27 February 2024
Katalysis, 43rd Floor
As large as one thought the canyon surrounding the city of Katalysis would be, it still only took up one-sixth of the entire area of the 43rd Floor.
In terms of area, the Floor was just like any other Floor from the 41st to the 50th Floor, though one could simply notice from the system maps that each Floor was a teeny bit larger than the next, but of course, that didn't matter at all.
Case in point, the city was originally just an open space scattered with building ruins, spanning around 10 kilometres in diameter, which was surprisingly larger than most cites designated as safe zones by the system.
That is, assuming my theory of the origin of Katalysis turned out to be true, but I wasn't going out of my way to desperately prove its credibility.
Saving Rakuno was the priority, along with investigating the city. Though, I'd felt that I'd have found out more than enough about this city already.
Aside from a few holes in the narrative that I still need to fill, the narrative about the city of Katalysis was adequate for me to take the next course of action into motion.
The night had just turned young.
With a simple torch in hand, I carried on up the stairs leading to the South Roofpost, the resounding sounds of my boots landing on every alternate step doing nothing to make the pitch black atmosphere any better.
When I'd noticed the moonlight and stepped out into the Roofpost, it was just as I had remembered it a couple of days ago.
I went to the barrier again, taking in the city view. I could become addicted to it. I wanted to, but it's definitely a bad time to do so.
At least there's that record crystal tucked away in my inventory. A pretty good souvenir, if I do say so myself.
I focused my vision onto the top of the canyon walls, which were the other Roofposts. The North, East and West Roofposts showed no signs of anyone at the moment, which was to be expected.
I turned my vision to scan the foot of the canyon walls, tracing the perimeter of the walls until I found the only gap breaking the wall into 2. Players were flowing through the gap in either direction, and the traffic had not subsided yet.
The gap was somewhere below the East Roofpost. Seeing that that was the case, I started off along the path on the walls to make a beeline to it.
When I could finally see that I was right above the gap, I stopped, and looked over the maze on the other side. There was nothing much to be seen from the angle above, but I clearly knew--or rather expected--that that wasn't the case at all.
I brought down my menu, accessed my inventory, and tapped on an icon with the shape of a bow. I then tapped the equipped slot that had the icon of a sword in it, and that icon was replaced with the bow.
The sheathe of the sword behind my back was replaced with a bow's, and I took it out of its sheathe carefully. It was bow with white and light golden decorations carved into it. Its weapon name: Arch Diviner.
A bow that was crafted using Dragon Slayer, the bow that I had previously, as one of its crafting ingredients. It was essentially a bow made from recycled weapons, much like I usually did with my spears.
After making sure that I was above the gap, I laid down at the spot I was standing on, facing the giant ceiling that was supporting the 44th Floor above.
Holding my bow up to aim at the ceiling, I stretched its string, which generated an arrow nocked readily.
I took a slow and deep breath, and let it out just as slowly. My hand pulling the arrow shivered a little.
My mouth let out the first phrase that I would say for the night.
"Triple Chaser."
The arrow glowed a cheerful yellow, and my pulling hand relaxed itself.
It was like a rocket blasting off, tearing through the sky, splitting into 3 duplicates of itself in just under a second.
By now, the players in Katalysis would have noticed the fireworks, but I simply breathed a sigh of relief, having my task here done.
And now, it will begin.
The 3 arrows soared higher towards the ceiling, eventually fading away into nothingness without a target in sight beyond its range of travel.
Spreading my arms out, with my right hand holding my bow, I stared at the ceiling, while reviewing the plan that I had discussed with Alexis and Tekion back at the inn 12 hours ago:
"The KoB will invade today."
I declared with crossed arms. I wasn't joking in the slightest, but Alexis instantly gave me a look of skepticism.
"Where did you get that from?"
"From Asuna herself," I replied with confidence, as I brought down my system menu to check my messages. "Told me just yesterday. They've decided to take control of Katalysis at all costs."
"The problem with that, obviously, is the canyon maze. I received a request from Asuna to help them find the entrance to the city."
"How are you going to do that?" Alexis' skepticism wasn't fading away.
I switched from browsing my messages to the system map. Tapping on another button caused the 2D window to morph into a 3D model of, in this case, the canyon maze. Of course, the area where the city of Katalysis remained blank, but the empty area was situated in the center of the maze anyway. Who wouldn't recognize that area as Katalysis?
"The Roofposts," I pointed out the outer rind of the empty area. "Great for sightseeing, and also excellent as vantage points. I'll simply give them a signal high enough for them to track, that's all."
"You look like you know what you're doing," Alexis shot me an even more skeptical look. "I sure hope you know what you're talking about."
