(A/N): Hey guys, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy it.
3rd Person POV
口ㄗモれ工れム
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- March 11, 2024 - 59th Floor - Danac -
The sun shined over the 59th floor of Aincrad, the assault team was currently searching for the boss room to move onto floor 60. The boss battles have been harder due to the boss's areas becoming wider and that is a problem for the players since they can't contain it. Last month, the assault team had a little disagreement on how to fight the boss, the plan was to distract the boss with NPCs and attack while it was not looking. The argument ended with the plan being followed through.
Currently, in the town of Danac on the 59th floor, an armored swordsman sat and leaned on a tree in the middle of a field. It has been tiring clearing floor after floor and they deserve some rest.
He heard footsteps heading his way, once he turned he saw it was his partner in battle.
Asuna: Hey, whatcha doing?
Ares: ....Absolutely nothing.
Asuna: Well instead of doing nothing, I think we should go and locate the boss's room.
Ares: ....We can do that later. Plus, our success rate of finding the boss room is low, let the scouts do what they are best at.
Scouts are players who have high rates of finding boss rooms, all of them are part of guilds and it is rare to find a solo scout because their risk of death is higher.
Asuna: Yeah, but it doesn't mean we can't give it a try. You know that a day wasted in here is a day we lose out there.
Ares: Not entirely. Aincrad is our home right now, it doesn't matter where we are living, just the fact that we are living is enough. Sit down and you'll understand.
He said as he let the chin of his helmet touch his chest signifying he is resting. The girl continued to look at him as he began to stay motionless.
The girl looked at him as he rested, the wind blew and it tingled against her skin, she looked up and saw the sunlight passing through the leaves in a beautiful glow. She sat down and she touched the grass underneath her, its texture was satisfying and so lifelike.
-TimeSkip-
The sun began to set and made the sky a beautiful orange color. The swordswoman turned to be more comfortable from the position she is in, she opens her eyes to see where she was. Once her eyesight fully restores itself, she sees that she is laying on top of a chest plate armor. She gets confused and tries to remember the latest events in her memory. She saw Ares sitting by a tree, she walked over and talked, he fell asleep and then...
She slowly turned her head up to see the helmet of the God of War. Her eyes widen and her face begins to heat up. She quickly moves back and looks around to see that they were still in the field.
Ares: ...Did you sleep well?
She turns to the swordsman as her face begins to turn red in embarrassment. She realizes that she was drooling and wiped the rest of it off her chin.
Asuna: ...
Ares: ...Come on, let's go.
He said as he stood up from his spot and began to walk out of the field. The girl looked at him in confusion but stood up and followed him regardless. A couple of minutes later they were now sitting in front of one another in a restaurant.
Player1: *Whispers* Woah, that's Lighting Flash Asuna.
Player2: *Whispers* Dude watch out, it's the God of War.
Player3: *Whispers* He's a beater, isn't he?
They sat in silence and at one point it became unbearable, so the swordswoman spoke up first.
Asuna: ...Thank you, for looking after me. While I was sleeping...
Ares:... I told you a long time ago that you can thank me by surviving. But if you want me to say it, then you're welcome. It was pretty risky falling asleep like that in the middle of the field.
Asuna: W-What? I only did that because you fell asleep too!
Ares: I wasn't asleep, once I noticed you were out I continued to stay awake.
Asuna: T-Then, you were just resting, weren't you?
Ares: ...Yes, but I didn't want to disturb your rest.
Asuna:...Well anyway, thanks again. Not even the safe zones can stop a death now.
Ares: ...Sleep PKs have become more recently used by red players.
Asuna: ...It's unnerving. Duels are supposed to be tests of strengths but your HP still goes down. All they need to do is move their finger to accept the duel while the attacker is doing all the damage... it's cowardly.
Before the conversation could continue, a blood-curdling scream of a woman caught the attention of the two players. They got up and ran out of the restaurant, they turn the corner and see a crowd of people standing outside of a bell tower. They notice the people looking up, they turn their direction and saw something that made their eyes widen.
It was an armored player who was hanging from a noose with a sword impaled in his chest.
The player struggled as he tried to pull out the blade that went through his armor.
Ares: Asuna, go inside the church and find who that sword belongs to!
She nodded and ran to the door of the church, she entered and began to climb the stairs. Meanwhile, the beater ran closer to the hanging player, his health bar was decreasing rapidly. The God of War pulled out a weird-looking dagger, he threw the throwing knife at the rope and cut it, releasing the player who began to fall. But he was too slow, just before the player hit the floor, he exploded into crystals while the blade hit the floor.
The armored player looked up the building to see Asuna looking over with a horrified expression.
Asuna: There's no one here, it's empty.
He looked out to the group of players searching for someone. For someone to die in a safe zone he must have been beaten in a duel.
