Ken ran a hand through locks of hair as he scrolled down the pop-up menu with the other, discerning the items he would use in the future from stuff he was fine to part with, a majority happened to be of the latter. The female shopkeep just calmly awaited the boy’s constantly shifting decision, idly standing behind the booth’s counter. Although he was truly debating what he wanted to sell, another part of him was focusing on the NPC, attempting to determine whether the synthetically generated woman before him was actually sentient. Evidently enough, she seemed to be more than just a compilation of fixed responses and gestures. A friend from his school probably would’ve tested the hypothesis by groping her.
Of course, Ken was nowhere as daring as his fellow classmate, who luckily did not pick up SAO upon its release. The boy’s conscience drifted off, mentally painting the expressions of his friends right now, all of whom were probably transfixed on screens displaying the news. How lonely his desk must have been right now.
”Are you content with your current choices, sir?” The shopkeep’s inquiry yanked his mind back to reality, he promptly gave the list a thorough once-over before hitting the accept button.
Have a good day, kind patron!” Yeah,
good wasn’t a literary modifier he would want to use to describe today. While he was at the booth, he also picked up a slightly augmented version of his current weapon. It was only statistically better by a few increments, but every number counted.
Ken was still in the process of wagering how to distribute his skill points. Nor was he sure of what kind of build he was going to settle with. The swordsman backed away from the vendor and glanced down the streets. He had kept the party he had arrived with in his peripheral vision, Mai’lo, being the ever so charismatic hunk of unadulterated testosterone he was, had already ventured off to find himself a weapon that met his criteria. In all honesty, Ken was expecting the adult to return with a double-headed war axe laced in poison and blatant death, along with a hellhound in tow. The other person by the name of Emperor also strolled off earlier, but had now reappeared by Sapphira’s and Tailpin’s side. Another individual also ended up waltzing over to them, all of them began to coagulate within the street. He craned his neck at the newest individual, who almost fathomed grabbing Saph’s tail. Ken sighed and slowly paced his way over, obviously not the most energetic individual in the lot of eccentrics.
”Yo, Saph. Who’s the new guy?” Yet again, another sign that he wasn’t the greatest social butterfly. More like a social lizard, or something just as ungraceful with words.
”Mai’lo went off to grab a new blade. I’d brace ourselves for what’s to come.” A slight warm smile parted at the ends of his complexion. Didn’t really fit his face, which was commonly found in a scowl, but he should receive partial credit for at least trying. Emp and Tail had already walked to kami-sama knows where, leaving the three alone.
Right. These were the people he was going to trek down the beaten path with. He would have their back, and hopefully, they would do the same in return. They were all trapped in this inescapable world. It didn’t hurt to have a few allies.
”So, what’s on the agenda tonight?”
