Restarting A New Life

There are four kinds of system-defined player relationships within Blade Work Saga. First, complete strangers. Second is "friends." Friends registered on the friend list are able to send simple text messages to each other, as well as search for their locations on the map.

The third category is guild members. In addition to the previous functions, teaming up with guild-mates in battle gives each member a slight experience bonus. The downside of that is that a certain percentage of all money earned must be subtracted for the guild's coffers.

Liza and I already met the friend and guild-mate criteria, but by temporarily leaving the guild, we filled its place with the fourth and final category. That was marriage, better known as couple-registration. It's a far simpler and less ceremonial step than anyone might think. One person sends a proposal message to the other, and if it is accepted, boom: You're married. The consequences, however, are far greater than a simple friend or guild request.

At the most basic level, marriage in BWS means the sharing of all information and items. You can observe your spouse's status screen at any time, and all items are pooled into a shared inventory. It exposes one's most potent vulnerabilities to another person, which means that in Arcadian, where betrayal and deception were widespread, quite few couples reach marriage. The abysmal gender ratio doesn't help, either.

After getting married two months ago, Liza and I shifted down in 331st Stage. Majority of it was covered with thick forests and countless lakes. The largest form of civilization to be found was in tiny villages. There were no monsters in the wilderness, and the dungeon was easy, so the entire stage had been cleared in just four days, and few players bothered to remember it.

We bought a large farm-land next to a lake and Neetto helped to build a house there. Even a small house in BWS was no simple matter to purchase; building a custom-made home was more difficult. However, Liza offered to sell her apartment in Salzburg, but I strongly objected—it would have been an incredible waste to get rid of such a perfect place—so we raised the funds by selling off all of our rare valuables with Asri's help.

Asri looked disappointed that we were leaving, but just the thought of the uproar that would ensue if word got out that a celebrity like Liza was married gave us the chills. A lonely place like the 331st Stage would buy us plenty of time to relax in peace. It was the 15th day of the month of Ingrate in the fifteenth year of the game.

"I am leaving for the farm. Wanna come?" I asked Liza who was setting up our new home. It had been nearly a week since we moved in here; I even used an empty ability slot to take up farming ability and managed to raise it by 25% in a week using different bonus items.

We came in the farm where I have been growing some simpler plants like rice and wheat. "Oh you got a good crop. But what would you do after harvest?" Liza asked and I grinned, "Well I'll keep some of it for us and sell the rest to Asri." I called the farm menu and took a look at its status, the crop was 70% complete and after I finished with fertilization and irrigation, we went for a stroll about the lake.

"I wonder if this is how it feels when you're totally away from combat." Liza looked at me and remarked, "Well, it's so much peaceful and relaxing. I wish we could stay here forever." I smiled and nodded but I know that it's not possible. The maximum time we would be here is till the next GM fight. The frontlines were expanding at a considerably low speed, in three months we moved up by only ten stages; no doubt fighting would have been tougher. We were less worried about our levels because we were already at a much higher level than others and moreover we do get our EXP from guild quota and farming.

We were walking hand-in-hand and saw a lot of fishermen at the lake shore. "Hey, Liza…" I clammed up for a moment, but I had to ask. "Is this…just inside the game? Us, I mean…Is it something that's going to vanish when we return to the real world?"

"Are you trying to get me angry?" She spun around, pure emotion burning in her eyes. "Even if this was a normal game and we weren't stuck inside it, I don't fall in love for fun." She stopped and squished my face in her hands. "There's one thing I've learned here: Never give up until the end. If we get back to the real world, I'll find you again, and I'll fall in love with you again."

How many times had I been amazed at Liza's strength? Or was it just a sign of how weak I was in comparison? In any case, I'd forgotten how good it could feel to rely on someone else, to let them be your support. I didn't know how long would it take them to clear till the next GM without us but I let my mind wander, my arms full of gentle warmth and a sweet scent.

A year passed by, and we weren't called for our help in expanding the frontlines, though it was at Stage 765, but the expansion was literally without much costs. I was in the field trying to grow some Jam-berries, my farming ability was 65% complete and I thought it would have been an easy farm. Jam-berry was one of the most expensive farming items in Arcadian and Asri had agreed to pay me quite a sum.

