Fujiwara sighed as the last Nepent fell before him. Sheathing his katana, he gave a thumbs-up to the rest of the group before moving to follow behind them.

"Well, to be fair those things are annoying as is. You would think cutting a plant would be easier than cutting animals, but those things are thick. Not tree bark thick, but... damn. Bit too much for my liking right now. Gotta grind more." he said before turning to Yumi.

"Oh right, never thanked you for helping me out yesterday when I passed out like an idiot. Thanks for that." Smiling, he turned to Umichi and Suki. "I thought we already established that going backwards isn't going to get us anywhere anytime soon. Gotta keep moving forward, after all. Which reminds me... It's almost lunchtime, and I'm pretty sure that we're not going to get anything else done on an empty stomach. It might be just a game, but stamina's still a thing. So how about it? We're heading back to that restaurant anyhow, so we might as well." he suggested as he checked his stats screen and began to distribute his points.

"Alright, so if it's three points per level and I've hit 7... And given a base of 5 and 5... I'll invest a bit more in strength... 10 there and 8 in agility... Should be fine." he said to himself as he finalized his distribution and closed the menu.

Knowing her real name was Shakuntala, Umichi stored it in his head, to remember, so that he could look for her once they got out. He smiled at her as she smiled, knowing to call her Suki. "Sounds like a good idea to try find a blacksmith. Hope we find one fast." he replied to Suki. Suddenly seeing Yumi skip ahead, humming a tune, while he threw some knives. "Ah, isn't that an English song?" called out to Yumi. "Arg... what was it called again .... Oh well." he shrugged it off.

"Yeah we should probably eat at the restaurant when we get there" Umichi agreed. There wasn't much around and besides the few boars and wolves he did kill. They reached the front of Gonike. "Well, I think I will repair my equips first, and then we head to the restaurant, you guys can go ahead .... Oh wait, Suki." he called, putting a trade request. "I got some Nepent roots. It says an alchemy ingredient, so yeah. I figured you could use it." giving her the Nepent roots. The fruit both times went to Umichi, so he could just finish the quest right there and then, but first, to the black smith. He went to the black smith, and got his Anneal Blade<<2S2Q3D>> repaired. Checking his col, he had just over 7.5k col, even after the repair, he decided to get his last enhancement. "Can I also get a Sharpness Enhancement?"
"Sure, another 6k"

It was expensive, but worth it. A friend of his in the line was a beta-tester who had an Anneal blade. It was the best thing around almost all the way through the beta, except for one other sword. Well, they might have changed it now, but most likely it still was the best thing at least for until the 3rd or 4th floor. And since it is enhanced, probably at least 6th. Umichi assumed. Getting a message from one of his friends of that day in line, it read "Hey, how you been? Most of the first floor is the same as the beta according to the guy I'm with, but, the labyrinth changed a lot apparently. We should meet up if you come over here."
Umichi replied, "I'm all the way south East, in Gonike. About to head to Citadel for an interesting quest. Need to find myself a blacksmith though."
"Haha! Well, if I get time soon, I might come, I am a black smith, so yeah. I thought about doing that quest too you see."
"Well, if you have time come join us!"

About 5 minutes had passed during the short conversation, and he forgot about his Anneal Blade. "Here you go. That will be a total of 6140 col." Paying the black smith, he got his new Anneal Blade<<3S2Q3D>>. Leaving the black smith, he went off to the restaurant.

Suki nodded, looking up towards at Yumi, humming a tune, and Suki smiled. Yumi seemed a free spirit, if a little bit restricted in the friend area. Suki reliseased that she didn't know much about Yumi yet. "It doesn't matter, its a good song" Suki said, "She doesn't care what people think, it looks like. She's happy"

Suki smiled at the mention of food. She realised she was famished. "Food always sounds good" She said happily. She followed, then blinked as Umichi offered her a trade, and smiled, accepting the roots, "thanks! I can use all the help I can get learning how to make potions" She watched him leave, heading over to a merchant, she sold some items, reading just under 6k col, which she used about 2k to buy alchemist gear.

