feast

16:23

floor 22

blesi was walking the road that lead to the forest house, eventhough he didnt do much for the rest of the day after the encounter with tate, but it was a relaxing one with him just doing some fishing, good thing he hadn't encounter the boss or else he be in deep trouble, he got close to the house

he wonder if anyone home as he knock on the door, as he wait a bit before the door opened, it was alice, blesi look into the room seeing it was all dark as he wonder "where are the others ?"

"kirito and asuna were going to log out for a bit, while yui was asleep in the couch" alice explained as she decided to open the lights "i see, did they mention when will they log on again ?" blesi enter the house as he wondered "they did, and it won't be long"

"why didn't you log off ?" blesi asked as alice replied with a gift she had on her "well, i was told to gift this thing to you" as blesi see a wrapped gift on alice hand

"who is this from ?" blesi asked curiously "well, it's from a friend of yours called siune, i think" blesi hearing this name he can simply smile happy that alice now can trust him

"alice, thank you, it seems that you had follow what i have said, and now there no need for me to hide my background anymore" blesi said in gratitude and relief "was what siune said was true ?" alice asked curiously

"yes, and i wonder how did asuna react when she heard this, especially the mention of sleeping knight?" blesi asked as he wonder if the mention of yuuki would made her react "she cried with the mention of it, but i can tell she hold it back"

"i should have known she would react like that, after all, she is a close friend to yuuki after me and jakul, but it seems she is much more closer to yuuki than we brothers could ever have, she really is the best of friend yuuki could ever had" blesi explained dissapointed at himself for going to the salamander army but compare to his brother, his brother must have felt more pain than he was

"hey, may i asked a question ?" alice requested "sure" blesi approved "how do you think yuuki would react seeing her two best friend turn against each other like this ?"

"i don't know, sometime this questioned crossed my mind multiple times but, i haven't got any answers" blesi replied as he sat on the couch "but i do think she would be...in tears seeing us like this"

"what makes you reach to this conclusion ?" alice asked "she lost her sister to the same illness she have, i can imagine she wish she could spend her more time with her, yet her in the heavens seeing us became like wolves" blesi chuckeld "it must have dissapointed her"

blesi look to alice as he hopes to go for a different conversation "hey alice, would you like to unwrap the present with me ?"

"can i ?" alice wondered "its more fun seeing a present wrap with a friend, right ?" blesi said gladly as he unwrapped the box to see a record crystal

"a record crystal , has the waiting time over ?" blesi wonder as alice never knew this stuff before, with his hand check on the profile before with a press of a button the sound appear

"*tap* *tap* *tap*, is this thing on ?" a familiar voice coming from the crystal "oh ok, hello, jakul, blesi, from my voice i think you can tell who i was, of course it was your teacher yuuki, the well known zekken, anyway back to the subject, i know my time spent here wont be long, sooo i decided to left a voice message, still i have set up the time to unlock by itself when the time has come or else this crystal wont let me record it" (no wonder) blesi though to himself

"anyway, blesi, i wonder by this time how would you have been in the salamander army, or maybe you might have known a new friend of mine kirito and asuna, if so than all i could say is have fun, knowing you, you'll be getting along with them quite well, now, about jakul, blesi could you grant me a wish ?, if possible i would like you to bring him to the place i rest, there no need to view this as an order, but just view this as my last wish" blesi remain silent hearing this

"now with that out of the way, all i can say was thank you, blesi, for the time you and jakul bring to the sleeping knight" the voice recorder stopped here as blesi remain silent while alice wonder how blesi would cope with this as she see him got up took a deep breath before said "new goal, bring blesi back, whether he like it or not"

"so are you going to tell this to the others when they arrive ?" alice asked "maybe not, consider this is her wish and request to me, i should be the one to handle it" blesi explained before alice wondered "is there a reason for you to kept it a secret from them ?'

"no, other than that this is her message for me, there is nothing else to hide between the both of us" blesi said looking at the crystal "whatever the case, it is time to end this once and for all" blesi said gripping the crystal tight, that at any moment the thing could have shattered, but he then let loose as he quickly tooka deep breath "well then, i guess all we can do currently is wait for them" blesi look back at alice as he smiled as if nothing had happen

16:30

forest house k4

the sound of teleportation can be heard outside the window as yui look out the window to see kirito and asuna had login to the game as she is excited to see, she quickly turn to her human form, opening the door to the house, while blesi saw her running out to give her papa and mama a big warm hug

this sight is enough to make anyone felt happy and a warm fuzzy feeling in them as kirito carry him on his back while bringing them into the house

16:40

alice and asuna were on the cooking while blesi and kirito were outside to greet the others as seeing everyone had enter blesi and kirito quickly enter seeing that the food was ready

with a raise of their cups, the feast began, as alice remain silent knowing what she had heard, while blesi continue to have fun, having a few small talk as he see klein getting a bit drunk, while kirito and a gnome player name agil hope klein didn't carry away with the drinks

before he was put on the couch to let him lay there, as blesi look in disbelief that even in a game, an alcoholic drinks can still cause drunkeness on a person

as blesi wanted to get a fresh air, leaving kirito and agil with the others, as lisbeth was curious of what happen with sinon back there "hey, sinon, could you and silica tell me what happen back there ?"

