Episode 10 - In Her Father’s Footsteps
Eighteenth day in the Month of Cypress (November 18) in the Year of the Hawk
Floor 1 - Tolbana - 1 p.m.
“So, what does this quest require?” Bladescape asked Natora.
“A lot of running and a bit of combat,” Natora replied. “I’ve been asked to find the daughter of a local. She has gone missing, chasing after her father’s sword. He was a city guard and he recently died in a battle with the goblins. Unfortunately, the heirloom sword he used was taken by the goblins. Our young warrior-to-be, Anara, has not come home in a few days and her mother is worried. The quest takes us towards the mountains near the pillar to search for her trail. I will be able to pick it up easily enough.”
“Is that it?” Malus asked. “And how does that get you that spear?”
Natora’s smile slipped to a mischievous grin. “Well, if I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise. What is the fun in doing a quest if you are not paying attention to the story?”
“Fine,” Malus grumbled.
“Let’s get lunch and then head out,” Natora said. “We will want the meal because I don’t expect to be back before dark.”
“Awe,” Konpoeito groaned. “I am supposed to meet the mysterious papa rock tonight. Rock Candy Hollow in Sugar Valley has heard of my feats and wants to meet me. I have heard rumors that they are being harassed by an even darker evil than the dark chocolate witch.”
“You will have plenty of time to do that,” Natora said, handling the random situation well.
They ate a full, but basic, meal that they could afford. Then they headed north, out of the city and towards the mountains that had always been on the horizon. Now they were up close to them, with the digital rock reaching up towards the second floor. But even to their peaks, the floor above was out of reach of the mountains.
Natora quickly picked up the trail. It was well defined, multiple feet had imprinted themselves into the ground. The path led away from the pillar, east, but still up into the mountains. They had to kill goblins and hobgoblins along the way, as well as some wolves and boars.
“How much farther?” Diemond asked as they finished off a small band of goblins.
“Not far to Anara,” Natora said. “If you look at your feet, you will notice her blood trail.”
Diemond jumped back, staying on her toes to avoid it. “Where does it lead?”
“I may have done this before, but you can track it as well,” Natora shot back.
“That way,” Knightstar said, pointing with her sword. “The trail of blood leads over towards those rocks by the cliff. And with the amount of blood on the ground, we need to move quickly.”
“Then onward!” Bladescape exclaimed as adventurously as she could. “We shall find her and rescue her. This, Anana?”
“Anara,” Natora corrected.
They rushed up the steep hillside towards the cliff. The blood trail was easy to follow. It led straight to the rocks. There were actually just several big boulders piled together. As they approached, they heard something from further back, in the rocks.
“Anara?” Knightstar called. “Is that you?”
“Yes-s-s?” She shakily replied. “Who are you? Who sent you?”
“Your-” Knightstar glanced at Natora for the answer. Natora mouthed the right response. “Mother is worried that you haven’t come home. She sent us looking for you. Are you alright?”
“I’m alive,” Anara replied, sobbing a bit.
“Come on out and we can get you home, safe and so you can get healed,” Knightstar said.
“No!” Anara protested. “I need to get my father’s sword. Those goblins can’t have it!”
“We will get the sword for you,” Knightstar replied. “Let’s get you home though.”
“No! I have to do this,” she screamed.
“Then…” Knightstar said, stalling out.
“There are eight of us here,” Bladescape said. “We can protect you. If we are going to do this, we need to go now. It is already late in the day.”
Slowly Anara came out, a simple sword shaking in her hands. It was less from fear and more from the pain and loss of blood.
“Come on,” Bladescape said, giving her a warm smile. “How much farther are they?”
“East,” Anara pointed. “That outcropping of rocks hides a cave entrance. They are in there. I got a quick look. The sword is on top of a pile of other weapons and things they have taken in their conquest. They have ravaged the land and pillaged whole villages. They need to be stopped."
"Sword first,” Bladescape said. “Then we get you back to Tolbana, safe. Afterwards we can worry about the goblins. We came to save you, because you have people who care about you. I know the sword is important, but it isn't worth your life, not to the people who love you."
"That sounds like you are giving a pep talk to yourself," Natora said. "Or one of us."
