Author Notes: Hey guys, this is a rewrite of the old Perception of Reality. I felt the story got really messy there and decided to reboot the whole thing. When I had first wrote that fic, I literally wrote without a plan or even a good direction. Anyway, for this rewrite I have made some major changes to some of the characters and added some new ones. What I am aiming for this fic is for a concise story-telling unlike the all-over-the-place thing I had last time in the old version of PoR. For new readers, there's no need to read the old version, unless you really want to.
Key things to note in this fic is that it is slightly AU. I have made changes to the gameplay of SAO itself; there's archery in it, and also it's focus on being as realistic as possible such as there being dead bodies instead of exploding polygons. I'm going for this gritty portrayal of SAO. Anyway, without further ado, I hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own SAO, I just own an eleven game losing streak on League of Legends.
The Frontlines
The village of «Johurst» was merely an insignificant dot on any map. With its location not anywhere near a major highway, commerce trade was a rarity for its population, and thus most of the villagers were forced to live off the land. Nevertheless, the people continued their lives without complains, simply unaware of the luxury that many others in urban towns enjoy. Peaceful, was a common word to describe the place.
However, that was not the case on this night.
The screams of women and children and men ripped through the air. The night illuminated by the great flames that engulfed the village. Riders, two dozens of them, stormed the streets, tearing down thatch roofs of houses with hooks and silencing living inhabitants with blades. They worked quick. No hesitation, no apathy, no mercy. Only a grim satisfaction in their work.
One man tried to put up a resistance and had brought out an old rusty sword to defend his ancestral home. His reward for his bravery was a mace that first shattered his sword as he tried to block, and then smashed into his face, killing him instantly. His house was then lit on fire and his body left to add fuel to the flame.
The village guards, the four of them, had abandoned their posts, and they hid inside the village's shrine, hoping for their deities to ward off the attackers. They didn't. And the raiders broke through the shrine's old wall with ease, putting everyone inside to the sword, then burned everything.
Screams, screams, and yet more screams.
The riders gave a noiseless grunt as they rode through the destruction they had caused, seeking out more deaths. There seemed to be no purpose for why they were doing this; the village was small and remote and yielded little plunder. And yet, the riders came here, like a sudden strike of lightning, with the goal of killing and leaving carnage.
Some of the villagers managed to escape south of the burning Johurst, but they didn't get far before being shot down by the archers hidden in the dark. Their bodies were dragged back to the village, where they were dumped in a pile and ignited to create a large bonfire.
Against the light of the fire, the riders' painted red skins seemed to brightened, not unlike that of a blood moon. They were not only tall, but large and muscular as well, and, through the masks they wore, they spoke a devilish language, as if it was a curse on the living themselves.
Everything burned. Those who still lived were kept prisoners, and there was little doubt that that was a fate worse than death. They were stripped, beaten, and had a mark carved into their chest with a knife. Then their hands were fastened with rope to the saddles of the riders' horses and they were forced to keep up as the riders rode out once more into the night, leaving behind the ruins of their homes.
At a safe distance, somewhere north of the village, Kirito watched the intruders disappear past the darkness of the land beyond the burning houses. He crouched back down against the wild bush he was hiding behind, nursing an arrow wound on his left arm. It was only a flesh wound, but the arrow had been a barb-headed one and it tore a wide gash in his skin. Any deeper and it would have scraped a bone. And that would be painful, he thought, very painful. If he had the time to equip his armour before running away from the village, then the wound would have been avoidable.
He let go of a breath that he had been holding. That had been a little too close to death than he'd like. And, believe it or not, he knew a thing or two about being close to death in this world. But damn, this time he had been lucky to have escape as soon as the riders descended upon the village; if he had been a step too slow or too hesitant, his fate would have ended up the same as the NPCs that had died on this night.
Well, Kirito thought, best not to dwell on the luck of things. At the end of the day, appreciate it when one is still alive. Though, he couldn't help but wonder who the hell were those riders; he didn't manage to get a good view of them in the dark, but they were unlike any of the orcs he had seen on this floor before, bigger and larger, and they had a dangerous ruthlessness that he certainly did not wish to face again.
Who were they? What kind of sick creatures has Kayaba thought of for this 28th floor?
Those were questions he had, but he knew the answers will only come later. So, for now, best not to think of them. After all, again, at the end of the day, appreciate it when one is still alive, and not dead in the mud.
