As Leafa and the airborne salamander leader watched, stunned, the boy got to his feet and turned around, sword at the ready.
The other remaining salamander was still baffled as to what had happened. He was swiveling around, looking for his foe in the wrong direction.
The boy didn’t wait to be found. He prepared another brutal attack, one that Leafa swore she wouldn’t miss this time.
His first motion was easy, lazy, unhurried. But as soon as his first step hit the ground—
He blurred as another shock wave ripped the air. She actually saw it this time. It was like watching a movie in fast-forward, unconnected frames burned into her vision. The boy’s sword shot from below to above, severing the salamander’s torso. Even the flash of the visual effect was a split second late. He traveled forward a few extra yards and ended with the sword brandished high over his head. Another burst of flame announced a new fatality, and the second salamander was gone.
It was the speed that had originally caught Leafa’s eye, and now she belatedly realized what incredible damage he was inflicting. Those two salamanders hadn’t been at full HP to start with, but they’d had a comfortable majority of their health remaining. A single blow eliminating them was simply abnormal.
The equation to derive damage in ALO was not very complicated. It only took the weapon’s power, hit location, attack speed, and target’s armor into consideration. In this case, the weapon damage would be minimal, and the salamanders’ armor was formidable. Which meant, by the process of elimination, that this boy’s accuracy and speed had to be off the charts.
He raised himself easily to his feet again and set his sights on the salamander leader, still hovering in the air. He rested the sword on his shoulder and asked, “What’s up? You want a turn?”
The stunned salamander regained his composure and responded to the boy’s matter-of-fact challenge with a pained smirk.
“No, thank you. I know I can’t win. If you want my items, I’ll leave them for you. My magic skill is nearly at nine hundred—I’d rather not suffer the penalty for dying.”
“At least you’re honest.” The boy grinned. He turned to Leafa. “And how about you, lady? If you want to fight that guy, I won’t interfere.”
She had to laugh at this display of restraint, given his previous utter lack of it. Suddenly, her determination to take down at least one of the salamanders with her seemed a bit pointless.
“I’ll pass. But next time, I’ll beat you, salamander.”
“Well, I doubt I could beat you one-on-one anyway,” the red warrior said, spreading his wings. With a flash of fairy dust, he flew off. A brief rustle of branches sounded overhead, and he disappeared into the black night sky. Only Leafa, the boy dressed in black, and two red Remain Lights were left. Within a minute, both flames were gone.
She turned to the boy, slightly nervous again.
“So…what should I do now? Should I thank you? Run away? Or draw my blade?”
He sliced his sword back and forth quickly before sliding it back into the sheath over his back.
“Personally, given that I’m kind of the heroic knight who saved the princess from the villain in this little scene”—he smirked—“I could go for a tearful, smothering embrace from the grateful princess—”
“What? Are you crazy?!” Leafa screamed, her face suddenly hot. “I’d rather fight you!”
“Ha-ha-ha, I’m just kidding.”
She ground her teeth in disgust at his obvious delight, but before she could come up with a snappy retort, a third voice piped up out of nowhere.
“Th-that’s right! She can’t do that!”
It sounded like a young girl. Leafa looked around the clearing but didn’t see anyone. The boy hastened to respond.
“Hey, I told you not to come out!”
Looking closer, she saw something glowing, trying to escape the boy’s tunic pocket. It spun free and danced around his face, making petite jingling noises all the while.
“The only ones who get to hug Papa are Mama and me!”
“P-Papa?”
Leafa had to take several steps closer to see that it was a little fairy, small enough to perch on the palm of her hand—a Navigation Pixie, the kind that could be summoned from the help window. But those were only supposed to give prepared answers to basic game questions.
She forgot her suspicion of the boy for a moment and stared at the circling fairy.
“Uh, no, it’s not what you—”
He hastily tried to cover the pixie with both hands, smiling nervously. Leafa peered around his hands. “Hey, is this one of those private pixies?”
“Eh?”
“You know! The kind that were given out by lottery to those who preordered the game…Wow! I’ve never seen one before.”
“No, I’m not a—mghf!” the pixie piped up before the boy covered her up again.
“Y-yeah, that. I just got lucky in the draw.”
“Hmmm…”
Leafa gave the boy another appraising look, this one from head to toe.
“Wh-what?”
“Just thinking…you’re pretty weird. For someone who’s been into the game since before it opened, your equipment sure looks starter level. And yet you were super tough back there.”
“W-well, I made the account ages ago…but only started playing recently. I was busy with…a different VRMMO.”
“Oh?”
This didn’t entirely answer her suspicion, but if he’d gotten used to the AmuSphere with a different game, that would at least explain his incredible reflexes.
“But what’s a spriggan doing so far out here? Your territory is supposed to be way, way to the east.”
“B-because…I got lost…”
“Lost?!” Leafa couldn’t help but burst into laughter at his pathetic excuse. “Come on! No one’s sense of direction is that bad! You’re such a character!”
Now a real belly laugh came bubbling up at his affronted expression. Once she’d had a good chuckle at his expense, Leafa returned her long katana to its sheath.
