Episode 4 - Generosity
Floor 1
December 3
Tolbana was the largest town on the first floor, ignoring the massive Town of Beginnings. A month in this death game and the players hadn’t fared well. A fifth had died, too many by suicide, and they were still on the 1st Floor. Many were doubting if they could actually beat it. At this rate, even Bladescape was unsure.
The others were lagging behind as they walked through the windmills that surrounded and made up the city. They had only been here a few days. The inn spaces were taken up, so they were renting a room in a farmer’s house.
Their leveling had slowed as they gained ranks. They had just hit level 10 an hour ago. The toughest monsters they could farm only gave so much XP, and the required XP was greater than the level before it. Still, they were improving. And from what Bladescape could tell, their levels were above most of the players.
Knightstar was tracking their individual levels and calculating how best for them to improve. Especially when it came to crafting and cooking. Just because she could cook something higher didn’t mean AFCK should be. Some resources were harder to get, and some recipes required less.
AFCK could cook the small loaf of bread twice as fast as she could bake the large loaf. The large loaf required twice the ingredients, but only gave 25% more XP than the small loaf. In short, AFCK could cook two small loafs and gain more XP than cooking one bigger loaf. It wasn’t great food to AFCK’s disappointment, but it was made with love and satisfied their hunger better than the cheap stuff sold at the stalls and pubs.
Their daily hunt was over. The others were going to be separating off to help or work on their other skills. Bladescape wasn’t going to stop training though.
“Any of you want to hit the fields for more work on combat skills?” Bladescape asked as she finished her bread.
“I promised to assist AFCK with cooking,” Backbreaker added.
“More tailoring for me,” Diemond said, without enthusiasm. “I am getting close to being able to make us useful gear. Well, except for BB, she wants to wear ugly heavy armor.”
“As the main Tank, I’m going to need it,” Backbreaker affirmed.
“We can get matching armor made for BB,” Bladescape assured her.
“I know, but in order to make it, I have to get high enough in Light Metal Armor first,” Diemond whined. “I don’t even have that yet. Its so unfair here. I’m used to just going to the store to get the materials and working with them.”
“Life’s unfair, Rarity,” Thunderborne groaned, rolling her eyes. “I mean, Diemond. Suck it up and help make sure we survive. We have beaten worse odds before. Demon Sunset Shimmer, the Dazzlings, Crystal Prep and Demon Twilight, Gaia Everfree, as well as a ton of cool things like winning the contest with Dance Magic, and the Daring Do Film Mystery culprit, Juniper Montage. We may not have the geodes, but we have each other. We can beat this game. This has rules. The others, we didn’t know what the rules were. Now we do.”
Bladescape sighed and crossed her arms. “But the last few, we had the geodes Dash. Now we don’t. Although… nah. We don’t get any crossover.”
“Well, I am off to train my agility,” Thunderborne said with a thumbs up. “I’m going to ride the windmills all the way around. Astro is supposed to be joining me. I don’t know how good she will be though.”
“Please Thunderborne,” Astro scoffed. “You have seen me play. You know I’m not only game, but that I can crush you.”
“HA! You wish.”
“Then I guess its game on!”
Bladescape shrugged it off. Dash had always loved to run. She had always been fast and agile. And AJ had always been strong. Those natural attributes would copy over a bit. Dash knew how to run. AJ knew how to be unyielding and strong. That was all mind stuff, and the NerveGear basically read their minds.
“Alright, I am going out for some practice,” Bladescape said. “I still need work with my Weapon Defense Skill, and I can train search.”
As Bladescape got to the edge of her self appointed safe zone, she heard yells. Scared yells. As her heart rate intensified, she searched the rolling hills for the origin of the terrified screams. A team of three were fighting against a giant bore. One got tossed and landed hard on the ground. He didn’t recover. They appeared to only be 13 or 14 years old.
Bladescape charged, drawing the blade from her back.
“SIEYAA!!!!”
The boar reeled from the vertical strike.
“GO!” Bladescape ordered. “Follow the road.”
The boar charged and Bladescape rotated her sword, blocking with it. The Weapon Defense skill was proving vital once again. Bladescape shifted her stance and lifted her sword overhead. She activated the downward sword skill. The sword slashed down, striking the boar mid back and carried all the way through the boar. It exploded into a million polygons.
There were more boars in the area, but they were far enough out that they were on the edges of her Search Skill. She dashed after the three and quickly caught up with them.
“What are you thinking?” Bladescape asked, trying to not explode.
“Thanks,” The oldest boy panted. “We thought we could make it from the last village. But there were more enemies than we expected. It took longer too.”