Bladescape glared at Natora, but didn't say a word. She looked at the target Anara had pointed out. "Malus and Knightstar will go first, with Natora and Thunderborne on their tail. Diemond and Konpeito can pull up the rear. Doombunny and I will stay with Anara. Let's move out."
They formed up and headed out. Bladescape tried to give Anara a health potion, but she refused it. As soon as she could, Bladescape slipped up to Natora. "Anything I need to know?" She quietly asked.
"I'm lost," Natora admitted. "This is the same quest, except I found her unconscious in the rocks and easily carried her home. That was my new objective. Then I went out for the sword. I had to track the goblins, who were camped in a different location, not in a cave. I killed them, got the sword in a drop, and brought it back. I was given the spear in return. Someone changed the details of this quest. I don't know how I feel about that. It wasn't a bad quest, it wasn't a super good one either, but the reward was awesome. It didn't have any bugs or anything wrong, not that I noticed. The change makes no sense, but I'm not the engineer or the writer."
"So we might not even get your spear," Bladescape said.
"Nope," Natora shrugged. "No telling now, but the change, this feels like a one-shot quest. In the beta anyone could do it. We will probably be the only ones to do this."
"Then we better do it awesomely," Bladescape said, stepping back to the center of the group.
They progressed to the cave without meeting any enemies. There were no guards posted outside, but goblin voices could be heard inside.
"Plan," Bladescape quietly said. "We go in, Thunder sprints to get the sword and then we get out. The sword is our goal and then getting Anara home."
Thunderborne nodded and the others confirmed the orders.
They entered as quietly as they could. The cave entrance wasn't long. The loot pile was on the far side, beside a big goblin sitting on a makeshift chair.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" He asked as he stood up. He held up a sword. "Looking for this?"
"Give it back!" Anara yelled.
"So, you are still alive," he grumbled. "I should have known better than to trust wormtongue."
"Enemies entering the cave," Diemond said from their rear.
"Hold the entrance," Bladescape ordered. "Natora, assist Diemond. It's narrow enough that it should force them to come one by one."
"Right," Natora said, joining Diemond.
"Now," Bladescape said, looking at the big goblin. He wasn't as big as either of the generals from the camp, but he was big for a goblin. She drew her claymore from her back. "I'd rather not fight you for that sword, but we will if we have to. Let's just make this simple. Come halfway to me, set it down on the ground, then go back to your chair. I go forward, alone, I will pick it up and we all will leave. No one gets hurt and everyone is happy."
"Except for me," the goblin replied. "I want the sword. Why do you think we ambushed that human? It is shiny and sharp and it is much better than any goblin blade. And I can wield it." He whipped the tip towards them. "Besides, the rest of my tribe won't let you leave."
"Fine," Bladescape said. "Malus, head to the left, Knightstar, take the right. Konpeito, go with Malus. I'll go with Knightstar. Thunderborne, and Doombunny, protect Anara. She is our number one priority."
"Fine," Thunderborne grumbled.
"None have ever lived to tell of the tale of when they fought the great goblin Chief Ichimaru!" the goblin proclaimed.
A large health bar appeared above his name, signaling that they could now fight him.
"What a pathetic name," Bladescape taunted as they advanced.
"Make it quick!" Natora yelled. "They are pushing on us, hard."
Anara darted forward. She raised her sword high, yelling her own war cry.
Bladescape locked eyes with Thunderborne and just rolled them to show her disappointment.
Malus charged, fighting to stay ahead of Anara. She took the chief’s swing on her shield and tried to hit the goblin Chief with her hammer, but he nimbly avoided it. The Chief slipped past Malus and jumped at Anara, who flinched in fear. Knightstar slid in between them, shield above her head as the goblin came down on top of them. The chief spring boarded off the shield and away from them.
Thunderborne zipped over to him and drove a quick attack into him with her rapier. It knocked off a decent chunk of HP, but it was a small amount compared to the overall health of the chief.
The chief used his agility to his advantage, laughing madly as he dashed around. Many of their attacks missed. It was like trying to swat a fly and they kept missing.
As the goblin Chief jumped back to his seat, Konpeito ambushed him. Apparently, she had been hiding behind it. Her battle-axe knocked him back as it scored a critical attack and took off a fifth of his health. She stood there, in a power pose with one foot on his chair and axe on her shoulder.
