And here's the full chapter, dear readers! I'm really sorry for the long wait, but a mix of writer's block and lack of motivation nearly made me pass this fic as a Two-Shot and letting it as that. Your support was the main reason that I managed to get my motivation back, so thank you all so much, and I hope you will like this new chapter! Before that though...
Here's the answers to the reviews!
Axecel: No, it was possible to use two swords at the same time. However, the player couldn't use his sword skills, rendering the practice useless. In my story, they just couldn't use them with enough efficiency to use sword skills.
AppleberryCookie: Thanks for your help! I will go back to it soon, after I manage to get a good rhythm for my writing.
Jarjaxle: Sorry to disappoint, but I won't make it into a Harem. However, there might be some one sided romance like in the novel, If I feel up to the task.
So, without further delay, enjoy ~!
"Teamwork is often the key toward victory. Stronger foes can be beaten with surprising ease once a party can manage to work well together. A group in perfect synchronization, however, may be able to best Field Boss, Mini Boss, and even some Boss whereas an entire party of strangers may have failed."
Beginner's Guide, «Basics for Group, introduction», from The Black Swordsman.
~~...~~
November the 6th, 2022, 18:10 :
Traveling toward his destination, and killing the occasional monster on his way, Kirito tried to plan his course of action for the near future. He needed to find just, what, four Anneal Blade? And then just two polearms, one Two-Handed mace and a Curved Sword? Which sounded like the easiest thing in the world when you're still level 3 and the monsters you needed to kill were twice that, right?
Cursing himself for his boasting, he spoke his thought aloud to clear his mind.
"So... If it didn't change since the beta, the four blades should take me around five, maybe six hours to get. After that, I should go the Dire Wolves Den to get the curved blade for Klein, and the gift for my dear little info broker - who is greedy as hell. Should take... between thirty minutes and fifty minutes. Then I can either go to the Ruin Kobold Trooper spawn to get Dale's mace, or I could get the two polearms with the Frail Stone Golem. Looting these three weapons should take another two hours, so at the very least I could be back to the Starting City for... erm... thirty past three AM? Then I can get six or seven hours of sleep, and after this I can take my time and prepare the meeting cautiously and carefully. It won't do to screw up with this many people involved."
Sighing at his already busy schedule, he couldn't stop himself from mumbling jokingly "I should have stayed quiet and let them panic."
The sudden sounds of fighting however quickly jerked him from his slightly morbid thoughts, making him stop immediately. After a quick verification that he didn't just hear things, he ran with all the speed his AGI stats allowed him, immensely worried at the thought of a newbie trying to fight this close to the forest. His worries were soon proved founded when, after another hill climbed, he finally saw what could rapidly degenerated in a carnage: a handful of players, Kirito mentally counted four, were encircled by what appeared to be an entire pack of Dire Wolves. And by an entire pack he meant a full twenty five massive wolves! Swiftly scanning the ground, Kirito saw, to his utmost relief, that nobody was killed: the ground was bare of any gear and swords or the like, indicating someone had died and their characters 'popped', sending all their carried gear onto the ground in an almost comical explosion of items.
Berating himself for being relieved when the four players, who were apparently paralyzed by their fear, were still in an imminent danger, he quickly unsheathed his Beginner Swords and shook them out of their funk in his own... unique way.
"What are you doing, standing there while monsters are ready to gut you?! Regroup and fight back!" Kirito shouted after having efficiently dispatched two of the wolves with a sneak attack, and standing in the middle of this circle of death made by the twenty-three remaining wolves.
Seeing their disoriented gazes, the Black Swordsman instantly knew that they needed something more accurate than this: they were more or less rendering mindless by the sheer shock and fear that they must had felt.
Analyzing their gears with a practiced ease, he mentally praised them for their well-balanced group of two tanks and two damage dealers, just before he reviewed plans after plans of battle, each with a pretty gruesome end if his instincts were correct. After what seemed like interminable hours, but were in fact mere seconds thanks to the adrenaline-like effect of this death-game, he finally found a basic formation which should, hopefully, be enough to save every single one of them.
"Listen! I'll open a passage for you, go with the Shields bearer on the flanks. You two with swords, you'll take care of the rear. After the passage is opened, I'll let you take care of the front while I go back inside the wolves formation. With me so far?" Kirito ordered with a stern look, looking into the eyes of each one when he informed them of their roles. They seemed to squirm, like children who were just told that they needed to tidy their rooms.
