Ok, if you guys wanna judge me for this, please feel free. I am disappointed to have halted this story for so long. Third-year university is such a slap to the much easier second year. So whatever I may have said about a posting schedule, please forget that from now on. I will still be continuing this story, no matter how long it may take me, but I can't promise anything about the date of the next chapter. I can only work on it when life gives me a quick break, and when writer's block has its mercy on me as well.
For this chapter, don't expect anything much of quality I'd say. I'm kind of iffy about this chapter as well, unsure if it is great or just meh. This is a lot of build-ups for later events, and really just a few explanations and insights into things we see in canon, so that may interest you. If you want to criticize my writings for this chapter, feel free.
Again, my sincere apologies for the delay, and thank you to those who are still reading my story right now.
Chapter 14: Mother's Rosario
May 13, 2023
"Say, do you think this move would be easy to dodge?"
Using the magical elasticity of bones and muscles, Yuuki bent her two knees sharply as her torso shifted around like a swinging pendulum, whilst her blades left an elliptical vacuum in its wake, strong and wide enough to cut me into three if I was unfortunate enough to stand in its path. It was a good move I would say, though it didn't seem like something that could be combined with another move to form a combo. The swing already looked powerful enough for a sword skill of its own, and it was pretty difficult to regain your stance after the move. And Yuuki's definitely not looking for one simple move like that. Though I may make use of it
"I don't think so." I gave her my honest assessment. "But it's more single move rather than combo-potential, so I think it is better suited for two-handed weapons."
"Hmm…yeah." The procession of my words seemed to seep through to her senses. I then suggested her to test that on the indestructible dummy to calculate the damage. I wasn't too certain, but pretty enough that it was pretty high end powerful, to both the blade and the target.
My up and down delays with real-life stuff and our combined farming and leveling our sword skills together in the last few weeks had recently paid off. Now both Yuuki and I are now capable of creating our own original sword skills to work with. It wasn't exactly that big of an achievement, in fact, so many people had already accomplished it and are now utilizing their creative minds to create deadly combos, but it was for me in a way. It felt like a milestone in a journey. And without even any hesitation, Yuuki had already jumped the gun to try and create her own sword skills. In the last few days, we had toyed with a couple of moves already, and some of which I was quite confident it could work in a player versus monster situation. Normally I'd just be satisfied with it and move on, but the purple-haired energy ball of the group still insisted on making the original sword skill…more original. Well, the greater the expert, the higher the bar it seemed.
"Hirano-kun!"
While watching Yuuki from afar, a shout caught my ears. None of the Sleeping Knights actually called me that informally, so it was pretty easy to predict who that was.
"Good morning Satsuki. Seems like you have mastered the art of not ramming onto my back." The braided Undine girl landed right beside me just in time for the greeting. And to no one's surprise, she immediately walked right up to me to push my face away.
"Don't fret. One day I'll ram that back of yours onto the ground." She acutely remarked.
"As an archer?" I scanned over her costume and equipment, which consisted of a triangular-shaped Asian-style bow, with golden string. It looked pretty neat and simple, though I've never seen the bow before in the category before. "You have a long way to go."
"I have the pleasure to be helped by some of the best players in this game, so the road's shorter than you think?" She retorted. Already making connections already? She probably isn't as shy as I thought.
"Better than Yuuki-kun there?"
"Well…" She hesitated a little as she glanced over to the little girl energetically slashing the dummy. "I'm not sure, but comparable. I've been hitchhiking on her party for a while now. She's great."
"Undines like you too?" I curiously asked, and she nodded. To even rival Yuuki? I surely would like to meet these people. And probably Yuuki as well.
"But anyway, what brings you here today?" I changed the topic.
"I just tested out that concept that I came up the other day." She replied. "You know, trying to fuse spells into an arrow."
Oh that one. That's rather…interesting. I'd like to see more of that actually. You typically need a wand for spells to be casted, but there are no rules that says you can't hold too many items in your hands.
"How about you? I assume you're training or something with Yuuki-san."
"I'm making my own sword skills." I said.
