[PP - F5] Death Valley <<Blood in the Sand>> (Arc)

[Lessa 1]

Arc,

If you're free, meet me on Floor Five, near the north entrance to El Paso del Diablo.

- Lessa

With the high-pitched twinkling of bells, the message was yanked from her HUD and whipped into cyberspace. Eventually, Arc would come to read it. Would he find her words confusing? Perhaps, if she had written them the way she had intended. She hardly knew the man, but she did know enough to recognize unbridled curiosity. Had she been more specific about her intentions, and her reasons for meeting him, he surely would have denied her request. Instead, she had aimed to be as vague as possible. If she had read him right in the few, brief moments that they had spoken, he would show.

Tucked just inside the safe zone, Lessa spent a few moments removing her heavy gauntlets and breastplate. Though she stood in the shadows cast by the towering mountains, the heat was still unbearable. A Michigander before visiting Aincrad, and a frequenter of the fourth floor, Lessa had grown accustomed to temperatures well under the fifty degree mark. It was easily ninety in the shade.

One hand combed through her tangled hair, matted back with dust and sweat. Her blouse clung to her skin, and she had long given up trying to peel it off, as it would return to place moments later. I hate this floor, the girl mused, her frown deepening. For the umpteenth time that day, she wondered if she was making the right decision.

[Ashrah 0]

It felt so nice, so warm on the fifth floor.

Unlike where he lived, Tobias noted that the heat felt dry and therefore did not feel sticky. That was why it felt so relaxing, rather than outright stuffy. It did concern him that Lessa called him to meet, but Arc decided if it got the woman off of the fourth floor, he'd indulge his curiosity just this once.

The safe zone she indicated was a far cry from Armadillo, the major safe zone on the floor. He took the long trek across the desert and would have regretted it, but for enjoying the scenic route through an arid desert. It was an experience like none he ever knew outside Sword Art Online.

When he saw Lessa, he hurried up just a little. "Hey there," he called out to her, "you wanted to see me?"

As he slowed to a halt, Arc took the time to take in his surroundings. The sky was clear for miles above, leaving no delusions of rain or storm. What items they brought along were the only provisions available, though Arc doubted Lessa came unprepared. His personal opinion on the matter was to "always be prepared, even when you can't."

To that end, he smiled as he waited for a response.

[Lessa 1]

"Hey, you made it." Even as she greeted him, she realized how much more at ease he was in the sweltering afternoon heat. She, on the other hand, wiped her sweaty palms on her black leggings before giving him a small wave of welcome. Bastard. Must be nice. I'm sweating in all the wrong places.

"I appreciate your coming out," she continued, realizing that Arc was still watching her expectantly. She had been cryptic in her message, and no doubt he was waiting for some sort of explanation. "What you said to me in the inn last week, about leaving the fourth floor." With a half-hearted wave of her hand, she motioned to their surroundings. "I took your advice. But I started on the second floor, and visited my old shop. I haven't been there in a while, but you got me thinking about what a waste it is to just leave it sitting there." The blue-eyed blonde hesitated for a moment, then queued up her HUD. "I just wanted to thank you for giving me the push. I know I don't really know you, but here."

Ribbons of color began to curl themselves around her outstretched hand as the other equipped a new weapon. Yet even after the change had been completed, her hand still seemed to glow soft gold and blue tones.

"I managed this while experimenting in the forge. It's called Levantine, and I based it off some old legends I remembered from school." She began to blush, but fortunately, the heat had already flushed her tanned cheeks. "I was a history teacher before Aincrad," she added hastily, as if her unusual choices needed explaining. "It just felt right."

[Ashrah 0]

Arc stared down at the powerful looking weapon Lessa offered to him with his head tilted. "Levantine," he repeated the name in a low voice with his brow furrowed. "Are you sure it's ok for me to take something like this? It must be worth a lot of Col for you to just... give it away?"

He glanced up at her, uncertain for a moment if he should accept the gesture of decline it respectfully. The last thing Arc wanted was to seem ungrateful, especially as she opened up about her past as a teacher and love of history. "I suppose if it's an even trade for my ahh... encouragement? I can deal with it."

