31 October 2023
Amneslia Weald, 39th Floor
Wrapping the hood of my coat over my head briefly, I tried to catch my breath as I caught sight of the gate leading out of Nolfret.
My sprint through the town was smooth so far; no ambushes, no encounters from enemies, not even pursers at my tail. I just ran as fast as I could, away from the chaos which still could be heard from the distance.
Even if any of those scenarios played out against me, I could still fight my way out, without restraining my strength. This was a safe zone, and all I cared about was my HP being cut down. I wouldn't hesitate beating a player up without any mercy, as long as we were in a place where we weren't supposed to fight, as dictated by the system.
A black figure in a trench coat stood leaning by the gate, turning at the sound of my footsteps as I closed in. He touched the tip of his cap, nodding along with the grip, as he straightened himself up.
"Krieg, at your service..."
His usual greeting went soft, but clear enough for me to hear as I passed through the gate, and out to hunting field territory. I imagined a layer of protection instantly peeling off my body, having being aware of the fact that I had just left the safe zone.
The black player caught up beside me a while later, his concealed hand now stretched out to hold a dagger, in which its blade was as dark as he was. As we went past the enemy mobs out in the open, heading for what looked liked a bunch of trees clumped together, Krieg spoke out, touching his cap with his other hand.
"I have checked the presence of the Lycan Mark in the Amneslia Weald earlier. There does not seem to be any of them hiding in there, but be on your guard, Zenalyth."
"I know..." I struggled a bit to keep my constant running speed in check. "Expecting to encounter them is the best preparation we can manage now."
I tried to turn to Krieg, who seemed unfazed while running alongside me. Maybe his concealed face was showing his true state of thought, but that most likely didn't result in his ease of running without even breaking a sweat.
Both of us had the Sprint skill, the ability to run faster than what a player without the skill would have. Even so, the maximum speed a player can run with the Sprint skill varies, depending on what the player equips.
Basically, it was all about the weight.
It was logical, wasn't it? Players with heavy armour tend to move much slower than those who wore lighter ones. The same goes for weapons, where the weapon type determines how swift the player can attack or dodge in combat.
However, dagger users fell into a special category. They weren't great at dealing damage, had short range during combat, and their attack speed rivalled that of rapier users, though the topic was open for debate for anyone who felt confident in arguing whether which of those weapon types was superior than the other in that aspect.
Nevertheless, the fact stood that whoever obtains the Dagger skill would be granted a boost in their movement speed. Dagger users had always triumphed over users of other weapon types in terms of swiftness, and are sometimes able to dodge attacks of considerably fast speeds from enemy mobs or even field bosses.
Plus, once a dagger user obtains the Sprint skill, they could already be considered one of the fastest players in SAO, hands down.
Even if I, a spear user, had levelled up my Sprint skill to the max level, I wouldn't be able to even catch up to a dagger user if I were to chase them. That was how overpowered the Dagger skill was in its niche.
It was a reason why I could never ever go to meet Argo the Rat personally whenever I wanted. If I ever wanted to meet her for any info deals, she herself would come to me instead. Her punctuality during meetings wasn't something to be taken lightly of.
As we neared Amneslia Weald, I turned to Krieg once more. The wind that was blowing at my cheeks had made my face feel more dry than it should be, as if it was feeling numb.
"Don't die on me, Krieg." I shouted over at him, amid the noise of the wind. "Sky Company still needs you as a leader."
"And so does Land Company, I believe." Krieg offered his left hand out to me, nodding curtly. "You will stay alive, won't you, my friend?"
Assuming the quest boss wasn't too strong for the both of us, I held my resolve to fulfil that promise, as I shook Krieg's hand with mine. The handshake shook violently, in the momentum of our legs carrying us during our run.
Amneslia Weald changed the atmosphere from a relatively vast land to a nightly escapade. The trees covered almost everything here, enough to block off any light coming from above. The only method we could use to watch our surroundings was the luminescent leaves from the trees and grass.
It felt like we had entered into another world altogether.
As we swerved past tree after tree, I could feel that the destination of the quest marker was close. But since quest markers for special event quests were not typically available for players, relying on Misuko's memory on the location of that quest marker felt unsettling at the same time.
A location marker placed somewhere in the middle of a forest dungeon is better than nothing, though.
"Pursers! 6 o'clock!" Krieg suddenly exclaimed.
I looked back to see figures tucked among the trees, swerving about as we did, metres away from our backs.
"The Lycan Mark?" I shouted over. "Assuming they started to chase us right after they realized it was me under the hood, they couldn't possibly catch up to us that fast!"
Krieg replied, holding his dagger out. "My guess is that they would be dagger users, who also have the Sprint skill as well."
"What the hell, dagger users from Lycan Mark?"
"Affirmative."
"And they number that many?"
"I believe so, and with all of them being able to catch up to you in just seconds, it seems like I do not have much of a choice!"
