A Different Aincrad

by Kurumaru

Kirito just wanted to play SAO again, he didn't sign up for this. First he bumped into a chestnut haired girl who decided to follow him everywhere, then he was told if he died well he died. Life doesn't seem to like him all that much. AU version of the Aincrad arc and characters in general.

1. Chapter 1

Yo. So I decided one day when I was really, really bored that I would try to write a SAO fanfiction. Don't ask why.

Anyways, Kirito might seem OP in the early game, but I'm going to put him through hell later so he'll kinda need it.

First fanfiction so I'd appreciate any real criticism.

Anyways,

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Sword Art Online

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"Ikuze!" Kirito bellowed, before charging towards the boss himself. Most of the players that came with him were hit with renewed morale before they too dived headfirst into the menacing looking creature in front of them. Asuna herself kept beside Kirito the entire time that he charged down the hall. It was the ninety-ninth floor after all, she had to keep some kind of eye on her rather determined husband. Renewing her focus she shifted her gaze over to Kirito, and in that brief moment, they made eye contact, both nodding in silent agreement. They both had utmost confidence in each other after all the crap that they had been through.

The arena wasn't the conventional dark and doom that persisted throughout the previous floors, but opened up to the ruins of what must have once been a temple. There was a false sun in the sky along with some clouds as well, making the inside of the chamber seem like the outside. In the middle of the ruins stood the boss encased completely in stone. Slowly the expedition members began to tense at what was going to happen. Kirito was pretty sure that the boss was going to make an epic MMO-like entrance, it was the custom for many of the final bosses. I mean even Illfang the Kobold Lord got a dramatic entrance.

The first thing that moved was its jaw, which quickly gave way to the entire head of the beast. Just looking at it now, one could tell that it was draconic in nature. Its scales were the color of the fieriest rubies and also shone like them as well. Its eyes were molten pools of gold that surrounded the onyx slit in the center. The horns of the beast jutted behind the head, giving it an even more frightening appearance. The multitude of razor sharp teeth didn't help assuage any the raid members' worries as well. The beast gazed lazily towards the nearest player, Kirito in this case, with its head tilted upwards haughtily before letting out a small snort and resuming its epic appearance.

Suddenly, more rock gave away to the sheer power of its wings, blasting the stone everywhere. The members of the expedition covered their faces and closed their eyes against the baffling winds and pieces of stone that pelted them. More of the rock crumbled around the dragon, allowing for the players to see it in all of its glory. Beautifully deadly claws and talons adorned its wings and limbs, bulges from the sinew and muscles could be seen across the magnificent specimen. The underbelly was a very pale yellow, contrasting heavily with the scales. Its spine was adorned with deadly spikes made out of bone. They continued down the entire length of the bone before reaching the only part of the beast that was still covered in stone, the tail.

An earth shattering roar was unleashed against the members of the frontline. It was almost as if once could see the ripples that the beast made using his godly shout. Players attempted to steel themselves against the torrential winds that soon followed, a few of the weaker ones that weren't suited for melee combat began to falter and fly back, only to hit nothing even when they should've hit the wall or door. Quickly noticing this, it was then when Kirito understood what was going to happen. Unlike Illfang or Gleam Eyes, there was absolutely zero percent of any outside influence getting inside to help them, nor was it possible for any of those inside to even begin dreaming of returning outside. It was clear what Akihiko was planning for this stage. Al of the members were prey and the dragon was their oversized predator. Of course there was the slight problem of said prey having cockroach like characteristics, mainly the one of never dying.

The dragon kept roaring, the turbulence increasing dramatically with each passing second and it still was on its epic introduction. The health bars began to fill up one by one, however instead of four hanging onto its side, or the ten hanging off both like the previous boss that they encountered, there was simply one massive circle of health above the dragon's entire frame. Hovering in the center of the circle was a big fat 50x. Most of the member's morale dropped at that, seeing that they had to destroy that health bar fifty times over before the battle would finally end. Kirito easy calculated hundreds of millions of health points if it wasn't in the billions at this point.

