Aincrad, Sword Art Online (Lv. 6, Flooded Forest) December 24, 2022
The air of the rainforest was humid, cold, and eerily quiet and the pitter-patter of millions of raindrops could be heard splashing into the nearby river.
The faint splashes of water could be heard from the deeper parts of the river, signaling the presence of dangerous predators, accompanied by the songs of crickets in the bushes.
The swollen riverbanks had swallowed up the trees by the roots and waves of water crashed against firm tree trunks. But near the edge of the rapids, something else was taking place.
Two players stood at the edge of the river, one a young man resting under a tree for shelter from the rain. His choice of attire was a yellow cloak, with a gray beanie sitting on his head with blonde locks trailing from under it.
He shivered in the cold, while his female companion sat beside him, dressed in a white and blue version of the female's default shirt and skirt, armored by a light chestplate and a pair of arm-length gloves. Above her head was a poncho as she held the cloth close to her body in an attempt to keep warm.
"D-Ducker?... Anything to e-eat?" The girl asked her friend with chattering teeth, shivering from the cold rain.
The boy named Ducker's eyes turned to his friend, then his finger rushed to open his menu as he dug through his inventory, hoping to find something to comfort his friend.
Tapping on his menu, a small apple then appeared in his hand, as he handed it to the girl next to him, trying not to look as worried as she was.
"Here, Sachi. It ain't bread, but it's all I got for now." Ducker reassured his friend, whose eyes widened in relief as she weakly grabbed the fruit from his hand and brought it up to her lips for a bite.
"T-thanks… Y-you think the others w-will find us?..."
Ducker sighed. He had to admit, taking care of his friend while searching for loot in a place like this was more than taxing, especially considering Keita and the rest of the guild were scattered across the forest, likely facing a similar problem.
It was no fun being out here in the rain, especially when monsters and even lightning could pose a serious threat if they stayed out here for too long. But with his friend far too exhausted to continue for the time being, Ducker had no choice but to wait with her. She was a friend, after all.
"Don't worry. I'm sure the others'll turn up soon… It'll be alright…" Ducker muttered, trying to comfort his friend, to which the girl responded with a faint smile as she tucked her head against her knees as she sat underneath the tree.
Ducker smiled back, and then leaned back into the trunk of the tree before closing his eyes from exhaustion, and soon enough, Sachi could hear him snoring out loud.
Deep down, Sachi knew that she was holding Ducker back, that she was weaker than the rest of her guild. After all, back in real life, they had been playing video games since she first knew them in first grade!
Sachi herself was never really into that stuff back then, but of course, Keita still wanted her to join them, being the Computer Club president and all back at school. Thinking back on her life, Sachi smiled at the thought of her friends teaching her how to play some of the games they had, before getting their hands on a few NerveGears themselves.
"…and here we are now. If gods do exist, I don't like their sense of humor." Sachi dryly thought to herself, before hearing the rustle of leaves in front of her.
Sachi's eyes rose to find the source of the noise, and found herself looking at something that caught her by surprise.
It was a small creature, its body lithe and slender, like the build of a cheetah's, but it had the size of a small cat and its coat was completely white. Sachi's eyes squinted slightly as she leaned in for a closer look, finding its large eyes to be colored a bright red.
She had read about things like this in biology class. An albino mob? Wow. Sachi really didn't have a great opinion of Akihiko Kayaba for rather obvious and ubiquitous reasons, but she did have to commend his attention to detail in creating a world like Aincrad.
"Mph… S-Sa..."
The creature suddenly stopped in its tracks once it heard Ducker mumbling in his sleep, and then lifted its head upright as it stared at Sachi directly in the eye. Finding herself entranced by the small feline, Sachi didn't move a muscle and stared right back at it.
Several seconds passed, with neither of the two moving at all or breaking eye contact. Sachi didn't know why she was doing it, but she didn't want to stop staring at this odd critter either.
But all of a sudden, she could feel a change in the air. She couldn't accurately explain it, but the chill crawling up her spine told her all she needed to know as she looked ahead for a brief second in the direction of the thick underbrush ahead of her, her ears calling attention to the patch of greenery as it shifted ever so slightly.
Faint rustling was heard, but Sachi dared not move, trying not to scare the little creature away. She didn't know what to do, but every part of her told her to remain completely still. One breath escaped her lips, then a second passed by as she inhaled ever so softly.
"I'VE GOT YOU NOOWWWW!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIEEEEEE!"
"GAAAAGGGGHHHH!"
The loud bellow of a foreign voice burst out of the underbrush, when a large player sprang up out of the thick vegetation, leading Sachi to shriek in sheer surprise at the abrupt appearance of the player, unintentionally giving Ducker a abrupt awakening, sending him leaping up from his slumber in a heartbeat.
The newcomer then drove his fist into the ground with incredible power as his fist glowed with a light similar to that of a sword skill in action, kicking up dirt and blowing a small hole into the ground. The impact was so powerful, Sachi could compare it to a meteorite falling to Earth at the speed and force of the strike.
