Chapter 4: Deep Sea Adventure
"Ugh, do we have to take the sea route?" Heruseus whined.
"Why? You scared of the water?" Executioner giggled.
Heruseus didn't respond at all. He felt sick as he stood on the white sand and stared at the waves crashing upon the shore. Executioner nudged him and laughed. Just then they received a message from Lizardon, and opened it. Heruseus used this as an excuse, "See! Let's find these guys who are following us and kill them! No water needed!"
"Boy, Lizzy just meant to watch our surroundings. He didn't say abandon the mission entirely, plus, you're our leader. Right?" Executioner dug his feet into the sand and looked at Heruseus, who seemed to have an epiphany.
"Yes! I am leader! I say abandon mission!" Heruseus smirked, believing he had won.
"Nope, three-thirds vote from the guild, your order is overruled," Executioner laughed, "you've never been scared of water before. What's up?"
Heruseus shook his head and looked down, "it reminds me too much of Osra. I had a dream where we all drowned in some accident and he couldn't do anything. Nothing relevant... Let's continue." Executioner hugged him before he walked over to a nearby NPC. Heruseus' smile faded as he followed him.
"Hello players 'Executioner and Heruseus' from the guild 'Hearts of Light'. I am in peril and need your help," an old man stated near the shore.
"Seems interesting," said Executioner. "Quest already."
"Right, what's your problem?" Heruseus asked.
Quest: Mah Child...
Help! I dropped my child into a cave under the ocean. Beware travelers, this is no normal cave. This is the cave of Thorin, where lies Thorin's Cloak. This Legendary weapon maximises agility, and allows invisibility while moving. Thorin's spirit guards the cloak, and my child went after his penny. There are two shark men that guard the entrance, and my child wanted to give them food. Will you accept my child?
Reward: 10,000 XP, 2 G, L Thorin's Cloak
Difficulty: Hard
~Yes~ ~No~
Heruseus shook his head in confusion, "what? You dropped your kid into a... what? How did the kid get there? Wait what the hell, is going on. The developers of this game need a little more revising."
"Your request will be completed shortly," Executioner accepted the quest. He and Heruseus received air capsules.
"Evan no! We're only level six! Wait, for a hard, two gold is rewarded? The fuck are the people who made this game on? If we somehow manage to do this, we'll jump levels for sure," Heruseus sighed deeply as he stood on the wet sand.
Executioner held up two gray pills, "what do we do with these?"
"Read the directions doof, I just wanted to grind."
"Oh! Says we swallow them and then it allows us to breathe underwater."
Heruseus stared into the waves and shook his head, "do we really have to?"
"The poor old man pretty much killed his child, we have to help him," Executioner walked into the water and laughed. "Let's go!" He popped the air capsule in his mouth and swallowed.
Heruseus put the small pill in his mouth and swallowed. He stared towards the water and shook his head.
"C'mon! I thought you did water polo back at school?"
He shook his head again. He muttered out, "I don't fuck with the ocean though man, I don't mess with what's inside. I don't mess with those big fish man."
"Oh, are you talking about the lake Bish?!" Executioner laughed, "that was fun! You didn't even get eaten, why are you scared?"
"We almost died dude!" Heruseus shouted. "I'm not going any closer to the water."
"Looks like I'll have to force ya," Executioner picked him up and threw him into the water. "Isn't that bad, is it?"
Heruseus began flailing and screaming, "I'm drowning! Help! I can't breathe!"
Executioner shook his head and walked up to him, "stand up Theo."
"Oh," Heruseus stood up to find himself in ankle deep water.
"Let's go, this quest should give us a large chunk of XP, even if we don't finish it."
Heruseus inhaled deeply as he looked around the coral reefs, "this is amazing! I'm pretty much walking on the seafloor thanks to the air capsule. Whoa is this what it's like on the actual ocean floor?"
"I heavily doubt it... Let's find those shark men," Executioner walked into the reef city and looked around.
"They're inside the Central Reef. They're getting closer to Thorin's, should we interact?" a boy with fabulous short brown hair stalked the two from afar. His bright pink armor glistened in the water. His chestplate covered his upper body, but he wore nothing to cover his arms. Brown, fingerless gloves stretched out to cover his hands. A brown leather belt wrapped itself around a long, lilac colored pants that cuffed around his thick brown boots.
"I can't believe he's here. I still couldn't believe Steph is here too. I was an idiot for faking my death," a girl with long white hair sighed besides him, "but here I am, and there they are. We should recruit them." She wore a simple, long-sleeved, white dress that parted away in its chest area, and a sharp red collar. The sleeves grew larger as it extended out, drooping down and giving her a lot of space for her wrists. The puffy skirt had many frills on it, extending away from her body. Her legs lied quite bare until her knees, where long white, high-heeled boots protected her.