"Wait, what do you mean by make? You can?" Satsuki seemed awed. Well, for a newbie, I could expect so.
"Yeah, though that's later down the road. I'm mostly done though. It's just Yuuki who's not."
I would admit, her desire to seek perfection with her technique is something to be admired. As an artist, I knew the feeling. You could never be satisfied with your own work, and even if you could surpass everyone with your own expertise, there just seemed to be that invisible force that tells you it's not enough. It normally is portrayed to be a bad thing, but it is good in its own way if you know how to utilize it.
"Now that I actually think about it, I haven't seen you in a while IRL. How's life going?" Satsuki brought it up. My life? There's a lot to say…
"Well, I could talk all day about it." I laughed a little. In earnest though, it wasn't something I did just to keep my politeness. "But long story short, my family visited, I have an in-home nurse and now I'm looking forward to joining the art competition in college."
Ever since things really took for the better. And I'm glad for that.
"Nice. I'm glad you are enjoying yourself." Satsuki said. "What art competition though?"
Oh yeah, now speaking of that…
"It's something called the Annual Exhibition for Young Talents. As the name suggests, it is for artists to compete." I explained. "The stakes are typically high as I heard."
It's due in 3 weeks from now. I had somewhat started with the framing and part of the sketching. The rough idea and core theme of the picture were there, but I hadn't really fully commit much to it. Half the time I had was already gone. It surely wouldn't take that long anyway, but this is a serious competition, so I ought to set myself respectively to that.
Though what happened to that vow I made with myself about trying to give it my best shot? I surely did whenever I sat down in front of the canvas for sure. I never sat down without that rush, the feeling of ideas, of cognitive gates opening to let the tidal waves of ideas, stimulation, and inspiration to flow in. But in that case, I should have had most of that work finished by now. That white canvas should be a masterpiece at least.
"I probably need to get going with that soon."
Now that I thought about it, it wasn't because I wasn't devoted enough to my work and my words. I didn't want to admit it, but it was because of her.
"Hirano-san!"
All my time available. They were all spent on the fun of life with her. And it was fun indeed. Yuuki is a wonderful person, along with the entirety of the Sleeping Knights, but I forgot that life wasn't going to reward me for just living the moment. I was a nineteen-year-old - no longer the naive and playful high schooler I was a few years prior. I had so many responsibilities to fulfill and work toward now. And that in itself could not be achieved by simply wasting it away in what is called the moment's fun, under the justification of stress relief.
I had to dive into the ashes if I wanted to get it done. For as long as I could withhold. ALO could be left for later when I had done as best as I could, not when I had done enough.
I turned around to Yuuki, who was rushing up enthusiastically to me, seemingly had something up her sleeves.
"Yeah? What's your assessment?"
"I've decided to make it my own sword skill. It seems like a formidable move to be unleashed." Yuuki replied as she slowed down in her approach.
"Hmm, I'm kind of skeptical of the effectiveness." To my honest skepticism, I said. "But then again, you're holding a seven hundred prerequisite weapon and killed over thirty people, while I had my butts handed to a burly Gnome. Your assessment is perhaps much better than mine."
"It's not like you're entirely wrong." Yuuki showed her support to my claim. "You wouldn't know until you try it."
"You're probably right." And I really had nothing to disagree. But was that really it though? She still hadn't fully created that sword skill yet I believed.
"Oh, it's Florence-san!" Yuuki finally noticed the familiar acquaintance: the witness to our childish bickering the other day. "How are you doing?"
"I'm good, thank you Yuuki-san." Satsuki, or rather Florence in this game, replied, as polite and respectful as ever. "I was just passing by today. Do you mind if I join in on your training?"
"A friend of Hirano-san is always welcomed! Do you want me to teach you anything?" Yuuki cheerfully replied.
"I'm good, thank you Yuuki-san. I'd just watch you guys like last time."
"Suit yourself!" She replied. "But man, I'm still stuck at creating the perfect set of moves. It has to be smooth, powerful, accurate and leaves no room for my opponent to counter!"
"Well, that's practically impossible." I remarked bluntly. "It is like a multi-scale seesaw, so it can't be all of them…I'd say just focus on one."