Before it could be squashed however, the small creature immediately kicked up its legs and darted away at top speed, and before she could even blink, the creature was completely missing from Sachi's sight.
The newcomer seemed to notice this as well, as he cursed silently under his breath and then rose to his feet, massaging his shoulder with a groan.
"Nghh… damn…" he muttered to himself as he rolled his shoulder in its socket, leaving Sachi to stare at him in confusion, studying him from head to toe.
The player's build was larger and bulkier than that of the average couch potato that populated Aincrad (they were gamers after all.), but his face was youthful and charming at the same time. Almost immediately, Sachi's eyes turned to his bizarre hairdo, a pompadour cut that she'd sometimes see in her aunt's old school pictures. A relic of a generation past, but admittedly, well-cared for and oddly enough, rather stylish.
He also appeared to be quite well-equipped with his gear set. His coat signified that he at least had money to burn, and the tattered breastplate on his chest screamed "rare". She also caught a brief glance at his weapons, a pair of stone gauntlets that dissipated as soon as he stood up to stretch.
Beside her, Ducker was a stuttering mess, unable to process the situation before him due to the rude awakening he took to the face mere moments ago. Sachi's reaction was no different, unable to do anything but stare dumbly.
"Josuke!"
A voice was then heard from the bush, leading the stunned girl and the large man now known to be "Josuke" to turn their heads towards a younger boy emerging from the bush.
The second newcomer had… quite a unique wardrobe. His attire consisted of a black coat over his armor, with a rather high-level sword sheathed on his back from the looks of it. His face was strangely feminine in figure although he was obviously male, with wide, silvery eyes helping to add to his youthful appearance.
A bishōnen? Here? In the deadly death game of life and death where one could die a horrible death? Huh. One weird thing after another, apparently.
In a world filled with hardcore gamers, she hadn't really been expecting someone with looks applicable for a trashy shoujo manga. But oh well, in their current state of being trapped in a game of life and death, Sachi simply assumed that she would just have to be prepared for the weirdest, and it honestly wasn't completely surprising that kids would be here, considering she and her friends managed to log in.
"Hey, did you get it?" The boy asked his companion, who laughed nervously.
"No… little devil got away. Heh… looks like we'll need to keep looking around." Josuke chuckled with a mild amount of sweat dripping on his forehead, likely more rain than his own bodily fluids.
The smaller boy stared up at the pompadoured player for a good couple of seconds like a statue, she flinched as his legs caved in on themselves, causing him to drop on his knees with his hands in his face, which was planted in the damp mud, not that it seemed to bother him as much as the news he had just received.
With that, Sachi began to hear a high-pitched whine from the mud below, before realizing that the boy was releasing a shrill cry from the top of his lungs, only for the sound of his despair to be muffled by his hands over his mouth and his face in the ground.
"SHIIIIIIIIT!" She heard him scream into the damp earth that caked his face.
"Easy there, sport…" his companion sighed with an amused grin.
"WE WERE SO CLOSE! HOW MANY MORE HOURS OF GRINDING WILL WE HAVE TO GO THROUGH?! WHAT IS THIS?! A DAMN GACHA GAME?! THIS IS WORSE THAN CURSED BONES IN KING'S CONQUEST! WHEN I FIND KAYABA I'M GOING TO RIP HIM A NEW ONE FOR THESE HORRIBLE DROP RATES!" the black-haired boy groaned in his frustration, venting all of his frustration as if imbuing the entirety of Aincrad with his profane curses.
"H-hey! Don't yell like that! It's not like you were the one trying to catch it!" Josuke stuttered with a red-hot flush on his face as he argued with his companion, who didn't appear to be calming down.
"EXACTLY!" Kirito burst out in anger, flinging damp mud into the air as his head jerked up to make eye contact with his friend.
"SO ARE YOU MAD AT ME OR YOURSELF?!"
"I DON'T KNOW!"
Sachi watched both boys breathe heavily from their outbursts, their eyes wide as they hunched over. Both of them were inhaling air at the rate of a vacuum cleaner and said nothing apart from raspy breaths as the blood in their faces drained away.
After a brief period of the two of them gathering their breaths, the two of them began to stare at one another and much to her surprise, began to laugh with a joviality she had never seen from anyone before, as if they had just heard the most absurd thing known to human knowledge.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~!"
Sachi was utterly and completely confused right now. One moment, she had left the village with her guild, taking up a new quest that would hopefully earn them a fair amount of rewards, and now here she was, lost in the rain-drenched swamp with one of her friends, and facing two of the oddest characters she'd encountered in quite some time.
The two of them had previously been yelling quite loudly at one another, scaring her by a small amount at the sheer volume of their outbursts, only for her to stare ahead and find the both of them with their hands on each other's shoulders and laughing like there was no tomorrow.
"You're a certified dumbass, you know that?" The smaller boy said to his friend with an uncontrollable giggle unable to stay in his throat as he spoke.