"Tharza said to keep them from receiving Legendaries. I know how you feel tho, Lisanna. My heart skipped a beat when Amy came out of nowhere. Sure her memories were fuzzy, but she's still the dramatic Amy I grew up with during middle school. Honestly, I thought she died in that Twisting Web Online game, but she didn't. I wasn't there, but she never returned from the hospital, and she had her own funeral. Let's heed her orders though. The Hearts are our enemies," the boy told her.
"Aris, didn't you find Amy and the other people that joined our guild a little weird? I mean even Stephanie didn't remember a lot. It was just you, me, Leo, Leone, Eden and Rem. Then Leyasu and Celes came along when Twisting Web ended, point is we played for fun. But when they came in, we were suddenly the top players and potential bounty hunters," Lisanna raised her eyebrows.
"You have a point, but for now, let's just listen to Amy," Aris kept an eye on Heruseus. "I kinda want to see Theodore do something as well... Let's just watch for now."
"Shark men! Over there!" Executioner sprinted to the two shark people who guarded a cave, but found no child.
"Wait! Let's get them from behind for a slight chance of instant-death," Heruseus climbed the rocks on the cave.
"Nah, I'm bored," Executioner brandished his axe and rushed the two enemies. He leaped into the air, and kicked one to the ground. The other quickly rushed behind him, ready to end his virtual life.
"Exe! Watch out!" Heruseus shouted as he sliced the shark man in half.
"Oops," Executioner turned around and watched Heruseus gain a large amount of XP. The shark man on the floor rose behind him and swung his claw. Executioner turned around quickly and bent backwards. The claw grazed his cheek, which cut away a large portion of his health. "You've done it now," he glared at the shark man, who began his next attack. The shark's jaw expanded large enough to consume him, but Executioner shoved his axe into his mouth, "eat this!" The shark's lower jaw fell off, and the shark backed away. Heruseus watched, not surprised to see him enter his frenzy mode.
Executioner zoomed around the enemy, and dismembered each limb swiftly, "you're dead!" He laughed as he kicked the shark in the middle, and every piece scattered apart. He gained XP and put away his axe.
"You're sick," Heruseus shook his head as he entered the cave. Executioner simply laughed and followed him.
"That kid just took apart an enemy levels higher than him with ease!" Lisanna's eyes widened, "they got stronger."
"Who is that again?" Aris asked her.
"I don't know, he must be new, I didn't see him in SAO."
"You know what this means right?"
"They must be eliminated before they can take us on. They're probably here for the Edgar pieces. Let's go before they can progress further, and receive the cloak," Lisanna leaped off the rock they were watching from.
The two Hearts leveled up quickly, catching up to the level of the enemies as well. Aris and Lisanna followed them and decided to attack immediately.
"Alright! Twenty levels in a day! New record!" Executioner remarked. "Takes me back to a simpler time."
"Boy, that's nothing! You should've seen me in Sword Art," Heruseus laughed. "I passed through so many levels when I was gone for a while. I'm sure I could've passed for a bootleg Kirito."
"Speaking of Sword Art," Lisanna spoke aloud from behind them, "hello Theodore."
The two froze. Heruseus thought to himself as Aris and Lisanna waited for them to turn around. The blond boy squinted his eyes before slowly turning to see an old friend he held extremely close to his heart. "Lisanna?!" Heruseus ran up to hug her, but she pushed him away. Heruseus fell on his butt and felt his chest with his hand, feeling his heart slowly begin to shatter as it did before.
Aris caught up to her and glared towards Heruseus, "we're not here to play around Theodore."
Heruseus' eyes widened, and he couldn't help but manage a weak smile, "Caleb? What are you guys doing here?" He watched as their emotions had not changed, and eventually frowned. Heruseus backed up and reached for his sword.
"Heruseus?" Executioner stared at the two, already holding his axe. "Plans? What do we do?"
"We'll be fine Evan," Heruseus assured him. "Just some... old business."
"Oh! That's who you are! You're that kid from middle school! I remember you now!" Aris looked at Executioner with disgust. He smirked and began to laugh, "you were always annoying as fuck, disgusting."
Executioner smiled, "thanks bud. Love you too."
"Look, why are you guys here?" Heruseus asked him, his tone shifted to something much more serious. He watched them closely with his hand still gripping the hilt of his sword.
"You guys are opposing a threat," Aris drew his long bronze sword that seemed to be divided into sections, "we're here to take care of that." He swung it like a whip, and each section came apart, becoming a long bladed whip.