"Then we'll take them in a pincer movement, and if we do it correctly, the wolves should be disoriented for a while, and we would be able to not only get out of here in one piece, but also win a fair amount of Col and Exp. No objection?" Kirito, not even waiting for their answers, finished with a softened expression and a somewhat teasing smile. "Good. You can object after I save you from these guys. Be ready to go at my signal!"
His tease seemed to have soothed their nerves a little, because they all nodded with a still nervous smile on their faces and got themselves in position.
Kirito observed the monsters, who during their little strategy planning came back to their senses and tightened their deadly round. They were at a good eight meters from them. 'Still too far for the plan.' Kirito thought anxiously with a bit of sweat forming on his forehead. They slowly, ever so slowly neared until, when they were a mere four meters away from the group of Players. When he saw the wolves tense, preparing themselves to jump, the Black Swordsman finally gave the order his fellows were waiting for with baiting breath.
"Now!"
As if a dam broke, the wolves all jumped at the same time... but unfortunately for them, it was already too late. The party had in fact already dispatched a section of the pack, leaving the sixteen survivors no time to recover from this when a black blur came back in the middle of the monsters and started to hack at them with deadly efficiency, effecting what could only be called a dance in a symphony of howls, moving his twin swords with a grace learned from countless hours of training, activating one Sword Skill after another in an endless barrage of colorful sparks. It wasn't to say however that the little group of adventurers was waiting idly beside him; they weren't as effective as their black-clad counterpart, and certainly less graceful, but they were still damn good and had something to prove.
While Kirito was playing the decoy (and a particularly murderous one at that), his four unnamed allies were doing exactly like he planned. During their escape, they didn't just escape the assault of the wolves peacefully, they completely destroyed the left flank of the monsters' formation. And so, they immediately started the second step of the plan, AKA attack in a pincer like movement. The little group of two shield-bearers and two swordsmen split up in two and launched their attacks on the north and south, the wolves being completely disoriented and unable to defend against the coordinated assault from Kirito on the inside and from their four foes on the outside. This confusion resulted in their doom, and when they finally started to defend against the multiple attacks, their number was reduced to a few wolves who once were the East side of a formation.
"Nicely done. We just have to take care of these four and then you can go back to the city in one piece. At my signal..." Kirito congratulated his companions with a grin, the tension in his voice gone.
However, luck seemed to shift when one of the swordsman, whose overconfidence could have cost him his life, attacked the four survivors alone, charging them with a battle roar. Of course, in a normal situation, this player should have been able to take care of them one on one, with some trouble maybe, but what made it so dangerous was that he didn't think to check the durability of his gear. And it soon proved to be a dramatic mistake, as his sword disappeared in a bright flash of blue polygons.
"What th-! My sword!... No!"
And the wolves, not willing to let such a golden occasion pass, immediately lashed out. They grabbed the arms of the unfortunate with their claw and fangs, and, with a strength that they didn't seem to have seconds ago, started to shred him with a desperation matching his own when he saw his lifeline, his Health, decreasing with an absurd speed, already one fourth of it gone in just a few seconds.
Fushimatsu's eyes were glued on this line, which inexorably, as if animated by a twisted sense of humor, went further and further away from it's usual spot, it's beautiful dark green, it's magnificent green, which symbolized his security, a promise to live. No, now it was a light yellow, a sickeningly pale yellow, twice as short as it's green counterpart. Fushimatsu always hated this color. It always seemed to announce the coming of something bad, something dangerous, something deadly. And, as surely as the yellow's light precede the red one's, this line, his life, which seemed so short now, so minuscule, so insignificant, bellying it's importance, it's necessity, became the color of blood.
He couldn't, and he didn't want to, tear his eyes away from his health gauge. His life was now reduced to an handful of colorful red points, making it easy to notice each one that disappear. Was it always this agonizingly slow to decrease? It was as if Time itself wanted to laugh at him, wanted to savor his despair as he could only watch his death coming at him, step by step, point by point. Now, he was even able count them. Twenty points. This was what maintained his life. These little dots, now reduced to fifteen, were going to kill him. When they finally disappeared, gone forever, so would he. He'd be killed, murdered by a game, killed by some data, and it was all the fault of this madman of a genius, a genius he once looked up to, a genius that locked him up in a death game for his fucking twisted pleasure!
