RYOKO (Sword Art Online)

Chapter 5 - Luis

I sold my old gear with a single swipe and flick of my wrist. Gone forever and exchanged was given a decent amount of money to get new gear. Perhaps even a new weapon that is more suited for me. Sasha was back at the house, teaching the kids how to properly attack and defend (For safety purposes in case we aren't around). She sent me off with a small amount of coins, 1,000 to be precise, which when added to what I have now gives me...

I bit my bottom lip, trying to do mental math in my head before realizing that what I had was currently being displayed in front of me... Idiot. I scoffed slightly at my stupidity before scrolling through the options, seeing all of the prices and quality of each weapon or piece of armor. I should probably buy some health and stamina potions as well, but I will do that after I get what is currently essential to my survival. Armor and a Weapon. Sasha was originally going to help me pick one out but got up with managing the children and so I took it upon myself to go out and do it myself, after all that is how it is supposed to go. 'How it is supposed to go...' I couldn't help but think. I shook my head when a voice beside me knocked me out of my thoughts

"Are you, Ryoko?" I turned and nodded at the dark skinned boy who looked no older than me. He sighed in relief, leaning forward down to my ear, "Welcome to the game, Reiko Ryoutarou." My eyes widened, my breath hitching at the back of my throat

"Y-You are-"

"The boy who managed to send a message to the board. Yeppers." He chirped with a sly grin, pulling away to stand up straight

"How do you know who I am?"

"Got hold of the board again after experiencing a ton more lag spikes for the past few days. I thought they added the other what, 500?" I shrugged, honestly not remembering the number

"But then, I'm told only one came in while the others hundreds of them chickened out. You, Miss Ryoko is determined!" He gently jabbed finger on my collarbone in emphasize

"I guess... You know my name, but I don't know yours." I pointed out to him, narrowing my eyes slightly up at him. He pursed his lips, shrugging before speaking. "Luis. But my real name is Xander Ito at your service." Xander, well Luis, informed me with a dramatic bow. I rolled my eyes in response

"Nice to meet you, Luis. But you literally looked for me just to-?"

"Yeppers~ There is only a handful of us so we need whatever help we can get. But, from what I see you're doing a pretty good job on your own." He told me

"This isn't all me. A nice woman actually has been helping me out for the sole reason why I came here in the first place."

"Did you tell her, ya know about this whole experiment?" I shook my head in response. He sighed in relief, running a hand through his dark purplish locks

"Good. We would rather to keep this whole thing under the rug until actually results that can help us surfaces."

"Understandable."

"Soo... Buying new equipment eh? I can help you out with that."

"Not needed but appreciated. I would rather do this part on my own instead of someone else constantly helping out."

"Good thing. Many of us need to know how to do things without anyone's help, even if appreciated. But may I make a suggestion?"

"Sure." I replied, watching as he leaned over my shoulder as I scrolled down the inventory of weapons. He pointed at one, tapping on the screen but the system denied it since it wasn't my finger

"Get this one. It's a Pernach, perfect for your long arms, stature, and in general a good weapon. Not many use these since the main stream is long swords or rapiers." He suggested. I nodded, tapping on it to see the details