The ceiling of the 28th Floor brightened up slowly, gradually changing from its night blue filter to a morning yellow one. It was a strange substitute for dawn, Asuna thought, and she wondered how long will it be before she could see a real sunrise again. Months? Or years, perhaps?
She quickly put the thought out of her mind, for the morning was no time for sentiments; it was a time for work, and she had plenty of work. She used to dread the morning, prayed that it never came; it was a reminder that she was still trapped in this game. However, time and habit eventually eroded her unease and settled her into a work routine that kept her well on her feet. Sleepless nights were still common, but the weariness always seem to seep away as she reminds herself of what needs to be done.
And what needs to be done now was a siege. «Pathe Vares», the great fortress and final dungeon of the 28th Floor, stood just five hundred meters before Asuna.
The fortress was built on a large plateau of elevated bedrocks, and it domineered the surrounding land like a king on his high throne. It was once the pride of a kingdom, capable of withstanding years of siege, but after a disastrous defeat in battle, it was abandoned to the orcs of the east. And now, it was the clearers' job to reclaim the lost fortress. A job whose payment was in blood and death.
It was impossible to attack from the west, for a wide river ran alongside there, and the only approach lay across a long, stone bridge, guarded by two imposing wall towers equipped with springalds on their turrets. Also, more likely than not, the defenders will have cramped enough crossbows along the ramparts to ensure death to any assault from the west.
The north, in comparison, was more vulnerable. But the bedrocks in which the fortress was built on was at its highest there. The clearers would have to scale fifty meters of rock first, under the harassment of crossbow bolts and hurled stones, before even reaching the base of the curtain wall. No, Asuna wasn't going to attack from the north.
She was going to attack from the south; the plains were relatively flat and could easily be approached by the clearer army. While the plains in the east were just as flat, the clearers would be stretching their supply line too far and too deep in enemy territory if they attack there, leaving their rear dangerously exposed.
So south, it was. She had come to that decision just a few days ago, and just yesterday, eleven hundred players had set up camp south of Pathe Vares. And now, behind Asuna, they were waking up in their tents as the camp's rooster crowed. The sentries stood relaxed, because the threat of a surprise attack at dawn was over. Some players had already begun cooking breakfast, oatcakes baking in pans over fire. Others, still half-asleep, trudged towards the west of the camp where the barrels of water were stored. The morning grogginess would soon past for many of them, when they too remember the work to be done.
Asuna continued to stare at the fortress. It had two curtain walls, with the inner one twice the height of the outer one. Round towers jutted out along the length and the corners of the walls. A fortified barbican served as the gatehouse of the outer curtain wall, double portcullis gates barring any entry. And from the ridge on which Asuna stood, she could see dark-skinned sentries patrolling along the outer ramparts. She knew that the clearers were in for a tough fight.
An hour later, she was still standing on the ridge overlooking the southern walls of the fortress. However, now she had an entourage with her. She was speaking to a thin-faced man who looked to be in his mid-twenties. He wore the red and gold livery of the «Aincrad Engineers».
"Laennac, I want our siege weapons to be along there." Asuna pointed at one hundred meters to their right, a slightly elevated point on the ridge. "And there." Seventy meters to their left. "I want us to focus on taking out the flank towers first before making any breaches."
"I understand, Commander," the thin-faced man said. "I also suggest that we put our ballistae here, where we're standing now. I doubt that they will do much damage to the walls but they are well deadly to anyone trying to sally forth from the gates."
Asuna nodded, seeing the truth in the engineer's words. "Yes, do that. When can the work begin?"
"Immediately, but who should I give the grocery bill to?"
"Captain Bigot is in charge of the supplies. He'll give you the materials you need. If my memory serves me well, our stocks for the entire camp should be only twenty carts of timber, five hundred meters of rope, and two tons of iron ores—most of which are reserved for the blacksmiths already."
Laennac paused to calculate, then he spoke, "That's enough for two trebuchets and four ballistae. I would want to build some mangonels as well, but I doubt we have the materials."
"They will suffice. Go now."
"Yes, Commander." The engineer spun and walked back to camp.
Asuna turned to address a female aide of similar age to her. "Alayen, find Lind and tell him to set up a defensive line in front of this ridge. I also want trenches and stakes to protect our siege weapon batteries."
"Manual labour? DDA players aren't going to like that, Commander," Alayen said.
