"Yuuji!"
Yuuji stopped before the massive stone door that led into the room where the teleporter gate was located, and turned towards the feminine voice calling out to him.
Following closely behind Asuna was Kirito. His face,an expression of gratitude and relief after what Yuuji had done to protect him and the beta testers from the members of the raid party.
"Asuna?"
"Why are you acting confused…? We're still in a party."
"Ah, that's right."
Yuuji looked to the upper left corner of his vision. There were still three player health bars there with their names beside them.
Yuuji smiled, and shifted his gaze back to the two of them.
"Let's disband the party."
"Eh?"
Yuuji could hear the surprise in her voice, even though he couldn't see her expression hidden under her dark red cloak.
Kirito also looked surprised, but his expression quickly turned into realization, then understanding.
"I'm not saying we won't party up again ever. Just for now."
Yuuji smiled and stepped closer in front of Asuna.
"I plan on running all around the second floor, exploring it, and taking all the quests I can as quickly as I can. I'll also be grinding like a mad man."
Asuna flinched. Not at his sudden closeness, his presence had long since bee a source of fort and safety for her. It was at his words
The few days she had spent with Yuuji had taught her how crazy the man before he was.
He was a maniac. A monster.
He would run around dangerous, unexplored areas as if they were his own courtyard. Challenge hordes of monsters far higher level than him alone. And do it until the moon was at its highest point in the sky.
It was the reason for his strength. But at the same time, it was something no normal human could endure…
The memories of her whole day grinding session with Yuuji made her hesitate.
Would she even be able to keep his pace?
No… It was impossible.
That day wasn't even his true farming pace. He was simply helping her level up.
She couldn't even imagine how crazy his true farming sessions would be…
"Fine…"
Finally, Asuna relented.
"But you can't be too reckless! Don't dive head first into danger! Don't die!"
Asuna warned him, emphasizing her point with her pointing finger.
And at the opposite side of her finger, Yuuji raised his hands in surrender and nodded.
"Alright, I promise you I won't be too reckless and die. I'll just be taking on some quest and get a feel of the floor for a bit. Then, we can party up again. Maybe… in a week's time?"
Asuna nodded in agreement.
"Alright."
Yuuji then turned towards Kirito, and smirked under his hood.
"How about you? You should maybe try to find more friends instead of hanging out with us."
"I-I have friends!"
Kirito rebutted, scowling at Yuuji's teasing.
"But… I think I'll need more time to grind alone. Let's meet up again later on."
Yuuji nodded, then turned around, making his way back to the teleporter gate.
"Alright then, see you guys later. I'll stay in touch."
He waved a hand and pushed open the massive stone double doors, entering it.
Yuuji activated the teleporter gate and closed his eyes, and light consumed his figure, transporting him to the second floor.
In an instant, he arrived.
Yuuji opened his eyes, and saw before him an expansive panorama that differed vastly from the first floor.
He stood upon a grassy field, and covering the vast expanse of the second floor were massive, flat-topped mountains. Numerous. Looming over plains.
Hot winds blew through him, like a gust of hot wind in a summer heat.
It was a savannah covered in plains and boulders and rocky mountains.
Yuuji took in the view for a moment, then he spoke to Ai.
"Ai, please pile all the available quests in this floor and sort them based on their rewards."
"Yes, master~!"
Ai responded energetically in his mind.
Then, as she processed his request, Yuuji opened his friends list and messaged one of them.
[Yuuji: Argo. I'm on the second floor. Can you give me all the information you have on the second floor? In exchange, I'll verify them and give you extra information I find later on.]
[Argo: "What?! You're already on the second floor?! Wait up, I'll go there as quickly as I can!"]
[Yuuji: "Sure. Don't die on the way here."]
[Argo: "Heh, don't worry! I'm sneaky."]
Yuuji smiled at her message.
"Master, I'm done! Also, here is the direction to the NPC that gives quite the decent reward!"
"Thank you Ai. Then, let's go!"
Yuuji burst into speed, following Ai's direction, as he simultaneously increased the proficiency of his [Sprint] skill.
--------------------------------X--------------------------------
The city of Urbus, spanning about 300 meters in diameter, appeared to be excavated from a flat-topped mountain, resting in a crater. The city gates and walls rested on the outer rim of the crater, visible from the 2nd Floor Teleport Gate located in an elevated Town Square.
It was the largest and main settlement within the 2nd floor, where most NPCs lived.
Yuuji spent the better part of the day pleting as many quests as he could from NPCs in the city.
He would plete the most rewarding quests first, according to the information he received from Ai and Argo. And while on his way, he would defeat any monsters he encountered along the way.
[Argo: "Oh right! By the way, there's also a special quest that will give you an extra skill!"]
[Yuuji: "Oh really? How can I start it?"]
[Argo: "The quest is actually very hard… To even start it, you have to go to the top of the tallest mountain. It's really far away, and there are a lot of monsters on the way, so I don't remend you to go there this early on."]
[Argo: "After that, you'll have to do this ridiculously hard quest of breaking a rock that, I swear, is unbreakable!"]
[Yuuji: "...Is it really unbreakable? If it is, then that quest is just a scam, right?"]
[Argo: "Well… I don't know. I've never done it, but I'm sure there's a trick to it. Anyway, it'll give you the "Martial Arts" extra skill. I heard it's pretty powerful."]
[Yuuji: "Martial Arts? That's interesting."]