She then caught up with Yumi, giving her a hug and a smile, "I liked your humming, but can't remember the song" with six brothers, Suki had never really had much chance for girl talk, so she would do anything she could to have that with Yumi. She hadn't yet added Yumi to her friends list, realising how idiotic that was, so she did that, frowning as she received a message.

message from Unknown? said Greetings Shakuntala. You are doing well, but no one will ever take you seriously if you allow yourself to be submissive. You know that. Actually, I'm surprised you're still alive...

that was it. A nasty little message, Suki thought, yet it still made her uneasy. It served to distract her and m ade her appear absent, as she walked past Yumi, and nearly crashed into a stall.

Embarrassed, she glanced about, shaking slightly, and headed towards the restaurant. It was perhaps the only restaurant in Geniku, besides food stalls, so it was easy to find. She arrived first, and sat down at a table, frowning, puzzled and confused.

Yumi continued on ahead of the group; humming, skipping and twirling about. She didn't really hear Umichi from the distance and the volume of her humming. She continued on that way all the way to the town. Going on to a shop next to where Suki went. She sold her useless items and noticed she was almost up to 6k col. As she left the shop suddenly Suki ran up to her and hugged her tight. She giggled a little and returned the hug happily. "Well that was unexpected!" She announced sweetly with a bright smile. "Not to say I didn't like it! I love hugs!" She assured with a eager nod.

She then looked up as she got a thoughtful look. "Uhmm... To be honest I can't remember the name of the song." She admitted a bit embarrassed, a faint blush on her cheeks. "The tune had just been stuck in my head for weeks." She then noticed how Suki seemed to have gotten a message. Though she couldn't read the words she knew it wasn't anything positive as Suki's expression sank sadly. But before she could ask what was wrong Suki had walked past her and almost into a wall.

Yumi hurried to catch up to Suki in the restaurent. She went to her side and gently took her hand. "What's wrong, Suki?" She asked, concern in her bright blue eyes.

«Sword Art Online» was a beautiful VRMMORPG. It was the first of its kind, and with it, virtual reality had made huge leaps and bounds. This was all because of the genius of Kayaba Akihiko. Like the rest of the world, he had waited with baited breath, for every bit of released information from the beta testers. A true virtual reality game. This was so interesting. Of course, his beloved parents had made sure to "surprise" him with the game and the «Nerve Gear» the day before the servers launched. He had seen it coming, oftentimes, all he had to do was express keen interest repeatedly about one item, and somehow, it would "magically" appear. Of course, he smiled as if they had given him the world, and thanked them prettily and profusely every time. To get whatever he wanted, all it took was good behavior, and that was a small price for Akira.

When he went to the store to upgrade his equipment, he picked a curved sword because it looked interesting. There was no other reason for his decision. He had recklessly, happily, chased after and slaughtered frenzy boars and gathered loot. When a blue light from above teleported him to the city, he had been bursting with curiosity. When Kayaba Akihiko told them that the world as they knew it had truly changed, his heart raced. Not from terror, but from excitement. He was exhilarated. This world— this life— was truly interesting. Kayaba Akihiko was a genius. There could be nothing more interesting than this. For only a moment, he thought that he would have preferred to see it from the outside, to see what would happen and if Kayaba’s words were truth, but right on the heels of that thought, he had a new one. In his current position, he had a front row seat to how the world would change.

There would be no boredom here. No matter where he looked, something interesting would be happening somewhere in this world. Someone would die, screaming their despair and fury at the creator. Someone would murder and rob and ruin the life of another. There would be chaos and carnage in the city. They could not hide in the city forever, and tempers would rise and fights would happen. To see that moment, that look, in the eyes of someone who knew that it truly was the end… How would that feel? How would it feel to know you were dying? Then caution came to him. If he wished to enjoy his front row seat, if he wanted to be able to watch this interesting thing until the end, he must become strong. Power and wealth would be his lifeblood if he had the strength to obtain them. If he wanted to continue to see interesting things, he must live. He must survive.