“Well, I suppose you deserve some recognition. Thanks for saving me. My name’s Leafa.”
“I’m Kirito, and this is Yui.” He spread his hands to reveal the pixie. She bowed and fluttered up to land on his shoulder.
Leafa was somewhat surprised to realize that she actually wanted to sit and talk with this boy named Kirito. It was especially rare for her—she wasn’t particularly shy, but she didn’t make friends easily in this game. He didn’t seem to be a bad person, so she summoned up her courage and asked, “What are you doing after this?”
“Uh, nothing in particular…”
“Oh. In that case…why don’t you let me treat you to dinner?”
The boy named Kirito gave her a face-splitting grin. Leafa was inwardly impressed. VR games still hadn’t gotten fine emotional simulation down quite right, and few people could make a smile look so natural.
“That’d be great. I’m looking for someone to teach me things.”
“About what?”
“About this world. Especially”—he stopped smiling and turned to the northeast—“that tree.”
“The World Tree? Sure. Believe it or not, I’ve got seniority here myself. It’ll be a bit of a trip, but I’d recommend going to the neutral town to the north.”
“Are you sure? Isn’t there a town called Swilvane that’s closer?”
Leafa looked at him, exasperated. “True, there is. But you really don’t know anything, do you? That’s sylph territory.”
“Is that a bad thing?” he asked innocently.
She was stunned. “Well, you can’t attack any sylphs within a sylph town, but they can attack you.”
“Oh, I see…But they’re not going to rush out to whack me all at once, are they? You’ll be with me, Miss Leafa. Plus, I’d like to see the sylph land; I hear it’s beautiful.”
“Just ‘Leafa’ will do. You really are weird. Well, if you insist, I don’t mind, but…I can’t
guarantee you’ll leave alive,” she said, shrugging. She loved the sylph home territory herself, so it didn’t hurt to hear him compliment it. She was also drawn to the idea of shocking all of her acquaintances by escorting a rare spriggan around town.
“Okay, I’ll fly you to Swilvane. It’s about time everyone logs in, anyway.”
She checked the window to confirm that it was just past four o’clock in the afternoon. She had a bit of time left to play.
Leafa’s wing power was mostly refilled by now; she beat her glowing wings once or twice. Kirito spoke up, curious.
“Wait, you can fly without a controller?”
“Sure I can. How about you?”
“I barely just learned how to use this thing.” Kirito made the grasping motion with his left hand.
“Ahh. Well, there’s a knack to using Voluntary Flight. Some people pick it up right away; some never figure it out. Let’s give it a try, shall we? Turn around and don’t pull out the controller.”
“Uh, okay.”
Kirito gave a half turn, and she extended her index fingers to touch just above the shoulder blades of his slender back. The pixie on his shoulder looked on in curious fascination.
“Can you tell what I’m touching?”
“Yes.”
“They call it Voluntary Flight, but you don’t just start flying with your imagination. You have to assume that there are virtual bones and muscles sprouting out of this spot, and move them.”
“Virtual bones…and muscles…”
He repeated the words vaguely and twitched his shoulder blades. In response, the intangible gray wings sprouting through his black outfit began to tremble with his movement.
“Yes, that’s it. First you just want to move all the muscles in your shoulders and back until you get the hang of which ones are connected to your wings!”
As soon as she said that, the boy’s back crunched inward. The vibration of his wings rose in pitch until it reached a high-pitched hum.
“Yes, that’s the way! Try that again, but harder!”
“Hrrm…”
Kirito tucked in his arms, grunting with the effort. Once she sensed that he’d built up enough thrust, Leafa slapped him heartily on the back.
“Wha—?”
Suddenly, the spriggan shot directly upward like a rocket.
“Aaaaahhh—”
Kirito’s wail grew distant as his body got smaller and smaller. A brief rustling of leaves above, and he was already beyond the forest canopy.
“…”
Leafa and the pixie who’d fallen off of Kirito’s shoulder looked at each other.
“Uh-oh.”
“Papa!!”
They both quickly took to the air after him. Once out of the forest, they scanned the night sky until they noticed an unsteady figure careering left and right against the background of the golden moon.
“Aaaaaahhh…let me ooooofff…”
The piteous wail echoed through the wide, open sky.
“Pfft!”
Leafa and Yui shared another look and burst into laughter together.
“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!”
“I-I’m sorry, Papa, this is just too funny!”
They hovered side by side, holding their sides with laughter. When their mirth subsided, a fresh lament from Kirito came floating on the wind, and they fell back into more chuckling.
Legs kicking helplessly, Leafa wondered when she’d last had a laugh as good as this one. Certainly not here in this game.
Once she’d gotten the giggles out of her system, Leafa caught Kirito’s collar to halt his wild flight path. She gave him another primer on the knack of Voluntary Flight, and after just a ten-minute lesson, he was already managing to fly unsteadily on his own.
“Whoa…this is…great!” he exclaimed as he tried making wide turns and loop-the-loops.
“Isn’t it?” Leafa laughed.
“It’s just so…I dunno, moving. I wish I could keep flying like this forever…”
“I know!”
