Koharu

Koharu's newly extended party of five rowed the Tilnel to the southeast portion of Rovia, into the business district they passed through yesterday afternoon. Now with a gondola of their own, Kirito said they should visit the shops since they don't have to worry about paying. Jaymes and the newcomer Mito agreed, so she and Asuna followed their expert opinions. Koharu didn't say it, but she bet Kirito just wanted to explore now that he had that freedom but wanted to include the group.

"These accessories are so nice," Asuna says as she and Koharu are drawn to an accessories shop. Koharu silently agrees as she picks up a green and blue-colored beaded bracelet, the stones glistening in the sunlight. She turns around, looking for her partner, but he's interested in another shop - and apparently, Mito has a similar interest.

She turns away before those unnecessary feelings from yesterday with Lisbeth pop up again, and just remembering them puts pokes into Koharu's heart. She'll reiterate a point made in a prior conversation with Asuna before meeting Mito, she has no romantic feelings for her partner, but she will admit that she does feel possessive over him. She is his partner, after all. They've been together without fail for over forty days. Yet, she isn't foolish. For starters, he could leave her at any time and join up with someone stronger than her-Kirito, maybe even Asuna or someone else once their party ends. He promised her that they'll be together until the very end, whether it be death or liberation, but she won't be optimistic to believe that entirely, not because she doesn't trust his word.

If her weakness becomes a crutch for his development, she'll step aside and let him go.

"Hey, what would you say to upgrading your armor? You've been using that breastplate since the second floor, right?"

"That's true, but…I don't really want to increase the weight of my equipment. The ones with really high defense are all so heavy."

"Well, there's nothing you can do about that," Kirito speaks to Asuna, but it's probably for both of them to hear. Both girls only wear a thin breastplate, with the rest of their armor being made of leather. Koharu upgraded hers a bit on the prior floor before the fight with Nerius the Evil Treant and repaired by Lisbeth the day prior, so it should hold on for a while longer. Doesn't hurt to look around. "Take this for what it's worth, coming from a guy who wears nothing but leather and cloth. If you have the Light Metal Armor skill, why not make more use of the 'metal' part? You'll find that just switching your gloves or boots to studded or plated armor will make a big difference."

"Studded? Meaning…it has metal studs stuck in it?"

"Studs? You mean, like…those punk fashion spiky things?"

"I don't really understand. Can I see the real thing in a store before I decide?"

"Of course. Now, I think the recommended shop for the fourth floor was..." Kirito taps his temple and then points to somewhere between east and southeast. "That way, I think. There's a nice little restaurant tucked away there, so we can eat after we shop."

Jaymes convinced Koharu to upgrade to studded armor, so along with Asuna, she got a studded leather skirt, gloves, and boots. The metal "studs" were smooth, not spiky, so she didn't look ridiculous. Jaymes paid for the purchase he forced upon her, so she added an additional component to it - a cloak like Asuna's but longer and green. Something about it completes her.

It's definitely the hood. She's always loved wearing the hoods of her jackets, whether it is weather appropriate or not, and even inside. She hadn't felt the need to buy one in the last month and a half, but once she saw it, she snagged it.

She turns to her partner as the party of five completes their order for food of crab gratin and steamed clams to share amongst themselves. As the NPC waitress walks away, Koharu happily tugs down on her hood. "Thank you, Jaymes. I'll take good care of this."

"Huh? The cloak? It was Asuna's suggestion, right?"

"I didn't really suggest it, more like commented on how nice it'd look. Koharu took it to heart."

"I see. You're welcome. It looks nice."

Mito puts her arms on the table and narrows her eyes mischievously at Jaymes. "Just 'nice?' Jaymes, you seem smarter than you look. Complement the girl, she's your partner."

Jaymes hesitates with a head scratch, then sighs. "Well, yeah, she looks cute... Anyway, Asuna, what's the reason you choose little to no armor?"

