[IRL]
I sat down on the edge of my bed, the memory of a time long past struck me again. This happened often so it was an odd mixture of sadness and nostalgia. Shaking my head I tapped two fingers to the picture frame at my bedside table. "Time to dive again," I repeated like a mantra and soon I had laid down with my Full-Dive device already on.
A small smile mixed with a sigh of relief came to me as I closed my eyes. "Link Start!"
And the world fell away...
[Alfheim Online, New Aincrad, Floor 24]
This floor has too much water, I'm allowed to say that, right? I feel like I've earned that right - hey aquaphobia's a real thing, can only take so much large masses of water before I clamp up. Besides the point, I was meeting with an frequent client of mine, she was nice... if she didn't bleed me dry.
A Cait Sith with short, curly blonde and yellow-green eyes. She wore an olive-green cloak that reached down to her thighs, a light shade of green for the collar, hood, and hem. The same color scheme seen for her tunic and shorts with straps wrapped around her torso and arms. Her thigh-high black socks and matching olive shoes. Most notable was her face, three red whiskers on each cheek, her staple.
"Nyahaha, you look like you've seen a ghost, MaL!" Ah, there she is, waving me over to her lovely little café table reversed for us.
The city of Panareze was designed as a man-made island in the center of the gargantuan lake of the floor, connected to innumerable other isles through floating bridges stretching out in all directions. Red stone pathways snaked out from the large cream-colored coliseum with a red curved rooftop around the archways, this was the teleport plaza.
From there, the main town venues, inns, and NPC homes dotted along the coast for an immaculate view of the various islands and beautiful waters. Along the borders of Aincrad were the many pillars that supported the iron castle above, leaving an open view of the real sky beyond Aincrad. Impassable mountains surrounded where the support pillars were found, leaving only the dozens of islands and the black labyrinth tower accessible.
"When it concerns you? Definitely," I smirked as I sat down, "Howya been, Argo?"
"Peachy, Kii-bou's been keepin' up with all to juicy deets from his last exploration into that legendary sword of hiS," She leaned back on her chair under a parasol. Always liked Argo's unique tone of voice despite her evil ways of snagging money from every player she meets. "Any new news from yerself, MaL?" Her brow wiggled presumptuously.
I shook my head, "Honestly? Just causing trouble, pretty sure I have a bounty on my head now..." I stared off into the streets beyond, then I quickly zoned back in with a clap of my hands. "So! With the constant fear of having a knife at my back, all's been dandy! Scams, abuse of exploits, the whole deal like we always go through."
"Always a pleasurE!" Argo grinned, pushing a lemonade to my side so we could clank them in 'cheers'.
Little fact, I and Argo have a system. She's a broker that needs intel, so I supply that intel for where she can't do so directly. Result? Discounts, free intel at times, and best of all? Ruining cheating dirt bags from making the game unbalanced. It was the same in others games. GGO was another big fish we tend to dip our toes into. Argo was a Rat, but I was another in her pack of rodents.
"Back on topic, you said you had something to tell me? Not often you give your advice out for free," I noted, sipping my lemonade with a content sigh.
Argo pursed her lips, flicking through her menu in a blur. "Kii-bou got beaten by a playeR,"
No sooner had the words left her mouth did I choke on my drink, coughing and sputtering to the side. "Ack! W-what!?" Now, Kirito the Black Swordsman was no slouch, but hearing him being bested by a player - not Floor Boss or Hidden Boss - but an actual person was pretty unexpected. "Please tell me you recorded it!?"
She gave me a sly grin and a chuckle, but shook her head with her hands up slightly in defeat. "Only what I heard from the man himself, thought you'd like to knoW,"
Now came the important question that brought a winning smirk to the Rat's whiskers. "...okay, you have my undivided attention,"
"Nyahaha, thought you'd like iT," She laughed.
Little did I know what kind of monster I was looking into...
"Heard rumors a risin' star player's been issuin' challenges to others on this floor, Kii-bou checked it out for me and came back sayin' he losT," The words 'Kirito' and 'Lost' took a few seconds to properly squeeze themselves into my reality.
"Kii-bou put up a good fight and came up short, even A-Chan couldn't believe it 'till I told heR," Argo was a stumped as me by the look she was making, confused.
"Okay, so I got check this guy out, see if this is really true or if there's more going on that even Blackie can't see, then report back?" I hazard a guess as my partner nodded curtly. "So, this swordsman, where is he?"
"Out on one of the big islands, there's this huge tree with a natural arena, can't miss it by aiR," Then Argo's face perked up, waving her hand to keep my attention. "That's another thing, Kii-bou said that they're 'truly living in this world', whatever he means by that, Kii-bou's not one for philosophy but I can bet it's importanT."
"Their title I've heard is, 'The Absolute Sword', bet that'll leave an impressioN,"
I replayed that last snippet on a loop as I flew toward what I assumed to be the island, it took me nearly ten minutes but then I started following a few players that came and went in the same direction, all of various races which meant something important was happening. But back to what she heard Kirito say, 'Truly living in this world', what's that mean? Well, guess I'll find out either by ear or by broadsword.