"At least I have the balls to admit it, dumbass-in-arms!" The taller player laughed boisterously in reply, then a beat of silence as Sachi held her breath, before the pair burst out laughing again.
Waddling forward on her knees, Sachi managed out a timid little peep out of her lungs as she meekly raised a hand into the air to signal her presence. "U-um…"
This caught the attention of the two players, their blaring laughter dying down as they stopped to turn towards the girl with curious expressions strewn across their faces, as if they had just realized she was there.
"Kirito…" The pompadoured teen flicked his eyes to his friend.
"Hmm." He nodded in agreement.
"What am I now? An invisible side character? Oh well, life's interesting that way." Sachi silently lamented to herself as a bead of sweat rolled down her head.
Weapon Showcase:
Lv. 9 Spear: Iron Spear – More often than not, simplicity is overlooked, but underestimated, as your foes will discover once they receive the short and particularly sharp end of this stick.
Special: Cavalryman: Damage and Durability increased by 5% for all allies in party
Enhancement: +1
Damage: 200 (D)
Speed: 100 (E)
Durability: 200 (D)
Range: 3m (S)
Precision: 65% (B)
Rank: Common (D)
Selling Price: 500 Col
Owner: Sachi
Aincrad, Sword Art Online (Lv. 6, Tavern, Caiman Village) December 24, 2022)
"Say that again?" Kirito mumbled with a raised brow, slamming his mug down on the countertop.
"I said, why don't we work together on this?" The tall, skinny man in maroon attire hesitantly repeated with a louder and irritated voice, turning heads around the bar.
Josuke sat beside his friend at the tavern, who faced a team of five players, including the two they had encountered in the forest. After a long and tedious day of nothing but grinding, Kirito was ready to drop and admittedly, so was he.
After a quick and stammer-filled rundown of their situation from Sachi, the guild had a rough idea of how they had met, and after profuse apologies from them, here they were sitting at the tavern wondering what to do next.
The mood was rather lax in what should have been a seriously tense situation, partially due to the lack of energy in the air, sapped dry by a long and fruitless day. Josuke knew that if they were to carry on alone, this damned quest would take them a week at least granted they even survived. Perhaps he should have second-guessed an offer from Argo, that penny-pinching weasel.
That was why when Keita had offered to cooperate with them, they were extremely tempted to shake hands and agree with bottomless gratitude for their charity, complete with a face-to-the-floor dogeza.
Truly, it would have been a spectacle for the ages.
Thankfully, Kirito spared their dignity by clearing his throat with a cough as he set his mug of alcohol back on the bar tabletop.
"I guess a few more hands on deck wouldn't hurt…"
The guild members turned to each other with questioning looks, causing Kirito to shrink as he fixed his eyes squarely on his mug with an embarrassed whimper, the awkward silence in the air killing his confidence quicker than the draw of his sword.
Josuke snickered under his breath at the sight. He would be remembering it for a while.
"What he means to say is, we've had a long day, and at the rate we're going, this won't be ending anytime soon. We'd be seriously grateful for any help you can give us." Josuke told them.
Kirito glanced at him with a raised eyebrow, as if to ask why he was offering up, leading the taller teen to nod back.
"If you won't do it, then I will. You'll thank me for this, trust me." Josuke whispered to his friend, who just frowned, then sighed in surrender.
Turning to the guild of strangers, the presumed leader was now smiling brightly as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, when you put it like that, then how could we not lend you guys a hand?"
"We don't want to be an inconvenience to you…" Kirito muttered weakly, but let out a yawn, betraying his true feelings.
Sighing as Josuke patted him on the back, Kirito turned on his stool to face the leader.
"Fine."
The stranger guild nodded to each other, then faced them with smiles.
"Right! Now, I believe introductions are in order!" The shorter player piped up, wearing a helmet with green clothes.
"My name is Sasamaru! This is Tetsuo, and this is Ducker!" Sasamaru gestured to the two boys beside him, Josuke and Kirito remembering the latter from their run-in along with him and Sachi in the forest.
"I'm Keita!" The leader pointed a thumb at his chestplate, before turning to the familiar girl, who was shyly shrinking herself into a corner, her eyes bashfully set upon the ground.
"And this little bean here is Sachi! She's not very good with meeting new people, so try to take it easy on her, yeah?" Keita beamed as he patted her on the head, only for Sachi to blush as she turned to him.
"K-Keita! Don't j-just say things like that…"
Josuke tilted his head at the young girl, then turned to Kirito with a smug grin. "Hey, hear that? She's just your type, man!"
"Don't just say things like that out of the blue, dumbass! Where'd that even come from?!" Kirito retorted with a red face.
"Wow, their reactions are even the same..." Tetsuo mused with a laugh.
"S-shut up!" Kirito and Sachi both stammered back, before pausing, looking at one another, and looking away shyly.
