"Where did you get this?" I demanded, narrowing my eyes at him.
"Agil sent it to me!" Kirito told me, backing away. We were the same age, but I had always tended to be more intimidating than him.
"Well, then what the hell are we waiting for?!"
Kirito sighed, but followed me out of the building. As he lead the way to Agil's, I dropped back a bit, thinking.
What if the guard in the picture was Rikimaru? What if the girl trapped was Asuna? And if so, why was Rikimaru keeping her in a cage?
So many questions ran through my mind. I didn't even notice when we reached the bar where Agil worked.
"Yo! You're early, man!" He called to Kirito from across the room.
The bar was darkly lit and completely empty. Agil was behind counter, washing some glasses.
"What do you do?" Kirito asked, looking around, "Scare all your customers away?"
"Very funny. Man, at night, it's off the hook in here." Agil defended, holding up his hands.
"Well, I'm here. What's the deal with that picture you sent?" Kirito demanded, crossing his arms over his chest.
I leaned forward, eagerly. My fists clenched nervously, waiting impatiently.
"Yeah, that's gonna take a little to explain." He sighed, "But first, check this out."
He tossed a disk case on the counter, causing us to draw closer to take a look at it.
ALfheim Online.
"A game?" I asked, confused.
"It's an MMO for the Amusphere." Agil explained, leaning on the bar, "It's what replaced NerveGear on the market."
"Huh. So, it's a VRMMO just like Sword Art. Alf-Heim Online?" Kirito asked.
"Er, actually, it's pronounced Alv-heim. Yeah, it means 'Land of the Fairies.'" Agil explained.
"Land of the Fairies. Sounds like a cute game." I muttered, frowning.
"Yeah, that's not what I hear." Agil disagreed, "For one, PKing's allowed. And it's got this hard-core skill system."
"What do you mean 'hard-core'?" Kirito asked.
"I mean, the game's not level based, it's skill based. You gotta use your skills over and over to improve them. And combat depends on your real-life physical abilities."
"That is hard-core." I agreed.
"There's no sword skills. Other than that, it's like SAO with magic. What I hear, people are going nuts for it, 'cause in the game, you feel like you're flying."
"Say what?"
"You know how fairies have wings? Well, the game's got this flight engine thing. Once you figure it out, you can fly."
"How does the player control it?"
"No idea, man." Agil admitted, "I do hear it's a pain to get used to though."
"Yeah, I bet." I agreed, "How are you supposed to control something you don't have? Maybe you have to use the muscles in your back..."
Agil cleared his throat, getting our attention back on the task at hand.
"Right. Okay, getting back to Asuna. What does she have to do with this game?"
"And Rikimaru!"
Agil pulled up the photo that had been sent to me when I was visiting Rikimaru.
"Look familiar?"
"It looks like Asuna and Rikimaru."
"I kind of figured you'd say that."
"Would you cut the crap? Where the hell is this?" I snapped, growing frustrated.
"ALfheim Online. That was taken in the game." Agil told us, "Right in the middle, you got the World Tree. At the top of that, there's this legendary castle. Players are divided up into nine races.
Each one of those races is trying to be the first to get to the castle."
"Why don't they just fly up to it?" Kirito asked.
"It's already been tried." Agil replied, leaning over to start cleaning glasses again, "But the game's got a limit how long you can stay airborne. Check it out."
He pulled out another photo of a group of players.
"These five players stacked up, bigger players on the bottom. They tried launching themselves like a rocket."
"Good idea. It's insane, but kind of clever." I admitted, finally sitting down on one of the bar stools. Agil tossed me a bottle of water and I nodded gratefully.
"Yeah, well, those cats didn't even make it past the lowest branch. They did manage to snap a couple of shots though. When they checked out the pics, they saw something weird."
Agil moved back to the picture of the cage.
"A bird cage."
"You could call it that. After zooming in on that as far as they could, they saw them."
"Okay, but if it's really them, what are they doing there?" Kirito asked.
Agil didn't have an answer for us.
"Agil, can I borrow this for a couple of days?" Kirito asked, holding up the game case.
"Sure, it's cool. You think about going?"
"Yeah, I gotta check this out. A game where it's okay to die shouldn't be that big of a deal." He paused, a sudden realization coming to him, "Crap, I still gotta buy the hardware for it."
"Is compatible with what you got." Agil informed him, "The Amusphere is just a NerveGear rig, but with better security."
"That's a relief."
"The battle's not over till it's over. You feel me? Get her and come back safe."
"Sure. And when I do, let's all meet up here." Kirito agreed. He turned as if to leave.
"Hold up!" I exclaimed, "You aren't going into that game without me."
"Harumi, I'm a solo player."
"Oh, just shut up. I'm not going to fall for that crap." I snarled, hopping off of my stool. "And if you think for one minute that you are going into that game without me, you have another thing coming."
Kirito shared a look with Agil as if asking for help. Agil laughed and threw his hands up in defense.
"Don't bring me into this!"
"Harumi, you don't even have a copy of the game." Kirito argued, smiling smugly.
"Actually, I have another copy." Agil spoke up, bringing the second copy out from beneath the counter.
"What happened to staying out of it?" Kirito asked, shooting him a dirty look.
"I'm sorry, bro, I'd rather not have her mad at me. She did take on that one boss on her own."
"She had an army of wolves!"
"Point proven! I don't see you rallying beasts!"
Kirito sighed, rubbing his temples. I frowned.
"Look. You need my help." I told him, "I'm just as good of a player as you and I am such a better people person than you are."
He frowned thinking, but we both knew he didn't have a choice. I was going into the game either way.
"Fine."
"Okay. The only problem is that you will show up in the home town of whatever race you choose. I suggest you either choose the same race, or find a meeting place to meet up." Agil told us.
I looked over at Kirito. He was already looking at me, unsure.
"How about we start it tonight, and then tomorrow we will meet up and discuss the game plan?" Kirito asked.
I nodded, agreeing. We split ways, after discussing on where to meet up, and I raced home, eager to get started.
I was relieved when I found Mom and my brother wasn't home. I wasn't sure how they would feel about me going into another game, especially after the last one.
I raced to my room and grabbed my NerveGear. I hesitated for a moment, staring down at the helmet in my hands. I haven't touched it since I woke up.
I have to admit, I was nervous. I hadn't exactly wanted to go into another game for a long time. SAO had given me enough experience to last me a lifetime. But this was Rikimaru.
I shook my head, clearing myself of my doubts.
This was Rikimaru, there wasn't a situation where I didn't go into this game and get him.
I hooked up the system and put on the helmet, leaning back on my bed. I took a deep breath before closing my eyes and turning it on.
Would you like to begin ALfheim Online?
"Link start!"