Kirito took a moment to steel his resolve before taking one look at Asuna's frozen form. It seemed like the burden of the battle had gotten to her as well. Letting out a battle cry, the black haired swordsman rushed towards the gigantic beast just as it finished its introduction. The beast's AI seemed to have a condescending side to it, for it didn't even try to stop Kirito's sword slash to its leg. All of the members watched in nervousness as the boss's health bar seemed to just take a 3% chunk to the first level out of fifty. The beast in the meantime, decided that humoring the swordsman in front of it was a bad idea for the long run as it raised its front legs and leaned back slightly, gathering air in its lungs, before crouching and lowering its head to the level of the expedition members. It roared once again, this time using the severing air pressure that was accompanied by holding too much air inside its lungs.

Wordlessly, the tanks of the expedition made their way in front of everybody else and held their guard against the massive pressurized attack that the dragon used. It felt like they were going to go airborne at any second if the attack didn't let up. Their Shield Skills were helping tremendously with holding off the attack. Seeing that the attack was futile, the dragon let up the attack and stood in its default position once more. Black text once again would its way towards the health bar area as it took form and said, Lyrroth, The Savior of Time. It was the final battle, well second to final as the author decided that the second to last would be more epic than the final one. It would finish what started three years ago.

XXXXX Three Years Ago XXXXX

A bluish flash appeared in the center of the Town of Beginnings, accompanied with a small chime, signaling that a player had just logged in at that location. The avatar was no other than Kirito, known by the Beta testers as one of the, if not the best player during the two month testing period. He was known at the time on the server as exceptional with a sword and having the quickest reaction times ever seen. He could sense changes in this world faster than the 0.11 second limit in the real world. He could easily sense changes in a quarter of the time.

Kirito let out a content sigh. After a week or so of not being able to play, he was eager to restart his adventure in this world. Of course he was going to be the best player this time around, he wasn't going to have any questions on whether he was the top or was only one of the top. Kirito wasn't known in his time during the Beta as one to associate with others easily, in matter of fact he was probably as socially awkward as some of the people who lock themselves inside of their rooms during parties were. Many said that he had the emotional range of a toothpick with the only way of discerning his emotions being observing his eyebrow behavior. Forgetting whatever he was thinking about in Beta, he decided that it didn't matter anymore. He was going to become an infamous solo player, one that many people would die for to join a guild. He would clear all the floors of Aincrad by soloing and he would…

CRASH! THUD!

He fell unceremoniously on his bottom, thus ending his inner thoughts of becoming the best. Oh well it wasn't like he could daydream about it the entire day, he had levels to gain, quests to do and so much more, but for now he would check on what he crashed into. Looking up from the ground while simultaneously rubbing his sore behind, he saw a chestnut haired girl with amber eyes staring back at him. She was the definition of beautiful by any straight male's standards. Her face was perfectly heart shaped, her form curvaceous and his hair and eyes made her exotic looking. Although it might be a male, Kirito couldn't help but appreciate the girl's form.

Finally getting off his lazy ass, Kirito walked over to where the girl had fallen and stuck his hand out for the girl to grab onto. She graciously smiled and voiced her appreciation. Now standing at full height, he was able to see that she was around the same height as his avatar, looking around the same age as well. He was once again staring at her, taking in every detail once again. Now by no means was he a pervert, well he might be one, but he just didn't have enough contact with the opposite gender in his real life. Even in a game it was a bit nerve wracking for him to talk to a girl, even if it might have been a male in real life.

Kirito snapped back to focus in the real world when the chestnut haired beauty across from him poked him in the space between his eyes. A blush made its way onto his stoic features in the tiniest form out of embarrassment from being caught staring. He noticed when he was staring that her lips were moving, probably speaking but he was too out of it to get a single word. Even now he was just nodding dumbly at what the girl across from him was saying. It wasn't like him to get like this, all flustered and whatnot. He was supposed to play the act of cool indifference god damn it!