"Hmmm…I guess that's true…but there's just this strange feeling of imperfection that it ticks me off."
"Like what?"
"The feeling when someone would be able to counter it, no matter how hard I tried. I know that's something that always happens, but when theorizing these skills, it still bothers me."
It's kind of hard to blame that actually.
"...Guys, I have a suggestion." Florence shyly raised her request for a voice. And granted when we both ceased our discussion to turn over to her. "How about you guys duel each other out?"
We both glanced at each other curiously to her suggestion. Dueling…hmmm, it wasn't a bad idea. I kind of got it already.
"Last time I enjoyed seeing you guys fight each other." She said as she held her bow closely to her. "It's refreshing to see, and I learned a lot from watching your moves and skills with the sword, although I don't really use swords myself."
I glanced over to Yuuki, who had just exactly the same look as me, as she gave a shrug and a confident smile. Same thought. So we're gonna duke this out again like two cavemen? Ok, fine by me!
Both of us moved apart from one another for a distance before turning to look at each other to confirm their readiness.
"You want flights?" I asked.
"Hmm…nah. I'd love a close-up confrontation. I mean that's what most duels and boss fights are, right?" She replied, to which most were on point that I had nothing to protest against, and nothing to disagree too.
"Alright, works for me." It sucked a little that I lost around half of the space to wiggle around, but this wasn't supposed to be a fair duel anyway. It's an inspiration duel, pardon my terrible terms. It's the same kind of thing with writings or paintings. You gotta get on the driver's wheels to get something out of it.
I unsheathed my blade attached to the small rope wrapping around the sword's hilt. It wasn't the old Swiss Saber anymore though. This baby, instead, was the patronage to me and Yuuki's hard work that day, though I'd admit she did so much more than I did.
Once the rope was loosened, I slid the sword clear in the open. A trademark green silhouette dictated its identity. Blade of Grass. A particularly unique and secret weapon that could actually bend the blades themselves, like a western fencing sword. However, it was quite comparable to Yuuki's Obsidian Crusader, with much less damage dealt per hit, but it was incredibly light, so I could easily dish out a motherload of slashes and stabs if my hand is capable of it, making the damage output just the same or even more than Yuuki's weapon given good hand. But the important fact was that you could play it hybrid between a normal two-sided edge blade and the fencing sword. Yeah, you could actually use the edges to slash, even though it is bendable. I didn't know how much pseudo-physics was involved, but that was just ridiculous synergy. No wonder why this is such a hidden weapon, and obtainable only once. Having it obtainable by normal quest or via purchase is just a recipe for disaster.
Unlike last time I saw her fight, she didn't reverse grip her blade. But instead she let one arm loose behind her, whilst her sword-wielding arm simply pointed the blade a little pointing forward at me. It did look like a more natural pose to sword fighting than her reverse grip, but it wasn't something I was familiar with.
"I thought you'd be more aggressive Hirano-san." Yuuki commented as I got battle-ready. Oh, I get it…
"This isn't an honor duel, remember?" I replied. "You said you wanted an offensive move, didn't you?"
"Aww, you remembered that." Yuuki seemed touched by the small gesture. "Well then…"
Her pose changed swiftly. She impressively spun her blade around her palm, before it stopped with the blade pointed directly at my face.
A nerve shot up my brain. A sign of impending doom. And the next thing I realized was that the distance between me and her was now only inches apart. And her blades even closer.
Out of pure instinct, I slammed my blade onto hers. An uncomfortable defense for sure. I had, again, lost my initiative, and I had to get it back. Fast.
Without even considering the consequences, my free hand latched onto Yuuki's blade directly. Then, with my other hand on my Grass Blade stopping the weapon, I pulled my two hands in two opposite directions, instantaneously freed my weapon and gave me the needed initiative, at the cost of a couple of health.
I immediately lunged my sword at Yuuki, taking full advantage of my weapon's elasticity, spun the entire blade around in a conic shape. Yuuki, having a little taken aback by my sudden violent countermeasure, hurriedly parried my entire blade away before taking a step back, setting her body sideways to me. There, she readied another strike against me. Or rather multiple strikes.
