Chain Quest

|1 week after the announcement |

1 week has passed since the announcement of Akihiko Kayaba, announcing that the players will not be able to log out.

And Tomioka has reached Horunka village after grinding for a whole week. And right now he is level 12. Out leveling all minor mobs around the area.

He finally reached a bottleneck.

'I need to go into the labyrinth' Tomioka thought. But he had one last thing left to do.

'But the skill will be essential for the upper floors. ' He thought.

'I need to unlock the chain quest.'

A chain quest is quite different from a normal quest. With a normal quest you have to do a singular mission and can be accessed by all players. While a chain quest spans over all kinds of floors, and are accessed a limited amount of times.

But there was still something on his mind.

Something that was holding him back.

'Can I really survive and protect at the same time?' He was having second thought about his capabilities.

In the past week, he grinded like a maniac. And as a result, had a few brushes with death.

Not only he, but he saw other players die too.

And he was scared. And seriously, who wouldn't.

Death is a scary thing to think about. Espacially when you are so close to it.

Right now, Tomioka is leaning against a tree just outside of the village.

There were a lot of players as most are still grinding levels.

And while he was lost in his thought, he failed to notice a certain cloaked person that was sneaking up on him.

And when the person was in range, she just...

"Tomi-Bou!!" She shouted while jumping at him and catching Tomioka completely off guard.

Tomioka was shocked someone was able to sneak up on him, but after confirming who it was he put down his vigilance.

"What do you want, rat." Tomioka said with a emotionless expression

The person that Tomioka was talking to was none other than Argo the rat. Also know as the best info-breaker of SAO.

She was wearing a cloak and under it had the same beginner armor on as all the other players. She had brown eyes and golden-brown hair that curled slightly. But what was peculiar about her was that she had a pair of whiskers drawn on her face.

"Well, I'm here to check up'n ya. And it seems I'm right to check. Ya look like shit." Argo said in her typical informal accent.

"...There's nothing to worry about." But Tomioka dismissed Argo's worry.

"..." Argo stared at him for a moment before changing the subject.

"Anyway, I'm just here to inform you that Kii-Bou got his <Anneal-Blade> on the first day, although with some trouble. And will take some time before he is a high enough level to enter the floor labyrinth. And the other players will take another 2 weeks at the rate they are leveling."

"..."

There was no particular response from Tomioka as he was thinking about something.

"I see." He said before standing up.

"I have a question for you, Argo." He said while looking at her in a still gaze. The same one that he had since the start of the game. Devoid of emotion.

"What do ya want?" Argo asked in a slightly more serious voice.

"The chain quest... Is it still open for the taking?" He asked.

"... I'll give you the information for free. Because it's you.

Some players did find the quest and tried it out. But no one succeeded. Some even died. So are you going to clear it. Just like the Beta. I have to say that the training is way harsher than the Beta." Argo warned in a serious tone. Her eyes not leaving Tomioka's gaze.

And he was silent for a moment before...

"I'll do it." He said before turning away.

"Why! You know how hard it was in the Beta and it's even harder now!!" Argo screamed, she was genially worried about him as she saw what the quest entailed first hand.

"... Because I'm the only one who can do it.

I did it once... I'll do it again." Then he proceeded to climb the mountain

'...Will I tell him?' She thought while looking at Tomioka's disappearing back.

'...About Sabito and Makomo.' With sad eyes, she contemplated.

.

Tomioka was climbing a mountain that was not far the the village he was previously in.

And after a while, he arrived at his destined location.

It took a while but he finally arrived.

There stood a lone cottage in the middle of the woods.

And before the entrance stood an old man.

He had short silver hair and wore a red tengu mask that covers his entire face. He wears a cloud-patterned jinbei kimono with navy colored pants which are fastened at his shins by white kyahan guards. He also wears traditional black tabi socks and sandals.

When tomioka arrived before the man, he spoke.

"What are you doing here boy. Are you lost?" He asked in a calm tone.

"I have come to become your disciple." Tomioka replied.

"I see, but do you have what it takes to face the challenge ahead, and not yield in the face of danger."

"Yes." Tomioka said.

"Good, my name is Urokodaki. Now lets begin."

*ping*

{Quest received:

Type: chain quest

- Quest 1 – Training

tasks:

- run down the mountain course

- katana swings [ determined by Urokodaki ]

- sparring with Urokodaki

- Breathing exercises

[ repeat every day: 1 week ]

End goal:

- Slice the boulder

Time limit: 2 weeks

Rewards:

Skill:???

Sword skill:???

Weapon: ???

Accessory: ???

[Right] to participate in the 'final selection' [Quest 2 ]

Failure: Death}

'It's here' Tomioka thought while looking at the window in front of him before reading it thoroughly.

'....There are a lot more rewards... But the penalty... That's why so many people died.' He thought.

"There are also way more tasks to complete... how bothersome." He said to himself before discarding the window and turning to face the mountain.

'Let's begin.' But before that, another window appeared.

{Warning:

In the course of the Quest, player may find side-quests to complete.

The rewards of these quests will be added in the final reward.

These quests will not be displayed in the menu}

'...This is troublesome.'

.

.

1051 chapters

Ik it's a small chapter and it took a while. But I was quite busy the past week and my sister was sick and then she infected me too so I had no motivation to write any new chapters. Even for my other novels.

Also I KIINDA forgot about writing a new chap about this one bec I was having too much fun writing the COTE novel.

Next one will be longer than this one, promise.

I also have to update the others soon but that will come in the future.

Also I may not be updating starting Wednesday for a while bec 'honkai: star rail' will be released and I want to play it hehe.

Anyway thx fr reading and hope you enjoyed.

Leave a comment, review and some stones.

CYAO CYAO