Virtual Reality||Sword Art Online

|Night Strolls|

Heidi's eyes blinked open, trying to adjust to the darkness, as the the panic from yet another nightmare was fading away. It took her a few moments to realize it was still in the middle of the night; the steady, rythmic breathing of her peers seemed to snap her out of her trance. She sat up, rubbing her eyes, opening her menu to check the time- it was currently 2 in the morning. She sighed- that was a long ways from the 8AM everyone was going to wake up to. But Heidi realized that once she was awake, she would never be able to go back to sleep again. Perhaps it would just be better to take a walk, or something, rather than sit there, bored. Heidi figured doing some monster hunting, and XP gaining would do her good as well, so she would probably go out and do that- she felt confident enough for this floor. Plus, her Blue Rose Sword would make killing monsters a hell of a lot easier- just from grinding with Nelson, she had killed so many monsters, that her level had gone up to level 31.

Heidi got to her feet, being careful not to make much noise. Looking to her right, Nelson was turned away from her, but appeared to be sleeping. Heidi needed to change out of her pajamas- but she felt a bit awkward doing it infront of him. Though, it should be okay- it was dark enough for her to be hard to see, Nelson was asleep, and she would only be in her underclothes for a few seconds. Quickly opening the menu, she selected her profile, and swiftly switched out her sleeping clothes for her uniform- a navy blue cloak that exposed her shoulders, and cut off at the waist area, to show off her dark red skirt, and gray lower-thigh socks. Her heart quickened for the few seconds she was in her underclothes, but slowed down once she was properly dressed again. With her sword shealth clanking against her hip, she tiptoed out of the room, long dark blue hair swishing, as she slowly closed the door.

She zipped down the wooden stairs, and pushed out the door, exhaling as the light, night-time breeze pressed against her face, soothing her. At the moment, Heidi couldn't see a thing; it was pitch black outside, with no street lanterns. Heidi felt happy to turn on one of the skills she had been working on; Night vision. It was currently at level 18, so it wasn't perfect, but in general it did the trick. She began to walk down the street, enjoying it's emptyness, and peaceful quiet. Feeling relaxed, Heidi let her guard down, figuring nothing would happen.

Heidi was just about to slip out of the town, and into the fields, when she heard footsteps behind her, coming quickly, full-on. Her whole body tensed up, her breath quickening. She froze, unable to turn around, as her hands moved to her sword, shaking. It was getting closer now.. One.... Two.... Three! Twisting herself around, she drew her sword, hair falling in her eyes, with her rush. Thrusting it forward, towards the human running towards her, she knocked into him (at least, she thought it was a him) pushing his body back, as the Safe-Town protection system took effect. You couldn't hurt, or kill anybody within a safe town, but if you hit them, a shield-like bubble would form up, making your sword bounce off. But if you hit the person hard enough, it would be effective enough to stun, and push them back a few meters. Heidi's attack did just this; with an "Oof!" The man bounced back, grunting. He seemed stunned- Heidi was finally able to get a good look at him.

Her jaw dropped.

"N....Nelson?" She whispered, hands shaking. "Is that you?"

"Yeah! You've got a really strong attack, I swear a bit of my HP went down!" Came the smooth, slightly raspy voice. He sounded a bit pained, and stunned, but was okay in the long run.

"I'm sorry!" She groaned, realeasing the dealth grip she had on her sword; it almost seemed to emit a faint blue light. "I didn't know who you are... I thought you were a crazy axe murderer or something."

"Well, I don't seem to be wielding an axe, do I?" Nelson stated sarcastically, grabbing Heidi's outstretched hand, to pull himself up. He rubbed the back of his head, giving a yawn. Heidi thought he looked tired.