One horizontally from the right side. I quickly met it by bringing the strong point of my blade to stopped it right at its track. One diagonally right to left, to which I repeated. Then all of a sudden she quickly retracted her blade before attempting a full-frontal stab, with both hands on the hilt. To which I barely avoided. I was forced to basically punch Yuuki's weapon away with my own, meanwhile sidestepping to hopefully get out of the way of the weapon before steel meets flesh.
"Hmph…" Yuuki huffed, though it didn't seem to be directed towards me. After regaining her balance, she turned around to me, then up to Florence, then back to me.
"You have something?" I asked, to which she shook her head a bit hesitantly.
"...I don't know. I'll see if I have anything." She said, before getting back to her battle-ready posture. The brief moment of chat and non-tension ended abruptly as Yuuki zipped a beeline straight at me with her weapons ready to bring me the one-minute countdown of revival time. Though this time both I and she realized something.
"Haaaahhhh!"
Instead of a solid combination of sword movements, Yuuki instead devoted almost her entire time attacking me with her flurries of sword stabs. It would have been easy handiwork if I had a shield here, but unfortunately, I ditched that long ago. And for that, I dearly struggled to parry her attacks. The first, second stabs I was still keeping up, but from then on each of them either took strands of my white hair at best or scuttled my health pool at worst. A few of them even made direct hits on my chest armor.
'Shit. Not having any air maneuvers is a pain.'
I repeatedly went into full-reverse, and Yuuki kept pushing on like a predator. I did try a couple of counterattacks here and there, but they were mere desperate attempts. Yuuki knew these attacks too well and parried them all. And not before long, one of my pathetic attempts at retaliation was countered by a violent crash, and then pushed away by a skillful hand rotation, giving Yuuki all the openings she wanted to cut me to pieces. And no, unlike last time, she wasn't going to spare me. I could see it in her eyes.
And that moment, I saw the combo that would echo into infamy among ALO players.
Ten. That was the number of times my chest had been pierced. Two to my shoulders. Two to my hips. Four surrounding the two overlaps that shot through the heart. I felt my health bar taking a complete nosedive. From healthy green to dangerous red, and it was guaranteed to deplete in any second now. But not letting a beautifully and perfectly executed combo go to ruin, Yuuki turned her entire body around, with the grace of a ballet dancer, her long purple hair dazzling in the motion, and her sword ferocious with the potential. It pierced my body one last time, exactly where my impressed heart is supposed to be, completing the beautiful combo, and completely ended me as well.
The health bar disappeared, and I felt my entire body disintegrate into nothingness. The hands, the feet, and then my chest. It wasn't a feeling I hadn't experienced before, but this time, there was something really different about it. Something that didn't make me feel disappointed whenever I die, but in fact…satisfied.
It was the same feeling I wanted to see, before my eventual departure.
"...You've got it, haven't you?"
And with that, I dissipated into the air. The only thing remained was the viridescent green flame.
Eventually, though, I was quickly brought back to life thanks to Yuuki, saving me the lengthy journey back here. Though before I could even feel my own flesh again, Yuuki was already up at my throat, trying to share her never-ending excitement with me.
"Eleven hit combo. I can't wait to see this being revered among the ALO community!" Yuuki excitedly exclaimed.
"Didn't you always." I replied, snarkily, but still benignly amused. "Thanks to you, I've been completely overshadowed into obscurity."
"Now remember, don't ever stay with this girl ever," I turned over to Florence, who had been watching the fight since with that big impressionable puppy eyes. "If you want to gain some popularittttyy."
Ow!
Something was clamping down on my squishy cheeks like a crab's claw. Thanks to the pain reduction system, the whole thing felt less of a menace than it should have. But someone was still trying to mold my mouth like a pizza in the making, so it didn't make it any less of an inconvenience.
"And don't listen to this guy ever," Yuuki pressed her face close to mine, also turning toward my friend. "If you want to be popular to begin with."
"Aaatt lleaasstt II'm qquuiitte ggoodd allreaddyy." I slurred, Yuuki still grabbing hold my cheek tightly.
