Soul Art Online
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Chapter 14: Interlude- 1
- Arthas -
We left the room early in the morning, so as not to miss the ship to Saboady.
Exploring Lannisport can always be done when we return.
The journey will take around one and a half days so we were all stuck on the ship till then. During this time, all of us decided to level up our skills since we had free time.
Veena got to her crafting and I got busy with my swordsmanship.
Elaine had taken a Tailor Class on the side and Shiroe was levelling his Scribe skills.
Star had taken a Peddler Class on the side so he couldn't level it right now so he was also working on his Sword Skills till we got down.
Thankfully, Shiroe had bought several maps from the shops telling us about surrounding lands and we were talking to other people on the ship to find out information and quests we could get.
And that's why I was here, getting the captain of the ship drunk so that I could get some useful information out of him.
"We sail on the endless blues. No one knows how big these oceans are, for no one has ever conquered it." The captain said as he smoked from his cigar. "No, there was a man, one man like no other…" With that he shook his head and didn't say anything else.
I took this as a chance to pour him his drink and he smiled at me, taking a sip of his drink and continued.
"He was a man who sailed across the whole world, saw everything the world had to show, and gained every treasure the world had to offer… the man looked up to by man and hated by even more, some called him a hero while others called him a pirate but one thing both these groups agreed on was that… he was a King."
….
"The King of Pirates, Gold Roger."
"Ah." I could only deadpan at his words.
Because why not?
There was already the Sabaody Archipelago so why not other One Piece characters?
"He was captured but even at the end of his life, he started the Great Pirate Age, with just a few words, the news that he had left all his treasures in One Piece, the Ultimate Treasure of the world. Even now, thousands of people every year go out to the sea to search for that mythical treasure but to no avail."
The man went on rambling as he was getting more and more drunk.
I then asked him about different places in the nearby islands and found out that around a month away was Loguetown, the birthplace of Gold Roger.
There were mentions of many other places which I knew like Water Seven, the biggest ship making centre of the world, Reverse Mountain, even the nation of Giants, Elbaf.
I totally had to go to Loguetown because I knew there would be many references I could make there.
I still hadn't made references from any of the Big three in my previous life. In fact, I had found that just randomly blabbering the references didn't help. We had to be in specific places or situations for them to work.
That's why I kept an eye out for any news of places which could be used for references. My memory of my previous life was also not perfect so there might be things I miss but I think my memory is improving the more I level up.
I asked the man further about the seas and found that there was indeed a World Government in this world, but it was on another continent beyond the Reverse Mountain and was very hard to reach at our level.
"What other races are there in the seas?" I asked. "I mean, apart from Humans."
"Races? There are many. Giants, Long legs, Fishmen, Mermaids, etc. There are even stories of Gods in the seas." He laughed.
"Please." I calmly poured him another drink and he continued.
"In one particular legend, Davy Jones was a great sailor until he fell in love with the sea goddess Calypso. He would be given the Flying Dutchman as well as the sacred task of ferrying souls who died at sea to the worlds beyond. Because of that love, Davy Jones agreed to set foot on land once every ten years, where Jones would be free to be with Calypso. But when Davy Jones came ashore after his ten year duty, he was forsaken by Calypso, who was nowhere to be found."
….now, I don't know anything anymore.
Pirates of the Caribbean world is mashed up with One Piece?
Just what kind of special hell has the Game Master created in this place?
The man however was unbothered by my inner turmoil and continued. "So, Davy Jones plotted with other pirates to tear the rule of the seas away from Calypso, in which they imprisoned her into the body of a mortal woman. However Davy Jones was drowned by his own guilt so he left her as it is."
He took another sip from his glass and continued.
"Abandoning his duty, Davy Jones then returned to the seven seas, only now sailors everywhere would fear him to the death, for Jones had turned fierce and cruel, with an insatiable taste for all things brutal. He became a nightmarish creature; half human, half sea beast, a crab claw for an arm, and a beard made of octopus tentacles. As the legendary ruler of the ocean depths, Davy Jones preys on wayward sailors lost at sea with the Flying Dutchman, now a cursed ghost ship. It's a story mothers tell their children to make them sleep. But little do they know all the stories about Davy Jones… are true… cough cough."
The man was getting tipsy by now but was lost in his storytelling so I took advantage of the situation too. "Jones also commands the Kraken, an ancient and horrible squid-like beast of the sea, which brings the captain of the Dutchman ever more souls into joining his crew. Those who wish to avoid death and final judgement agree to serve Jones aboard his haunted vessel, eventually becoming a part of the ship itself, forever enslaved to its terrifying captain."