So caught up was he in his thoughts that he didn't notice until several seconds later that, through his hazy sight, he could see something. Something that made his heart swell with hope, and happiness, and delight, and so many more emotions that he couldn't even tell them apart. He was alive; his life would be spared: because, during his inner turmoil, his friends (he couldn't stop himself to flinch when he remembered that he was the reason for their presence), and their savior, their insanely strong savior clad in black from head to toe, managed to save his life. They managed to free him from his wolfish captors, from which he could still some polygons which came with the shattering of a monster. These blue polygons, they seemed so innocent looking at them right now, and he couldn't stop his shiver when he thought that they nearly caused his death, had it not be for this mysterious stranger. He would have been among them, and, even worse, he may not have been the only one. There would have been survivors, they were all beta-testers after all, so they knew how to fight efficiently and use Sword Skills at the good time, but...
"Hey, you're alright? It was close, you should drink this potion, it'll help you get better. There shouldn't be any monster close with so many dead in just a few minutes, but you can never be too careful."
So startled was he by his black-clad fellow (and for the life of him he swore that it rang a bell! He just couldn't remember from where, but it just seemed important!), that he couldn't form a proper sentence without stuttering. "Ah..Eu-h...Yes, Um... Thank you?"
"Bah, don't worry about it!" Kirito chuckled with a calm smile on his face before throwing the potion at the young-looking player, who caught it with an apparent ease. "If you want to thank me, drink it and stay alive long enough to save me back."
Doing just this, Fushimatsu's facial animation slowly changed, with the realization that his life was safe, thanks to this strong and altruist player. The Nerve Gear, having picked up upon his inner turmoil, had send the data to Cardinal, the incredibly powerful server which was monitoring Sword Art Online, and after an analysis of 0.15 seconds, engaged the emotional procedure EP-17, provoking the activation of his fake lacrimal glands, and the facial change. In short, he suddenly cried and threw himself at Kirito and two of his friends near him, catching them in a giant bear hug.
"Thank you so much everyone! Thank you s-so much sir, if it wasn't for your help, my fri-friends and I may not have lived another day! Thank you!" The overjoyed player continued to thank Kirito, again and again and again, until finally the flabbergasted friend who wasn't part of the hug decided to break it... or so Kirito thought.
"Hey! Don't forget me bro! I was here too!" Humphed the last member of their party, a tomboyish girl who was one of the Damage Dealer along with the boy he just rescued. That is, before she joined in the hug from the back of Kirito, crushing him between herself and her reckless friend.
"UGH... Can't... Breath..."
"Oh! You don't need to breathe in this game, so don't bother buddy!" Was the mischievous answer from the girl of the party.
Understanding that he wouldn't escape this torture, Kirito decided to use this time to (finally) examine the party, now that there wasn't a pack of wolves out to kill them. First, the one that he saved. He seemed to be the youngest, a teen like himself, maybe fourteen years old at most judging by his face. He had pale blue hair, of medium-length, with silvery bangs, which made his hair seemed a bit messy, and his hazel eyes had an intensity in them, amplifying his emotions tenfold. He was a shorter than Kirito, something along 5 foot 3 inches against his own 5'7'', but his face had a juvenile appearance, so he seemed more child-like than Kirito's feminine but serious face. He also, now that he searched for it, had a striking family resemblance with the girl.
The woman (who was still bear hugging him with so much strength that he flinched at the mere thought) was the oldest-looking of the group, somewhere between... eighteen and twenty years old, maybe? She had a petite stature, however it didn't make her appear frail, quite the opposite because she seemed to be one of these girl, like his sister, that projected the aura 'mess with me and you'll die slowly, painfully, and without mercy'. She was a bit shorter than her supposedly-brother, being somewhere between 5 foot 1 inch and 5 foot 2, and had midnight blue hair in a short hime cut, giving her a cute but strangely mature look. Even though she didn't project a lot of maturity right now, because she was happily bickering with one of the tanks, sticking out her tongue at said player.
The tanks were eerily similar, and if he didn't know better, he would have thought that they tried to have look-alike avatar; as it was with the mad plan of Kayaba, he knew that they were just twins. They both were at an average 5 feet 5 inches, had pure, undiluted black eyes, and were lean with some muscles clearly defined. But that's were the similitude ended: While one had golden blond hair, the brightest kind of yellow he has ever seen by the way, and was wearing the beginner set in a marine blue, along with a Beginner Cutlass and a Small Bucket which he probably looted from a Frenzy Boar, his twin had regal purple hair, was wearing an all in white gear, and, now that he looked carefully, was fighting with a Steel Sword and a Basic Shield, completed by a sub par heavy armor which he didn't recognized due to his lack of interest in the "Tank" type.
"So, probably a versatile warrior for the Blue-clothed one, and a heavy armored Tank for his brother. Interesting combination of defender, I wonder what kind of tactic they made with two types so strongly different. But judging by the fight from earlier, they're experienced, and have a nice teamwork. Beta Testers without a doubt."
