A/N: First off, thank you for some response to my question, makes the future chapters far less stressful knowing what people would like to see, considering I may end up changing a significant pairing of SAO. Review Time.
To Isshion: Like I said above, much appreciated.
[Artorias]: Just ones and zeros, no one would really notice an NPC disappearing, would they?
[Nagi]: Artorias...
[Artorias]: I know! I know... but 'She' attacked me first, I'm allowed to sue!
To Brazilianotaku: I agree, Sachi deserves more attention, just like I have with Argo. And I can see why you believe Kirito and Asuna aren't a good match. And to be honest, I'd be surprised if anyone recalled who Fynch was, he was only a minor character for the Midnight Hour arc, which spans Chp. 26 to Chp. 32. He wore dark leathers with a dark green cloak, had a trick weapon that was a longsword that could join with a large greatsword blade, had blackish-green hair and lime-green eyes.
[Fynch]: How can anyone forget me? A-Although, I do tend to rummage around in dark places, maybe the lighting I'm in...?
[Nagi]: You just haven't had much screen time, it's alright.
[Fynch]: Yeah... yeah, y-you're right! Haha, I'll just have to pop up more, I can do that!
Enjoy.
|Sword Art Online, Floor 10, Town of Brightburn|
|June 26th, 09:05|
|Sachi's POV|
The walls were stained crimson all around me, I could barely tell what was the lighting or the spray of glassy red particles that came from any living entity, monster or otherwise. What I could see were dozens of large, lanky golems bunched together with even more stubby dwarves clutch pickaxes. Any more, and I doubt I could move much more than my arms in a tight circle around me, let alone my spear.
Then came the first, ear-raking scream. I could see it between the gaps in the monsters as everyone shouted, it was Ducker, the pickaxes of the dwarves buried into his back, his fingers still clutching a Teleport Crystal for dear life, even as his body burst into tiny pieces. Gone, in such a silly fashion, and yet it haunted me seeing that.
Tetsuo was next, his was far less gruesome but no less gut-wrenching, even Nagi's scream punctuated that well as a Granite Golem swatted the purple-clad player into the air with ease, like swatting a fly, and he too disappeared. Worst was Sasamaru, he completely lost his composure, I didn't see his death, but I could still hear his grunt of shock and pain, followed by that awful sound of him bursting.
I was next, the golems were surrounding me, Nagi was stuck in a far corner, fighting so desperately, his haori torn with red scars. Kirito, he looked so anguished and hurt, he was trying to desperately to reach me but they kept corralling into every space available, I could hear him calling my name over and over. It was strangely comforting, knowing that even now, the 'Beater' that cared for no one but himself, actively trying to save my life. It made me feel warm.
Even as I saw out the corner of my, that stone arm swinging down towards my back.
I sat up almost instantly, a cold sweat having accumulated over my body as I sat with a hunched back, breathing heavily that I swore I took a dive into cold water. Of course, I saw the familiar HUD, my HP gauge at full, all of it. Placing a hand on my beating heart, I took those long, deep breaths that Kunimittz told me to do whenever I get panicky or overwhelmed; 'A clear head has a clear goal', he always liked using those strange sayings, but they were helpful.
Once I was certain my heart wasn't going to explode, I pushed the covers off me, sitting at the edge of my bed. The room I was in wasn't massive, but I liked that, it kept everything cosy. Wood panelled walls halfway up to cream walls. Decorative scrolls, paintings and candles on a nightstand by a small fireplace. My room had my bed, a wardrobe, desk and chair facing the window to the town outside. Just in front of me was the door to a small bathroom.
I needed to relax, so I got up and headed straight for the shower. Thanks to SAO's system, the water was steaming in seconds, so locked the door and quickly removed my nightgown to breathe a pleasant sigh of relief, feeling my body shiver to the sudden heat washing over my skin. The awful memories from roughly four days ago faded, leaving me to bask in the hot shower water for a bit longer. I wonder how Nagi and the others are? He's been busy since forming the Misfits guild, Klein's guild was tied to it too - well, my guild I should say, seeing the icon next to my health bar.