"Say what? Is Davy Jones real?" I asked.
"Absolutely. Although only a fairy tale in these parts of the world, beyond the Reverse Mountain, in the real seas, he is as real as it gets. He even has a bounty put on his head, a bounty only matched by the Pirate King Roger till now."
"So all those stories about him are real? Even the part about him locking up a Goddess? Does that mean Gods exist in this world?" I asked.
And if they did, what Tier would they be?
"There are many legends in the seas about Gods, be it the legend of the Sun God Nika, the liberator of seas or the Sea Goddess Calypso, the fickle Goddess who brings wealth and ruin on her whims. As for whether that's true? Who knows my boy, who knows…"
….damn.
So I am in some kind of a mismatched world of Pirates of the Caribbean and One Piece, and perhaps even more worlds.
"What? Scared of the seas?" He smirked, perhaps at the look on my face. "I don't blame you? Most of the people I have told these stories have completely given up the idea of going into the seas. I don't blame them. It's dangerous out there."
I looked at the man and smiled, thinking of something. "When you told me these stories intending to scare me off, you forgot one thing."
"Oh, what's that?"
My smirk widened. "I'm Captain Jack Sparrow."
Congratulations Traveller.
You have discovered another secret!
Traveller.
A Special Title given to those who complete the Hidden Quests, Man of Culture.
9 to all stats.
18% to Exp Gained.
Note: The Effect of the Title can be enhanced the more secrets the Traveller discovers in the world.
Reward: Map of All Treasures
[Map of All Treasures]
A piece of parchment which shows the location of a treasure randomly. The map on the parchment changes every month.
I smiled at the reward and the man looked dumbly at me before laughing on his own.
"That was a nice one, brat. Just don't let anyone else hear you calling yourself that. Jack Sparrow is a wanted man by both pirates and the World Government. People could be after your head just for the slightest clue about his current whereabouts."
"Obviously, I'll mind that. Do you perhaps have any maps of the nearby islands? Perhaps Loguetown?" I asked.
"Wanna go to the town of beginnings and the ends? Sure, I can help ya. Just ask me when I am sober. Now, off you go. I need to take a nap."
The man sent me off and I was happy enough with today's gain.
Hope Shiroe has found something in the meantime too.
- Akeno Himejima -
"Be careful, Akatsuki-chan!" She warned as she used a Heal Spell, healing a chunk of the girl's health as the girl parried a blow from the monster which sent her skidding back several metres.
"Oryaa!" Naotsugu-kun covered her as the monster tried to go after her, coming in between them and using his Shield Drive Skill to throw the monster back and stun it temporarily.
Marielle swiftly used several of her buffs on them to increase their stats and then fired a magic arrow towards the monster.
Akatsuki-chan took this opportunity to get back into the fight and quickly used her backstab skill and triple stab skill to do massive damage on the enemy and finish it off.
She used a quick 'Detect Life' spell and didn't find anyone else in the vicinity.
"That was the last of them. We can take a break now." She instructed.
"Phew. This round was tiring." Marielle slumped down on the ground and Akatsuki-chan cleaned her blade before sitting down too.
"You tell me. That monster had four health bars. Four and it wasn't even a boss. Have mini bosses started becoming stronger now?" Naotsugu said as he checked the loot. "Hey! We got a Skill Book. Double Slash, a Skill for a sword user. Too bad we don't have any sword users in our group."
Akatsuki-chan used knives.
"We can auction it later or we might keep some for new team members. We need more front liners."
"Yeah. No offence to Shorty but Thief isn't exactly a front liner. Our offence is lacking due to this. We need to hire."
"We can put up a notice on the Adventurer's Guild Board and see if we can hire anyone." She suggested.
"That sounds like a great plan. Let's do it today. It's almost evening anyway and it's time for us to go back."
All of them collected the drops and left back for the town.
Things had changed after the raid.
Monsters had changed and become stronger, making their usual hunting grounds hard to traverse. More monsters were using Skills and Magic now which kept them on their toes to safely hunt here.
Since the raid, everyone had started forming groups and while their group was quite famous, not many top players were willing to join them.
The main reason was that they didn't want to waste their time and money on the welfare stuff they usually did, like helping the children of the town or donating to the orphanages. Due to this very reason, they didn't have any new teammates.
Their team desperately needed another frontliner.
Naotsugu-kun was good, very good at what he did but he couldn't hold everyone back by himself.
