Jaymes

"It's been almost an hour since Nerius was defeated, right?"

"Yeah."

Jaymes sighs. "Damn. I feel sorry for the people waiting for the gate to open. Last time we avoided it, this time we're taking a long time to get to town. Well, they'll understand."

The four players, back in their usual attires, now march up a vaguely familiar hill. In the beta, this would have been a dry, sandy hill. It is still as sandy as before, but the lack of dryness in the air makes it feel different. To Jaymes, that feeling makes some sense.

Their destination is just over the hill, a standard stone town in the world of fantasy in comparison to the eccentric towns in the mountains and trees of the second and third floors. The most interesting part was that the doors to enter buildings were all on the second floor. There's a part of Jaymes' mind that says that maybe the town has changed too, and he's hoping that is correct. They'll most likely spend little time there, just open the gate and then search for the elves if Kirito has his way. That'll set them on the path of conquering the floor again. Yet...as boring as the town was in the beta...he doesn't want the girls to lose the MMORPG experience as a whole. He knows escaping SAO as fast and with as many lives remaining as possible is pivotal, but this is Asuna and Koharu's first game.

Speaking of firsts, the previous moments in the river makes Jaymes' blood rush. Since he helped Koharu enter the stream, no, even before that, he had a hard time looking away. It was fine once they all linked together, he was at the back of the group, so all he could see was Koharu and Asuna's back. Once that damned tadpole began its chase (keep in mind all they saw was the fin), his developing protective instincts told him to grab Koharu and swim as fast as possible. For those few moments, until the threat was over, that's all he could think about.

Then, after he told Koharu to put her armor back on and Kirito got a knee from Asuna, he realized that neither girl realized how they looked the entire time, and that, for several minutes, he held Koharu in what was practically skin to skin. That soaked tunic is the only thing that kept his sanity (and the system's sending him to the prisons of Black Iron Palace) in check.

"If Momiji was here...if the Momiji I remember was here, she'd kick my ass. Asuna would look like an angel compared to Momiji. I wonder if Mom and Dad told her about my situation, and she's looking at me at my bedside...or if she's here in SAO."

"Asuna, look!"

"Wow...It's so pretty here!"

"Huh?" Kirito picks up his feet to catch up to the girls, and so does Jaymes. Passing under a stony arch, his feet anchor themselves to the ground as his eyes widen in surprise. The stone streets that used to course through the city is now flooded with water, the buildings are now white instead of gray. He takes back what he thought about the town earlier. Yeah, it isn't as crazy in appearance as other towns like Zumfut, but in beauty, it is the most radiant.

"I see...This was supposed to be the finished version all along. That explains the doors on the second floor."

"Guess your hypothesis was right."

"Hey, let's go!"

"Come on boys, hurry!"

Kirito chuckles and waves back at the girls. "We're coming!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

As Asuna would comment, the town is practically a virtual Venice. Joshua has never been to Venice, but he knows enough information to agree with the girl. Like the town, gondolas are used as a method of transportation. Kirito and Asuna head to the pier to peruse the gondola occupancies and prices while Jaymes sticks in place with Koharu.

"This is beautiful. Have you ever been on a gondola, Jaymes?"

"Not here, of course, and not in real life. Never been to Venice."

"Same."

"I have been to Rome. Nice place. No gondolas."

"Wow, that's awesome. I've never been outside Japan."

"Huh. Until last spring, I haven't spent this much time in Japan. Of course, I think you can figure that out."

Koharu makes a slight nod and looks at her partner. "So you are American."

"By my mother and place of birth, yes. My father is Japanese." Jaymes looks back to the pier and sees their companions have procured a four-seater gondola ride. Stepping in their direction, Jaymes' eyes linger on the two-seater type of gondola and an idea passes out of his mouth. "Hey, Ko."

"Hmm?"

"I hear...gondola rides are even better at night. So...if we do stay in town today, or sometime before we leave the floor, how about we go on a ride? Just the two of us." Jaymes realizes how this sounds. In a real-world scenario, he's practically asking Koharu out on a date, but for SAO...well, he doesn't think the scenario has changed but the prerequisites to him popping the question are different. She's his partner, they've done everything together, so why not? It's like asking a childhood friend...

