Progressive Factor II: Lacrimosa Of A Reaper

Attack on Caste Galey, Part 1

Kirito

"That was...something..."

"He was much nicer to the girls than to us, that's for sure. That old, useless pervert." Jaymes and Kirito, kicked out of the library while Asuna, Koharu, and the ladies undergo the Meditation trial (on top of comfortable cushions, no appetizing fricatolle in sight, and for one hour instead of three).

They learned a couple of things from the storyteller, though. The two iron keys' resonance was the result of  a powerful charm placed on them to keep them from aligning and forming a larger key. The elf couldn't undo the charm, leaving it up to whoever created it to dispel it.

The storyteller also knew of the Platinum Shield that the hero Selm used against Shmargor and its spikes, but he didn't know how to craft it. Instead, he mentioned an alternative method to fight the spikes — the Meditation skill, which is why the girls are training for it now and why, after wanting to watch the girls train, Kirito and Jaymes are left alone outside.

So with nothing to do except wait, the boys mutually decided on going to the dining hall. Taking a seat on a couch by the wall, they were giving a dessert menu by a servant and settled on herbal tea, a chestnut—and—walnut tart for Kirito, and cocoa-chunked cookies for Jaymes. They quickly demolished their choice deserts and quietly sipped on tea. When Kirito spoke up, only twenty minutes had passed between them leaving the library and the present...and the desire to sleep was strongly claiming his body

Finding a comfy position on the couch, Kirito muttered, "You know, we've been up since two in the morning. I'm so tired."

Jaymes chuckled, though it seemed like he put whatever strength he had left into it as he leaned his head back. "Really? Back in the real world, I could go almost a whole day on a couple hours of sleep and not feel exhausted. Well, school didn't allow one to feel sleepy, hehe."

"...I wish I could admit that was the case for me."

"What, you fell asleep in school? Let me guess, you sat in the back corner of the room by the window like the loser protagonist you are?"

"And what about you? Did you sit somewhere in the middle like the smart and popular asshat you are?"

"...Yeah, but more towards the front. And I might've been popular, but I never enjoyed it. Never in my life...and I hadn't enjoyed school in years. You the same?"

"Uh...I guess so... Though I'm sure talking about the real world —"

"Yes, yes, taboo and all." Jaymes sighed and closed his eyes. "Yeah, I know...but who knows when we'll return home. It could be this year, next year or two...or never. I guess I'm being a bit fearful, but when I look at the girls...they don't pretend there's a divide between Aincrad and Japan. This world and that one...there's no difference. Reality is whatever is around us, so why bother trying to detach from one while living in the other..."

Kirito opened his mouth to answer, but nothing came out as sleep claimed him. Jaymes didn't complain himself as he fell to his own slumber seconds later.

xxxxxx

It wasn't a servant who woke the sleeping boys, but the bell in the courtyard Kirito silently thought the bell was for the return of Mito and Qusack, but then the clanging sped up and got more intense. That roused both males from their slumber and took them out the dining hall in a hurry. They raced to the first window they could get to and looked out the window to the courtyard below.

At the opened castle gates, white light flashed, indicating a battle taking place. Kirito opened the window to get a better analysis of the scene below and focused on the attacking force at the castle gate. Defending the castle, of course, were the dark elf guards, and the force attacking were wearing black and had face masks on. One of the latter group's cursor appeared in Kirito's sight and read "Fallen Elven Warrior".