Akatsuki-chan could do highly damaging moves but she wasn't someone who could stop the enemy head on.
Both her and Marielle were not damage dealers.
Like this, their team was heavily unbalanced and while it wasn't that much of a problem Pre-Raid, they were feeling the difference now that things were becoming harder.
"There, all set." Marielle pinned the new application on the board and they looked at it.
'The Crescent Moon Alliance is recruiting a front liner. T3 or above apply only. Join us, we have milk and cookies.'
Under it were the details of the applicant and their team.
She smiled at the last bit. It was exactly Marielle's style to write something like that.
"Let's go. I am starving." Marielle pouted and the rest of the group followed her.
They had hired help from among the people of the town to run the makeshift children's home their group was running.
Five people were hired to cook, clean and teach the kids.
As for the things they made from their Production Classes, they were collected and sold at a store they had opened. The earnings were used to buy equipment for the kids as well as maintain the whole place. The five volunteers were all NPCs as no other player had come up.
Well, it's not like no one had come up.
There were some people but when they had spied on them, they were found to be embezzling the funds to buy equipment for themselves and were promptly kicked out.
Naotsugu-kun had beaten them up and taken all their equipment, sold them and gotten the money back.
After a few such attempts were foiled and the culprits punished in the same way, the rest of the players got the message and never tried anything.
But this also meant that no other players joined their group or even came forward to help the kids.
Sure some people came and donated some money for the kids once in a while but no one actively came to join in their group.
"We are back!" Mari shouted as soon as she opened the door to the place.
"Mari-onee chan."
"Big Sis."
"Big Bro, Naotsugu!"
Several kids ran out to greet them.
While Mari and Naotsugu went on to play with them, she went aside and checked on the store and today's earnings.
"Is this everything?" She asked Nina, an NPC they had hired to staff the shop. She had experience in managing a shop. In fact, she was the assistant and granddaughter of the shop owner of the beginner's village she had been sent to.
They knew each other well enough to know of her loyalty. Her grandfather wanted to send her to the town to teach her more about managing a shop and thus she hired her.
"Yes. We have three new orders. Two of them are usual but the third one wanted us to work on a deadline with compensation to them if we cannot complete the order on time." Nina said with a slight frown on her face.
"Compensation?" She narrowed her eyes. "Who were the ones who ordered this? Did you accept the order?" She asked.
Nina shook her head. "It was the Dark Fiends group. I didn't accept their order and said that I would need to talk with you all before answering."
Those people…
Dark Fiends were the top scorers in the recent raid. They had used this temporary fame to attract many people to their group and were currently an unofficial guild of sorts in this town.
Obviously, establishing a Guild was not that easy.
When they had seen the global announcements right after the raid, many people had tried to find out the requirements to establish a Guild but were severely disappointed to find out the results.
A T6 or a T5 with a million Gold Coins…
None of the two were something they could achieve anytime soon.
Even the best players in the town were only projected to reach T5 in another three or four months.
No one knew how the Guild Master of Fairy Tail had done it.
Some thought he must have gained some super rare skill, class or equipment while some just claimed him to be a cheater. But there was one thing everyone agreed on… the Guild Master of Fairy Tail is the strongest player in the game as of now.
And the difference between them would only grow as they would definitely have the extra advantage of guild perks.
She shook her head.
It was no use thinking about those things. They had to concentrate on what was in front of them right now.
Still, the Dark Fiends group wanted to make such a deal.
Their leader Clyde was not a good person.
Akeno had seen the looks he had thrown at her when he tried to invite her and Marielle to their group.
They had obviously rejected their invitation.
Their group had almost half of the top ten members from the raid and each of them were among the top ten ratings despite having classes unsuitable for direct damage in the raids.
In terms of skills, they far surpassed the other side and that's why they kept a distance despite the rejection. So… what had changed for them to make this kind of request?
She thought of it and asked again.
"What kind of compensation were they asking for?" She asked.
"Discounted price for the items. They wanted a thirty percent discount on the prices of the items if we couldn't provide them with the order on time." Nina replied.
A thirty percent discount?
They had a profit margin of twenty five percent. A thirty percent discount would mean they had to pay for the order from their own pockets.
Suddenly an idea struck her mind. "Did they say that they would provide the ingredients?"
"No but they were paying ten percent more than others." Nina replied.
Ah… so it was that.
"Reject them." She replied decisively. "And never accept such orders. We have a shop. The only things we sell will be the things we have on hand. If they want more, they can come back later and if they are so hell bent on placing advance orders, then we will not pay any compensation if we are late. We have opened this place to provide a place for the kids to get a better life. We are not going to turn them into forced labour here."
