//------------------------------//
// Episode 43 - A Day in the Life of Kiefer 
// Story: EQG: Sword Art Online - Aincrad 
// by Mindrop 
//------------------------------//

Floor 59
April 14  – Year 2

Kiefer was awake before his alarm went off. He had been awake for an hour, just contemplating a lot of things. In particular, he was thinking about his previous life, outside of virtual reality.
In two days, he would turn 15. He was 13 when he entered this game. He was 13 when he almost died. And now, a year and a half later, he was turning 15. He was supposed to be in junior-high school, finishing his final year before moving on to his first year of senior high.
It felt like a whole other life had been built in here. Like he had lived a full life here, being born here and he would grow old and die here. And die a natural death, not a horrifying one against some monster before his time. If he was going to be living this life, he needed to be making the most of it. Somehow, that idea was even more terrifying than anything else. How did he know what was best for him at 15?
No matter what, he didn't want to celebrate his birthday. He just wanted to forget it, like most of the other players. It was best spent forging the way up to the top to escape this prison. Only then, when he could celebrate with his family, did his birthday matter.
Kiefer rolled out of bed and popped a kimono on. Diemond did amazing work. He would never get clothes this nice ever again.
Kiefer left his room and slipped across the hallway to room 10. He knocked on the door. After a good minute, it was opened by a tired Lessa, one eye cracked open in bleary tiredness.
“Hey,” She whispered to him, a smile cracking her lips. “Morning. I’ll be out in a bit. You look good.”
Kiefer quietly snorted. “I wear this every day.”
“Oh,” Lessa snorted. “I can’t see. You know that. It is too early.”
“It’s late enough for breakfast.”
Lessa let out a tired groan. “That means Thunder and Astro…”
Kiefer shrugged as the door was shut in his face so she could change. It was opened a minute later. Lessa stretched as she left her room. This time it was with a full smile she gave him. Joltron’s door opened and Kiefer tried to act natural as he took a half step back and turned to the door. It was a common enough situation now. Joltron hadn’t hinted at knowing anything.
“Morning,” Kiefer said to Joltron.
“Hey,” Joltron yawned. “Morning Lessa. We should get down before Thunder and Astro eat everything. I don’t want to make AFCK make more. I know we imposed limits on them-”
“I still fear it,” Lessa groaned as she headed towards the stairs. “And we already are behind since they both are below us one floor.”
“Good point,” Joltron stated.
Kiefer was third down, behind the two of them. On the second floor, he evened out with them as they crossed the wide room. Joltron slipped to the side to get the soccer ball out of the way, and then he stashed it under a couch for their sake. Kiefer snorted a quiet laugh at Joltron's actions as they walked to the stairs.
Kiefer took a half step so that Lessa went down first. It was a dance he had been doing well for a few weeks now. A courtesy that he could give her without blowing things out of proportion. Kiefer still wasn’t sure how to proceed. He wasn’t sure how Lessa felt. It had been a big song and dance, trying to stay out of the light. If things fell through, they were still guildmates, and he didn't want to make things awkward.
Kiefer sat down at the table. He preferred to be across from Lessa. Thunder and Astro were already chowing down. It wasn’t long before Thunderborne was trying to raise a racket with another challenge that Backbreaker wasn’t dumb enough to take. At least not in the game.
It was always tough to run back upstairs to grab their gear. Kiefer wanted to stop, but that would mean going to breakfast in his armor. And he wanted to relax a bit and look good in his Kimono. Plus, it also got him time just being by Lessa as they went up and down the stairs.
When it came to party assignments, they were not always paired up. It was however Bladescape and Knightstar decided. They had been working with him to be able to lead half of a party, and it was going well.
But Kiefer was not expecting Bladescape’s Party to be stacked so heavy. It was like the team they would tackle a boss raid with. And it was exactly the same one they had when they cleared Kulzak’s Dungeon. It was odd to put their weaker guildmates together and in the party of 5. Especially considering they were going into the catacombs, a Floor Boss Labyrinth.
Kiefer looked at Lessa by his side and flashed a smile. She was concerned about the stack of the parties. She hated to be in the group of 5 without Kiefer. He hoped his smile was reassuring her.
The walk to the Labyrinth was quiet, but nice. Kiefer just walked next to Lessa, flashing her a smile every so often. It was fun, despite the quiet nature. The Labyrinth forced them to move into their parties.
Once they got into battle, Kiefer’s mind focused on the task at hand. He was with Joltron. Both of them were trying to keep up with Thunderborne. She was worse than Bladescape or AFCK. She intentionally went rogue, and they had to try and protect her. It usually ended with Thunderborne dancing around somewhere and Kiefer and Joltron drawing aggro from the other side so that she didn’t get swarmed.
The two of them worked well together. Kiefer did always enjoy fighting beside Joltron. They were good friends inside the game, and they planned to keep that relationship going.
It was always better when Lessa was with them. They were like the Three Musketeers in the Wondercolts. The seven original Wondercolts were like the Seven Samurai, but hopefully with less martyrdom when all was said and done. That put Astro as their odd one out as Musashi Miyamoto, except using a Two-Handed Spear, instead of two swords. There was no way to wield two weapons in SAO.
Fighting was still fun for Kiefer. He was training Martial Arts and the Katana skill. Both were categorized as Extra Skills. Unlike Martial Arts which was unlocked by a quest, Kiefer had trained his One-Handed Curved Sword skill far enough that it unlocked the Katana skill. Kiefer wasn’t the only one with the Katana skill. He knew at least Klein had it because he saw him using a Sword Skill that Katana unlocked. The guild leader's sword was also definitely a katana, and not a curved sword, just by its appearance.
Lunch was slow. Kiefer enjoyed the break. Thunderborne had no idea as she played Rock, Paper, Scissors, how exhausting it was to be teamed up with her. It didn't bother him much though, because his time was mostly spent thinking about Lessa. He fought without worrying about her. He wondered if that would be a good thing if they were involved with each other? He cared about her, but battle required his focus. And he was often brought on the boss raids. She had only gone twice, and didn't want to go unless she had to. They were always a big risk to his life. Was that fair to her? Could he protect her like he should?
A relationship required give and take. Sacrifice was key. And protecting the other didn’t always mean physically, but in this case, it did. But he usually didn’t think about her in battle. And if he died on a boss raid, he couldn’t protect her.
Their early exit from the Catacombs meant it would be a long day the next day. Getting back was easy. Kiefer got out of his gear and into his favorite Kimono Diemond had made him. Lessa was on a couch on the second floor, drinking juice. She had a glass for Kiefer and he sat down in the chair so she didn’t have to sit on one cushion. She immediately stretched out a bit more.
Kiefer had half given up on his metal crafting skills. He had to fight too much. He would mess around with it, and it was a good distraction after a tough day. Banging on the metal to let off stress was effective. But tonight, he wasn't focused on crafting. Lessa had just repaired their gear the night before, so she was free for the evening.
The conversation was light. Often times they just sat, enjoying each other’s company. No one was on the floor with them. They all were spread out, doing other things. Eventually, they went to bed. Kiefer walked behind Lessa up to the fourth floor.
He lingered at her door as he flashed her a smile. She smiled back and slowly closed her door, ending their interaction for the day. He had accomplished his goal. He was the first person she saw in the morning, and the last she saw at night before sleep. It was something he could do to show he cared for her.