"At least they're not digging our latrine pits. And I don't really care about what they don't like. The necessities must be done."
"Understood, Commander." The aide waited for Asuna to scribble and sign the order on a piece of materialized parchment, then took the parchment and left immediately as well.
Asuna settled for a moment of peace. She watched a unit of cavalry assembled outside the camp's entrance in four ranks. They were dismounted, holding the reins of their horse with their right hand while cradling their helmet with their left. The cuirasses and greaves they wore were dented with hard use, and the spurs sticking out the heel of their sabatons were evidently crooked from heavy riding. Each player's face was scarred, adding a certain air of unmatched toughness to them, and their officer, denoted by the faded scarlet pelisse draped over his left pauldron, strode along the lines, inspecting each one of them for any signs of midnight drunkenness. There weren't any, and nor were any expected, for these players were the elite of the «Knights of the Blood Oath». These players were the Extraordinarii.
The officer with the pelisse, once satisfied with the conditions of his men, gave the order to mount and, with the smoothness that spoke of immeasurable experience, the extraordinarii climbed their horses in one swift motion. They began trotting down a small dirt road which led them west. The officer rode ahead to where Asuna was.
"Commander, the extraordianarii are setting out," he said. The extraordinarii's orders were to investigate a village south-west of the clearers' positions; the initial scouting reports had stated that there was a large fire that burnt the village overnight, thus giving some grounds for concern. Despite being an elite forces, one of their duties were relegated to being mere scouts as they were most mobile players in the «KoB».
"Carry on, Lewis," Asuna responded.
"Yes, ma'am."
Asuna watched as the extraordianarii rode past her in a column of two. A set of familiar faces grinned at her. There was a time, she remembered, when she had ridden alongside them and fought alongside them, back when she had worn the scarlet pelisse that was similar to that of Captain Lewis'. The excitement, the adrenaline, the rush of wind as the horse galloped at full speed into the rear of the enemy; she missed it all. Back then, things were so much simpler; it was kill or be killed. But now, the weight of being commander bore down on her, and the responsibilities were much more consequential and real. Nevertheless, she had resolved to clear this game, and clear this game, she shall.
She saw the last of the extraordianarii cantered down the ridge towards the west, then she turned towards the rest of her entourage. "Come on, we have work to do. Someone, bring me the map."
The putrid stench of rotten eggs was, perhaps, one of the last things Konata wanted to be woken up to. Actually, to be fair, she had already been awake for at least an hour or so and was just lying still with her eyes closed when the stink came on like a morning bucket of water. She sat up instantly, doubling over with one hand over her mouth as she forced the bile down her throat.
The nausea moment passed, but Konata kept her hand where it was, taking in deep breaths. Bad idea; the bile came back up, and she spat vomit all over the interior of her tent, over her straw bed, over her tunic, over her legs. The nausea moment passed again.
"Shuji! What the fuck is that smell?" she shouted, pinching her nose. "That better not be breakfast!"
A male's voice, obviously with a pinched nose as well, answered her from outside the tent. "Some guy just dropped a pot of shit. He's cleaning it up now."
Damned alchemists, Konata thought, always making a mess. She guessed it was somewhat her fault as well, for deciding to set up camp near some alchemist guilds' storages. But it was either here or be squashed up by dozens of other players' tents; at least here, there was some breathing air—was.
She materialized a white cloth, wiped the vomit off her tunic and pants, then crawled out the flap of her tent, all the while holding her breath. She stood up, unsure of how much of a mess she must have looked like. Shuji was sitting by a small fire pit, tending to a pot of boiling water; he smiled at her, the I-want-to-laugh-that-you-puked-yourself-but-it-stinks-too-much kind of smile.
"You've got something in your hair," he said.
"Shut your face, Shuji," snapped Konata, already running her hands through the contours of her caramel hair. They came away sticky.
"Good morning to you too," Shuji said, his grin easing up. He watched her for a moment, genuine concern in his eyes, then said, "You okay there?"
"I will be, once this smell goes away." She hunted for the source of it, and found it in a young player squatting on the dirt ground to scrape a spilled green substance into a dark metal bucket. A thick face mask was perhaps the only thing stopping the boy from keeling over from the smell.
"Freaking kids," she murmured. "Can't get anything right." She suddenly spat, more so because her mouth was full of the taste of bile than any intentional reprove. "Urrgh."