When he noticed that the five-minutes long group hug was finally stopping, he made a show of stretching painfully, his back popping along his neck in a macabre symphony of noisy crack which made the group shudder, all the while glaring at a sheepish-looking swordswoman, he finally sighed.
"So, now that you're not busy destroying every bones in my poor body, may we make the presentation? Name's Kirito." He introduced with a mock bow, a smirk etched on his face.
"My name's Tsubaki, and the little brat which you saved by the skin of your teeth is my lil' brother, Fushimatsu."
At this, he gave her an incredulous stare. "He named his avatar blunder?"
At her shrug, the youngest player couldn't hold himself anymore. "No, that's this witch who named my avatar like this! I know I shouldn't have let the name slot empty before lunch..."
Of course, his sister awarded his accusation by a gasp of shock so exaggerated that it wasn't even remotely believable.
"How could you accuse your poor big sister, whose only purpose in her life is to help you? It hurts my little heart so much!"
Kirito shook his head in amusement, even though their little comedy reminded him of his foster sister, who he then remembered, with a painful clenching of his heart, was waiting for him in the real world, most likely panicked and confused beyond belief. 'And what about the promise I made her? That I would be here when she wins the national Kendo tournament? She trained so hard for that this the year!'
This train of thought was fortunately stopped by a cough from one of the twin, the blond one, who then introduced himself with a bright smile.
"Excuse them, it's just their way of coping with this. I'm Siegfried, and the brooding one here is my twin, Finsterfürst. But you can call him Finst, everyone does."
At the confused expression of Kirito, he explained with a teasing smile. "Yeah, I know, it's the German for Dark Prince. Mighty, isn't he?"
"You couldn't let this pass again, could you?" Finst sighed, his expression stoic even though his exasperation pierced through his voice. "So I probably wasn't the first one they encountered in these woods. Well, that or they met other people on the field. The streets were pretty much desert after all."
Deciding that being blunt was the best way to obtain his answers, he immediately voiced his thoughts. He couldn't help but to want to assuage his fears of someone dying because he wasn't properly equipped to deal with the vicious monsters of the forest, or even worse, the monster-trap who were present at Horunka Village.
"Did you meet someone else on the way here? The area is dangerous, but the place beyond that are simply deadly without a full and experimented party." Kirito tried, but ultimately failed to keep the tension from his voice and the unvoiced question, "What were you doing here?". It wasn't a spot that you could just tumble on by exploring a little too far, because it was a good ten-to-fifteen minutes away from the city.
The group of misfits seemed to sense his unease, because they looked at each other curtly before answering.
"Well... there was that lone player here, teenager; fourteen, maybe fifteen years old, with brown hair, and an experienced air around him, that told us about this spot. He told us how the Dire Wolves here were pretty weak, but because they were at a high level, they gave good loot and experience. Was he wrong?"
"Oh, no, he just conveniently forgot to add that this place is covered by den of said Dire Wolves, and that the largest packs during the beta was still about fifteen of them. Yes, I'm pretty sure that he didn't want to be helpful."
Seeing how they flinched at his biting sarcasm, he internally cursed himself before continuing in a softer voice.
"Sorry about that, but I'm pretty certain that he set you up. Probably to loot your Col and gear on the surviving wolves after the deed was done."
"But... it's not a game anymore! It was already a nasty thing to do in the beta, but now it's murder! How could he just...just... send us to death like this?!" Fushimatsu shouted, disbelief etched on his face, while his companions all wore a grim face.
Surprisingly, the answer came from the (he assumed) most silent twin. "He either didn't realize it, or he did. And if he did, it means that if it gave him a greater chance to live, he's ready to kill."
The silence that followed his statement was deafening.
~~...~~
November the 6th, 2022, 18:47:
"Thank you again for all your help Kirito! I don't know how we would have gotten out of this mess without your assistance. Are you sure there nothing we can do to repay you? Absolutely nothing? " The only woman of the group asked, a semi-serious, semi-coy expression on her face when she asked, completed by a wink.
Thankfully for him, Kirito managed to keep a straight face (even though she was certain that she saw him blush a second!) as he answered. "I just did what anyone would have. If you want to thank me, go back to the city. You may be a strong group, definitely stronger than even most beta-testers, but you need to get some new gear, yours is falling apart. That's without mentioning that one of you is weaponless, and you're without any healing potion except the few that I could lend you."
