Chapter Summary: Here's the second part of Secret Medicine of the Forest Quest, where we find Kirito and Aloy in the forest. Whilst searching for the Little Nepent with a flower, they meet another player. This player was also a Beta Tester, and he too was after the Anneal Blade.

Chapter Six…

Secret Medicine of the Forest Quest - Part 2!

Now, once Kirito and Aloy were in the forest, Aloy started to teach Kirito how to track animals. The first she taught him was where to start the search, places with food, water and settlers, as you would need to find a place to start searching and these places were where to start. Next were markings, be it footing, slime, and the like and how far apart they were. As knowing what markings you're following would be a great help. Aloy also taught Kirito how old the markings were, and how it was moving and the like.

The next thing she taught Kirito, about keeping an eye out for scat, fur, feathers, and the like to show if it was nearby or not. With scat, Aloy explained that it was the most important thing to look out for. She also explained a few tips on how to track monsters. After learning the basics of tracking, the window alerting him that he got the skill popped up.

Tracking (0000/1000)

Increase the level to increase the range at which a cursor of the target is displayed.

Increase the level to increase the maximum range at which an object can still be seen.

As Kirito turned it on to see if the skill worked like the Search Skill during the beta test, As he did, within his vision there were many small colour cursors displayed. Thanks to using Tracking, the range was enlarged. But the problem is that he wasn't able to confirm it by sight, which was the tracks of the Little Nepents.

The cursor was of the red denoting a monster, but it had a slightly dark tint, perhaps closer to magenta, rather than red.

This reddish shade could be used to loosely determine the relative strength of the enemy. The cursors of the monsters that one cannot defeat regardless of how much one struggles, with an overwhelming gap in levels, is a dark crimson, more intense than blood.

Currently, the cursor appearing within my vision is a red, slightly more intense than average. From his experience from the beta test, Kirito would believe that they might be a Little Nepent. However, with so many changes already in the game already, he couldn't bet on that anymore, as they could be another monster at the same level as Little Nepents, as unlike the beta test, there were no names above the cursors.

Right now, all he was seeing was three colours, the normal red cursor, which meant they were about the same level as him, give or take a few levels. There were some dark reds, meaning that they were at least a good few levels higher than him. For normal new players, this meant that it would be advised not to face them. Then there were the rare few very dark crimson cursors. These were the most dangerous of monsters, as they were beyond anything they could handle right now. They were ones that players would avoid above all else.

You see, in SAO, the darker the red the cursor is, the more powerful the monsters were. Whilst it was difficult to defeat the harder monsters at a low level, even getting killed a few times, it wasn't impossible. But you would need a party with skilled members in it.

But at the same time, though, the lighter the red was, the weaker they were. At the moment, there weren't any because he was level 2 and as such, there was nothing weaker than him.

Wanting to take a bit long with the tracking of a Little Nepent like a normal person, he followed Aloy led and followed to a grassy area. Kirito listened as Aloy told him that they loved to live in open areas. So she led him to an open area she knew they lived in. Along the way, they found some serpent-like locomotion markings on the ground. Aloy explained that with how the markings were, they belonged to the Little Nepents. Upon hearing this, he got a notice to say that he gained the ability to track the Nepents.

It would seem that for him to track something, he would first have to find the tracks of a certain monster first. Whilst it wasn't the way he would have liked, but in this game where Kayaba wanted to make things realistic, it made sense this was the way things would go..

Either way, wanting to have a feel for what Aloy can do, Kirito didn't use the tracking skill, but kept following her. As they were walking, they found a lone Little Nepents, a walking predatory plant with a stature of a metre and a half. As Kirito looked at the monster's level, he saw that it was a level 4 monster, and its cursor was a normal red.

Whilst it wasn't too high of a level for Kirito to deal with, it wasn't an opponent that can be made light of. There was no need for fear, either. The reason for this was due to the narrow yellow border surrounding the cursor. Showing that it is the target mob for a quest.

As the two of them spotted this monster, they stopped walking for a moment to confirm that there were other mobs around. Finding none, Kirito tells Aloy to hold back as he turns to the Little Nepent, dashed straight on. With these sorts of monsters, snake attacks were rarely effective, seeing as they have no eyes.

On its lower body that brings the Nepenthes species to mind, countless roots were writhing about as it used them to move. Vines, with pointed leaves attached, twined about at its side and it had a mouth for consumption of prey close to where its head should be, dribbling a viscous liquid as it snapped open and shut.

"…A miss."

Having seen that much, Kirito murmured softly.

Occasionally, one with a large flower blooming atop its mouth would appear. The key item needed for the quest that Aiko gave him, Little Nepent's Ovule, drops from none other than a Nepent with that flower attached. And the rate of one with the flower appearing is likely less than one percent.

However, even if they are normal Nepents, as long as one continues defeating them, the appearance rate of one with a flower will increase. As such, engaging it in battle is not a waste, but there is an important point that one cannot ignore.

That at a rate similar to one with a flower, a type of Nepent with a round fruit attached might appear. That one could be said to be a trap; if the fruit was attacked in the midst of battle, it will break off with a deafening sound, letting out fumes with an unpleasant smell.

