– Alicization Beginning Prologue I decreased. Partly due to his desperation, he grasped the woodcutting axe tightly and brandished it over his body. “Forty...... nine! Fif......t......y!!” His last strike was a big deviation from his usual skill, it hit the bark a distance away from the deep cut on the trunk, producing an ear- splitting metallic sound. Due to the reaction which was as if it could make a spark come out of his eyes, Eugeo dropped the axe, staggered a few steps back, then sat down on the thick moss. While he repeated his rough breathing, he heard a voice mixed with laughter from his right. “The good sound came out three out of fifty times. So the total is, erm, forty-one huh. It seems today’s Siral water is your treat, Eugeo.” The owner of the voice, who was lying down slightly further away, was a young boy of a similar age. Eugeo didn’t reply immediately, but fumbled for the leather water canteen then picked it up. He greedily drank the water, which had become completely warm. After he became comfortable he closed it with the hard cork, then said, “Hmn, yours is only forty-three, isn’t it? I’ll catch up soon anyway. Here, it’s your turn...... Kirito.” “Yeah yeah.” Kirito was Eugeo’s childhood friend and also his best friend, as well as his partner in this melancholy «Sacred Task» since spring last year. Kirito wiped the sweat off his black forelock, stretched his legs straight and raised his body. But he didn’t pick up the axe immediately; his hand was on his hip while he looked up above his head. Attracted by his action, Eugeo also looked up toward the sky.