Ares: Everyone, look for the player with the <<Winner>> icon!
The crowd began to look around but in the end, no one saw the icon.
-TimeSkip-
Inside the church, the dynamic duo stood looking at the rope and where it was attached.
Asuna: This doesn't make sense, he must have died in a duel.
Ares: But what makes this interesting is that no one had a winner icon, it usually shows overhead.
The two stood there in thought while the armored player looked at the red blade in his hand.
Ares:. ...But, what if a player found a way to PK inside the safe zone?
Asuna: Players are already scared as it is to go out in the field, we can't ignore this. Nowhere will be safe if we do.
Ares:....Looks like we'll be away from the front lines for a while.
The girl nodded and they both walked down the stairs to reach the outside. As they exited they arrive before the players that saw the events happen who waited for them at their request.
Asuna: Listen everyone, did anyone see anything suspicious or out of the ordinary?
The group remained silent as they discuss among themselves. It appears nothing was strange before the murder.
Ares: Did anyone know the victim?
A silent voice whimpered in the crowd, those in the way moved to reveal a purple-haired girl with light blue armor and blue eyes. She walked forward to the two assault team members but showed a lot of fear.
Asuna: I'm sorry you had to experience this, could you tell us your name?
Yoruko: My name is Yoruko...
Ares: I suppose you were the one that screamed.
Yoruko: Y-Yes, his name was Kains. We were in the same guild together, I just came here to eat dinner with him somewhere in town. But we got separated in the plaza and then...
She began to cry halfway through her story, the other girl got closer and rubbed her back.
Yoruko: When I looked around, I saw him hanging from the church window...
Ares: Did you see anyone else?
Yoruko: Yes, I did but it was just for a second. He was behind Kains.
Asuna: Did he look familiar?
The girl nodded her head from side to side signaling that she did not.
Ares:...Do you know why anyone would've wanted to kill Kains?
The duo look at each other knowing that she was their lead witness.
Time had past and they took her back to her inn which was called maYaha.
Yoruko: Thank you so much for walking me here.
Asuna: It was no problem. If you don't mind, we'll like to ask you some more questions tomorrow, if you're feeling up to it.
Yoruko: Of course.
She bowed and entered the inn while leaving behind the duo.
Asuna: ....So now what?
Ares: ...Now we follow our only clue, the sword-spear.
Asuna: I see, if we figure out who made it then it will give us a lead. But we need someone who has a sword appraisal skill. I don't have one and neither do you. Lisbeth is currently too busy to help us... now what?
Ares:.....We ask for a favor.
- TimeSkip - 50th Floor - Algade -
On the 50th floor of Aincrad is a town named Algade, the duo walked through the markets and turned into an alley. A door opens and a player carrying a spear walks out as a voice is heard talking to him.
Agil: Thank you, come again, my man!
The player waved it off and left the door open. The armored player enters first as his partner followed.
Ares: Seems like you cheated another player.
The tall dark-skinned man turned around and let out a smirk.
Agil: Oh come on, you know my motto, buy cheap and sell cheap.
Ares: ...That last one is a lie.
Agil: So, you come here for your regular potions? Sorry to tell you this but I have yet to restock.
This caught the girl's attention. She had seen the dark-skinned man before on the front lines and missions with the assault team but he seems all buddy-buddy with her partner. She wasn't jealous that he had grown connections, that's was great, he was talking to people and not threatening them. She just slightly felt FOMO, as they usually spent most of their time together.
Ares: I'm not here for that.
Agil: Oh really? Then are you here to introduce me to your girlfriend?
He said with a smirk as he rested his head in his palm while leaned on the countertop. This made the chestnut-haired girl's face heat up and begin to grow a blush but she pulled her hood over her head to hide it. The next thing the tall dark-skinned man knows, he had a dagger inches away from his face as it was stabbed into the table. He jumped back and noticed the red-eye coming off of the armored warrior's eye, but it disappeared after a couple of seconds and he pulled his dagger out of the table.
Ares: I need a favor from you. I need you to use your appraisal skill on a weapon.
Agil: ..A-And what will I get in return?
Ares:...You get to help in solving a murder in a safe zone.
And this caught the adult off guard by the look on his face.
-TimeSkip-
Agil: And it wasn't a duel?
Ares: No one saw a Winner icon. It's not suicide either because your health bar doesn't decrease in the safe zone by self-damage.
Asuna: If he was walking with Yoruko-san right before, then it's not a sleep-PK.
Ares: We assume it's a premeditated PK. And our only lead is this.
The adult looks over the red sword-spear that had a thorn-like end along it.
The tall man grabbed the item and clicked on it, after a couple of seconds of loading, he replied.
Agil: A player made this.
Ares: ....Hm.
Asuna: Who made it?