The fumes possess neither poison nor corrosive properties, but it has the extremely troublesome special trait of calling together its fellow Nepents from the surroundings. Not many would be called if the Nepents in the area were low because the Players were defeating them. However, under the current circumstances, an obviously immeasurable amount would be gathered together.

Kirito focused his eyes again to confirm the lack of the fruit on the enemy, once he didn't see one, Kirito pulled out his sword from his back once more. However, as he did so though, the Nepent noticed him and so it raised its two vines up high threateningly.

Kirito knew the attack patterns of this mob thanks to the beta test. It would use the pointed edge of its ivy to slash and stab, like a dagger, and expel corrosive fluids from its mouth. It had much more variety compared to the blue wild boar that merely charged recklessly, but as it does not use sword skills, it could be said to be easier than Demi-Human mobs such as kobolds and goblins.

And above all, its ability leans a fair amount towards the offensive side, with its defence weak. Even in the beta testing version of this game, Kirito was fond of these sorts of monsters. After all, as long as you don't receive any of the attacks, it is possible to take down several of them within a short time.

"Shuuuuu!"

And with that howl spilling out from its prey-trapping mechanism of a mouth, the Nepent thrust its right vine towards Kirito.

Reading its trajectory in an instant, Kirito jumped to the left to dodge it. Turning towards its side in the same motion, the young teen drove his sword into the part joining the pitcher portion and its thick stalk-its weak point.

It was a fitting counter. The Nepent's HP bar slumped down, with more than a twenty percent decrease.

Letting out a voice of anger once again, the plant inflated its pitcher. The preparation motion for the firing of the corrosive fluids.

The range was as long as five metres. It's not possible to dodge it even when retreating straight behind.

Apart from the damaged HP and a drastic drop in equipment durability, thanks to its viscosity, the player's movement will also be obstructed. However, the effect is limited to a narrow range of 30 degrees ahead. After determining the timing to do so until the very last moment, the instant the expansion of the pitcher portion of its body stopped, Kirito jumped with all his might towards the right this time.

A pale green fluid shot out in a spray with a *Bushuu!,* forming a white vapour as it fell onto the ground. But having avoided getting even a single drop showered on him, Kirito touched down onto the ground with his right foot and brandished his sword, dealing a hard blow at the same weak point once again. Along with a scream, the Nepent's prey-trapping mechanism bent backwards as a yellow light effect circled around it. A stunned status. It might be strange for a plant to get stunned, but there was no way Kirito could let this chance slip.

Once again, Kirito strongly pulled his sword towards the right. With that movement done in an instant, the sword skill activated, engulfing the blade in a faint, pale blue light.

"…Raa!"

In this battle-or perhaps for the first time since the start of SAO's official service, a yell welled out of him, and Kirito violently kicked off from the ground. The single-hit, horizontal offensive technique to the neck, Horizontal. The only thing about it different from Slant, is whether it's slanted or horizontal, but this way made it easier to aim for the Little Nepent's weak point.

Right before the plant monster, with close to fifty percent of its HP lost to the earlier two attacks, recovered from its stun, its exposed stalk was given a straight slash by the sword skill. Of course, Kirito was boosting the force to its maximum with the movement from his kicking foot and right arm. The sword blade glowing with the light effect cut into the tough stalk, and facing the resistance that remained for a moment-

"Sukaan!" as that groan sounded out, the pitcher portion was sliced from the stalk, flying off into mid-air by itself. What remained of the gauge was dyed in deep red, vanishing from the right side. As it turned zero, the Little Nepent's large form was frozen in blue. And then, it dropped to the ground, dead.

With his sword still in the motion kept after the technique, Kirito swung out, he ceased movement. The indication of experience points, twice of the wild boar being added, floated into my vision. The battle took approximately forty seconds. If Kirito were to continue this pace, he should be able to attain a pretty decent level of efficiency.

With the drawn sword in his right hand lowered, Kirito looked around at the surroundings. Close to the limit of his tracking range, several Little Nepent cursors rose up. Those yet unseen by players.

Before others catch up to these hunting grounds, Kirito knew that he must level up as much as he possibly could before the other player got here. As even the forest had a limit of monsters that respawn before needing to rest to reset. With more players here, would mean he would have a hard time getting to the monsters before anyone else.

Having decided on his next prey emotionlessly, Kirito started running into the deep forest once more. With Aloy following him.

Keeping it up for fifteen minutes, over ten Little Nepents were already slaughtered with the help of Aloy.

Unfortunately, even killing these monsters, the one that Kirito was looking for hadn't appeared yet. In these real luck-dependent, as referred to in gamer lingo-in other words, reliant on the factor of luck the actual player has-quests, there have not been many incidents where Kirito has been blessed with luck within them in his memory.

Even if it's a source of irritation, players who can boast of their luck, obtaining super rare items with drop rates of 0.00 or so percent one after another, succeeding in their equipment refinement ten times in a row, and in addition, even getting along well with girls within games; these players certainly do exist. To go up against them, there was no method but to simply repeat those attempts over and over again. Of course, regarding those attempts, Kirito meant the rare items, with absolutely no intention of spamming greetings whenever he met with any girls.

In the first place, due to what Kayaba, who could be considered a god, had done, the avatars in-game were presently matched to their appearances in reality, and the population of female players in Aincrad must have taken a sharp dip. It was helpful that one would have no need to doubt if the other party was actually a male 'inside,' but it must have been quite an ordeal for those intending to take up the role-play of a girl, choosing a name and initial equipment fitting of that. Kirito was thankful for the Town Scribe, as he wondered what people would do if they were stuck with a girl's or boy's name?