The girl, noticing that he was nodding like an idiot for a good half a minute straight let out a sigh at being ignored. "You didn't hear a word I just said didn't you?" Her voice was melodic as well, damn Kirito focus already. Get back into character. Despite all of the author's efforts into getting Kirito into speaking or making a coherent reply, he just simply nodded like an idiot again. The girl seeing this sighed in frustration as she flicked him in the forehead. Said action bringing the raven-haired protagonist back to the world of the living for the conversation.

"Stop ignoring me!" The girl said in frustration, getting a sheepish smile from Kirito and a hand rubbing the back of his head in an equally sheepish manner.

"Gomen, I was just lost in my own little world." The girl let out a little huff of indignation with a cute pout on her face. Kirito was once again entranced by her beauty but then snapped himself back into reality. Despite it not looking like much, that forehead flick hurt like hell!

"As I was saying, you looked like you knew where you were going when you ran into me, so I was wondering if I could accompany you." Kirito was shocked at the girl's statement. A pretty girl wanted to party with him, so it definitely was a guy in real life. But she could tell that he was a Beta tester just from his movement. He didn't see much trouble in going out of his way for a good two minutes so he shrugged.

"Sure I'll help you with the basics and then I'll leave." He said, thinking that the girl would be jumping for joy while yelling "Yatta!" would be the normal reaction, he was shocked when he saw that the girl was bending her knees so that she was a good three inches shorter than him now. Tears started to fill her eyes as said eyes began to widen and shine sadly. Kirito panicked, knowing the infamous technique from his real life sister Suguha when she desperately wanted something. It so far had a perfect success rate, something unfathomable to his mind that such an overpowered technique would exist in an MMORPG like this. I mean seriously what was Kayaba Akihiko thinking when he implemented the skill! Didn't he know the consequences of his actions!

"Can I just stway in your party pwease!" The girl said adorably. If Kirito was a female he would most definitely be shouting "Kawaii" while crushing the poor girl to death. Alas, due to his genetic status as a male, the result was simply his will being picked away slowly by the all mighty technique.

"Alright. You can stay as long as you like." Kirito said, he had lost once again to those puppy dog eyes, and it wasn't even from his sister this time! The girl upon hearing this, eyes returned to their normal size with all of the tears that had been there moment before had disappeared. Her cute pout was replaced with a infectious smile that even made Kirito smile - *gasp*.

"Yatta!" The girl squealed in excitement before hugging Kirito tightly. Even though it might have not been a real hug, it was still a warm sensation that he had never felt before. She also smelled nice too, even though she might have been a male. So then would that make him homosexual? He turned green at the thought of the pretty girl in front of him being male, granted he did attack a few extra accessories such as a beard and such.

Kirito sent the girl an invite than she quickly accepted. The male protagonist looked to the top left, trying to finally figure out the name of the girl in front of him. 'Asuna, huh. That's a pretty name.' Similar thoughts began to enter Kirito's mind again before his mental rant on the newly named Asuna ended with the thought, 'Gah she, he it? It's probably a male in real life.' Which brought another wave of slight depression and green face syndrome to the raven-haired teen.

Shaking his mind free from the disgusting thoughts on the thing beside him. Yes his mind had declared the girl an 'it' until he got a definite answer on the gender of the real life person. It would determine what pronoun Kirito would use from now on. He began to answer the girl's questions about the game in general while slowly walking them towards the gate to reach the hunting grounds. Sometimes she displayed amazing intuition about the system that only a veteran player would have, but sometimes she was as clueless as a clueless man watching pro streams of the newest release of Starcraft V.

Asuna on the other hand was enjoying the experience. It was almost like the man, who revealed that his name is Kirito, was a private tour guide for her. Every question about the system that she had, he answered enthusiastically while going into great detail about what he knew and personal experience said. She wasn't stupid by any means, she knew that Kirito must have been a Beta tester with the amount of knowledge he held on the details and mechanics behind the game. That or he was an overzealous nerd that hoarded any information possible while studying more than was possible for the game. But since he held a semi-normal conversation with her, minus the blatant staring of course, he was then a beta tester.