It was the month of Ingrate in the sixteenth year of the game. It had rained the last night and I was expecting to see some sprouts but to no avail. I checked the farm status and the crop showed 0%. "Aah! This is not working. I don't know what am I missing?" I sighed and sat down at a small hillock near the farm.

"Trying to grow some high level plants?" I hear a voice over me. I lurched upward with a start to see a man standing over me. He was wearing a heavy coat and a cap with earflaps looking just like me. The real surprise was the man's age. He had to be in his sixties, at least. The lines of old age were carved into the face behind the wire-rim glasses. It was extremely rare to find such an elderly person in the midst of a game populated by hardcore players. In fact, I'd never seen anyone as old as him. Unless…

"I'm not an NPC," he said, reading my mind. He made his way down the hillock to the farm. "I-I'm sorry, I was just really surprised…" "No, I don't blame you. I've got to be the oldest person in this thing, by a long shot." He laughed heartily, his solid body shaking. The man sat down next to me and pulled a bottle out of his waist-pouch, fumbled with the pop-up menu, and sprayed the liquid in the field.

"The name's Naren. I'm a fisherman-cum-farmer here. Before this, I was the head of security for a network company called Trane Networking. Sorry I can't give you my card." He laughed again. I had a feeling I knew why he was here. Trane Networking was a network management company partnered with ACM Technologies. They were responsible for the network lines leading to BWS's servers.

"My name's Naperjet. I just moved down here from a higher stage. Mr. Naren, were you…involved in maintaining BWS's connections…?" "I was the man in charge of that, yes." He nodded. I felt conflicted about this. He must have gotten trapped in this world just by doing his job. "The bosses told me I didn't actually have to log in, but I'm the type who can't be satisfied unless I see my work with my own two eyes. Well, I sure paid a price for that one."

He laughed again and sprouts began coming out of the farm. He was a man who knew how to farm. Apparently he liked to talk, as he continued without waiting for a response. "I believe there's about twenty or thirty other older fellas like me who got caught in something they shouldn't have. Most of them are biding their time down in that first town, but I just can't keep myself from a good day of fishing. Hey! Wanna fish?"

I nodded and we went to the lake. He asked, "So you were trying to cultivate Jam-berries. I guess you should try to cultivate something simpler." "Well, I am a farmer since a year. So I thought that it would be easy for me to cultivate." We reached the lake and he didn't finish laughing at my comment.

Sitting on the lake shore, he equipped his fishing rod pulled out a bait and swung it inside the lake. A minute later, the rod jerked and he pulled the rod hard. "I've used to search for good rivers and lakes, and that's what brought me all the way up here." "I see…And there are no monsters on this stage." Naren simply grinned at that statement. "What's the word? Are there any good spots up higher?"

"Hmm…the 436th Stage is all beach and sea, really—so I imagine there are big fish to catch there." "Aha! I'll have to pay it a visit." Suddenly, his line jolted downward again. Without missing a beat, Naren tugged the rod up. Not only was he probably an adept fisherman in real life, but his Fishing skill was likely through the roof.

"Whoa, it's a big 'un!" I leapt to my feet in a hurry, but he calmly spun his rod and yanked a large, sparkling blue fish out of the water. It flopped around at his feet and then disappeared as it was automatically transferred to his inventory. "Nicely done!" he smiled shyly.

"Nah, it's all just a numbers game here," he said, scratching his head. "The problem is, I can catch 'em, but not cook 'em. I'd love to have some good fish-curry, but there's no point without any seasoning." I hesitated. We'd moved down here to avoid attention, but I had a feeling this fellow was not interested in gossip. "I feel like…I might have something that'll get the job done…" "You don't say!" his eyes flashed behind the lenses as he leaned forward.

Liza was initially alarmed when I came home with a guest, but she soon recovered and gave him a smile. "Welcome home. Who is this?" "Ah, this is Mr. Naren, a fisherman-cum-farmer. And…" I turned to Naren, unsure of how to introduce Liza. She stepped right in and gave the elderly man another smile.

