Chapter 85 - Lyusula

Two days had passed since the SAO players reached the 9th floor. To most, this floor wasn't any different than others. Just another step of the way. But to Reaver's Requiem, it was a floor they had been looking for and waiting with anticipation.

Now, the twelve members of Reaver's Requiem were standing on Lyusula, capital of the kingdom with the same name. It was the second of three cities on the 9th floor, and it was even bigger than Allenz, the town where players first appeared on this floor.

The city actually looked somewhat deserted, since only players who had chosen the dark elf side of the Elf War campaign could enter Lyusula. The same went for the forest elves' capital.

That wasn't to say Lyusula was empty, however. While most of the clearers and frontliners had given up on the campaign to allow Reaver's Requiem free reign, there were plenty of lower-level players who were still completing it. The experience was good, and it was a lot more interesting than killing the same mobs day after day.

But even to the players on the dark elf faction who had come to tour the elven city, there was one portion of Lyusula that was off-limits: the royal palace.

Or that would normally be the case. But today, Lyusula's royal palace had opened its doors to welcome Reaver's Requiem with the highest honors.

"Woah..."

Guided by Kizmel, who beamed proudly at their naked admiration, the players crossed the gigantic double doors of the palace. The entire building was made of some kind of white wood, which at first seemed like a very strange choice of material considering they were dark elves. But, when they entered the palace, they realized that there was something special about the wood.

"Kizmel, what material is this?"

Ran waved her hand in front of a torch, casting a shadow on the wall. The wood turned black... And stayed that color even after Ran lowered her hand and the shadow was gone. It was only after a few seconds that the section of the wall started losing color, first into a light gray, then finally back to white.

"Hehe... Impressive, no? The entire palace is made out of DayNight Trees. This type of tree changes color according to the light. So, it's white during the day, and black at night. I'll show it to you later. It looks beautiful at night, just like a starry sky."

"Then thanks in advance, Kizmel."

Like that, the Reavers walked through the palace's corridors, exclaiming and whoa-ing at everything like tourists, which Kizmel seemed to find incredibly entertaining.

She got serious when they arrived outside of the throne room, however. While Drifter and the others were more curious than anything, Kizmel took her job as a knight very seriously. To her, the queen was the most sacred and important being on Aincrad.

And she did look sacred. Sitting on her throne, the elven queen was a beauty who had Drifter staring for a few seconds before Yuna coughed and elbowed him on the side.

Dark skin, like all of her kind, contrasted with the white armor she wore. Yes, armor. Not a dress, but armor, and a battered one on top of that. It was polished and shining, but there was no mistaking the gashes across it. That armor had seen battle, and so had its owner.

Then you looked up at her face, and that was when the sacred aspect really hit. The queen's purple-ish long hair was braided, and upon her head sat a crown of pitch-black flowers. The contrast was breathtaking.

"My Queen, I present to you Reaver's Requiem. They are some of the strongest of the humans that recently appeared in Aincrad, and honorable warriors."

Two steps ahead of them, Kizmel greeted the queen and introduced them. She didn't kneel, but gave the same three-fingered salute, although she did bend her upper body. As they had agreed beforehand, Drifter and the others mimicked her. It didn't make any difference since the queen was just an NPC, but it mattered for Kizmel, so they did it.

"Greetings, humankind. I am Queen Melena. We are grateful for your assistance in recovering the Secret Keys and uncovering the plot of the fallen elves."

Just as they thought, the queen gave them a perfunctory greeting, and her voice, while regal, wasn't any different than that of other NPCs.

'I thought she might be special like Kizmel, but I guess not.'

Listening with one ear to the queen's following speech about how the dark and forest elves had to unite, and that she would be sending a delegation to the forest elf kingdom - with the Reavers as escort, of course - Drifter stole a glance at Kizmel. He always wondered why she, of all NPCs, was so different. So alive. He still didn't have an answer, but his best guess was that it had something to do with them breaking the plot way back on the 3rd floor.

Thankfully, the system didn't make them sit through a painfully long ceremony for nothing. After Melena's speech came to an end, she gestured for three servants to step forward. Each of them was carrying a delicate cushion, upon which sat three items.

"I now bestow upon you three tokens of our gratefulness, brave human warriors. I hope you will continue to aid Lyusula in our battle against the despicable fallen elves."

Drifter raised an eyebrow in surprise and looked to Kirito, but the swordsman shrugged. So this wasn't in the beta.

The first item was a lyre, and Yuna's eyes sparkled when she saw it. The second item was an ingot of some kind, and Drifter didn't even get to read its name, that was how fast Liz snatched it. As for the third and final reward, it was a blue crystal, rectangular, and as big as a person's head. Drifter had no idea what it was, but when Kirito, as the guild leader, received it from the dark elf, his eyes widened in shock and recognition. He mouthed the word 'later' to his guildmates when they gave him curious looks, but the black-haired boy was almost hopping on the spot in excitement. Whatever the crystal was, it had to be good.

Drifter and the Reavers anxiously waited for the moment they left the palace. The grand doors had barely closed when they crowded around Kirito. Yuna's new instrument, which buffed her songs, and Liz's rare smelting material were interesting, but what really caught their attention was the crystal that made even the beta-tester, Kirito, reveal such a shocked expression.

"What's that crystal?"

"Hurry up, Kirito, take it out!"

"Yeah, what is it?"

Under their urging, Kirito took out the item. Like Drifter had noticed before, it was a huge rectangular crystal. And, now that he got a closer look, the crystal was embedded in an ornate silver base. Kirito raised it so everyone could see.