"Wait! I have so many questions! What threat?!" Heruseus shouted as Aris prepared to strike. "I thought we were such good friends!"
"I'm sorry," Aris swung his bladed whip, "that I'm not sorry." He grinned as he whip lashed Heruseus.
"Theo! We need to move!" Executioner blocked some of the lashes with his axe, and shook Theo.
"He's right," Lisanna glared, "you need to move before you're blasted out of the water!" Lisanna wielded a large lighting bolt, and threw it towards Heruseus.
"Shit!" Heruseus shouted as an air bubble surrounded the two as lighting filled the area. He looked around the bubble before it popped.
Executioner checked the air capsule description, "it's a defense item too."
Aris and Lisanna fell over. Aris grunted, "you're smart. Using electricity in water is the best idea to kill our enemies. Truly stunning."
"Oh shut up," Lisanna rolled her eyes.
"Let's get moving!" Executioner shouted as the bubble popped.
Heruseus stopped as they hid behind a rock, "why would they see us as enemies?! We were in theatre together in middle school! Sure we weren't the best friends, but how could Caleb see me as an enemy?! And Lisanna! How is she here?! She committed suicide in SAO! This doesn't make any sense."
"I'm pretty sure there's a valid explanation to this, we just need to get the cloak and the kid, and then we're out. We'll worry about our "friends" later, but Heruseus, we need to focus. We need to focus on leveling up so we can get all the data bits, so we can get Josh back. C'mon let's get moving," Executioner sighed as he helped him up. "Going to be honest, it seems like I'm always getting us in situations way over our heads, but I guess that's what makes us so OP..."
Heruseus nodded as he spoke, "yeah, let's go." The dashed away, putting more distance between them and Red Thorne.
After an hour of gaining levels, they finally found the main area of the cave. A huge spirit wandered the area, guarding the cloak. There was a small child hiding under the coat in fear.
"I see the kid, let's advance slowly for once," Executioner smiled as he signaled Heruseus to go around.
"You aren't advancing anywhere!" Aris slashed his back, causing time to slow down for Executioner. Each bladed segment wrapped itself around Executioner's neck. He controlled the whip to assemble itself, beheading Executioner in the process. Exe's eyes widened as he realized what happened, and vaporized as he entered the respawn zone.
"Evan!" Heruseus began running towards Aris, but was stopped by Lisanna.
"Now, you wouldn't want to suffer the same fate would you?" she smiled as she held him still.
"I'm pretty sure you wouldn't either," the mysterious player beheaded her with a sword that resembled Darkness Fang. "Here Theo, I believe this is your sword," he handed it to Heruseus who was staring at him with caution.
He took the sword and asked, "how... who are you?"
"E is all you need to know," E nodded and equipped another sword.
"I'm not trusting you just yet E," Heruseus kept an eye on him as he ran towards Aris, happily reunited with his dark sword. "But thanks for the sword. Darkness Fang!" he shouted as his sword glowed black.
"The hell?!" Aris shouted as he sprinted towards him, sword still fresh with Executioner's digital blood. Thorin's Spirit roared as he joined the battle. The evil spirit punched floor, causing the whole room to rumble. The two fell on their sides, but quickly got up and slashed at each other.
"You were always horrible in sword fights!" Heruseus grunted as he swung above Aris' head. "You swing too wide!"
Aris ducked and swung from under, "I never liked your style of fighting." Heruseus blocked the sword, and swept his feet. Aris grinned as he fell back.
"Heruseus! Move now!" E shouted, but Heruseus disobeyed.
Aris changed his sword back into a whip, and grazed Heruseus' legs. Time slowed for him as Aris readied to finish him off. E sprinted in and knocked Aris off his feet.
"The fuck is wrong with you Eden?! We were told to stop them from receiving legendaries, and here you are just giving him one?! Especially when it has to do with upcoming event?! Stay out of this! Traitor!" Aris screamed as he turned the whip back into a sword.
"Something's not right here Caleb! Have you ever wondered why Amy and the others were so strong in the beginning? Have you ever wondered why they had hazy memories? Now she wants us to eliminate this group?! You know something's off!" Eden shouted as he prepared to strike. "I can see the future, my armor allows me to. I-"
"Shut up man, I thought I liked you, your visions, and all the weapons you can master; they were pretty cool, but I guess you're a Heart. Hearts must die!" Aris swung his sword, but Eden easily dodged it, and picked up Heruseus. He jumped back before the Spirit's foot came down, "I'm sorry Caleb. I promise I have a purpose, or at least... I'm pretty sure I do. This won't be for nothing, and I'll be back." The Spirit's foot killed him immediately, and moved on to the other two, Heruseus still in slow mode.
