EQG: Sword Art Online - Aincrad

by Mindrop

Episode 45 - A Day in the Life of Lessa

Floor 59
April 14 – Year 2

A knock at the door woke Lessa up. She rolled over and pushed herself up onto her feet. It was a shuffle to the door as she yawned. Her alarm was going to go off in two minutes.

She couldn't see as she got to the door. The morning was never good for her eyes. Even though she was in a virtual world, she still had "sleep eye" and could barely crack her eyes open for a few minutes in the morning.

She opened the door a bit and saw the fuzzy image of Kiefer smiling at her. She tried to smile back. She wasn't sure how successful she was. She really only had vision out of one half opened eye.

“Hey,” Lessa said as loudly as she could. "Morning. I’ll be out in a bit. You look good.”

Kiefer quietly snorted back. “I wear this everyday.”

“Oh,” Lessa snorted. Her mind was slowly starting up. “I can’t see. You know that. It is too early.”

“It’s late enough for breakfast.”

Lessa knew she let out a groan. She knew what that meant. “That means Thunder and Astro…”

Lessa closed the door. She stepped back to the sink and splashed water all over her face and then toweled off. A few clicks later and she was "dressed."

She opened the door with a full smile. As kind of a smile as she could. Joltron's door opened and she dropped the smile as Kiefer slipped into being nonchalant.

It was a horrible dance they were playing. Lessa was pretty sure Kiefer was interested in her. But for every action that showed it, there was one that ignored her or showed indifference. Like acting nonchalant with Joltron.

“Morning Lessa,” Joltron said after a yawn. “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-”

Lessa pushed past Kiefer, slightly annoyed. She groaned as she headed towards the stairs and answered Joltron.

“I still fear it. And we already are behind since they are on the floor below us.”

“Good point,” Joltron stated, right behind her on the stairs.

On the second floor, Kiefer caught up and was beside Lessa as they walked towards the circular staircase. Joltron stepped away to do something and they continued in silence. Kiefer did his usual halting step to allow her to go first. He had gotten less awkward about it, but he still wasn’t vocal about the gesture.

A lot was happening at the breakfast table, besides the fabulous meal AFCK had made. With Kiefer sitting across from her, Lessa couldn’t lean over to him and make any quiet comments. Especially about Thunderborne’s constant drive for competition.

They were soon sent to get in their gear. It was fast to change. Even though Lessa was one of the Wondercolts who kept their armor on a stand and hung her sword and shield on the wall. Lessa grabbed the gear and quickly had it on. She was out the door, rushing to meet with the others.

How Bladescape and Knightstar chose the parties, Lessa had no idea. She got paired with Kiefer plenty of times. But today was odd because the players who most often went to the boss raids were put all together, leaving the “weaker” members together and in the smaller party of five. Lessa had no reason why it shouldn’t be as they decided. Even as a weaker member, she still was on the front line clearing the game. She was good. Her record stood for itself. It still was an odd party balance.

The walk to the catacombs, as this Labyrinth was nicknamed, was quiet. Kiefer was by Lessa’s side. He kept flashing her smiles. It was nice, but his hand holding hers would be better. He just wouldn’t take the next step, and it was confusing Lessa.

Once inside the Labyrinth, they separated into their parties. It was boring for a long time until they began to follow what was clearly a trap. But they were Wondercolts. Traps were meant to be sprung.

As they got into the hall, Bladescape led the charge of her party out into battle. Knigthstar held them back for a few seconds and then they rushed out. Lessa was supposed to work with AFCK, but she was always unpredictable, yet lucky. Still, Lessa had a shield and could handle a simple enemy like the shadows and skeletons.

Lessa took a sword on her shield and then her blade glowed deep green as she stabbed at the skeleton. It was a clean stab, knocking half the HP off the skeleton. Hankyu was the sword that Lessa now carried; which Lisbeth had crafted for her.

The skeleton attacked again. It was a simple pattern. Lessa blocked and counter with a cut of her own. The Skeleton’s HP dropped far into the red. She wasn't going to need to unleash high level Sword Skills.

The Skeleton popped as AFCK bounced by, swinging her axe with unbound glee. Lessa sighed as AFCK drew the aggro of a group of skeletons as she hopped by, swinging her axe at them. When she found herself surrounded, she just laughed and twirled, unleashing a spinning Sword Skill that pulverized all of the skeletons.

It was all 100% typical AFCK stuff. It was both annoying and fun to watch. She was so clueless, but so brilliant when she was spot on.

They took an early lunch, but it wasn’t that early. The skeletons were low level, still, it took time to bash them all to polygons. Lessa ate beside Kiefer and Joltron. Kiefer was deep in thought. Joltron was resting after he and Kiefer had to try and keep up with Thunderborne, who had no clue how hard she had worked them while she was playing Rock, Paper, Scissors with Astro. Lessa was left to eat silently besides her friends. Silent, bored, and feeling a bit lonely.

They bashed more skeletons all afternoon until they ran into a tired Fuurinkazan. Bladescape and Klein talked privately and then decided the two guilds would hit the dungeon in the morning, together. Which also meant they walked out together. Klein, Kiefer, Bladescape, and Thunderborne were the ones at the front, quickly clearing any enemies that popped up while they exited.

Kiefer went upstairs but Lessa headed to the kitchen. AFCK was ahead of her. She had a lot to prep for the next day. Lessa got juice and some glasses, three to be precise. It was safest to have a third glass for any additional person since Lessa wasn’t sure how it would play out with him.

Lessa brought it upstairs to the second floor. She set it on one of the coffee tables and then went to the bathroom. A few clicks and she was changed into relaxed clothing and she sat down on the couch. She poured herself a glass and began to sip on it.

It wasn’t long before Kiefer joined her. He chose the chair by the couch, so Lessa laid out. It was just conversation. Nothing too meaningful. And then it was mostly silence, “enjoying each other’s company.”

At bed, Kiefer lingered at her door, flashing her a big smile. Lessa smiled as warmly as she could, slowly closing the door until he disappeared. He did all he could to be the first she saw in the morning, and the last she saw at night. A great sentiment, except they were not sharing the same bed and it still didn’t give her a solid answer about what he really wanted.
She knew what she wanted. She wanted Kiefer all to herself. She wanted to be in his arms and to be what he cared about most.

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

Comments

[Sylica telca]

I found a typo. Joltron has cooking listed in this chapter but not till the reveal next chapter

[Mindrop]

10231520
Odd, but fixed.

[jen_lee_hattie]

A knock at the door work Lessa up. She rolled over and pushed herself up onto her feet. It was a shuffle to the door as she yawned. Her alarm was going to go off in two minutes.

Work should be woke

[jen_lee_hattie]

Lessa let she knew she let out a groan. She knew what that meant. “That means Thunder and Astro…”

you need to get fix repeat of words, take what I say with a pinch of salt because I am bad at spelling and grammar.

[jen_lee_hattie]

It was all 100% typical AFCK stuff. It was both annoying and fun to watch. She was so clueless, but so brilliant when she was spot on.

Yup that sums pinkie up in a nutshell.

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

At bed, Kiefer lingered at her door, flashing her a big smile. Lessa smiled as warmly as she could, slowly closing the door until he disappeared. He did all he could to be the first she saw in the morning, and the last she saw at night. A great sentiment, except they were not sharing the same bed and it still didn’t give her a solid answer about what he really wanted. She knew what she wanted. She wanted Kiefer all to herself. She wanted to be in his arms and to be what he cared about most.

A space is needed before the last sentence.