Nina nodded. "But the Dark Fiends?"
"They will do nothing because they can do nothing in the town. Those bastards were probably going to pull something to delay the order, probably disturb our hunting team, or maybe do something to the kids so that they could buy the order at a reduced price. If we accept the order, it would be taking a bait and asking them to attack us. Reject them."
"Yes."
"Also, tell the rest to keep an eye on the kids and not to let them go out of the town." She said after some thought.
"Yes." Nina agreed.
"What's the matter, Akeno-chan? You sound so serious. Did something happen?"
Just as she finished, a voice sounded behind her.
"Mari-san? It's…" She explained the situation to her and saw a rare expression on Mari's face.
"I see. Your decision was correct. Don't worry yourselves about this. We will take care of everything." She reassured her.
They had dinner with everyone and rested for the day.
Akeno looked at the ceiling wondering how the rest of her friends were doing before falling asleep.
x_
"Taking on that boss is a bit out of our league for now. We need to be at least mid T4 to even try." Akatsuki-chan said.
She nodded too.
"We might need some more people too."
Even after their request, no one has been approaching them.
It had gone beyond them just finding it inconvenient as they never force anyone to contribute towards helping the kids out. On asking the Guild staff, she found out that many had shown interest in the request but they had all refused on the same day.
Someone… was working behind the scenes to push those people away from their team.
Just as they were talking they heard a voice.
"Excuse me."
Looking behind them, they saw a guy standing behind them.
He had blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing glasses. He carried a sword on his side and was wearing a light armour.
"Yes."
"I just saw a request on the board and was told that it was your group who posted the request for a Squire or Swordsman. I am a Squire and have recently come to this town. I was wondering if I could join your group." The guy requested, his face showing slight surprise when he saw her.
Did he know her?
"Oh hello, please join us." Mari invited him to join. "What is your name? What level are you?" She asked.
The guy brought an extra chair to their table and sat down with them.
"My name is Arthur. I am a level 5 Squire."
A level five?
That's… quite low even for casual players.
"Level 5 is a bit on the lower end but no problem. We can always level up. Getting the class you can play well is more important. Are you comfortable with playing as a Squire?" She asked. "Do you have any plans for the future classes?"
"Yes. I wish to pursue sword based classes like Knight."
"Oh, that's perfect. Nao-kun here is a Knight and is planning to become a Shield Knight. If you become a Sword Knight, it will be a perfect balance for the team. Let me introduce you to our team and tell us a few things about ourselves."
For the rest of the day, they talked to each other.
They found out that Arthur was a relatively inexperienced player. He probably had to switch several classes before finding one he was most comfortable with.
It would explain his low level. In this aspect she was lucky as she had a set idea on what she wanted to become and later on with the help of her friends, she was able to avoid drifting off in unnecessary directions. Arthur seemed to be one of the unluckier ones who didn't have this help and thus his current condition.
Even his equipment was low levelled. She originally thought that he might be here to mooch off to get better equipment but he rejected any monetary help and only accepted Naotsugu's extra weapons when he was told that he would need it to keep up his damage output to help the team, promising to pay him back.
Finally, everyone agreed to accept the new member.
x_
A week had passed and their team was doing quite well.
Their new member, Arthur, turned out to be an extremely good swordsman. He could keep up with strong enemies even without any skill, just with his swordsmanship alone.
It was something which both intrigued and bothered Akeno.
How was someone like him just a level 5 before meeting them?
He had gained an average of one level per day since joining them. Even when everyone rested, he continued practising his Skills or doing quests on the side.
In just a week, he had paid Naotsugu back for his equipment and was now working on slowly improving his existing ones.
The progress and talent he had shown could have gotten him a place in any team, in fact, he could have been one of the top players in the game.
Moreover, something about the way he moved told her that he was not a novice.
Arthur was trained and not just casually either.
He was trained in real combat. His moves were sharper than Yuuto's, similar to Souji-sama's, from the times she had seen him fight.
There was no way he was someone common. If so then, what exactly was his goal?
Until now, everyone liked their new member.
He was a straight laced man, very much like Yuuto, a perfect knight in his skills and behaviour. Even Akatsuki-chan who was generally wary of new people liked him and appreciated him.
Naotsugu, although often annoying him, got along well with him, especially during fights when they seamlessly complemented each other without even talking.
Mari was worried about him because he was always pushing himself too hard and that's why she often sent someone from the team to accompany him when he hunted overtime.