"Oh but I do know," I returned her a confident stare. "It's just a signal flare that they surely won't fail to notice."
Tekion, who was silently listening to the discussion, nodded a little, apparently having understood my intentions regarding the guidance of KoB into Katalysis.
"That being said," I continued, turning to Alexis. "This signal's not just for the KoB. It's for just about anyone. Is the SoH taking part in the invasion?"
"Damn right we are." Alexis nodded with confidence. "I'll let them know about the signal."
"Then I'll leave it to you." I turned back to the 3D map. It wasn't a surprise that the SoH would want to be involved in the invasion. Anyone would think that the invasion was worth it, especially when the most powerful of guilds was planning to lead it.
Any hope in eliminating the red guilds out of existence would center solely on the KoB. It was the unspoken rule that no one could deny.
Take the KoB out of the picture, and the possibility of me even stepping into Katalysis would be next to none, let alone the willingness of any other guilds to plan the invasion.
"I guess the Roofpost nearest to the entrance will do," I pointed at the rough location of the East Roofpost on the 3D map. " I could even do it right on top of the entrance. It is a signal to start the invasion, after all."
Having settled on the plan, I shifted to other matters. "How's Meghan doing?"
"She's.....cooled down....." Alexis rubbed her head with a tinge of frustration. "I'm not sure if she's still angry at you in particular, but you shouldn't take your chances. In fact, I've called her and Grace in to discuss the rescue plan for Raku, so she should get along pretty well."
"I see, but Grace too?" I inquired. "We're not bothering her, are we?"
"Her objective was to scout out any alternative routes into Katalysis," Alexis explained. "I figured she's done more than enough, especially since the invasion's starting in half a day. Also, we need more manpower for rescuing Raku."
"If you say so....." I closed the 3D map, as it faded conveniently without a trace. A series of knocks came from the door, which followed a certain pattern. Alexis proceeded to get the door without any hesitation.
Meghan stepped in first, her eyes seemingly refusing to meet mine. Behind her was a girl with white hair, which were tied into mostly braids.
The only time I had caught a glimpse of her was during the inter-guild meeting between Horizon's Edge and the SoH. Grace of the SoH made a little bow towards me. I nodded back at her in acknowledgement.
"You're Grace, right?" I asked such a question anyway.
"Yes I am, Zenalyth." She replied. "I believe you've seen me at that meeting before."
"Well then!" Alexis made a clap with her hands. "We should work on the rescue plan."
"Sure, we should, " I turned to Meghan, pretty intent with my stare. "Isn't this something you'd like to discuss, Meghan?"
Meghan was pretty stubborn in turning towards me, her arms crossed for the entire time she came here.
"Just so you know," I stood up to face her. "Everyone in this party intends to save Rakuno. As party leader, it's double my responsibility to do that.
"However, what you did yesterday told me that you're over-protective of Raku. I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with that, but I think you're underestimating her capabilities to survive being captured."
I had sworn Meghan's face turning a bit sheepish, before regaining back its seriousness.
I gave a quick sigh. "There's nothing wrong with blaming me for this mistake. As long as you're willing to help out in this rescue plan, I'm more than satisfied."
It took a while for Meghan to ponder about it, before pulling up a chair.
"Just.....shut the hell up. I'm listening, if that's what you want."
It was Alexis' turn to sigh. All I could do was to start on explaining the rescue plan straight away.
"We're using the chaos of the situation. Once the KoB engages with the players in Katalysis, the Council will have no choice but to retaliate. They can't ignore the invasion, obviously. We'll use that time to find the underground prison."
"What happens if Raku finds a way out of there faster then we find her?" Grace pointed out.
"That makes things easier. We'd simply meet her and join the fight against the Council earlier." I stood up and turned to Grace. "By the way, I'll need you to give me a ride from the location that I'll be in after I send the signal."
The white-haired player nodded, although being a bit hesitant. "Sure, but where would I take you?"
"The Gladiorium, to meet Alexis and Meghan," I then turned to Meghan, who was still feeling a little down on the matter of Raku's capture. "You're going to like doing what I'm telling you to do: to try and rescue Raku from the underground prison first."
"You didn't need to tell me to do that," Meghan scoffed. "I was already planning to."
"Wonderful," I gave a brief smirk. "The faster we save Raku and get out of this damn city, the better."
Meghan stood up straight away, and went for the door. "Then I'm off to the Gladiorium."
It was a straightforward move, and one that was driven by eagerness, though it was understandable for Meghan to feel that way.
Grace followed suit. "I'll be preparing for the ride."
As she swung the door shut, Alexis was still sitting on her chair, seemingly thinking about something. I wanted to ask her about the thing that she was thinking about, but she turned to me with a serious look on her face.
