Sword Art Online-Encroaching Shadows

Chapter 22

]"Enjoy your girl talk?" He tried to hide the sarcasm in his voice, but considering this was Argo he was thinking about it was still dripping with it.

"She said she'll be busy for a while so you'll need to find someone else to cry to when you need help." Jemza's retort was quick like her dagger and stabbed just as hard.

"I didn't cry to her. She embellishes the truth and twists it to suit her needs. You know this." By this point Jayce was arguing defensively which meant of course that he lost. Women were by far the most dangerous thing in this game, he was beginning to think.

"Shouldn't be much further. Wonder what she meant by my assets?" Jemza asked the last question quietly under her breath. She looked down at her body on instinct and shook her head. Argo refused to explain what she meant, but there's no way she would have sent Jemza on some strange quest that used her body right?

The two had walked west along the main road until Jemza guided them down a twisting alley. Side streets and alleyways weren't uncommon, but this one was unique. It turned and dipped in places that did not feel natural to a city. It wasn't long before Jayce rested his hand on the pommel of his sword as they walked. Within the city confines the <<System>> protected them, but the dank alley made him nervous. Whatever info Jemza had bought from Argo was beginning to feel dangerous.

"What the..." Jemza's voice trailed off as they rounded a corner and faced a large brick wall. Various buildings with doorways had trailed down either side of the alley as they walked, but this dead end was clearly not something the white haired girl had been anticipating.

"I'd ask if we took a wrong turn, but there really wasn't any turns to take aside from the main alley." Jayce turned looking back the way they came. Jemza ran her hands along the wall and sighed loudly.

"Exactly, this has to be it. Just doesn't make sense." She was upset that much was obvious. He doubted that Argo's information was wrong and she was most likely thinking the same thing. What was frustrating her now was the fact that she had missed something along the way.

"Ok, what did she tell you exactly. We can figure this out." Jayce walked next to her and placed his hand on the wall getting her attention.

"Not much. She just said to find this alley and follow it until it ends. An NPC would provide us with the quest. Actually...she did mention that specific triggers needed to be met before we could accept it." Jemza tapped her chin thinking back on her conversation with Argo. Jayce opened his inventory and removed the gloves from his hands before placing one back on the wall.

"I think you led us to the right spot. This dead end is way too...oddly placed I guess I'd call it. Why would there be a dead end like this at the end of such a long alleyway?" The question he asked was mostly rhetorical, but Jemza mimicked his motion removing her gloves before touching the wall.

"Because it's not a dead end." There was no upward inflection at the end meaning she wasn't asking, she knew.

"Yeah, I think that's the trick. The question now is how do we proceed?" The girl beside him opened her eyes wide like she had remembered something important. She tapped the air in front of her near where her skills were listed. Jayce couldn't see any of the interface she saw, but could tell based off how his own looked that she was doing something with her skills.

"Assets...now it all makes sense. Remind me to never underestimate that girl." Jemza crouched down and began running her hand along the ground where the wall met the pavement.

"What are you mumbling about down there?" He couldn't see whatever it was she was looking at let alone understand what she was referring to. He kneeled down beside her, but as far as he could tell the wall and pavement held nothing unique.