10Revenge. That's pretty much what has been on my mind for a long time now as it was. I thought this would have been straight forward here. We live, we fight, we grind, we equip ourselves with better gear for better chances to survive. Afterall, it was us against the AI, preprogrammed monsters and enemies that we can learn the strengths and weaknesses of and properly work to defeat. That's how we took down the first floor boss. We knew most of its attacks and what it was going to do so we were able to better prepare for it. True it had a few surprises for us and we lost some lives, but a lot more would have been lost if we hadn't prepared. Just us humans and our ingenuity versus the AI. Simple, right?
How wrong I was. How so very wrong I was.
Player killers… honest to god players who have killed other players for a variety of reasons. That's what the rumors are going around. Theirs rumors, whispers of them being around, but theirs not been too many open killings for wide renown to be known by everyone.
I know differently though. I saw it with my own eyes. I saw someone legitimately lead us into a trap, then conveniently spring said trap just as it was most convenient for them. Then they left us to die while they made off with the prize.
By doing this, someone lost their life… and made an enemy for themselves. I knew Jesto for barely only one mission, yet I know he didn't deserve to die and Clance shouldn't have left us to die. Jesto's death is on my hands for having convinced him to take part in that stupid quest, but it will be Clance who will pay in blood for activating the mob and leaving us to die.
That's what I've been doing since then. I've been trying to listen for any rumors for any supposed Player killers or anyone matching the description of Clance but I've got nothing. When I'm not doing that, I've been doing what I can to increase my level since then. I want to be powerful enough that I can pretty much tank whatever it is that's thrown at me but strong enough to take them down as well. I've been doing what I can to balance out my stats to try and make myself a one-man army, prioritizing my health, defense, and attack power, followed by my speed to try to offset my two-handed weapons natural slowness compared to lighter one-handed weapons.
Either way, that's how it goes for me. I've also upgraded my equipment and subsequently my appearance as well. My look now consists of a large black cuirass with a wolf's head on the chest, a dark grey tunic underneath, steel silver colored pauldrons that cover only the top parts of my shoulders, silver steel gauntlets covering the backs of my hands with brown gloves covering my hands. A black cape flows behind me with the inside lining being a dark red and I have pants with layered steel plates on top of my thighs and ends over some metal kneepads. Finishing off my look with some dark brown leather boots. My sword though has a leather wrapping on the handle with a steel ball on the pommel, a bronze crossguard with steel square pieces on the ends of them, and a nice long steel blade with a rounded point.
It's not something to brag about but I think I'm going with a look that basically tells people 'don't mess with me.' I also have a journal on me I bought. Nothing extravagant, just a list of certain… names I need to keep track of.
Even so, things have been pretty stale as of late. The frontliners are taking the chance to continue grinding out their levels until it comes time to take on the next floor boss. I don't think we even know where it is just yet. Still, I mostly just busy myself with whatever jobs and quests I can find, while also keeping an eye and an ear out for any rumors I hear for anything worthwhile, or something detrimental to one's health. Theirs a lot out there that players can capitalize on.
Both good… and bad players.
I need to soak as much information as I can as well. I need to know what's going on. I need better equipment. I need to be better.
'… I need to help better.'
I sigh once I finish teleporting to floor 49. I step off and begin walking through town. Theirs an information broker known as Argo the Rat. She's pretty much the person you go to when you want information, at very high prices. Her info's good but it'll cost you an arm and a leg for it. But I don't care. I need information. My lack thereof cost someone their life because I wasn't fast or prepared enough. 'Not again.' My hands tighten in anger at the memory but my walking doesn't slow in the least amount.
I've heard she's currently hanging out in the town of [Mugien] on the 49th floor so I guess I have to go and just hope she's there to begin with. Otherwise I'm back to square one. Currently the town is decked out with all the trimmings and decorations associated with Christmas, which means it must be at least December. 'Geez, been that long already?' I sigh at the thought. I don't know if the game is going by real world time in terms of its time progression, or its just going by its own time table. Either way, over a year has passed at least. Kind of hard to keep track of the exact time at this point. My thoughts are interrupted though as I come upon the towns square. Much to my luck, I spot Argo right there standing next to one of the benches with someone.
Before I can even think to get her attention, it's the second person that's gets me to pause. I continue walking but angle myself instead to look at the Christmas tree away from them but still in hearing distance.
