03

We're not so much leading a pack of adventurers going forward, as we are the first and (so far) only ones to dare step foot out of the starter city, when a wolf comes bounding down the road toward us.

"Kirito!" Asuna yells.

"I see it!" I reply. "Level 2, I think. Put it between us. Dodge, then come around!"

It's only a matter of who it'll choose to attack that matters next.

It chooses me, fortunately. Which somehow simultaneously relieves and terrifies me. Relief that it didn't go after the newbie, Asuna, and terror that this is no longer a game. This is for keeps.

I jump to my left and forward just a little, taking a slash that connects with the wolf's side as it passes, barely missing me with its claw. The wolf's wound is a shallow scar that exposes its wireframe internals and bleeds little floating drops of red, simulating spurting blood.

The wolf turns back, and so do I. But Asuna is charging it now, calling, "I got it!"

"No!" I yell. "It's still strong. Wait for—"

The wolf leaps at Asuna, claws out, fangs bare, and I'm afraid for her. She goes into a foot-first baseball slide, left hand extended to steady her blade, going under the monster, and slices the rapier's tip down the wolf's stomach from neck to back legs.

The wolf doesn't howl in pain; apparently it doesn't feel pain, either, but being down to half-health does trigger it to enrage, turning the beast's entire body a dark red. It turns back on Asuna; its two wounds still gaping.

"No, you don't!" I say, bringing my sword back, which glows white at just the right time as it's cocked over my shoulder. I bring the blade down on the back of the wolf's neck, the blade's passing leaving an arcing afterimage, and slice right through the monster's neck, to the ground.

The wolf, beheaded, loses all of its HP instantly, turns luminous white, then shatters like glass. Dead. Two down for us—counting the warthog from earlier.

"Whew..." Asuna says. "That was...something."

"Thrilling?" I ask her, sheathing my sword. "I know, right?"

Asuna seems out of breath from the battle, breathing heavily, but I know that's impossible. We can't feel fatigue in this game.

"Ah, Asuna…"

"What?"

"You're not tired," I tell her. "You just think you are. It's a trick of the mind, again. Like pain."

"Oh?" Asuna's auburn eyes widen for just a moment, probably embarrassed. "Oh, you're right." She laughs this little self-conscious laugh, and smiles. I like it. I remember wanting to meet cute girls, and here one was. An actual, real, live, gaming girl. What are the odds?

"That was a neat trick on that wolf, Asuna."

"Thanks," she replies, regaining her composure. "I didn't really have that planned, though."

"Oh?"

She shakes her head, releasing her brown hair to flow back and forth. "No. I was going to stab it, but then it jumped, and I just did...I guess...what came first in my mind."

"You don't sword fight in real life, do you? Kendo?"

She chuckles. "No, not at all." Asuna whips her rapier around in a cavalier motion, then carefully sheathes it. "It's a nice weapon, though. Light. Sharp."

"It suits you," I tell her.

"Thank you, again," she says. "I've been thanking you way too much, lately. I need to start pulling my weight more, keep up with you, Mr. Beta."

"Aww, you're fine, for a newb. Also," I smile as I say this, "You shouldn't say 'what' so much. It's getting to become your thing."

"Wha-" she begins to say, then cuts herself off, laughing. "I almost did!" Her rapier is out in an instant and pointing at me. She's super-serious now. "You, however, don't get to laugh." She waits a moment as I look at her sword's tip with a little shock and an open mouth. But she laughs again. "I'm just messing with you. Relax." She sheathes her sword again. "We should keep moving," she says somberly. "If that wolf could find us, then what happens if it gets dark?"

"They become more aggressive, I remember," I tell her. "But you're right. We're not even a hundred meters into this expedition, so let's keep going."

The supposed 30-minute jog turns into a bloody slog, what with having to fight more monsters on the way.

I'm impressed at how fast Asuna is learning, as she becomes more proficient with her weapon and using the Special Skills that come with it. In fact, during a battle with—okay, I'll just call this one a boar—she manages a fast three-hit strike that finishes off the monster. We're even getting some coins out of it, which makes us both a little happy. 30 whole cor for a boar! The currency of the game.

On the outside edge of Tolbana, I realize something, "You know, Asuna, if I remember right, the price of a room is something like 80 cor."

Asuna looks back at me. "We have that, don't we?"

"Uh, that and a little more, I think," I say, "but we'd have to share it."

"With you?" she asks, incredulous. "I think we should farm a little more, then."

"What? Why? It's just a room, Asuna."

"Shared," she says back. "If you don't want to go farm some more, then fine. I'll go without you. I think I can handle myself pretty well."

"No no, let's not." I sigh. "Okay, I'll go farm for my own room, you go get a room, with a lock, just in case of PVPers."

"And why should I be worried about PVPers? Didn't you say earlier I'd need a duel request to cut you?"

"Aw, yeah, you see…"

She leans in. "See what?"

"I was kind of lying about that, and I'm glad I did."

"What!" She glares at me. "Why, Mr. Beta?"

"Because," I say quickly, "if you'd attacked me back then, outside of a safe haven, you'd been flagged as a criminal."

She blinks once, twice. "You weren't afraid I was going to kill you, back then, were you?" she finally asks.

"What? No. Pfaw. You?"

Out comes the rapier. "And just who do you think you are, Mr. Beta? Some big badass because you got to play before others?"

"What? No."

"Now look who's saying it," she says with a slight smirk.

"What?"

"Chicken butt."

"Ahh!" I rub my hand through my hair. "Dammit, be serious!"

"I am serious!" She waves the point of the rapier at me. "You lied to me."

"For your own good!"

"Hah!" She sheathes her rapier. "You know what? I am going to get that room, and you're going to have to find your own way. Good-bye!"

"Hey, wait!"

"At least you didn't say 'what', this time, liar."

She disappears into the shadows of the town's buildings, leaving my short cor for a room, and with a sigh.

"Jeez…" I say, and turn back into the wild. "It's not like I can die or anything," I say to myself, and head back out to farm.