Shattered: A SAO Tale (Sword Art Online)

Not 20 minutes later, the party plus Ceba were sitting in the external area of a cafe, overlooking the green lake at the center of the 38th floor's safe zone.

They all had ice cream scones.

It was an unusual enough sight that several players who passed by slowed down to look at the group and whisper.

There were even a couple of frontliners who came up to greet them and joke that Drifter was getting old if he was back in a safe zone before the sun was down, before moving on.

"Ah, Drifter, stay still, please!"

Ceba already spoke to the Reavers with a familiarity that made it seen like they had known each other since childhood, and not met half an hour ago in an almost violent encounter.

The spearmaster just sighed, and did his best to ignore his wife - traitor! - and friends silently laughing at his discomfort.

Drifter didn't know why Ceba insisted on painting him eating ice cream. Something about composition and backdrop. He didn't understand a word. At least his wife seemed amused.

"I thought you would want to paint Drif with his spear, Ceba. You know, all frontliner-like. Broken Spear Drifter, that stuff. Isn't this a little... Too normal?"

Vallerk peeked over the woman's shoulder as she painted. Judging by his raised eyebrow and impressed expression, it was turning out quite well.

"Oh, I already have paintings of him like that. Of all of you, actually. I used the raid broadcasts as the base and winged the rest. I thought this would look cooler since it's more natural and different. Also, I don't think Drifter would accept if I asked him to pose all frontline-like like you said."

The last part was added almost like an afterthought, and Drifter narrowed his eyes. Ceba was a lot smarter than her initial airhead impression showed.

"Hey, does that mean you have paintings of me?"

"Sure. Of all the Reavers. Wanna see?"

"Yeah!"

Agil stuffed the rest of his ice cream into his mouth, and grabbed the stack of paper Ceba handed him. He grinned at the first one.

"Wow! Never thought I would look this dashing. You are gonna have to paint me this one again so I can show my wife when we get out."

There was a tick of silence before Agil realized what he had said. The big man coughed once, then resolutely turned over the painting and looked at the next one.

"Oh, that's the 27th floor boss, ain't it? Yuuki and Ran are gonna like this one."

Nobody commented on Agil's little slip up. Wolv, Vallerk, and Yuna went over to see the other paintings while Kizmel scooted over closer to Drifter so he had company while Ceba drew him.

"You know Yuna's this enthusiastic just to mess with you, right?"

The spearmaster let out a long-suffering sigh, but there was no concealing the fond glance he gave his wife.

"Don't I know it. If it makes her happy, though..."

"That's what I thought. You are a great couple."

Drifter chuckled. He didn't need anyone to tell him that, but it was still good to hear.

"Thank you, Kiz. And now that we know a painter, Yuna's gonna make sure that's immortalized forever. Which reminds me-"

He turned to Ceba. The blond woman was bitting her lips, concentrating on what she was doing. That was another endearing side to her.

"-Ceba, how come you became a painter in SAO of all places?"

Her brush stopped moving and she looked up. Resting her chin on her hand, Ceba considered what to say.

"Well, I'm an amateur artist. A freelancer. I work as an assistant's assistant's assistant's manga artist, also some small advertising, stuff like that. That's just to make ends meet, though. What I really want is to make real paintings. The kind that goes in galleries and people get all excited over."

Her expression brightened as she spoke, then fell again.

"I hit a slump, even some of my freelance work was getting sub-par. A friend of mine who played SAO's beta said I should give it a try because there were a lot of incredibly beautiful things that didn't exist in the real world, and that trying to paint them might get me out of my slump. I gave it a try and... Well- here we are."

"Oof. Tough luck."

That was all Drifter said. It wasn't like the spearmaster had anything to console her. She was trapped in SAO, that was just a fact.

"At least you seem to be making the best out of it. I didn't even know there was a Painting skill in Aincrad."

Yuna smiled comfortingly. Ceba nodded rapidly.

"Most people don't. Actually, there are a lot of overlooked lifestyle skills. Painting, Fishing, Carpentry... Even Cooking doesn't get much attention. Pretty much everyone is just concerned with Blacksmithing and Tailoring - which, understandable - but it also means they are missing out on a lot of the more relaxing stuff."

Drifter scratched his head, embarrassed for some reason he didn't quite understand. He was one of those players who didn't pay attention to lifestyle skills, having deleted his - admittedly very low proficiency - Tailoring skill to make room for more combat oriented ones.

Ceba seemed to notice his reaction, because she laughed loudly.

"Don't worry, Drifter, I'm not calling you out. You are frontliners, of course you don't have a lot of time to waste leveling up lifestyle skills. 'Cept Forge Master Lisbeth, that is. But it's only because there's folks like you fighting that I can pursue my silly hobby."

"I don't see anything silly 'bout it, Ceba. And I might be biased-"

Wolv held up a drawing of him, Shigio, and Namate with their arms around each other.

"-but I think whatever slump you hit? You took right off from it. Can I keep this one?"

Ceba nodded softly. She had drawn that one based on her memories, many floors after Namate died.

"Are there a lot of other players who took up lifestyle skills? I'll admit, I never paid much attention to them."

"A few. Only 3 or 4 more painters like me, but there's a couple who has a very high mastery of Carpentry. They mostly stay on the 4th floor. And there's a whole bunch of old fishermen who hang about the lakes on the 22nd floor."

It was Drifter's turn to nod. He wasn't going to pick up a lifestyle skill again, but it was nice to know that some of SAO's most unfortunate victims were managing to have a somewhat normal life.

"They seem to hang out mostly on lower floors?"