"I hear someones been taking risks with their high level-raising." Argo teases Kirito. 'He isn't the only one.' I can't help but think. My level grinding hasn't exactly been in safe areas either.
"You got any new info for me or what?" His voice confirms who it is but I continue to listen.
"Nothing worth charging you money for."
"You give info-brokers a bad name." Not gonna lie, almost laugh at that one.
"Hey, this wasn't in the beta test. It's a first-time event. How am I supposed to know what's going to happen?" She sarcastically tells him. "All I know is that tonight, on Christmas Eve, the event boss is gonna appear. He's called [Nicholas The Renegade] and he's gonna appear under a fir tree somewhere. The major guilds are searching everywhere for the tree as we speak." After she says this, that's when he gets up, catching her attention. "You wouldn't happen to know where it is, do you?"
"Maybe." With few words and being cryptic, he begins walking off.
"Are you thinking of going solo on this one?!" She asks him in surprise. He doesn't answer her, just continues walking off without another word. She lets out a disappointed sigh before pushing off the bench and heading off as well. "Make sure that stubborn idiot doesn't get himself killed alright?" She asks me, stopping right next to me and admiring the tree right next to me.
"Shouldn't be surprised you noticed… but I will." I promise. It's a promise I made to myself for his sake it's a mutual goal for us. "Any new info on… him?" I ask on a different subject. A very important and persona subject.
"Nothing concrete like a location. I think he did join up with a guild but that info's pretty vague as it is." She mutters disappointedly, likely that she's disappointed another customer with not enough information.
"Mm." I mumble in appreciation. "Anymore?" I ask on another subject.
"A few." She opens up her inventory and pulls out a paper with several names listed on them. I glance at them for a second before nodding and placing it in my inventory and combining it with my journal.
"Usual price?" I ask fishing out my Col.
"Yep." She cheerily answers. The money bag appears in her hands and she gets a gleeful look before pocketing it.
"You know, I notice that info's not nearly as expensive as compared to the rest of your information." I can't help but comment. She grins as she places her hands behind her head and leans back a little.
"Yeah well, I think I have a soft spot for such a… noble goal."
I chuckle at that, a little happy she brought a smile to my face and all. "I'll be seeing you." I turn around and begin heading out.
"See ya." She replies. "… Hey." She calls out after a few seconds. I turn back to her to her looking at me. This time her expression is devoid of the playful niceness she had before and now turns just slightly more serious. "You be careful, alright?"
"… Hm." I answer with a smirk and a nod.
"You're really going to solo the event boss yourself?" I can't help but ask just as Kirito passes me. He doesn't react harshly to me being here. He just stops and slowly looks at me. Much to my surprise, even though I don't show it, he doesn't look good. He really doesn't. He's got this dead look in his eyes that makes me worried for him if I didn't hear what he was saying before. I was able to follow Kirito after he went to his room to prepare and basically just be ready to talk to him once he's ready to get going.
"Yeah, and?" He asks in a low tone.
"…" I just stare at him for a few seconds in silence. I then let out a sigh and push myself off the wall towards him. "You really don't care if you make it back do you?" I have to ask him.
"…" He doesn't answer, he just looks down and away from me at my question.
Because of his lack of answer, I let out a sigh and shrug my shoulders before walking forward. "Alright then. Let's get going then." I say, walking past him and in the direction he was going to go in. I note the moment of surprise on his face before it turns to slight anger.
"I told you I want to do this alone." He says to me a little harshly.
This time its my turn to stop at his words. "True, you'll do this alone… but that event… it's pretty well-known isn't it." I say before I turn to glance at him a little from the corner of my eye. "Lots of people are looking to complete it but no one's found it yet." I turn to him completely now. "What are the chances that someone follows you, or someone's made it to the boss already?" I step closer to him and tell him in a low tone. "How reliable… is Argo to the point she won't sell the information you told her to anyone?" He looks unsure about what I told him. "I want that item… but I don't want just anyone else to have it. You're the only other person I'd know who would make better use of it than I." I reach back and grab the handle of my sword but don't pull it out. "At least let me watch your back, so no one can interrupt you." I offer to him. He stays staring at me for a few seconds of silence before walking off. Since he didn't tell me no, I take it as a yes and follow after him.