Today was her turn and they were returning back from the hunt.
"Who exactly are you, Arthur?" She asked as they saw the gates of the town in the distance. "You are obviously not someone inexperienced who doesn't know anything about the game. Then why are you so low levelled and why exactly have you approached us?" She asked, while keeping a spell ready in case things went bad.
She was still far above his level to assure that she could take him down but one could never be sure as the other side could have some kind of trump card, some item of some kind of skill.
The guy stopped and then breathed out a sigh. "I haven't lied about anything. My name is indeed Arthur and I approached your team because I saw your request at the guild. I needed a party to work with as progressing solo is nigh impossible at this stage of the game." He confessed.
"Your moves are not of a player. You are trained in combat, not even simple combat. What exactly is your identity?" She asked.
"Isn't it good manners to introduce yourself before asking others for their identities… Priestess of Lightning, the Queen of Rias Gremory, Akeno Himejima?" He said, looking directly into her eyes.
Her eyes widened and she jumped back, summoning her staff in front of her, ready to make a move.
The guy however didn't make any moves.
"Who are you?"
The guy just shrugged. "I guess since the cat's already out of the bag then there's no point in hiding it either. My name's Arthur… Arthur Pendragon."
Her mouth hung open at the name.
"The reason I am here is to find my little sister who is stuck in this game and bring her out. The reason I am so low level is because I joined the game just a month or so earlier. As for why I joined this team, I really didn't know you were a part of the team. I saw their request and joined them since they seemed to be a good party from the information I got about them. My only goal is to become stronger and find my sister and friends in this game and bring them out."
"Wait wait, you entered this game a month ago but that's… Why is no one trying to stop this game from the outside? You are from the Pendragon family so why haven't you or anyone else from the supernatural side has done anything to stop this game? Why hasn't Sirzechs-sama or any of the Satans done anything even after such a long time?" She asked hurriedly.
A look of resignation came up on his face.
"The reason they haven't done anything is because… they couldn't do anything, because at this point, no one dares to do anything."
He then proceeded to tell her everything that had happened in the outside world. The Game Master, the end of Rizevim Livan Lucifer, the warning given to everyone in the Supernatural side and the current state of things.
"The Three Factions under a temporary truce, are working together and have sent many people inside the game with the purpose of completing the game and rescuing people stuck inside, including the little sister of Sirzechs Lucifer and her peerage as well as his mother Venelana Gremory and Queen Grayfia Lucifuge."
"What! Venelana-sama and Grayfia are inside too?" She exclaimed, stunned at the reveal. "But why would they…"
Her words got stuck in her mouth as she remembered Rias suggesting Venelana-sama to play the game and her saying that she has been bored and actually giving it a try.
Did they actually…
Arthur continued. "Even your father was about to join the people entering the game and would have definitely entered had it not been for Azazel personally holding him back."
She froze at the words and then a frown came to her face.
"I don't wish to talk about my father." She replied coldly.
"Ah, my apologies. I understand. In fact, I am no longer part of the Pendragon family either. My sister and I left the Pendragon family around a year ago so please just call me Arthur."
They talked for another hour and she agreed to work with him as long as he didn't betray them. They made a truce to work together to find their friends.
- Rias -
"And that's all I was able to get from the Knight Commander." Henrietta reported, making her think.
"Is the news confirmed?" She asked after some time.
"Yes. It was obtained from the Captain of the Imperial Knights who came to reward us after the Raid. He himself was planning to change into this class. This is a very good opportunity, Rias…"
Indeed, it was a massive opportunity.
The way to obtain a T7 Class. Even in the black market, the news would cost at least ten million gold coins.
Methods to reach T6 Class were still known and in cases, even distributed by the Guilds and the countries.
The only restrictions were the number of achievements one had which basically meant they had to complete a certain number of missions before they could even take on the Class Change quest as soon as they were at the level cap.
All this changed however as soon as it came to the T7 Classes.
There was almost no information about these classes. Not even in the black markets. It was for this reason that there were so few T7 people in the entire country, with the King being a T8 and one of the strongest people on the continent.
If it was true, which it really looked like it was then…
She looked at the information again. The T7 Class, Paladin.
They were the upgraded class of the Holy Knights, the strongest weapons under the King. Only a handful of people could be called one.
One needed to get a Knight and a Cleric Class to get a Templar Class which can then be upgraded to the Holy Knight and finally the Paladin.
"I think we should try to get this. After all, we have nothing to lose. If we can indeed get to T7, it would be a great help to our team."