A slow smile spread over Akira’s face. He was Wakahisa. He was ”Young Forever”. He would not die. He would live, and he would enjoy every last minute of this world, until it was dragged screaming to its end, bathed in the blood of the hundreds, maybe even thousands, who would die. This world was beautiful. It was perfect. And he, he would be there to watch it die.

Fujiwara nodded at Umichi's statement about heading to the restaurant and opened up his minimap.
"I'll be there in a bit as well, just let me go and restock on potions and buy some of those crystals... Well, wherever they can be bought, I guess." he said before quickly breaking off from the group and moving towards the inn. Quickly weaving throughout the town, he moved towards the inn, where he bought a bunch of potions (how many, he couldn't tell) and roughly 10 teleport crystals. It cost him roughly 2000 col, but safety came before monetary restrictions. Thanking the shopkeeper, he weaved back through the streets of the town before arriving at the restaurant. Looking around, he noticed Yumi trying to comfort Suki. Silently walking over to their side, he sighed.

"Well, if it's no burden we'll help you out whenever you've got problems. We're a group after all, and anything like this will break morale really quickly." he said before moving to take a seat.

Suki looked up when Yumi joined her, and shrugged, looking down, "Some random sent be a disturbing message" She said softly, "but I can't help but think what they wrote was true..." She sighed and looked away, knowing what the person had written was completely true.

She looked up, then back down when Fujiwara spoke. "That's the problem. I'm a burden on everyone" She said softly. She knew that was true too, had known it a lot of her life. A burden to her father, her brothers, who had to look out for her all the time. And she was slowly becoming a burden to her friends in this game. She knew that, and yet, she couldn't figure out how to not be one.

She sighed, then shrugged again, "its nothing, really" She said, "Don't worry" she gave a small smile, hoping to reassure them that nothing was wrong.

Entering the restaurant, everyone was inside already. Umichi looked in, and could see that it seemed there was concern over Suki. Walking over, he could see she said something, she gave off a slight melancholic expression to him, before she shrugged. He could hear her say "Its nothing, really, don't worry." with a smile. Seeing that little bit of melancholy, he felt he needed to do something for her, but he didn't know what this was all about. Instead of approaching them, he handed in the quest first.

Quest Completion said
Congratulations. You have finished The New cuisine quest. Your rewards are as follows:

- 350 exp
- 1500 col
- A sample of her newest dish
Wolf Fruit pie (Tastes like Chicken Apple Pie)

Leveling up to level 9 from the quest another pop up window came.

Congratulations said
You have reached Level 9! Congratulations. You have earned a Skill Slot.
You may now equip up to three skills at a time!

Closing the window, Well, that's all nice and all, but what about Suki. What can I do for her? was all he could think. Walking over to the table, "So what are you guys talking about?" he asked, getting a chair out to sit down. Getting a message from someone else he read it. It was nothing important. Just a casual greeting to check up. One of the people when he was in line, wanted to compete. He had just reached 7, and seemed to be boasting. Umichi laughed in his head a little, replying with a short message. "Level 9 =P". Realising he could have a more private conversation with Suki this way, he decided to send one to her to ask her about what she said earlier.

Umichi sent the following message. "Suki, is something wrong? Did something happen? You looked sad for a brief moment when I came in. If there is anything I can do to help, please let me know. Did you know you've given me a reason to stay here? If it wasn't for you, I probably would be just charging into the dungeon and trying to clear the game as fast as possible. With that I might be gone already. I still want to clear the game now, but, I want to be able to enjoy it, with you. So if there's something wrong, please tell me."

"Sorry about that, just someone I met briefly PMed me. Anyway, have you decided what to eat yet?" he turned to the group after sending the messages. "I wonder if we will party with a blacksmith at some point. The quest in Citadel I want to do is interesting, and will get us quite a bit of exp." he explained his reason for wanting a black smith and why he wanted to go Citadel.

Fujiwara opened the menu up and looked at the choices. Nothing seemed to be anything... Conventional, by any means, but at the same time he couldn't tell what he wanted to try... Or not.