We walk in silence together as I follow him by his side. He doesn't send me a party invite nor I send him one. If he wants to solo that boss himself, fine, but that doesn't mean I won't be nearby ready to save him should the need arise. He may hate me if I do, but I'm content to live with that. Besides, if it was anyone else I would worry, but I don't think I need to with him.
"Why do you want the item?" He suddenly asks me.
"… Same thing as you." I answer after a second. "I saw someone die… and I don't want to see the same happen to anyone else because I wasn't fast enough to protect them." His head turns to me a little curiously but my view stays forward. "I can see it in your eyes, it's the same I had awhile ago." This time I turn to him as we both stop and stare at each other. "We haven't talked to each other in long time haven't we?" I ask.
"…" He stares at me for a several seconds before turning forward. "Yeah." Just one word is his answer before he continues on. I follow regardless.
We haven't talked or anything since we left the town. I don't know exactly what or why Kirito seems to be very determined to get this item no matter the consequences, true it involves someone, but we all saw someone die when we fought the first boss and he wasn't like that before. This is different.
Still he hasn't exactly asked me either so I'm not going to pry and earn his anger when he's just barely tolerating the idea of me being here. Still, I would like it better if either me or him had the item so I'm alright with this arrangement if can at least provide some backup for him. As per the season that the event boss is a part of, the area we are in a dark forest area, more specifically [Floor 35: Forest Maze], night time rolling around with snow painting the majority of the dark landscape in a gray white hue. The only sound that can be heard at the moment is the soft sound of our armor pieces and weapons lightly clinking together along with our boots crunching in the snow with each step. Its not deep enough where we're having trouble moving but enough where we can actually hear footsteps. I follow Kirito's lead the whole way, even when he suddenly bolts forward with my right behind him. I only flinch a little when he disappears for a second but push through the invisible wall as well, where I continue to follow.
I can see why people wouldn't be able to find it so easily. Looks like the location is in more of hidden area of the forest.
But that doesn't stop the people that teleport next to us.
In a flash we pull out our weapons and turns towards the individuals.
"Hey! Whoa whoa whoa whoa! It's me guys! It's cool!" As it turns out, its Klein whose arms fly up in a surrendering manner as he loudly proclaims.
"Klein?!" I ask loudly in surprise at confusion at his appearance, including his clanmates just behind him on edge.
Kirito is also surprised but his face falls back to his usual depressed state. "You were following us?" He asks.
"Well, yeah." Klein innocently says. We both lower our weapons but Kirito still gives him this look. "You two are after the revival item aren't you?" He asks.
Kirito and I glance to each other for a second before we look back at him. "Yeah." He says in his usual recent tone.
"I figured as much. Well at the very least I'm glad your both working together instead going at it alone like you usually do." Klein says in a humorous tone. He chuckles lightly a little at the insinuation, however when he sees us look away in sad awkwardness, his expression turns to confusion, then disappointment. "Oh come on. What? Are you guys going to take turns or something? Don't risk your lives on a stupid rumor that could turn out to be bogus." He frustratingly states. Neither of us answer him. "Man, you guys can't be messing around in this death game. Once your HP hits zero, that's it. In the real world, your brain—"
"Shut up." Kirito stops him.
"We know." I state in a frustrated tone before my voice turns to a small sigh. "We know."
"I'm trying to get you guys to stop all your stupid soloings." He has a point. Up until this point we never even thought or seeked each other to party up. Still, we work better alone, even if Klein doesn't see it. "Come on. Join up with us. Whoever gets it to drop the revival item drop keeps it. No hard feelings. That's fair, isn't it?"
"But then… there'd be no point." Kirito states, declining the offer. "I have to do this… alone, and he's only here to make sure no one else interrupts me." He crossly states, glancing towards me before he goes to grab his sword. I do as well as I my eyes narrow. Our actions causes the members of [Fuurinkazan] to gasp and make to grab their weapons. Klein pulls up his arm to step his mates.
"Think about what you're doing, you two. It's suicide and I can't let you die here. And what's wrong with you Vendicar? You can't let him die either." Klein tries to reason to me, but I already knew what I was going to do but I don't show it. There is a small tense atmosphere on us for a second.
"Kirito." My voice comes in as a low warning when more teleporting lights appear behind [Fuurinkazan].