"I'm Liza, Naperjet's wife. Welcome to our home." She gave him a crisp bow. Naren's mouth dropped as he stared at her. She was wearing a plain long-skirt, cotton shirt, an apron, and a scarf—a far cry from her gallant uniform, but beautiful all the same. He snapped back to his senses after several blinks.

"Oh, pardon me, I got lost for a moment there. My name is Naren, and your hospitality is appreciated…" He laughed and scratched his head. Liza easily transformed Naren's catch into dishes of curry and simmered fish. The scent of her fragrant seasonings filled the room, and Naren's nostrils flared widely as he sucked in the air.

It tasted less like freshwater fish than a fatty, seasonal yellowtail. According to him, this type of fish required at least 60% of fishing skill to be mastered, and we forewent conversation for a few minutes, choosing to savor the meal instead. Eventually all the dishes were picked clean, and Naren gave a deep sigh of satisfaction, cup of hot tea in hand.

"Ahh…I needed that. Thank you for the meal. Never thought I'd see so many seasonings in this place…" "Oh, it's homemade. Please, take some." Liza brought a small bottle out of the kitchen and handed it to Naren. She wisely did not mention the ingredients. She smiled and thanked him in return for the fish.

"Naperjet has farming ability, so he can't fish. That apart he never brought some interesting farm products home." I sipped my tea, "Its too hard to farm any good crops." Naren laughed and replied, "Well no, only the jam-berries you were trying to cultivate are tough to grow here, you need farming ability at 80% to grow them here. They are better grown in the stages between 100 and 150."

"That reminds me. What did you put in the field so that sprout grew up?" He looked towards me, a grand smile on his face "Well, if you agree to help me out; then I'll tell you." I nodded and he continued, "It's a special fertilizer-type item. It reduces the prerequisites of farming by 30%. It's a very rare item and lasts for 3 crop seasons. Ok now I want you to help me in the grand-fishing challenge in the coming week." I stood up, "I have no ability slot empty, so how could I help."

"Oh don't worry! It's a tag team match and the team can have upto 5 members. Listen…" we closed up, "It is rumored that a giant monstrous fish lives in the lake. If we manage to catch that then we'll win for sure. The criterion for winning is the weight of the fish." I wasn't interested much in the event but I had an obligation towards him as I had promised to help him.

Liza however jumped in excited, "I have an empty ability slot, so I'll take fishing as ability. I guess we'll be able to get that out otherwise I'll catch as many fish as possible." I grinned, "Yeah you'll do fine." Naren coughed and continued, "Naperjet, what's your STR stat." I couldn't think of an immediate answer so I opened up my inventory and pulled out a sword. "I can easily equip this one. Do you think it would be enough?"

Naren gave a doubtful look, "It looks too light." And took the sword from my hand, but before I or Liza tried to stop him; he had taken the majority of the hilt and removed my hand. The very next moment we heard a loud 'THUD' and saw him lying on the floor with the sword on him. "Remove this sword, it's too heavy." I lifted up the sword and dematerialized it in the inventory while Liza helped the old man to get on his two.

"Ok it will work, you have quite an amazing strength. Lets meet the next week." Naren went out of the house and I burst into laughter. Liza puffed her cheeks, "That's not very funny. You could have told him the STR directly." I stopped laughing "Well, if I did then he would have guessed that I was a clearer. I didn't want that. Anyway I can't stop imagining the expression when he felt the full weight of the sword." Hearing this Liza too started to giggle.

That night, Liza wriggled into my bed, complaining about the cold due to the rain. Once we were fully nestled together, she finally gave a contented sigh. My wife blinked her eyes sleepily, then smiled, remembering something.

"…I guess there really are all types here…"

"He was a jolly guy, wasn't he?"

"Yeah."

We giggled for a few moments, then stifled it. I continued,

"I've been fighting up above for so long, I completely forgot that there are still people trying to lead normal lives," I muttered.

"I'm not saying that we're special or anything, but I think being a high-enough level to fight on the frontier means that we have a responsibility to them."

"I've never thought of it that way…I always prioritized getting stronger for my own personal survival, nothing more."

"I think there are plenty of people putting their hope in you, Naperjet. Including me, I strongly believe you would be the one to get the Last Hit bonus from the 1000th Stage's GM."

