Chapter 5 - Resolve

The sun shining through the window woke up Drifter. He fumbled around with his menu for a while, before managing to open it, and immediately groaned. Why did SAO have to be that accurate? It was just half past six in the morning.

Fighting the urge to fall asleep again, Drifter got up and stretched. Shaking his head, he walked downstairs and had a quick breakfast, before leaving the inn.

He walked slowly through the Town of Beginnings, checking out what the NPCs were selling, visiting the blacksmith to make sure his weapon and armor were at max durability, and stocking up on potions. Eventually, he realized he was just wasting time because he was scared.

Leaving the city to grind yesterday was one thing. He could come back at any moment, and hide in his room, never leaving until someone cleared the game, or his real body gave out. But once he set foot on the path to the other cities on the 1st floor, and the labyrinth beyond it, there would be no turning back. Figuratively, that is. He could always return here whenever he wanted, but it would just be lying to himself.

"Havin' second thoughts, Dri-bou?"

To his credit, Drifter jumped only a few feet in the air when he heard the cheeky whisper right next to his ear. Then, immediately after, he turned to glare at the info broker, who was doubling over laughing.

"Argo! That scared the crap outta me!"

"Shishishishi!"

"Don't give me that wheezing laugh! It isn't funny!"

"It is a little bit yeah, Dri-bou. Shishishi!"

Throwing his hands up in defeat, Drifter stared at Argo until she stopped giggling. He felt like pulling out her fake whiskers to teach her a lesson, but had the distinct feeling he would regret it a lot if he did so.

"Aight, I'm done, Dri-bou."

"What's up with the way you call me? Can't you just call me Drifter? Like, you know, a normal person?"

"But then it doesn't seem like we are close!"

"'Cause we aren't."

"Aww! Ya gonna break my heart if ya talk like that, Dri-bou!"

Drifter opened and closed his mouth a few times before deciding the path of least opposition was the best path in this situation.

"You know what, I can't be bothered. And yes, I am having second thoughts, Argo. But I think I'm over them already."

Drifter expected a snarky remark from the info broker. She seemed to be good at those. But when he didn't hear from her in the next few seconds, he looked down, curious. Argo was staring at him, any sign of her previous mischievous attitude gone. It was unnerving.

"W-What is it?"

"If you don't want to do it, then don't, Drifter. Consider as if our deal never happened. I don't want your death in my consciousness."

Those chocolate brown eyes of hers showed that Argo was being completely serious. They held a hint of concern he wasn't used to seeing. She was really worried for him. That warmed Drifter's heart. It also broke it when he gave a good look at her face, and realized Argo was young. Maybe fifteen.

Before he could stop himself, Drifter had reached for her head. Pushing her hood back, he slowly caressed her curly locks. Like a scared animal, Argo seemed almost ready to jump back, but stopped. After a few tense seconds, she allowed him to continue, and even got closer to him.

"I'm afraid, Argo. Afraid I will die. Also, afraid others will die in front of me, or worse, because of me, and that I won't be able to do anything to stop it. And you are the same, aren't you?"

The info broker was facing the ground, but Drifter heard something that sounded suspiciously like a sniffle before she nodded. Drifter smiled fondly, and, as he would do to a little sister, pulled Argo into a one-armed hug, his other hand still ruffling her hair.

"I don't know why you are doing what you are, Argo, but I know you want to help others. To help everyone escape. That's why you are working so hard when pretty much everyone else is hiding. And I... I also want to help. Help the other players, and help you. Can't be having a little girl like you do all the hard work, can I?"

"Humph! I'm tougher than you..."

"Haha... That you are."

Drifter laughed, his first real laughter since their imprisonment started. When Argo pushed him away, and definitely did not secretly wipe her eyes, he figured he had at least two reasons to beat SAO. To survive, and to make sure Argo survived.

"I will be seeing you around, little rat. Save your cor, because I will bring you the hottest pieces of information on this side of Aincrad."