"I guess You were being followed, too, huh, Klein?" Kirito states a matter of factly as Klein and his friends turn around and back up to us.
"Uh-huh. It sure looks that way."
"It's the Holy Dragon Alliance. They'll do anything for a rare item no matter how shady. What do we do?"
My heart starts to beat heavily. In truth, I was kind of hoping no one would come by and all I would have to do was just wait and be ready in case Kirito needed help. The fact that theirs another guild of players here ready to fight for the item, my hearts beating like crazy at the idea that I am in fact going to have to fight players.
My own hand begins to shake, forcing me to tighten my grip to keep it from being visible as my breathing starts to pick up.
"You bastards." I hear Kirito mutter in anger at the interruption while I'm just trying everything I can to keep myself from becoming a pathetic coward and running. My anxious thoughts come apart when Klein lets out a loud grunt and unsheathes his sword. "Screw these guys. Get out of here, Kirito!" Klein calls out.
"No way." Kirito disagrees.
"Leave them to us. We can hold them off. Get going!"
Kirito looks unsure at the idea of leaving them to this group while he gets the prize. I reach over and place a hand on his shoulder. He looks at me to see me staring at him with a confident expression. "Go. We got this."
He stays still for a second, contemplating, before he releases his sword and places a hand on my shoulder as well. "Thanks." We nod at each other and he takes off. I stare at him as he rushes off until he passes through another invisible portal and he's gone. I turn back to see Klein glancing back at me. "Stay here and take on anyone that gets past us. We'll deal with the majority of them." Klein quickly explains to me. I nod and take a few steps back to give them room. Theirs a tense standoff for a second before the guilds charge, [Fuurinkazan engaging the [Holy Dragon Alliance]. 'Here they are, fighting players, fighting people, with as almost as much risk as ending their lives as you would in real life with their own lives on the line. Muster up you,' I begin to tell myself, my hands steadying, my right hand reaching up behind me to grab my sword. 'It's time to fight… for your friends.' My eyes close as I grip the handle. With slow ease I take the weapon off of me and hold it tightly with both my hands. It stays in front of me for a few seconds before I flip it around and stab the blade into the ground in front of me.
There I wait with my eyes closed. Klein and his guild, the [Fuurinkazan], continue to fight the [Holy Dragon Alliance] and Kleins people are no joke as it sounds like they are slowly getting the upper hand.
*Crunch*
However, fighting another guild is not what these hostiles are after.
*Crunch*
It's the rumored treasure everyone's been vying for these last several weeks.
"Going somewhere?" I ask out loud. I open my eyes to see someone standing several feet away in front of me, a big burly guy in the same armor as majority of the alliance with a giant axe, but he's not who I'm focused on. My eyes to my left. To anyone else, I am staring at nothing but the open field next to me. But as I keep my eyes trained on the one spot, someone is revealed. Slowly someone pushes himself up off the ground, the snow falling off him as he stares at me in surprise.
"How did you…?" He begins to ask confused at how I saw him.
"You can have all the concealment, camouflage, whatever you want…" I begin to say before taking a step forward.
*Cruuuuuunnnnnch*
With the way I step, I make it clear the sound one makes when stepping on snow. "But its hard to make yourself silent in such a loud environment." He grimaces at the fault before moving closer to his partner. They both where similar armor indicative of their alliance but its their weapons and stature that differentiates them. The one I first saw is a big burly knight man with a giant two headed axe while the sneakier assassin one is armed with a short spear.
"You know I'm not going to let you guys get past me." I tell them. They glance at each other before they turn back to me and smile.
"We know." The knight states as he grips his axe tightly with a small smirk.
"Just might make it more fun." The assassin states as he flips his spear around a couple times before gripping it.
I look at the two of them for a few tense seconds, knowing that now we are in fact going to fight. "Hrah!" The knight charges forward, an overhead sword skill activating. He activated [Avalanche] and brings it down on top of me. I bring my sword and block it from hitting me. A small boom and force of air flies out from around us at the impact of our weapons, causing me to grunt as I slide back a little in snow before coming to a stop. We stand there for a second, holding our weapons against each other until I shift my sword to the right. This causes his momentum to move in different direction and miss me completely towards the ground. With his moment of being stunned, I bring my sword up and slice at him.