Perhaps due to being ahead of schedule, but as Kirito thought about such things in his head, defeating the eleventh plant monster, a light fanfare rang out within his hearing. At the same time, a golden light effect wrapped up his body. Along with what Kirito had gained from hunting wild boars with Klein beside the city, before the start of the death game, he had finally exceeded the number of experience points needed to level up again.

Once again, he placed his point into STR and AGI, to build up his strength and Attack and Movement Speed. In his mind, if he could hit stronger and faster than anyone else, he would be fine for now. Sure, he would need to put some points into his other stats later on, but right now, Kirito believed he would be fine. His reaction time from playing V.R games over the years would help him here.

To be honest, Kirito only had one thing in mind for levelling his stats that night, his speed, and strength. As he knew that when he starts levelling up his skills, he would gain attribute and stat points and so making him even stronger and might not need to add points in his other stats. In fact, in the future, he might only add points into AGI, so that he could become the fastest person there. Although, he might save some skill points just in case.

With the changes that he had already seen, he wouldn't be too surprised if Kayaba added something else in the game. So that they would need to use their skill points in another way too. So, until he knew for sure, once he was done with levelling up tonight, he might spare a few skill points, just in case he would need them.

However, on this very day, to survive through this single hour, Kirito has no choice but to risk his life. Before thinking about the future, Kirito knew that he must first ensure that he had the adequate level, for a so-called safety margin.

Finishing the status up process, Kirito closed the window. As he did, he heard Aloy ask, "What were you doing?"

Kirito wondered what she meant by that. Did she just see him checking and sorting out his level? He had to wonder how that was possible. In the beta when he did this in front of an NPC, they didn't notice or say anything about him doing so. So, trying to figure out how much she really knew, he said, "I was sorting out my stats after I levelled up."

Here, from what Kirito understood, this Tian shouldn't say anything about this. As they are meant to be programmed to ignore this sort of thing. But with how things were now in the game, he wasn't sure what to think or suspect. Which is why he told her this. To see what she would say.

"Oh, I see." Aloy said simplify before going on to say, "You know, I'm a bit jealous of you Adventurers. You're able to become stronger by defeating the monsters and people that you fight. But for us, we have to become stronger through the old-fashioned way of training and learning new skills over time, where you don't if you don't want to. And if you die, you can be brought back to life."

Kirito was somewhat shocked by this. He never thought that the NPCs, these Tians, would talk about the way players level up and learn skills like this. Just another way to show that the game has changed. This got Kirito worried about this, as he wasn't sure how these changes would affect the other floors, even this one. He was also afraid of the Hidden Quests that could change the floors, too. All his knowledge would be useless if this happens before the tenth floor.

Not only that, with these Tians acting differently, having their own personality, Kirito was worried about the quests. What happens if someone pisses them off, would the Tian still give the quest to the player? What if some of the quests become a one time only quest, instead of having a long cooldown time? What if the Tians moved about, so that the players couldn't find them where they should be? Like a quest done by one player, make it so that the Tian or Tians move to another village or another floor?

This was something he would have to think about another time, right now he needed to level up. But first, a thought occurred to him. What would happen if he told Aloy some truth about what happened to him and the other players? Would she be able to help somehow?

So, thinking carefully, he said, "That may be the case with past Adventurers, but this new evil is way smarter. Whoever this new evil is, they have blocked us from returning to our world. The only way we can return home is if we can defeat the evil force on the hundredth floor. Not only that, but if we die here, we die for good. So, we There's no way for us to come back from death. So, we have to be careful about what we do."

"Oh my, that's awful." Aloy said in shock. To her, that was awful for Aincrad, as Adventurers being unable to die was the most important part to them. No matter how many times they die, they could keep coming back to life and get stronger to defeat the great evil. But now, if that wasn't possible, what would happen to Aincrad?

"It gets worse though," Kirito told her, "we have young children here. Normally, they would play around, do small easy quests and defeat easy monsters and return to our world. But now, they are too afraid, just like most of the others, but with them being so young, it's even worse."

"So what are you all doing about it?" asked Aloy.

"Honesty? There is no plan right now." admitted the young teen, "Most of us are still getting to terms as to what happened. They are too afraid to do anything, even to think about what we should do next. And I don't know how long that will last for."

"But what about you?" asked Aloy, "You don't seem to be afraid and you're out here fighting."

"But I am afraid, but I know that if I want to survive, I can't let my fear control me." Kirito informed the Hunter, "I can't let myself worry about others, how they are doing. In fact, I allowed myself to abandon a friend that I made so that I could come here to get stronger."

"Why would you do that?" asked Aloy.

"A few reasons, but the main one is that I'm not strong enough to protect them and their friends. That they could be a hindrance to me." explained Kirito, feeling bad for doing just that, "Me and a few others were informed about what to expect for the next nine floors." sure he got to the tenth floor, but he wasn't able to go search it much because he and the others ran out of time.

"So, we went off on our own in the hopes of getting stronger faster and defeating the great evil as soon as possible, so that no one would have to die." Kirito told Aloy. And although that was the truth, at least for him, it didn't make him feel any better.

