The water rippled as the bobber slowly waded its way majestically through the pristine waters of the lake. This lake made up the majority of Circleshore, or Floor 6 to those who preferred numerical designations. Circleshore was a tranquil getaway, almost like a breath of fresh air from the harsh realities that the other floors provided. Elise had stripped herself of her armor, nothing more than the cloth brigandine she usually wore under the armor plates and her leather chausses. She didn't feel particularly in danger here. Her level, now eighteen, was above the recommended level for this floor. Even if that wasn't the case, the monsters here were almost docile in nature. Even still, Elise kept her sword handy. It lay in the sand on her left side; its brilliant, pale green hue, radiated in the sun. Each little ray of light refracted perfectly off its unique flamberge design. It almost looked like the sword was alive, or dancing in the midst of a fire. When she had forged it, after her little side trip with Krissu, it had been a monumental jump from her previous sword. It was still a great sword now, probably better than anything she could make with current materials. [The Fire Dancer] was its name in the system, probably due more to its appearance than any actual fire kinship.
Elise leaned back onto the sand, her hair spilling out beneath her. She held her fishing pole loosely in both hands, her eyes closed as she soaked up the virtual sun. Even being virtual, it had all the radiant warmth and beauty of its actual celestial counterpart. It had been a few hours since she had started fishing at this spot, yet nothing of note had been caught. It didn't quite bother her much, it was a beautiful day and all, but it was a tad boring. Her bobber bounced a few times without her notice, a small nibble, nothing to signify that anything had been hooked. She sat up again, her body letting out a sigh of exasperation. Fishing wasn't exactly one of her best skills, far from it. In fact, it was only something she had tried to recently pick up. Elise quickly began to think she didn't have the patience for it however. Too much sitting, not enough doing.
The bobber teased her with its up and down motion, something was definitely displaying interest in the bait, but it hadn't committed yet. A couple walked by beside her, giving her a quick wave as they sat down a little farther down shore. A quick glance in their direction showed they were about her age, from the looks of their name slots they appeared to be in the same guild. Not an uncommon occurrence anymore, people starting relationships in SAO. Especially when people were in the same guild, those were the ones who usually ended up getting "married". Or, as married as one could get in SAO. It was a pretty simple thing actually, and becoming all too common. The greatest benefit was probably the shared storage between partners, kind of like a private communal storage bank for two people. Elise only groaned at the thought. Couples were so dependent on one another and Elise had sworn never to depend on anybody.
In her distraction while scrutinizing the couple, whatever it was on the other end of the line had bitten down and escaped with her bait. Elise cursed under her breath as she quickly recalled the line and stashed the rod into her inventory. She was done fishing for the day, one could only take so much aggravation and lack of productivity. Bending to pick up her sword, she quickly toggled her armor back on in her inventory screen. The heavy, yet reassuring weight was back on her body. That weight signified protection, freedom, life.
She made her way to to the portal area of Circleshore, the sun on the verge of setting in its soon to be twilight hours. The twenty four hour clock in SAO was just as faithful as the one outside it. As she accessed the portal, she picked her destination and in a flash, she appeared in Dovren. A city situated perilously on a steep cliff, it was like something out of a fairy tale, or well, a game. This bustling town of trade had become a hub for merchants selling their wares the world over. That was exactly the reason she had decided to come here now, wherever there were merchants, there were bound to be excellent chefs. Her stomach rumbled loudly as she made her way through the streets of the safe town.
After only a few minutes of walking, a suitable enough place presented itself. It seemed popular enough, typically a good sign when it came to restaurants and their quality. Elise made her way inside, pushing slightly against the crowds as she made her way to a table in the corner. The rustic charm of the building was undeniable. Creaky wood floor boards, the soft dancing glow of candlelit light fixtures and the mounted heads of trophies adorned the walls. It was just about how Elise had pictured an old tavern might had been when adventurers actually roamed the Earth. A portly waiter made his way over, notepad and cheery demeanor in hand. Elise quickly placed an order for whatever the special might be, in this case it was a roasted Corn Crow from floor seven. The waiter ran off again to go give the order to whoever was doing prep tonight. The chef was surely swamped, but he or she had to be leveling their skill quickly with all the work.