"Ne, Kirito so how do all of the stats work in the game?" It was down to the two major topics that dominated SAO during its beta, stats and skill levels. Asuna didn't know about the intricacies, simplicities and the occasional moronic background behind the uses of all the stats, so she wasn't bound to be ready for the explanation that Kirito was about to give. Rather she wasn't ready for the lecture from Kirito she was about to hear.

After taking a breath to think on how to begin, Kirito started his lecture, "Well Asuna, every time you level up in SAO you get five attribute points that you can put into one of the four out of five attributes that exist in the game. Well it's really three but I'll get there in a second." Asuna seemed confused at the last statement but nodded her head anyway.

"The first attribute in the game is strength. It's like the conventional strength that exists in almost every MMORPG. Leveling it up allows you to equip heavier armors such as platemail, but also slows down your movement speed in the long run. It increases damage dealt by all blunt and two handed weapons. One handed swords being the exception. It also allows you to equip more things at once, like using a greatsword in one hand and such.

"The next stat is agility. It's basically the opposite of strength in this game. It increases your recovery time after you use a skill, so it's really useful for people like me who use fast combos to defeat monsters instead of one attack to crush them. It also increases your attack speed slightly while also increasing your critical strike chance by a small amount as well. Leveling agility is the only way to increase the damage output from one handed sword or ranged weapons. People who level this usually have leather or cloth armors on." Asuna nodded, thinking that it was also going to be her main stat much like Kirito.

"The final real stat that you can put points into is willpower, which is pretty much a much better version of other game's vitality. It does everything that Vitality does in other games like increasing your HP and HP-regeneration, but it also decreases the amount of time that statuses affect you so things like poison, paralysis and blindness aren't as affective. It also increases your defense slightly as well increases your resistance to enemy critical strikes. It sounds overpowered but it's much less potent than other stats.

"The last two stats are things that you shouldn't really bother with. The first is intelligence which is pretty much Akihiko trolling us from the real world. It doesn't do anything except inflate your ego and make you try to be smart. It was introduced as a gimmick and that the player's base intelligence represents your intelligence in comparison to other players. So basically never touch it." He swore he saw Asuna deadpan and mutter something that sounded like, 'Lazy ass developers.'

"The other attribute is luck. Every player in the game has one luck which means they aren't luckier than anyone else and have default col and drop rates. Enhancing and enchanting also depend on your luck as well. Beta players might have five luck but in reality that raises their chances by a factor around 1.4x. Not even the beta testers managed to find a way to increase the amount of luck that you can have, so just assume that it's going to stay that way forever. It just there to say thank you to the beta players." Asuna nodded in understanding. They really weren't getting much of an advantage especially in the later stages in the game where things would only drop half a percent of the time.

"Alright Asuna. We're here at the Town of Beginning's hunting grounds. They are only level one so they really aren't that much of a challenge." She nodded nervously at his statement. Even though he said that they were the most basic of monsters, she still hadn't ever used the nerve gear, rather playing other desktop based MMORPGs. Luckily she had Kirito there to help her along the way. She was really grateful for his presence now.

"Ne, Kirito. Can you just go first and show me how to do it?" Asuna asked shyly as she shifted her feet around and clasped her hands behind her back all the while the ground suddenly became more interesting than anything else for her. Kirito was shocked by the cuteness that she was showing right now, it was definitely illegal to be that cute in over nine countries. It was just a crime!

"Hai Asuna. I'll just go first and explain things to you along the way." Kirito said with a small smile, he felt as though he should unlock a new achievement for showing so much emotion. The girl smiled appreciatively before saying a small 'arigatou' for his troubles. She turned her gaze into one that was more focused, one that she reserved for some serious things.

"Now Asuna." She perked up at the mention of her name. "The game is all about the variety of Sword Skills there are. All you have to do until you can hit them by yourself, is use the right starting motion. One of my skills is called Vertical so I just have to ready up the skill like this." Asuna saw the small iron shortsword in Kirito's hand glow a deep shade of blue before he swung it and struck the monster boar, one-shotting it and sending it to oblivion via shards of bluish-green glass that shattered to reveal the spoils of battle. He remembered that the first level of SAO was just for show and that the experience requirement to level up was just a measly ten, enough give from one boar. He was met with a small congratulations on his UI and the sight of a cheery Asuna.