Hearing this, it surprised Aloy at what the Adventurer told her. She wasn't expecting that a few Adventurers would know about this world already. But as she thought about it, if they were from a world where past Adventurers came from, it would make some sense that they knew about this world. So, it would make sense that if these handful of Adventurers knew things about the nine floors, they would use this information to their advantage.

Aloy could sense that this Adventurer felt guilty about abandoning his new friend and his friend's friends, but he shouldn't. As even hunters would have done the same thing. When dealing with a powerful prey, hunters would only hunt it with hunters who are strong or stronger than them. And when helping others to learn, hunters would only take two or three people.

Having more than that would be dangerous, as you would have to keep track of not only the new hunters but for their prey and other monsters that might attack. They couldn't protect the new hunters if they were looking out for a lot of people while keeping an eye out for monsters.

"Listen Adventurer, you did nothing wrong with abandoning your friend and their friends." Aloy told the young teen, "You're young, inexperienced and have no idea how to train someone. Even then, you did the right thing. Unless you are close to the people and willing to risk your life for them, you shouldn't be ashamed of doing so. We hunters do the same thing. We normally work solo. We rarely work with inexperienced hunters, and we only work with other hunters if we have no other option or if they are skilled when we're facing a powerful monster. We only work with inexperienced hunters, when we're training them to become hunters, and then we would only train a small handful. About three people, so that we can keep an eye on them easier whilst keeping an eye out for monsters."

"Thank you." Kirito thanked her for her kind words. However, whilst he was thankful for these words, he wasn't able to believe them. At the end of the day, even though she was known as a Tian, Aloy was still a NPC. So Kirito believed that she was programmed to say such things and if she was with another person, she might say things fitting to that person.

Now, before Kirito could think more about this, there was some sort of rustling sound that rang out behind them.

"Err?" both Aloy and Kirito said together as they jumped back, as they raised their weapons to get ready to fight.

What Kirito saw was a being that should not have appeared within this forest, a humanoid monster-no, it was an actual human.

And it wasn't an NPC. But a player came out from the trees.

o0OoO0o

The player was a male, who was slightly taller than Kirito. He was about the same age as Kirito. His defensive equipment was a light leather armour, and a buckler sold at Horunka Village. His weapon was the same Small Sword from the initial equipment. That said, it wasn't exactly drawn out.

In other words, the rustling sound effect from earlier was the sound of this man - or perhaps boy would be more fitting - walking towards them.

After Kirito and Aloy took a few short breaths, they lowered their hands. The boy showed an awkward smile, bowing his head down for a moment.

"S, Sorry for startling you both like that. I should have called out from the start." the person apologised. The boy, whose features gave off a first impression of seriousness, widened his faltering smile, and made some sort of gesture, bringing the fingers on his right hand up to around his right eye. It took Kirito a few moments before he realized that this boy wore glasses back in the real world.

"No, me too… sorry for the overreaction." Kirito apologised.

"You shouldn't apologise for acting that way Adventurer," Aloy told Kirito, surprising him and the new person, "you didn't know if he was a monster or a foe. As a hunter, it's important to be ready for anything or anyone to attack you if they appear out of nowhere. Many people have died because they weren't ready to fight. Take this from a hunter. Never let your guard down when you don't know what's out there."

As Kirito thought about it, he realized that Aloy was right. He didn't know what he was about to face. It was better to be ready than not. He if kept apologising for such things, he might slowly stop himself from doing so and one day get himself killed. It was better to be prepared than not.

"EIther way, I'm surprised to see anyone here." the new teen told them.

"To be honest, I'm surprised to see anyone here too," admitted Kirito, "I thought it would be two or three hours more before anyone reached this forest."

"Ahaha, I thought I would be the first to arrive too." the boy told Kirito, "The path to get here is rather confusing, after all."

"I'm amazed that you got this far without the help of a hunter," Aloy acknowledged this new teen's skill, "it can be dangerous here at night."

"I was careful not to be seen." the person told them. For Kirito, he guessed that this teen used the skill Stealth to make his way here. That would explain to Kirito why he didn't see this teen until now. If the skill was anything like Hiding, it would erase the sight of the player's cursor from other players, along with not drawing the attention of most of the monsters in this forest.

For this teen to be here, Kirito knew that he was like him, that he was a beta tester for the game. He had more than likely come here to do the Secret Medicine of the Forest quest, too. If that is the case, he wanted to talk to this boy for a moment. So, he turned to Aloy and said, "Aloy, would you mind if I take a few minutes and talk to this new Adventurer?"

"Of course Adventurer." said Aloy, then as if a thought came to her, she asked, "May I have your names, please? I know this is foolish of me for not asking before, but until now, I didn't feel the need to know. But with the two of you here, it would be confusing to call you both Adventurer."

Kirito, who had almost gotten used to the odd behaviour of these Tians, said, "My name is Kirito." To be honest, another reason he told her his name was because he wanted to see if she could say his name or not.

And to his surprise, Aloy said to Kirito, "Thank you Kirito, and your name Adventurer?" she asked the new teen.

"My name is Coper." the teen now known as Coper told Aloy. Kirito could see the shock and confusion on his face, he would try to explain this in a minute.