Now that his health was significantly reduced, Chief Ichimaru went on the attack. Bladescape was the closed target and she found herself trying to block a series of quick attacks and cuts. Her bigger blade meant slower reaction time. When they locked swords, Bladescape thought she had the upper hand, but then the goblin twisted their swords, pinning hers against the ground. He punched her in the face. The sudden attack caused Bladescape to drop her sword and stumble back, gripping her face. The Chief flicked her large sword over to his conquest pile.
Malus got in between the goblin Chief and Bladescape. Knightstar was defending Anara. The goblin Chief gave up and began to run and move again. He targeted Natora and Diemond for the first time. They were clueless to his approach.
Right as the goblin Chief went to jump them, Doombunny slid in front of him and rammed her dagger into his chest. She pulled it out and sliced lower, cutting his leg up with a two-combo slash attack. She was gone before he could react. It was enough time for Malus to get in position to protect Natora and Diemond.
Bladescape used the distraction to get her sword back. She paused before grabbing it. Deep in the pile was a red hilt that was longer than most longswords. She reached in and wrestled it free from the other weapons and items. The system recognized the sword as a Two-Handed Sword and at a quick glance, it was better than her iron claymore. It was prettier too. It had a nice shine to the blade, but the cross guard was golden and the pommel was set with a giant ruby. Bladescape abandoned her old sword and charged the goblin Chief with the new one.
The others had gotten the goblin Chief surrounded. Bladescape took up her spot in the circle.
"So, you found the Ancient Red Sun Sword," Chief Ichimaru said. "That is a special sword compared to what I have in my hand. This is a dull rod of rusted iron compared to that one, but I can't wield that big human sword."
"What do you know of this sword?" Bladescape asked.
"Only that the one who carried it died like a dog at my hands,” he said, laughing madly. “He wasn't worthy of such a weapon."
"And neither are you," Bladescape fired back.
Bladescape lunged forward. He easily dogged it, but Bladescape wasn't worried. His skip to the side put him in front Thunderborne who drove home a vicious stab to his back. He jumped forward and got smacked by Malus' hammer. Surrounded, the others got their hits in, dropping his health down into the red.
Malus had to jump out and switch with Diemond, to give her relief. Diemond didn't get a hit in, but Natora jumped into the center and ran Chief Ichimaru through with her spear, eliminating the last of his HP. The sword dropped to the ground and Anara immediately scooped it up.
He shattered and Natora looked around at them. "Diemond, take Anara to the back and guard her. You did well holding the entrance, now rest up. Everyone else, there are thirty or so goblins trying to get in here. We have to get through them to get Anara home. So let's pound them to polygons and get moving!"
They fanned out, ready to deal with the goblins. Malus jumped back, letting the hoard spill through. They were mostly level six goblins. Knightstar cut them down with ease and Thunderborne was sticking close to her. Malus and Natora worked together to pick them off. Bladescape was going solo and so was Konpeito. They each had Weapon Defense and were using it when they needed to.
It was a massacre. They knew the goblin's attacks and could predict their moves. Despite that, the number difference gave them no rest.
Three slipped past their line and charged at Diemond and Anara. Diemond put up her shield, ready to fight once more. It never came.
Doombunny slipped in front and sliced an X across the chest of the lead goblin and then punched her knife into the center of the X. The other two converged on her, but she skipped to the side avoiding them. The two goblins ran into each other instead. Doombunny reversed course, slashing and stabbing until their HP was gone.
"No one hurts my friends!" Doombunny declared as she held her head high and puffed out her chest.
The rest of the goblins were cleaned up easily. Thunderborne blocked the entrance so they couldn't escape. Even without a shield or weapon defense skill, she was fast enough to beat them to an attack.
Despite their success, their HPs had all dropped into the orange from various things. Most were minor strikes that eventually stacked up to plenty of lost HP. Even being a tank, with only your shield taking hits, didn't mean you were not losing HP. The shields absorbed most attacks, but they still took off chips of HP. A better shield and more HP would reduce those chips. They downed health potions to start recovering their health.
Bladescape looked at the disrupted pile of weapons and where her old sword lay. "Let's grab that stuff and get moving. Some of it might prove useful. He at least thought it had value."