Leaning into the tile wall, I stared ahead blankly, it still felt so wrong to know Ducker, Tetsuo, and Sasamaru are gone, and while Keita was alive, I can't say he feels like he is. Shaking my head, I slapped my cheeks. "Stop that, Sachi, get it together," Beating myself over things I can't do isn't going to change things. It really hurts, but I need to just ignore this and keep focused. "I've had enough time moping around, Klein said he'd take me out to continue my training today, I can't let him waste his time waiting for me,"
After spending a little longer in the shower, feeling my mind drift a little, I reluctantly stepped out. Opening my menu, I saw that my items were ready, which did bring a glimmer of excitement to my weary face. My hair dried pretty quickly, again, thanks to the System. I still had my Sewing skill, and it was about the best skill I had aside from Two-Handed Spears. Collecting what I used all my resources on, as well as a few Kirito left in our shared storage, something I'm happy he hadn't removed himself from, I hit 'Equip All'.
With a flash of light, I rubbed the steam off the mirror to give myself a better once-over. I wore a navy dress tunic with a high-collar beneath a light blue jacket that reached to my thighs with short sleeves, a stone-blue hem for the whole piece, it even came with a hood. It came with three loops of belts around my torso, one below my breastplate, one at my bellybutton with the third connecting to it, a four hanging off from the third with two decorative ends.
Most important were the white gloves I've made, flipping the back of my palms to face me, a bittersweet smile formed. I had them stitched with the symbol for the Moonlit Black Cats. I may be in a new guild, but that doesn't mean I can't keep a memento of them to remind myself why I'm here and alive.
Then I realized the time, and promptly gasped. "Oh no-no-no, I'm gonna be late!" Without much time to really admire my look anymore, I scrambled out of my bathroom to head downstairs. First day and I'm still a mess...
|June 26th, 09:26|
Having made it downstairs quickly, the main common area took up the whole downstairs floor. It had tatami mats, some shoji blinds that divided a kitchen to my right after coming down the stairs. Nice decorative redwood supports that led to the front door, and several red cushions sat around two large tables, and a large, rounded window to my left, sunlight pouring through the white tinted glass. This was the Furinkazan guild's home, and could house a medium-sized guild, with me being the seventh newest member, also the youngest.
Only two of them were sitting with breakfast sat out, our leader, Klein; he was a little goofy but he was really respectful of my space, they all were during the last few days, I get why Nagi trusts him so much. The other present was Dynamm, he had a stubble along his chin with a small moustache, brown eyes, and his short dark brown hair hidden by a red cloth wrap. The best way to describe him was 'brotherly' similar to Tetsuo, so I found myself comfortable speaking with him during my... lowest points.
Immediately, my face became flushed as I bowed my head quickly. "I-I'm sorry for being late! I was getting my new equipment ready!"
"C'mon, Sachi, it's only a few minutes, didn't expect you to be up bright and early anyway, today's gonna be a slow start for you," Klein eased with a grin, pushing a hot cup of tea over to me. "Sit and drink, gotta be set for your first day back into the saddle, so to speak!"
That put me at ease, sighing with a slump while taking a seat with both of them in front of me, either side of the table. After a few minutes, Klein got me something very simple to eat. One of them, Harry One, was actually the one that made most of the food, so I could guess he had this made in advance. It was just a sandwich but it tasted really good... Sasamaru always wanted to aquire the Cooking skill if they weren't heavily focused on levelling up...
I swallowed, pushing away those bitter feelings to look to Klein curiously. "Are the others not awake yet?"
"Nope, gonna be tacklin' your first day with just us, got a great quest scouted out by Argo for us," Klein stated proudly, then Dynamm smirked over the table, leaning towards me with his hand to cover his mouth.
"She scammed him outta a hefty sum of Col too..." That almost made me joke on my breakfast, covering my mouth to avoid spitting just as Klein's proud exterior crumbled into a dissatisfied groan, rubbing his neck.
"Grah, that greedy Rat said it was a good quest, then Arty comes along and points out the fact a newbie could've spotted the quest!" That was the reason then. I'm almost sorry Klein got scammed but Argo was a mischievous player from the few times I've met her.