"Nice to meet you, Coper." Aloy said with a smile, "Now, I'll look around for the Little Nepent that you're looking for, whilst you two talk." With that Aloy walked away looking for the Little Nepent that Kirito and Coper were looking for.

Once she was gone, Coper said in amazement, "I know that the bastard Kayaba said these NPCs would be unlike the normal ones that we have dealt with before. But damn, that was strange. I don't remember any NPC in the beta asking for our names before."

"I know. That's not the only strange thing that I have seen them doing." admitted Kirito, "Did you try to do the quest to get the Alchemy Chest?"

"Yeah, but for some reason, they wouldn't let me do it. They said they had enough wood already, as someone already got the planks for them.." said Coper, still surprised that something like that happened. "In the beta, everyone could do the quest."

"I know." said Kirito, "I was there when I delivered the planks when another player was about to start the quest, but the Tian cancelled the quest when I handed in the quest. That started the next quest for both of us. The other player wasn't happy about that, wanting to do the quest like me. So they stormed out angry."

"Wow, so that's what happened. Strange." admitted Coper, "I've never heard of something like that happening before."

"I know right." admitted Kirito, "But, if Kayaba is right and he is trying to make this game into our new reality, it does make sense. In reality, we wouldn't have people doing the same job over and over again when we have enough planks or whatever. The person would stop them once he gets what he wants and start on the next job."

"Maybe." Coper said thoughtfully.

"So, I'm guessing that you're here for the Secret Medicine of the Forest Quest too?" asked Kirito.

"Yeah," admitted Coper," as you know, the reward, the Anneal Blade, is good all the way till the third floor's labyrinth at the very least."

"…The appearance isn't much to talk about though, that weapon." Kirito added that bit in, and Coper let out a bright "Ahahaha" laugh at this.

After finally ending that laughter, he opened his mouth after a short pause. What came out were words slightly different from Kirito's expectations.

"I know that you have an NPC helping you, but this is a rare chance, so how about working together on the quest?" asked the other former beta tester.

"Eh… I do believe that this is an individual-only quest, though." Kirito replied so spontaneously.

Whilst there were some quests that a party can do, there were quests like Secret Medicine of the Forest, where you can only be done by a single player. The reason for this was that there was only one reward, for one person. In fact, in most cases where there's a single weapon reward, that would be a solo quest.

However, the Coper gave a smile as though he had predicted Kirito's words.

"Well, that might be true," admitted Coper, "but the rate of one with a flower will increase if the normal ones get hunted down as much as possible. Pushing that to the extremes as a trio is more effective."

It certainly was just as he had said. Kirito had to admit that Coper had a point. Whilst he and Aloy could deal with these monsters together, it would still take time to fight the monsters to find this rare Little Nepent with a flower on it. But with an extra person, it would cut the search in half.

Just as Kirito was about to nod in acceptance, he harshly stiffened up.

That was because Kirito thought about the right he had to form a party now, after having abandoned that cheerful single-edged sword user, Klein… the first friend he made, just a short hour or so ago. Sure, he was working with Aloy, but that was different to him. She was an NPC and was teaching him some skills for this Death Game. So it wasn't really like they were in a party together. On the third floor up, they would often work with an NPC to do quests and such. This was no different.

However, the boy took Kirito's hesitation the wrong way, and shook his head in a fluster.

"No, it's fine. You don't have to feel any obligation to form a party." Coper told Kirito, "You are the first one who got here, so of course, I'll concede the first key item to you. If we continue hunting at that boosted rate, the second will definitely drop soon, so if you can stick with me till then…"

"Ah… aah, that's right… then, excuse me, but…" With that incoherent reply, Kirito nodded. If they were to fight as a party, all drops from monsters would go into not their individual storage spaces, but a temporary one instead. So technically, it would be possible for him to make off with the key item for the quest. That was likely what was his thought as the source of his misgivings. Although in actual fact, that hadn't even crossed his mind yet, there was no worth in correcting that now.

Towards Kirito's assent, the boy laughed once again, before he stepped up and offered his right hand.

"That's good to hear; well then, I'll be in your care for the time being." Coper said with a smile.

Just then, Aloy appeared who said, "Adventurer, I believe that I've found tracks for the Little Nepents."

"Then let's go hunting. We've got two ovules to find." Kirito said with a sigh and a smile.

o0OoO0o

With the help of Aloy, Kirito and Coper were able to find a few Little Nepents that were grouped together. Seeing how Coper fought, Kirito could tell that the person he was fighting with was an original beta tester. Coper's sense of battle was nothing to scoff at.

He knew quite a bit about the distance to keep away while using a one-handed sword, the behaviour monsters exhibit, and the usage of sword skills. In Kirito's opinion, he was focusing slightly too much on defence, but that was only understandable in this situation. They naturally settled into a routine with good synergy. Aloy would first lure a few targets, where then Coper and Kirito would strike their weak point with all of their might. Reducing their prey into polygon fragments one after another as a pair.

Whilst the hunt was going smoothly, there was still one large irregularity that came to mind.

Even until now, they hadn't exchanged a single comment about the situation that SAO was currently in.

Was Kayaba's proclamation the truth? If they were to die here, would they really die in the real world? Just how will this world turn out from now on? All of those questions must have occurred to Coper as well. But there was no talk of anything beyond items and quests between them, along with a few tips from Aloy, from the start to the very end. And despite that, their conversation truly flowed naturally.

