Sword art online: Aincrad's Flash

Thankfully, the uninhabited back alley was small, and after only a minute or so, the exit onto another sidestreet appeared and the nauseating smell began to die down.

Though his Stamina was nearly depleted and weariness was setting in, Israel tried his best not to slow as he exited the alley, dodged a wagon being led down the street by a farmer and his team of horses, and turned left up the new sidestreet. Just ahead he could see the second alley's mouth, and the closer he got, the easier it became to hear the commotion from within. He had to hurry.

Ignoring his ragged pants and burning legs, as well as the curious staring and nose holding of several NPCs, Toyo forced himself into one last mad dash forward. Just as the last of his Stamina faded away, he leapt up and threw himself into the mouth of the second alley.

He hit the ground hard, hurting his shoulder in the process, but at that moment he saw the chicken practically trip over itself as it vainly attempted to slow down not five feet in front of him. The tiny, madly clucking animal fell over its skinny legs and rolled right into his arms.

"Gotcha," Toyo muttered in triumph as he wrestled the bird into submission.

The tired young woman drew to a stop in front of him and allowed herself a breath before smiling at him. "You did it! That was quick thinking."

She stepped close to take the struggling chicken from his arms. Her face soured immediately. "What's that smell?"

Toyo cleared his throat and quickly handed her the squawking bird. "Uh...pretty rough-looking NPC farmer just drove through on a wagon with some...fertilizer. Smelled even worse up close."

A thought came to him as he watched her calm the chicken with soothing strokes of her hand across its feathers. His eyes widened in amazement.

"Are you a beast tamer?"

She laughed in amusement and shook her head. "No, that particular skill tree is a little too taxing for me. I'm just after these chickens as part of a quest in town. One of the merchants in the Alara District lost them and was offering a pretty decent reward." Her smile turned into a scowl as she gently pushed the chicken into the empty wine barrel she had brought. "Seems he failed to mention that the chickens in question are absolute assholes."

Toyo chuckled. "And marathon runners on the side, apparently."

She nodded wearily. "Actually he mentioned something about using them in chicken races. Unfortunately, the fastest of the bunch is still at large. I almost had her back at Saint's Street, but she bolted right before I could grab her. I caught sight of the other two trying to head in the opposite direction a few minutes later, and that's when I saw you."

She glanced up at the slowly darkening sky with a worried expression on her face. "If I don't find her soon, it'll be too dark to get any kind of lead."

Toyo scratched the back of his head. "Well, I'm happy to help you go after the last one, but I don't know how we're going to catch it without knowing where it is."

She waved a hand. "No worries. I just need to get back to Saint's Street, then use my Tracking skill to follow it's the trail."

Toyo's jaw nearly dropped.

From what he and Jae had learned about the Skill system in SAO during pre-release gameplay reveals and the tutorial, a player had to reach Level Ten before receiving their first Skill Point alongside the usual three Attribute Points. From what he remembered, skill points were used to unlock abilities of all kinds, everything from Cooking and Fishing to Smithing and Swordsmanship, providing huge advantages to players who utilized them in conjunction with their builds. Each Skill also had its own tree of sub-skills, but these could only be unlocked by gaining levels in the respective Skill.

Since every player started the game with a Level One beginner sword, they automatically began with the One-Handed Sword skill unlocked, albeit at it's most basic stage and with only the first Sword Skill in its tree available. Whether or not they followed through with that weapon choice was up to the player.

Even in spite of all their hard work farming for EXP over the past few days, he and Jae were still a good five levels away from obtaining their first available Skill point. The fact that this girl already had one, and was using it effectively, meant that she was at least twice as powerful as either of them. On top of that, she was already wearing full leather armour while he and Jae were still almost entirely garbed in their increasingly outdated beginner clothing. True, Jae had acquired new boots and a pair of uncommon gloves from monster drops, and Toyo now had hardened cloth bracers with 2% physical resistance, but other than that...

What the hell is she doing that we're not?

The young woman smiled gratefully at him. "Well, I can't say I wouldn't appreciate the help. The quest is timed, but if we can catch the last chicken quickly, I will, of course, split the reward money with you. It's only fair." She held out her hand. "I'm Naomi."

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sorry for not updating I was busy perfecting art the day of cliffhanger so couldn't publish

I will update 1 chapter a week as I have exams in the first week of February

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