Sword Art Online: Blades in the Dark

Chapter 4 (Tyler)

I leave the cave as the sun breaks the horizon. I head back to town to start the research, and notice that the indestructible perk finished researching. Since I can only research one perk on a weapon at a time, this gives me the opportunity to start research on Transfusion. I decide to build a new set of blue-tinged blackstone armor with my new perk, and it works perfectly. I equip the new armor, which looks just like the old one, and sell the other set to an NPC. I need to keep the blackstone sword until the research is done, so I head out to the meeting area to see what's going on. There are more players in the town now than there were yesterday, so it's easier to find someone to sell some of my blackstone weapons to.

I sell out faster than I had expected, and end up with over 20K col. I go to the real estate vendor in the town and find out that there is an empty shop open for 10K. I debate on buying it, but decide that for now selling on the street should be good, I can buy a shop on a higher floor with stronger gear to sell. I head back to the meeting area and discover that a boss raid is being planned.

I join in on listening, as my skills could be very useful in a boss battle, as well as my knowledge of a few of the boss's tactics. Apparently after the boss loses 2 of his 4 health bars, he switches his weapon to a talwar and becomes more nimble as well as dealing more damage. Kirito is here as well, sitting with the rest of the group in the seating of the meeting area. a guy with a katana, a strange fox, and a huge overcoat is sitting off to one side, seeming to be listening intently. He has black hair, and by the way he looks he is almost my size. The fox looks over at me, and I avert my gaze and return my attention to the guy in the middle of the area explaining tactics to fight the boss. He is middle height, with longer, light blue hair and a regular sword at his waist. He's reading information on the boss and dungeon area from some sort of little book. A small argument breaks out, and a huge, bald man with a battle-axe stands up to break up the disagreement. he stands out among the crowd, considering not only his immense stature but that he was by far the darkest skinned person in the area. I use the inspect smithing skill to discover his name: Agil. The group heads out towards the dungeon the next day, and once I find the group, I start looking for Kirito.

He's talking to the guy with the fox, but stops momentarily to check who's running up behind him. He sees it's me and he continues speaking to the guy. There's also someone else walking near Kirito, with a large hooded robe so I can't see who it is. It sounds like Kirito's explaining how the fox works. He explains that if the fox dies, there's only one way to revive it, which is by doing a certain quest on a higher floor. The pet can be upgraded with certain items dropped by enemies, but certain items are only usable on certain pets. The firefox, obviously, has fire-related items like special embers, whereas a different pet like a healing dragon might use dragon scales or a special pure water item. Some items can be used on all pets to raise certain stats like health and attack power as well. I decide to take a closer look at the firefox. It's the color of a dying fire, mostly different shades of black with some red running through the fur at random intervals, and 9 tails colored the same way. Each tail has a small ball of spectral blue fire at the end, and a slightly larger blue fireball is in the middle of its forehead.

"If you want one, you'll have to find your own," I hear, and look up to find the guy who had been talking to Kirito looking back at me as I examine his pet. The healthbar info says that his name is Kalzor, and he has an impressive amount of HP for someone similar level to myself. At least, I'm assuming he's similar level, since he's still here and his gear isn't too impressive. "I was just looking, I've never seen anything like this before," I explain to him as we come over a hill into full view of the dungeon tower. I notice something odd on his arms. It seems like he has something hidden slightly above each of his wrists. It also seems that he has an extra armor plate underneath his trench coat, which looks a lot like Kirito's, as there is a square-ish bulge at his chest. It isn't very noticeable, but i, being the strategist I am, see it nonetheless. He looks like he has an ace up his sleeve. I almost burst out laughing from my own thoughts, but manage to barely restrain myself. After I finish my quick inspection of anything Kalzor may be hiding, I think of a new motto. Know your friends as well as your enemies, they can both get you killed. I'll have to ask him about his mysterious arm things later, or maybe he'll show us at the boss fight. At this point, we are almost to the dungeon, and have encountered next to no resistance.