"Well, it's nice to know we're starting to get along! Why don't we get our gear in order and start talking strategy?" Keita hummed as he clapped his hands together in decision.
"Sounds like a plan. But first, I'd like to know each of your playstyles. The best way for us to move on with a strategy is if we understand each others' strengths and weaknesses." Kirito noted as he took another sip of his drink.
Turning to each other, the guild murmured in agreement. "Alright, now listen close!" Keita began.
"As of right now, Tetsuo's our forward unit. He keeps us guarded with his shield while Sachi and Sasamaru deal damage with their spears! Guard, parry, then switch out. It's an effective strategy." Keita explained.
"Huh, you guys are more coordinated than I thought. From the way you seem to play, I believe you could even be frontliners." Kirito muttered in awe.
With that, Ducker laughed in reply.
"I'm flattered you think that of us, but the way we are, I don't think we're cut out to take on the floor bosses just yet." The blonde-haired boy answered him.
"Our levels are quite low, and our gear isn't very good. The way we are now, we wouldn't last a second against a floor boss. Besides, the last thing we want is to be throwing away our lives." Ducker noted, his eyes hidden under his beanie.
Kirito and Josuke nodded to one another when they heard that last part, remembering the face of a certain blue-haired knight clinging on to dear life. A sight that was sadly not uncommon amongst the frontliners.
The nature of the floor bosses, especially considering the different attacks used by Illfang the Kobold Lord that day, made it so that the clearers had little reliable information to rely on, even the beta testers like Kirito himself.
Unpredictability was dangerous in a life-and-death situation, and the many fallen spoke volumes. A huge amount of risk was involved when it came to these, and every player who'd fought on the front lines knew just how dangerous it was.
Every battle they entered, every dungeon explored could be their last. Carelessness and arrogance would only lead to a short and unceremonious death.
"So what are you doing hanging around here instead of the higher levels?" Josuke asked, intrigued, causing Ducker to smile arrogantly as he pointed to himself.
"We're grinding for loot and better gear to get stronger! To help, I've been speccing into my Thief skills! Treasure hunting should be no issue for me! I know how to find quality loot, and track anything you'd have trouble finding!" Ducker bragged, not exactly noticing how Josuke's and Kirito's eyes started lighting up.
"It's a deal." Both said at the same exact time, almost robotically, leading them to stare at each other for a moment.
"Well, well. For once we're thinking alike. How about that?" Kirito mused with a grin, leading Josuke to laugh as he turned to Keita.
"I'm JoJo. This shrimp here is Kirito!"
"Shrimp?!" Kirito piped up, only to be ignored.
"We're a two-man party just making our way around the higher levels! This one quest's been hounding us for the whole day, and your skills might be just what we need!" Josuke beamed with a warm smile, before clapping his hands together in resolve.
"So then, let's freshen up and we'll be on our merry way! Looking forward to working with you guys!" Josuke raised his mug, capturing the energy of the whole group, even the weary Sachi, who raised a glass as well.
"Here's to a new partnership! Cheers!"
"Cheers!" They all rang out, as revelry and feasting continued through the night.
Outfit Showcase:
Lv. 13 Chestplate: Wise Man's Bodyguard – A weathered and battered relic of battle, this hardy piece of armor has saved its wearers' lives hundreds of times over, sadly at the cost of the shine on its plates.
Special: Veteran's Experience: 10% Health and Durability gained upon perfect parry
Enhancement: +2
Damage: 250 (C)
Speed: 150 (D)
Durability: 300 (C)
Rank: Rare (B)
Selling Price: 2,000 Col
Owner: JoJo
Aincrad, Sword Art Online (Lv. 6, Flooded Forest) December 25, 2022
Once again, the air of the rainforest filled with the rattle of heavy rain peppering the damp soil of the swamp. Powerful drafts kicked up the leaves of the canopy, causing the branches to flail wildly.
The great winds roared as thunder rumbled in the distance, breaking a branch off of the trees. Hurtling through the air, the twig crashed onto the damp soil with a crash, just short of the startled Sachi's feet.
"Eep!"
"Watch your step, Sachi. Try not to lag behind." Sasamaru said to the timid girl, causing her to whimper as she picked up her walking pace.
The group of seven continued their trek, Ducker in the front leading the way through the thick underbrush, Tetsuo walking behind him next to Josuke. Ducker used his cloak to shield himself from the rain as his dagger hacked away at the branches in his path, trudging forward as they shattered into fragmented pixels underfoot.
Josuke walked leaning back into his hands behind his head, his gaze turned to the canopy-lined stormy sky with a carefree, blank expression on his face. Kirito lagged just behind him, a poncho over his shoulders as he turned his head to the muddy path, shielding his hair from the rain.
He then turned beside him to Sachi, shivering from the cold as she clung to her spear like a pillow. Her shoulders quaked and quivered as she took wavering steps to keep up with the rest of the group.
His eyes drifted up and down her form, assessing her from top to bottom as the gears in his brain turned. Her stance, her eyes cast on the ground, trying not to make eye contact with anyone, he couldn't shake a sense of familiarity from it.
