Sword Heroes(Sword Art Online: Instagram Edition)

Chapter 3

I stand outside the cafe, checking through my inventory. "A house out of town costs 10,000 coins..." I sigh. "And I'll have to get upgrades soon... There's gotta be a quicker way to earn money." I sigh, sulking a bit. "Ah! You're the first one here huh?" I turn my head to see Swift and Cheesy. "You said not to be late... So I came 30 minutes early." I yawn. "Good!" Cheesy smiles. "Everyone else should be coming... This Anna girl better show up." Swift crosses her arms, leaning on the building. "She'll come." I look at Swift. "I did come!" Anna runs up to us, out of breath. Her hair is messy and her swords are falling from their holders. "I thought I slept in" She says laughing a little. I adjust her swords back in the holders and she fixes her hair quickly. "Well you're here before Simple and Mango. That's good." Cheesy smiles. "Damn slackers..." Swift huffs. "So back to the woods today Captain?" I say. "No. We're going into a dungeon. Level 15-25." Swift says before looking at Anna. "What level are you?" She asks. "O-oh! I'm 22." Anna says. "Beta tester." I say. "Uh yeah... I assume you're Beta testers?" Anna says. "Yep! Except Cheesy." I point out. "Sorry we're late!" Mango runs up to us, dragging Simple behind her. "It's okay-"I begin. "Is he still asleep...?" Anna points at Simple who is snoring and drooling. "Yeah..." Mango sighs. "I had to break in through the window he left open to get him. He'll be awake soon." She adds. "Okay now off to the dungeon!" Swift leads us once more. "When did she become leader...?" Mango begins. "She DID kinda bring us all together..." I sigh.

As we're walking through town I see Xeo. He's with a group of people walking the other direction. He looks at me, causing me to look away awkwardly. "Xeo what are you staring at?!" A girl with white hair pulls on his sleeve. She notices me and our guild. "Oh! You know them?" She says. The girl drags him over toward us. "Hey guys wait!" She shouts. We turn around and there they are. "Hey Xeo! Hey Xeo's friends!" Cheesy smiles. "Ah so you all know Xeo." A girl with dark brown hair says. "I don't believe we've interacted. I'm Rous." A girl with multicolored hair says. "I'm Scar!" The girl with dark brown hair smiles. "I'm Ender!" The white hair girl finally let's go of Xeo's sleeve. We all introduce ourselves to them. "So you guys are all a guild huh?" Scar says. "Yep. We consider Swift our leader." I point to her. "S-Since when?!" Swift begins. "You act most like out leader." Mango says. "Are you guys a guild?" Anna asks. "N-no. Xeo doesn't want to be apart of that stuff." Ender sighs and glares at Xeo. He rolls his eyes and looks at me. "I see you've leveled up." He says. "Same for you." I look up at him.

"I hate to break up the moment but we need to head to that dungeon. Come on Lily!" Swift grabs my arm, beginning to drag me away. "Wait." Xeo grabs my other arm. "We're coming with you." He says, keeping a firm grip on my arm. "What?!" Ender says. "What else are we doing today?" Xeo looks at his group. "Nothing..." They all reply. " Exactly. So can we come...?" Xeo looks back to me. "Captain...?" I turn my head. She looks at Xeo, then back to me. A small smirk forms on her face and she nods. "Party with us for now." Swift let's my arm go. "Swift what are you thinking...?" I glare when she sends them the invites. "Nothing important." She turns away. "Swift!" I whine following her.

--

We get to the entrance of the dungeon. "Is this really a good idea?" Anna asks. "Yes it is!" Swift smiles. "You think it's a trap?" Rous asks, spawning in her weapon. It's a scythe? Aren't those super rare? I shake my head and look back at the dungeon. "Let's go. Everyone get your weapons out. Be ready for anything." I say, taking out my sword. The others do the same as we walk inside. The door slams shut behind us and I grip my sword as we slowly walk toward the center of the room. "There's a chest over there... Simple go open it." Swift says. Simple groans and walks over to the chest. He opens it and we're surrounded by enemies. "Trap." Mango mumbles. "Level 25?! Cheesy, Simple, Mango stay back!" Swift says. A monster goes right for them, causing Xeo to jump up and slay it. "They go after the lower level players! Protect them!" Xeo commands. We all nod and Rous quickly slices a few enemies in one swing. Her scythe glows red and she begins slaying enemies left and right. Ender spawns in her knives. She stabs enemies at extreme speeds. Scar spawns in her sword and stabs enemies.

It feels like hours we're fighting. More enemies keep spawning and now Simple and Mango are protecting Cheesy, who is the lowest level player. "Why aren't they stopping!" Cheesy asks. "They want to kill us all!" Simple pushes a enemy back and I slash it's head off. I look around the room, searching for a way out. I see an opening in the ceiling. "COVER ME!" I yell jumping up. I stick my sword in the opening and begin to pry the ceiling open. "Lily look out!" Swift yells. I turn my head and an enemy latches onto me. I loose the grip on my sword and fall to the floor. I air is knocked out of my lungs, the enemy claws my face, causing my health bar to decrease slowly. I gasp for air, trying to pry the monster off. Ender stabs the enemy causing it to disappear. She helps me up as I regain the ability to breathe. "I found a way out. I need help opening it." I look at everyone. "Got ya. Come on!" Swift grabs my wrist and Rous follows. I jump up, grabbing my sword handle again.

They help me pry open the ceiling. Bright light fills the dungeon. "Everyone up here!" Swift yells. One by one everyone gets out of the dungeon. I close the ceiling, laying on my back, shocked. "We made it..." I stare up at the beautiful blue sky. "How much did we level up?" Rous asks. I look at my level. Instead of 26, I've grown to 31. "Well... That was... Fun..." Swift says. "Oh and Anna..." Anna looks up at Swift. "Welcome to the Elemental Heroes." She smiles. Anna's eyes widen with joy. She smiles and bows her head. "Thank you!" She says. "Elemental Heroes?" Scar asks, putting her sword away. "Oh yeah that's our guild name. If you wanna join, it's always open." Swift says standing up. "Maybe in the future. If Xeo ever decides to join a guild." Ender glares at Xeo. He crosses his arms and begins to walk away. "Bye guys... Xeo wait!" Rous runs after Xeo. The other two after them, waving and leaving us behind.

"Lily come on!" Swift says taking my hands. She drags me back to town with the others chatting. I smile a little and sigh. I can get used to this game as long as I'm with these guys.

~~~

I examine my sword that night. I see a crack has formed at the top of it. I pout, sighing and putting my sword away. "Now I really need to upgrade..." I say examining my gear, opening the stats. "This gear should last awhile..." I say switching into my pajamas. I lay in bed staring at the ceiling. "Heeeeey Lily!" Simple appears at my window. I scream, throwing a pillow, and taking out my sword. "That wasn't nice." Simple pouts climbing in. "What are you doing here?" I put my sword away. "Came by to see if you wanted to go on an adventure with me and Anna! She said she was bringing a friend..." Simple says. "I mean... I guess I could." I say. He smiles, climbing out the window, and jumping down. "Can I have my pillow back?" I yell down. He throws it at my face before walking off to his building. I lay down in bed once more before drifting off to sleep.