A soft "Ok" comes from the girl behind him, just when they come up to their partners. The subject cast aside into a reserved part of his brain, Jaymes and Koharu take the open space across from Kirito and Asuna. The gondolier greets them and welcomes them to Rovia, the town's name, and at Kirito's request, the gondola begins to travel down the wide, busy channel. Since they were the only players here, the other boats were manned by NPCs, and they weren't all for transport. A good number sold gear and items, which doesn't interest Jaymes right now at the current moment. He isn't interested in Kirito's questioning of the gondolier either, since there isn't much information one can learn from most NPCs.

Eventually, they got off at the teleport gate, and the four activated it. While watching the stream of players come through, whether immediately heading off to the latest shops or gazing at the town in awe, Kirito and Asuna decided to head to the inn for a short break. Koharu wanted to explore more of the town, and Jaymes is at her side as always. As Kirito and Asuna walk away, Jaymes turns to Koharu, bowing in a playful manner. "Allow me to escort you."

Giggling, she bows and slightly fans out her skirt. "Why thank you."

They join the enlarging crowd and start to explore the plaza. As a matter of fact, he decided to test her accumulated gamer knowledge. They skipped those steps on the third floor, so it's been a while since they made their first priority entering the main town on a floor. "While we're out and about, what are some of the first things we should do?"

She crosses her arms. and counts off with her fingers. "The three Rs: Resupply, Repair, and Replace."

"Next?"

"Take any and all possible quests."

"Then?"

"Well, as front liners, we need to find all possible information, compare it with what you and Kirito know about the beta, and go from there. To start, we should check the map of the town there. Hmm..." Jaymes follows Koharu to the billboard with the posted map of Rovia. While Koharu checks out the map, he stands back, trusting her instinct, and glances around. He doesn't get to look far, for just beside Koharu is a girl of some interest to his eye.

Before you judge him wrong, he isn't looking directly at her, but at the small hammer at her waist. Not big enough for combat purposes, which means she's a crafter. An aspiring blacksmith, huh? Seems Nezha hadn't ruined others from potentially taking on the profession as he feared it would happen. Unfocusing from the hammer, his eyes return to Koharu, just to see that girl talking to the other.

Oh no. There's the familiar sense of dread. Not of death, but helping others because Koharu is too kind for her own good. Granted, last time it was a fair trade; Sachi gave them lunch with no prior pretense, and Koharu agreed to pay her back by getting monster data for her and her party. Yes, Jaymes did help that Nijika girl on the prior floor, but that was his choice and it wasn't out of the good of his heart. If anything, he got something out of it by seeing a "dual wielder".

"No, I mean, you're part of the team trying to beat the game, right? I can tell just by your gear! It's written all over you." The girl turns to his direction, dark brown eyes partially hidden by short hair of the same color, and she has a white clip present at the front of the strands. She wears and red and white dress with a brown cloak over it. As she faces Jaymes, he figures out she's looking for an answer, right? She says they're part of the front lines based on their gear, which...well, Koharu's Bullstar must give it away, Jaymes' Azure Sky Sword is buyable on the first floor. She must have a good eye that he doesn't possess.

He nods and points to himself. "I took all the floor bosses down myself."

Koharu glares at her boasting partner. "While yes, you did take down Nerius, Kirito and Asuna took down the Kobold Lord on Floor 1, and the four of us took down Asterius on Floor 2. Don't get cocky."

The girl shrugs. "Who cares who got the last hit? You still were part of the battle, right? Sounds like you're good. Can I ask your names?"

"Koharu."

"Jaymes."

"Gotcha! I'll make a nice mental note of that. I'm Lisbeth. Nice to meet you both. I might not look it, but I actually run my own trade." Lisbeth picks up her hammer and twirls it in his right fingers. "We're still on the lower floors so it's not much, but I can forge weapons and armor."

Koharu gasps in awe. "You make your own weapons? That's so cool! Could Nezha do that?"

Jaymes shrugs. "Given that he had the blacksmithing skill, yeah, he could. But that wouldn't have gone in line with his...um, plan. As far as I'm concerned, Lisbeth here is the first true blacksmith."

Lisbeth giggles, enjoying the praise she thinks she's receiving. "Yeah, and I'm not half bad, either, But there are certain things you need when forging items, you see. No matter how much I level my crafting skills, without the right material to work with, I can't make anything. Having a stock of quality material is key to keeping my wares at their best."