"Should we sell the information? We can get a lot of coins and might even be able to buy a Guild Order." Ley Fay asked.
"I don't think that's a good idea." Henrietta shook her head. "The Knight Commander said that the number of Paladins was very low and recently one of them had died. It was due to this that the guy was so confident in becoming one himself. We never know if there is a fixed number of these Classes. I think we should wait till one of us becomes a Paladin first before selling the news to the Black Market."
She nodded at the suggestion too.
Guild Order…
Everyone was chasing after the Guild Orders from the time they had heard the Global Announcement. The First Player established Guild, Fairy Tail…
Just how in the world had they done it?
Become a T5 while most of the players hadn't even reached T4…
It had shaken them all as they had thought that their progress was among the top in their town.
With the experience of Chief Nyanta and the management skills of Henrietta from her previous game, they had been working quite well, even establishing a group, preparing to establish a guild down the line.
Their group had done everything to the best of their abilities and there were hardly any places she could think of which could be improved and yet…
How was it even possible? Did Fairy Tails Guildmaster cheat?
Was it even possible to cheat in this game?
Chief Nyanta however had denied it.
According to him, they must have discovered some kind of glitch to abuse and get to a higher level. There could also be the fact that they had a good strategist and finally… something which irked everyone to accept… they were just that much better than the rest of the players worldwide.
Her thoughts were broken by Henrietta's words.
"Then comes the question of who will become the Paladin." Henrietta asked.
"Chief Nyanta, you should become one. You are our frontline fighter." She said after some thought.
"I don't think it would suit me. I am more of a swordsman, a swashbuckler. The playstyle of a Knight is very different from mine. Moreover, they seem to be a hybrid class who can use magic too. Not really my cup of tea." He shook his head. "Not to mention, I would have to train from the scratch to get everything. I think the one who has at least one class in common should become a Paladin so that way we don't have to level them up more than required. After all, it takes a lot of time to get either Cleric or Knight Classes."
She nodded and fell in thought. His reasons were on point and she couldn't really argue with it.
Cleric had similar requirements as a mage. The only thing is that they had to register in the Church to achieve it.
Their group already had two mages, Ley Fay and herself so they were the most suitable ones to pick up the Paladin Class quest.
She looked at Ley Fay and asked her but the girl denied.
"I am not sure I can fight in the close quarters." She said and Rias didn't want to make her do it either.
"Alright then. I will take the Cleric Class and then start from the Squire Class after that. We are going to be working overtime to catch up. Chief, can I ask you to instruct me in swordsmanship? I am a complete novice at that."
"I'll be honoured." The man smiled at her.
"Thank you."
x_
She left the gates of Church, feeling very complicated inside.
Never had she imagined that she would be going to the Church, and registering to become a member…
The Princess of the Gremory House, the Crimson Haired Ruin Princess, the little sister of Lucifer… a Cleric of the Church… yes. It sounded odd.
Although this Church was dedicated to some fantasy God instead of the Biblical one, still the feeling didn't subside at all.
Could this be some trap of the Heaven side? She could actually see the Church doing this… especially after what they had done with Kiba…
Then again, that would probably start another Great War if they had trapped many people inside.
Hmm, maybe some exile from the Church then?
The Cleric Class had opened up for her and it had basic healing and support skills but she didn't need to level it up. Templar only needed one to have the Class, not be at full level.
Although she would have loved to level it up and gain more Skills, they didn't exactly have the time. She had to level up the Squire Class too.
She was met by Koneko outside the church.
"Buchou, is it done?" She asked and Rias nodded.
"Let's go. We need to level up the Squire Class too. I don't want to drag the team behind due to my level."
x_
The next two and half weeks they had pushed themselves into grinding, even staying out day and night for days straight to level up.
With their cooperation, her level had increased to level 15 of Squire.
Fighting on the frontlines was a completely different experience.
While she had been trained in martial arts, it was just the basics. Devils had better physiques than humans. Even Low Class Devils were better than the best athletes in terms of physical capabilities. Moreover, Pure Blooded Devils always concentrated on their magical prowess more.
Obviously, there were some exceptions like cousin Sairaorg but they were what they were… exceptions, not the rule.
As the King of her peerage, she had always concentrated on staying back and commanding because the moment she falls, the game is over.
That's why suddenly changing to the frontlines, especially using swords was a completely new experience for her.
There were times when she was surprised by the change in pace of the battle.
The ones in the front lines had to observe and adjust to the change in pace in a completely different manner than someone who was supporting or damaging from the back like a Mage who had a wider view of things from the back where they didn't have to worry about being attacked so often.
