9 Levelling up

Letting out a sigh after thinking all that they went back to the town to get some much-needed rest.

Few days later

somewhere in a nearby forest of beginners town

Letting out one final cry, Jae crouched as he lunged forward, his hatchet aimed for the weak point in the monster's armor. At the same time, he could hear Toyo's sword whistle through the air above him as he went for an overhead hack.

The monster, a level four goat-man mini-boss, desperately swung its spiked cudgel in an effort to ward off their combined attacks, but it was too late. Toyo lunged forward first, driving a food of his blade into the monster's chest. At the same moment, Jae buried his ax into the beast's fur-covered neck. He felt bone and muscle give way as bright-colored blood-splattered outward, while above its head, the goat-man's health bar dropped to zero.

Though both were eager to see what the mini-boss may have dropped, they instead ignored the on-death explosion of pixelated shards and took up defensive stances as they scanned the area for any more monsters. They had learned the hard way just that morning that random mob respawns would be one of their biggest threats if they weren't careful, and had quickly taken to constantly checking behind and around them as a precaution.

After confirming that the area was safe for the moment, they sheathed their weapons and Toyo opened his inventory. Though his heart was still hammering within his chest, Jae did his best to appear nonchalant as he turned away to open his own; he didn't want Toyo to see his trembling hands.

"I hit Level Five," Toyo said excitedly behind him. "I got a free HP boost for this one, must be a milestone bonus. I think I can afford to put my attribute points into Strength this time around. I need the damage, and neither of us went into the yellow the whole..."

Toyo's words seemed to fade away in the air as Jae stared at his shaking hands, forcing himself to concentrate on calming down.

The fight is over, he reminded himself. It's over, and we won. We're still here. We're still fine. No reason to be afraid. No reason-

"Jae?"

With a blink, Jae returned his attention to Toyo, who was now standing in front of him.

"What?"

"I asked if you think it's a good idea to put my new points in Strength for extra damage. We're tanking hits pretty decently now, and it's important that we stay well rounded."

Jae ran his fingers through his hair as he tried to forget his anxiety and focus on the question.

"Yeah, it makes sense to me but put some in Dexterity as well."

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Toyo hesitated. "Something on your mind?."

Jae sighed offhandedly and gestured at his open menu-the first thing he caught sight of that he could use to turn the conversation- inviting Israel to take a look.

"You got a spear," Toyo observed as he leaned in.

"Mhm. I was hoping for a sword." With a finger, Jae selected the weapon in order to give them both a closer look at its stats. "I have no idea what abilities spears have in this game."

Toyo squinted to read the weapon's description on Jae's inventory screen, and Jae took the moment of quiet to do the same. The shaft of the weapon was seven feet in length and made of strong ash wood. The blade itself was a foot in length and made of plain bronze. It was a Level Three weapon, easily dealing twice the damage the beginner swords had.

Toyo shrugged before raising an eyebrow at Jae. "At least you got a new weapon. Again. You just got that hatchet this morning, and now this. I still haven't gotten anything. With my luck, I may as well stop hoping for a drop and just go buy one in town."

Jae shook his head as he wiped his brow. "That wouldn't be worth it. We had to grind all day yesterday just to afford one health crystal for each of us. We've been doing a little better today, true, but after we pay for gear repairs and another night's rent at the church..."

He paused, going over the math once more before shaking his head in annoyance. "In any other RPG, it's easy to get rich and stock up on cash, but here everything is so expensive. And that's with the two of us sharing what we have! I can only imagine how hard it must be for all the players that are out there on their own."

Toyo nodded thoughtfully, pushing his long blonde hair out of his face.

"When we went back to the Town of Beginnings last night, a lot of players looked like they hadn't even gone outside yet. I think...I want to help them somehow...convince them that they need to start leveling up if they're going to have a chance."

"I'm sure they already know that," Jae assured him. "Kayaba made that much clear back in the plaza. People are afraid, that's all. They just haven't come to grips with things yet. Give it a few more days, and I believe the player base will start to see that they need to follow in the beta-testers' footsteps."

Toyo nodded but said nothing, his mind apparently on other thoughts. After a moment, he turned away and gazed out across the open Floor before them. From high above, the clouds shifted, allowing the now unobstructed sun to bask the hilltop in a warm afternoon glow.

Though it had been three days since the start of Sword Art Online and it's a world called Aincrad, Jae still couldn't help but be amazed at just how real that sun felt. At least, that was until he reminded himself that this was a death game and that he was trapped inside it with no means of escape.