His gaze drifted to her eyes, bleak but holding on to something. The dim light that resembled a flickering candle. To compare, Josuke would be a searing heat lamp, that much he could definitely say was certain. Still, that light was something that he could vividly remember, the same he could always see in the mirror every morning.
"Hey, hear that? She's just your type, man!"
Suddenly the gears in his head grinded to a screeching halt, as those words crashed into the forefront of his memory, lighting his face up with a burning hot red blush.
"Dammit, Josuke… Get yourself together, man! Come on!" Kirito thought to himself, trying to suppress these anxious, flustering thoughts as he slapped his hands on his cheeks and turned away, suddenly finding his attention firmly fixated on the pattern of the mud beneath the underbrush.
"Are you alright?"
"!"
Kirito tilted his head to meet the concerned eyes of the demure girl beside him, suddenly focused on him. Certainly not what he needed to deal with right now.
"I-I'm fine. Thanks for asking, though..." Kirito muttered under his breath, embarrassed out of his mind. Truly, this was a situation out of his depth. How on Earth did he ever get through to Asuna?
"A-ah… If you're worried about me, it's okay… I'm n-not that col- aahh… Aaah…!"
Sachi sneezed.
It was actually kind of cute.
"Did I seriously just think that? Damn, Josuke'll grill me for the rest of my life if he ever heard this…" Kirito inwardly sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he blinked to take a moment.
"If you're cold, then why didn't you get a coat before we left? They're not cheap, I know, but they aren't too expensive either." Kirito noted, spotting her thin poncho, barely able to hold back the thundering torrents of rain.
Sachi blinked twice, then sighed. "I know that… I've actually been saving up my Col for better armor and weapons. I can handle a little chill like this if it means I'm a step closer to helping out more."
"I know I'm weaker than the others… that I'm lagging behind… B-but I want to pull my own weight."
Kirito pondered her words as he saw the resolve shining through in those eyes of hers, but tilted his head as he replied. "I can understand wanting to get stronger. In the end, you gotta rely on your own skills, but you don't have to burden yourself like this. You know, I'm not very used to partying up in a guild like this, but I'd believe your friends here would be more than willing to lend you a hand if you asked."
"T-that's true. But I'm doing this so they wouldn't be burdened by me. So they wouldn't worry over me. Ducker, Sasumaru, Tetsuo, Keita, we've known each other in the real world since grade school and been friends all the while. I-I love each and every one of them… and this is my way of paying them back. Showing them that I'll carry on alongside them, not riding on their coattails."
Sachi's eyes gleamed as she eked out a soft and honest smile. The sight made Kirito's cheeks flush a healthy pink as he looked back on the road, his eyes occasionally flicking back to Sachi.
"That's… incredible, Sachi... "
Hearing this, all of a sudden, Sachi's chills evaporated away. Not that her heart wasn't touched by Kirito's words, but because her ears burned like fire, a red flame that was currently spreading from her cheeks all the way over her face.
"A-A-AAAHH! F-forget I s-said anything! B-b-bu- NO! N-not that I didn't mean what I said! I-it's just embarrassing to say out loud!"
Sachi had practically burst into a ball of steam amidst her blush, as she raised her arms to wave about, before clutching her face, trying to calm herself down, muttering in complete and utter embarrassment.
Kirito took one look at this display, and didn't know how to react. So no reaction did he give, simply walking alongside her as she flustered about, covering her face in shame.
"Hey, what're you two up to now?"
"EEP!"
Josuke had turned around, staring at the both of them as the rest of the Cats had turned around as well, even Ducker in the front. Definitely not what Sachi needed right now to calm herself down.
"A-AHH! N-nothing! I-I-" Sachi stammered out, only to be interrupted by Kirito, who had a hand over his mouth, holding in his laughter at the whole situation.
Puffing up her cheeks in annoyance, Sachi turned to Kirito, shaking his shoulder as they continued down the muddy path.
"H-hey! K-Kirito! What's so funny? Don't just ignore me! H-HEY! Why are you laughing even harder now-?!"
Suffice to say, the journey was far from quiet or cold from that moment on.
Weapon Showcase:
Lv. 10 Mace: Block Buster – Smash through your foes and clear a path. No armor is a challenge, no shield cannot be broken. Swing this weapon with all your strength, and fear no loss.
Special: Fracture: All hits ignore 5% of all Armor and Defensive stats
Enhancement: +1
Damage: 250 (C)
Speed: 100 (E)
Durability: 300 (C)
Range: 1m (C)
Precision: 50% (C)
Rank: Common (D)
Selling Price: 700 Col
Owner: Tetsuo
Aincrad, Sword Art Online (Lv. 6, Flooded Forest) December 25, 2022)
"Hey, guys. Take a look at this."
Ducker suddenly stopped in his advance as his eyes turned directly below him, raising a finger and gesturing the rest of the gang to come closer.