"yeah, what had happened when i go to call lisbeth ?" silica asked out of curiosity just as asuna and leafa wonder what had happened "welll, what do you expect ?, it was clearly blesi the one that cut off his hand, im just an archer" sinon replied while kirito wonder who is the one that attack

after sinon explained the encounter...

"wait, wait, wait, you mean blesi had encounter another one of those people ?" leafa asked in disbelief "what do you mean by another ?" asuna asked as they hear leafa part of the story with lisbeth realize that why the sword had such a serious chipping on the edge

"so, leafa had encounter the poet, and sinon alongside silica had encounter tate or as he called himself the shield... talk about being coincidence..." kirito said wondering if this is planned by them "that is one heck of a coincidence, if you ask me" agil said as kirito remain silence, before looking back at blesi standing outside the porch

"i believe for the poet, they were trying to lure leafa and blesi, as for sinon and silica case i believe he didn't expect blesi to be there at the same time" alice explained yet it seems a bit unbelievable this could happen as kirito think it's best that he should talk to him

as he got out of the house, blesi heard the sounds of door closing "look like i'm not the only one had the same guess as i did, would you like to tell me what you think ?"

"well, inside alice gave a conclusion that seems believable and i agree, i would say it's a mix of traps and a coincidence" kirito explained "alice, that girl had helped us multiple times"

"i can tell she began to trust you" kirito said proud that alice getting more open "that's good to hear, it seems that the incidents happen today wasn't as much of a bad luck after all, don't you think ?"

"it's hard to say, but i can say they were willing to help you when needed" kirito said "well, that won't be necessary" blesi said chuckled hoping kirito and the others don't have to risk, not to mention it seems the enemy know them well

"why is that ?" kirito asked curiously "i have my own reason, just like you and all of them do" blesi look to the feast through the window but seeing agil wasn't there before the door suddenly opened

"yo, kirito, klein and i had planned to go for a fight with some monster tomorrow would you like to join ?" agil asked thinking the two can be helpful in this situation

"sure, it's been a while since we go on a quest" kirito agreed wondering when was the last time they go out together "true, you been out with the ladies that you forgot about the boys"

"say, blesi, would you like to join us as well ?" agil asked blesi thinking it be more fun with a newcomer "i don't mind, the more the merrier after all"

"i like you, kiddo, welcome to the boys club, anyway, get some good sleep, were heading out early" agil said before going to bed closieng the door behind him "okay"

"he does remind me of the general that lead his army" blesi said reminded of the time he join the soldiers

"i heard from siune you had joined the salamander army before, so are there changes among the salamanders" kirito asked curiously

"yes, so far many stuff had changed" blesi said reminded of the political stuff he was involved in "oh, tell me"

"now, it seems that general uegene had got replaced"

blesi said "eugene got replaced, that a suprise, who was he replaced with and why ?" kirito asked suprise that a general like eugene would be replaced easily by another general

"simple, his losses in the battle against the sylph and cait sith had lead people to put more trust in another general, his name was, from what i remember, called ragnar" blesi explained

"general ragnar, do you know him in person ?" kirito curiously asked "yes, i was a part of his army, he was a capable leader, as legendary as the name he used, compared to eugene, he seems more capable of a leader, while eugene seems to use more forced"

"then why you decided to leave ?" kirito asked wanting to know why

"i left after seeing him going for something political doing anything to gain the people trust, i know he do it for a reason of the people, yet i can sense that something was off, so i quit, not getting myself in anything relate with them" blesi explained stay silent for a bit before "yet, just like the world of jianghu, the person had quit, yet your name still lingers on, you don't want to fight, but you had to forced yourself to do so"

"to this day, do you know why he still chasing after you ?" kirito asked out of curiosity "hard to say, but i think he is just a bit paranoid" blesi wonder

"that an interesting conclusion" kirito suprised by the answer "knowing him, he tend to overthink stuff, yet somehow his overthinking tend to reach a weird yet good solution to the problem"

"is that so ?" kirito remain silent only seems to bring awkwardness to the surrounding just as blesi decided it's time for bed "anyway, get some sleep, good night" leaving kirito there all alone to process the info he just got