It had taken her many battles to appreciate and get herself adjusted into the role.
When they were not hunting, she had to spar with Koneko and Chief to get used to using a sword. At the end of two weeks, she had a decent grasp of her skills and it showed in their hunts. She was able to anticipate the attacks and respond to them much better than before.
Although it might take time, she was going to master this class to the best of her abilities.
- Arthas -
"Here's what I got." I dumped a bunch of maps on Shiroe's table. "The captain was quite amiable when drunk. He even allowed me to borrow some of his maps to copy."
Shiroe took a look at the bundle and opened them one by one.
"Most of them are sea charts. There are some maps for other islands but I don't recognise most of the names."
"That's because they are countries beyond the Reverse Mountain." I told him the story which the captain had told me and saw his face blanch at the information.
"Gods, seriously? That has to be some high level raid if what the captain said was true."
"Probably. There's also the treasure of the Pirate King Roger. I think we should at least take a look at Loguetown."
"That's another week from here. You sure you want to go there?" he asked to which I nodded.
"Alright, we can go there directly from Sabaody then. The One Piece does sound like a huge quest of sorts. We might be able to find some clues in the birthplace of Roger."
"It is called the town of Beginnings and Ends after all." I said, laughing at my own joke.
"True. Anyways, I was able to talk to some sailors and found out the method of getting the Sailing related Classes. We would need one if we plan to explore the seas in the future." He said. "I am pretty sure there would be many quests in the seas. Even just now, the One Piece questline and the Davy Jones questline seem like big deals to me."
"We should also find a way to sell our products, especially the healing items to other countries. I just found out from some traders on board that they are in very high demand in other countries. Most of these traders buy them from here and sell them at high price on Sabaody or even directly have contacts with other countries." Star said.
"Heh, finally using that trader class." I joked.
"Yeah, who would have thought it was so difficult to level it up. No wonder no one tries it. We cannot just kill mobs to level it up but actually need to trade."
"The skills are well worth it, dear." Veena interjected.
"Well… yeah. Can't deny that." He agreed.
"I have asked around some traders from other lands too. The country we live in is famous for its healing items. A nearby country of Kal Kohldur is a country famous for their blacksmithing skills. Likewise, each country has their own products they are famous for and the price of these things are lower in those countries and the quality is higher too. Although we would need to have a trade permit to start that."
"And how do we get those?" I asked.
"Oh that's easy. All you need to do is write a letter and mark it with your seal and give it to Star. Someone with a Trader Class needs to get the verification and letter of recommendation from a noble. Any noble rank will suffice." She explained.
"Then we can?"
"Yes. We can and will be using this method to sell our healing items in Sabaody tomorrow. We level up Star's new Class and earn profits at the same time."
"Good then let's do just that."
Finally, it was Elaine who added. "Sabaody is not a good place. There are frequent kidnappings and the people kidnapped are often sold as slaves in the very auction houses of the island. These Auction Houses are backed up by bigwigs of all surrounding nations so no one can do anything to them." She said, a bit disturbed.
Yeah, that sounded just about right. The Sabaody in my memories was just like that.
"Do you think they will do that to other players too?" She asked after some hesitation.
I looked at her blankly. "Not to be rude but you remember the situation you were in when we saved you." I said and her face blanched. "If the game can do that then I don't see why it would hold back on anything else. I mean they have been killing people from the first day of the game. For all intents and purposes, we are just like any other NPC in the game."
A sombre look came to everyone's faces as we discussed the rest of the plans for the day and then left off for the night.
"That was quite harsh of you, quite unlike your usual self." Veena said as we undressed and got into the bed.
I let out a sigh. "I don't want her to keep thinking that we are some kind of heroes inside the game and suffer later due to this thinking. It's been proved over and over again that the Game Master will not hold back when it comes to testing us. The sooner she gets this idea down her head, the better it is for her."
"Hmm, maybe but you forget that unlike us, she has had a much lesser time to adjust. It's reasonable to have some hesitation and doubts."
I nodded. "Yes. I just… I will apologise to her tomorrow."
"Remembered the Goblin cave?"
If Sabaaody was anything like the one in my memories, then it was worse than the Goblin cave and I didn't want any of my team members to go there with such naive thoughts. Still, I guess I was a bit too harsh.
"Yes." I sighed.
"Don't worry. We have been working so hard to avoid any such a thing. Believe in your hard work." She reassured me.
"Thank you."
