Sword Art Online-Encroaching Shadows

Chapter 3

Up until this point Jayce had fought only when necessary. When every fight meant life or death he avoided it at all costs. Even against enemies that were significantly lower level than him there was always the chance of something going wrong. It simply wasn't worth the risk to fight indiscriminately. Even though that was counterproductive to completing the game, he simply didn't have the strength to push himself out into the world like the beta testers had done.

The girl that stood beside him with a grin on her face had to be a beta tester. It was the only explanation for her nonchalant attitude. Why else would someone seem to be enjoying themselves in this type of situation? The only problem with that theory was, if she had been a beta tester why was she still here in the Town of Beginnings? She should be further ahead with the group of people that would be tackling the boss of this floor.

"So what's the plan friend?" She asked crouching down to survey the camp below them. Jayce stared down at her still trying to gauge this girl. He bit his lower lip and swallowed before finding the words to answer her.

"I...don't need help." It was a lie of course, but he couldn't bring himself to accept this situation. It was one thing to risk his own life, but endangering another was completely out of the question. He couldn't be responsible for someone dying, not again. Dark thoughts began to swirl through his mind bringing his heartrate up dangerously high.

"Hey? It's alright." Her voice brought him back to reality, or rather back to artificial reality. The excitement was gone, replaced by genuine concern. She was looking up at him now, her silver eyes gleaming in the moonlight.

"Why?" She wasn't here by chance that much was certain. There had to be something else that brought her to be here at the same time as him. Once more her lips curled up into a smile and the excitement returned to her eyes.

"The Kobolds in these camps have a chance to drop a rare dagger. I've been hunting them around here for the past few nights. No luck so far, but I'm feeling lucky tonight." Her motives made sense completely. In this game, no in this life you had to not only get stronger as a person, but continue to upgrade your equipment. Rare drops were always highly sought after since they tended to be much higher quality than store bought weapons. They also could be upgraded further than weapons like the one on Jayce's hip.

Having this girl help to handle the camp would raise the safety level significantly. It also meant they could be more efficient. There was no downside to it at all. Even if there was he doubted it would outweigh the benefits. For himself it also meant they could clear other camps and he could gain multiple <<Amberthorn>> harvest points. At this point if he made any argument against working together it would be clear that he was just being rude.

"So? Will you help me? I'd owe you big time." She asked once more and Jayce gave a quick nod relenting at last. Her smile widened as she tapped the air in front of her twice and a window appeared in Jayce's view. A party notification asking for his acceptance or denial to formally group with the white haired girl. With one last moment of hesitation he reached up and tapped the accept button.

"Jem...za. Jemza?" He said softly seeing a health bar appear under his own along with the name he had just tried to pronounce. She stood once more and held her hand out towards him.

"Yes, Jemza. Nice to meet you." Their fingers wrapped around each other's hands and shook quickly.

"Jayce." He responded still a bit nervous. He had never really conversed with any other players since being trapped here. This was the first time he had been partied with someone and had a formal conversation with an actual introduction. He scolded himself internally for being so socially awkward. The fact that the hand he held was a woman's didn't matter, he would have been just as nervous if it were a man. That's just who he was.