Keita leaned in over his shoulder before Sasamaru, Tetsuo and Josuke did the same, Kirito and Sachi struggling to look over, Kirito groaning and pushing Josuke aside to wedge his way through.
Ducker saw all eyes were open and then pointed below him.
"Footprints. Finally! A lead!" Ducker cheered, pumping a fist in victory.
Josuke took a look at the tiny imprints of clawed paws in the mud, hidden by the rain by overhanging leaves in the underbrush. However, he was skeptical.
"That's something, but we've seen a bunch of these before the last time. Finding them is one thing, but tracking them in a storm like this? How the hell are we gonna do that with all the rain?" Josuke asked.
With this, Ducker gave another smug grin as the familiar aura of arrogance surrounded him once more. Jabbing a finger to his chest, Ducker boasted, "Well, that's because last time you didn't have a genius tracker like me! Little did you know, if you have enough skills specced into Thief abilities, all you really need is a single clue to find the way?"
With this, Kirito's eyes widened.
"Of course! Tracking skills allow you to highlight trails of footprints from a single set! You just need to follow the prints if you find the path! Why didn't I think of this before?!"
Cue Josuke smacking his palm against his forehead, wiping wet rain from his face. "So, this means we can find what we're looking for?"
"Hell yeah, it does!" Ducker laughed, before raising his dagger in the air.
"Come on! Follow me!"
"Hey, Ducker! Wait up!" Keita yelled out.
Ducker ran off into the brush, prompting the entire group to follow suit, brushing aside stray branches and leaves as they collided in their rush, trying not to slip against the muddy ground.
"We're gonna complete this quest! Finally! No more grinding!" Josuke cheered with tears in his eyes as he ran, Kirito following suit.
"Hell yeah! Come on! Put that leg muscle to use, big boy!" Kirito laughed, dashing ahead.
"W-wait a second! Don't just run off without me!" Poor Sachi cried as she huffed out raspy breaths trying to keep up with the rest of the group.
Many short breaths later, the entire group had caught up to Ducker, who crouched behind a rock in complete silence as he raised a hand to his team, signalling them to remain silent.
He then pointed ahead in the direction of the riverbank, causing the group to follow with their eyes, which was when they saw it.
Sachi took one look at the riverbank and it clicked in her memory. Prowling along the edge of the river was a small creature, making careful steps as its ears turned left and right, as if scanning for danger.
Its tiny paws made no noise as they moved along the muddy swamp, its movements purposeful and sure, in an almost entrancing way.
Sachi adjusted her footing ever so slightly, and suddenly the creature raised its head at full alert, causing the others to flinch. Sachi looked once again, locking eyes with those bright red orbs.
"Just like last time…" Sachi thought to herself.
Ducker then reached into his pocket to retrieve an item, and brought out his fingers to reveal a thin, short metal spike, twirling it between his thumb and index finger. Reeling back his arm, the pick started glowing yellow.
"A Sword Skill? For throwing picks? Huh. The more you know..." Josuke thought inwardly.
After a few seconds of complete silence, Ducker pointed a finger at the creature to aim, then let his throwing pick fly, sending it shooting through the air like an arrow.
The creature kicked up its legs to run, but it was no use. The creature had barely left the ground when its head jerked back, the pick hitting its skull with a satisfying thunk.
The creature's body hit the mud, completely limp. Ducker released the long breath he had been holding in as he dropped to his knees in exhaustion.
"Breathe, Ducker! You alright?" Sachi cried as she tended to her friend, Keita patting him on the back, while Sasamaru and Tetsuo walked up to join in.
Meanwhile, Josuke and Kirito watched the whole thing in awe, and hadn't spoken a word since. A few seconds of silence, then a slow tilt of the head to face one another. Still, no words. Then, a dam burst open.
"YEEEEAAAAAHHHHH!"
"WE DID IT!"
"LET'S GO!"
"HAHAHAHAHA-!"
Josuke and Kirito cheered loudly and shamelessly, not caring at all for their dignity as they laughed like there was no tomorrow, practically dancing about in the rain, leading the entire guild of the Cats to simply stare at them.
The duo took notice, and without losing their smiles, turned to the guild.
"Thank you so much! I don't know how we'll ever repay you!" Josuke laughed, wiping a tear from his eye.
"We're in great debt to you guys! Name anything you want! I'll make it happen!" Kirito had assumed a bowing stance and was on his hands and knees. He didn't care, he was just that happy.
This was when Ducker's pompous aura returned as he snickered loudly, rising to his feet, all traces of his fatigue seemingly gone in an instant. "Well, when you say things like that, it truly flatters me! I'll be sure to think of a way you can repay us in due time, so be prepared for the judgement of tracker supreme, Ducker! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA~!"
"There he goes again…" Tetsuo muttered under his breath as sweat rolled down his forehead.
"Anyway, let's collect the body and get out! I wanna get a drink with you guys!" Sasamaru announced with a grin, prompting Keita to rise to his feet.