In her excitement, Leafa flapped her wings to fly in parallel alongside Kirito.
“No fair! Me, too!” the pixie chirped, taking a spot between them.
“Once you’re used to it, practice those back and shoulder blade movements so they’re as small as you can make them. If you’re too big and sloppy, you won’t be able to swing your sword properly during an air battle. Well, are you ready to fly to Swilvane? Follow me!”
She did a tight turn and checked her bearings before setting off for the far side of the forest. She kept her speed low, knowing that it was Kirito’s first time, but he soon caught up to her side.
“You can go faster, ya know.”
“Oh yeah?” She grinned and folded her wings sharply, picking up her pace. She went faster and faster, hoping to hear Kirito change his tune. The air buffeted her entire body, the wind howling in her ears.
But surprisingly enough, even at 70 percent of her maximum speed, Kirito was following along. Normally, one would slow down well before the actual maximum flight speed designated by the game system, due to the sheer mental pressure. The fact that he could achieve such a range in his first attempt at Voluntary Flight spoke to a very firm willpower.
Leafa gritted her teeth and hit her highest acceleration. She’d never gone this fast with a partner before—nobody else could keep up.
The forest below her was a messy blur. The high-pitched violin whine of sylph flight was blending harmoniously with the whistling woodwind of the spriggan’s wings.
“Aaah, I can’t take anymooore…”
Yui the pixie zipped back into Kirito’s shirt pocket. He and Leafa shared a look, then laughed.
Soon the forest thinned out ahead, and a jumble of different-colored lights came into view. In the center stood a radiant tower, brighter than the rest. They had reached Swilvane, capital of the sylph region, and its iconic Tower of Wind. As they grew closer, the main streets and a variety of players going about their business came into view.
“Hey, there it is,” Kirito shouted over the howling of the wind.
“We’re going to land at the base of that tower in the center! Uh…wait…” The smile froze on Leafa’s face as something occurred to her. “Kirito, do you know how to land…?”
“…”
He froze up as well.
“I do not…”
“Umm…”
The enormous tower already took up half of their field of vision ahead.
“Sorry, too late now. Good luck!” Leafa smiled apologetically and prepared to slow down. She stretched out her wings to catch the air and began the descent to the square, legs held out in front of her.
“Wha…? You’ve gotta be kidding meeeee—”
The spriggan plunged straight toward the outer wall of the tower, still screaming. Leafa watched him go and said a silent prayer in his honor.
Several seconds later, the air shook with a tremendous crash.
“That was messed up, Leafa…I’m going to be afraid to fly now.”
Kirito glared at her vengefully as he sat in the wildly colored flower bed at the base of the jade-green tower.
“I got really dizzy!” exclaimed the pixie on his shoulder, her head swaying in a circle. Leafa leaned over, hands on her hips, trying not to laugh.
“That’s what happens when you get too carried away. Consider yourself lucky to have survived at all. I was sure you were dead.”
“Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence.”
He had slammed face-first into the wall at top speed, but Kirito still had more than half of his HP remaining. He truly was a mysterious newbie. Was he just lucky, or did he know how to brace himself against impact?
“Don’t worry, I’ll heal you,” she reassured him, chanting the healing incantation with her right hand held out to him. Glowing blue dewdrops sprayed out from her palm onto Kirito.
“Oh, cool. So that’s magic, huh?” Kirito watched her with intense interest.
“You can
’t use high-level healing magic unless you’re an undine. But the more basic stuff is totally essential, so you ought to learn it.”
“So the different races have different magical affinities, huh? What about spriggans?”
“They’re good at treasure hunting and illusion magic, I think. Neither of which is very useful in battle, which means they’re actually the least popular race.”
“Yikes…this is why you should research first,” Kirito groaned, getting to his feet. He stretched widely and cast a glance around the area. “Wow, so this is what the sylph town looks like! It’s really beautiful.”
“Isn’t it?” Leafa surveyed her familiar hometown with him.
Swilvane was also known as the “Jade City.” Delicate towers were connected by a series of complex midair pathways, and everything in the city shone with one shade of jade green or another. When the entire place was illuminated by the glowing evening lights amid the darkness, the sight was nothing short of pure fantasy. In particular, Leafa believed the splendor of the lord’s mansion behind the Tower of Wind was unmatched by any other building in Alfheim.
They both stood in silence, watching people pass through the city of lights, when a voice suddenly called out from the right.
“Leafa! You’re all right!”
She turned to see a young sylph with yellow-green hair running up and waving wildly.
“Oh, Recon. Yeah, I’m fine.”
He came to a halt in front of Leafa, his eyes shining. “That’s just amazing. If anyone could escape from such a large group of enemies, it’d be…uh…”
Recon belatedly noticed the dark figure standing next to Leafa, and he froze for several seconds, his mouth agape.
“Wha…y-you’re a spriggan! What are you doing here?” He leaped backward and put a hand on his dagger, but Leafa quickly interceded.
“It’s okay, Recon. He saved me.”
“Uh…”
She pointed to Recon, who was still confused. “This is Recon, a good friend. He got wasted by those salamanders just before I met you.”
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