"And now you're 1000 Col short," Dynamm threw his head back in laughter, I just kept on smiling while enjoying my meal, Klein only hung his head into his hands in shame.
|Floor 25, Town of Senja Castle|
|June 26th, 09:40|
Of all floors I expected to be brought to, the first quarter of Aincrad wasn't one of them. This floor was considerably more tricky than the ones Kirito brought me to, but like with Kirito, I trusted Klein and Dynamm since they were around level 50 and frontline players too, I was only level 31 but seeing as they asked Argo for a quest, it must've meant it was within my capabilities. Even just the idea of leaving town had my heartbeat tick faster, I had to keep a level head. Klein and the others let me wallow on my own for days, I didn't want to mooch off them forever without paying them back.
"Ah, here it is!" After wandering down one of the main streets, Klein stopped us before a small food cart vendor. It had a nice bright red roof and the smells coming off the cart had drawn in players who sat nearby, eating a treat I haven't had since being trapped here. Sat on display were the traditional colours of green, white, and pink from bottom to top.
"Dango! And they smell so good!" I skipped over excitedly, then saw the exclamation mark over the vendor's head. He was an older man with a beard and a distinct scar over one eye, but he carefully moulded the rice dough into neat balls, some already boiling away. "It's been so long since I've had one,"
"So then, boss, what's the details for this quest?" Dynamm asked, his brow raised when Klein rubbed below his nose.
"Let's not ruin the surprise; that's your first of your continued training, learning to have fun on certain quests helps keep your head screwed on right, and it's just good for your mental health in general," I nodded to him firmly, that makes sense now, he wants me to have some fun too. But... I didn't feel I deserved that yet... That's when his hand rested on my shoulder, and I eyed his sympathetic gaze. "This'll help ease ya back in, we got your backs so take it slow,"
"...r-right, thank you, Klein," Pushing my previous thoughts aside, I approached the vendor to ask about the quest. "E-excuse me, sir, I was hoping I could buy some dango for my friends, they smell so good,"
He eyed me, nodding, "They're not just good, they're excellent, miss!" The man stated proudly, waving a skewer at my face, making me flinch a bit. "And I'd love to offer ya a bigger selection, but one of my key flavours are missin'! That darn gatherer of mine that brings me a particular fruit's gotten cold feet due to all the monsters crawlin' around the Bamboo Forest, bah!"
This was it; sparing the two adults an uncertain look, both gave me a reassuring nod. Okay, I could do this, a fetch quest into the forest. Smiling back at the man a little, I offered my assistance. "I-if it helps, we could go out and gather the fruit for you?"
His head tilted a bit, tapping a skewer to his chin, "Hrm, ya do that for me? Well, ya all look the part to handle yerselves, alright, Bamboo Forest, out there grows these bright orange fruits with stripes, can't miss 'em in a forest of bamboo. Gather up a bunch and I'll make ya some dango along with a good reward, deal?"
The quest marker turned to a yellow question mark, and a prompt appeared before me.
Side-Quest!
-Dango Duty-
A dango chef requires a Peculiar Fruit found only in the Bamboo Forest, due to his gatherer being afraid of the multitude of monsters. Navigate the forest and gather them for a hefty reward, and free dango!
*Collect 20 Peculiar Fruits [ ]
Sunset Bamboo Forest | Reward 5000 Col | Striped Dango X3
Seeing the reward of Col, I was immediately surprised, no wonder Klein was insistent on this quest. I soon accepted it, and my quest log updated. "Okay then, guess we're off to the 'Bamboo Forest'," I spoke to them nervously.
"Alright, don't stress about it, simple grab and go," Dynamm gave a reassuring thumbs up.
Klein led the way confidently, flexing one arm modestly. "And you'll have yourself some of the best support around!"
I still felt genuine fear creep into my legs, threatening to root me in place, but their encouraging energy, it was so much like the Black Cats, it was a bittersweet feeling that I really tried to stomach down, it did rouse a smile to my lips. "I'm in your hands then, thank you," I bowed my head to them, hearing them chuckle.
|Floor 25, Sunset Bamboo Forest|
|June 26th, 09:57|
Heading out into the field kept every sense on edge, I even jumped a few times when a monster appeared out from nowhere. The Bamboo Forest was like a maze, and heavily dense in places. Thankfully, we weren't near a field dungeon, instead, as Klein and Dynamm dealt with the large centipedes, small Trents, and at worst, a pack of three mean-looking Guardian Hounds. But with their levels, they easily slew them all, I kept my distance the whole time behind them, not feeling too confident against the last monster, but the prior two were as they said, an easy way to ease back into fighting.