Asuna forms a smirk. "Smooth... As a matter of fact, I've always had a dislike of really armory armor."

"Oh?" Kirito says. "Why's that?"

"It's heavy and bulky…and I always felt like wearing serious armor meant giving in and finally being a true resident of this world in body and spirit."

"What? But by that logic, your weapon would… Oh, does that mean you chose a rapier because you had fencing experience in real life?"

"No, not at all. But there was a similarly thin sword above the mantelpiece in my home growing up. When I was a kid, I took it down and swung it around. Boy, did I get in trouble for that."

Jaymes scratches his chin. "I saw something like that not too long ago when my family visited a friend of my father's. It was interesting. Anyway, continue."

"So…because of that, maybe I did think that the rapier had some kind of connection to my real self. Something just barely within the realm of acceptability…which is hilarious to consider, at this point." Asuna giggles at that point.

Kirito asks, "Then why the breastplate? Did you have one of those at home, too?"

"No way. This was my compromise between stubbornness and weakness. I didn't want to wear a big honking suit of armor, but I was too scared to go out of town in just clothing. Before I met you, I lost a lot of HP from kobold attacks in that first labyrinth tower, so it was probably a good thing that I got the armor after all."

Koharu notices Mito makes a tense face after hearing of Asuna's tryst in the first-floor labyrinth before Kirito saved her. Kirito and everyone else doesn't as he chuckles. "Nah." Koharu is sure Kirito is answering truthfully or partially feels Asuna's eyes on him. He lets out a long, slow breath afterward. "In this world, weakness and cowardice are practically virtues. You can never have a large enough safety margin."

"I don't want to hear that from someone with lighter armor than me." Kirito drops his head at Asuna's comment, which gets Koharu to chuckle. Of the five, Kirito has the least amount of armor. The girls all have studded armor at this point, and Jaymes has his shield as an additional piece to the basic light armor set. He spoke to her while shopping that he'll look for something called 'medium' armor, which provides better protection than light armor but without the clunkiness of heavy armor. He still seeks to be mobile yet sturdier.

"A-anyways, I'm going to be sure to keep this on at all times," Kirito looks up and speaks, pointing to his thin breastplate. "Don't be so picky about armor, Asuna. You want to cover that spot at the very least…Oh, and by 'that spot,' I mean your heart."

Asuna's smile has a certain chill that Koharu could never form. "Of course. You picked it out for me, so I'll take good care of it." Thankfully the food arrived before the air could get colder and the five dig in. Koharu takes not that Asuna's been happier overall since they arrived in the canal city. At the same time, she and Jaymes haven't been at odds as often as on the three prior floors.

Maybe a new member to their party is what they needed to smooth things out.

She spoke too soon. The five ventured out of town on the Tilnel to an underground dungeon the previous day, and now fifteen minutes after midnight, they're still inside the large dungeon.

"I swear if that thing breaks my ship, I'm going to kill you, Asuna!"

"I'm trying my best! And it's our boat!"

"Here comes the claw attack from the right, Asuna!" Mito and Asuna duck just as a giant crab's claw flies over their heads, grazing their hair. The boat, however, suffers damage. On the port side of the boat, Koharu can feel her partner's building anger. For someone who didn't seem too intrigued by the boat to help design it, Jaymes feels very attached to the Tilnel. That rage propels his sword through the Scuttle Crab they're facing, vanquishing it in one blow to its open mouth.

She and Jaymes faced these enlarged crustaceans with Lisbeth and Agil's group the day before. They're exactly how one knows a crab looks, just four yards long from pincer to pincer. They have an annoying bubble attack that causes some form of blindness effect unless the bubbles are washed away. At the same time, that attack needs to charge and exposes the crab's weak point, its mouth. Taking care of them on land the other day was not as dangerous or burdensome, for the players had mobility. This tiny boat, surrounded by water, and five beings scrambling in the space prevents optimal offense.