In other words, it must have been because both of them were heavy MMO addicts. Even if the world were to change into a death game, even if the log out button were to disappear, as long as they were in the game, it's the time for quests and experience earning. They are likely beyond help now, but thinking back on it, Coper too, went to the extent of applying for the beta test as well, so there was no question that Kirito's very core was that of a net gamer. To put it simply, beyond the fear of death, they merely prioritised their urge to strengthen their characters…

No.

No, that's not it.

Surely, both Coper and Kirito were still unable to look reality in the eye yet.

Levelling up efficiency; exhausting the monster respawn rate for that area; even if they go through these near-sighted calculations, their thoughts on the foundation are still in suspension. Averting their sight away from the reality of the Nerve Gear discharging high intensity electromagnetic waves, frying their brains upon our HP reaching zero, and as an avenue of escapism, simply aiming for what is ahead without prior consideration. Comparatively, the players who remained in the Starting City could even be said to be significantly more calm in their understanding of the situation.

However, if that was so -

The fact that Kirito was going up against dreadful monsters like this right now, fighting on his absolute own free will, would mean that he certainly was unable to comprehend the current reality. Unaffected by the anxiety of dying for real being the entire basis for why he was still able to dodge these pointed vines and dangerous corrosive fluids capable of killing Kirito off, with the slightest of movements.

The instant Kirito realized that, a premonition came to him.

Ah… that in the near future, he would definitely die.

An actual death, in other words, the first rule of a death game; to not understand that rule was to not look out for the line that one must not cross. It was no different from walking at the edge of a cliff in the midst of darkness, entrusting all to fate. Thinking back on it, exiting the city on his own, stepping into this forest area with poor vision, was already a deed at the extremes of foolhardiness.

*Gulp!* An intense chill ran down Kirito's spine, going all the way to the tips of his hands and feet, putting a stop to his avatar's movement.

At that exact moment, Kirito aimed at the Little Nepent - just how many he had already downed, escaped him - and swung his sword towards its weak point; if he had been frozen stiff for even half a second more, he would have definitely eaten a painful counter in return.

Coming back to his senses, the re-activated sword skill, Horizontal, sliced off the plant's stalk in his precarious situation. A shattering sound rang out, and formless glass-like flakes passed through him, scattering into the air.

At my back, battling a few more Nepents, was Coper and Aloy, who fortunately seemed to have not noticed his abnormal behaviour. Slower by ten to fifteen seconds and annihilating the enemy without any usage of skills, they turned around and with a sigh from Coper.

"… It's still not out…"

His voice was tainted with traces of fatigue, as expected. Over an hour had passed since he started fighting as a team with Kirito and Aloy. Although close to three hundred Nepents must have been taken down by the three of them already, but the Little Nepent with the flower hadn't appeared yet.

To shake off the chills that have yet to cease reverberating throughout his frame, Kirito gave his shoulders a firm jerk.

"It might be possible that the chance of it appearing has changed since beta times…" Kirito said with a disappointed sigh, "It's not like it's the first time I heard of a MMO that lowered the rate of rare drops with the start of official service. This is one of many things that the game has changed with the launch."

"That's true…" admitted Coper, "So, what now? We did manage to level up considerably, and the durability levels of our weapons have dropped by quite a bit, so returning to town for the time being might be for the best. So we can restock on healing items and the like."

"I could even ask Grand Master Giraud if he knows how to get this Little Nepent to…" Aloy began to tell them, but before she could finish though, a faint red light came to life under a tree, a mere ten metres or so away from them.

Rough and unevenly shaped polygon blocks were rendered, connecting to each other, forming a fuzzy image. It was a sight Kirito was used to, a monster appearing out of no way.

As Coper mentioned earlier, they have gained quite a lot of experience points with the excess farming they had done until now, with Coper reaching level 3, whilst Kirito reached level 4. The level suitable to clear the first floor was at least around 10, from his memories of the beta period. But in this new version of the game, level 10 might not be enough. Either way, although it was still too early to proceed onwards, there was already no need to scramble for every single Little Nepent around. The colour of the enemies' colour cursors were also changing from magenta to red.

"…"

The three of them stood still on the grassy patch, and continued absentmindedly gazing at the spawning. Within several seconds, the Nepent, received a distinct appearance of its own, setting out on its path with its vines coiling about. A lustrous green stalk, the proof that it's alive; an unique speckled pattern adorning its prey-trapping mechanism; and above that - glistening a toxic red even beneath this dismal lightning, an enormous flower that resembles a tulip.

"…"

The three of them remained watching that creature for several more seconds in a daze, before silently turning to each other.

"…!"

A muted war cry. Swinging our individual swords forth with a vigour much like that of a cat assailing a mouse, they charged towards the Little Nepent with the flower attached to it.

However, right before they could land an attack on it, Kirito did an emergency brake with both feet while restraining Coper and Aloy, who were beside him with his hands.

Why would the former beta tester do this!?

And as Coper turned towards Kirito and Aloy with that written on his face, Kirito first flicked out the index finger on his left hand to grab his attention, then pointed it at what lay beyond the Little Nepent which had a flower attached to it far away.