She waited patiently, the crowd being entertainment in itself. She loved to people watch, people always proved to be a most fascinating subject. Going about their business, friends chatting, people flirting, people getting shot down while flirting, etc. Elise was one of the few solo players in the room, the majority belonging to guilds by the looks of it. A man looked in her direction, probably a good few years older than her. She looked away, hoping not to draw any attention to herself. It didn't matter; the man stood up from his table, leaving his friends and drink behind. Elise groaned as he approached her, his size looming over her.
"Save your breath, I'm not interested," She looked up at him and spoke flatly. The waiter came back with her drink, some kind of cold tea type of drink. The man looked puzzled at her matter of fact statement, he hadn't even said anything yet and she had shot down whatever it was preemptively.
"I didn't even say anything!" He just about bellowed at her, his fists clenching in response.
"I can guess what you're going to say," Elise answered back at him mildly, she closed her eyes and took a sip from her drink.
"Oh really, so you got it all figured out?" He didn't take too kindly to being shot down so quickly in front of his friends. "It's not even what you think. I noticed you didn't have a guild indicator in your name slate. If you're on this floor by yourself, I assume your level is pretty decent. I wanted to invite you to join our guild." His voice definitely sounded agitated. If Elise had to guess, he definitely had a temper.
"See, that's funny." Elise let out a forced, sarcastic laugh. "That's exactly what I knew you were coming over for and I stand by my prior comment. I'm not interested. Go sell to someone who's buying, Tiny." She sipped from her drink again, this time taking a loud, exaggerated gulp.
The man was fuming, he apparently didn't enjoy her nickname for him. He walked away, only to come back in a hurry, his fist aimed squarely at her face. The system intervened before it made contact. His hand bounced harmlessly away as the town's safe zone prevented any harm from occurring. Elise payed him no mind, she knew the system would do that, it always did.
"Y-you listen here -" His guild mates from across the room came running to drag him away, his insults becoming muffled as they did so. It didn't take too much imagination to know what he was going to call her, and it saddened her to know another thought of her that way. Just as quickly as the sadness came, she pushed it away however. He continued to cry out vehemently as they took him outside to calm down.
Elise sat at her table, all eyes now turned her direction. She gave them a quick wave to acknowledge them and turned her attention to the food that was now making its way to her, oblivious waiter and all. Dinner and a show.
She was able to finish the rest of her dinner in peace, the other patrons quickly returned their attention back to their own matters. Elise payed her bill, a nice tip for the waiter included and made her way out into the crisp evening air. She wasn't tired enough for bed, but it wasn't good to go out leveling alone at night. Two weeks prior, she had missed the boss fight that had occurred and she wanted to make sure she didn't miss anymore from that point on. When all that was going on, she had still been busy with Krissu and Reinhart. She had been rather curt to Reinhart when they first met, but for reasons she couldn't quite explain, she had added him to her in-game friend list. Something she didn't do a whole lot.
Maybe it was because he had saved Krissu's life that day? It didn't really matter in the end. She hadn't talked to him in sometime, he was a little rough around the edges. He hadn't messaged her, nor her him. With a swipe of her right hand, she pulled up her friend list to see if he was still alive. As expected, he was indeed still alive. She tapped the send message button, the dictation dialogue popped up in its place.
[To: Reinhart]
[Subject: Bored]
Hey, Reinhart. Want to scout out the dungeon on floor 8?
She sent the message, brief as it was. It wasn't really necessary to send a long, embellished novel. In fact, Reinhart would probably appreciate its brevity. After it sent, she closed all her menus and strolled about the city. The hustle and bustle was nice, a different kind of enjoyment from the fishing hole. She pulled up a seat on a bench towards the center of town. If he didn't respond, she'd be forced to go find something else to occupy her time. In a town like this, it probably wouldn't be too hard.