[SP:F19] The Unending Journey

[Seul 1]

“All will be revealed in time, Seul. For now it'd be best if we all rested up for the busy day you have ahead of you tomorrow.”

With that the woman took it upon herself to get comfortable on the opposite side of the fire. Was she really settling in for bed time after just showing up out of nowhere? Granted he was sort of doing the same thing, but his circumstances were far more justified; he was the victim!

---

The thought of leaving crossed his mind several times throughout the night and each instance only intensified as the hours dragged on. He received a grand total of zero sleep, but it wasn't a huge surprise why. He was with two strangers; one an orange player and the other a weird old lady who was stalking him now. He really could not have made this stuff up if he tried, but this was the reality he was given.

[Seul 1]

Most shocking of all was that Mashiro had actually stuck around. He did not see her as the type to actually commit to this kind of situation, but he figured even if she did leave the woman would have tracked her down again without much of a problem. With that in mind there was not much of a point in trying to evade the woman’s words.

Of course she was the last one to wake up. After stretching her limbs she turned to greet the pair with a smile. “Good morning.”

“So about what you wanted to tell us…” Seul started. There was no point in being so formal with this woman and cutting right to the matter at hand would save him the headache in case she had forgotten or decided to change the subject again. He stared at her with a serious face but she simply shrugged in response.

[Seul 1]

“First you must be tested. Both of you follow me.” She said as she rose to her feet and started a steady walk off in the direction that would lead to the center of the floor. Seul wasn't left with much of a choice and when Mashiro had begun following he felt compelled to do the same.

They walked and walked, only breaking the silence with the occasional question or quick remark regarding how absurd their situation was. Eventually the fortune teller stopped in front if the remains of a crumbling structure and gestured for the two to enter.

“This is a Ruin of Sin. Six other similar ruins are scattered throughout Aincrad, but their whereabouts will not be revealed until this one is successfully explored. Your test will be to survive whatever lies inside. That's it.”

What a disappointment. Why the hell would he step into a place like that without any sort of incentive. “Uh… Why?”

[Seul 1]

“Trust me. Clearing the ruins is mainly a tool for achieving what one desires most. Power, fame, fortune… All of these await whoever can complete this challenge. It's on both of your best interest to do this.”  

That was all the convincing he really needed. The three things he sought most in this world were practically being handed to him on a silver platter now. If all he had to do was run around some weird ruins then it sounded simple enough. He had done far worse and more frightening things in the past anyway.  

For now Mashiro seemed on board with the idea too as she nodded in agreement with the terms that had been set. The only thing left to do was to actually go inside…

---

The woman wasn't coming with them and honestly Seul was completely fine with that. She didn't strike him as the fighting type, so the less dead weight he had to lug around the better off he'd be.

[Seul 1]

The interior of the ruins was a lot more spacious than he originally anticipated. It looked like any old dungeon one would see in a classic fantasy rpg, but there was a huge difference between watching this scene on a television screen rather than living it. Seul glanced around in an attempt to gather information. So far there weren't any monsters, not any he could see at least. After passing through the entrance the player was met with a long stone staircase that hugged the circular walls of the room. He was tempted to look over the edge but resisted the urge; partially out of fear of not being able to see the bottom or in a worst case scenario falling over to his demise.

“Guess there's only one way to go.” He said, but Mashiro had already started walking away. He couldn't help but wonder why they had to do this together.

[Seul 1]

Less than twenty-four hours ago she was threatening his life and now they were just supposed to forget about that and work together?

Now was as good a time as any to start getting to know her some more. “So… Mashiro. If we're going to be working together on this we should learn more about each other. Why did you decide to play SAO? From what I can tell people have a million different reasons for logging in at launch. Mine isn't so interesting though.

Silence. Was she seriously ignoring him? They might not have gotten off to the best start but that wasn't even his fault. If anyone should have been mad it was him. Perhaps she was just taking some time to come up with a suitable answer though since she did speak up after a minute or two.

“I wasn't much of a gamer, but who could really resist seeing a virtual world? In hindsight I now realize that was a mistake.”

[Seul 1]

A light smile crept across her lips, but beneath the cheerful veil he could see that the words were laced with pain. Pushing the question didn't seem like the brightest of ideas, so he chose instead to draw the attention back to himself.

“If you're interested I can tell you some of the stories from my time in Aincrad. Let's see… What would be a good one?”