It was mostly Bladescape, Malus, Konpeito, and Knightstar carrying the treasure pile. The rest had very little left for their weight limit. Diemond had plenty of strength, but she was carrying a decent amount of crafting materials. The others were all agility and speed builds.
They had enough space for it all and left. It was dark outside and the trek back took time. Anara was doing well enough, but they still wanted to get her back as quickly as possible. She wasn’t looking very good, especially the closer they got to Tolbana.
They finally got back to Tolbana and got her to her family. They were very grateful for both the retrieval of their daughter and sister, and for the return of the family sword.
"Come back tomorrow morning and we will have better payment," Anara's mother said. "For now, she needs care."
"Of course," Natora said, bowing to the woman. Outside the house, Natora opened her menu. "The quest says to come back after Eight AM, so we should get some sleep and come back."
"Sounds like a plan," Bladescape said. "And we have the lodging all set up."
"I'm hungry," Diemond said. "I don't suppose we can get some food. Is anything even open?"
"I'll get us stuff at the tavern," Malus said.
"No, we will eat at the tavern," Bladescape said. "Except for Doom, none of you know where the house is."
Food wasn't hard to get and, after they were full, they headed to the NPC house. When they got there, the NPC was still up and her husband was home. The girls all thanked them for the living arrangement.
"No worries," the man said. "It is a mutually beneficial arrangement. We won't bother you up there, or any of your stuff. So long as you are renting it, it will be safe there."
"Thank you," Bladescape said, bowing to them once more.
Upstairs, they all split up. Doombunny and Thunderborne headed into one room to immediately crash. Diemond entered another room. Konpeito followed the others to drop off the loot, and then went across the hall to the room Diemond had taken.
Bladescape, Natora, Malus, and Knightstar sat around the table, looking at the various things that the goblin Chief had found worth keeping. They had grabbed it all without looking at what they were grabbing. Their haul included two rapiers, three longswords, one curved sword, a katana, six knives, two one-handed axes, a two-handed axe, a chest plate, a shirt of mail, and two helmets which wouldn't fit a goblin, even one as big as the chief.
"I suppose we should see if anyone is missing any weapons," Knightstar said. "Or items."
"An appraisal Skill would be nice," Natora added.
"Where could we find someone with that Skill?" Malus asked.
"The Town of Beginnings probably has Smith's or other players starting up shops," Natora said. "One of them might have that skill. It is very early in the...game. We don't even have four skills. If they put an appraisal Skill, then they would only have one other for something else. That is hard to run a business off of, but I'm sure some will try."
"I can leave my excess gear here, all the stuff that was dropped by the goblins, to lighten my load and take this to the Town of Beginnings," Bladescape offered. "With the teleport plaza, it wouldn't be hard and it would be safe."
"It also would flood the area with players who couldn't protect themselves against the higher-level monsters outside the walls," Natora added. "It's best to leave the plaza untriggered, dormant, for now. It also lets us capitalize on things in the area. It sounds a bit selfish, but the four of us here, not that the others won’t join us, know we are not going to sit this out. Thunder is tired and this stuff bores her, Doom is understandably scared, Diemond is focused on sewing, which we want, but she hits hard and can stand her ground when needed, and Konpeito just seems to be along for the ride, but she enjoys cooking for us. She also is really good at scoring critical attacks. The point is, we don’t know what the other players outside our group will do with the skills and XP we can gain being ahead of them, but we know what we will do with it, so let’s ensure it doesn’t go to waste."
"Okay," Bladescape said with a nod in agreement. “We stay here and we prepare for our inevitable conquest of Aincrad's first boss.”
“One Floor at a time,” Knightstar said. “Slow and steady. With statistics on our side, we, I, can sort of hack the game from the inside, allowing us to optimize our performance and safety margins. Game engines use algorithms with weighted drop factors for items, which we display as percentages. Once I know what is being dropped by each creature, I can figure out those percentages. The same for XP and factoring in damage versus defense and ranking monsters by my own weighted factors to find the fastest and safest XP farms.”
“Good,” Bladescape nodded.