As Koharu looks to the right side of the Tilnel, Asuna fires off Streak, a diagonal slash attack, striking the mouth of the crab that struck their boat and reducing its health to slightly half. The boat then shifts to the right and forward. Kirito drives the horn of the Magnatherium into the fleshy belly of the crab. Heat is produced by the horn when struck, so steam rises from the water's surface at the time of contact. At the same time, the Scuttle Crab health shoots down to zero, and it explodes into polygons.

From his attack delay, Jaymes holds up a fist to Koharu; she bumps it with a grand smile. Once her delay is over, Asuna stands and flashes Mito and Kirito a V-for-Victory sign. She then takes a seat on the railing of the boat while Mito, Koharu, and Jaymes find other spots to take a well-deserved break. In front of them is the list of drops, which may be similar in materials: a few gems, a material called Great Crab Shell, and food ingredients, Great Crab Leg Meat and Claw Meat. Koharu herself isn't too interested in the food materials, though a cooking skill would be nice for many reasons. She loved cooking at home with her mom and preparing school lunches for herself and her little brother. While she's never cooked for anyone else...she wants to do it again, and who knows, maybe Jaymes can try her dishes.

Her cheeks redden at the thought, for this hasn't been the first time today food has made her feel this way.

Ten hours ago back at the restaurant, both pairs of boys and girls split a dish of steamed clams and crab gratin. Mito had her own food and said nothing as the boy-girl pairs of Kirito-Asuna and Jaymes-Koharu ate their fill. It wasn't until Asuna started to feel embarrassed that Mito finally said something along the lines of "'I didn't know you and Kirito were so close.'"

Mito was teasing her friend, of course, but indirectly that made Koharu a little self-conscious. The scythe wielder didn't turn the tables on the other pair, but Koharu felt it. Yet...at the same time, it's too late to think of the consequences. Jaymes and Koharu are not romantically involved, but they have been together since the game began, eaten from the same plates many times, shared the same sleeping space, and recently the same bed. In the beginning, being with a boy made her uncomfortable, yet after more than a month, its second nature to do those things.

The encounter yesterday with Lisbeth and Koharu's feelings about it hasn't evaporated either, but she doesn't believe it is due to some romantic feelings for the red warrior. But if such a thing did happen, it wouldn't be the weirdest thing, right? Despite that, she wants to dote on her partner from time to time, as he's always doing for her like when he bought her the new set of armor and the food today.

"Oh, there's a door to the right..."

"...and it's another dead end," Jaymes says softly, though its foundation is filled with frustration. It seems Koharu's thoughts carried on for a couple of minutes as the Tilnel comes to another end of a path.

As planned, the crew of the Tilnel waited for the boat the shipwright spoke of. Around four-thirty, they found a big gondola docked in Rovia's market area that matched the given description. Big enough to fit more than ten people, only four men ever entered the boat, the rest of the space filled with boxes. Two men rowed the boat at both ends, while the other two stood at the prow and played guard. Eventually, the boat took off and set off towards the south gate out of town. The Tilnel set off on its maiden voyage beyond Rovia, and they entrusted Kirito to keep up with the surprisingly maneuverable ship in front of them. He did fine for being on an unfamiliar route to the submerged dungeon, but after encountering their first Scuttle Crab, they've been lost ever since.

That was six hours ago. It is why Asuna, Jaymes, and everyone else expresses different levels of frustration. Asuna, the inexperienced, goal-oriented person, was at one extreme. Kirito, one of three expert gamers and the explorer of those three, sees the dead end differently. "W-well, at least there's usually a treasure chest at most dead ends."

"Probably just more rusty swords and armor…"

"Not a bad thing," Mito chimes in. "Rusted gear, once appraised by a blacksmith, can be better than you think. Of course, the chances of that are one in a hundred."

"Yes, yes, I get it…No, wait, stop!" Kirito promptly halts the boat after Asuna throws her left hand out.

