Sword Art Online-Encroaching Shadows

Chapter 4

The character screen staring back at Jayce threatened to overwhelm his already exhausted mind. What kept him barely conscious was the empty skill slot that now appeared beside his other two. After hunting Kobold after Kobold throughout the night, the white haired girl he met shrieked in glee somewhere around four in the morning. With the tap of a button she rotated her loot window around changing it to a mode where he could see. In the center of the screen in bold letters was <<Moonlit Silver Dirk>>.

An odd sensation hit him the moment he saw the item in her inventory. He had gained enough experience to not only achieve level 5, but to push past it to 6. Each camp yielded another <<Amberthorn>> and by the end he had amassed a decent quantity of the herb. What perplexed him in the moment, however, was that he didn't care about the gains he had made. There was a deep sense of accomplishment and pride that they had accomplished what they set out to do.

They had been together hunting for over seven hours, and the moment she saw the dagger she had been searching for he saw a look on her face that only served to accentuate her features further. It was one of pure elation, that in the final hours of moonlight framed her entire body beautifully. For the first time in almost a month he had forgotten the game was life or death. It was the freest he had felt in a long time.

"I really owe you one. I had a feeling about this!" She exclaimed as they walked back into the Town of Beginnings around five in the morning.

"It was nothing." With the excitement having worn off, Jayce was just trying to make it back to the inn without falling asleep in the street. Although in a virtual world, the human brain required sleep. Those feelings of fatigue were very real and it was always dangerous if you pushed too hard. Falling asleep in the wild for instance meant creatures could come upon your body and attack you while you lie there helplessly.

"Well, I guess that's it then yeah?" Why was it Jayce kept catching subtle tones and nuances that made little sense? Did she sound disappointed or was it just the fatigue?

"Mhm, I'm glad you got what you were looking for. Congratulations." Ten words. The longest sentence he had strung together in a month. Her mouth twitched in a slight smile as she looked down at the dagger on her hip.

"Yeah, well...good night Alchemist." With a wave of her hand and once more a slight sadness in her tone she headed off in a different direction than where Jayce needed to go. He watched her go for a few seconds wondering if he should have said something further. Maybe something was troubling her? He shook his head at the thought. Even if there was it wasn't his business, they had only just met anyway. A window appeared in front of him showing that their party had been disbanded.

"Good night Jemza." He said quietly. Less than twenty minutes later he was in his room staring at the open skill slot torn between sleep and deciding on what he should add. His mind went back to the white haired girl and he found himself making a noise he hadn't made since before logging into this game. A very low volume laughter at the realization that he already knew what he wanted to choose next after the past evening he just experienced. Without any further hesitation he scrolled through the list tapping on <<Hiding>> before closing the window and falling asleep.

December 2nd 2022

Jayce rubbed his hands together and bounced his leg anxiously as he sat on a bench along one of the side streets of town. He glanced back and forth before taking a deep breath. On the bench next to him was the same book that had guided him towards the <<Amberthorn>> last night. Another portion of the book had caught his attention, but he needed more information. Now that he had the materials to continue his <<Mixing>> it was time to look towards the other pieces of his equipment.