During the few minutes that they rested before going back to the road, Kirito learned a few things about his new friends. Amongst those things, was the quite shocking news that they were some newbies who began to play SAO just today. Though they were all experienced gamers, some more than other.
For example, it was the first VR game, and even the first Full-Dive, of Fushimatsu, while his sister was a veteran of the genre, and the twins were casual players. However, they were the more experienced at MMORPG, followed by the boy, and finally by the sole girl of the group, who knew next to nothing about them. When asked about their motives for ignoring his advice and adventuring out on the field, they revealed that they couldn't just wait, lazing around and doing nothing to free themselves, and they decided to farm some mobs before going back to their rented rooms at an Inn. The lack of monsters around the city incited them to go further and further away from the city, until they met their oh-so-helpful swordsman, and the rest was history.
Seeing absolutely nothing wrong with their reasoning, and especially not with his own motives for being out at night, a time when all monsters became more savage and violent than ever, he gently reminded them to be more prepared and more careful next time, before standing up to say them farewell.
Siegfried smiled politely while shaking hands with Kirito. "Of course, Kirito-san. We will follow your advice this time around. I do hope that we'll see you tomorrow for some tutoring, we may be of aid with our knowledge of the game basics, but if not we'll still be able to learn quite a lot from someone as experimented as you. Farewell, Kirito-san."
"Goodbye, Kirito! And thanks again for all your help! You really saved my life back there! I can't wait to see you back tomorrow!" Fushimatsu yelled, always the eager one. He was already walking away, making big waves gestures while walking backward. That is, until he bumped into Finst and received a well-placed glare which made him as stiff as a board.
The silent twin nodded toward the black swordsman, nodding once. "... Until next time, Kirito-san."
"Yes Kirito, don't make us wait for you too long tomorrow! It isn't proper to make a lady wait after all, our Black Savior." Tsubaki chirped happily, and waited with a Cheshire smile for the reaction of the young man.
"... You nicknamed me the Black Savior? Seriously?" After a quick sigh, he couldn't help but mumble unhappily "Why is everyone nicknaming me after the colour of my clothes? The Black Swordsman, the Black Savior... What's next? The Black-clad Man?"
She made a small humming noise at this. "Well, you know, you were certainly acting the part of the savior back at the Plaza too, but if you insist on getting another nickname..."
"You know what? Forget what I said. The Black Savior? Perfect. Absolutely perfect. Don't change it."
"You sure? I'm certain that I could find... another name for our brave warrior."
Kirito acted as if he hadn't heard her, to her great amusement. "I really need to head out, I'm really starting to mess up big time with my schedule, and it's my sleeping time that's suffering from it. And I REALLY need every bit of sleep I can get for tomorrow's meeting."
"You're such a spoilsport..." She faked a hurt look at Kirito, but after seeing it's lack of effect, she smiled genuinely. "Just so you know, I'm really, really happy to have met you at such a desperate time. You really saved us back then."
This time, the whole... aura of gratitude, that radiated from her and the rest of the party was enough to break his composure, and despite his best effort, a blush crept up on his cheeks, and he nervously scratch the back of his had.
"It was nothing, I'm just glad everything turned out okay in the end. I'll try to set this right with your anonymous wannabe-murderer. By any means possible." At this point, he gave her a determined gaze, imperceptibly glancing at the young face of Fushimatsu, who would have died for the greed of another.
"... Please, just stay safe, Kirito." Tsubaki took a deep breath, "If not for you, then for the rest of the players. They need you to guide them. WE need you to guide us. I don't think anyone else has the experience, the charisma, and the patience needed to do this. If you won't, nobody will; of this, I am certain. So please come back to us."
She game him a meaningful look while Finst, Siegfried and Fushimatsu stayed silent behind them, solemn. The sight of the carefree and childish Fushimatsu so serious was enough to let him know that they were really considering him to be their sole solace, their only hope in this death-trap. The silent respect in the eyes of Finst, the awe in those of Siegfried, and the sheer worship within the gaze of Fushimatsu made him think back to the gaze of these thousands of people.
And it was then, in the swarm of his memories that flooded his mind, alike a raging tornado, that he realized the enormous impact that he had on them back then, the sheer weight of his act causing him to shuffle from one foot to the other. He hadn't expected, at the time, to suddenly become their symbol of hope, to carry all of their burden like he had. He really thought that he would just stop the rampaging panic, the sheer terror that gripped the souls of every player of SAO, so present that it almost seemed to impregnate the very air, and then swiftly and discretely walk away, having calmed them down, and preventing them from doing anything stupid in an act of disbelief or despair.
