Sword Art Online Aincrad - VOL 2

CHAPTER 2

"I'm sorry," the swordsman in black said again. Silica desperately blinked back tears and shook her head.

"...No...It's my fault...I was stupid. Thank you...for saving me..."

She had to squeeze out the words between stifled sobs. The man slowly approached, knelt before Silica, and spoke hesitantly.

"About that feather...Does it have a designated item name?"

Silica raised her head, confused by this unexpected question. She rubbed the tears away and looked at the pale blue feather again, concentrating hard.

Now that she thought about it, it seemed strange that just one feather was left behind. When things died in SAO, whether monsters or players, they disappeared entirely, from equipment to items. Silica extended a trembling hand, then tapped the feather with her pointer finger, like clicking a mouse. A translucent window appeared, listing the weight and name of the item.

PINA'S HEART.

Just before Silica could burst into tears again, the man hurriedly butted in.

"W-wait, wait. If her heart item is left behind, there's a possibility you can revive her."

"Huh?"

Silica snapped to attention. She looked up into his face, mouth half open.

"It's not common knowledge, since it was only just recently discovered. On the south end of the forty-seventh floor, there's an outdoor dungeon called the Hill of Memories. It's actually pretty difficult for a pleasant name like that, though...Anyway, there's a flower that grows on the top of the hill, and it's supposed to resurrect famil—"

"R-really?!" Silica shrieked, hopping to her feet before he could finish. A light of hope was shining on her heart once again, which moments ago had been plunged into mourning. But...

"...The forty-seventh floor..."

Her shoulders slumped. That was twelve floors above, well out of her safe range. Just as she looked back to the ground dejectedly, the man murmured and put a hand to his head.

"Hmm...For travel cost and a bit extra, I could go get it for you. The problem is, I hear the flower won't bloom unless the beast-tamer who's lost her familiar goes there herself..."

Silica smiled at the surprising kindness of his words.

"It's okay. I'm grateful for the information. As long as I work hard and level up, I'm sure someday..."

"It's not that easy. You only get three days after the familiar has died to bring it back. Once you reach that point, the item name goes from Heart to Memento..."

"What? No!" Silica shouted.

Her current level was 44. If SAO was a typical RPG, it would be balanced so that the floor number corresponded with the player level best suited for it. But given the permanent consequences for dying, you wanted to be a good ten levels above your current floor.

Which meant that if she was going to the forty-seventh floor, she'd need to be level 55 at the lowest. But it was simply impossible to gain more than ten levels in three days—two, if she was giving herself enough time to actually get to the hill with the flower. Silica was very diligent in her adventuring, and it had taken her an entire year to reach her current state.

Silica slumped to the ground in despair once again. She picked up Pina's feather and with both hands, she cradled it to her chest. She rued her stupidity and helplessness, and the tears came again.

Somewhere above, she heard the man rising to his feet. She wanted to thank him again before he left but didn't have the willpower to open her mouth.