Horunka village was nestled within the forest Northwest of the Town of Beginnings. It was the natural next step for players after gaining all they could out of their starting location. The services provided in the Town of Beginnings were vast, showcasing all that the world had to offer. Blacksmiths, tailors, restaurants, and other amenities filled the town which made it constantly abuzz with noise. It functioned perfectly as a sort of tutorial section where a new player could see and understand what to expect in future towns.

There were a few other smaller towns on the first floor of Aincrad, most of which did not offer the same amount of services that the Town of Beginnings could. Each step forward meant that a player had to become more self-sufficient without relying on the safety of a large settlement like the Town of Beginnings. Leaving the safety of the largest town on the first floor was a mixture of excitement and fear. Fear typically outweighed excitement these days, but there was no denying that walking beside someone else greatly diminished the fear.

"Not sure if you heard, but up in Tolbana they're going to have a meeting today. I guess it's the pre planning for challenging the floor boss." The voice came from the beautiful dagger wielder Jayce had met last night. With the sun high overhead beating down on them he could see her clearly. While it wasn't quite as stunning as seeing her framed in the moonlight it was no less impactful just how attractive she was. Jayce quickly looked away from her focusing on the road ahead that would lead them to Horunka.

"I heard." Under the hood he wore, Jayce rolled his eyes at his own shortness of speech. A little over an hour ago he had spoken easily enough with Aincrad's Information Broker, Argo, but now he couldn't keep a conversation going. The logical reasoning was that he had contacted Argo for the services she provided in exchange for whatever price tag she attached to the information. It was no different than buying a sword at the weapon merchant.

"Should we go?" his head swiveled towards Jemza at a speed he thought might break his neck. With eyes wider than normal and a familiar feeling of fear back in his mind he shook his head fervently.

"No...I can't." The tension dissolved as her usual smile spread over her face and she waved a hand towards him.

"I was just kidding. The front lines of battle are a bit over our heads. Still...today might be the day that this game finally begins." Jayce let his anxiety return to normal and looked away from her once more.

"Think so?"

"We've been here for a month now. In that month the player base has lost twenty percent of its population. Two thousand players are already dead and the first floor hasn't been cleared. I'm sure you've noticed the mood in the Town of Beginnings right? People have confined themselves there, too scared to leave."

"It's natural to fear death." Jayce could feel her gaze, but he kept his sight ahead on the road.

"You could die at any moment no matter where you are. Simple acts like crossing the street could be deadly. If you really think about it, you're more safe here than in the real world." Avoiding her eyes had been the right choice. If he had stared into her silver eyes now there would have been no way to respond. She was making comparisons to the real world which many people avoided. With the gravity of their imprisonment having long sunk in it caused too much grief to talk about the real world these days.

"Some of us are more scared than others." Jayce was mostly talking about himself, but was confident that sentiment extended to a good majority of players refusing to leave the walls of the Town of Beginnings.

"That's why today is so important. Showing that a floor can be beaten will be far more uplifting than anyone can imagine. We're all scared in one way or another, but at least I have the strength to fight." Jemza's words sank into his mind as they continued to walk along the pathway that led into the forest. In the distance they could see various creatures that were too far to become aggressive against them, but the threat was still there.

"After last night, I can't imagine you scared." He expected her to laugh at his observation considering how fearless she had been against the Kobolds. When more than a few seconds of silence returned he dared to turn his head slightly towards her. His breath caught in his throat meeting her eyes that pierced through him. It wasn't anger or irritation on her face, but something different.

"I'm always afraid Alchemist. Every moment." The only response he was capable of was a quick nod. He understood his own fear well enough, but maybe Jemza harbored the same in her own mind. The complexities of women were a skill Jayce had neither tried to master let alone even attempt. Trying to understand her now seemed more daunting than tackling the floor boss, and in truth frightened him just as much.

"Why do you call me that?" The expression on her face softened as her eyes seemed less intense and her head tilted a bit.

"I wonder..." She was tapping her chin now as if deep in thought, but Jayce understood she was simply feigning the motion in an attempt of sarcasm.

"You can use my name." The tapping stopped and her eyes narrowed dangerously.

"We spent all night hunting together. Today you asked me to lend a hand on a quest in the next town. Not once have I heard you use my name and speak more than a few words at a time. When you stop acting like a mindless NPC I will treat you like one." His feet stopped moving as if he hit a wall. He saw Jemza stop a few steps ahead, but didn't look back. The instant response was to be defensive and deny what she had said. Human nature dictated that you defend yourself when attacked, but as the seconds passed he understood she wasn't attacking him.

Jayce began to understand why he sent Jemza the message this morning. The safety of travelling with someone was definitely part of it. He couldn't deny that there was comfort in knowing that someone was watching your back. There was a deeper purpose, however. A purpose that until right now he didn't fully grasp. Regardless this artificial world, and that it all existed as signals sent to their brains, they were still humans.

Food, shelter, and water were three necessities of life. With those three things fulfilled a person could survive, but nobody wants to simply survive. Survival wasn't the same as living and there was another necessity that people yearned for. Something that was taken for granted more often than not, but right now became far more apparent to Jayce. Such a simple thing called companionship. Nobody wanted to be alone.

When he spoke to Argo this morning about the quest, she said to bring a friend. Jemza couldn't be called a friend, but nonetheless his mind had gone to her. He didn't want to endanger her life in any way, but he wanted her there. Not just because it made things safer, but because he wanted to feel the presence of another person. To be reassured that he wasn't alone.

"Shall we go back, Alchemist?" Her tone was comically sarcastic now and he could sense the smile on her face even with her back turned to him. The only question on his mind now was what her motives were. Why would she follow a stranger into the wild whom she had only met the night prior? Did she desire being next to someone as much as he did? Was she truly as afraid deep down as everyone else?

"No." Taking another step forward Jayce walked past her refusing to give into her. He hoped the hood would hide his smile. Barely a step past her and he heard her boots begin to fall into step behind him at a slightly quicker pace until she was beside him once more.

"Do you want to know why I came?" Either Jemza's ability to understand others was extraordinarily high or there was some hidden <<Mind Reading>> skill Jayce was unaware of. Even with her back turned she seemed to understand exactly what he had been thinking. He debated answering for a minute. She was offering a piece of the puzzle that made up her as a whole.

"Yes." This time he did hear the small laughter escaping her lips. This must be how Argo the Rat feels right before she learns something new. Where she did it for profit, Jayce simply wanted to know more about the white haired dagger wielder traveling beside him.

"I came so I could learn why you asked me to join you." His excitement vanished and he turned towards her staring stupidly.

"That...that's not an answer!" Her response hadn't told him anything about her. In fact, it was twisted around so that it seemed like she just wanted to learn more about him. Her pace picked up to the point where she even skipped slightly swinging her arms. She stopped about ten paces ahead of him and spun on her heels fixing her eyes onto his.

"Sorry Alchemist, but you don't meet the requirements for that quest." She turned and continued outpacing him before he could even formulate a coherent response.

"Hey. Hey, wait!" He called out starting to jog just to catch up. Before he got close Jemza closed her eyes and looked up at the trees above her whispering quietly.

"Not yet at least."