However, when he saw them look at him back then, their fear clenched, but their eyes so hopeless, so desperate to find anyone, anything really, to help them cope with the situation that they found themselves in, that he just acted, following his instincts, swearing to train them, to protect them, because if he didn't, then who would? Who would protect them from this oh-so dangerous world and its merciless inhabitants? Who would teach them how to fight back to get their liberty, and what to do to help those few braves who will, alongside him, shoulder their hopes to one day finally get their liberty, their very life back. He was so caught up in his speech that he didn't even hesitate for a second to beg toward his old comrade-in-arms to help him shoulder this daunting task with him, realizing only now how intimidating a task he would have had otherwise. After all, a single individual, no matter how skilled and knowledgeable, could only do so much alone. However, if (when, he corrected himself mentally) a hundred, or even half of this number, stood strong together to help the defenseless, to let them learn how to be useful, to simply stop and lend a hand to the less experienced, no task were impossible. Because together, they were unstoppable.
Before his thoughts could wander even further, lest he stand silent and motionless like this all night, he gave them one of his smile, the ones that just shouted, I know what I'm doing, don't worry about me.
"I'll be extra careful then." After a small pause. "... I really should go. See you soon guys."
They watched him get further and further away toward the woods, until Tsubaki shouted to his nearly vanished form. "We'll see you at the Plaza, our Black Savior!
His arms lifted, letting them briefly see his clenched hand as a sign of farewell, before the shadows of the woods shrouded his form completely.
During the rest of the uneventful walk toward the Horunka Village, and most importantly toward a certain NPC Quest and a young wannabe-murderer, Kirito couldn't help but think that he forgot something. He didn't know what exactly, but he remembered quite well that it was important. However, he couldn't remember what it was about, even though he tried to think of anything that he could have forgotten, going from his equipment, to Akihiko Kayaba, to the meeting of tomorrow, to even the most trivial of things like forgetting to water the plants, not having put his bokken away, and even forgetting to do his homework ("which weren't going to be done anytime soon", he mused absent-mindedly), but nothing rang a bell, so after he spent the last ten minutes of his travel frustrating himself with a task that wasn't advancing in the least and started to enter the village, he simply put the matter to the back of his mind as well as he could. After all, if this was this important, he wouldn't have forgotten it in the first place. While making a mental note to investigate this later, he entered the unsuspecting house of the kind old woman, currently at the side of her bed-ridden grandchild, who would grant him the much sought after after "Anneal Blade".
Taking a few steps inside, he waited several seconds for the encrypted behavior of this particular NPC to kick in, which it finally did.
"Hello young swordsman, may I offer you something?"
Remembering the best way to trigger the quest, something that he spent quite some time after a lot of trial and error, he answered swiftly and audibly, "I would like some water, thank you very much."
Seeing the old woman at work, he spent a few moments observing his surrounding, curious to see if there were any change since the last time he came here, when it was just a innocent game, not a machination to trap thousands of people's mind and soul while their body laid, unresponsive to the world. The kitchen was just like he remembered, with the pot which was boiling on the counter, the oak table accompanied with its four chairs of the some kind of wood, and the parquet floor along with the yellowed walls gave a simple but homey feeling, and he couldn't help but marvel at the past, the joy of a time when he didn't have to ask himself if he would one day wake up from this game, when he just have to press a button, and he could go back to the real world, with his friends, his classmates, and more important, his family.
A sigh from the aged NPC brought him back to the matter at hand, and with the ease that come with habit, Kirito promptly started this quest for the first time this night, but alas not the last.
~~ At the same time, in one of the Inns of the Starting City. ~~
There were quite a commotion, in the "Petit Café", located in the eat part of the city. It wasn't one of these innumerable pity party, where everybody would whine about the unfairness of the situation, complaining that a game should never have been allowed to take these kind of proportion in their lives. Nor was it one of the many "Stay strong" party, where strangers would try to share some memory with each other, dissuade each other to "test" the reality of the situation by doing something stupid like leaping into the void.("Really, what kind of idiot would tried to prove his theory with his very life?" was the most common argument in these case). It wasn't even one of these few mourning party already organised in the memory of the first unfortunate victims of PK, monsters or even the dreaded forced Log-out, where friends and sometime family would mourn the departed among a crowd of sympathetic strangers.
Nope sir, this meeting was a call for blood. And strangely enough, not for Kayaba's.
"So, nobody got any news of the lad? How surprising." The flat tone, coupled with the irked expression, were doing wonder to show the sincerity of the statement, of course.
