Sword art online: Aincrad's Flash

Jae shook his head as he took another bite, chewing as he replied. "Nah, I ran into Malachi yesterday. He said the same."

"The info broker?" Toyo's words dripped with distaste. "I don't trust that guy. I've heard some things about him myself."

Confident that they were alone as they walked, and weary of the weight, Jae swung his spear onto his back, the leather latches automatically clipping it in place. Though still not fond of spears, Jae had always been particularly skilled with quarterstaffs. He had spent several days searching for an item store or blacksmith shop that sold any, only to find that SAO had none. Still, he had quickly found that a spear could almost be utilised in the same style. Almost.

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"What's not to trust?" Jae asked as he opened and closed his sore hand. "I mean I get that he's shady, and charges a hell of a lot, stingy fuck that he is. But the info he's given us has been spot-"

"Yeah I know," Toyo interrupted. He waved his hand at the air, irritated that he couldn't quite find the words he wanted to use. "I guess I could just be paranoid. I'm not the best judge of character. But neither are you."

Jae threw up his arms in a gesture of surrender. "I never claimed to be. But I hear you man. He definitely is shady."

"You said that already."

"Sue me then."

Though neither smiled, Toyo couldn't help but allow the tiniest smirk, the first in weeks.

They completed the walk back to Trevica in silence, each in his own thoughts. It had been nearly three weeks since those three players had died. After that battle, and on the brink of death, Toyo had apologized to Jae for charging in blindly, for being too confident, but Jae had refused to hear it. "I may not have charged in like you did," He had said, "But I was just as sure of our victory as you were. We both got carried away. We need to remember this moment, no matter how much we don't want to. We need to remember that we'll never be too powerful. We could die at any time, against any monster. I never want to see anyone murdered in front of me again."

But that day was just the beginning. Now, almost three weeks later, Toyo and Jae had witnessed fourteen player deaths in total. It had been a slaughter. Thousands of players, finally finding the courage to leave the Town of Beginnings, were butchered as they tried to learn the game's combat mechanics and monster attack patterns. After the slaughter, it was discovered soon after that nearly two thousand of the ten thousand players total were killed in the span of two weeks. The Western Plains, located outside the Town of Beginnings, were renamed the Bloody Plains, and the event itself became quickly known as the Massacre of Floor 1. During this time, whenever they saw people in danger, Toyo and Jae rushed to help them, desperate to not repeat that horrible battle with the goblins. Sometimes, they managed to save a player or two. But other times…

But it was those first three deaths that clung to them the most. Those players had been complete strangers, and yet seeing them murdered there, in that pointless virtual world, had rocked Toyo and Jae to the core. Each death after that, while still a tragedy, had less to take from them. After those three deaths, Toyo and Jae did eventually reach Trevica, It was an easy quest, but they felt no joy when it was completed. After purchasing and outfitting themselves in leather armor and better variations of their weapons, and also renting a room at the town's inn, they then left. For almost three weeks, they had done nothing but fight, taking on stronger and stronger enemies every day, so that they in turn could grow more powerful. If they were strong enough, they could save those that needed help, rather than fail them.

*****