"Ehehe." The braided Undine giggled a little, seemingly amused by this sort of behavior. "Sorry Hirano-kun, but I'll listen to Yuuki any day."
What?!
Really Satsuki? Ditching your good friend like that?!
"Oh, I see how it is." I bitterly admitted, as Yuuki finally let me go. That I got ganged up on because I'm the only guy here. I get it! "Ok, I've lost. You guys happy?"
"I sure am!" Yuuki proudly puffed her chest. "Cause I've successfully pressed your buttons, haven't I?"
…Yeah, she definitely did. A direct hit. It is super effective!
"But anyway." I turned the topic away. "Are you gonna record it anytime soon, now that you've figured it out?"
"Ah yeah," Yuuki uttered. "I'll do it now when the iron's still hot."
"Sure." I couldn't help but smile, as she nodded before skittling over to the training dummy earlier. She figured a beautiful combo in the middle of combat, executed it perfectly on me as well. I knew I said this countless times already, but she was indeed a professional-level player, outclassing me in every single way, strong enough to even find elegance and beauty in her very own expertise.
"You seem like you already miss her, Hirano-kun."
Satsuki said, half-teasingly, but her tongue was genuinely sweet and full of curiosity.
"I won't say that I don't." I had to admit. She was the source of all my fun and inspiration to continue my days, so not getting to see her as usually as it should be was a bit of a downer. "But it's not like it's going to be a long time. It's just three weeks, and I'll probably still pop in once in a while."
"Still…" She pressed further. "I think back of the first duel I saw between you and Yuuki. You aren't really just friends with her, are you?"
My shy introverted friend. What happened to that side of you now? And why was I always surrounded by mischievous women?
But was I really in love?
'No no no.'
Even if I did, it would still be awkward. Yuuki was 15. I was 19. While four years of a gap wasn't abnormal, the fact that she was still technically considered underage was the issue.
"Ohh, don't give me that look."
The look judging me as a lolicon. And besides, who knows if my feelings towards her were merely admiration or genuine romance. If I couldn't fully comprehend this, then no one could.
"But I can see why she's such a good match for you."
"Hmm? I don't think it's as simple as being able to entertain me."
Satsuki shook her head, seemingly mocking my own ignorance.
"No. It's because she's an empathetic girl."
Huh?
Empathy? How did she-
"How do you know?"
"Remember I once said an Undine girl who helps me with the game?"
"Yeah?"
"That girl happened to be one of your guildmates, Siune. She didn't tell me exactly what was going on, but I could tell from her own attempts at hiding things from strangers. It was like Yuuki and you."
No wonder…we were probably too similar to each other.
"So I just had a pretty strong basis for a guess."
I laughed wholeheartedly.
"I don't know what exactly was going on either. And I think she doesn't as well" I said, looking at Yuuki. "But we all get each other. So I guess you're right. I'm impressed."
Satsuki followed me soon after; a cute giggle and a kind little smile. A reminder of one good friend I had. I was glad to stumble across this girl that day in college.
"Hehehe. You're welcome." She thanked. "And also, if you don't mind."
"Hmm?" My eyebrows piqued.
"I wanna get to know her a little better. T-Though I don't really need guild membership…I just wanna hang around her for a bit."
Then it turned wavy as I questioned her curious motive.
"Why do you ask me? I'm not her parent."
"You know…" She rolled her eyes over to the purple-haired girl at the corner, still recording the sword skill. Ohh…
I pushed her head away from me jokingly. That was probably not a good influence, from whoever she got it from, but whatever.
Not before long, Yuuki finished her recordings and was tooting her way back to the two of us. She looked happy. Probably a good recreation I guess.
"You got it?" I asked
"Yup!" She answered happily. That's good to hear. "But I haven't named the skill yet. So far it has only been OSS No 10."
"Naming things are difficult I know…Hmm" I thought to myself. What she created was an 11-hit sword skill that resembled the letter X, with two hits at the epicenter. I'd imagine some name that had something to do with that. 'X Marks the Spot'? Nah, not befitting such a beautiful sword skill. 'Realm Divide'? Well, debatable, but it's not like you were cutting the poor guy to small little pieces anyway, but sounded cooler no less.
