Sword Apocalypse Online
Chapter 18
Lux smiled wryly at Silica, the two girls talking. "I sort of have the opposite problem," Lux admitted, the pretty young woman sighing.
"Too many guys hitting on you?" Silica guessed, the smaller girl pouting.
"Yeah. And they can get pretty creepy too," Lux added.
"Not Lind tho," Silika asked worriedly.
"No, thankfully. Him and Thinker have been okay," Lux sighed.
Silica had a idea, "We should join Asuka's Harem!"
Lux sighed, "I don't think they're taking members right now."
"Oh," Silica pouted.
Lux gave her a look, "And it IS Asuna's HAREM."
"Asuna would never hit onb someone unwilling!" Silica protested.
"Point," Lux conceded.
"Hmm," Silica nodded.
"Besides, she had Yuuki and Liz keeping her happy. And possibly Argo." Lux mused.
"You think they're a quad... whichever?" Silica asked, scandalized.
"That's the rumour," Lux agreed.
"... I sort of envy her," Silica mused after a moment.
"Asuna?" Lux wondered.
"Her and Yuuki are SO COOL," Silica sighed.
"Yeah," Lux agreed with a dreamy sigh.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"ACHOO!" Yuuki and Asuna sneezed.
"Are you catching a cold?" Liz asked curiously.
Yuuki shook her head, "I'm fine, I think."
"Maybe someone's talking about us?" Asuna guessed.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Heathcliff once again cursed the team of programmers who had 'helped' to create Aincrad and added bits without TELLING him. .
"WHY GIANT LEECHES?!" Rosalia yelped, stabbing one with her sword.
"This is awful," Agil agreed, the 'tank' cutting down another with a axe.
Back in the 'real world' Heathcliff as Kayaba had NOT included these disgusting monsters, and in fact hated the whole idea.
"Uff!" Heathcliff blocked an attacker with his shield then slashed it.
Not far away Golden Apple were facing the same monsters.
"THIS IS SO GROSS," Yolko yelped.
"Don't let them latch on! They have a life drain ability," Grimlock noted, for once not sulking.
"Yech," Caynz agreed.
"And they slime you when they die," Schmitt added, having killed one that burst all over him.
"Form up on me," Heathcliff yelled, "we can best fight them off together!"
Griselda hesited, then nodded. "Back to back! Protect each other!" she ordered.
The leech monsters tried to swarm them, but the groups chopped away until the beasts finally died off.
"That was horrid," Yolko groaned.
"Agreed," Agil sighed.
The 'gore' from the dead leeches soon disappeared once they were slain, but a few of the adventurers got a acid debuff, as well as some damage. They also saw piles of equipment, apparently another group of adventurers who had fallen to them.
"Well, damn," Grimlock cured softly.
"Shit," Schmitt agreed.
"We should get out of here in case they attack us again," Heathcliff offered, looking around them warily.
Griselda frowned at him, silently wondering how you got that cold to seeing death, even virtual like this. Still, he had a point.
Heathcliff noted how resentfull Grimlock seemed. And he had.. shifty eyes.
'He's going to be trouble, eventually,' Heathcliff mused as they escaped the leech's range.
"Thank you for the help," Griselda admitted, offering her hand.
"You too," Heathcliff shook it.
Griselda hesitated then said, "Would you be interested in joining a Guild? We could use you."
"I appreciate the offer," Heathcliff shook his head. "My companions might be interested."
"Sorry," Agil shook his head, and Rosalia agreed.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"GIANR LEECHES?!"
"That was totally not in the Beta Test," another noted.
Klein and his Guild were near the Dar Elf Fortress, reading for the raid there. They were all leveling up, while looking for any new or interesting monster drops.
"But leeches? Seriously?" Klein visibly shuddered.
Hera agreed, "Kayaba was a ASSHOLE."
On another part of the floor, Heathcliff sneezed.
Back at the camp Harry-one added, "How nasty are they?"
"Not hugely... they life drain, and do corrosion damage. They can wreck your gear without killing you," Klein noted, having seen the report from another player.
"Ewww," Sachi agreed, the spear weilder listening in.
Dynamm nodded, the other fighter eating a fast snack. "It sucks so hard we have to eat and sleep in game, too," he sighed mournfully. "We could clear so much faster if we could go 24/7."
"Fatigue too," Hera agreed.
Ignoring that Sachi addressed Klein, "Do we know when we'll go after the Castle?"
"The Dragon Knights and Aincrad Liberation will let us know," Klein shrugged. "There's apparently a few side quests to finish, too."
"So, it's the elf war storyline," Harry-one mused aloud, "and the forrest elves havce gotten the ferry guild to build them boats so they can attack the dark elves?"
"Yup," Hera agreed.
"So why didn't they recruit players to buikld the boats?" Sachi wondered.
"It might cause player vs player fighting," Klein noted. "Officially, SAO is against that."
"Yet it allows player killing?" Sachi scowled.
"KAYABA IS A ASSHOLE," everyone chorused.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Yuuki Konno couldn't sleep.
Night had fallen at the Castle, and the dark elves had put them up in what, in the game, were luxurious quarters. The huge, fluffy bed was extremely comfortable, but...
"Do you need anything, adventurer?" the voice called.
Yuuki blinked as the dark elf maiden strode in. "Eeep," she eeped, seeing she was wearing just a barely there silken tunic.
The gorgeous woman casually strode to the bed, her smile warm as she said, "Kizmel has ordered we do everything to make your stay comfortabnle."
"Wait, I...," Yuuki started.
The maid tilted her head, "And you are most attractive, too."
The tunic hit the flood as the beauty climbed on the bed. "You don't need to," Yuuki squeaked.
"Let me take care of you," the elf kissed her lingeringly.
"Hmmm," Yuuki found herself kissing back.
The elf drew back, then seemed to shift, becoming the mirror image of Asuna.
"ARGH!" Yuuki yelped, coming awake in her bed, thankfully alone.
Her big sister Aiko looked over, having been sleeping in the next bed over. "Nightmare?" she asked, frowning.
A fiercely blushing Yuuki muttered, "Something like that."
To be continued...