"Well, yeah. We aren't exactly fighters, are we? I know my Dagger proficiency is pathetic, and I train it more than most."

"What were you doing on the upper floors then? And alone, on top of that."

Drifter asked what had been on his mind since they met Ceba.

"I wanted to paint the Wilted Faeries. It's rare to encounter peaceful mobs like them, you know. Ah, speaking of that! You killed all my models!"

She pointed an accusing finger at Drifter. He just raised an eyebrow.

"They were mobs."

"Well, I know that. But still!"

Ceba pouted, and the others chuckled. There were all kinds of crazies in SAO. Kizmel crossed her arms.

"I assure you we would have taken your opinion in consideration if we knew you were there, Ceba. How did you stay concealed for so long anyway? You almost gave Drifter a heart attack."

"Hey!"

The spearmaster's complaint was summarily ignored by everyone around. Ceba just scratched her head.

"Hmm... It's not something I like to advertise."

"Ah, you don't need to say it if you don't wish to. I apologize for prying."

Kizmel quickly retracted her words. Every player had secrets they didn't share. Reaver's Requiem knew that better than most.

"It's no big deal, really. And you guys are frontliners, so I don't mind you knowing. It's just my Hiding skill, nothing earth shattering. I just made sure to train it a lot so it made my hobby safer."

Ceba waved Kizmel's apologies off and told them. Drifter couldn't help but let out an impressed whistle.

His Searching had already surpassed 800 points, and was without a doubt one of the highest ranked in SAO. He didn't have it activated all the time, obviously, but he had used it to scan the field before engaging the pack of Wilted Faeries. If Ceba had already been there, painting, either she had been very lucky to be just out of his range, or she had even more points in Hiding than he did in Searching.

"Ouch. I think my pride's hurt. Hiding or not, I'm not used to getting sneaked up on."

The spearmaster joked, but it was the truth. Refined through thousands of battles, Drifter's sixth sense was very strong. It was hard for anyone, mob or player, to get the jump on him, regardless of skills.

"You did scare the life outta me in return, if that helps your ego recover?"

"It does a little, thanks."

Drifter raised his nose to the air smugly, eliciting laughter from his friends. Ceba was one of the loudest.

"You guys are a riot. I didn't think frontliners had any mode but all serious."

Agil snorted.

"We are still players, Ceba. We are focused when we are doing our job, but otherwise we aren't that different from everyone else."

"Except you 'do your job' nearly 24/7?"

Agil couldn't deny that. You couldn't really turn off being a frontliner. The only ones who saw their other side were other frontliners like them.

"Fair. By what you are saying, I suppose you met other frontliners before? And that they didn't leave a great impression?"

The brush stopped moving, and Ceba's expression soured. She looked away from the Reavers.

"Kibaou the Challenger. Before the 25th Massacre, mind you. Called my paintings useless and a waste of time."

Drifter and the others scowled at the reminder of the unpleasant man. Of all the frontliners Ceba could possibly have come across, he was arguably the worst.

"Then you already know not to take what he said to heart. Kibaou's an idiot. Your paintings and drawings are unbelievably beautiful, Ceba. And there's nothing useless about doing something you love."

Yuna wrapped the artist in an one-armed hug. Ceba might be three years older than her, but the songstress had a maturity to her that few could match. It came from being in no small part responsible for keeping her guildmates alive.

"Yun's right. Forget Kibaou. I know I can't wait to see how Drifter's painting turns out. And you'll have to make one of me later, got it?"

"We also gotta check out that fishing spot you talked about. We could make a guild outing outta it, hum? What do you think, Drifter? Take the whole guild and see who's best at fishing?"

Agil and Wolv skillfully steered the conversation away from Kibaou. Even now, nearly 15 floors later, the former frontliner was still a sore topic.

"Maybe. None of us has the Fishing skill, so it would be a level playing field. Could be fun."

"How about before the 40th floor raid? A nice, relaxing afternoon to unwind before diving into it."

Yuna suggested, and Drifter nodded thoughtfully. It could work. Doing it after the raid was out of the question, because it was likely they wouldn't be in the mood to party. But going away for an afternoon to relax might actually help with their state of mind for the fight.

And they would need all the help they could get. A round floor was no joke.

"It's decided then! Let's get through this floor and the next, and then set a date. Whenever it is, you will be more than welcome to join us, Ceba. Just be prepared to take requests."

"Aye aye, captain! No problem!"

The artist threw Drifter a mock-salute and went back to finishing her painting of him. Agil was already nagging her for a portrait of his own.

A sudden thought hit Drifter, and he shivered, then knocked three times on the table. Yuna tilted her head and looked at him, amused by his strange behavior.

"What's that for?"

"I just got this horrifying image in my mind of Klein and Ceba meeting. Just imagining it... Ugh."

The spearmaster trembled exaggeratedly, but Yuna's and the others' eyes widened in fear.

"Oh no. No no no no no. That can't happen. Nope. We can't let Klein know."

"It would be a supremely bad occasion."

The songstress hugged her shoulders in feigned horror, and even Kizmel got in on the joke. That was when the others lost it and started laughing uncontrollably.

"That is a horrifying thought. He would carry it around like a poster! We would never be able to make him get rid of it."

"It would be all he ever talked about. Ceba, promise me that if you ever see Klein, you are gonna run the other way..."

Drifter's eyes sparkled when he looked at the somewhat confused painter. She wasn't quite sure what the party's problem with Redblade Klein was. She thought Reaver's Requiem and Fuurinkazan were allies.

"...If nothing else, it will be very funny."