"Surely he wouldn't have forgotten something that he himself organised? I mean, I knew he was bad, but that's just..." The second voice, notably younger than the first, was filed with uncertainty.
"Ridiculous? In that case, yes, that's perfectly adapted to describe him." The first voice spat, full of fury.
"I take it that's not the first time it's happened?"
"No. It's more like I can't remember the last time it didn't."
"Come on, he's not that bad! He was right on time, like, three weeks ago!" A third, notably jovial voice, interrupted the grumble of the first person, the amused smile on his face could be heard just in his tone alone. "And stop snapping at the newbie like this, it's not going to make him come sooner~!
"Yeah, yeah, sorry newbie, I'm just so fricking tired of this shit...Long day and all that mess that happened recently don't help my temper."
"Ah! No, it's okay, really, I understand. It's no trouble."
"Here, now that everyone's calm and all, we can start the reunion, everyone's accounted for, and we might as well get the show on the road. The sooner we start, the sooner we finish, and we all can use some Beauty sleep after today." The unnamed voice number three shouted over the varied conversation that were going on in the Inn. The reactions were swift.
"Finally? We have been waiting,like, forever! So where's G-"
"Not here~! We should have expected it, what with the meeting tomorrow and all, he has a lot of things to prepare. And like you can see, Copy isn't there either. He sent me a message beforehand. Not like a certain someone. Anyone got any idea where he is right now?"
"Yeah, I found him with a whole group of people near an exit. Seems like inexperienced persons too."
"He must have taken them under his wings, then. Anyway, we're not here to speak about him, we have some serious business to conduct tonight, business that may decide the future of Aincrad and it's inhabitants, so stay at attention men!" After a few moments of deadly silence, he added like an afterthought. "... and women too, of course. Can't forget the women."
"Just a question please!" Newbie interjected, raising his arm like if he was at school.
"Yep, what is it?"
"If we were almost certain that he wouldn't come, why did we wait so long for him?"
"Well... you see... Um... Just because?"
The silence that followed this innocent question and it's unassuming "answer" was... short-lived.
"WHAT?!"
"YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT I WAITED THREE GODDAMNED HOURS LOOKING AT WALLS FOR NOTHING! I'M GOING TO GUT YOU, YOU LITTLE PRICK!"
"Please calm down, we needed to do it just in case!"
"JUST IN CASE MY ASS, COME HERE AND TAKE YOUR BEATING LIKE A MAN!"
"GET HIM! SAVE ME MY MINIONS, HE'S TRYING TO KILL ME! HOLD HIM WHILE I- NOT THE FACE! PLEASE NOT THE F-"
Needless to say, the meeting was canceled after an hour long beating on the unlucky leader of sort, which last thoughts before he managed to drag himself to bed was how did he manage to have anything done with their little band of misfits.
~~...~~
"Vertical Arc!"
"GRAA-!" It's cry silenced by the basic yet effective and mastered combo, the Little Nepent exploded in a bright shower of colorful sparkles and it's unique bell like sound, before dissolving in the air.
"Congratulation! You reach level 4! You earned 4 stats points!"
Exp: 72
Col: 107
Items: 4
The bunch of windows was promptly shoved aside with a little fumble caused by a lack of practice in the past few weeks, and Kirito continued his already ninety minute long quest with as little success as he started it.
It had already been an hour and a half since he slew the first man-eating plant, and apart from lowering the durability of his weapon, a Bronze Sword that was dropped by one of the slain monster, getting a few spare ones along with a bit of money, he didn't get any closer to finding a flower-bearing Little Nepent. Thankfully, he didn't meet a fruit bearing one either, so it wasn't so terrible. It was possible that the rates of special monsters appearing were dropped even lower than the original one percent.
"Well, that or the nearly-but-not-quite murderer got them first." He thought dryly, seeing yet another clear zone of monster that wasn't caused by himself "With my luck, the first Flower Little Nepent that I find will turn into a Fruit Little Nepent right before my eyes."
Seeing that the coast was clear, so to speak, he used the occasion to spend his stats points, following his usual pattern of 2 strength, 2 agility for the even levels, and 2 strength, 1 agility, 1 vitality, for the odd levels. His stats all started at 1, meaning they were now a grand total of 7 strength, 6 agility and 2 vitality. He stared at the stars, once lost in thoughts, but this time of tactical order.