"Hearing that just makes me want to run away." I brushed her hair as she pouted, and inwardly prayed that this life would continue just a bit longer. Sooner or later, we'd have to return to the front line, for the sake of Naren and all the other players. But just for now…

Asri and Neetto had sent messages warning us of the difficulties in clearing the upcoming stages. But in all honesty, my life here with Liza was the most important thing to me.

A week later, we went to the lake and met Naren who introduced us to his friends from his fishing guild. Liza had been working hard with her fishing ability and had it completed by 20% in a week. On knowing that, Naren and his friends had their jaw-dropped, "Woah! 20% in a week, I think at that pace you would master it in a couple of months at max."

Liza had a full length hoody cloak over her normal dress while I used my normal casual outfit. There were a lot of players there for the grand event. An NPC registered us for the event as a team and were given a spot in the western side of the lake. A countdown appeared in the middle of the lake and flashed 'START'. Countless rods went inside the lake including Liza and Naren's. In the meantime, I and the other members of Naren's guild had some chit-chat.

By the time it was half-time, Liza and Naren had caught quiet a lot of fishes, though they disappeared right after coming out of the water; their weight, names and quantities were registered in a system list that we were monitoring closely. "We have about 26 small and medium sized fishes. They weigh a total 35 kg. I think you should look for the monstrous one." I shouted to Naren who gave a thumbs-up and took out special bait from his bait box and swung it inside the lake.

A minute later, the rod jerked very hard. Naren had almost fallen into the lake when he controlled himself and shouted, "Its time. SWITCH!!!" In a moment the rod was in my hands and I felt the full force of the giant fish. "Whoa!" I dug both feet in hurriedly and pulled the rod back up. The physical force feedback the game ordinarily used was far weaker than what I was feeling now.

"I-is it safe to pull with all I've got?" I asked Naren, concerned for the durability of the rod and line. "They're the finest you can buy! Get her out!" His face was red with excitement. I re-gripped the handle and pulled with all my strength. The rod contorted into an upside-down U shape. Someone shouted, "Looks like the boy's trying to get his hands on the rumored giant fish."

Within a minute a large crowd gathered around our station. Since outsiders weren't allowed in others' station, they couldn't enter the wooden station. All of the players were shouting, "PULL! PULL OUT!" I smiled thinking, 'Put yourself here and see.' Despite my efforts to escape public notice, I felt a large force to struggle with.

Despite the lack of focus on strength, my level was apparently high enough to give me the advantage in this particular test. 'Whatever happens, happens' I shouted in my mind and dug my feet in and slowly backed up, steadily pulling the unseen quarry closer and closer to the surface. "Oh! I saw it!" Liza jumped up and pointed over the water. I was well clear of the shoreline and leaning backward, so I was in no position to take a closer look.

The other onlookers murmured and rushed to the water's edge adjoining the station, peering down into the water, which grew exponentially deeper away from the shore. I finally gave in to my curiosity and summoned all my strength to yank the rod upward. Suddenly, all the figures crowding around the water in front of me flinched. They all began to back up.

"What does it look li—" Before I could finish, they all turned around and ran, full speed. Liza passed me on the left, Naren on the right, their faces pale. When I turned back to call to them, the weight suddenly lifted from my hands, and I fell backward onto my rear end.

'Oh Man, it broke', I thought. I tossed the pole aside and leaped to my feet to run to the water. The next moment, I saw the surface of the lake bulging upward, an enormous black circle. I stood there, eyes and mouth gaping, until I heard Liza's voice calling out from a distance. "Naperjet, watch out!" I turned and saw that Liza, Naren, and all the others had retreated to the bank above the shore a considerable length away.

I heard an enormous splash behind me and finally realized the gravity of the situation. An unpleasant foreboding itching at my skin, I turned around to the water again. The fish was standing. To be more accurate, the creature appeared to be more like a reptilian swordfish. Little waterfalls spilled over its scales, and six massive legs crushed the grass on the shoreline as it peered down at me.

The full height of the thing was well over sixteen feet. Its feet met the body at a place just higher than my head, and it seemed made for swallowing cows whole. There was a basketball-size eye on either side of the ancient fish's head, and they looked into mine. A yellow cursor automatically appeared over the beast naming it "Raging Swordfish". It was a perfect monster in its own right.

