The brief moment of levity hadn't lasted beyond the meal however; James had grown depressed and frightened the instant Agil had started the next round of questioning. That entire discussion had left a bad taste in Kirito's mouth. He had seen right through James's attempt at skirting around the truth of what had really been bothering him (the kid had used a tactic that Kirito often used himself by admitting to a partial truth but his failure to completely hide his emotions had given him away). For the second time that day, Kirito had been blindsided by a situation that he had not been expecting.
The first time had been when he learned that the man know as Tracker James was in actuality a nine year old boy.
He had first thought the kid's new classification and HP issues were just part of a weird system glitch that would fix itself in time right up until the kid had spoken again of shattering repeatedly; something the members of the Guild that had last seen Tracker James had described in great detail with obvious horror several days earlier. That alone was troubling but what had really bothered Kirito was the child's terrified worries that his aunt and uncle had not seen to it that his body was taken to the hospital so that he didn't die while trapped in the game.
Something that the teen feared had been confirmed in a round about way due to the painfully thin appearance of the kid after he'd removed his shirt. The bruises that had been revealed at the same time were yet another indication of a less than pleasant home life – the teen unaware that the younger boy had gotten them when he'd fallen out of the tree.
To hear the kid state with conviction that there was no one who would be concerned if he disappeared off the face of the earth had made Kirito depressed. To be told that the only reasons the kid had been allowed to attend school was so his caregivers wouldn't have to feed him or see him for several hours per day had Kirito feeling like he was going to vomit (an action that he was thankful the game couldn't simulate – unaware that James had bypassed that feature as well). Sure, the kid claimed his aunt and uncle never beat him but if they were willing to torment him mentally and emotionally, then what was stopping them from lashing out psychically at the boy?
The bruises again being glaringly obvious.
"When I get out of this game, I'm going to hunt down those bastards and give them a piece of my mind," Agil growled when he stalked back into the room, dropped down heavily into his chair, and scowled at the table. "And I'm going to punctuate each word with my fist!"
"I'll help," Kirito offered with a scowl of his own as he briefly glanced towards the bedrooms before turning back to face the older man. "What are you going to do in the mean time?"
"Help the gaki survive the game."
"He should have never been in the game in the first place."
"Doesn't change the fact that he's here now," Agil retorted with a frustrated sigh as he sat back and crossed his arms over his chest. "I always knew that he wasn't as old as he appeared to be but after believing that everyone had been unmasked on Opening Day, I didn't once think he was quite that young. It certainly explains some of his more puzzling reactions to various situations; such as the look of pure disgust on his face the first time I ordered him a mug of ale at the Hunter's Pub and Inn. Or his reaction when I asked him if he had a girlfriend. It also explains why he never came right out and told me his age."
"I've never had it in real life so I don't know if it's normal but the alcohol they serve in the game is pretty gross until you get used to the taste," Kirito pointed out with a tight grin and a forced laugh. "I still avoid ordering any unless there's nothing else available."
"It's no different on the outside," Agil confirmed with a strained laugh of his own. He grew serious again when he leaned forward and addressed Kirito. "I want to thank you for helping me find James. I hate to think what might have happened to him if we'd not gotten to him when we did. As far as I'm concerned, you've more than paid me back for the favor you owed me and I'm back to owing you another favor instead."
"No, you don't owe me anything; I wasn't really all that much to help, seeing as how I lost his trail that first night. If anything, I now owe you two favors for failing you," Kirito countered with a shake of his head; the fourteen year old still frustrated over the fact that he'd not been able to find James that first day like he'd originally expected to (the teen had been far too overconfident in his Game Skills – not that he was going to admit that aloud).
"Well, if you really feel that way, then maybe you could help me out with something."
"Oh? What did you have in mind?"
"When I was looking at James's Player Stats earlier, I noticed that he had three unfilled Skill Slots; one of which I imagine he would have gained when he reached level thirty. I don't know if he was holding off on filling them because he hadn't decided what Skill he wanted to learn next or if he was simply waiting until he mastered the first ten; though how he ended up with an extra four Skill Slots is a complete mystery, since as far as I know, everyone started out with six Skill Slots at the start of the game."
"Do you think the extra slots might have something to do with the same glitch that changed his classification and messed up his HP Count?"
"I doubt it; the numbers don't match since he has ten slots filled and all ten of those Skills have at least six hundred Skill Points – meaning that he's been working on mastering them for a while now."
"As weird as that is, what does the number of Skill Slots that James has have to do with the favor you wanted?"
"I'd like your help in teaching James a couple of fighting skills. I'd teach him myself but he isn't strong enough or tall enough to handle a two handed axe; which is what I wield for a weapon. What he needs to learn is a bit of sword work; something you are very good at."
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