"Wah Kirito. That was so cool. Also congratulations for leveling up." Kirito let out a small smile before walking over to the waiting Asuna. Normally he would be hesitant to reveal his stats to other people as there was a chance he would garner unwanted attention, but something in him told him that Asuna would be okay. Maybe it was because she would be staying with him for a while? Yeah he would just tell her that as an excuse.

"Ne, Asuna. I was thinking that since we're going to travel so much together that you might as well see my stats." Asuna smile brightened even more if it was possible. It was almost as if it would melt the heart of any straight man. She having played former MMORPGs understood the significance of Kirito wanting to share his stats with her. It was because there was some kind of trust that he had place in her. She didn't know why he trusted her, but she wouldn't betray it. Like some other people. With that in mind. She walked over to the side of the now motionless Kirito as he swiped down to reveal the UI for character stats and skills.

Name – Kirito

Level – 2

HP - 342

Strength – 20

Agility – 35(+5)

Willpower – 15

Integilence – 20

Luck – 100(+95)

"EHHHHHHH" Birds and animals that were peacefully resting in various trees all ran or flew away at the sound of the two teens yelling at the top of their lung. Kirito was also sure that a few boars ran away from the disturbance. Kirito just stared dumbly at the screen of information in front of him. He knew that he would have five luck, I mean he was a beta tester. But one hundred luck is ridiculous, it is just stupid even. All stats in SAO are used in calculations exponentially, so one hundred luck is easily fifty times as lucky those with five luck. Asuna was in a similar train of thought though hers was less complex due to not knowing how things are calculated. All that she saw was one hundred luck compared to one or five and she knew she had found the proverbial jackpot.

She turned eerily over to Kirito while a dark aura was slowly manifesting itself around the chestnut haired beauty. "Ne, Kirito-kun. You wouldn't have any complaints about me being in your party now would you?" Her face was still adorned with a smile but it felt so vile and wrong. It was way too sickly sweet and then he remembered when he saw the same things in his sister Suguha. She would always do this when she was pissed off that he had said some embarrassing lie about her in front of her friends. It was an equally potent skill that all females could use. The infamous dark aura.

'Kami-sama, why do you hate me so much?!' Kirito mentally raged at how the developer for SAO could leave the two deadliest skills in the known world available in a game. Suppressing his mental rage for a second he turned back to the still sickly sweet Asuna and quickly put his hand up in his front of his chest in a 'okay, okay' motion. "Of course Asuna, I would never go anywhere without you." He said meekly while trying to stop the horrible aura from existing.

"Good." She said before the smile and aura disappeared, allowing Kirito to breathe normally once again. "I guess it's my turn to level up now."

Asuna drew her rapier out from its sheath before it started to glow a pale shade of yellow. She thrust it outward to use the skill called Linear to main to poor defenseless level 1 boar. Kirito could only stare at her motion. She – or it – was far faster and flexible than Kirito was, and he was even an agility based player. She received significantly less Col than Kirito had and turned back to him with a smile on her face. She had just killed her first monster. A few moments later, a small message appeared saying congratulations appeared. She stood next to Kirito once more when he adopted a confused expression on his face.

Seeing his confused look, she decided to explain, "You shared your secrets with me, so it's only natural that I share mine with you." Kirito's neutral expression turned into a small smile as a result of Asuna. It seemed that she could get the most emotional reactions out of the usually stoic teenager, even if it was only the smallest of smiles. She too navigated the UI before finding her character stats and skills

Name – Asuna

Level – 2

HP - 336

Strength – 17

Agility – 38(+5)

Willpower – 15

Intelligence – 22

Luck – 1

Before the two were able to do anything else, they suddenly heard the chime of a bell far away, probably in the Town of Beginning's plaza. They just shared confused expression and words of shock before both of them glowed blue and began to teleport away. Kirito quickly deduced that it was a forced teleport and that only a GM could have done it. So it practically begged the question of why.