"Ya better, Dri-bou! Otherwise I will fire your arse!"

"Hahahaha!"

When he stepped out of the gate and out of the safe zone, Drifter thought he heard Argo tell him to take care, but when he turned to look, the info broker was nowhere to be seen. He turned his gaze to the pillar in the distance. A smile tugged at his lips.

"This world doesn't seem so bad anymore."

Decidedly more determined and resolute, Drifter started walking with purpose. As soon as the first << Dire Wolf >> spawned, he slipped his spear off his back, and held it with both hands. The entire weapon glowed red as he got into the right stance to activate << Rage Spike >>. He lunged forward, covering the few meters between him and the mob in an instant, and brought his weapon up in a violent vertical strike, which sent the wolf up in the air, a red gash appearing on it's body. Before it could land, Drifter had already stabbed it once again, resulting in a cloud of polygons.

The second and third << Dire Wolves >> were greeted by a << Horizontal >> no sooner than they appeared, and dispatched with the same cold efficiency as the first one. Drifter put away his spear with a flourish.

"Tolbana, here I come."

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"Huff... Huff..."

Somewhere on the 1st floor, but also not quite there, another battle was unfolding. A young man with black hair, wearing blue clothes and a chest plate, was holding a one-handed sword, facing off against a group of monsters. If Drifter was there, he would recognize the mobs as the << Ruin Kobolds >> he read about in Argo's guide.

Dodging a pike, the swordsman closed in on one of the mobs, his weapon glowing blue, and hit it with a four-strikes combo, killing the kobold. Then, the black-haired youth seamlessly connected another skill, followed by two normal strikes, and eliminated the remaining mob. Throughout the entire fight, his health never dropped below green.

Sitting with his back against a wall, the player stopped to rest for a while. Soloing entire patrols of << Ruin Kobolds >> wasn't something easy, not even for him. As he pulled a piece of bread and some sauce from his inventory, he realized he had a new message. Whilst in combat, you wouldn't be notified of messages. Even Kayaba seemed to think that that would be an idiotic way to die.

"Argo?"

He knew only two people in the game, and maintained contact with just one of them, so the swordsman couldn't help but wonder what piece of information the info broker wanted to sell him. Much to his surprise, that wasn't what was happening.

[ Argo: Got an interestin' guy here, Kii-bou. Goes by Drifter, uses a spear. Keep an eye out for him, I get tha feeling' ya are gonna like each other. ]

Argo must have used the speech-to-text function of the message system, because it was so hard to read he could almost hear her voice. Also, Argo the Rat, as she was known during the beta, giving information without asking for payment? Aincrad must be floating upside-down. Besides, the way she worded it, it sounded an awful lot like she was asking a favor. Which just couldn't be true. Argo didn't owe others. Right?

Shaking his head, the swordsman got up. That was something to think about later, in the safety of his room in the inn. Argo asked him to keep an eye out for this Drifter, and keep an eye he shall. Readying his sword, he made his way deeper into the labyrinth. SAO wasn't going to beat itself.

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Tolbana was a surprise. Drifter wasn't sure what he had been expecting when he set off for the second largest city on the 1st floor, but it definitely wasn't for it to be bustling with player activity.

The city had that dusty, old vibe going for it, but that was ruined by how many people were walking around. In the short few minutes since he arrived, he had seen at least several dozen players, more than he met in the entirety of the Town of Beginnings yesterday.

Sure, the people here weren't smiling and laughing either, but they definitely felt more alive. He supposed it made sense. Anyone who reached Tolbana so soon after the game started couldn't be a mediocre player. From the Town of Beginnings to here, you had to cross many different maps, several of which could prove to be deadly to anyone unprepared. Also, Tolbana was just half an hour away from the entrance of the 1st floors labyrinth. Drifter guessed most of the people here were aiming to clear the game, and that was why they felt so different from what he had become used to. They had yet to give in to despair, or, if they did, they hid it well. They had a sense of purpose.

"Howdy, friend! Don't suppose you would be interested in an upgrade?"