“Coach loved to tell us ‘slow is smooth and smooth is fast,’” Natora added. “Take the time to get the job done right. It’s a military saying. He spent a few years in JSDF. When it comes to combat, getting shot at and having to move under fire, with objectives to get done and the enemy making their moves, you can’t screw up or act rashly. You have to keep emotions under control. You have to slow down and think. Not overthink, but just enough to know your options and pick the right one. By slowing down, just that quick bit, you lessen your risk of overlooking something. In war, overlooking something often will cost you a life, which isn’t acceptable. Once you pick your course of action, you commit to it and smoothly execute it. You can get the job done as safely and quickly as possible. It turns out that a smooth starting action ends up with faster results.”
“That’s a good saying,” Knightstar said. “And a great explanation. I like it. As much as this isn’t a war with guns, or even a real Medieval or Edo period battlefield, this is a war. Us against Mister Kayaba and he put a lot of obstacles between us and the Ruby Palace, and presumably him there, waiting for us on his throne. We probably will need an army to conquer this place, but for now, we need to focus on survival as we learn our arts of war: Sword Skills, weapons, and equipment.”
“What about the gear?” Natora asked.
"Let's leave it for the morning," Malus said, standing up. "Give us some time to clear our heads."
"I agree," Knightstar said, also standing up. "Warriors need their sleep. I guess Malus and I will take the third room, and you two can have this one?"
"Sounds good," Bladescape said with a shrug.
The other two left, but Natora and Bladescape didn't get up. Neither had roomed together before, but that wasn't the issue. Neither clearly felt ready for bed, despite the late hour. They just sat quietly, thinking, as the moonlight came in through the window.
"There is a lot riding on our shoulders," Natora said, breaking the silence. "I'm the one with the information, but even that has become sketchy. You, the others look up to you and you have a plan. I also look to you for the plan, despite knowing more about SAO."
"Doom is coming along well," Bladescape said, ignoring what Natora had started. "I was not expecting that. I know how scared she is, or well, I don’t, but I understand that as scared as I am, she is worse. I'm not sure how long she will keep that fighting edge. She flips back and forth, hot to cold, and really only when her friends are in danger. She is the most unstable of us, and I don’t want to lose her because we took her into a place she needed to be hot, but was too cold for. We need some bigger shields too."
Natora nodded. "I agree and we will get them when the game offers them, but you dodged the question. I know you heard the implication I was making."
Sunset kept a straight face, not looking at Natora. Virtual or real, Bladescape or Sunset, at this moment, there was no difference. Sunset knew the answer. She didn’t need her book of memories because she hadn’t forgotten this fact. "It means we can't fail. Or rather, I can't. They are looking to me as their strength, to imitate me or to give them the strength to continue. It's what is best. That doesn't make it easy. I have to be ready with a plan. Even if it defers to you, I still am leading."
"I'm glad I'm not in your shoes," Natora replied. "I don't make a good leader. A good player, one who always has your back, but I'm not very good in the leadership department."
"Then rely on me," Sunset said. "I’ll be at the front of every battle. You shouldn’t count yourself out though, you have been doing a lot of leading, even if it is playing off of me. They are looking first to me, then to you. You have been leading a party very well too. All I need from you is to not let the game knock me back. Catch me so I don’t fall. But we probably need to hit the sack."
"I’ll catch you," Natora assured her, standing up. "I’ll be right behind you, so that you can’t fall. As to sleep, well at least these beds are bigger than the inn ones. It's easier to fit two people on."
"Agreed," Bladescape said, also standing up.
They took off their armor, down to the plain clothes they wore, so they would be comfortable as they slept.
BLADESCAPE: Level 10 — One-Handed Sword — Searching — Weapon Defense
NATORA: Level 10 — One-Handed Spear — Purchase Negotiations — Sales Negotiations
KNIGHTSTAR: Level 10 — One-Handed Sword — Shield — Light Metal Armor
MALUS: Level 10 — One-Handed War Hammer — Shield — Light Metal Armor
THUNDERBORNE: Level 10 — One-Handed Sword — Sprint — Acrobatics
KONPEITO: Level 10 — One-Handed Axe — Cooking — Weapon Defense
DIEMOND: Level 10 — Mace — Shield — Sewing
DOOMBUNNY: Level 10 — One-Handed Dagger — Hide — Fighting Spirit