"Right! Let's wrap this up!"
However, Kirito's joyful expression quickly warped into one of great tension as his face hardened and he immediately reached for the sword slung on his back.
"What's wrong?"
"Something's coming! I can feel it!" Kirito shouted out, before he gasped.
"GET AWAY FROM THE WATER!"
Sasamaru was walking towards the dead mob to collect their loot, and just as he heard Kirito's warning, it was already too late. The boy leapt away just in time to dodge a lightning-fast strike coming from the river.
Raising his hand to block the shower of the water splash, Sasamaru inched away on his back, watching as a head emerged from the mist, followed by a long, legless body. The intruder was in every sense, a monstrous serpent, with slitted eyes and a hissing forked tongue emerging and retreating between gleaming fangs.
"That's a basilisk! One of the river monsters!" Kirito warned as the entire group brought out their weapons, preparing for battle.
The creature took one look at the group's kill, and moved in a flash, snapping its jaws down on the dead critter and swallowing it whole before turning back at the group.
"You…"
The monster shifted its unblinking eyes to meet the dark expressions of Josuke and Kirito, both their hands trembling on their weapons, their eyes shaded by their hair as they were surrounded by a dark aura of killing intent.
"You… stole our kill."
Kirito unsheathed his sword, the Anneal Blade meeting the wash of wet rain, causing its surface to shine. Josuke, on the other hand, was joined by Crazy Diamond, which had immediately materialized beside him, the Stand's expression matching his user's.
"WE'LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR THAT!"
As if meeting their challenge, the basilisk screeched as a set of health bars appeared next to it, indicating the beginning of a mini-boss fight.
Josuke was the first to strike, rushing up to the massive snake and meeting its rushing strike with a dodge into a counter in the form of an uppercut with his fists.
Crazy Diamond followed up, appearing in the basilisk's face as it unleashed a wild flurry of fists.
"DORARARARARARARARARARARARARARA~! DORA!"
Josuke sent the creature reeling with a powerful haymaker, before withdrawing.
"Switch!"
Kirito dashed in, his sword hefted along his back as it glowed with blue light, signalling the charging of a Sword Skill.
"A WHOLE DAY OF GRINDING! WASTED! GRAAHH!"
[Horizontal Square]
One slash to the right, then the left along the belly. Then right and left along the back. The slashes form a square as the creature reeled back, crying out as its health bar depleted fast.
Kirito moved in for another combo, timing it immediately after the last one, a perfect chain. No recovery, no staggering, Kirito jumped once more at the basilisk before it could move again.
[Sharp Nail]
A gash from the hip to the shoulder, slicing horizontally, then diagonally the other way. The massive snake's health dropped to half its final bar, as Kirito grinned maliciously.
"I'LL MAKE YOU PAY! SWITCH!"
Josuke rushed in, fists out as Crazy Diamond flanked him. However, the giant snake's eyes glinted as its health reached the red, prompting Kirito to gasp.
"Wait! Something's wrong!"
The basilisk released a beam from its eyes, striking Josuke directly, before aiming it at Kirito. All of a sudden, both teens stopped. Not in surprise, for it was completely outside their volition. The snake had immobilized them.
"W-what's happening…? I-I can't move!" Josuke grunted as he tried to move, only for Crazy Diamond to remain completely frozen.
Kirito's sword arm hung in mid-air, unable to shift mid-swing as the basilisk hissed and reared its head to bear its fangs, as Josuke and Kirito braced themselves for the impact. The snake charged, only to be stopped with the loud noise of metal being struck.
Tetsuo's shield remained firm as his feet were planted in the ground. Mud piled up at his heels as the basilisk rammed against his shield, but with a roar, Tetsuo pushed back, staggering the beast with his shield as he swung his mace up, cracking the scales on its head with a bone-shattering smash.
"Switch!"
Sasamaru and Sachi both leapt in, bearing their spears as they stabbed the beast's neck, causing it to yell out in anguish, raising their spears to parry a whip of the creature's tail.
"You won't hurt our friends!" Sasamaru growled as he jabbed at the beast's girth several more times with his spear, Sachi yelling as she did the same. As the beast raised its head once more for a diving strike, Sasamaru and Sachi both nodded to each other, silently communicating.
"Switch!"
Ducker rushed in as they withdrew, jumping up to dodge the creature's gaping maw as it crashed into the mud. Flicking a variety of throwing picks at the creature, Ducker landed on the snake's back and plunged his dagger into it, running up to the head as he ran the weapon up the basilisk's back, drawing a deep, long cut as he released a battle cry.
"Keita! Finish it!"
As Ducker leapt off, Keita ran in, taking his staff as the basilisk aimed its eye beam at him.
"Keita! Its eye beam can paralyze you! Don't let it hit you!" Kirito yelled out as he lay immobile on the ground.