Flying low to the water I saw my reflection in the overly reflective surface. I may have gone a little overboard with my Spriggan look but I like dark colours, sue me. I wore dark leathers, knee-high boots with charcoal pants with bandages wrapped around the left thigh, a belt around the waist supporting two belts looped at the thighs. A leather jacket zipped up with belts around the upper biceps and bandages on the forearms underneath leather gauntlets connected to the fingerless gloves. My onyx messy hair blended in but my teal eyes stood out from the rest.
Eventually, I found this island that had a buzz of players around the edges. A long plank walkway led to it. Their chatter and the sound of combat ringing across the calm waves below. The island itself was large, but only supported a singular tree that overtook most of the land.
It resembled an elephant-ear tree with thick roots crawling across the ground dotted with various colorful flowers, some of the roots used as seating for the players clapping and applauding the performances. Interestingly, the roots arched to leave a wide dirt circle for combat.
The second I landed I heard a cry of pain from above. My eyes slowly followed the Salamander kicked from the tree as he crashed in pain. Quickly, he raised his arms. "Uncle! I surrender! Resign!" Ouch. The white text showed the result and the people cheered anyway.
"Amazing! That makes 67 in a row!" Hold the metaphorical phone. This guy's beaten that many people already? Man, Argo might not be pulling my leg here...
"Isn't there anyone who can stop, Zekken!?" Another laughed.
"'Zekken'?" I echoed, watching the tree for movement. Eventually, a cursor appeared and the dark blip slowly flew down into the sunlight, and my eyes slowly widened, taking in the winner, this fabled 'Zekken' who bested 67 players, Kirito included, without even breaking a sweat.
The rumoured swordsman was a swordswoman; could've used that titbit Rat. The Imp was slim with a milky white complexion, lustrous and gorgeous, long, purplish-black hair, and red eyes. She wore obsidian chest armour, a bluebottle violet tunic and a windswept skirt of the same colour beneath the armour.
A red bandana wrapped around her forehead and under her fringe with a similar coloured bow behind her nape with a black choker. A thin, black sheath hung on her waist. Her name was hidden, leaving her ambiguous.
She threw up a peace sign, winking at her adoring audience, it was honestly adorable. She didn't look older than me... huh, so a young, and very strong player.
"This is the girl that beat Blackie? 'The Absolute Sword'," Not that I'm judging, but... Princess is definitely gonna chew him out on this one when she finds out.
The girl did a bow with her hand over her stomach, taking in the applause before calling out and scanning the crowd. "Um... anyone else wanna take me on?" No one felt eager to move, not yet.
Then, her eyes clocked with mine, teal and crimson crossing paths as she stared at me for a moment then smiled cutely. Taking her silent curiosity as a sign, I shrugged and stepped forward. "Sure, I'll take this dance,"
"Okay!" She beamed then snapped her fingers, then motioned for the others all to stand back again. "So, what's your poison?"
I tapped my chin, "Ground battle, no magic, no items... anything else goes,"
She nodded, "Classic sword fight - eh?" That expression of hers morphed with surprise as I withdrew my prized weapon, the likes a few murmured around me about. Ah, love it when a curve ball approaches.
In my left hand was a bow made of a dark red, almost black, wood with silver braces with a sapphire each branching off from the grip, connecting it to the river. And a long, teal bowstring with a matching quiver of arrows attached to my lower back. It's name was No Turning Back, or NTB for short.
"You sure about this? I don't want to snap your bow in two if we go all out," She asked with concern clear on her face. But I sharpened my smirk.
"Thanks, but it'll take a little more than a longsword to break this bow, less you're afraid an archer's gonna break that record of yours," I shrugged as a few made challenging sounds at my remark, even the purplette's brow creased slightly with her smile returning.
"Hehe, I like the sound of that! Alright then!" With a few button presses I received the invite.
|Will you accept duel request?|
|Opponent: Yuuki|
|1 V 1|
|Yes / No|
"'Yuuki'..." I whispered, definitely different than 'Zekken' but... it suited her. Then my ear twitched.
"...'Malzeno'..." Yuuki muttered to herself, and a soft smile returned again. But behind her eyes was a ferocious flame. Ever since I got here she's had that smile but those eyes of hers were judging my every move, she was reading into my weapon, what I could possibly do with it. She was analysing me as we spoke. "Ready?"
I hit the button as a reply, drawing three arrows from my quiver as the timer counted down.
{6, 5, 4}
Yuuki drew an obsidian sword, just the clean texture alone made my skin shiver. Why did this all feel familiar? Have we met? If so, is she like me?
{3, 2, 1}
She quickly gave a closed-eyed smile, and I briefly flashed her an earnest smile before our eyes locked once more.
{Begin!}
I'm probably gonna die...
[To Be Continued...]
[Author's Notes]
Giving my girl Argo some attention again like in Misfits, and 'Mal' as she calls him takes an interest in the mysterious player that beat Kirito, but who will come out on top, the sword or the bow? Hope you enjoyed, appreciate the support, seeya in the next chapter, Readers!