Having 100 proficiency in Krav Maga and learned plenty of other martial arts and fighting style, Yuuji cared less of the fighting capabilities the Martial Arts skill would grant him and more about the style of Martial Arts it would "teach" the players and if it granted something more than just unarmed fighting capabilities.
"Ai, do you know what kind of skill is this Martial Arts?"
Yuuji asked as he began making his way to the next area to find the next group of Windwasps to plete one of his quests, flying creatures with low attack and hit points but annoying to fight. At least, for most.
To Yuuji, they're a delicious source of experient points while also dropping the item "Needle of Windwasp", which was an enhancement item.
They were perfect fodders for him to level up as quickly as he could.
"Yes, master! It's a skill that grants you unarmed fighting skills. And according to the information I found in the database, it can also be bined with your One-Handed Sword Skill to create what's called a "posite Skill". They seemed quite powerful.
Ai responded in his mind directly, bypassing the regular method of systems municating with players.
"Really? That's really interesting…"
Yuuji was intrigued. Although it wouldn't grant him additional benefits in terms of unarmed fighting capabilities given his current proficiency, gaining new skills was always weled.
[Yuuji: "Thanks for the info. I'll check it out later."]
[Argo: "No problem! Don't die! See ya'!"]
[Yuuji: "You too."]
Although he was interested in the Martial Arts extra skill, without the skill slot to equip it, it would just sit there uselessly in his skill list.
It'd be better for him to grind his way up to level 20 first and gain another skill slot before doing that quest.
Moreover, it's quite far… Even though his Sprint skill was quite highly leveled, it'd still take a long time to get there.
He'd rather spend his time clearing out the quests in Urbus first, exploring the maps and monsters, and level up as quickly as he could first.
Yuuji continued to farm monsters, killing every single thing in his path while pleting his quest.
And as night fell, he returned back to the city of Urbus.
This time, he chose a different path than what he used during the morning, mapping out paths between the tall mountains and plains. And while exploring the hidden paths, Yuuji also cleared any monsters he encountered.
By the time he arrived in the orange-hued, lantern-lit city at the center of a crater, night had fully fallen.
The populous city, where many NPCs roamed the streets, had now fallen into its nightly silence with only a few shop owners and food vendors left.
Yuuji also found only a few players still roaming around in the newly opened second floor city.
It was difficult to identify their allegiance, but there were some players in groups. Perhaps a party who had chosen to quickly make their way to the second floor. Or perhaps they were scouts sent by their guilds to gather information before the main bulk of their organizations moved in.
Either way, there were still extremely few players still roaming around the city this late into the night. Something Yuuji knew would soon be a fact of the past.
Enjoying the rare moment of peacefulness after the day's worth of action of defeating the first floor boss and massacring monsters in the wilderness of the second floor, Yuuji took his time visiting the NPCs to plete his quests.
Then, he visited a shop to sell off his excess item drops, before making his way to an inn to have dinner and retire for the night.
As he entered his room and changed to a casual wear of a t-shirt and short pants, a message notification appeared.
[Asuna: "Hi. Are you still alive?"]
[Yuuji: "Hey. I am. How about you?"]
[Asuna: "Of course, I am! I'm talking to you right now!"]
[Yuuji: "Hahaha, glad you're doing fine."]
Yuuji smiled softly as he plopped down onto his single sized bed.
It was a modest room, cozy, with a bed-side night stand cupboard, a small wooden desk, and a softly glowing oil lantern lighting up the room in orange-red hue.
[Asuna: "What have you been doing?"]
[Yuuji: "Just clearing out some quests and mapping out some areas of the second floor. There were quite a lot of unique monsters here. Though, I haven't gone to the labyrinth yet. It's quite far."]
[Asuna: "The labyrinth?! Don't be so reckless! It's too dangerous to dive there this early! At least gain a few levels first before going there!"]
[Yuuji: "I know. There's still a lot of things to do here, so I won't be going to the labyrinth yet."]
[Yuuji: "How about you?"]
[Asuna: "I've also been taking on a few quests in Urbus and exploring the area just outside the city."]
[Asuna: "Given that we never met, you must've been going even further…"]
[Yuuji: "Well…"]
[Asuna: "Hah… Just don't get yourself killed."]
[Yuuji: "Yes, ma'am!"]
[Asuna: "Alright. I'll be going to bed now. Good night."]
[Yuuji: "Good night. Stay safe."]
[Asuna: "You too."]
Yuuji's gaze softened as he looked at his messages with Asuna, then closed his eyes, letting Ai take over as he woke up from his dive and return to the real world to spend time with the four girls and Semiramis.
On the other side, Asuna similarly stared at her messages with Yuuji.
Her heart beat more rapidly than it should be while she laid on her bed, ready for sleep.
She didn't know why she'd spontaneously message him. Before she knew it, her message was already sent.
And although she regretted it immediately, she forgot about her regrets just as quickly after Yuuji responded.
Before long, she found herself smiling as they chatted. And a warm, fuzzy sensation enveloped her heart.
Even after saying good night to Yuuji, the feelings never left. And sleep hardly found her until late into the night.
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AN: I hope you guys enjoy this chapter~! Please ment your thoughts~! I would love to hear what you think about it~!!!!
Also, if you'd like to read additional chapters ahead and get a pdf version (Light & Dark), please feel free to check out my at ~!
Thank you~!
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