"Klein, you got everything?" I ask, checking through my own inventory to confirm it's stocked with food and a couple crystals for the road. Klein looks over at me and nods after double checking his own inventory.
"Yeah! I'm ready to leave Medai whenever you are." Klein replies, giving a thumbs up. Dynamm was reading a small book, the player handbook that had been distributed from various shops. He had been the first one packed and ready to go. Dale finishes making one last sandwich and places it inside his inventory.
"That covers me. I'm all set." Dale states.
"Hard to believe that we've already been in SAO for 18 days. Over half a month." Issin comments, standing up from the table he had sitting at.
"Right?" Harry interjects. "Oh, did you hear someone already reached Tolbana? Word broke this morning. I heard some players talking about it downstairs." Harry adds. Kunimittz looks at Harry, surprised.
"Holy shit, already? He must have reached the town a day or two ago then… how did they get there so fast?" Kunimittz remarks, amazed. He shakes his head.
"And I thought we were doing pretty well for ourselves." Artoria states.
"We are, they are just doing freakishly better." Dynamm responds, looking up from his book. He looks over at Harry. "Do you know anything else about who or how many people reached Tolbana?" Dynamm asks. Harry shakes his head. I look over at him, interested in what news there is on this player or players.
"Not really. We just know that it was one person. I didn't hear any name given." Harry answers with a shrug.
"So they are traveling solo? They must be a beta tester then. Someone familiar with the map and gameplay." Dale comments. Klein and Kunimittz nod.
"That would be the most likely explanation." Kunimittz responds. He shrugs and laughs. "Well, maybe we'll meet them when we reach Tolbana." He adds.
" Do we want to meet them? I hear beta testers aren't the nicest players and have been taking advantage of the ignorance of the rest of the players." Issin comments, looking at Kunimittz. Dynamm shows the handbook.
"Considering these handbooks are written by beta testers, I'd argue they've done their part." Dynamm interjects, placing the book in his inventory. Issin nods and shrugs.
"Fair. I was just quoting what I had heard from others." Issin states.
"Are we sure they are a beta tester? They could just be doing very well for themselves. After all, we're doing pretty alright ourselves. We've been in Medai for nine days now and people only started showing up in sizable numbers three or so days ago." Klein states, looking at the group. I nod.
"True, we've been grinding so intensely I hadn't paid much attention, but it does seem we have been ahead of the majority of people." I agree with Klein.
"Well, now I'm pumped. We should see if we can push for Tolbana. We should be able to reach it relatively quickly if we put in the effort." Kunimittz states, grinning.
"True, I'm kinda inspired to not be too outshone." Dale agrees, nodding.
"Well, if we're going to try to push for Tolbana, we need to actually push for Tolbana instead of standing around." Dynamm states, heading for the door.
"Right! Enough procrastinating!" Klein follows Dynamm as he opens the door. I follow them, with the rest of the party quickly following behind me. Tolbana awaited.