The sky quickly turned red from the sunset's brilliant shades of gold and maroon. Small hexangular polygons created a dome around the plaza where no one could get in or out. A few of the hexagons had the word warning flashing on and off in their centers. It was just all suspicious. Why would the GM make all of the people who just purchased the game nervous? Kirito's eyes widened when he felt something enter his hand. Looking to his right, he noticed that it was Asuna's hand that made its way into his. She looked even more nervous and anxious than the rest of the people. 'Must have something to do with not dealing well with horror.'

All of the sudden, some red liquid that was most definitely not blood began to leak from the dome's ceiling, forming a red cloak and hood like apparition that floated there as if judging them. Its hood covered the face of the wraith like creation, but even without it, Kirito doubted that there would be a face underneath it. In matter of fact, it didn't seem to have any body parts, it was just a cloak that was floating there.

"Greetings players, I welcome you to my world." Asuna's hand tightened its grip around Kirito's. She didn't exactly react the best to horror or things like it. "My name is Kayaba Akihiko. Right now, I am the only person who can control this world."

Kirito's body tensed. He knew that name, after all how couldn't he after the numerous things he had heard and read after the famed creator of the very game that they were currently playing. He was a genius in quantum physics, a master of programming. He had always stood behind the scenes though, never revealing himself. So why would he right now?

"I think most of you have discovered the fact that the Log Out button has disappeared from the Main Menu. This is not a bug, it's all a part of Sword Art Online's system." Both Kirito and Asuna quickly brought down their UIs and true to his word, there were no log out buttons. Asuna tensed, her family would be worried sick about her and there was nothing she could do to soothe them, she might as well be in a coma.

'Until you get to the top of this castle, you cannot log out of your own free will. Also, the discontinuation or dismantling of the Nerve Gear from the outside is strictly forbidden. If these things are attempted…" He let the tension build for a while. Oh what a sadistic bastard the guy was. Kirito and Asuna both gulped audibly as well as most of the players in the plaza. "The signal sensors in your Nerve Gears will emit a strong electromagnetic pulse, destroying your brain and stopping all of your basic functions."

Asuna turned her head to Kirito as he slowly did the same both starring into each other's eyes in shock. Her eyes told him that she didn't want to believe this or any of this was happening. Some guy with red hair and a headband tied around it shouted about the possibilities of a power outage, something that caught the interest of both of the players. Kayaba started explaining as if he could hear the man.

"To be a little more specific, dislocation from an outside source of electricity for ten minutes, being cut off from the system for more than two hours, or any attempt to unlock, dismantle, or destroy the Nerve Gear. If any of these conditions are met, the brain destruction sequence will start. These conditions have been made known to the government and the public through mass-media in the outside world. On that note, there have been several cases where the relatives or friends have ignored the warnings and tried to forcefully get rid of the Nerve Gears. The result is that regretfully 213 players have already exited this game and the real world forever." Kirito stumbled backwards, somehow managing to stand on his weak knees. Asuna tightened the grip on his hand even more while raising the other to cover her mouth as her eyes began to water.

"Players, there is no need to worry about the bodies that you have left on the other side. As of this moment, all TV, radio, and internet media are all repeatedly reporting this situation, including the fact that there have been numerous deaths. The danger of having your Nerve Gears taken off has already all but disappeared. In a moment, using the two hours I have given, all of you will be transported to hospitals or similar institutes and be given the best treatment. So you can relax and concentrate on beating the game."

Something in Kirito then snapped. It was bad enough that he couldn't log out with conventional means, but now the bastard expects them to play around. "What! What are you saying!? Beat the game!? You want us to play around in a situation like this!?" He kept shouting and glaring at the red robe that represented Kayaba. "This isn't a game anymore!"

The monotonous voice continued once again, "But I ask of you all to understand that Sword Art Online is no longer a simple game. It is a second reality. From now on, any form of revival in the game will no longer work. The moment that your HP reaches 0, your avatar will be gone forever, and at the same time your brain will be destroyed by the Nerve Gear." Kirito began to chuckle mirthlessly at his situation, others around him were looking on with concern, especially Asuna. Although they couldn't particularly blame him and his reaction.