They were walking slowly now. The three of them looked horrible. Exhausted.
“What level are you guys?” Bladescape asked.
“We just got to Level 5,” The girl answered.
“5!” Bladescape exclaimed. She automatically began to lecture them. “I was Level 5 by the time I got to Media. That was three weeks ago! This game is no joke! The only reason you three made it here that low is because this entire floor has been picked clean. 2,000 players have died! You almost became 2,001, 2,002, and 2,003! No wonder you got tossed like you did. How far in the red are you?”
“Well,” Their leader stuttered. “I barely survived that hit I took. I guess I am no good at this leadership thing. I thought I could get us to here and we could find better hunting. Everything in the Town of Beginnings is picked clean. And most of the players are still there.”
They got back to Tolbana’s Safe Zone.
“HEY! BLADESCAPE!”
The four of them stopped and looked to where the yelling was coming from. Bladescape snorted a chuckled as she saw Thunderborne upside down on one of the windmill blades.
“That’s my friend,” Bladescape chuckled. “She kind of loves speed, agility, and testing herself past the max. And she is in the safe zone, so she won’t actually lose HP if she falls off. When she falls off.”
“I ONLY FELL ONCE! ASTRO HASN’T GOTTEN A FULL RIDE IN YET!”
“Yeah,” Astro said walking out from behind a windmill. “I gave up. I’m too tired to do it tonight. I’m not sure if that is actually training her agility though. Thunder is just a maniac.” Astro pointed to the others. “What’s with them?”
“She saved us,” The leader said. “We’re alive because of her. It turns out, we got ahead of our level.”
Thunderborne somersaulted through the air and landed in between them all, fist slammed into the ground; making them all a step back in surprise.
“OH YEAH!” She exclaimed with a victory fist pump. “Now come on, AFCK probably has more bread baked. I can’t wait until Knightstar tells her to make something else.”
“Food?” Bladescape offered them. “It's just bread, but it's made with love and enthusiasm.”
“Sure,” The girl said. “We are starving. That’s why we left the Town of Beginnings. We had to get Col for food. There just isn’t any there. Its tough. We didn’t see any other option.”
“And that is why there are so many deaths,” Bladescape sighed.
They headed towards the place they were renting. There was a small porch with a bench outside the farmhouse.
“Hey!” Diemond greeted them as they approached. She was sitting on the bench, sewing something. “Who is with you?”
“Um,” Bladescape stumbled. “We actually haven’t exchanged names. Well, to give formal ones in case we missed any of them. I’m Bladescape. That’s Thunderborne, and that’s Astro. Sitting there sewing is Diemond. Our other four are Doombunny, Backbreaker, Knightstar, and AFCK.”
“They are inside,” Diemond said. “Wait… I don’t actually know where Doombunny is.”
“Hey, she does disappear in the evenings, doesn’t she?”
“Well, I don’t know where your friend is, but I am Kiefer, she is Lessa, and he is Joltron.”
“Its good to meet you all,” Diemond said curtly. “You gear is ghastly. Is that your starter gear?”
“Yeah,” Lessa sighed. “We haven’t been able to gather enough Col to upgrade them. Food has been the priority.”
“You made it all the way here with your starter gear?” Thunderborne exclaimed. “Our gear has been upgraded at least once. Depending on the person and the equipment.”
“And that explains how we almost died,” Joltron groaned.
“Well, I will help solve that!” Diemond said leaping up and clapping. “Now, these look ghastly, but their defensive qualities are much higher than those rags you are wearing right now.”
Diemond popped open her menu and hit a few buttons. Her arms caught three long, leather jackets. She tossed them to Lessa. A moment later Joltron caught a set of leather pants and Kiefer was catching boots and gloves.
“There, full set of leather gear!” Diemond said striking a power pose. “Am I good or am I good?”
“How much do we owe you?” Kiefer asked, opening his menu.
“Oh please, you don’t owe me a cent. Or Col. Whatever it is. This is a joy darling. A love of mine. Also, I am swimming in these items after making so many of them to boost my tailoring. But that isn’t the point. I really hate to see you in those dregs.”
“Thank you,” Lessa stammered. “That is so generous. That’s the first nice thing anyone has done for us since we got trapped in here.”
The door banged open. “WHO WANTS FREE BREAD!” AFCK was standing there with an armful of bread and a giant smile.
“We got a lot of it y’all,” Backbreaker added. “Their durability won’t last too long, so eat it or lose it!”
“Its no fun baking here,” AFCK whined. “In real life, you have to knead the dough, get flour everywhere, there usually is cinnamon or vanilla involved, and sprinkles, and then you have an oven to play with.” AFCK dropped down next to Diemond and cried. “I don’t burn anything back home. I’m burning bread. I haven’t burned bread since before preschool.”