Koharu nods in understanding. "Just like real life."

"I guess that way the stats take precedence over the skill of the craftsmen might make it harder than real life. Anyway, so I'm looking for high-grade material to make new weapons, which is why I came to this floor early on. And well... I have a favor to ask."

Jaymes crosses his arms, familiar with the question not asked yet. "You want us to get some?"

Lisbeth points at him. "Exactly! You're quick on the uptake, huh? You two wouldn't happen to be material farming pros, would you?"

"A spiky-headed loudmouth asks us a lot to farm mats."

Koharu giggles. "Kibaou can be pretty forceful."

"Sounds like you got put through a lot. I guess even you frontrunners have to deal with that sort of stuff, huh?"

Jaymes closes his eyes and lets his mind process Lisbeth's request. "That's not even a quarter of the trouble. As for you...hmm, we still need to run maintenance on our gear and resupply. That'll take a while. I don't know if you know, but the floor is 100% different from the beta, so maneuvering around is...well, it's a hassle..."

"Jaymes." He opens his eyes and sees his partner's pouty face, her cheeks inflated with air. He starts to fight her, but the pouting intensifies before he gets a word out.

Lisbeth interjects with a wave. "Relax, though. I'll make sure you're well rewarded. Allow me to service your gear as payment."

"We were just talking about checking this area out a bit anyway. We can do this as we go. Surely there's a good farming spot nearby."

Koharu is right, there should be a nice spot to farm not too far from town. The problem is the new monster types, but... He's intrigued to see Lisbeth's skill and hoping for a little revenge. Swiping his right hand, he begins to type out a message as he accepts Lisbeth's request. "...Count us in. Come on, Ko. I know a nice monster that'll make great materials."

"Really? Thank you very much! I think I have a list of materials I'll need. Here." Lisbeth hands Jaymes a parchment with a note written on it. He takes a look at it while Lisbeth continues, tapping the hilt of the mace hanging off her left side, just in front of the blacksmith hammer. "I'll...find some way to get everything else I need. I might be a blacksmith, but I can still handle myself in a battle."

"Are you sure?" Koharu asks.

Lisbeth nods. "Yeah, no sweat. Everyone on this floor is out hunting small fry to get upgrade materials. I should be able to scrape by no matter what party I join up with-" Lisbeth is interrupted by a prompt appearing in front of her. Confused, she looks at the sender-Jaymes. "What's this? A party invite?"

"We said we'll help...no, Koharu said she'll help and I'm just here for the payment of upgrades. So you might as well come with us." He said it with such finality that Lisbeth doesn't even fight back. Once the smith accepts, he faces his partner. "Koharu, disband from Kirito's party and rejoin me."

"Does Kirito and Asuna know?"

"They do. He's says to meet at the cafe on the inn's first floor around six o'clock if possible. And... Apparently, Asuna is making us swimwear, so she wants to know what you...uh, you get the gist." The message Jaymes received from Asuna after telling her that he and Koharu were going to go ahead and check things out while leaving the party temporarily was to tell Koharu to send Asuna her measurements, but there was no way he could say that. Not after what transpired earlier in the river when he was in near-indecent contact with the items to be measured. Koharu seeming got what he was leading towards, and Lisbeth looked intrigued by what was left unsaid, so he quickly changed the subject matter. "Ahem... All right, let's get a move on. Material hunting time!"

xxxxxxxxxxx

Two and a half hours later, the trio returns to Rovia. The mission was not only a success but a fruitful one. Before exiting town, they ran into Agil's group and temporarily merged. Lisbeth hit it off with one of Agil's friends, and they had a field day collecting materials from Scuttle Crabs, Dorsalfin Tadpoles (the fright Jaymes and company ran into earlier), and other mobs before calling it quits, and at a good time too. It's been over two hours since the floor opened, and Jaymes can now see members of the ALS and DKB making their way out of Rovia. Their mission, like Lisbeth's, is definitely 'first dibs' on new materials and levels.

"Muscle man there is nicer than he looks," Lisbeth says as she, Jaymes, and Koharu split from Agil and his guild. "Most of the people on the front are pretty mean. Sometimes even arrogant. It's a relief to meet someone who gets us blacksmiths."