"Wh-what is it?"

"I think there's a big space up ahead. And…I hear a whole lot of voices coming from up there."

Jaymes joins Asuna at the front of the ship, leaning over with her. After a silent ten seconds, he stands straight and turns to Kirito. "Approach slowly."

"Got it." Kirito pushes the oar carefully as the rest of the crew crouches at the prow. Koharu keeps her eyes and ears sharp as the Tilnel passes the door into a dark waterway. She keeps her right hand on her dagger, sheathed behind her back, in case monsters decided to make their presence known. Nothing happens as they come towards an open area with multiple possible paths. Without a word to anyone, Kirito stops the Tilnel right before they enter the open space.

Koharu scans the area quietly. The open area is a half-circle hall with five or six alternate waterways connecting to it. Directly on the opposite side of them is a flat wall with a wide staircase leading to a higher level and a pier below. Docked on that pier, as a gasp from Asuna indicates, is the boat they spent six hours trying to find again.

At the pier are the four men unloading the boat, while taking the crates from them are warriors in gray leather armor and scary masks. Thin and tall, they are quite imposing, but furthermore, they have long ears...like elves.

"They're Fallen Elves," Kirito identifies.

"Fallen Elves?" Mito questions. "Are they like the elves I heard you four encountered on the previous floor?"

Koharu remembers that Mito was up to date on the four's troubles because Argo told her before she joined the group. "They are, but as enemies. We didn't encounter them until the end of the questline on the third floor. According to what the commander told us, Fallen Elves are descendants of elves who tried to gain immortality with the magic of the Holy Tree, and were banished accordingly. It seems they're a common enemy to Forest and Dark Elf alike. They must have their own plans for the Jade Key that we kept with Kizmel."

"Forgetting that for a moment, why are they here?" Jaymes looks to Kirito, the question written too well on his face.

"I don't remember ever running across the Fallen here. In fact, this dungeon didn't even exist in the beta."

Mito nods. "True. We both made it far in the beta, so we'd known about this dungeon. Yet, like this floor, everything is different."

"Meaning…this is all part of one self-contained quest? Or does it fall under the umbrella of the campaign?"

"…I don't know. But I can say that I fought Fallen Elves on several occasions in the beta, and I never once saw them cooperating with human NPCs like this."

"I don't like it…If those sailors are with Rovia's Water Carriers Guild…then the guild itself could be aligned with the Fallen Elves." Asuna statement is worrisome for Koharu, but nothing they've heard before suggests such. All they know is that the Water Carrier's Guild monopolized the waterways of Rovia and only their gondolas can leave town. Asuna has made nothing more than an assumption.

An assumption worth investigating. "There's only one thing to do. Search those boxes."

"Well said, Ko, but I don't think that'll be smart, At least not right now," Jaymes says as he leans closer to her, pointing at the pier. "For one, those sailors might become hostile if we make a move. I'm sure the five of us can win with ease, though."

"You don't have a problem hurting the sailors, Jaymes?"

Jaymes responds to Mito's question indignantly. "No, I don't have a problem killing 1s and 0s. They're not real people. But I'd prefer the alternative for our safety."

"Not alive, huh... Do you share that sentiment, Koharu? That the NPCs of this world are not alive?"

Koharu feels Mito asks the loaded question to get a rise out of Jaymes or prove a point. Koharu herself doesn't have an answer yet, but she does think about prior encounters with NPCs. Are they alive in the sense Jaymes implies? No, of course not. Yet Mito doesn't speak of their world, but of Aincrad...or that's what Koharu assumes. In that case...the lore of Aincrad is that the players are people from another world, and the people here are of this floating fortress. So, in one way or another... "To a degree, I have to disagree with Jaymes. I don't have a certain answer, but I can't say they're nothing but data."

Mito smiles and glances forward. "Interesting."