He just barely manages to dodge back from the brunt of my sword from cleaving through his body. When he lands he stops and looks down at his chest, seeing the small red cut glinting off him. This makes him growl in anger and ready his weapon again as he grins. I too ready my sword, until I notice something. 'Wait, where's—'
*Shick*
"Ahhhh!" I yell loudly as a spear point finds itself right into my side. In retaliation, I activate [Back Rush] and swing around. It's a counterattack where you spin around when an opponent as your back. When I slice and turn around, I find the missing assassin clutching his arm when he's jumped back, a clear-cut mark on him. I glare at him as I glance down at myself and stare at the red stab he just did on me. I look at my health and thankfully he didn't even make me lose a quarter of my health, only a sliver.
"Don't take yours eyes off me!" The knight yells, making me look at him as he charges me again. I barely have enough time to bring my sword up to block him. It's not as effective without me being able to brace myself so I'm cut into my shoulder and sent flying away. I grunt as I hit the snow in a heap. I push myself off the snow and quickly get to my feet as he slowly moves forward, his axe held on his shoulder with a cocky smirk on his face. "C'mon man. You can't defeat the both of us." He says as he grips his weapon tightly.
Him mentioning both causes my eyes to widen as I hear footsteps getting closer and closer to me. "Hrrr-Aaahhh!" I begin swinging my sword around to attack the assassin behind me. I miss unfortunately as my attack swings over him. He crouches under my swing and before I can do anything I feel him stab into the side of my stomach and rip it out along my side. I groan at the uncomfortable feeling of getting hit like that, mentally thanking that we at least have the pain suppressors on for this death game. I look down at the nasty red glowing line that's even worse than the simple jab from before. Looking at my health reveals I lost a quarter of my health already. Looking back at my opponents, I quickly take out a healing potion and down it, getting my health back up.
"Take all the potions you want, we're still going to cut you down to size." The assassin taunts, twirling his spear around for a second before grabbing it tightly. I groan at my outnumbered state before re-grabbing my weapon and readying myself. That's basically how it goes. They continue for a few more times, using their tag-teaming tactics to distract and hit me when I'm occupied. Their attacks don't do too much damage alone but the chip damage is getting to me and I'm slowly running out of healing items. Before I know it, I'm left breathing heavily, the two of them standing a ways in front of me with my body riddled in cut marks all over and my health over half but no more healing items. The assassin looks more or less annoyed at how long this is taking but the knight just seems disappointed as I kneel there, my sword stabbed into the ground and my right hand gripping the handle, between them and their way to Kirito.
"Listen, we just want the item, alright." Johan begins to explain. "We have no intention of killing you, but we will leave you within an inch of your life if you force us to. We won't be the ones to kill you, but don't let us leave you in position where you'll die to the monsters in this area." My eyes widen at what he's insinuating. "Just go back to your friend, leave, and that'll be it." He offers me.
I stare at them, not in consideration of their offer, but just on the fact that his memories of the trap he faced surface to my mind. I grit my teeth, my hand tightens on my sword and my other hand crushes a handful of snow. My anger subsides though, easing my mind into a calmer state. 'Be careful… too much anger and I'll be reckless.' Slowly I push myself to my feet. I let go of the snow and regrip my sword with both hands before flipping it up. I hold it close as I close my eyes and steady my breath. 'They… are not… him.' I take few deep breaths before my eyes open. A renewed conviction flows through me, I have t finish this now or else their tag team attacks will end me. I aim my sword at them, laying the flat blade on my left arm. "… You will not get past me." I tell them, not showing an ounce of resigning my defensive position to them. The knight sighs as he readies his weapon while the assassin just grins and sprints to the side.
I can't keep an eye on the assassin for long as I see the knight ready himself into a stance. Just like before, he activates the [Avalanche] sword skill and charges right to me. This time I don't bring my sword up to full on block the attack. Instead I stand there, open for him to cleave me.
