31 chapter 31

Still, that left his base health far below Jae's. That was why, two weeks ago, when Jae began to question his health dropping into yellow faster, Toyo snuck back to the Town of Beginnings in order to contact Malachi. The info broker had been discreet, but had charged a fortune that Toyo had yet to pay. Two thousand Col to be paid in one month's time, in exchange for The Amulet of Aeris; a necklace that boosted the wearer's max HP by 15%.

Thanks to the amulet, Toyo's health had managed to keep up with Jae's, but Toyo was beginning to wonder at what cost. All this secrecy, just to cover up early game attribute distribution. But it had to happen. If Jae knew that Toyo was neglecting his health, his means of survival, he would lose his mind. There would be no end to the arguments. No, Jae couldn't know.

And Toyo had to continue.

He needed to be able to kill.

The faster he could kill, the more innocent people he could save. He knew Jae wanted to help the other players too, but Toyo knew his brother. Jae's first priority was Toyo. To him, the other players came after.

Forcing himself from his thoughts, Toyo quickly confirmed the attribute distribution. In SAO, there was no such thing as a respec. Once you applied your points, there was no changing your mind.

Switching to his Skill screen, Toyo sighed. Upon hitting level 6, players unlocked a second skill slot. From Searching to Fishing, there was an almost unlimited number of Skills players could choose from. Jae had selected Detection that day, albeit after several hours of thinking it over. In RPG's, monsters would only become aggressive once a players came within a certain distance of them, but that rule did not apply for all scenarios.

In previous MMO's, both Toyo and Jae remembered dealing with certain mobs that were designed for secrecy and stealth, and whose aggressive reaction radius were far greater than others. The purpose of such creatures was to add a level of unpredictability and excitement to the game. It was foolish to hope that SAO wouldn't have similar monsters. On top of this was the problem of respawning mobs. Hundreds of player deaths during the Massacre of Floor 1 were attributed to monsters who had been killed not long prior by other players, and therefore absent when new players entered the area, respawning near or behind the unsuspecting new players.

Taking these thoughts into account, Toyo and Jae both agreed that it would be wise for one of them to have the Detection skill. The moment he selected the skill, Jae had noticed slightly sharper hearing and a higher examination capability when looking at monster levels.

It was undoubtedly a skill that could mean the difference between life and death, but Toyo had felt like it just didn't suit him. Now, days later, he still felt the same way, though he couldn't quite put his finger on why. He could sense that his first secondary skill would be of particular importance, and he wanted it to support his combat skill, rather than function on it's own. Or maybe I'm just overthinking this again. He sighed. It's funny how in real life, Jae's the hesitant one., but whenever it comes to fucking RPG's, I take forever just deciding what kind of eye color my characters get.

Shaking his head in frustration, Toyo swiped his status screens away. Standing up, he took a moment to stretch before walking over to the bed. Contemplating whether or not he should deactivate the light over the bed, he sighed when he remembered that it would simply turn on again whenever Jae got back.

It's dim enough in here, I just need some sleep.

Allowing himself to fall forward onto the bed, the soft pillow enveloping his face as he closed his eyes, the door outside suddenly opened, closely followed by Jae's voice.

\"Is, get up-\"

\"Get the hell out of here with that shit,\" Toyo interrupted, his voice partially muffled by the pillow, \"I'm not moving. So, do we have any money left or are we broke again for the hundredth time this week?\"

\"That's awfully cynical,\" came a familiar female voice.