"Ah... Hm... Nah, haven't a clue what to get." he said, closing the menu and placing it on the table. "I'd like something normal like some soba, but I really don't think they have noodles here." Sighing, he looked at the others. "I'll let you guys pick for me. I'm no good when it comes to choices like these. As long as it isn't the most expensive thing on the menu, I'll be golden."

Opening his stat menu again, he quietly flicked by everything until he came across his experience bar. He smirked to himself, seeing that it was basically full and just a little push away from letting him level up. Sighing, he leaned back in his chair and looked at the rest of the party. "Well, I'll state the same thing once again: if we make progress, I'm fine with whatever. And on that note... Is experience distributed evenly among the party members after completion, or are we just kind of 'along for the ride'?" he asked as he lazily played around with his status menu.

Suki looked up as Umichi entered, finishing the quest she assumed, watching as he came over. She shrugged and didn't say anything when he asked what they had been talking about. This was her problem. She didn't need to burden the others with the PM. Yet she looked up at the notification if a message, and she opened it, reading.

She couldn't help but blush and she looked down, glad her hair was down now and it curtained her face, hiding the blush. She did smile, genuinely and happily. She didn't want to worry Umichi, but...

She sent a reply, choosing her words carefully. "I guess I'm just missing my family. And worry that I'm more a burden than anything else. I just worry that I'm a weak link...all I'm going to be good at is making potions. It doesn't matter, really."

She sent the message, before looking at what was avaliable to eat, listening as Fujiwara spoke. She opened her menu, and took out the guide book from the inventory, "the betas say that there are a few useful quests in citedral. It's a larger town, next to the town of beginnings and perhaps Tolbana" she said "it would be a good place to train I think"o

"Hm..." Umichi thought, while looking at the menu, he was keeping an eye on Suki. Seeing her smile, he was glad he sent the message. Hearing Fujiwara unsure as to what to get, "Just pick anything, if you like it, remember what it is, if you don't, then too bad. The food here is made differently and most of it doesn't look as it tastes." explaining to Fujiwara. Suddenly a message came up from Suki.

Suki said
"I guess I'm just missing my family. And worry that I'm more a burden than anything else. I just worry that I'm a weak link...all I'm going to be good at is making potions. It doesn't matter, really."

Missing family, and being a burden, the weakest link. She's thinking a bit too much I think. Umichi thought, replying.
"I don't think anyone here considers you a burden. I think your braver than I am, you are not the weakest link. You confessed to me first. Your heart is strong, and you can grow with it. The weakest link is someone who thinks for themselves and yet relies on others. You think about us. You care for us. And what's wrong with being good at making potions? We need potions, they will help us survive. Supports are foundations. Without support, things crumble. Do you realise that you are supporting me? By considering us so much. I don't know why you started to think like you did. If you think like that, we will all get worried, and our support disappears, and things crumble. Please continue to support us. You are my strength, and right now, my everything. Please continue to support me."

As Fujiwara asked about quest exp, Umichi turned and answered, "Well it depends on the quest. Some quests are given to individuals. Those quest, the reward goes to the individual/s involved. If it is a party quest, rewards like exp and col are distributed to all members involved. Items, however, may go to one individual or go to all. It depends on the quest. This time, you were "along for the ride", but the next one is a good party quest in Citadel."

"Tolbana would be a good place to go too. But I'm interested in the one in Citadel at the moment. If you guys want to go Tolbana, then we will head there instead. Just because someone is the leader, doesn't mean everyone has to follow them blindly." Umichi said in reply to Suki's suggestion from the guide book. "Let's order" he told everyone, calling over an NPC waiter. It was a bit odd that Yumi hadn't spoken yet, maybe she was thinking about what to eat. "Can I order the Wolf Fruit Pie?" he asked the waiter. Turning to the others, indicating they should order.

"Ah... If you say so? If that's the case... I'll just order the baked fish fillets and some water, if that's no problem." Fujiwara said, closing the menu and placing it back on the table before looking at Umichi.