Yuuki stared at me for long, only interrupted by a few eye glances sideway. Then a smile on her face as she said.
"I think I'll name this skill Mother's Rosario."
Mother's…Rosario?
"What…does that mean?" I was confused. Rosario. Is that even a word?
"Ehehe. It's a puzzle for you to figure out~" She sweetly told me. "If you haven't, then I'll tell you at one point."
Oh god, that sort of thing again. What deep meaning worth a masterpiece was she hiding here? To be fair it was worth a masterpiece, but still, I was the one who helped her develop the skill. I deserved to at least be told about it.
"Well ok~" I shrugged my hands as my eyes rolled like a planet's orbit. Prying her on it was just asking for more trouble.
And so, Mother's Rosario was officially a sword skill. If I wasn't mistaken, that would qualify as the longest player-made combo in the entire game. I didn't know how effective it would be, but still a record to be marveled at. But hey, what was I surprised at? It's Yuuki Konno we're talking about.
For being the one who witnessed the creation of such masterpieces, I'd also love to see how it'd fare on dueling ground, but unfortunately…
"So many thanks for today, Hirano-san!" Yuuki, like a lottery winner, cheerfully showed her appreciation to me. "For your favor today, I'll buy you a treat to the Tremble Shortcake later when you get back into the game again!"
Urgghhh…
"That's now a funny gag for you, huh?" I said.
No joking. Even if someone buys that thing for me as a treat, I'd still guilty.
"Hahaha. Come on!" Yuuki laughed. "You're with the top 1% of ALO's society right now, you don't have to feel bad!"
"What is that?" Satsuki gently chimed in.
"That's a cursed food item in this game. Worth around two hundred times your rent in this game." I turned around.
"...That's uhhh…" She was a bit stunned by my estimation. And once her mental calculation was complete, her jaws had seemed to drop. Yeah...no.
"Sorry, we're only middle-class citizens. We'll never understand that feeling."
And besides…
"Besides, I'll probably have to take a break from this game a little bit."
At that moment, her grin quickly disappeared.
"Why, Hirano-san?" She asked, frowning yet didn't seem angered or anything.
"I have real-life things to attend to." I said. "In particular, I have an art contest to attend 3 weeks from now."
"An art contest?" Yuuki's eyes flashed up again. "So you're taking my words for it, huh?"
"Pfft, yeah." I nodded profusely. "I'm trying things out. I don't know how it will turn out, but…I'll try."
"Mhm." Yuuki's smile radiated again, but this time with so much less enthusiasm. Three weeks wouldn't sound like a big deal for people like me, but for Yuuki, it could be a long time, considering she only had this game as her life.
"If anything, you'll have my friend, Florence, who'll accompany you." I turned around again, to which Satsuki nodded.
"If you don't mind me of course."
Yuuki flashed her a reassuring smile.
"No no no, Florence-san. I absolutely welcome you! Feel free to drop by our clubhouse or send me a message if you wanna hang out. It's just…"
Her head dropped a little.
"It'll be less lively at the Sleeping Knights without you. It has been so fun that I forgot how long you've been in this guild, or that you don't share our schedule." She said. "But we'll be cheering for you Hirano-san. Be sure to bring in the first prize home!"
But her thumbs-up still erupted with cheer. To which I felt a weird surge of confidence within me.
"Alright! Watch me win it then!"
My feeling of uncertainty seemed to vanish, even if the first prize was really a huge boulder to move. But for that moment, even with my body broken up piece by piece by ALS, I still felt I could move mountains with my talents.
"Good night, Hirano-san."
Yuuki waved. And I waved back. The wings behind me materialized. I flew away to my inn, where I would log out of the games. For three weeks. And already I missed her. All the time we had together. It felt so fun, so relaxing. I had wanted it to last. But I knew at the time that it couldn't. There was still a life to live. Now it would be just three weeks now, but it would be much longer once I come out to the working world. Or maybe even worse than that.
But it would be a life worth living. I'm sure of it.