pointed out as he watched Arturia. She seemed more frantic in her movements, her shoulders shaking in some unseen anxiety as they traveled through Ridien.
"I am fine, you need not worry. I do however have a subject I wish to speak to you after I receive my braces," Arturia said calmly. Shirou scratched his chin but shrugged and disappeared into his workshop to fetch her braces.
They were still on the top of his private rack which he used for special armor cases and he pulled it out with a few cursory glances to check it's stats. Satisfied he returned to the front to present the piece of armor.
Arturia took it, eyeing it under the light as her thin eyebrows bent downwards in concentration. She equipped it after a brief nod and Shirou saw her smile at him, a small one but one Shirou oddly enjoyed seeing. It made her shine brighter than even Aincrad's sun. "It is of the high quality work that I have come to expect of you," she praised.
Shirou felt his cheeks color in abashed embarrassment and he quickly waved it away by leaning against the front desk and crossing his arms. "It's nothing, I'm just happy to help."
Arturia nodded and then a brief silence passed by. Her shoulders were shaking pretty obviously know and her fingers that held Excalibur's hilt were oddly twiddling each other. Shirou sat and waited patiently, since it was Arturia he was sure she was going to ask him of something she did not wish to burden him with.
"Emiya Shirou," she used his full name again, "I have been needing to replace my boots for quite some time," She glanced at Shirou to make sure he was listening before continuing, "and there is a quest on level 30 that is rumored to reward players with a special type of boots that take the endurance and durability of the player's previous set in addition to a speed bonus. An armor type like that would be very useful for me, however it is a two-person only quest and is apparently very difficult as only one other pair has accomplished it."
Shirou suddenly understood where Arturia was getting at and couldn't help but scratch the back of his neck from hearing that. It had been a while since he had been on a quest with someone, a very long while. He wasn't sure if he was up to it but his father had never taught him the principles to say no to a person who needed help.
But deep inside him he felt his stomach twists itself into a painful knot as he opened his lips to agree. "No, I wouldn't mind," Shirou said and he wouldn't lie when he said forced the politeness in his voice.
Arturia tilted her head but nodded gratefully as her eyes shined in gratitude. "Then we leave now to level 33."
"Eh?! Now!" Arturia reached forward and grabbed his arm, dragging him out of the shop as he tried to resist her with his heels dug deep in the ground. Of course no matter what he did he probably only felt like a really light paperweight in comparison to her monstrous strength.
"Yes now," Arturia said, apparently oblivious to his struggling, "we have much to do after all."
just a small addition I wrote in conjuntion with the first one. I really don't think I'll continue this because I've found out romance isn't something that comes natural to me. However if you wish to adopt it I ask that you notify me since I would really like to read it. Well, that's it soooo...Tata~