"What about Krieg? Isn't he locked in the underground prison as well?"
I could feel my frown automatically forming on my face. I had almost forgotten about him, and it was sharp of her to remember him, especially when he could be easily forgotten due to his nature of doing things.
"He's.....tricky," I started to ponder about Krieg's apparent whereabouts. That is, if he'd already found a way to escape. Surely he had the skills needed to break out of a room closed by metal bars and a lock.
"What do you mean by 'tricky'?" Alexis was staring at me intently, renewed in expecting an answer from me, who wasn't even sure of Krieg's situation.
As a guy who's worked with Krieg before, I was still struggling to fully understand Krieg, though I was thinking it necessary to check on him, nonetheless.
"Just leave him to me," I assured her, as I got up.
"I know that he's in your guild, but I'll say this," Alexis offered. "He's a little too sus for staying in that prison for too long. He should have already broken out even before Raku's capture, considering his reconnessiance abilities."
For a while, Tekion paused his work, having realized that the matter of Krieg had slipped his mind.
"It does seem weird to me too. Don't tell me he's got motives for being there."
I landed a hand on Alexis' shoulder. "Just leave Krieg to me. I'll handle him."
It was easy to tell that Alexis wasn't convinced of my words, not because I sounded suspicious, but because of her doubt that I could deal with him.
Frankly, I'd rather not deal with him the hard way, especially since Krieg looked the type to entertain a discussion without starting a fight first.
At the very least, he was a man that COULD be reasoned with. I was going to hold onto that possibility when I finally find him.
As Alexis left the room, I turned to Tekion, and then to the pile of weapons beside him, which thankfully had become smaller than when we first came to the inn.
"So we're packing up, then?" He asked, though he should have already inferred the answer from what he had seen so far.
"Don't tell me you're used to being quarantined in this stuffy room." I raised an eyebrow on him.
"Please, I've had enough of Katalysis," Tekion sounded a little disgusted as he stowed his mini anvil into his inventory.
"Splendid," I smirked. "Best to get out of a battlefield as soon as possible. If you're not fighting, that is."
Fast forward 12 hours. I got up, having noticed that the fireworks that I had made had just faded off.
I looked over the city, which was now scattered with players. As if not wanting to waste time, I spotted a creature flying towards me.
I'd never thought I'd see such things in this world. But then again, I'd heard rumours of players becoming 'beast tamers' recently. I was simply lucky to be working with one of them.
It turned out to be a dragon with wings, though its wings looked a little different than what I would imagine for a western-style dragon. No, it wasn't the shape of the wings that seemed weird, but rather what it was made of.
Those weren't scales. Those were feathers. I was staring at a feathered dragon up close, its rider Grace curtly nodding towards me.
"Let's move. We haven't got any time to lose."
I hurried to vault over the canyon barrier without much of a hesitation, knowing that I would land onto the back of the feathered dragon safely.
"Just hold on tight," Grace instructed, seemingly not holding onto anything other than the feathers on her dragon's back.
I simply assumed to do the same. "Well, thanks for the crash course on dragon riding....."
The struggle to balance on a dragon's back even while sitting on it was prevalent in dragon riding, it seemed. I considered trying to hold onto Grace's shoulders since I was sitting behind her, but I quickly shut down the thought, for very obvious reasons.
Instead, the green cursor above her head caught my eye. If you're close enough to a fellow player, you could read the username of the player located on top of the cursor.
Apparently, her username wasn't 'Grace'.
" 'Da-e-ne-ri-is'?" I tried to pronounce the name, clearly not being used to the spelling.
"That's my name in this world, 'Daenerys', " Grace replied. " 'Grace'.....is my real name."
"Wait, what? But why?" I was caught off guard by this sudden revelation. I had never thought that she would be violating the unspoken taboo all this while.
"I was sick of people butchering my username all the time, like you did just now," Grace shook her head. "In SAO, there's no way to change your username once you've decided on it. That was before the death game started. Besides, it's customary in the SoH to exchange real names with each other as a sign of trust."
"So that applies to Meghan and Alexis as well?" I asked.
"Exactly. Those really are their real names. We in the SoH believe that, if we're going to die trying to climb the Floors of Aincrad, we would be remembered for who we really are." Grace nodded, speaking with such resolve.
As the feathered dragon pushed off from the top of the canyon wall, I felt gusts of wind streaming through my cheeks. Grace had the dragon turn directly towards the city of Katalysis, which had players suddenly streaming out buildings.
I wondered if they'd went out to see the fireworks. It's not like they'll get to see real fireworks ever again, probably.
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