Now that he actually had some time to think about it, most of his adventures up till this point had been pretty bland. Maybe that was why he had written them off for the most part. Seul never talked about his time in the game much with others, but that was mostly because he was rarely in situations where it would be welcomed. Whenever he partied up with his fellow players it was usually just to fulfill a quest then they would go their separate ways.

Edited May 5, 2017 by Seul

[Seul 1]

He didn’t form connections so easily because of this. Still, it wasn’t like he was without anyone. There were very few he would consider to be friends in this world, but even then he was certain they did not know much about his travels considering how little he knew of theirs.

“How about the first time I took on a boss monster. It was the Long Live the Queen quest; the one with the oversized wasp. I was still only like level one then so I had asked a much higher level player for help so I would not die. You could probably guess, but I didn’t end up doing much in the fight. I might have only gotten one hit in for a tiny amount of damage. I will say it was really something to watch that bug go down though and I did get a few levels out of the deal so it wasn’t all bad.”

[Seul 1]

Seul realized he was starting to drone on now. He felt it was a good way to pass the time at least. That battle was where it all started and if he hadn’t left the starting city on that day then perhaps he might have still been there to this day.

Mashiro listened intently to him as he spoke of his first battle and the feelings associated with it. She probably couldn’t relate though. His experience was a rather unique one as far as he could tell as most players who were just starting out weren’t brave (or foolish) enough to fight something that was out of their league, even with the help of a veteran on their side. Taking risks came with the territory of being an explorer though lying on the other side of the metaphorical mountain could be a sea of treasure waiting to be found… Or a monster ready to tear you limb from limb. Each step was a gamble, but the payout of finding good things in this world because of it was worth it in his opinion.

[Seul 1]

The spiral staircase was finally coming to an end and upon reaching the last step the pair was faced with a long hallway which was illuminated solely by the glow of torches attached to the walls. The place was getting creepier the further they moved in but they had already come too far to turn back now. They would enter the hall but that was when the real trouble began.

 

Waiting for them was figure dressed in a combination of  metallic and cloth armor. The warrior also sported a one handed straight sword and a had shield strapped to his other arm. This man blocked the way and already had his weapon drawn. It was quite clear he was out for blood. If it was a fight he wanted, then it was a fight he was going to get. Seul was more than happy to oblige, but would have to get in  line as Mashiro was already upon the enemy.

[Seul 1]

The resulting clash reverberated throughout the area as metal met metal. With a downward swing Mashiro had made the first move using her greatsword but since the weapon was expectedly slower the warrior was able to block the hit with minimal effort. Seul didn’t think the armored man would have such a simple time against two opponents though. While he was busy fighting off one the other would be able to slip in a land a blow from a different direction. He just hoped his partner would be able to pick up on the plan fast enough to keep the odds in their favor.

In one motion he unsheathed the Crusader MK II and joined the fray, slashing at one of the warrior’s legs while Mashiro was busy pounding away at the shield. Somehow he was able to see through this though and jumped back out of range after deflecting another one of the woman’s hits.

[Seul 1]

“This guy is a lot more skilled than he looks.” Seul mumbled under his breath as he retreated to Mashiro’s side. She was waiting for the warrior to make a move but it would appear that he was doing the same, not once lowering his shield while sizing them up from a few meters away. They couldn’t just hack away and hope for the best in this fight, though it also didn’t feel like they were in any real danger since the man failed to a land any hits of his own or even try to attack for that matter. Seul wouldn’t say that they were overwhelming him by any means, but they were forcing him to fight more cautiously than he assumed the warrior would have if it was just a simple one on one duel.

“I’ll go first this time.” He said before running forward to press the offensive front once more.

[Seul 1]

This time he attacked at a diagonal angle but once again the shield found its way up to stop the sword in its tracks. His other side was left open, but would Mashiro be able to make it in time to it him? Seul pressed harder with his blade, forcing the man’s legs to slightly buckle under the weight that was being applied. It was now or never; a golden opportunity had been given to them to start turning this fight in a positive direction and they weren’t about to let it escape either.

Mashiro dragged her sword behind her as she ran at the warrior, flipping it around to deliver a stab to the am that carried the sword. The greatsword passed by the man’s arm, cutting it open with a red gash mark left behind as he could barely deflect both Seul’s sword and the stab without getting damaged by one or the other.

[Seul 1]

It was only a flesh wound but even so that was the most damage they were able to deal on him up till this point so Seul was more than pleased with the progress that was being made on their part. Before he could do his own follow up, the man jumped away again. He was starting to see a pattern to the warrior’s actions. Whenever he felt crowded or in danger he would make an effort to up distance between them but still hadn’t pressed the attack yet. Which was odd.