"Here, drink this," said Shuji, holding a wooden mug of steaming content. "It'll clear the bad taste."
Konata took the mug with both hands. "Thanks." She took a large sip; it was light tea. She swirled the liquid inside her mouth, rinsing carefully, then she swallowed before taking another sip. "This is good," she said, sitting down next to Shuji.
The dark-haired player nodded, making himself another mug. "Glad you like it. But I thought you were always more of a coffee person?"
"I am, but I'm partial to anything I can get. You know that."
"Only too well."
They sat in companion silence for the next few minutes, sipping their drinks, doing their best to ignore the smell. The kid eventually managed to clean up after his mess and the stink went away soon enough; SAO was too realistic of a game, but even then, it could not be expected to host mundane files such as a lasting smell.
"So what's today's plan?" asked Shuji.
Konata felt a sense of nervousness stirring within her. This was their first floor raid and neither of them had any idea what was to be done. The siege works had just begun, but there was little need of anyone other than an engineer. Thus, besides those that were on active duty today, most of the clearers were given the freedom to do as they wish. Konata might have been happy that they weren't heading to battle just yet, but she found that even when sitting idly her nerves was just as erratic.
"I don't know," she said.
"Rinsuu might have something for us. You think so?"
She didn't answer him. Instead, she looked away from his eyes, finding an unusual interest in a small patch of grass several feet away.
"Konata?" Shuji prodded. "You okay?"
She shook her head. "It's nothing," she said. "I'm just spacing out."
"Oh alright." There was a frown on Shuji's face, and Konata suspected that he knew what she was thinking. It was creepy how he does it sometimes, but then again she could read his mind half the time too; she guessed it was skill that comes along from knowing each other since childhood.
"What were you saying again?" she asked, deciding to return to previous conversation.
Shuji ran a hand through his hair. "I was asking if you think Rinsuu will have us do anything today?"
"Probably. I doubt he'll just abandon us on the first day of the raid."
"Oh look, speak of the devil." Shuji pointed at a distance, where a lone player crossed a small grass field over to their tents.
When the player had come close enough though, Konata realized it wasn't Rinsuu. "That's Spanner."
Spanner walked up to them, a grin on his face. "Well, Rookies, had a good night sleep?"
"Yeah," Shuji answered. Konata nodded. "Just some trouble in the morning."
The grin only grew wider. "Let me guess; alchemists?"
"Bingo."
Spanner let out a light-hearted chuckle. "This won't be the only time, for some reason someone always seems to fuck up and drop goblin crap or something when going through those storages. Don't worry though, everyone made the same mistake the first time. We all see that the area near the stores are relatively empty and spacious, and we decide to camp there, and then next thing we know, acid's in our breakfast."
"You couldn't tell us this last night?" Konata pointed out.
"Some lessons are better learnt through experience." Spanner scratched his neck. "Anyway, I came here to get you guys; Rinsuu wants everyone. We've got a job to do."
"What job?"
The player shrugged. "Don't know. We'll see. Come on, let's go."
The northwestern section of the clearers' camp was allocated to the blacksmiths, and on this morning was heavy with traffic as players hurried to get their equipment repaired or enhanced for the day's work of grinding. Clouds of smoke drifted precariously between players, causing many to cough and sweat feverishly whilst they waited. The clanging of hammer meeting metal, grindstones grating edges, and impatient shouts calling for haste, sounded throughout the area. NPC boys ran about, hired by smiths to fetch water to refill their quench tanks.
For Konata, it was obvious of who were the better smiths just by watching the manner in which they work. The experienced blacksmiths, seemingly unfazed by the heat blazing from the furnaces, knew how to judge the temperature by the colour of the metal, hammering with ease, while the inexperienced ones struggled and rushed, choking in the smoke. However, despite the difference in skill levels, Konata noted, all of them worked diligently, their eyes gleaming with the determination to do their part in clearing this game.
A small gust of wind suddenly blew the smoke to her as she walked past, and she instinctively covered her eyes. "Aah!" the sting came nevertheless. She coughed, rubbing her eyes gently. It was amusing at first that the game was realistic in including these little sensations, she thought, but then it quickly got annoying and, at times, downright frustrating.
Spanner led them into a small makeshift workshop built from mud; inside, was a forge lined with bricks, unlit and cold. Six players stood tightly together waiting, and they nodded at Konata and Shuji as they entered.
"Where's Rinsuu?" Spanner asked.