 Bladescape (SS): Lvl 79 – Two-Handed Sword – Search – Weapon Defense – Leather Armor – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Sprint – Acrobatics – Blade Throwing – Extended Weight Carry
Knightstar (TS): Lvl 69 – One-Handed Sword – Shield – Equipment Appraisal – Parry – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Light Metal Armor – Search – Armor Pierce
Thunderborne (RBD): Lvl 72 – Rapier – Sprint – Acrobatics – Armor Pierce – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Leather Armor – Weapon Defense – Extended Weight Carry – Search
Backbreaker (AJ): Lvl 75 – Heavy Shield – One-Handed War Hammer – Extended Weight Carry – Heavy Metal Armor – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Fishing – Search – Martial Arts – Acrobatics
AFCK(PP): Lvl 72 – Two-Handed Axe – Parry – Cooking – Weapon Defense – Martial Arts – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Light Metal Armor – Thrown Weapon – Musical Instrument
Diemond (R): Lvl 72 – Heavy Shield – Mace – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Heavy Metal Armor – Tailoring – Light Metal Armor Forging – Heavy Metal Armor Forging – Jewelry Making – Extended Weight Carry
Doombunny (FS): Lvl 69 – One-Handed Dagger – First Aid – Hide – Search – Listening – Battle Regeneration – Fighting Spirit –  Familiar Communication (Colorra) – Drug Mixing – Reveal
Astro (PS): Lvl 72 – Two-Handed Spear - Purchase Negotiation – Armor Pierce – Acrobatics – First Aid – Light Metal Armor – Battle Regeneration – Weapon Defense – Parry – Extended Wight Carry
Kiefer: Lvl 69 – One-Handed Curved Blade – Parry – Weapon Defense – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Light Metal Armor – Slash Weapon Forging – Katana – Martial Arts
Lessa: Lvl 69 – One-Handed Sword – Shield – Light Metal Armor – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Equipment Repair – Metal Equipment Repairing – Armor Pierce – Search
Joltron: Lvl 73 – One handed Axe – Heavy Shield – Heavy Metal Armor – First Aid – Battle Regeneration – Metal Refining – Blunt Weapon Forging – One Handed Weapon Creation – Two Handed Weapon Creation – Extended Weight Carry