Kirev

I woke up the next morning to find myself tied to a tree. Freya was gone...

※※※※※

Misaka unraveled the rope from Kirev's lifeless body, releasing him from the tree that he was tightly bound to.

'He must've been poisoned by the food in the player's inventory,' thought Misaka.

Kirev's body fell face first into the dirt. Misaka rolled him over and fed him water from her inventory.

"Hurry up and log in Kirev," she said, holding him up against her.

Misaka surveyed the camp. She used the traits gained from her detection skill tree to search for clues, like tracks in the dirt. Picking up a crumb of bread she analyzed it. Her eyes to turned from a normal green to a digital blue while using her skill.

'The inventory belonged to a player named Edwin. And it was laced with Level 3 Poison. They intentionally left his items as a trap,' she thought.

She checked Kirev to see if the players who tied him up had left any clues on him.

'Kirev's in low-level gear. Did they rob him? Why would they go through the effort to equip him in newbie gear though? Usually, they'd just leave him naked,' she thought to herself, 'this is strange.'

I rolled over onto my stomach and coughed loudly.

"Good morning, sleepy head," she said with a smirk.

Throwing up the water and leftover poison into the nearby grass, I glanced up at my savior Misaka.

"...Have a hard time finding me?"

"Wasn't hard, honestly," said Misaka pointing to her digital blue eyes.

"Detection skill tree, eh."

"Very handy," she said with her thumb up.

"So, what's the news, doc?" I asked her.

"Yeah, it was poison. Level 3 Poison to be exact. They were hoping to kill whoever found Edwin's stash."

*coughing* "Bastards..." I said, coughing heavily.

"I've heard the name before. He was one of the players at the tavern."

"Well, he's been killed and used as a trap," said Misaka.

I struggled to get up off of my feet, still weakened by the debuffs of the poison.

"We need to find Freya."

"You can barely move," said Misaka, "You need to rest a moment. Just because you're physically fit outside of the gate doesn't mean your in-game body is ready. Take a few moments."

"The longer we wait, the further they'll get. We need to find her..."

"Did they steal Freya's memento off of you?" asked Misaka.

"No."

"How can you be certain?"

"She doesn't have one," I answered.

"Every Summon have a memento."

"Freya doesn't."

"But that would mean you summoned her using crystals..."

I remained silent.

"You were told not to go in the Chasm. Professor Aemon made that clear. You could've lost everything."

I turned away.

"I did."

"So you've wiped? That's why you're like this? Where are all of your fancy equipment that you had last time we played? See, this is why Aemon says we can't go in there. In the Chasm if a player dies he has to start from scratch -- mementos and all are lost. Everything is left in the Chasm for others to claim."

"I know how it works."

"Now look, you've gambled and lost and got nothing to show for it."

"We need what's in the Chasm... obtaining those Summons -- the ones only found in there -- could benefit us in every other gate. They've got the best stats and moves by far. The learnable pilot abilities are god-tier as well."

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"Is it really worth it? You've got a Level 1 Freya now, which is great -- Freya's a great roll, but take a moment to think. You had a Level 50 Slayer-class Freya before and now you don't. You had a full roster too. Aemon isn't going to like this."

"He doesn't have to know. Aemon thinks I still have that Freya. He doesn't have to know I wiped and lost her. They both look identical."

"So you plan to level her up and pretend you never lost your original companion?" asked Misaka, "Isn't it hard? Doesn't she remind you of the one you lost every time you look at her?"

"Yeah. She does," I replied.

"It must be like losing a loved one."

I lifted myself up and stepped away.

"I can't tell if you're trying to be helpful or trying to sprinkle salt in my open wounds right now."

"Sorry. I know it must be harder for you. Freya was like your best friend and now she's gone. I just really liked her, and knowing she's gone for good is tough for me too."

"Her memento is recoverable. It's still in the Chasm where I lost my gear. I doubt anyone will travel that deep down -- not for a while at least."

"It's corrupted by now, Kirev. All of your old Summons are probably Dark Aligned by now."

"It'd still be the same Freya. Dark Aligned or not."

"You're planning to go back in there, aren't you?"

"I don't know. Are you going to rat me out? It's hard to trust having real talk with the teacher's pet."

"Oh, buzz off. I'm not his pet."

"Heh, you sure?"

"Amelie's his favourite."

"I'm not so sure about that."

Misaka and I sat for a moment in silence.

"So, you managed to roll another Freya. What are the chances? Doesn't she have like a 1.0% drop rate?"

"0.7% to roll a Freya, actually," I said.

"You two must be bound by fate or something."

"Just good luck on gachas, I guess."

"Is she a Slayer-class too?" asked Misaka.

"Spellcaster this time around."

"Oooooh. Too bad you've never used a Spellcaster before."

"Heh, yeah. You were right in the end. I should've tried out other movesets when I had the chance. It would've been easier with my old loot collection," I said.

"Don't be too hard on yourself. I'm usually right," said Misaka with a smirk.

"So, do you like this new Freya?" she asked.

"She's a lot of fun," I replied.

Misaka narrowed her eyes at me while pointing her finger.

"...! You slept with her already, didn't you?!"

"You know what I meant."

"You're dodging the question, you dog!"

"You really wanna know the answer to that?"

"Fine. Be like that," said Misaka.

"Be like what?!" I asked.

"Well, tell me about her or something. This is gonna be a long walk. The tracks lead back towards the settlement."

"Nice face, nice body, great ass," I replied.

"Oh my god. I've met Freyas before. I know what they generally look like. Which personality did she get?"

"Stubborn, as usual. She's great though. A bit cheeky, a bit prideful, a bit less serious, a bit more clumsy."

"Clumsy? Oh, jeez," said Misaka.

"You two will get along great, trust me."

We began our journey back towards the settlement. Misaka closely studied the tracks in the dirt and because of her detection skills she could almost see a reenactment of the kidnapping of my Summon.

"Do you think it's possible that my new Freya has the old Freya's memories within her?" I asked Misaka.

"No. That's not possible. She's a completely different Summon. She just looks like the one you used to have," she answered, "why do you ask?"

"I don't know. There's something to her," I said.

"She's probably just very similar. You managed to roll one with the same personality and style."

"She's only Level 1 and she has Alpha state unlocked. The only other Summon I've seen with Alpha was my old Freya, but that was only when she reached Level 50."

"What do you mean she's got Alpha?"

"She can access Alpha, Misaka."

"What...? Are you serious?" asked Misaka.

"I'm not joking."

"Imagine her maxed out. She could be the secret to accessing Alpha with our other Summons. She might be able to learn Skill Influence and spread it to the others!" said Misaka with wide eyes.

"I think that's what Aemon thinks too," I said.

"Don't worry, Kirev. We'll get her back."