Drifter stopped to look at the tower of a man who called him. Standing at, the very least, two meters tall, the player was bald, and had a huge grin on his face. And, if his height wasn't enough of an oddity in Japan, he was also black. His Japanese was fluent, but still carried a bit of an accent, so Drifter inferred he wasn't originally from the country.

All that went through Drifter's mind in a flash, thanks to all the job interviews he has to take. It paid off to observe your possible employer. A slightly better answer than the next person could be the difference between being hired or not. He felt like he should behave much the same with the giant in front of him.

"Thanks, but I'm good."

Politely declining, Drifter stepped around the big man. The player also didn't make his life difficult, just nodding.

"No probs. I'm Agil, a merchant in the works. If you ever need anything, come to me and I will try to find it for you. By the way, just a piece of advice: if you are planning on taking on the labyrinth, it would do you good to do an overhaul of your gear. The mobs in there are a lot tougher than the ones outside. Speaking from experience here."

"I will keep that in mind. See you around."

Agil waved at Drifter before returning to the shadow where he had been rested. He appeared to have set up a small shop over there, with some weapons and materials on display. It seemed the hopeful merchant was keeping an eye on Tolbana's entrance for any new players like Drifter.

Making a mental note to come back here some other time, if for no reason other than to show some support as thanks for the well-intentioned warning, Drifter continued strolling through the city. He saw a player blacksmith, someone else buying drops and enhancement materials, one girl trying to sell what seemed like meat skewers, and even someone playing a flute. Drifter couldn't help but marvel at humankind's adaptability. Three days stuck in a death game, and they had not only accepted it, but were forming a society.

After repairing his spear at the NPC blacksmith - he didn't quite trust beginning players to repair his only weapon - Drifter went to that player who was buying monster drops, and sold his. Finally, he bought two skewers - he didn't even want to know what they were made of - and sat at the central plaza of Tolbana, listening to the musician player. The girl was too good for that to be a skill. She probably played the flute in real life, and quite well at that.

Munching on a surprisingly good meat skewer while listening to music with his eyes closed, feeling the breeze on his face, Drifter relaxed. Moving on from the Town of Beginnings had been the right decision.

When the musician ended her piece, Drifter applauded lightly, even if others looked at him weirdly. Anyone who came to what could effectively be considered the frontlines of SAO, only to play music and lift others' spirits, deserved at least that much.

"Thank you very much!"

The applause seemed to be unexpected even for the one receiving it, because the girl was startled before showing a beautiful smile, and bowing. She walked in his direction to thank her audience.

The flutist had milky-tea brown hair, and a pretty doll-like face. Two dimples appeared on her face when she smiled. That, coupled with her simple sky-blue dress and white mantle, gave her a very innocent vibe, and Drifter couldn't help but smile too.

"You deserve it. What song was that? It was very nice to listen to."

"Ah, I composed it myself. It doesn't have a name yet."

Drifter raised an eyebrow. So the girl wasn't just talented. She was very talented.

"Well, when you find the right title, I would very much like to hear it again."

"Thank you!"

"Hey, Yuna! Come on, let's get lunch!"

From the other side of the plaza, someone yelled for the girl. Yuna, a fitting name. Drifter smiled and gestured with his head towards the boy who was calling for her.

"It was a pleasure to listen to you play, Yuna."

The girl smiled, and nodded another wordless thanks. She had taken a few steps towards her companion when she glanced back, and saw Drifter had resumed staring at the sky. Biting her bottom lip, she ran back.

"You know, I plan on playing more at the restaurant later, after lunch. You are more than welcome to join us."

"I wouldn't want to impose."

"You wouldn't! Err... To be honest, you are the first person who stopped to listen to my songs. I feel like I will regret it in the future if I don't treat my first fan to a meal."

Switching his gaze between Yuna's face and her outstretched hand, Drifter pondered for all of two seconds. Then he grabbed the offered hand, and pulled himself up.

"Sure, why not?"