Snippet #2464729

November 7, 2022--1:48 PM
Floor 1: Horunka Forest

Mopping her face, Hisui let out a long-held breath, ignoring the rewards window that just appeared. There were still three other Little Nepents in front of her, and her health was at about half. Once again, her clothes were noticeably more tattered, and her cape was full of holes. But this time, she had gone for nearly three hours killing Nepents. While she was getting tired, and frustratingly had not found the ovule yet, she had no intention of giving up now.

As one of the plant monsters prepared its acid spit, Hisui started to move as well, and she quickly threw herself out of the way. A vine whipped up and lashed her across the face, but she rolled to the side so that her fall wouldn't leave her defenseless, and flew upwards with yet another skill--Rage Spike. But while she was tearing through the stem of the Nepent which had whipped her, another one of the monsters performed the vine attack, and the delay from using a skill meant she couldn't avoid it this time.

A scream came from Hisui as she was hurled away, but she managed to scramble to her feet and move away before a triple acid attack could take her down. With a flash of green, she lashed out with Sonic Leap and tore through the weakened Nepent once and for all, destroying it. She could see a window popping up telling her that she had reached Level 5, but she had no time to pay attention to it--the other two Nepents were still barely above half health.

Acid burst from the two flowers, and Hisui hurriedly threw herself to the ground, letting the vile liquid surge over her head. The moment the air was clear again, she pushed herself upwards and cut through the stem of one with Horizontal, before dashing onward and kicking off a tree into the air above the demonic plant, letting her use Vertical straight down to bifurcate it. Now there was only one Nepent left...which had a bright red flower growing upon its head, for whatever reason.

"You're mine!" Hisui shouted at the top of her lungs, breaking into a dash towards the Nepent the moment she landed. A vine swept at her face, but this time she threw her left hand out and blocked the vine, ignoring the sharp pain that entered her hand. One more Sonic Leap and Horizontal in succession--

--and just as the reward window popped up somewhere in the falling fragments of the Little Nepent, a fist-sized ball that shone with a soft green light landed in her hand. Hisui stared at the sphere in confusion, and then looked at the reward window...and her eyes lit up when she saw it.

"Little Nepent's Ovule. I've finally found it!" she gasped. Finally, her painstaking search was at an end. Putting a hand to her chest, Hisui breathed out a sigh of relief, before pocketing the Ovule and setting off for Horunka again.

In a few minutes, she re-entered the village, and found the NPC lady's house once again. Emptying yet another potion, Hisui watched her HP slowly rise again, and knocked on the door before gently pushing it open. The lady turned around to see her, having been cooking something before the hooded girl entered. A golden exclamation point hovered over her head to remind Hisui about the quest she had in progress.

Stopping within two feet of the NPC, Hisui took the Ovule out of her pocket and held it out. "I-I've found it for you, ma'am," she stammered, a shy smile on her face. "I-I hope this makes your daughter recover." The NPC lady gasped in delight, and took the Ovule from Hisui, voicing her thanks.

The glowing green sphere was placed gently into the pot, and the NPC took out a sword in a dark red scabbard from a chest in the corner of the small house. "Again, thank you for your efforts, traveling swordswoman," she told the young girl with a warm smile. "May this blade serve you well in your ventures."

With both hands, Hisui carefully took the sword, before letting out a small cry when she realized it was notably heavier than the Starting Sword. Seating herself at the table, Hisui laid the sword out before her, pressing a finger to it, and was greeted by a window that detailed its stats and its name. "Anneal Blade...?" she murmured, carefully lifting it again. It would take some time to get used to its weight and size, but she was sure she could do it.

A quest completion message appeared before her as she was equipping the Anneal Blade and storing the well-worn Starting Sword in her inventory, and her exp rose yet again. She was well on her way, it seemed...Hisui leaned back in the chair with another sigh of relief. Everything will be fine. I will survive in this world.

While she was resting, though, she noticed the NPC lady taking a wooden cup from a shelf, placing the contents of the pot inside it, and walking towards another room, holding the cup gingerly as though the slightest breeze would shatter it into nothingness. Intrigued, Hisui sat up and followed the lady. Would she get to see the sick daughter now...?

Standing in the doorway, in the door which had been left ajar, she could see it was a small bedroom. There was a small wooden dresser by the wall, and a bed by the window, along with a single small chair. And, surely enough, she saw a girl lying on the bed, who looked to be seven or eight years of age.

Hisui gasped in a bit of horror--the child's complexion was ghostly, and the few parts of the girl's body she could see with the shoulders peeking out from the sheets were bony and thin. "How terrible it must have been for you..." she whispered, not moving from the door.

Upon noticing her mother, the girl lifted her eyelids slightly, and was looking at Hisui, who let out a little cry of surprise...but soon was at ease, for the girl's lips formed into a faint smile. As the mother was helping her to a sitting position, however, the girl's body bent over, gripped by a coughing fit. To the rather emotional Hisui, it seemed that face surrounded by those shaking light brown braids would disappear into the afternoon sun...

While stroking the girl's back gently with her right hand, the mother sat down on the chair by the side, and spoke. "Agatha. Here, the traveling swordswoman got some medicine for you from the forest. If you drink this, you'll get better for sure." With that motherly smile that made Hisui feel even more at ease whenever she saw it, the NPC lady made the girl take a hold of the cup that her left hand held.

"...Okay." Agatha nodded with a soft, high-pitched yet soothing voice, and holding on to the cup with her small hands, she gulped it down. When the cup left her face, it seemed that a slight tinge of red returned to her cheeks, and Hisui smiled as well, knowing that the young girl was just fine.

Returning the now empty cup to her mother, Agatha returned her gaze to Hisui, and her face shone with the most charming grin that the hooded girl had ever seen. Her lips moved, her stuttering words flowed out like demure jewels. "Thank you, onee-chan."

Hisui took a step back, completely knocked off guard. "O-onee-chan?!" she repeated in a tone of disbelief and embarrassment. How was the NPC this sentient...? Perhaps she had been wrong about how un-humanlike they were after all...finally, Hisui shook her head and returned the smile, though hers was weaker and more timid. "...y-you're welcome, Agatha. S-sleep well tonight, a-and...I hope you get better." Realizing she had no other words to say, she raised a hand in farewell to the NPC family and disappeared out the door.

With the new sword at her hip, Hisui set out to challenge SAO once again.