Krieg stopped abruptly, facing the pursers with only his dagger held in front of him. I looked back with helplessness, as he turned back at me. His concealed face was never needed in showing his emotions as he raised his voice, as if it was a howl.
"Keep running! And you make sure to fulfil that promise!"
I would have headed straight back if it wasn't for that statement. For me, who was heading towards a destination that I technically didn't know, the encouragement that I got from the leader of Sky Company felt simply priceless.
Minutes passed before the map in my system menu indicated my arrival at the location marker. It didn't react in any way at all, since it was just a location marker, but as I ran on, the trees became less clustered, less like a forest.
There weren't any leftover pursers behind me the whole time as well. Krieg should have only stopped a couple of them at most, but I definitely saw more than that back then.
Catching the sight of something other than trees, I finally slowed down, as if I had just run a marathon. Fatigue didn't exist here in this world, but using my Sprint skill for the longest time felt mentally taxing.
I was now panting in front of a giant grave of sorts, with a towering tree behind it, devoid of any of its leaves, unlike the other trees around it. A short NPC stood by it, wearing a black suit over its slightly wrinkled skin. It had an abnormally large nose, complete with long pointed ears which didn't resemble those of both the forest or dark elves found in Aincrad, in terms of design.
What mattered was the quest marker floating on its head, which reacted like any quest marker would just after I had straightened myself up. As I turned to stare at the NPC, which was easily about half my height, its name tag situated below the quest marker displayed a name fitting for its role.
Igore, Undertaker of Amneslia Weald
"Welcome, gentleman!" Igore gave a short bow, speaking with an accent that probably came from some European origin. "May I assume that you are seeking a request to challenge the grave?"
Turning to the grave in front of me in the distance, I gave myself a brief while to scan at it. It sure was larger than the average grave, the tombstone being so wide and high that it easily blocked half of the leafless tree. At its base, the ground was void of any coloured grass, and instead looked like it had been dug out. Soil was covering whatever that was buried underneath, completing the sight of a grave that was merely about ten metres away from where I stood.
"...Of course." I gave my delayed reply to the NPC.
"Very well..." the undertaker bowed again, raising his arm to look at whatever I assumed to be a wrist watch. "Ah, today calls for a very special occasion! How fittingly terrifying, wouldn't you say so?"
He walked up to me, his head rotating upwards at me in a disturbing manner, as if it had a screw loose.
"How very BOLD of you to challenge the grave on this grand day."
I stood frozen, as a sudden chill swept through my body without warning. It already felt mortifying to stand alone in such a dark atmosphere, and whatever that NPC was doing in front of me wasn't helping.
As I forcefully pulled off my spear from my back in response, the wrinkled black suit leapt away from me, as if he had sensed my aggression.
He then dusted himself off. "Well then, I shall call upon--"
"Bitch!"
CHINKK!!
My body spun instinctively, as I caught the view of a blade swinging at me. My spear's blade clashed with it, sending me off a few metres towards the grave. Readying my spear properly, I took a look at my attacker.
"Fangras..." I mumbled with a tighter grip on my spear.
The Lycan Mark leader swung his scimitar around playfully, along with 2 other dagger users behind him. As dark as it might be around here, the luminescent trees at the boundary were enough for me to spot his indignant eyes, practically flaring as he approached me.
"Today, bitch!" He snapped, his killing intent leaking out from every inch of his body. "I'll make sure that you'll get fucking slaughtered by my bite! Personally!"
"If you wanna know what really happened to Hallow," I shot back. "Then you better fucking let me do the shit I'm doing right now!"
I was starting to shake in a mess of fear and despair, in the eerie place I was in. I didn't ask to come to this place. I didn't want to make enemies with an orange guild. I didn't want to complete a goddamn event quest that could cost me my life.
I'm done...........with the shit I have to do to solve problems that dead player left behind.
"IGORE! JUST DO IT!"
My outburst shocked everything around me into silence. My teeth stood gritted together as I blared that last word. My hood fell off my head, leaving me with a face of pissed-off defiance as I locked my eyes with the NPC.
"...As you request." Igore replied, the smile on his face still maintained after those few seconds of my rage.
The ground shook behind me, staggering all of us except Igore, who had no problem standing without falling off. His eyes were glowing, as his mouth moved to spew a string of incantations.
As a giant figure gradually climbed up from the grave, I turned to Fangras, who was starting to become as bewildered as he was vicious.
My breathing felt staggered, my eyes were bulging out, and my hands were shaking. I turned around to look at the event boss, whose appearance was, like any messed up monster, indescribable to the human mind at first sight.
"If you're not helping me to defeat that abomination, I don't give a damn!" I shouted straight at Fangras, as I pointed my spear at the rumbling soil behind me. "I'm not in the mood to take on your shit!"
As the boss gave its screeching cry, I winced, forcing my eyes closed before opening to the sight of Fangras, as he looked at me.
"But!" I roared, still with my back facing the boss. "I'll make sure that you get to meet Hallow again!"
"No matter what!"
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