06:30 am

forest house k4

kirito woken up seeing that this time he was in bed with asuna and only her, he remember yui went to sleep with alice last night, while the other decided to log off, as he got to the bedside stretching himself a bit before getting out of bed to feel a hand grab hold on his hand

he look back asuna still asleep had her hand holding him mumbling words as kirito see such a cute sight of the blue haired fairy, he wanted to cuddle her more but he had to go, although he did give a little kiss before he go as he got out of bed with his coat and weapon in the ready as he about to walk out of the room, looking back in silent before going out

seeing the living room was quite empty with the sun just rise not long ago, he had expected himself to be the first but as he step out of the house he see that agil, blesi, klein had already got out waiting for her

"you guys are early" kirito said "no, its just you being late" klein said jokingly "for how long ?" asked kirito "five minutes" agil replied looking at the time

"so, klein, agil, may i ask where are we going ?" kirito asked "dragon valley" klein and agil said at the same time "dragon valley, never been there before"

"wait, what kind of salamander never gone there before !?"klein in shock of what he heard he originally expect blesi could help in knowing more about this valley "i mean i heard of it, just never been to that place before" blesi explained "hey, klein, dont you see this is an opportunity for you to shine ?" agil said convincing klein its not a bad idea

"true... all right then, i'll be the guide, now then let's go" klein accepted feeling proud

07:00am

dragon valley

"boy, do i not used to this " kirito said as blesi and klein look him sweating heavily from the hot desert of the dragon valley, before they look to agil who sweats like a waterfall "looks like gnome aren't used to the heat, huh ?"

"yes, but it won't bother us much, let's go" agil said as he let klein guide them further, but somehow it doesn't seems to be any monsters around

"weird where are the wyverns, and coyotes" klein wondered as something doesn' seem right "not even a single sight of fennec foxes nor scorpions, they used to be in every part of the desert oasis" blesi wonder feeling something was unusual

"a, guys ?, look" agil said pointing out a house nearby as klein find it off "weird, don't recall there was a house there before"

"how can you be so sure, were in the middle of the desert ?" agil wondered as kirito began to pull out his weapon feeling something was off as the others had their weapons ready except for blesi who uses his trusty crossbow instead

as they slowly approaching the small house, a gush of wind with sand and debree approach them as they had their eyes covered, they can't see a thing before seeing something shining as kirito hope they didn't get lost in such a close distance

but he see a sudden shining stuff reflecting as it approach to his face in full speed, as he quickly block it with his sword only to realize the force that felt like a mace was hitting him, as he was unprepare the force push him a few feet back only to crash on klein

hearing the stuggle of the two made blesi and agil in prepare, with blesi quickly change to his sword, while wondering what the hell happened to the others

as they remain silent with only the sand blow on them, agil see something reflecting in front of him with his axe blocking the attack, as he call out blesi, kirito and the others

but soon he was attack multiple times, as the person attack without pattern and only focused on brute force, as with a last plunge to agil chest, kirito was able to deflect it with his sword, as both stand there looking for the next attack the sand stop as they get a clearer view

and when agil look his bearded axe, he was shock to see the metal was had some dent in it as it doesn't look like it came from a sword but rather from that of a mace, as they look to where the person was they see it

as it was standing there with a sword that have the blade shape like an thick iron bar, no edge or whatsoever, from the look it is heavy enough to be use for two hand, yet this person was wielding it on one hand like it was nothing

"the iron whip !?" blesi said recognize what weapon is that as he warned "kirito, klein, don't let it break your sword! " as finish this the person began charging toward blesi as he stab the weapon like a rapier while blesi was blocking and dodging every attack knowing the nightmare of a weapon this is

he continued to dodge before he heard the person yell out "why won't you listen to me, you bastard" from the voice he heard as blesi wonder if it had mistaken him for someone else

as the other came to help, they see the person iron bar began to split into a whip as it swing it around her, as sand push them all to the side as it began to mumbling to itself "why- why must you stop me, i'm just trying to help you !?" as blesi see it hold onto it's head seeing how painful it looks before she ended with a scream, she suddenly faint, laying on the ground as the hood that kept her identity dissapeared

kirito and the others got close as they want to know who attack them, but when they turn they see a woman, and from what looks like a dwarves but can't be sure as it's hard to tell by the hair color alone, as she wore in all grey, with her hair being gray in color "was it a pooka or a spriggan ?" blesi asked kirito

"doesn't matter, we need to bring her to somewhere safe, agil could you help me out here ?" kirito requested as he had his hand on the iron whip "on it" agil replied carry her with ease

"here, it seems you know this thing more than i do" kirito let blesi to investigate on this weapon as they bring her to somewhere safe

07:20

forest house k4

asuna had finally got up as she walk out of her room to get something to eat, but when she opened the door, she see a woman was laying there in the sofa as she walk to the kitchen...

before realization strike as she look to see another woman, a total stranger was lying on their own sofa, as she was about to grab her wand as she was thinking it was a robbery before the door was open as she pointing at the door to see kirito, she simply shush before kirito can give an explanation before pointing it back at her