"Now, enough of all this. We will be landing on Sabaody tomorrow and who knows when we might get some alone time. You will not be sleeping until you satisfy me tonight." She said as she climbed on top of me.
A smile came to my face. "Yes Ma'am."
Over the next few hours, I worked to satisfy her… which was not an easy task.
Veena was relentless.
- Kuroka -
"Dammit. He wasn't supposed to have guards with him." She cursed as she ran through the narrow passages in the slums, changing her clothes while doing so to throw off the people chasing her.
She gulped down a healing potion and felt the pain in her gut calming down for a bit.
The bleeding effect was still there and would probably last for some time. She also felt the effect of the poison slowly catch up.
It was supposed to be a normal mission but who would have thought that it was actually a trap.
She quickly jumped into one of the garbage dumps and burrowed under the bunch of thrown food, the stench assaulting her nose but she held on.
As expected, the people chasing her didn't look there and ran forward.
She still stayed there for another hour and then left the place, sneaking away through another route to the place they lived.
"Open up, Gaspy. Be quick." She knocked quickly, feeling her consciousness fade. The antidote she had used couldn't fully cure the poison.
She would probably need a higher tier antidote.
The door was opened and the blondie's nose twitched visibly. "k-k-kuroka -san! What happened to you?" He quickly moved aside and walked into the bath, finally throwing up the vomit she had been holding back.
Gaspy quickly put water to heat for her to bathe but she wasn't going to bear the stench any longer and poured cold water on herself, scrubbing herself with all the soap she could get her hands on.
"K-kuroka-san, are you alright?" She heard the voice outside
Controlling her pain,she replied. "Gaspy. I will need a T4 Antidote or a bunch of healing potions. I have been badly poisoned and cannot move."
"Whaaaa! What should I do, Kurokaaa-sannnn?" The boy cried.
"I am afraid I can only rely on you Gaspy. You will have to help me out with this or I don't know if I will make it."
She somehow opened the door with a towel wrapped around her and struggled down to the couch and crashed there.
"Kuroka-san, Kuroka-sannnn!"
She wanted to reply but couldn't hold back any longer as the comfort of the couch enveloped her and fell unconscious.
x_
Her eyes opened and she saw the familiar ceiling of her hideout.
Beside her bed was Gaspy, sitting in his makeshift coffin.
She checked her status and her health was full, all injuries were healed.
"How long was I out?" She got up and stretched her body.
The movements were enough to wake up Gasper too and he quickly jumped up. "Kuroka-sann, are you alright? Are you alright now? I am sorryyyyy I couldn't find the antidotes. They were out of it in the shop."
"Huh? You went out?" She asked, truly surprised at the news.
"I-I-I did. I am sorrryyy I couldn't get the antidote." He apologised.
"No need to cry. I am alright. Huh, how am I alright then?"
"I… I bought Healing potions and kept feeding you till the Poisoned Status effect disappeared." He answered.
"Eh… that works? Wait, how long was I out for? How long was I poisoned? I am starving right now."
"T-t-three days. You were poisoned for three days. Your poisoned effect disappeared yesterday."
"What! Three days! Wait, you kept feeding me potions for three days? Where did you even get so many potions from?" She asked.
"I am sorryyyyy! I used up my savings and bought everything in the shop." He answered quickly, leaving her frozen.
"You used up your savings?" She asked, in a low voice, feeling slightly warm at his words. Gasper had a very sizable saving, having used it on nothing till now.
To think he would not only go out alone to the shop but also use up all his hard earned savings for her. A simple look at the side of the room showed the dozens of bottles that lay there.
She pulled him into a hug. "Thank you."
"Hehhhh!" The boy shrieked as she brought him to her lap.
On asking further, he told her about what he had done while she was asleep.
Turns out that he had actually forced himself to face his fears and go out but the shops were closed so he had asked around and found another player who told him that there were no antidotes and that he could save her by using this method.
A frown marred her face when she found out that that bastard had actually tricked him to buy the potions at double the price, tricking the poor boy due to his nervousness.
"Do you know what that player looked like? What his name and level was?" She asked in a kind tone. She was planning to go out and collect interest after she had a good meal. From both that player and the assassins who attacked her.
She will not allow anyone to take advantage of her little brother and herself. No matter player or NPC.
x_x_
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Author's Note:
I am back with another chapter of SAO.
I was asked to explore more about what the other people in the Game were doing so I decided this chapter to show that.
Everyone has their own challenges and decisions to make which will make them grow in different ways.
The game will change everyone, for better or for worse.
Enjoy the new chapter.
Good Day, Peace Out.