He lets out a yell as he closes the distance and swings to down on me. He thought he was going to hit me as I was exposed, resigned to my fate for him to hit me. His sword skill has a large wind up time and for him to close the distance, so it wasn't all that hard for me to pirouette to the right, making him miss me by inches as he's forces to drive his axe into the snow where I just was. While he misses me, I twist around to the right, gripping my handle with two both hands and pulling it with all my strength. Before, they would always be able to jump back and dodge after they attack so I couldn't get a proper hit in, only small cuts and nicks that don't do too much in lowering their health… not like this one. With his momentum having been his downfall, the knight looks on in surprise and horror as my sword comes swinging around, right into his unprotected self. My sword slows a little but continues on as the majority of the blade catches and digs deep into the knights stomach and chest. He lets out a groan of pain as I send him flying back, a massive and thick glowing red line covering the majority of his stomach and chest.
I don't have time to see the aftermath of my attack as I hear someone rapidly running towards, yelling and screaming in anger. I turn around, only to be met with the assassin running the head of his spear into me while grabbing my right sword hand to prevent me from moving it. I grunt from the attack but it son turns to one of passiveness as I stare into his anger driven face.
I smile. 'Anger can make you reckless.' Before he can pull his weapon out of me, I grab both the weapon and his hand with my left hand, and driving it deeper into me. This make him stare at me in surprise at the small drop in health I sustained from the increased penetration. This is, now he's closer, much closer to me, and unable to get away as I hold him tightly.
"Wha-? What the-?!" He stutters in surprise as he realizes he can't get away, even using both hands to try to pry me off his weapon and hand. Big mistake as while he's trying to pull me off, I pull him closer, grunting as I drive the spear deeper into me before grabbing my sword with both hands. His moment of confusion at me injuring myself further prevents him from seeing me ready my weapon… until its too late.
"Hhhhrrrraaaaaaahh!" I cry out as I let him go, and swing my sword forward. He can only watch in surprised horror my sword comes around right into his chest. His spear is ripped out of me as he goes sailing into the air, similar to his friend, a large red line adorning his chest and stomach as he goes flying back into his partner. They land in the snow in a heap, groaning as they slowly untangle themselves before standing. They stare at me in horror as I stand where I am, hands held on my weapon and ready to continue. Though to be truthful I don't know how well I can continue for more of a fight. The stab I intentionally took dropped my health below half into the yellow, yet my opponents are in an even worse state. The knight's health is in the beginning of the red, while the assassin is far into the red, only a sliver of his health left. Gone are the confident personas they had before, and replaced with the horrified expressions that they are in fact in a situation that could cost them their lives if pushed. I however I continue to stare at them indifferently before getting myself back into my stance. "Without raising even his weapon, a person can still he a player killer." I speak venomously to them. They flinch at my words but they still have the sense to quickly heal themselves up and get ready to fight again, except now I see them shaking just a little. "Crap." I groan under my breath and tighten my grip.
"Retreat!" I loud voice calls out. We turn to look at the rest of the fighters to see [Fuurinkazan] has beaten most of the [Holy Dragon Alliance] with the majority of their members laying the snow with others being forced to be held up by their comrades. The leader of their guild pulls out a teleport crystal and takes off, with the rest following suit. Seeing their comrade leave, my opponents let out grunts of frustration at their failure. Taking one last look at me, they both pull out teleportation crystals and are gone.
"…" Silence follows the abrupt departure of the enemy guild. All the people left let out breaths of relief, their weapons held up immediately fall downwards as the members of [Fuurinkazan] fall to the ground, taking a much needed rest after the fight. "You guys okay?" Klein looks up from the ground to see me standing next to him.
He gives me a tired grin before nodding. "Yeah. We're fine. We held them off. That's what counts."
"Good." I mutter, before promptly crashing onto the ground in relief. I lay my sword on my legs before sitting down. Klein chuckles a little at my action before he maneuvers himself a little so we both are sitting down with our backs to each other. We both just sit here along with his friends and take the time to properly rest up with the ordeal we just went through. "Huh?" I mutter confused as a healing potion is in my face.
"Here. You look like you need it." Klein tells me, stretching his arm over us to offer me the healing item.
I smile at the gesture and take it before downing it. I sigh in content as I watch my health restore itself into the green. Not fully but that's enough. "Thanks."
"No problem." Soon, we just delve into silence for a bit.
Thankfully we are in an area where the AI enemies won't spawn on us so we can at least rest here. "Well, that was something." I comment on the fight we had.
"Yeah, it was." He replies before glancing back at his guildmates and seeing them in one piece. "But, we're here, and we're still alive."
"Yep. It is."