"He's coming." The player who answered was a man named Yaro, and Konata had reckoned that he must be at least seven foot.
"Late as always?"
"Pretty much."
The next few minutes went by without much incident. The room was warm from the pressed of bodies. A row leather aprons hung off pegs across the wall. Konata could hear Denham cracking some jokes with Yaro and the not-so-silent fuming of Hagman who was obviously not a very patient man. Spanner was in deep conversation with the only other girl in the room; Mayor was her name and she kept a warm smile the whole time Spanner was talking. The others were engaged in idle chatter, marking the time till Rinsuu arrives. Only Nahal, the smith, was silent, as he was busy working the edge of an arming sword against a grindstone.
They were all solo players, who banded together. Each one of them had at least seen four floor raids, and fought through enough deaths for a lifetime. They had offer a place for Shuji and Konata when they had first arrived on the front lines a week ago, and Konata was more than grateful for their help. However, she felt like a dwarf amongst them as they carried themselves with a certain confidence that she knew she would never have.
"Look lively, Konata," Shuji nudged her. "First day of the raid."
"You aren't exactly happy-go-lucky either," she responded.
Shuji smiled, nervously scratching the back of his head. "I'm a bit scared, to be honest."
"That makes two of us."
"As always."
The sound of armoured feet crushing gravel came from outside the workshop and, not a moment too soon, Rinsuu walked in nonchalantly, suave as ever, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he had kept everyone waiting. He was a dark-haired man and had a small stubble of a beard. And, unlike everyone else in the room, he had donned his full armour, fitted with a steel cuirass, kote gauntlets, and lamellar thigh guards over dark blue pants. If Konata had known any better, she would say that he bore a striking resemblance to the samurais of the past.
Behind the samurai, a brown-haired player, who Konata had never seen before, followed in. He was perhaps the same age as Shuji, around nineteen years old, and he wore a red and gold livery. His face was round, not the fat kind of round, but the soft, cute kind of round, and he moved around the workshop, not quite sure of himself.
"Morning everyone!" Rinsuu piped. "I see that we're all here."
Someone grunted, most likely Hagman.
"Alright, straight to business then. This is Luminos from the Aincrad Engineers." Rinsuu placed a hand on the brown-haired player's shoulder.
"Hey there," Luminos said weakly.
"The engineers have hired us for a job for us today. Payment at the end of the day as usual." The samurai pulled out a scroll from his belt and unrolled it on the lone table of the room, revealing neat drawing of the dungeon and the surrounding land. A small circle marked the clearers' camp, just south of the fortress. "Pay attention. East of where we are, there's a stone outpost."
Rinsuu jabbed a finger at a tiny dark block which guarded an eastern road on the map. "There's perhaps close to a hundred orcs defending that place. The Commander gave the order to clear them and garrison the place so as to protect the army's flank from any attacks from the east. Lieutenant Kaspa of the Great Brigade will be leading a half-company to do the job, and Luminos here is to fortify the defenses of the area once Kaspa captures it. We're there to do whatever Luminos says."
"You all will mainly be the manpower I need," Lumnios said. "Kaspa's men won't be under my command, you see."
"Will we be taking part of the fighting?" Mayor asked.
"Err…yeah, you'll be fighting. Every player will have to fight there, including me." The engineer fidgeted slightly when he said those words.
Rinsuu seemed to have sensed that the man was worried, for he gave him a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder. "Rooks," he said, referring to Shuji and Konata, "you two will stick with Luminos the whole time. No problem?"
Konata and Shuji shook their heads.
"Alright, then. Denham, Yaro, Hagman, you three follow me now. We're picking up something up from the supply depot. Everyone else, eastern gate in one hour. So, go get your gears ready."
Everyone nodded, then proceeded to file out the workshop. There were no complains that the meeting had only lasted several minutes when they had waited longer for Rinsuu to arrive. Konata guessed that it was just because the group was used to the samurai's eccentrics.
"Konata, you go on ahead," said Shuji. "I need to get some things fixed by Nahal."
"Alright. Don't take too long," she said.
She walked out into the bright morning sun. Her first thoughts were to go buy some more bodkin arrows from a bowyer; these arrows had narrow trisection heads designed to pierce through armour, and they will no doubt cost Konata a chunk of her weekly wages. But it will be worth it, she reckoned, considering the types of mobs she was going to face this day.