He wouldn’t get away though. Seul followed after him as he retreated, slashing at his hip with his sword. The action must have caught him off guard as his shield failed to block this time. Or so he thought. A red cut appeared on his shoulder as his blade sunk into the warrior’s side; it was a the result of being stabbed in retaliation.

Edited May 6, 2017 by Seul

[Seul 1]

The force of the stab sent him falling onto his back and a quick glance up at the corner of his vision showed the health bar had dipped down slightly. The damage he took didn't quite correlate to the amount of power behind the attack, but then again this world was ruled by numbers. As long as yours were high enough you didn't have to worry so much when entering combat. Like with anything though there were exceptions; sometimes a monster would have a skill that allowed it to break past common defenses or maybe a player would encounter a particularly strong monster that could easily overpower them. As of right now the Warrior didn't fall into either of those categories. Excluding its high Affinity for swordplay, it was just like the other mobs he faced in the past so it was only a matter of time before he died.

Edited May 6, 2017 by Seul

[Seul 1]

By the time he got back to his feet Mashiro had jumped in to attack again. The Warrior had already been wounded twice now and having to fight off two people was clearly tiring him out. His movements were more sluggish than when they first started fighting and his shield was just barely keeping up with the swings from her greatsword.

Watching them fight had started turning the gears in Seul’s mind. He had come up with a new plan but would need to hang back for an opening while his partner kept the Warrior busy. Slam after slam hit the shield, but it gave no signs of being broken or pushed aside. That was their real problem; if something wasn't done about the Warrior’s incredible defense they would be there for years trying to defeat him. If all went well then the conflict would definitely be coming to an end soon.

[Seul 1]

Once Mashiro and the Warrior collided again it was time for Seul to put his plan into motion. He ran at them, but rather than raise his blade to attack he moved to position himself directly to the right of the man. Only then did he lift his blade into the air and with as much force as he could muster brought it down on the outstretched arm that wielded the shield.

The Warrior had no chance. There was nowhere to run and no way to block both the woman in front of him and the black haired male’s slash. The shield arm was severed and exploded into pixels along with the item upon hitting the ground. He did his best to parry with the sword, but such efforts were spent in vain as Mashiro managed to get him on the ground after a few seconds.

“I’ll take this as a victory.” Seul said while looking down at the fallen fighter.

[Seul 1]

“Not yet.”

Before Seul could respond Mashiro placed a heel on the Warrior’s chest before plunging her sword through his neck. Decapitation wasn't exactly his preferred method of handling these things. Even if it wasn't a real person and just another monster it seemed a bit like overkill in his eyes. At least he could be sure that man wouldn't be getting up again anytime soon.

---

“I hope there aren't more of those guys lurking around.” The thought weighed heavily on his mind as they continued on their way. They did so well against the Warrior because it was two on one, but how would things have gone if there were more? It was enough to make him shudder, but Mashiro didn't seem fazed in the slightest.

“That one wasn't even tough, so it won't be a big deal if there are.”

He could appreciate her optimism in this situation, regardless of how misguided he thought it was. She was probably right anyway.

[Seul 1]

The hallway opened up into a much larger, circular room. Seul’s eyes widened as he stepped inside. The floor wasn't even visible, hidden beneath mountains of coins, jewels, and other valuable items. He approached one of the heaps but before he could dip a hand in a voice stopped him.

“It's not real.”

He turned around to see Mashiro poking one of the respective treasure mounds with the end of her sword only to have it pass through as if it wasn't there.

“Looks like the ruins are just showing what we want to see to keep us from moving on.” She said before starting to walk again toward the exit. He was disappointed of course, but at least they saw through it fast enough to not lose too much time. Mobs wouldn't be the only thing they had to worry about from here out it seemed. Even more the reason to keep up their guards then.

[Seul 1]

A place like this should definitely have real treasure lurking around somewhere. The problem was just telling the real stuff apart from all the fakes. He would be keeping his eyes peeled as they walked, but seeing as how his own search skill was rather low he wasn't expecting to find anything worthwhile. He couldn't help but sigh, but the simple fact of living in this world meant that one person wouldn't be capable of doing everything that the game had to offer. While the roles of a player weren't so strict most people did fall into one of the categories that had been agreed upon by the population. He didn't enjoy being labeled in that regard though. It limited him in what other players thought he would be capable of. If he was a DPS then he couldn't tank or provide support, which wasn't necessarily true given his setup.