In a way, I felt good, those days locked inside hadn't put a damper on my skills taught to me, and in a way, Kirito did impart one other useful skill to me; Precognition. It was something he called an 'Outside System Skill', it was by predicting an enemy's attack, so for any short battles, I had time to study the monster before I switched in, by then, I had a good idea how to avoid them, thankfully, they didn't have sword skills but weren't that easy to take down in one move.
Overall, I was getting back into the flow, and my anxiety was slowly starting to fade. Collecting the fruits was kinda fun too, they grew on bush-like plants, just smaller than an apple, and with dark orange stripes over its bright texture. Curious, Klein took a bite of one, and practically gushed over the sweetness. Me and Dynamm tired on ourselves, and it was very sweet, probably sweeter than an apple as I cupped my cheek at the taste. These dango will be even tastier with these!
Now, we wandered up a slope under an old redwood archway, passing by old stone lantern posts, so far, no monsters. That's when Klein walked up to me. "How's it been? Going well?"
"Yeah... it really has actually," I answered honestly, admiring the tranquil beauty of the forest, the sun always peeking through the gaps in the bamboo as I looked down from the slight drop towards the ground level of the forest. "I'm still nervous, and I'm jumpy too, especially when fighting, but... it feels right," My hand rested on my breastplate. "It's only a small start, but I'm confident I can get better overtime, I want to keep moving,"
"You're certainly getting there in stride, kid," Dynamm patted the top of my head, forcing me to pout.
"Hey, I'm not that little!" But they just laughed at me, and my gaze flattened up at them for a second. Sighing, I walked ahead a little more, smiling a bit at the familiar feelings.
Just ahead, I saw another vibrant bush of fruits. Jogging over, I checked my surroundings, nothing was trying to make a break towards me. Coming to a stop, I knelt to collect the last bunch of Peculiar Fruits, placing them into my inventory's pouch, I saw the quest appear, stating that the criteria was filled. Smiling, I stood up to the guys. "That's all of them, we can start going back to town now-"
"Nice work! Not bad for your first quest after a while, huh?" Klein offered, giving a thumbs up. It wasn't too big of a quest, but it was great to get moving around again.
"Yo, boss, kid, we've got company," Dynamm announced, drawing up his curved sword and round shield. Just off to the side of the trail that led further into the forest, three Guardian Dogs were marching toward us, snarling after picking up my scent most likely. I tensed a bit, but quickly brandished my spear with Klein's fire-decorated katana.
"Alright. Let's wrap this up and-" Then his voice cut itself off, even my posture lowered slight as... the three mobs just looked around... then ran back the other way, losing aggro? I've never seen monsters do that before, what was that about?
"What... just happened?" Dynamm shared my thoughts, looking just as puzzled as Klein, even he didn't know what to make of that, staring down the trail, befuddled. Yet, something about this just felt wrong to me, it made a pit form in my stomach, whether that was my paranoia or not, I can't honestly say, but I did tuck myself behind the pair just in case.
"Gotta be another player with a higher Hate than us, or a skill attracting them more like," Klein deduced, shrugging while sheathing his blade. "Guess we'll just move on, guy's gotta be smart if they're using that skill here of all flo-"
From my blindspot to the bamboo along the left-hand side of the trail, something fast and heavy struck me down, throwing me across the pathway away from the boys. I was instantly startled, raising my spear only to yelp, and that awful sense of panic settled in on my face when two rows of slobbery teeth dug into my polearm, threshing me along with it until I was thrown up and across into the hill that led up into another branch of the forest. My health dropped by about 7% due to the blunt force as I sat there, shivering on the spot as to what threw me with a snarl.
It was one of those Guardian Dogs, only, it looked different compared to the ones we've encountered. A long snout, with teeth overlapping over its jaw. Its body was lean and stood at head level with me. Dark fur covered its body like the rest, a wild, dark purple tail that gradually turned white at the ends, same for mane that looked dishevelled, its horn broken to a stump, its claws longer as it growled threateningly at me, it's name as blood red as its eyes. One health bar appeared.