Jaymes shrugs. "Well, prior events aside, Agil is right. You crafters will be the backbone of the front one day, if not very soon."

Koharu agrees. "Lisbeth, you really take smithing work seriously, huh? I hope we can ask you to make something for us someday."

"Yeah. I would like to see how good a Lisbeth-made weapon is."

Lisbeth gives a thumbs-up. "A blacksmith lives to hear those words. Hey, if I impress you enough, how about we make a deal?" Lisbeth steps up to Jaymes, which he was not thinking much off until she's inches from his body. She leans upon the tips of her toes to reach his right ear and whispers, "Make me your personal player-blacksmith, and I'll make sure to apply the special Lisbeth discount forever."

"O-Okay." Jaymes closes his eyes to recompose himself while Lisbeth drops back and tells Koharu the same thing, but not in the obviously flirty tone she spoke to him in. And here he was, thinking his chick magnet was forever broken. He didn't even turn it on. Well, he won't deny that Lisbeth is cute, not the princess-like radiance like Asuna (as much as it churns his stomach to admit it) or the cute "girl next door" vibe Koharu gives off (which is the type he's used to being around). Lisbeth definitely doesn't give off the "dangerous and alluring" aura either, not that he'll know it personally...and hopes he never meets it. Not the sisterly vibe, older or younger. It's hard to describe it... Oh, the redhead-girl vibe from anime. The tough-acting girl character, but in reality, they're more soft and girly than the other girls. Well, Lisbeth is lacking red or pink hair... She would look amazing with red or pink hair...

"Aincrad to Jaymes!"

He blinks twice as his ear rings with his name echoing in the inner chamber. He glances at Koharu, who looks displeased for some reason. "What?"

"You've been staring at Lisbeth for a while."

Lisbeth nods and, unless his now focused eyes are playing tricks on him, smirks slightly in his direction. "I was asking if I should keep my end of the deal and service your weapons, but it seems I've done a lot more than that today."

"I... I uhh..."

"Am I so beautiful that you've no words left?"

He's being teased by one girl and glared at by another. This is really the worst time. Taking a deep breath to quell both his mind and his hormones, he reaches for his sword. "W-Wait, I'm sorry for that. Yeah, let's do it." Lisbeth nods with a visible smile now and skips to a nearby alley free of players. There she takes a familiar carpet out of her inventory-the same merchant carpet Nezha had before he gave up the same, that item now belongs to Agil if Kirito did give the man the item-and quickly sets up. However, she doesn't do anything with her furnace, but reaches out for Koharu and Jaymes' gear. They hand them over, sword, dagger, and shield, and it takes Lisbeth about five minutes to complete any repairs needed for them. Next came their armor, which Lisbeth took less time to manage since the two had that maintainence down at the third-floor elf camp the night before the floor boss fight. But it gave Lisbeth some points to her skill, little it may be.

Once she given them a clean bill of health, she collects her carpet and faces her customers. "Thanks for the patronage. Let me know if you ever need to upgrade, craft, or repair anything. I'm sure NPCs are somewhat better than me, just by looking at your dagger, Koharu, but one day I'll surpass them."

Koharu nods. "We will! And if you ever need help collecting materials, we'll be glad to assist."

"Really? I mean, you two are frontrunners..."

"Ko's right," Jaymes says with affirmation. "Just send me a message, and if I can make time, I will come. I should help my personal blacksmith, shouldn't I?"

"Anytime?"

"Anytime."

"Oh, is that so? Even if it's the dead of night, and a lonely girl such as I desires the company of a strong warrior like you, Jaymes?" Scratch that, she is the "dangerous" type, but not sure she's "alluring" half of it, and hopefully he'll never find out. Whether it is due to his choked reaction or whatever face Koharu's making-she is now facing his partner-Lisbeth smiles again. "What a hero! Watch out, Koharu, your partner is going to make a girl's heart race with those words. I bet you know that well enough."

Jaymes sighs and pivots on his heel to walk out the alley. It's almost the appointed meeting time with Asuna and Kirito, and while he's sure Kirito wouldn't mind them being late given the prior messaging, he doesn't want to hear Asuna's scolding. He looks back at Lisbeth over his shoulder. "We gotta go, but as I said, let us know if you need anything, and anytime we need the expertise of a player that's a smith, we're your customers."