Eden set him behind a rock and sprinted around Thorin. He waited for him to take a swing at him, for he would jump on his arm and go for a head blow. The angered spirit threw a punch, and Eden leaped off the ground, and onto a fallen pillar. He then jumped onto Thorin, and sped up its arm. He sliced the side of Thorin's cheek, and jumped back to ground as Thorin grew angrier.
Eden began his specialty finisher, which would cut Thorin's health by a chunk, but not all the way. Eden waited for another moment to strike, and equipped replica Daggers of Cornelia. Thorin punched the ground again, creating an opening. Eden threw the daggers at his face, and jumped into the air while he equipped replica Green Theorem. He dove towards the enraged spirit and sliced its face again. He used his face as a platform and kept jumping off and on it to deal more damage. He then equipped an ice tome, and began the final blow, "taste the bitter coldness of defeat!"
Before he could remember he was underwater, the tome finished charging and fired. Ice covered him and Thorin, but Thorin broke free as Eden fell onto the floor. Thorin slapped him across the cave room, and depleted most of his health. As Thorin prepared to smash him like Aris, Executioner ran up his arm and sliced his face. Thorin roared out of pain and rage, and gained another health bar.
Executioner ran to Eden's side, "are you alright, E?"
"Everything hurts," Eden grunted as he sprayed himself. He stood up and held out his hand, "name's Isaac Peterson. Call me Eden."
Executioner took it and nodded. The two of them worked together flawlessly. Executioner distracted the spirit, while Eden waited for another opening.
"Now!" Executioner shouted as he hopped into the air, dodging a punch from a large fist.
"Right!" Eden was already in position, and sliced the giant spirit once more. Eden dashed behind his head, and jabbed replica Thunderis into it. The giant monster fell onto its knees and vaporized before his whole body could reach the floor. Eden smiled and told Executioner, "Great job dude."
"Same to you," Executioner smiled, "Eden."
"Aww, you guys didn't save any action for me?" Heruseus rubbed his head as he emerged from behind the rock.
"Your slow-mo time should've ran out minutes ago, what happened?" Eden asked him.
"I kinda fell asleep," Heruseus shrugged. He pointed to replica Thunderis and squinted, "how do you have all this?"
Eden smiled, "just replicas. They aren't as strong as the real thing, but your Darkness Fang is real. It's apart of the upcoming event. Another sword, Green Theorem is said to lie in the lands of Cornelia."
Executioner sighed, "what necessarily allows you to replicate items?"
"This," Eden held out his hands. "This is the Legendary weapon, Prion Gloves. Catch is, the more Legendary Weapons I replicate, there's a higher chance I'll do damage to myself instead. With the mastery of these gloves, I cannot unequip them. They are forever mine."
"And what allows you to see the future?" Heruseus asked.
"What's the fun in Legendary weapons when you know every single one of them? You'll see them all in time, no doubt. The Cornelia set and Heart set are the rarest. Cornelia only has four, while the Heart set only has three, Thunderis, Darkness Fang and Green Theorem. There are other sets too, and trust me, there are much more stronger weapons," Eden cracked his knuckles and walked over to the small child.
"Alright, well, let's get the boy back to his father and we can continue talking then," Executioner received the child as an item, and made his way to the cave's exit.
"Thank you for saving me! Take the cloak as a gift and reward!" the child stated when he was activated. The old man didn't do anything except give the two their experience and disappear.
"The NPC's are weird," Executioner exhaled loudly.
"Thanks for your help Eden, I don't know if we could've done this without you," Heruseus turned to Eden and bowed.
"No problem Heruseus," Eden didn't smile, something was on his mind.
"So, want to become an official Heart?" Executioner opened his arms.
"I'll send the invite," Heruseus opened the window, but Eden stopped him.
"I... I can't accept your offer. Aris is right, I must be with the Thornes. I am not your friend, I am your enemy from here on out. Don't ask why, but the future must be changed in anyway possible. Don't worry, I won't take anything," Eden opened a messaging window and closed it with haste.
Executioner raised an eyebrow, "what exactly do you mean by that? Isaac, you already helped us, how can we simply consider you our enemy?"
"I said I'm sorry, and I'll say it again, I won't take anything, I promise," Eden inhaled sharply as he withdrew a small dagger.
Heruseus tilted his head, "take wha-" He and Executioner both fell to their knees after Eden quickly slit both of their throats and took off. As he ran, the white sand flew into the air as he repeatedly kicked it up. He disappeared shortly after, leaving the two bloody bodies alone for a short while.
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