A small silence reigns in again with just the snowy winds being the only sound still. "Hey, why are you and Kirito looking for that revival item?" I tense up at the question he asks, surprised he's asking me at this time. "I know having a revival item in general would be good, especially in this game, but why you guys? Your solo players. You can't exactly use them on yourselves." He points out.
"…" I don't immediately answer him, thinking on what to say. "… I can't speak for Kirito. He was originally going to go after the boss himself alone. I just caught him and convinced him that I can at least be a look out for other players." I also can't help but let out a small chuckle for the other secret reason why I was going. "In truth, I wasn't expecting anyone else to show up, so I mostly wanted to go so I could be nearby and help Kirito if he needed it. He may have hate me if I butt in, but I think I'm alright with that if it means he can still live."
"Ha!" Klein lets out a small triumphant laugh at my real motive. "I had a feeling you weren't going to let him die so easily." He mutters in joy and relief. "Although, I guess because I was followed, I put a damper on your plans. Sorry."
"Me coming here was only to sate my paranoia. If theirs anyone I know who can take on the boss alone, it would be Kirito, you know?" I ask him.
"Yeah, I guess your right." He agrees. In truth I think he only agrees because we can't really help Kirito now that we've been exhausted. We just have to hope he actually did it.
Our positive conversation takes a turn for the sad for me as I decide to give him a bit more info. "As for why I want the item… to be truthful, we both saw someone die." I can feel Klein tense up with our backs still together. "At least, that's what I assume with Kirito. He had the same look and feeling as I did when I saw…. Someone… die." He doesn't need to know every single detail, just the basis for why. "And it wasn't just because we were attacked by a mob of enemies, well, we were, but we wouldn't have if… if…" Already I can feel my anger starting to pick up again, my hand clenching tightly at the memory.
"Hey," Klein calls out, snapping me out of it. "It's alright. You don't have to say anything. I get it." He tells me in sincere tone.
I just let out a low frustrated sigh and slowly shake my head. "It's really not alright… but thanks. I ask… I ask that you and your friends becareful Klein. Danger can come from the most surprising of sources."
"Alright. I will, but also remember that your my friend too." He states as he glances back to me.
I glance to him as well out of the corner of my eye. "… Thanks. I think I needed that." I can't help but smile. He returns the gesture by lightly tapping his arm back to me.
"So, you think Kirito did it?" He asks.
I'm about to answer until we hear a noise. A little ways away, we spot none other than the person we are just talking about reappearing out of nowhere and slowly walking to us. "Looks like we're about to find out." I mutter quietly before tapping Klein and gesturing to Kirito.
"Kirito! Hey!" Klein calls out happily to see him. I'm happy to see him as well but I notice his demeanor hasn't really changed since he started this event hunt. We do see that he has succeeded because of the item in his hand. He stops a little in front of us, before tossing the item towards us. "Wha-?" Klein exclaims in surprise while I grab the item with the palm of my hand. We look at it confused before back at him.
"There. That's the revival item." He confirms it. Wanting some more clarification, I go ahead and bring up the information window on the item.
"What's it say?" Klein asks as he tries to lean in to look at the info.
I scroll through and speed through the info, reading through it but instantly a piece of the info begins to make sense. "'Must administer to affected player within 10 seconds.'" I repeat the sentence outloud in a low tone, but enough for Klein to hear.
"10 seconds?!" He exclaims loudly in disbelief.
"If someone dies in front of you someday, make sure you use it." Kirito tells us in the same, possibly even more depressed, tone. Without another word, he walks off.
I'm more than ready to let him walk off, no doubt silently angry and depressed that he can't use the item as he originally wanted. Klein though has other ideas as he pushes himself off the ground and grabs Kirito by the back of his coat. "Kirito, listen." I am a little surprised at the strained voice Klein has he talks to him. "Stay alive, you hear me? I don't care how you do it. Just stay alive to the end." I'm a little surprised at the utter emotion that he is putting into talking to Kirito. How he's speaking, how his voice is breaking, and how desperate he is to not want Kirito to die. The fact that he also has tears rolling down his face also cements his feelings. In his state Klein lets of Kirito and falls to his knees. Kirito for his part only glances backs at him before taking a few steps forward before stopping again.