"You know, if you keep taking all the main quests the rest of the party's gonna lag behind in terms of levels the farther in we go. Party quests will keep us about even, but if we don't want to get too far behind it might be beneficial to let us find some other quests on our own. On the topic of quests, you seem pretty damn insistent about this Citadel place. Is there anything of note there, other than the quest you've been trying to egg us into going to do? And what exactly is the quest anyhow? Know the rewards? The quest itself? Anything?" he asked, staring at the self-appointed leader.

"Then there's the issue of the floor's main dungeon. It's enough trouble finding the place, but it'll be worse if we can't take it on once it's revealed. I'm not opposed to heading to Tolbana to go dungeon hunting either, but at the same time it's probably way too risky given our average party level. As long as the Citadel isn't TOO far from here, I'm all for heading there. If everything's within walking distance and won't take us half the day to move there, I've got nothing against it."

Yumi frowned a little as Suki told them she was worrying about being a weak link. Never once had Yumi thought of Suki as a weak link. She was always and integral part of the group. A vital pulse to the body of their group. Yumi didn't know what to say. She was stunned slightly. But she took a seat right beside Suki. She was quiet for a while, trying to think of something to say, something to assure Suki that what she was feeling wasn't true. But she couldn't find the words.

She snapped out of her daze as the waiter came and began taking order. "Oh.. Uhm..." She hummed as she picked up the menu and scanned it for just a moment before deciding. "A bacon cheese burger" She asked and the waitress gave a nod. She then decided she should explain her peculiar choice for a Japanese girl. "I like American food. And I thought since this is a video game I don't have to worry about calories." She blushed faintly, such a weird thing to think about considering all the other things going on.

Then returning to her previous train of thought. Yumi then suddenly turned to Suki and gave her a tight hug. "I don't think you're a burden..." She whispered sweetly. After all that thinking that was all she could come up with. She then let go of suki and sat forward in her seat. Awkwardly staring at the table top, a blush on her cheek.

Suki ordered a random dish, figuring it would be nice anyway. It was better than buying the burned bread from a vender that was 1 col. She blinked when Yumi hugged her, and said " "I don't think you're a burden..."

Suki blinked, and smiled, "Thank you" She said softly, "you're a good friend" she said, looking up as Fujiwara spoke. She thought for a minute, "The guide book doesn't say much about the quest, just that citedral is a good place to train, to focus on skills.Its about two hours from here I'd say. As for the dungeon, I think we'll have to have a bigger party then what we have to pass it" She said, glancing at the PM notification and opening it.

Umichi said I don't think anyone here considers you a burden. I think your braver than I am, you are not the weakest link. You confessed to me first. Your heart is strong, and you can grow with it. The weakest link is someone who thinks for themselves and yet relies on others. You think about us. You care for us. And what's wrong with being good at making potions? We need potions, they will help us survive. Supports are foundations. Without support, things crumble. Do you realise that you are supporting me? By considering us so much. I don't know why you started to think like you did. If you think like that, we will all get worried, and our support disappears, and things crumble. Please continue to support us. You are my strength, and right now, my everything. Please continue to support me

Suki once more blinked. She knew there was a difference between being brave in life, and being brave in battle. Confessing had been perhaps the easiest thing she had ever done, once she had decided that she wasn't going to simple fight, that she was going to live. Battle was different. In battle, everyone just seemed to prevent her from being in danger, just like her brothers. And she let them. Suki knew she didn't look particularly threaten, she was too small to be, but growing up on a farm, Suki was stronger than people knew.

You are my strength, and right now, my everything

She pondered how to reply, listening to the conversation around her. Suki didn't think going to Tolbana this early would be beneficial, considering that no one had yet to find the dungeon entrance Doing quests and fighting monsters were good training.

She worked out a reply, but halfway through,she stopped. She rose, deciding that there wasn't enough words for what she wanted to say. She didn't even hesitate as she went over to Umichi. As soon as she reached him, she kissed him. Just a quick kiss, and a "Thank you", before returning to her seat, as if nothing had happened, blushing.