It was hard to see, obstructed by many trees, but the shadow of another Nepent was visible in that direction. Spotting it was thanks to Aloy pointing it out and to his Tracking ability that was slightly improved. Perhaps due to not taking up the searching skill yet, Coper had to strain his eyes through the darkness of the forest, taking several seconds before finally appearing to have confirmed it by sight.

If the Nepent beyond the one with a flower was a normal one, there would be no reason to hesitate in attacking. But of all the absurd timings it could have appeared at, a big lump just had to be right above that second prey-trapping mechanism, gently swaying around.

If that were to be a flower as well, Kirito would have no choice but to retract the proclamation of his low real luck. That said, what was dangling on the end of the slender stalk of the second one was a spherical ball with a diameter of around twenty centimetres - a seed.

If even a trifling graze was inflicted onto that, swelling out as though it could burst open any moment, it would immediately rupture and cause foul fumes to spread out. Those fumes would draw in swarms of rampaging Nepents, doubtlessly plunging us into peril from which we could not hope to escape, even with higher levels.

'Just what should we do?' Kirito thought to himself as he looked at the monsters in front of him.

Kirito was lost. There was the possibility of defeating his target without hurting the seed with his combat capabilities. However, that was not definite. If there was even the slightest chance of death, it would be best to be patient and wait until the ones with the flower and seed are separated, far away from each other.

However, there was a single rumour that Kirito heard during his beta period that added to his dilemma. Regarding the Little Nepent, the flower, a precious, rare monster that drops the key item for a quest. If left alone without hunting it down, it would change into the extremely dangerous trap monster. One where it would have a seed on its head, where if broken would summon more monsters… or at least, Kirito believed he heard so, in those days.

It was not impossible; or rather, it certainly was a plausible tale. Even while looking on from these bushes, the petals of the flower on the Nepent. Moving about ten metres ahead, could be seen falling as they fluttered, a perfectly round seed growing out, resulting in a group of three Nepent, one with a flower and one with seeds.

"Just what should we do…" Kirito murmured without thinking.

The fact that he faltered here was proof that he had yet to draw the line between danger and safety. In this state of hesitation, falling back seems to be the rational choice, but Kirito had to question his rationality at this current moment.

While he was frozen, as though afflicted by a stun-causing attack, Coper's low whisper reached Kirito's ears. "Let's go. Me and Aloy draw the ones with the seed's attention. Please finish off the one with the flower quickly."

And without waiting for a reply, those boots from the initial equipment stepped forth. "…Got it." Kirito replied, following behind Coper.

Kirito had yet to resolve his hesitation. He had only put it off. But with this situation advancing, he could do nothing but to shift his focus onto this sword and avatar. If he was unable to handle even that, he would really die.

The one with the flower was the first to notice Coper's approach, twirling its body around. "Shaaaaa!" the borders of the prey-trapping mechanism, appearing much like the lips of a human being, bellowed out while quivering.

Veering to the right, aiming at the one with the seed further within, Coper still held the attention of the one with the flower. Having gotten closer, Kirito took advantage of the opportunity, brandishing the sword in his right hand, with all doubts thrown to the wind.

Even if it was a rare monster with an appearance rate of lower than one percent, the Nepent with a flower had stats barely any different from the normal ones. Its defence and attack were slightly higher, but that deviation meant nothing to Kirito, having gotten to level 4 after over an hour of hunting.

Even with all these doubts lingering in his mind, the accumulated experience of battles from the beta period made his avatar move instinctively. Evading attacks from the Nepent's vines by parrying and stepping aside, piling up counter attacks one after another. Its HP gauge turned yellow in ten seconds, and Kirito started up a sword skill to finish it off after a single jump backwards.

With the increase in Kiriko's one-handed straight sword proficiency through the numerous battles, it felt like the activation speed and range of skills have also increased. When the Nepent attempted to spew out its corrosive fluids, before managing to inflate its prey - trapping mechanism even halfway, its fleshy stalk was sliced apart by the blue arc of the single-hit «Horizontal» letting out a creaking sound.

The shriek that echoed out too was slightly different from the norm. The decapitated pitcher portion spun as it dropped to the ground, scattering away as polygons - but before that, the flower at the top of its head fell down delicately.

A fist-sized ball, shining faintly, tumbled out from its insides. The thing rolled all the way to Kirito's feet, and just as it touched the tips of his boots, the Nepent's trunk and prey-trapping mechanism blasted apart, one after another.

Kirito then bent down to pick up the gleaming sphere - the Little Nepent's Ovule. Kirito couldn't believe that to get this key item, over a hundred and fifty monsters had to be defeated. Not to mention getting stuck in that state of indecision over one thing or another. He didn't remember taking that much work during the beta testing. Then again, he was warned that a few things would be different. But he didn't think it would be something like this that made it harder.

As that came to mind, Kirito got the desire to idly sit down in some meadow, but it was still far too early to release this tension. He had to back up Coper and Aloy, who were taking the responsibility for drawing the attention of the dangerous Little Nepents that had the seed on them. Thankfully, Aloy had just finished her Nepents when he came to help, leaving only the one that Coper was dealing with.

"Sorry for the wait!" Kirito called out to Coper as he dropped the ovule in his hand into the belt pouch on his waist. It would honestly give him more relief if he opened up the window and stored it in his storage space. The problem was it would take too much time to do so. Either way, he restored his grip on his sword, and began to run towards Coper to help him.