/NM Black Guardian Wolf - Lv. 42\
It was almost too strong! I completely froze up as it opened its jaws wide, lunging for a horizontal bite only for its jaws to lock around Dynamm's shield as it scratched at his sides, hissing back at him. "Kid, stay back!" He warned me, but my body didn't entirely adhere to what he was yelling, watching him with paralyzed eyes as he threw the Wolf backward, seeing it perform a handstand dive over Klein, clawing at the dirt before it made a serpentine manoeuvre and struck Klein's blade from the side, jabbing him with its claws, inflicting the red gashes on his torso, Bleed.
"Jumpy guy, alright then!" Klein grinned fearlessly somehow, blade cast in a burning orange glow. When the Wolf lunged again into a side bite, Klein lit up the forest with a fierce twin arcs left and right, carving into the monster as it leapt around him to attack Dynamm, striking down in two long-winded slashes, attempting to gouge him much to my fear. Thankfully, the bandana-wearing player stood against each blow with his shield, it glowed bronze, and struck the Wolf on the snout, hearing it yelp backward, performing the same kicking hand-stand with its front paws.
It howled, doing it again in front of Klein only to sharply flick itself backward to evade his jumping spin slash, its large tail seemed to have weight behind it too, socking Klein in the face before it gouged into his stomach again to inflict that sickening Bleed debuff. "It's a fighter, boss!"
"Yeah, real annoying too; keep Sachi defended, I'll draw it's aggro!" I heard my leader order, but again, the words just didn't register in my head, I was unable to move a finger. I felt as useless as I had back in that kill chamber.
I saw Ducker screaming, those crude pickaxes gouging out his back.
I could catch a glimpse of Tetsuo crying out after being struck.
All I remember of Sasamaru was hearing him grunt painfully, bursting into thousands of pieces in my ears.
"I'm so sorry... I'm so very sorry... I... I should've..." I couldn't take it, I curled up on myself with my useless spear at my side. Maybe... I wasn't... good enough for this...! Keita was right... I...
"Klein!" Hearing Dynamm's panicked yell made my eyes shoot forward, tears dripping from my cheeks, seeing Klein hold back the Wolf as it bit down hard on his left forearm. The padded armour held back the Wolf, but its legs continued to kick and claw at his body. He had swung his sword but now it was laying a few feet from him. "Hold on, I'll loop arou-"
"You keep your ass where it is!" He thundered, but why...? He was losing HP, it was dipping below 55% now, starting to turn pale yellow. Through my own misty eyes, I saw him smirking, he was gritting this issue like a slap on the wrist. Ever since we left Floor 10, he's been smiling all this time. "Gotta keep the girl safe, can't let Nagi down or Kirito, hear me!? So stand your ground!" He grabbed the upper jaw of the Wolf, beginning to pry it off his arm. "What kinda leader doesn't protect the girl he was asked to keep safe, huh!?"
Finally, after a whole minute of silence, the fight in Keita flickered and died, dropping the keys that had no value left. He was just broken, lost, and anguished. The leader turned away, "...doesn't matter anymore, we... can't keep going like this..." He whispered painfully. "Ducker, Tetsuo, Sasamaru are gone... 'Joining the clearers'? We had no chance... just some pipe dream... let's just... leave it to them. There's... nothing we can do about now..."
"Artorias' is right, I'm not a good leader, but I will try and learn all I can from those who are," Nagi eyed his cousins and Klein. "I want to create a guild that isn't bound by some hierarchy or follows some strict rules. I want a place people who want to make a difference, be it to guide people to the higher ranks-" His gentle eyes passed over Sachi. "-people who feel they don't have anyone to fall back on-" To Artorias. "-who want to be a better person, to fix their mistakes-" Then to Fynch and Mito. "-That is what our guild will be, we'll conquer every floor, and help everyone find a reason to keep living, even after this game is over,"
"A Guildmaster protects his own, and that is exactly what I'll do," Nagi vowed with every fibre of his being.
Klein... he was only ever protecting me so I wouldn't end up like this. He never told me to jump in and fight, but he never said for me to stay back when I did. Every moment today was my choice, he let me choose how to act. Coming to the 25th floor, this quest, these battles... even now. Klein was doing it all so I had a choice at every step. Right now... right now... he's letting me choose, isn't he?