"Don't underestimate me now, my boy!" Keita yelled out with a smile, raising his staff level to his eyes as the beam hit the shaft of the weapon, blocking it off, allowing Keita to get closer. Yelling out, Keita slid along the mud and directed a spinning strike at the basilisk's chin, stunning it as it dropped to the ground, exhausted.
Taking his chance, Keita swung down with all his might, smashing the beast's skull as its health finally ran out. The serpent's body fell limp and glowed a bright blue, before shattering into a mass of dissolving pixels, scattering into the air.
The battle had ended.
Once this was so, Keita received a notice from his menu, listing all the drops and rewards he had gotten from this victory, the other Cats doing the same as they read their rewards with smiles on their faces.
"30,000 Col! This is crazy!"
"Look at all this XP we got!"
"We did it, guys!"
The Cats all laughed together as they patted one another on the back, congratulating one another and laughing as close friends.
"Ducker! Where'd you learn that awesome move?"
"Forget about me for a second! Did you see Sachi back there?!"
"I-it wasn't all me! Sasumaru made it possible!"
"You can say that, but Tetsuo! You really held that thing back! You looked so badass!"
"Well, you know none of this would have been possible without Keita's leadership!"
Having healed from their paralysis, Kirito and Josuke were left to the side to ponder amongst themselves, sitting down along the bank and watching the motley crew that was the Moonlit Black Cats.
"So… looks like we'll need to keep grinding." Josuke bemoaned, disappointed at this development, his prize being gobbled up by the basilisk.
"Is that so?" Kirito muttered, his gaze still on the guild.
"Oh?" Josuke tilted his head, staring curiously at his friend.
"They really were something, huh?" Kirito chuckled, a smile creeping onto his face.
"They saved our asses. And just when I thought we'd be doing it for them. Way to steal the spotlight, am I right?" Josuke joked, before noticing Kirito's expression didn't change from his warm contentment.
"Yeah… and if I'm being honest, I wonder if I'd be up for more of this kind of stuff. It's… fun, hanging out with them." Kirito laughed.
Josuke gave no answer, and was about to reply when a bright flash of light entered his eyes. Raising his hand to block it out, Josuke stood up to his feet and watched as the sun peeked over the forest canopy, clearing out the ever-present rainstorm.
"Looks like it's clearing up a bit. Look! I even see a rainbow on the horizon there!" Keita noted with a hum, as the rest of his guild looked on in wonder.
"Pretty…" Sachi muttered, entranced by the sight,
"Let's head on back while the storm subsides! Drinks are on me tonight! To celebrate this new victory! Kirito! JoJo! Come on!" Keita announced, turning back to the duo, still a distance away on the riverbank.
"I'll be right behind you!"
Josuke hadn't said anything. Kirito was the one who replied immediately with a smile, kicking up his feet and running over to the rest of the Cats into the forest and back to the village.
Looking over the horizon at the rainbow, then back at his new friends laughing amongst one another, Josuke could do little else but smile brightly as he rushed to catch up with them.
"See, Kazuto? I knew you'd love it."
Up Next: A New Beginning?
Holy shit, I have never updated in 3 years. Surprisingly enough, I keep coming back to this story, thinking about where I could take it, how to fix up the story my own way. You have no idea just how much 3 years of thinking gets you. That being said, I think I'll start taking this story more seriously. It's been way too long since I started this, and I have so many ideas I want to put on the page. If I start getting lazy and unoriginal, feel free to scream at me, yell at me, whatever you want. But if you're willing to stay and see what I have in mind, then I would be grateful beyond words. For those who waited, so terribly sorry. For those who'll be following along, I hope I will be able to entertain you. Leave a review, please. I don't care if you want to leave your ideas for the future, show appreciation, or roast me to hell. I just want to hear what you think. Trust me, just seeing what you felt about the chapter, good or bad is something I will always look forward to.
Thanks for reading, and I hope to get this next chapter up way sooner than this one.
Remnant7: Yep.
Random: Huh. Really? Damn, I really need to rewatch Part 4. God knows I'd enjoy it.
Zahndrekh: I have something planned. Who knows if you'll enjoy it, much less if it even comes considering it took me 3 years to get back here.
RealEWF: Who knows, maybe I'll try putting my own spin on that arc, fixing my personal problems with it.
Guest: Thanks for thinking so. I'll try not to let you down. As for that question, I'll settle it when it comes down to it.
Chronojet mazinget: Yes. Count on it.
Commander 31: I have arisen!
seanmcsherry123: I'll try to make sure it doesn't come down to that. If not then you can grill me all you want for this 3 year long hiatus.
NotMrMundy: Oh you have no idea just how much plans I have for this that I procrastinated on
Phara: First, thank you so much. But another fic similar to mine has been posted and it's really good with a lot of potential unlike the procrastinating worm that I am. Do check it out. Second. Yes. It wouldn't be a JoJo story without Stand battles, after all. Finally, I will go beyond Aincrad. I have plans covering all the way to the end of Alicization, in fact. Three years to think this over really went places, huh? Pray I ever get that far.