"Vendicar…" I perk up at the call of my name. Kirito glances only a little back at me before speaking again. "… Sachi." My eyes widen. "Her name… is Sachi…" And just like that, he walks off. "See ya." He bids bye to everyone here. As he goes, my face takes on a look of recognition and understanding. I take out my journal from my inventory and write in the name Sachi before closing it back up and putting it away.
I push myself up and walk up to Klein, still on the ground with tears in his closed eyes. I step right in front of him and kneel down. I grab his hand, making him flinch, before placing the revival item in it. He looks up at me surprised and confused. "What? But I thought-?"
"Use this," I begin to say, interrupting him. "To protect your friends. If someone dies in front of you, use it, but if your friends die," I glance to the other members of his guild behind him, "Then use it on them." With the item in his hand, I push myself off the ground to stand. "See you later Klein." I bid him farewell and take my leave as well. Without Kirito to accompany back or Klein to follow, I am just left to my thoughts as I head back to my room.
I let out a sigh as I lean against a tree on a small hill. The night has already passed and the sun is starting to peak over the horizon as I stew in my thoughts.
And so, the revival item was a bust for Kirito, and something I can't nor feel like I should have. Klein being part of a guild and having such close friends with him, I think he's one of the few people who deserves to save his friend should one of them almost die.
Me? As much as I want to, who am I to judge who lives and who dies? What are the circumstances that the first person I see die deserves to live rather than another that just so happens die soon after or the next day. That kind of responsibility… I don't think I should have.
I sigh and open up my inventory. 'I think I'll stick with what I was going for in the first place.' I think as I pull out my journal. Well, journal is a simple term for it. On the first page, right at the top are three words burned into my mind.
JESTO – Killed by – CLANCE
Right below that is a description of who Jesto was, and then a description of Clance. On other pages, other areas of the small booklet, more and more names fill it, with what little description I can find or was given, and who ended them. Sachi's name is in the far last end of the book, seeing as how she wasn't killed by a player, nor do I have any info on her, but at least I have the name as a memory, seeing as she was not just anyone to Kirito and wanted her to be remembered. While my thoughts linger on who Sachi was, my thoughts return to the reason I made this journal book in the first place.
Player Killers. Innocent people have been killed in this game, where the victims are sometimes forgotten with the killer having escaped. Information from people, such as Argo, is what I ask for, pay for, look for in order to find these PKer's
'I am the sword for the fallen.'
The book closes. I stand up, sword on my back and walking forward.
'I… am the Avenging Swordsman.'
I've got more work to do. More names to find, more people to find.
And so, Vendicar's place is slowly starting to cement itself. He's had his first experience when it comes to fighting players. See, as the title of the story suggests, Vendicar plans to avenge people, avenge those who lost their lives to Pker's, whether directly or indirectly, the need to face the consequences of being Player Killers. That's what Vendicar wants to be, a Player Killer Killer. He will be the sword for the fallen, who's breaths and lives have been halted, he is the revenge for those people who can't obtain it themselves no longer.
Grimlock987: Sorry but no I don't think I'll do a Bleach story. Haven't watched near enough of the anime to get me motivated enough to write. Sorry.
Caps2019: Glad you liked it. I do have kind of a pairing in mind for him but I'll just have to ask that you wait for how things progress. I do what I can to make the chapters fairly large in order to offset the long periods it takes between updates. Still, I'll also try to come up with some smaller filler chapters to fill in the void but so far nothings jumping out at me. Anyway I hope things continue to be to your liking as it progresses.
In recent time, I've even managed to catch the Alicization story arcs that have been released recently. I haven't seen everything so far but the what I have seen it looks pretty good and I like it. Already I've got ideas as to how things would be with my character in it and I'm excited to see how more of the Alicization arcs progress with the added characters in Underworld.
Anyway, it sucks to hear about all this stuff happening with COVID-19. Thankfully for me the virus hasn't really hit my town too much so I haven't had to worry about getting infected with the virus so easily. Still sad to see and hear about the rest of the world but hopefully we'll soon start to see a stagnation of the infection rate of the virus until new people stop getting infected and we can focus on healing those already infected.
Anyway, thank you all for reading. Fave, follow, review, whatever you wish. Good luck to everyone out there and I wish you all luck, have fun reading, but most of all, have a great, happy, healthy day for everyone.