Lisbeth, void of all playfulness, reaches out her hand to Jaymes. "May this begin a beautiful business relationship and friendship on the side." Jaymes nods and shakes her hand, then she shakes Koharu's. Before they split, they exchange friend requests, then go their separate ways.

xxxxxxxxxx

Searching for the inn is short work, but the silence walking in front of him in the rowdy streets of Rovia makes the search feel like years has passed. If it was Koharu taking in the sights, it wouldn't bother him, bet her head is forward, untwisting, and definitely avoiding both facing and speaking to him. Did he do something? In his mind, the most offending thing he did was stare at Lisbeth, but that shouldn't make Koharu mad...right? He looks at Asuna all the time, sometimes unintentionally, and there was Kizmel when she cooked them breakfast that one day...actually, whenever she wore that nightgown, it automatically drew his eyes. He hasn't spoken to her about the time Kizmel entered his bath. That, he'll let SAO kill him before he tells Koharu he say Kizmel in all her glory.

And, of course, it isn't like he doesn't think of her as a girl. As a matter of fact, he strives to avoid such situations as to not put a strain on her trust of him. It's hard enough when you've been attached to someone like her for the past forty-five days. His avoidance of the mindset is a self-ingrained protective measure. The last time he got close to a girl and started developing those feelings, it was three years ago, and that girl left him behind by moving from America to Japan.

He'd be damned if the same thing happens with Koharu, so he sucks in air and steps in front of her before she can enter the inn. "Koharu. Are you mad at me?"

She looks down at their feet. "...I think so."

"Because?"

"I don't know. Just am."

"Did I do something with Liz that you didn't like? You can tell me off, but I swear I didn't mean it. I... I don't know what to say."

Koharu remains silent, then reaches for his wrist as he turns for the door. "Can I ask you a real-world question?"

"...Sure."

"How you are with Asuna...and me...and today with Lisbeth...are you like that in the real world?"

He feared that was the question, and steps away from the door and leads her two feet to the left. Backing against the window, he looks at the sea of players. A set of DKB players are hustling their way to the front of the gondola line through other players. Lisbeth's assessment of frontrunners couldn't be farther from the truth. "No. If anything, I haven't been this...sociable to anyone our age in three years, especially girls. At school back home and when I moved to Japan, I kept to myself because of...my background. My family is quite high-profile, especially in Japan, so you can imagine how popular I could've been with ease. But I rejected it as much as I rejected much of the things in my life... What about you? Would you stick around with a stranger, nevertheless a boy, for as long as you have?"

She shakes her head. "I guess not. I mean, I think I was pretty popular with boys. I...had my share of admirers since I was good at athletics and music. I have a brother six years younger than me, so I know how to be around them. I guess it comes from the fact I've been super focused on athletics and piano that I never cared much for them. I think you and Kirito are the first boys I've really liked being with... What happened three years ago?"

"I had a longtime childhood friend move away. No, she was my only real friend... Anyway, sorry if I made you mad. We should go inside now."

Koharu nods and pushes herself off the wall. As she strides in front of Jaymes, she faces him with a smile. "The three of us are your friends. So is Kizmel. Remember that."

Jaymes frowns at the mention of the elf NPC but keeps his negativity to himself. "Well, maybe they are, but you're not just my friend. We're partners, and that's more important."

Koharu smiles. "Right." Before she can touch the door, it's swung open from the inside, revealing Asuna and Kirito. "Oh, hey, we were just walking in."

"We're going to the food carts. Come, Koharu." As Asuna drags Koharu in line with her, the boys look at each other in equal confusion.

"What did you do to her?"

"Honestly, nothing... How were you and Koharu's time together?"

"Not much to talk about. Let's catch up."

In SAOIF, Koharu and us players meet Lisbeth on the fourth floor (as pictured above), and given the history of my writings on SAO begins with Jaymes and Lisbeth, it is only right I add their first meeting, done just slightly different. She'll physically return on Floor 6, so this isn't the last of our favorite blacksmith.

Speaking of Integral Factor, Floor 85 is a crazy floor with probably the best Koharu/MC moment since Floor 61. If you haven't played it, let's just say that they don't play about eating food lol.