Sword Art Online-Encroaching Shadows

Chapter 8

"No, I'll pay your cost." Before Jemza could respond Jayce put a hand up getting Argo's attention. The brown curls hanging out of her hood bounced slightly as she turned back towards him.

"I'm not prone to making deals, we should let Miss White decide." The Rat answered jabbing a thumb over her shoulder towards Jemza.

"I'm the one requesting the information Argo, not her. You have business with her, then you can pursue that once we're finished." Jemza swallowed hard. He was exhausted, frightened, and possibly many other different emotions right now, but the tone of voice he just used was pure defiance. Argo's eyes blinked a few times before she rocked back and then threw herself forward off the couch.

"Very well. My price in the Town of Beginnings was unfair for the information you gained. Out of respect and to keep my reputation untarnished this one's on the house. To properly use it you will need 12 points. What happened today...will set you back." Argo gave a quick bow and turned walking past Jemza into the doorway. She stopped and spun once more looking past Jemza at Jayce once more.

"However, if things happened how you say they did..." She turned to look at Jemza before continuing. "Then perhaps the true reward is worth the price. Good night." With a wave she shut the door and was gone. Jayce sighed and slumped back down on the bed.

"Argo the Rat. She wrote the strategy guide being given out for this floor. She also buys and sells information." Jemza took a few steps further into the room listening to Jayce.

"An information trader? I didn't know someone like that existed." She sat on the couch where Argo had been feeling very uncomfortable that she was now alone in his room. Not out of distrust, but because they still had barely spoken since the encounter in the forest.

"I sent her a message just as we got here. Seems she was already nearby."

"She's a friend of yours then?" Jayce sat up and shook his head.

"No, I only met her this morning to find out about this quest. I heard about her from some people talking at the inn I was staying at in the Town of Beginnings." The white haired girl nodded and looked down at her hands.

"So...why did you message her now?" It was Jayce's turn to look away now.

"The quest reward is a sword. Supposedly it is one of the best you can get and will be strong enough to last well into the third or fourth floor. I needed to know how much strength was required to wield it." Her heart sank as he answered.

"So, you needed to know how much harm I did to you?" She responded and heard him shift a bit on the bed.

"When I was growing up I used to think that the heroes in stories and movies were people to look up to. Even though it was fiction I thought that if I could be more like them and emulate their ideals then maybe I'd be a better man. I wanted to believe that if there was someone in danger that I would have the courage to throw myself in front of them and save the day." Jayce looked down at the wooden planks that made up the floor of the room. He was sitting on the edge of the bed with his hands clasped together.

"A noble goal." Jemza said still staring down at her hands that were now squeezing a crease on the couch nervously. This marked the first time that Jayce had spoken to her in a way that felt like it could be a normal conversation. If only she wasn't wracked with guilt and fear for how much he blamed her.

"I don't care about the sword. I just...I don't want to see anyone die. It wasn't your fault that things happened how they did today. Argo said that the <<Little Nepenthes>> do not have eyes like many other creatures. As such they can use sound, smell, and even feel vibrations in the ground to detect players. Basically they are impossible to use <<Hiding>> against. You couldn't have known." Her breath caught in her throat and her head snapped up in his direction.

"Then, it didn't matter what my skill was at? They would have detected me anyway?" The revelation should have made her feel better about the whole situation, but it just made her feel more at fault. They didn't fully understand the enemy and almost paid the price for it.

"Now we know, and we learned a valuable lesson. We're alive so tomorrow let's not repeat that lesson." Jayce looked up meeting her eyes.

"Tomorrow?"

"Would you still be willing to help me?" She stared back at him with a bit of disbelief written on her face.

"Ok." Relief flooded through her mind making her fall back onto the couch. The mental exhaustion from what had happened today finally caught up to her. Jayce didn't blame her for what happened. He didn't even seem to hold her marginally responsible. All the self-doubt and anxiety disappeared, replaced with fatigue. Her eyelids instantly became heavy now that her body had nothing to focus on, but the tiredness.

Everything in SAO was digitally recreated. Smells, sights, touch, and even hunger served no actual purpose aside from stimulating the senses. Sleep, was the exception. The human brain needed to shut down and the feeling of tiredness in the game was completely real. Falling asleep in the world of SAO allowed the brain to disconnect from the Nerve Gear and enter a period of rest that the human body required. Upon waking, the sensors in the Nerve Gear would reacquire connections and place you back in your avatar.

"Hey, talk to me would you?" Jemza asked, her blinks becoming slower.

"About what?"

"I don't care, just talk to me. Why'd you pick the skills you did?" She rolled onto her side forgetting that she wasn't in her own room and tried to focus on one of the candles on the wall. She heard Jayce move a bit from where he was.

"My favorite series of books had a character that I really enjoyed reading about. It was a high fantasy series with all sorts of races, magic, and adventures. The character wasn't even the main protagonist. More often than not he was actually the villain. He was an assassin who wielded a longsword and a dagger. He must have been popular because the author wrote some books solely on him and I found myself really enjoying what made him who he was. He was adept with poisons, a master of stealth, and one of the best swordsman in the land." Jemza took a deep breath smiling to herself.

"So, you wanted to play a similar character? He sounds pretty cool. I'm sure you've played other games, what was your favorite thing to do in them? Were you looking forward to the same thing here? Before everything happened I mean." Jemza finished speaking, her voice dropping to a whisper. Jayce stood from the bed, a blanket held in his hand. He walked over to where the girl now slept breathing heavily. He shook the blanket once spreading it out and let it fall over her body.

"Yeah, I played other MMOs and was very focused on one part of them." He looked down at her while she slept and took a breath before looking away guiltily. Jayce found himself looking out the window on one of the walls. It wasn't even night yet, but he could feel the unconscious pull that the bed was having on him. He looked back at Jemza one last time.

"I liked to kill other players."