I took several steps backward, my smile twitching. Then I spun around and took off like a rabbit. The beast let out an earthshaking roar, then barreled after me. I was practically flying through the air, every last point of my agility in use, and in a few seconds I had reached the others and was ready to argue. "Th-th-that's not fair! You can't run off without me! You left me to die, Liza."

"I don't think this is the right time for the blame game, Naperjet!" I turned back to see the giant fish charging after us, its movement clumsy but fast enough. "It's running over the land…Does it breathe like frogs?" "Naperjet, this is no time for idle contemplation! We got to flee!" Now Naren was the one yelping in panic. Most of the crowd had frozen stock-still, several of them collapsed on the ground.

Liza asked me, "Hey Naperjet! Do you have any weapons?" I replied, "I got my shield in emergency equipment but for sword it would take some time." She sighed, "I'll see it." She pulled off the cloak and her radiant brown hair flowed perfectly in the breeze. She pulled out the bow from her back, summoned an arrow and fired it at the incoming fish.

Strangely enough, the arrow did hit but didn't cause any damage to the monster. "What's that! How could it be possible?" Liza shouted, I too was shocked but then Naren explained, "In this tournament, weapons other than fishing rod is not allowed. Here fishes for every other weapon are a system designated 'IMMORTAL OBJECT'. I am sorry if I would have known that it was Field Master type monster, I wouldn't have chosen this tournament for catching it."

The fish-monster now enraged by the attack was approaching faster than before. I had equipped my shield and gave the idea of equipping my sword as it would be of no use. "Get back to safety." I went forward as near as possible with my shield in front of me. I heard Naren shouting at Liza, "Your husband's gonna die, Liza. Call him back."

I was about 10 feet away from the fish when it charged at me. I initiated the Offensive Shield weapon art 'Full Fortification'. It was a heavy defensive art that can nullify all sorts of attacks and causes 25% of the damage to be caused. Since it allows me to hit immortal objects that meant this fish was no exception.

The fish hit the shield and was thrown back. I initiated the 'Boomerang' art in my shield and let it fly to the fish. It hit the monster twice before returning and decimated more than half of its HP. It again charged upon me and I initiated 'Impaler' art and as it hit the monster, the monster disintegrated into countless fragments.

I went back to the stupefied crowd and saw Naren hanging from Liza's hand. I giggled and asked her to let him go. "He thought that you would die from that fish and despite multiple attempts by us to stop, he didn't listen and was about to charge when I had to pull him up to stop him."Liza explained the whole scenario and we couldn't help but laugh. And then the announcement came that the event has ended and our team was declared winner for catching 35 kg fish and a massive 150 kg monster.

Liza apologized for her rudeness to Naren and then someone came rushing to me, "I know you, I have read about you in the newspaper. You are Naperjet, who uses a GM-level skill called Offensive Shield. Your duel with Asrivast and Heathway were breaking news for about a month, how Heathway was on the brink of defeat thanks to you." I tried to hush him to avoid making a scene there but other players converged towards me. Another one began "So you are that Naperjet, The Rogue Swordsman who uses sword, shield and dagger. I want an autograph."

Naren came forward first, "Hey! I want an autograph first. I met him first." I gave them an uncomfortable smile, I never thought that I would be identified instead of Liza who had a large fan-base. But my grief was short-lived as someone approached Liza, "A-are you…Miss Liza from the Golden Knights?" Another one came out, "Yes, I knew it! I've got a picture of you!"

Liza gave him a stiff smile and backed away. Now the murmuring in the crowd doubled in volume. "This is fantastic! I never thought I'd get to see you in person…C-can I have your autograph too." He stopped suddenly, looking back and forth between Liza and me. Then he murmured, his face stoic, "Y-you're…married…" Now it was my turn to give him a stiff smile. We stood there awkwardly while the man gave a wail of grief.

Our cover was blown up after a full year of peace, though there were no information brokers now. Yet we got a lot of new companions and friends. Naren helped me with my farming and we had a chance to see his farm which was almost as big as ours. We registered each other as friends and took part in many tournaments together.