She saw Luminos walked past her and she realized that she had forgotten to introduce herself since she and Shuji were going to have to stick with him during the outpost raid. She ran up to him. "Hey!"
Luminos turned to her. "Yeah?"
"I'm Konata. Nice to meet you." She reached out her hand.
The engineer shook it. "Nice to meet you too. Konata is your real name, right? Not your avatar name?"
"Yeah," she said, allowing a small smile, "I prefer people calling me by my real name."
"That's nice."
"Besides, my avatar name is too embarrassing."
Luminos raised a curious brow, smirking slightly. "Oh yeah? What is it?"
"You'll find out later when we party up."
"Why don't you just tell me now?"
"Better later than sooner," said Konata, smiling.
"If you say so." Luminos's face retreated into a slight frown. "So, you and the other guy are supposed to stay with me during the fight?"
Konata noticed that he had fidgeted again like he did earlier in the workshop. She nodded. "Yeah. The other guy is called Shuji, by the way; he prefers his real name too. He may look like an idiot but you can rely on him," she said. I know I do.
That seemed to assured the engineer for he smiled again. "You know him a lot?"
"We've been friends for pretty much our whole lives now. He's more of a family than a friend, actually." Though, it was a fact she had only recognized after the death game had started.
"Sounds like a great guy," Luminos said.
Konata nodded. "That, he is." She knew only too well.
Two hours of sleep were what Kirito only got from the night before. The rest of the time, he had been on the move, heading for the clearer's camp, because of the fear that the riders would return to the village Johurst—or what was left of it. He had walked north-east, keeping an eye for the riders, and he knew he hadn't made much distance from the village due to being cautious of getting lost in the dark.
With the sunlight now on his side though, he could now see the land clearly, albeit the sky was partially hindered by the smoke drifting behind him, and he could plot his way to the frontline. A sea of dirt ground and wild hedges surrounded him, and the wind blew in the smelt of soot. East was probably where he should be heading now, for the clearers' camp would be somewhere there.
He let out a cough, then checked the bandage on his left arm; it was slightly bloodied, but when he had opened it he saw that the wound had healed. He cut the rest of the bandage away with a knife he kept on his person at all times. Then he materialized a piece of hard bread and began chewing on it.
It was then that Kirito saw the first outline of riders coming from the horizon. His heart sank. He knew that this time he didn't have the darkness to hide and they would surely see him.
His suspicion was confirmed when the leading rider shifted his bearing to ride directly towards him. Oh well, he thought, it's not like he could outrun horses. He pushed himself up to stand, then drew his longsword of its sheath; the blade was smooth, almost water-like in a way, and it gave a silent defiance that Kirito could feel radiating through his fingers.
He equipped his gauntlets, and greaves, and barbute which was a visorless helmet that covered both sides of the face well; his steel cuirass had already been equipped since the night before and he hadn't dared taking it off. He could still try to make a break for it, but he knew it was pointless; the land was flat, perfect for cavalry to ride down anyone foolish enough to trek alone.
"Fuck me," he said. Let those be his last words.
But the riders weren't the riders from last night.
There were around thirty of them, and the surcoats they wore were white and emblazoned with a red coat of arms, which Kirito couldn't quite make out at the distance, but he would be damned if he didn't recognize who they were. Their horses, coursers by the looks of them, were magnificently white as well, as if they were just curried this morning. If there was one thing he say about the extraordinarii, other than being the best cavalry of the clearers' army, he would say they always look great whenever they make an entrance.
He sheathed his blade as the extraodianarii slowed to a medium gait, dusting the dirt off his armoured legs. The leading rider, who wore a scarlet pelisse, rode up to him, while the others parted and rode onwards in the direction of the burning village.
Kirito grinned at the man. "Captain Lewis, it's good to see you."
"Good to see you too, Kirito," Lewis responded, flashing a grin as well as he dismounted. "I haven't seen you in the last three raids, and here's where I find you. Out of all the place, eh?"
"Indeed. Strange world sometimes." He was glad that it was Lewis who came; it was rare enough to find a player who didn't hate him.
"You got that right." Lewis glanced in the direction of Johurst. "So can the Black Swordsman tell me what exactly happened here?"
"A fucking mess," Kirito said.
Lewis frowned; Kirito had forgotten that the man disapproved of swearing. "I can see that," the player said without humour. "I need details."
