Sword Art Online: Forgotten Edition

Fragment 23 - 25th Floor Boss

|POV: Haru|

I am super happy to have people like Musashi, Hero, Asuna, and Kirito as my friends because without them, I don't think I would've lasted long in this game at all.

The floors were being cleared at a steady pace, but...we've been on floor 25 for a couple of weeks now, one of the longest times we've stayed on a floor.

I know we're still in the beginning but if we're struggling now, then we'll probably never get out at this point.

"Haru! There's someone selling what you want!" Hero called me from afar and I ran to him to see what was up.

In front of me, I see a brown haired girl with freckles on her cheeks, staring at me intensly and I wasn't sure why.

"Are you sure this kid is even able to use this weapon? You're supposed to have a very high mastery level to even wield it." She questioned my abilities based off of how I looked.

Musashi then asked me, "When was the last time you changed your weapon?"

I didn't have very good memory but I just gave an estimate, "Uhh I think around the 16th floor—"

"16th? But that's when Gold gave us those new weapons," Musashi was a bit surprised.

"Yeah, but I really like the way it felt and everything. So I just kept it...maybe that's why it got a little bit harder to kill the enemies..." I put the pieces together.

"I think I have the gist," the brown haired girl lifted up a particular spear, "this needs a lance mastery of about 350, otherwise it's completely useless if you can't wield it."

"350...I think that's fine," I looked at the swordswoman next to me.

"Alright then, 25,000 col for the Midnight Striker," the blacksmith told me.

Midnight Striker...that sounds super cool. I felt my smile go from ear to ear.

"Thanks!" I told her.

"No problem, hopefully it works out for you. Pleasure doing business—" I stuck out my hand.

"Haru."

She had a confused look on her face at first but she smiled back and shook my hand, "Lisbeth."

25th Floor – Daisogo, INN Bar

"Man! The drinks here are so good!" I took a jug of an orange liquid substance and chugged it down to the last drop.

"You're not even drinking beer so why do you sound drunk?" Musashi shook her head as she sat next to me with an empty jug of her own.

Hero who was on my left, only had a cup of water, "Orange juice is a healthy substance! Full of nutrients, especially vitamin C! Haru's still young so he needs all of the nutrients he can get!"

"I'm glad you're not drinking Hero, anything else and who knows how much louder you'd get," chuckled Musashi as she asked the bartender for another drink.

I stuck out my empty glass and said, "Bartender! Get me the same thing as her! I'm feelin' daring today!"

"Heh. You're quite many years too young to be getting the same thing, kiddo," the man behind the bar had a smirk on his face.

"Awh c'mon! It's our break before we enter the labyrinth and defeat the boss—" my mouth was immediately covered by Hero who had quickly stood up from his seat.

"SHHH! SHHHH!" He looked around cautiously as others around him looked in our direction. It was the first time I had seen him startled.

"You're not supposed to say that here! Don't you know what happened a couple of days ago! We're not supposed to talk about it!" Musashi whispered loud enough just for Hero and I to hear. 

My eyes flashed an understanding to what she said and I nodded in response. 

I totally forgot!

To get rid of the eyes on us, we bounced from the INN and began to wander the streets of the town. 

"You idiot! If people heard about that they're going to freak out. The 25th labyrinth and boss isn't a joke. Majority of Kibaou's team got wiped out before they even reached the boss room, they suffered too many casualties. It's a miracle some of them even came back including him," Musashi pursed her lip.

"Either way we have to prepare accordingly. Bring as many potions as you can but don't spend all your col on them...If we end up on the verge of dying, then the doors of death are bound to take us in..." Hero has been alot more calm and collected recently, it's very reassuring.

But I could tell that the both of them aren't looking forward to this fight at all. I began to remember the reality of this place. It was either kill or be killed, and there was no going home until we cleared all 100 floors.

I cleanched my hands into fists.

...This is going to be a much different fight from the others. I looked at Musashi and Hero. I don't even know if some of us will make it alive after tomorrow's battle...

After the we stocked up on the items we needed for tomorrow, we rented rooms at the INN and awaited the dreadful day to come.