Sword Art Online-Encroaching Shadows

Chapter 12

Watching the central plaza of the Town of Beginnings, Jayce was now aware that the news Argo had shared with him was spreading quickly. A large group of people milled about talking excitedly with one another staring expectantly at the large archway that made up the very center of the town. This archway was currently nothing more than stones assembled to form two tall legs that curved and met one another at their peak. Up until today it had served no real purpose.

According to Argo a party of players had begun battling the boss creature of this floor. High up in the labyrinth that made up the pillar supporting the second floor was where those players now fought. The meeting Jemza had mentioned two days ago had been a planning meeting to formulate a strategy on tackling the boss. Argo had sounded quite confident that they would succeed. Afterwards the players would activate the portal up on the second floor and it would link with the one here in the Town of Beginnings.

Jayce stayed in the shadow of a building further away from the portal watching with a mix of anticipation and excitement. A new floor meant a myriad of things. New equipment, crafting materials, quests, and various other things would be available to the player base. More than any of that, however, was that this was the first step in freeing themselves from this prison. That very thought gave Jayce a sense of appreciation and respect to the brave men and women who were either currently fighting for their lives against the boss or had already succeeded.

He leaned forward as a flash of light appeared in the center of the archway. It blinked once before expanding rapidly into a swirling vortex. Hundreds if not thousands of players cheered as they watched the portal come to life heralding the verification that the team of players had been successful. Argo had been right. Not that Jayce would ever question her as she tended to be reliable when it came to information. With 98 floors remaining to clear, the task remaining was monumental, but at last, a month after being trapped the first step had now been taken.

Players began to enter the portal transporting them to the next floor. A quick blur of brown caught his eye drawing his attention away from the excitement. The unmistakable form of Argo running for the portal was a curious sight until he also saw the pair of players chasing after her. Both were in black cloth with similar colored masks weaving through the crowd to try and catch up to her. What was more interesting was that they seemed to be gaining on her, which considering her assumed agility, left Jayce impressed.

What made Jayce leave the shadow of the building and start chasing after them wasn't because of curiosity, but because the way Argo ran was out of fear. The two masked players chasing her were clearly after her in a non-friendly fashion and she was desperately trying to evade them. He sprinted ahead pushing his way through the crowd of people ignoring the handful of insults for his trouble. Argo and the two players disappeared into the portal far ahead of where he continued to struggle to make progress.

It took nearly two full minutes to finally enter the archway. Jayce's vision blurred for a few moments as he was teleported from the Town of Beginnings up to the main town of the second floor. When things began to refocus themselves he looked around quickly hoping to catch a glimpse of either Argo or the two chasing her. With their speed and falling two full minutes behind they were long gone by now. His agility parameters were nowhere near the level necessary to keep up and he didn't have the <<Search>> skill to try and track Argo. For now he just had to hope that she wasn't in any real danger.

After moving away from the portal as more people continued to filter through, Jayce looked around at the town. A large central street carved through the town from North to South similar to the Town of Beginnings. The buildings lining the street were all roughly the same height following the same style as the Town of Beginnings. The entire town itself was situated within a crater carved into a flat topped mountain with the gates to the city formed into the perimeter of the crater.