He took the blade in hand and immediately the weight felt familiar. Arc sent his low level weapon to his inventory and equipped Levantine, but the blade appeared along the small of his back rather than strapped across. "Huh," he blinked as the placement of the weapon felt new, but somehow he did not question it. "It feels... perfect."

Straightening, Arc scratched his chin and considered the floor. "I don't supposed you only called me out here for the sword," he asked slowly, "did you need me for something, Lessa?"

[Lessa 1]

The joy that the girl experienced lit every part of her face. Her blue eyes shimmered, and beneath the grime that caked her damp cheeks, she glowed with satisfaction. And then there was her smile. Once, she had once worn on a daily basis, but she rarely sported anymore. "Glad you like it," she told him. "Probably one of the best I've ever made." Mischievously, she added, "probably would have kept it for myself, except that it came out in those silly colors."

A few swipes of her hand later, and her own sword materialized on her back. "Levantine does two damage, and will improve your accuracy as well. I maxed the stats out, so it should be the best you can carry for now." With a soft, satisfying hiss, she drew her claymore. "My Hell Rose, on the other hand, is only rare quality. I could trash her and start over, but I'm a bit sentimental. A good friend crafted her for me. I was about your level, actually.

Realizing that she was beginning to ramble, Lessa took a deep breath. "I get a bit excited about swords," she muttered apologetically, before reaching up to rub the bridge of her nose. "But right. Why you're here."

Now came the second part of her reason for inviting him. "You mentioned that you're not ready for the fourth floor mobs," she began quickly, her smile fading as she adopted a more processional approach. "But if you're as serious about pushing forward as you say you are, I think you should try your hand at something bigger. There's a field boss not too far from here, and I'd really like it if you fought it with me. I'd be right there with you, and I have more than enough health potions to get us both through it. Besides, you have a pretty serious weapon now." Her voice held an unwavering finality as she concluded with, "you aren't going to die."

[Ashrah 0]

Arc watched her evenly and considered her request. To fight a field boss together with another player seemed like a daunting task, but it would provide the sort of challenge he needed to increase his skill. He held Levantine aloft and looked over the edge thoughtfully.

"Fine," he said, "we can fight together. I owe you that much for this blade." He disliked getting too close to anyone, but he would at least try to be personable. "It's not my usual way of doing things, though."

The blade fell to his side and he turned his gaze toward the horizon. The sunlight beat down harsly against his face and lit up his gilded hair. "I'll follow your lead, of course."

Arc took a few steps into the dusty wind and toward the edge of the safe zone. "I'm ready."

[Lessa 1]

While his answer may not have been quite as enthusiastic as she had hoped, she was not really expecting anything else from the blue-eyed boy. Even if he was only joining her to repay her for the sword, at least he still agreed to do so. Her offer, and the free weapon, had been a bit strange, so she could not fault him for not jumping for joy. And at the end of the day, she benefited just as much as he did from their agreement. For a fleeting moment, she wondered if he had any idea.

It took only a matter of seconds for her to equip her armor and weapon, and share the quest with her partner. Then, she leveled her gaze on Arc. "We're looking for a sand shark." He was free to read the information himself, but she figured she would save him both the time and effort by summarizing the description for him. "He's got fifty health, and deals three damage with each hit. Shouldn't be too hard to manage though, since it doesn't have any sort of damage mitigation or evasion." At least, there was none listed. That did not always ensure that there would be no surprises. Finally, "stay close."

With that, she turned on her heel with a crunch of sand, and took off into the blistering sunlight. The map had placed the quest boundaries less than half a mile from the safe zone, and the ground began trembling beneath their feet shortly after they set out.

"Alright," Lessa barked, holding a hand out toward Arc. "Here it comes. Be careful."

The massive being that burst from the sand was exactly what Lessa had pictured. Its skin was stained the same color as the sand it swam through, and it wasted no time launching itself toward the nearest victim. That, to Lessa's horror, was Arc.

"Back!" She shouted, lunging in front of the boy. Her heavy claymore glowed as she swung it upward, striking the beast with enough force to make her arms tremble. The shark fell away to the side, flopping helplessly as it righted itself on the sand. Then, it plunged back below the surface.

{[23252] BD: 10. Lessa deals 8 damage.}

Lessa: 58/58

Arc: 21/21

Sand Shark: 42/50