She cleared her throat, and looked up as the NPC came with their food. One thing about being in this world, food didn't take long to make. Right now, it was a good distraction.

Hana <|7|> Tolbana

Finished her soup, sighing, feeling drowsy at the moment, shaking her head, standing and walking towards the exit, turning the knob and finally stepping outside. She was doing a morning routine even though it is not morning. Hearing the birdchirps and the normal, mundane sounds of seemingly everyday life much changed every since the start of this damned game. She continued to walk around the block a few times hoping someone unique would bump into her.

SORRY MY JUICES DRIED UP

Yui <4> Tolbana

She could smell al the kinds of food that she could have buyed if she had any money. She was chewing on a dry piece of bread where she spent her last few col on. The stalls sold all kinds of food it looked rather delicious but it was all so expensive. Then it hit her she could get to be a cook and doesn't even need to give any effort to it since it was all way to easy. In deep tought she bumped into Hana making a "Oof" sound as she dropped her bread onto the ground and would immediately evaporate in tin air. She looked at the ground while her hand was still in the same position as when she holded the bread. Looking up at the girl her face still trying to figure out what just happen "O, hi my name is Yui". As she gave a gentle smile towards the girl forgetting about what just happend lowering her hand as she did. Giving a second look at the girl she looked rather cute maybe she could get to be her friend and teach her how this game worked, It would be way better then one of those older gamers that would use difficult words and such. Suddenly her stomach rumbled, her hands reached for her belly as she could feel pain coming from it. She never felt so much pain coming from her stomach before in real life so it must be something coming from the game "Could you maybe lend me some money I think my stomach is a bit empty and I don't have anything left." Her stomach made another rumble but this time even louder then before. She gave an awkward laugh at the girl and felt really embarrassed for asking money for such reasons.

2 col

When Yumi ordered and explained her order of choice, Umichi simply replied, "Well ... if that's on the menu, it either won't look the same, or it will taste differently. I did say so before, food here looks different to what it would probably taste like. I saw something that looked like roast chicken, tasted more like sushi. And you are right in not needing to put on calories. This doesn't go to our real stomachs anyway." Laughing lightly at the calories.

"I don't plan to take all the main quests. A couple have appeared in front of me, that's all. If they appear in front of you, then we can do it for you too. This time around, I would of told you guys to take it too, but after I spoke to the Amelia, the chef of the restaurant, she went back inside, meaning the time frame for the quest was limited. It would also mean, having to fight more of those Fruit Nepents. As Suki explained about the guide book having limited information about the quest, there was three things it mentions, one is it's in Citadel, and two is that you need both a blacksmith and an alchemist. Finally, it says beware the full moon." Umichi smirked a little. It was a pretty big hint if one knew their information. "Now about the dungeon, I don't see why we should be inefficiently wasting time looking for it. It would be more beneficial to get our levels up, and once it is found, we go and try to complete the dungeon."

Suddenly, Umichi spotted Suki standing up and started approaching him. His head conked to the side curious as to what she was doing when she gave him a quick kiss. Completely left in shock, embarrassment and happiness, he lowered his head and attempted to cover his face with one hand to hide his red face. That was when the food came.

his wolf fruit pie was rather nice. It tasted like chicken apple pie. An odd combination but rather pleasant. He was gpad it still tasted like pie. As he ate, he would glimpse at Suki. Umichi was completely unsure what to donin a situation like this. Man ... she just keeps blowing me away. he thought.

Fujiwara watched as the little drama-esque scene unfolded in front of him and smiled. It seemed as if the two lovebirds had made up, which meant that there would be one less moody party member to deal with. Breathing a sigh of relief, he turned to Umichi as he explained the reasoning behind his argument for the group to head to Citadel before responding in turn.

"Alright, I guess there's no reason to argue against that, I guess. Is that all we know? Like... You sure someone else won't snipe the quest as we're getting to the town and make the journey for nothing? Got a friend there already picking up the quest for us or something? Because I'm certainly not one for wasted movement." he said as the food arrived. As the waiter placed his food on the table, Fujiwara took his knife and fork and cut a piece of the fish off before tasting it.