"Kirito... what would you feel in this situation?" I asked, knowing his voice couldn't reach me, especially in my own thoughts. Yet, I felt he already told that answer long ago. "...that's right... you still would keep fighting; every loss, every heartache, that's all you have been doing since we met, that's what you and I..."
I saw him turn his head towards me with a really gentle expression on his face. Not that of a ruthless Beater. "It's okay, you're definitely going to survive."
Reliving that moment, I think that really solidified everything in place for me. "I... I know it hurts to think about it, all of you are gone, and it still hurts so much that I almost can't stand it, but... but I..." I found my eyes facing the monster Klein threw back from his arm, reaching for a health potion in his pouch. "...I accept it, every hurtful memory of that day, I don't care if it makes me cry all the time! I want to live, I want to survive to the end of this game, I'll... fight to be at their sides!"
Finally, my hand gripped my spear again after digging it through the mud.
Klein reclaimed his katana, dragging it up through the dirt in time to counter the Wolf's serpent bites, followed straight by another jab for his gut. I saw Dynamm move on instinct, but then, his eyes and mine met. Before anyone, even myself, realized it, the tip of my spear lodged itself into the Wolf's right shoulder, the vibration of my soft blue skill tearing the spearhead out, leaving a large, mutilated gash through the boss, red pixels flying between it's startled eyes and my teary ones.
I let out a wordless cry, drawing my spear back only to twist it downward, nicking its mane before it snarled and slammed its body into my weapon, causing me to stumble, I saw it make for another gouging slash. Just before contact, Dynamm's shield blocked it, himself diving under my arms to do so, sliding across the dirt track. "Get 'em, kid!" He managed through grunts.
"Hyyaa!" Performing Hellical Twice, the twirl of my spear struck the cheek of the Wolf, slicing it open while it jumped into a handstand to evade the second, straight into Klein's gleaming blade.
"Warrior!" A war cry ripped through the redhead's throat, and another powerful katana skill stripped a large chunk off the boss' back, bringing its health down into the dark orange portion, it was a dangerous monster, but it was reckless and up against two powerful clearers. And now, it was heading straight for me, brandishing its claws. "Sachi!"
Hearing him yell my name, I know he wanted me to act now or I was going to take the full brunt of this dive. I held my ground, spear cast in a shade of blue before I too urged my trembling body forward one last time, and with all my anger, terror, and anguish wrapped up into my voice, I released the skill, seeing it's claws inches from my torso. With a burning run-off of light, Fatal Thrust skewered its stomach, then tore up through its left shoulder from how it fell.
Two paws on the ground, and I winced, feeling it dive backward in a curve so that its back paws tore at my stomach, I winced, seeing my health take a plunge below 50%, but I still had the final thrust with my skill. So, despite it all, I stomped forward, meeting the Wolf where it landed, and drove my spear down with a final scream, beside me, Dynamm thrust his curved blade too, both our weapons striking true, piercing through the back and out the stomach, completely eliminating the Guardian Wolf's HP gauge in seconds.
I watched the named monster burst into pieces below, and I almost fell forward from leaning too heavily into my spear. "We... we did it?" I almost didn't consider it myself until Klein ran up to us, patting my shoulder almost instantly.
"That was a seriously major comeback there!" Then his excited expression lightened up. "You had no reason to do that, I saw how badly you were having an episode, what happened?"
"I was scared... I still am," My arms were trembling, but I could move, just like before, surrounded by all of those monsters, I could still move my arms. "But I think I understand how they do it, what keeps them moving forward..." Meeting his eyes, I wore a mournful face, but my lips did twitch into a smile. "...they know it hurts, deep down that will never go away, but that's okay, that's proof they were alive, so I'll use that to keep getting stronger. A-Although, I think I need a break before we do anything else, my legs are like j-jelly..."
"You just forced yerself to fight through your own fight or flight instincts, not to mention trauma atop that," Dynamm noted, rubbing my back as I felt my shaky breath escape. "Whadda think, boss?"