“Now now, Sugarcube, its alright,” Backbreaker said, patting AFCK on the shoulder to try and comfort her. “This is a huge adjustment for all of us.”
“Um, can I have one of those loaves?”
“Fluttershy!” Diemond said jumping in surprise. “How long have you been there dear?”
“Um, since after dinner?”
“But, but, but I’ve been paying attention to the area. I never saw you.”
“Um, well, I have the hide skill. Maybe that’s why?”
Bladescape chuckled a smile. “Of course you chose that. Apparently that is working well for you.”
“LET’S EAT!” AFCK exclaimed, standing back up. “I still have an armful of bread that’s losing its durability!”
They all grabbed a loaf and ate. Bladescape explained their meeting out in the fields.
“Say, Twilight dear,” Diemond said. “I mean, Knightstar. Can we afford some hunting with them tomorrow? To help get them up to a more proper level?”
“We were going to be going into the first floor boss labyrinth for the hunting, and mapping. As long as we don’t dive too far in, they should be fine with us.”
Bladescape shook her head with a smile. “So, I guess we need to go to bed, rest up, and be ready to rock and roll early in the morning.”
Bladescape (SS): Lvl 10– One-Handed Sword – Search – Weapon Defense
Knightstar (TS): Lvl 10 – One-Handed Sword – Shield – Equipment Appraisal
Thunderborne (RBD): Lvl 10 – One-Handed Sword – Sprint – Agility
Backbreaker (AJ): Lvl 10 – Shield – One-Handed War Hammer – Extended Weight Carry
AFCK (PP): Lvl 10 – One-Handed Axe – Parry – Cooking
Diemond (R): Lvl 10 – Shield – Mace – Tailoring
Doombunny (FS): Lvl 10 – One-Handed Dagger – First Aid – Hide
Astro (PS): Lvl 10 – Short Spear - Purchase Negotiation – Armor Pierce
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I like what you did with everyone’s names at the end. The color coding is a nice touch.
What's with the "001" in the cover art?
9836640
Good question! This is the Light Novel Cover (in Japanese) for the very first book: Sword Art Online Light Novel Volume 01 - Aincrad. I did it to mirror all of the novel covers which feature the volume number on them.
Also, it is nice to see you interesting in my other writings!
9836524
Thanks. That color coding and all is a life saver for me. lol. And the reader deserves to see their progress as plainly as possible. It is a game after all!
So the're taking these kiddies into the boss dungeon to grind... please don't let this end up like Sachi
I don't usually read crossovers and just read plenty of sunset x rarity fictions, but the first chapter got me interested so maybe i'll give this one a go
Good luck and more chapters to go
9837380
I look forward to hearing more from you. I am glad that you are giving it a try! I'm always down for constructive criticism too! Thanks for reading!
9837077
All I will say is that the story is tagged adventure and drama.
Sachi isn't actually shown in the light novel series until book 2. It's a jump backwards to see more of what was done. That was how Reki Kawahara wrote it originally. The Anime show put it all in order.
9837534
I've heard, as while I have not read the novels myself, I have friends who did and they said they definitely liked the way the anime presented the timeline in sequential order rather then having flash backs. (though they did recommend I read the Progressive series as it apparently fills in some of the gaps of the time skips)
9837822
I have not gotten a hold of the progressive series yet. I am working my way through the Alicization Arc. But the Wiki has so much good information that fills in the gaps and presents me with that overview of the progressive information. As to the Anime, they nailed putting it all together in one smooth flow. The author did not have the chance originally because it was a serial novel he was releasing online. So he did jump back to Aincrad to tell more tales from the two years inside.
That was a three weeks ago!
Though
I just realized something are they hero’s in the real word if so because wouldn't they be recognized as the main six?
I would loaf it if you didn’t
It will be the yeast of your problems
It’s
So we're coming up on the first boss raid...will the power of friendship be enough to overcome the power of whiney n00bs(looking at YOU, Kibau...)? We shall see...
9851777
only locally in the city this game is world wide so nope
Yay more friends!! The guild grows by three
I keep expecting Astro to say something when they talk about the magic stuff. Does she know about it already?
10232761
So far, I believe I have it covered so that no magic talk had happened in front of Astro or anyone else.
They might work better there.
They.
So, does this mean this story takes place before the digital series began?
Never thought I'd hear Sunset breaking the fourth wall!
That explains why she's on that windmill like what junior did in that one scene of Thomas and the Magic Railroad.
making them all step back in surprise.*
More ocs I'm guessing?