"Remember how I said that, starting on the 10th floor, the NPCs sell a new type of item?"

"Yeah. Healing Crystals and Teleport Crystals, right?"

"And other types too, like Curing Crystals which nullify debuffs, and also Message Recording Crystals, which are self-explanatory. But even though those items are for sale, they are super expensive. I spent all my cor on upgrading my sword during the beta, so I didn't have enough to buy one. Besides, another important thing is that all crystals are one-time-use items, and only applicable to one player. You can't teleport two people with a Teleport Crystal."

Like well-behaved children, the Reavers all nodded to Kirito's lecture. Kirito might not have had money to buy crystals in the beta, but as a guild now, they had the funds to do so. If Drifter was honest, he would like everyone to have at least one of each type of crystal, with the exception of the message recording one. It would be another safety net if things ever went sideways.

"Enough suspense, Kirito. What type of crystal is this one? Teleporting, healing, curing? It's kinda big, no?"

The swordsman chuckled, throwing the item up and down with a rarely-seen smug look on his face.

"Neither, Asuna. This is a Corridor Crystal."

"Corridor Crystal?"

"Yup. If the other crystals were expensive, then this one was simply unattainable back then. I'm talking tens of thousands of cor. The only reason it was even displayed in the shops was probably to give players something to look forward to."

"That's nice and all, but what the hell does it do?"

"Heh. Unlike the other types, a Corridor Crystal isn't restricted to one player. Like the name says, you link it to the coordinates of someplace you have been to before, and it opens a corridor. The corridor lasts two minutes, and there's no limit to how many people can go through. It's still a one-time use, though."

"So, if we find the boss room, for example, we can use it to get the entire Assault Team there without having to walk through the entire labyrinth again?"

Enlightened, Kirito's audience exclaimed. It really was an extremely useful item. But Drifter could think of one even better use for it.

"Or, if we get into a tight spot, we can use it to get everyone out safely."

His words were a splash of cold water over their enthusiasm, and Drifter almost felt bad for it. But everyone agreed, rather than using the Corridor Crystal for a small convenience like avoiding having to walk, it was better to keep it for a truly desperate moment. Hopefully, they won't have to use it until they are high enough that this type of crystal became affordable.

-----------------------

That night, all twelve members of Reaver's Requiem were sitting across three tables in the common room of their inn. It was late, but they were waiting for a dark elf - most likely Kizmel - to barge in, telling them that fallen elves had stolen the four Secret Keys the dark elves possessed, and that they needed to recover them. That was the script Kirito had shared with them, and the quest which started the final leg of the Elf War campaign.

Currently, Drifter was sharing a table with Merida, Ran, and Vallerk. He had called those three over on purpose, because they were the ones in the guild who he interacted the least with. They were all naturally quiet, but he felt that, as one of Reaver's Requiem's vice-guild leaders, knowing so little about them was a failure on his part. Vallerk, as a newly added member, could still be excused, but Merida and Ran had been with them for over a month now.

What to talk about, now? It wasn't like Drifter had planned this. He had just seen the two girls sitting together, and grabbed Vallerk to sit with them.

"Now that I think about it, how did you and Silica meet, Vallerk?"

Merida opened the conversation while tinkering with a piece of low-level leather armor. To raise her Tailoring proficiency, she was always playing around with stuff like leather breastplates, gloves, and capes.

"Err... It was normal, I think? She's a dagger-user, so she needed someone to support her, and I use a shield but had no means of effectively dealing damage. We tried partying and it worked."

"I see. Why the shield, though? It would be one thing if you already were the tank for a party, but you just said you were alone..."

Drifter trailed off when he saw a dark look cross Vallerk's face. Right. There was no reason for a pure tank like the younger player to be on his own... Unless he was in a party before and something happened to them.

"Sorry, Vallerk. I spoke without thinking."

"Ah, don't be! It's not what you are imagining. Not exactly, at least."

"Huh?"

The tank quickly waved his hands to erase the misunderstanding, blushing slightly.

"My old party, they are still alive. But after the first day... Hah... They are part of the group who holed up in their rooms and refuse to leave. They don't even respond to my messages, so I stopped trying."

"I see..."

Drifter repeated. So that was why. Well, it certainly was better than them being dead, but Drifter could understand Vallerk's mood. He probably felt betrayed. It was likely that they were friends in real life, and yet they refused to even talk to Vallerk now, either out of fear or shame. It couldn't feel good, but the green-eyed player smiled weakly.

"They are still on my friend list, and I went to the monument, so I know they are still alive."

Vallerk shrugged. It hurt, it really did. But it wasn't the end of the world. In Silica, he had found another friend to care for. And his guildmates were quickly worming their way into his heart. Facing death together had a way of doing that.

"Each player has to make and live with their choices. I believe yours is the right one, Vallerk."

Ran, who had kept quiet until now, spoke. Drifter and Merida looked at each other - this conversation was not going according to plan. But before the spearman could find a new, lighter topic to dispel the somber mood, Kizmel entered the inn, puffing. The first person she locked eyes with was Drifter, who happened to be sitting closer to the door.

"Drifter! The fallen elves have stolen our Sacred Keys! And the king of the forest elves just informed us that theirs also disappeared! The fallen elves have all seven, and they are going towards the Sacred Tree! Their leader, Aater, is going to wake up the evil god!"

For the first time ever, the Reavers saw Kizmel panicking. Drifter quickly got up and held her by the shoulders.

"Not if we have something to say about it, Kizmel."