Agil: Grimlock. Never heard that name before, Not any top-ranked bladesmith, I can tell you that. And there's nothing particularly unusual about the weapon.
Asuna: But it should still be a clue.
Ares:...Does it have an item name attached?
Agil: <<Guilty Thorn>> is its listed name.
He hands it back to the armored player who only looks at it, inspecting if anything special is attached to make the PK possible.
Ares: ...Whatever.
He flips it downwards and puts his other hand open, right underneath the tip of the blade. He quickly tries to stab his hand, only to feel his wrist being held in place, making him stop his movements. He turns over to see the angry face of his chestnut-haired partner, what made it worse was her fake happy expression.
Asuna: *Angry* Ares...What were you going to do?
Ares: Testing a theory.
She lets go of his wrist and takes the blade away from him.
Asuna: Are you out of your mind?! That thing already killed one person!
Ares: We need to know what it's capable of. See how much damage it actually does.
She huffs and turns away from him. She faces the shop owner and hands him the sword spear.
Asuna: Agil, can you please hold onto this for us. And make sure to not give it to Ares.
He grabs it with both of his hands nervously.
Agil: Yeah, no prob.
- TimeSkip - 4th Floor - Rovia -
The duo opens the door to their home and turns on the lights. The place glows a sunset yellow due to the setting and the chestnut-haired girl begins to head for her room.
Ares: Asuna...
Asuna: Yes..
She turns to see him still standing in the middle of the room.
Ares:.. I apologize for the reckless behavior in Agil's shop... I was upset... To know that someone was killed with the weapon in my hand and the little information we had. I was desperate for answers, and it seemed like a good idea to test at the time. Reflecting on it now, I see I also upset you. I'm sorry...
She let out a sigh as he bowed before her. He did upset her and she was frustrated with him quickly.
Asuna: I accept your apology, You're not the only one frustrated, so am I. But with Grimlock revealed to be the creator of the blade, we can talk to Yoruko about it tomorrow.
He raised his torso and looked at her.
Ares: I see, I'll message her to meet up tomorrow at the restaurant near the church....Thank you, Asuna. Good night.
She smiled and nodded and headed towards the shower. Today was a very odd day, first she takes a nap on Ares, next she's helping solve a murder in a safe zone. Odd indeed. All that oddness turned into stress for her body, now she needs to destress and clear her mind.
She removes her articles of clothing through the menu and turns on the shower, letting the hot water run down her hair, to her body, and fall to the floor. After the quick shower, she lets her body flop into the medium size bathtub.
After months of living there, she realized that the original tub was too big, so she bought a separate one for herself. Her head emerges from the water as she lets out an "aww" sound.
She lets her body go limp and her hair runs free. Her mind intends to clear itself from the dreadful events of the day, the murder at the church, the destroyed face of Yoruko, but the one thing she can't get rid of is the stunt her partner took.
The event replays in her head over and over, each time making her chest tighten at the thought of it stabbing himself, but it hurt painfully once she thought of him exploding into crystals. This feeling annoys her as she didn't fully understand why. She let her body fully submerge into the water in order to think clearly.
Why after all their time together was this happening now? Why can't she wait to see him again? Why does she think back to Christmas night, the thought of holding hands? Damn it!Why can't she think of anything, anybody else other than him?
And as if her mind had finally flicked a switch, the words of a beast tamer flew by her thoughts.
Silica: {But do you have feelings for him?}
She began to think back on all the events her heart beated faster or hurt.
Asuna: *Thoughts* I felt upset when he said he was going to see a girl on Christmas. We exchanged presents that year and I still carry the dream catcher with me. He continues to stay up for me when I have nightmares. I felt so scared when he got trapped saving the Black Cats. He found out my birthday and gave me the sweetest present. His hands fitted perfectly into mine while listening to Silent Night. He even prefers my natural color when I changed it.
She tried to think of more but each time he appeared in her mind, the feeling in her chest grew and grew, while her face grew a smile and a red tint.
Finally, she figured it out. She had heard of the feeling and she felt silly for not noticing the obvious. There wasn't a place in the world where the feeling she felt wasn't there. The pigtailed dragon tamer's words played in her head once more.
Silica: {But do you hold feelings for him?}
Asuna: *Thoughts*...Yes, I do hold feelings for him, great ones. He's changed me in more ways than one, and I know that I have done the same for him. He's strong, fearless, smart, and bold, but most of all, he's a caring person. Everything someone could ask for, but he too has flaws. He's not perfect, but he is to me. He's perfect in my eyes, even if he doesn't see it.
Her smile widens as she finally admitted it to herself. Now the question was, does he share them too?
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乇几ᗪ|几ᘜ
(A/N): Hey guys, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. More chapters coming soon so stay tuned and wear a mask.
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