"Knowing that it took us three weeks in the Beta to find the Boss' lair, and that after the first five level it took twice as much experience each level, I should be somewhere around level 12 up to 15, and so I should have anywhere from 22 strength, 17 agility and 5 vitality to 28 strength, 21 agility and 7 vitality. The boss being level 5 and having, if I'm not mistaken, 4 Health Bar, we should be strong enough to kill him, with hopefully an Anneal Blade +4 or higher for everyone in my party at least, in less than a hour, and that is IF we are all at least 5 level higher than the boss . Maybe. Or maybe we should-"
When his newly acquired Searching skill startled him by pinpointing to him the location of an incoming hidden character somewhere in the bushes on his right, Kirito could do nothing except trying to calm his startled heart. After what seems like an eternity, and after managing to keep his internal turmoil hidden behind a cool façade, he finally broke the standstill that was slowly imposing itself upon the two players.
"Will you please show yourself. I don't think it's good manners to hide like this near a fellow player. It could give the wrong idea... unless you're up to no good?"
The sound of the leaves and branches bristling with movement unleashed a new wave of adrenalin in his body, or at least that was what the game made him feel like, who really knew - except Kayaba - after all? When he came out, his arms high in the air in the universal sign of pacific motives, a Small Sword loosely sheathed on his back. Kirito could only stare, trying to hide the tensing of his shoulder much as possible.
It wasn't the fact that the player was obviously skilled enough to unsheathed his sword and attack him in a heartbeat that got him tensed, nor was it the slowly dawning comprehension that the person in front of him was his "target" of sort. No, what got him slowly unclenching his knuckles in both fury and horror was that he knew this person. How could he not, when he had played at least half his time in the beta with him, when they spoke, fought, laughed, and cried together, when they were friends, comrades-in-arms and guildmates. His appearance, strikingly similar to his avatar's, was also a dead give-away. He was who he was searching for. He had tried to kill a bunch of innocents players, trapped like them in this twisted death game, in his first hours.
He was one of his most trusted friend and companion.
A gurgle slipped past his lips.
It couldn't be... It must be someone else! Surely he of all people wouldn't...?
He continued to walk toward Kirito, eyeing him first with a casual glance, before he stopped abruptly, a few meters in front of him. His eyes got a wild look in them, along with a gleam of familiarity, starting to search behind his back for something, something that wasn't there because he didn't bother with his second sword, trying to conserve as much durability as possible for the long task ahead. After several seconds, a brief sigh, one of relief Kirito noted, passed his lips before he relaxed slightly and his lips curled up in a sickeningly familiar half-smile.
Oh God, it was him.
"Are you the one-"
"Coper?"
The soft, barely audible voice of Kirito, was enough to freeze the blond immediately, and during a few second his face was frozen too, looking like a statue of marble, both in color and in fragility. Of course, he tried to shake it off, and once again ignored the daunting feeling of dread that was digging deeper and always deeper in his guts, trying to convince himself that he probably was with the Guild, planning his Grand meeting that was taking place tomorrow.
He couldn't be this unlucky, to find Him of all people, now.
So, with as much enthusiasm as he could muster, which wasn't much, he asked the question, which he both dreaded and needed to know the answer, at this doppelganger, and with a smile to boot too! See, he was trying to be polite!
"Do I know you?"
Of course, his half-hearted smile was wiped clean off his face, and the feeling of dread exploded inside him when the horrified answer came, with the horrible consequences that it implied.
"Do you realize what you did, Coper?"
~~...~~
I first thought to make it last until the end of the encounter with Coper, but the waiting must have killed someone , so I have decided to post the first part already. I'm once more REALLY sorry for the time it took me to post... I lacked both inspiration and motivation during a few months, and after this I got a really busy schedule at school, but don't worry, I shouldn't take more than a month per chapter if I manage it right. The only things that made me continue this fic were your support, so thank you for your support! See you soon! =)
P.S: I apologize for every person whose sanity has been lost due to delay ;)
Beta reader's corner: Hey, Slicerness here, just thought I'd give some information on Kirito's character build.
Stat level progression:
Strength: 1 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 7
Agility: 1 + 2 + 1 + 2 = 6
Vitality: 1 + 0 + 1 + 0 = 2
The build is designed to make him not only fast, but strong enough to do massive amounts of damage. His precise and graceful style makes getting critical hits easier, making his blows even more powerful. The downside of this build being he has comparatively less HP than most, meaning he HAS to dodge attacks, lest he be killed in just a few blows.
This can of course be offset by gear that boosts HP, giving him a bit more freedom and allowing him to enter a psuedo-berserker state, uncaring for the damage taken and simply hammering away at the enemy until it's very, very dead. Even with the best gear this is easily one of the riskiest play styles available to Kirito, so it's used as a last resort.