"Sorry," Kirito muttered. "I was on my way to the frontlines, and I stopped here in this village to complete a quest and stay for the night. It was around midnight when riders came. They—"
"Riders?"
"Yes, riders. I didn't get to get a close look at them. But they were a different breed of orcs, unlike anything I've seen on this floor so far."
Lewis pursed his lips in thought, then spoke, "Okay, keep going."
"So there were around twenty of them, and they came suddenly in the night, out of nowhere, and started killing everyone. I ran the second I knew what was happening." Small villages outside the main towns on floors were rarely «Safe Zones» and thus were susceptible to being attack by mobs. Kirito had experienced his fair share of that occurring, but last night was on a scale unprecedented before; the memory of his short encounter with the riders was enough to deter him from wanting to face them again. "They killed everyone and burnt everything, even the bodies, then they rode away eastward. Oh yeah, and there were archers hidden around the outskirts of the village; they took out anyone who tried to escape. I got hit in the arm, right here, but I managed to get out of sight after that. Ever since, I have just moving towards the clearer camp until you guys came."
The captain paused for a moment as he waited for Kirito to add anything more. "No survivors?" he asked.
"There were some, but they were taken prisoners."
"Was there any other players here, or was it all NPCs?"
"All NPCs, I think. I didn't see any players in the village when I came," said Kirito.
Lewis let out a sigh. "That's good. How are you though?"
"A little tired"—more like trying not to pass out from exhaustion—"I'll be fine as long as you get me to camp."
"Will do. I'll need you to report to the Commander about all of this when we get back though," said Lewis.
"Sure. Who's the Commander for this final raid, by the way?"
"Asuna."
Kirito's eyes widened and he felt his heart clenched. "A-Asuna?!"
Lewis grinned at his disbelief. "Don't underestimate her, Kirito. She knows how to get things done."
"I know that. Too well in fact. It's just came as a bit of a surprise to me." He remembered the time when he had first met her. The quiet, headstrong girl who only let her blade do the talking. He had told her she would become strong in this world then. And now she was Commander of the Clearer Army. Talk about being right. "God, she's going to kill me for missing the last three Floor raids."
The captain chuckled. "One player missing hardly matters to her, you know. Why were you missing though?"
"Umm…" Kirito said, rubbing the back of his head, "long story. I'll tell you some other time."
"Alright. Tell me more about the riders from last night then," Lewis said.
Kirito glanced back at Johurst; the fire was almost gone, and the extraordinarii there had begun fishing out the treks the intruders had left behind when they rode away. "As I said before, they were nothing like I've seen before. The way they kill, it was just so brutal. They were bigger than your average orc on this floor. Even their horses are bigger than destriers. I think I saw one take a bite out of a man."
Lewis pursed his lips in thought again. "I will have to report this to the Commander; she'll want to hear this. Thank you for your help, Kirito."
"Anytime, Captain. What's the situation there anyway?"
"It's looking pretty good; the Commander has got everything running smoothly. The siege works has just begun. The Great Brigade will be clearing out the east. DDA are on patrol rotations. And Heathcliff and his Chosen men will be cleaning the ruins in the south." The captain mounted his courser swiftly and looked down at Kirito. "Wait here for me, will you? I'm going to check up on my men, and see this village myself, and then we'll head back to camp."
"Okay."
And with that, Lewis rode off, leaving Kirito alone once again, surrounded by the sea of dirt and wild hedges.
Author Notes: This chapter took me a while to write actually because I'm a terribly slow writer. I want to say that I would update soon, but I find that every time I have said that so far, it would be months before I actually do. So, I'm not going to say anything now about when I'll update. Perhaps if I don't say it, then maybe I will actually update faster. Lol who knows, I'm a bit superstitious this way.
Regardless, tell me what you think about this chapter. Tell me if it's good or bad, I don't mind any harsh criticisms. Point out any flaws you might find because I'm definitely sure this chapter ain't perfect.
Well, that's the end of this chapter, be sure to favorite, follow, review, or PM me if you want. See ya.
Edit: Fixed and added some stuff according to the reviews of Agent 94 and TheGreatWhiteNortherner. Thanks guys!
I also added a title to this chapter: The Frontlines. I also made changes to the members of Rinsuu's party; now instead of eleven players in the party, there are only eight: Rinsuu, Denham, Yaro, Hagman, Spanner, Mayor, Shuji and Konata; Nahal the blacksmith does not count as one.