However, after several steps, Kirito found that for some reason, he found that his feet had appeared to have stopped all by themselves.

'What's going on?' Kirito thought in PANIC, as another two Little Nepents appeared, which thankfully Aloy began to deal with them. But still, our hero had to wonder what was going on. He couldn't understand what was going on. Was it a bug? A glitch in the game? Or was there a lag in the game? Whatever the problem was, it was the worst timing ever.

Worried about the partner that he unexpectedly gained, Coper, Kirito, looked ahead to see how he was going. Kirito was thankful to see that Coper was skillfully handling the Nepent with his sword and buckler. Perhaps because he specialised in defence from the start, but it seemed that Coper had enough control to face this way, even in the midst of battle.

But as he fought, Coper suddenly gave off an aura of seriousness. With slightly narrowed eyes, he stared at Kirito with those eyes.

What was it? Why was Coper looking at him with those eyes? As if they were filled with distrust, or possibly pity.

Strongly fending off the Nepent's vine attack with the buckler, as Coper broke off the bout, he delivered a short line while looking at Kirito, who was standing there unable to move.

"Sorry, Kirito." apologies Coper, as he returned his sight to the monster, forcefully raising the sword in his hand above his head. The blade glistened light blue.

A sword skill was activated. That motion - was that of the single-hit vertical slash, Vertical.

"No… that's bad, isn't it…"

Even with the confusion caused by the earlier statement, Kirito murmured so with his mind numb.

The upper portion of the stalk, the weak point of the Little Nepent, was obstructed by its sturdy prey-trapping mechanism, and as such, vertical attacks were ineffective. Additionally, there was a clear reason why Coper should not be using a vertical slash now. He should also be well aware of that.

However, the sword skill was already beyond the point of no return. The avatar, half taken over by the system assist, kicked the ground savagely, and the glowing blade was driven into the Nepent's prey-trapping mechanism - or at least, what was above it, striking that wobbling, round seed.

*Baaan!*

That explosive sound shook the forest at a monstrous volume.

This was the second time that Kirito heard this sound. The first was, of course, during his time when he was beta testing the game. At that time, a member of his party that he was in carelessly poked it with a spear, and due to the swarm of Little Nepents attracted by the odour. The four of them were at level 2 to 3, died before they could even try to escape. It was one of a few reasons why he preferred to work alone.

Coper's Vertical that smashed the seed continued, slicing apart the Nepent's prey-trapping mechanism as well, cutting through its HP gauge. The monster soon blew apart, but the vague green fumes left behind in the air and that queer stench that reached my nose did not fade away.

Facing Coper, who had avoided the fumes and jumped aside with vigour, Kirito spat words out in a daze.

"Wh… Why…?"

Even Aloy looked confused. From what she was programmed to know, Adventurers were meant to avoid these seeds at all costs. As hitting and destroying the seeds would summon more monsters.

Either way, Kirito knew that it was no accident. That the attack was intentional. Coper slashed that seed of his own free will, bursting it open.

The original beta tester who fought alongside Kirito for this one hour repeated himself without looking at him.

"…Sorry."

From the direction of Coper's avatar, Kirito saw a great number of colour cursors appear.

From the right too. From the left too. And also, from the back too.

They were the Little Nepents drawn by the fumes. There was no mistake that every one of the individual beings summoned in this area were gathering, without a single one lacking. There were at least twenty in total… no, there were easily over thirty. It's impossible; the instant Kirito that he felt his feet were about to move again and tried to escape by their own accord, but that too, was impossible. Even if he were to break through the blockade, the highest movement speed of the Nepents was far higher than one would be led to believe from their outer appearance and Kirito would befall the attention of other monsters before he got away.

Even with the help of Aloy, with so many appearing at once, retreat was no longer possible -

In other words, this was suicide?

Was he dragged along, only to die here? Was Coper crushed under the pressure from the fear of death in reality, wishing to retire from this death game?

Frozen stiff as Kirito stood there. He wondered vacantly. However, that guess was in error.

Not bothering to even look at him any further, Coper, with his sword already returned to its scabbard on the left side of his waist, started to run towards a thicket nearby, turning in that direction.

There was no hesitation in his movements. He had not given up on living through this yet.

However.

"It's futile…" Kirito squeezed the words. He found that he almost couldn't get the words to escape from his throat.

The swarm of Little Nepents was flooding in from all directions.

To be Continued!

Author's Note: Here ends another chapter of Sword Art Online - Alchemy Edition. I would like to apologise for the long wait in updates, but until recently, the muse to write this chapter wasn't there and so it took a while to write. Either way, I hope you'll be willing to leave some feedback and let me know what you think of the story.

For those who are anime only fans, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter, this is from Vol 8, from the story First Day/The Day of Beginnings - depending where you get the title from. To the LN fans, I know that you might have read this and haven't seen many changes, other than what I've added, I couldn't think of anything else to add or alter. As such, I kept it the same. This is only Kirito's first day in this world and so has no other powers or skills to use right now. I hope in the future if I use the other chapters from the story, I can add and change more to it.

Now, if you have any ideas that you would like to see happen in this story, than let me know and I'll try and add them if they fit into my story.