Pulling out a Teleport Crystal, Klein threw a spare to me, "I think we have a quest to complete, another good rule, nothing beats a good meal after a quest!" On that note, I felt much more at ease, holding the glimmering crystal close.
|Floor 25, Town of Senja Castle|
|June 26th, 10:28|
After returning to town, we made our way back to the dango vendor to turn in the fruits. Once we waited in line past two players, I had my chance to speak with the chef. "Hi again, sir, we brought those fruits you asked for, we ran into some trouble near the end but all the fruits are intact," Since I hadn't placed the last of the fruits in my inventory when the Wolf struck me, we almost lost the last few we needed. For all I know, that might've been part of the quest as a sudden shock value.
"Hm? Ah, yes, that's what that good-for-nothing gatherer was muttering about in his rant, ya ran into an alpha species of the Guardian Dogs, didn't ya?" He wagged a skewer at us, and my eyes widened at the sudden news.
"So wait, that monster only jumped us 'cause we were collecting your fruit?" Klein gawked, grinding his teeth a bit. "Ya could've mentioned that part to her!"
"It slipped my mind, and you three are fine, quit yer fussin'!" The chef dismissed, taking the sack of Peculiar Fruits. "Here, did the Wolf drop anythin'?"
While a little stressed we were caught off guard, I did retrieve a single rare drop, an Onyx Claw, among a few other things it dropped. "Will this do?"
"Ah, yes-yes, just needed proof," The old man ushered for me to hand it over for him to inspect, then he held out for me again. "Good kill, very clean cut too. Well, guess for all yer troubles, and to keep yer loudmouth friend quiet, take it, food will be done soon,"
Dynamm chuckled slightly, covering Klein's mouth while he waved a fist at the man. I giggled, then paused in seeing my rewards tab appear with the quest, and then that familiar, sudden rush of gold that twinkled across my whole body. I felt my jaw unhinge a bit, finger shaking in front of the screen. "Th-this levelled me up twice... d-did us killing that named monster unlock a hidden reward?" Now, I was the ripe level of 33, almost 34. I never even expected the Guardian Wolf to be tied to the quest, I thought I was just unlucky.
"Look at that, guess that Rat does know her stuff," Klein admitted with a pat of his hips.
"Hehehe, so was it worth being scammed out of a lot of Col?" I asked sweetly, seeing him make a face teetering between annoyance and admittance, Dynamm just laughed next to us.
After only a few seconds, the chef had held out three dango skewers for us, still steamy too. From bottom to top, the colours were white, yellow, and a vibrant orange with stripes, topped with red bean paste. "Thank you for the food!" We all chimed, standing back for others to move up.
"Well then, let this be a good way to celebrate your first successful quest with the Furinkazan guild, Sachi!" Klein waved his.
"Good work today, Sachi," Dynamm nodded with a polite smirk.
"Thank you for today too... let's try another after a bit, okay?" I wanted to keep fighting, not to supress the bad things that happened, but so the pain will lessen with time, and I can focus on all the good memories I do have, and the new ones I'll make with Klein, Dynamm, and everyone else. "I'm glad you invited me to your guild,"
"Well said!" With Klein's cheer, we all took a bite of our dango. The flavours ranged from a balance of lemon and that sweet orange flavour from the Peculiar Fruit, but then combined with the red bean paste, I couldn't help but coo, cupping mu cheek as a blush formed. "It's so sweet~!"
"Man, we gotta get the boys to try this, boss," Dynamm agreed, devouring his with gusto.
"It's freakin' amazing!" Klein looked like he was about to cry. This got another short laugh out of me, trying not to choke in the process.
Food shared with friends isn't something that can ever be replaced. I'll treasure today for a long time.
To Be Continued...
A brief look into Sachi's new beginning with Klein's guild, I wanted to at least give an idea of how she's slowly getting back into her training, even if she might not show with the Clearers for a while, she'll support them from the side lines. Writing her was tricky, but I feel with her experiences thus far, I had a good idea on mixing how her courage and trauma go hand-in-hand. With that, I hope you enjoyed, I appreciate the support as always; seeya in the next chapter, Misfits!
054 - All Plans Go Astray
The rise of the Misfits Guild has made itself a staple of the Frontlines next to the Dragon Knights Brigade and Knights of the Blood Oath. As the battle against the mid-labyrinth boss is underway, a single step could cost someone's life...