Ashi Blades (An SAO Fanfiction)

Chapter 8

I blinked, staring wildly around the room as I lay still on a soft mat.

"Ah, so the little princess is awake?" A deep voice sneered from across the room. I shook furiously, then asked, "God? Is that you?" Then laughter, from all around the room. I managed to hoist myself up so I sat against whatever I could.

"Where's Usu? What about Komi?" I panicked. "Falckon! Tasm!" I shrieked once more in sheer terror. Then they all rushed to my side, smiling, repeating over and over, "Here we are, Ashi, here we are." I looked over their shoulders to see a large, muscular man sitting in the corner.

"Who's he?" I asked, staring at him with bewildered eyes. He smiled and grunted at me.

"Oh, that's Gruff. He agreed to sell us his mansion, right here in the prettiest part of Floor 3, as our Guildhouse, for the mere price of one million Col. We are highly indebted to him, as he can ask us three great favors, no more." Said Usu, stroking my hair. I looked and stood up, unsure of my balance, and shuffled over to the window. I looked out it and gasped. "Oh my, oh... My!" Flowers dotted the surrounding fields, with beautiful wisteria trees and willows. The sky was a bright blue with no clouds, and the cross-like sun pierced the green grass. Winged creatures fluttered around the field. They had no health bar, so they were clearly friendly, immortal objects. A rainbow painted the sky, sparkling in it's glory.

"We heard that once a month, winter or summer, a rainbow appears, and at the end of it is an optional boss called the Lepreblin, a leprechaun and goblin mashed together. We plan on fighting it today, and we had Gruff here brew up some kind of energy potion for you. Drink it and get ready." With this, Falckon and the rest left the room.

---(>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Dressed in a Mala Tunic and wielding Rainers, we walked along the rainbow with Gruff. We were nearing the end of the rainbow, with hope built up in ourselves.

We finally reached the end of the rainbow, and a big hole with magnificent stone steps lead into a dark cave. We were too scared to go down, so we all pushed each other, laughing along the way.

When we finally reached the bottom, a room filled with barrels of fire lit up and the big, tusked Lepreblin leaped down from a hole in the ceiling. It's health bar and name loaded. The Lepreblin. We all charged and attacked randomly, slicing here and there.

When its final health bar entered the dreaded red zone, it grew bigger and crumbled the ceiling of the cave, causing the ceiling to fall in small pieces. We had to dodge this while attacking, and we did so successfully. The reward was a Shamrock Cloak, which we all received, along with varying amounts of EXP and Col.

--(>>>>>>>>>>

Back at Floor 3's main town, we discussed which quest to take on. Gruff had left for Floor 4, as beating that rare boss gained access to the next floor, which we found a huge convenience. We had the options of three quests: Kill the Lepreblin, which we already done and could not do again (we had not accepted that request beforehand.), Find and Talk to Marochi, or Defeat the Dragon of Silver Pond. We took on the third quest, being warned multiple times of the Dragon's strength.

We just hoped to stay alive in the process.