"Huh... Is this... Tilapia? No wait, it's... Hm... I can't say, actually. Just tastes... Familiar, and at the same time it's a strangely alien taste. And the citrus juice on the top tastes a lot like a weird grapefruit-lemon hybrid. Can't say it's the greatest thing ever, but I could get used to this..." he said as he continued to eat the fish. Noticing Umichi's constant eye movement towards Suki, Fujiwara slyly opened up a PM window under the table and began to type with his left hand.

"Hey, more girl troubles? She just kissed you, be satisfied already. :I" he typed, chuckling to himself before adding a little addendum. "But seriously though, just chill out. People overthink things, and looking at her over and over isn't exactly... Yeah. Could be wrong, though." Satisfied, he sent the message to Umichi before continuing to eat his fish as if nothing had happened.

Suki found she enjoyed making Umichi flustered. It was cute, and endearing. She could see out the corner of her eyes him looking at her, and whenever he wasn't looking, she stole glanced at him. She imagined that this would be what most school kids termed an 'oh my god' moment. Suki wasn't most kids, so she would never know if that was so. To her it was. She smiled, and ate her food, pushing the plate away once she had finished.

"When we reach further levels I imagine the food will taste better. Or you could train your own cooking skill and cook for yourself" Suki pointed out to Fujiwara "we can head out after we have all finished eating, grab the quest and undertake it" she said "we should be able to complete it tonight" that would mean four nights in this game. She wondered, briefly, what was happening with their bodies in the real world. She pushed that thought away because it was too disturbing.

She waited for the others to be finished, watching and looking about. Mostly, she was just happily looking forward to being alone with Umichi. Sneaking looks was getting tiring. She flipped through the guidebook, to see of there was anything interesting or new in there, but was unable to find anything beyond what was already in there.

"Well, I haven't heard anything about a quest that only one person/group can act upon at the same time. I mean, other MMOs don't have such a system. I mean, sure some have time limited events or some restrictions to certain quests, but SAO quests are supposed to be repeatable. So, someone may have done it, but we should be able to do it when we get there. But the activation conditions aren't in the guide book so, we will probably need to go around town a bit or something. Well we will see when we get to Citadel." Umichi replied to Fujiwara's concerns of the quest being taken.

Finishing his meal, he got a PM, from Fujiwara.

Fujiwara said
"Hey, more girl troubles? She just kissed you, be satisfied already. :I"
"But seriously though, just chill out. People overthink things, and looking at her over and over isn't exactly... Yeah. Could be wrong, though."

Putting his forehead to his hand to lean on it, Umichi silently sighed to himself, replying to Fujiwara.
"I am plenty happy with the kiss =.=
I just don't know what to do now though ...
I can't help but look ok? Jeez, give me a break"

"Who knows if we can complete it tonight. We need a blacksmith. Might need to wait to tomorrow. I mean I might be able to bring someone I know, but I can't be sure." He stated, correcting Suki about the situation about completing the quest. "Let's just head there for now, there's bound to be other quests there too." Umichi started to stretch a little, Now that I think about it ... I just gave some directions once and did introductions, and before I knew it, I started to lead the party. First, it was just me and Suki. Then there was Light and Yumi. There was the girl who reminded him of his sister, Haname. But Light and Haname never came to meet up. I hope they are doing alright. Now Fujiwara is with us. It seems Fujiwara doesn't mind that I am leading, but has concerns. I don't think I'm much of a leader. However, it has been an interesting experience he looked back on how it has been so far since the game, their new life, started.

Looking around the table, it seemed like everyone was done. In the top left, he could see that he was buffed a little. He couldn't determine what the icon meant. It may have been a debuff. He wasn't sure. Maybe he had bad food. He got a little worried, but couldn't really do anything about it. "So, if you got repairs or restocking to do, you should do it now, and we shall leave at 1330. Let's meet at the front of Gonike" he got up telling everyone they would start moving out. The time was 1254.