Jaymes sighs and shakes his head. "Trust me, this world is as artificial as any other game. But have your own opinions, I can respect that."

Koharu knows Jaymes has a dislike for artificial intelligence, though the origin of why is unknown. Yet he has never spoken ill of NPCs before...yet the few "humanlike" ones have thrown him off. For the moment, he's keeping his dislike of that group.

"They're coming this way," Asuna panics, and that causes Koharu to focus on the scene ahead of them. With the unloading done, the four sailors have departed from the pear and head towards the tunnel the Tilnel rests in. Kirito quickly mans the oar and pushes the small gondola in reverse to the other side of the tunnel, where they first thought the current path was a dead end at a door. Kirito hops to the nearby dock and instructs the others in the boat watching in confusion.

"The rope!" Asuna caught on first and assisted Kirito with the rope. In the meantime, Jaymes opens the door and ushers Mito and Koharu inside. Kirito and Asuna enter after him.

"A storeroom...and no loot," her partner says in disappointment.

"Does it even matter if we hide in here? Won't they just see the Tilnel outside?" Asuna whispers as she softly shuts the door.

"Good point, but there's no other escape for us. If they float past without noticing, great, and even if they disembark, they can't destroy the unmanned boat while it's tied up."

"But what if they come in here?"

"Then we'll just have to hide..."

"Well, this could work, but..." Mito holds us a large, loose cloth-like material and hands it to Kirito. He taps it to pop up a property window. He gestures to Jaymes to come to him, and the red swordsman reads the description aloud.

"'Argyro's Sheet. A cloth made of silk from a rare aquatic spider. This cloth will hide anything it covers, but only in a place surrounded by water.' Ah, I see."

"Let's hurry!" The two boys, the sheet in their hands, dart out the room after silently telling the girls to stay behind. Seconds later, they return and close the door.

Mito smiles as she leans against a shelf, shaking her head with a smile. "Koharu, Asuna, as dangerous as things are, this is why you explore every nook and cranny in a dungeon. If we had this before entering that tunnel, we wouldn't need to sneak around as we did."

"Let's shoot for a hundred percent map completion next time," Kirito vouches with a cheeky grin, only to get an elbow from Asuna as she joins him and Jaymes at the door. Moments pass and the three don't move a muscle. Koharu doesn't have to hear or see what's happening to know that the sheet completely covered the gondola, that the sailors on the larger one did not spot it, and a minute later, they're completely in the clear. Of course, her heart was beating a mile a minute, so she wasn't completely confident in their luck.

"Ahh... I don't like these...what do you call them? Stealth quests?"

"The tension is so much higher in a VRMMO... If you hadn't noticed the special properties of that cloth, they'd have found us."

"Yeah. That's all you, Asuna."

Asuna looks at Kirito and Mito in conflict. "Wh-who cares about that? What's our plan now? Will we follow the ship again?"

"No... I'm guessing it'll just go right back to Rovia." Kirito makes a few motions indicating he's looking at his system window, invisible to the rest of the group, and then makes the swiping close motion. "Looks like we still need to find out what's inside those wooden boxes."

"That's just dandy," Mito responds, toying with the scythe held on her shoulder. "Though it'll be no fun sneaking around instead of busting through loud and proud."

"The stealth mission continues. If you're tired, we can probably turn back to town and resume tomorrow. What do you think?" Kirito asks the group, though the question is more pointed towards Asuna and Koharu, as the more experienced gamers seem to be used to multiple late-night sessions in a row.

Asuna immediately refuses. "Thanks, but I'm fine. I'd rather not have to fight all those crabs and turtles and shellfish again."

"Good point," Jaymes says, then he looks at Koharu and places a hand on her shoulder. "It's going to be another late night. You think you can handle it again, Koharu?"

Koharu nods. "I'll be fine."

"Let me know if that changes. Okay, on you, Kirito."

"Let's put in some more good work, then."