Chasing Brinley (a story inspired by Sword Art Online)

Brinley

We all walk around town, I'm trying to find a blacksmith to repair my trident. Elspeth damaged it in our battle.

I look around for a shop, and I hear footsteps quicken behind me. "Hey, I'm sorry for destroying your trident," Elspeth apologies. I sigh and look at the trident in my hands. The rod is bent, and parts of the trident have broken off. "Don't worry about it. I just hope someone can fix it, and if they can I hope I'll have enough money." I open up my menu, only to find I'm short on gems*.

"It's on me," Elspeth says. I glance at her. "No, it's okay. It's a lot of money to fix something like this, so I'll just scratch some up. Either that or I'll try to win the jackpot," I joke, and Elspeth laughs.

"Where are the others?" I ask. "River and Cole are stocking up on boaster packs, and Zero is trying to find a cheap hotel." I glance up at the sky, shielding my eyes from the sun. "Yeah, it's getting late," I say. Elspeth agrees.

I sit down on a bench. "I can't find a blacksmith anywhere." Elspeth sits down beside me. "Don't you have a secondary weapon?" she asks. I look at her questionably. She shakes her head and giggles. "A secondary weapon. It's just how it sounds. It's your backup weapon in case something happens to your primary weapon, in this case your trident. Secondary weapons are smaller than the primary weapons, and usually cost less," Elspeth explains.

"Well I don't have a secondary weapon. I've always put my trust into my trident. I've had it since I've reached level ten. It's a good weapon," I say. "How long have you had it?" she asks. "About two and half years now, why?"

Elspeth stands up. "Well it's time to you get you a new weapon." "But I love this trident." "Too bad, it's ruined." Elspeth grabs my hand and drags me to a weapons shop.

"What are you interested in?" Elspeth asks. I think for a moment. "Something that has good strength stats." "That's all?" I nod. "That's all."

"Don't you want a luck boast, or possibly an increase in accuracy?" She asks.

"Well, my trident has just had strength stats, and I don't want a luck boast. Then it wouldn't really be me winning fights, would it?" Elspeth nods. "Good point," she says. "When we were fighting you had top notch accuracy. How often do you train?"

"About six hours a day."

"Wow."

"Why? Don't you train?"

"Well, yeah, but not that much."

Elspeth picks up an odd-looking sword. "I've never seen a weapon like that before." I examine it. "It's brand new," a swordsmaker says, emerging from the back room. "The first one made." "Really?" I whisper as I take the sword from Elspeth. On one end of the sword is the regular blade, but on the other end has sharp spikes. The cushioned handle is in the middle. "It's a really dangerous weapon. Everyone who's ever bought it has brought it back for exchange. They've always died at least once. Of course, that was when they could actually respawn," the swordsmaker explains.

"Interesting. Can I test it out?" I ask. The swordsmaker seems hesitant, but nods. "We have a small training arena with some fake players."

The swordsmaker leads me to the small area outside to practice.

Elspeth watched from outside the area, holding my trident that I plan to trade for money to buy a weapon, and possibly food.

The fake player positions positions himself, holding his sword. I pose a similar stance, holding the new sword.

A countdown appears above my head and in my menu.

In one minute, we begin.

The player immediately charges at me, but I stand my ground. When he swings his sword, I block his attack with my own weapon.