"Players, there is only one way to be freed from this game, as I have said before you must get to the top of Aincrad, the one hundredth floor and defeat the final boss that resides there. All players still alive at that time will be immediately logged out of the game. I give you all my word." Many of the players in the plaza were still shocked, either denying it saying that it was a cruel opening event or just frozen from it.

"I shall show you the evidence that this is now reality. In your inventories there will be a gift from me. Please confirm this." As soon as he said this the plaza was filled with people bringing their thumb and finger down and the chime of bells. Both Asuna and Kirito stared at the item, if the situation wasn't so serious at the moment, they would surely be deadpanning right now. Everybody tapped the make into object button. Kirito and Asuna both shared a look before clicking the button as well. All it did was create a small rectangular mirror in their hands.

Eyeing it carefully, Kirito couldn't see any difference, it was just the avatar that he spent a painful amount of time making. Looking at Asuna, he could tell that she was equally confused as well. That was until it changed to shock as they were both engulfed in white light, yet their hands had yet to separate.

As the light died down, Kirito looked around only to see many of the people around had changed. He stared back into the mirror and raised it hurriedly before it disappeared from lack of durability. Gone was the warrior face and body that the avatar had, instead was black hair that laid neatly over the head, two weak looking eyes that could be seen beneath the slightly long hair, and a delicate face that made people mistake me for a girl. He looked back over to where Asuna was standing half expecting a middle-age man to appear out of nowhere, but instead he saw her perfect features all over again, except her hair was waist length instead of middle back. 'I lucked out so much' was the advanced thought process of Kirito.

Asuna could tell it was Kirito, mainly because he was still holding her hand. He was a good inch shorter than her now so he was probably a year younger than her. He looked so feminine to her eyes but that didn't really change her opinion of him. He had still helped her out in the beginning so hey, he was still the same guy. Although a bit more girly.

Before she could even comment on his new appearance, Kirito quickly led her out of the recently liberated plaza and down on of the winding streets that led to a gate leading out of the town. Reaching just out of hearing and sight range of many of the other players, Kirito quickly pulled out his map before trying to get Asuna's attention

"Ne, Asuna?" Said chestnut haired girl looked up to meet his eyes. "I was thinking, since the guy just said that we won't get home until we clear the game, then maybe we could go together over to the next town. I mean all the fields here will be overcrowded and there are a few decent quests that I know are there."

The downcast girl's demeanor did a complete 180 from what it was beforehand. She was so cheerful and lively, now it seemed like she was prepared to give up all hope of ever escaping. She refused to meet Kirito's eyes after he finished his explanation, finding the floor infinitely more interesting. Why was he trying so hard even after Kayaba practically gave them their death sentence?

"Why?" The response garnered a confused look on the effeminate male's visage. "Why are you trying so hard?"

"W-what do you mean, Asuna?"

"There's no point in trying. We're all going to die!"

"Asuna…" Now Kirito was really worried. The look in her eyes matched some of the ones that he saw in the plaza. The eyes of someone who was truly giving up.

"It doesn't matter does it? As long as I die without losing myself I should be happy right? After all no one else would seem to care."

Kirito gritted his teeth in slight anger. He hated those who gave up and yielded to harsh circumstances, granted that the girl and countless others have just been told that they are in a death game so he could sympathize some amount.

"I care."

Asuna's eyes immediately darted upwards to see the resolute features of Kirito. His eyes weren't showing the weakness and depression that many others were at the time, rather they were determined. There was this atmosphere around him that made others want to believe in him, his eyes were all he needed to covey his beliefs. They didn't hold any doubt or hesitation about his choices. Asuna could only stare at his features, the two words that he had just spoken resounded deeply in her mind.

"There are plenty of others that care as well, Asuna. You still have to get back to your real family, your parent are probably worried sick. So if you're not fighting for your own sake, then fight for theirs, ne?"

Kirito knew that it was usually taboo in MMOs to talk about the real life and their problems, it simply brought unnecessary drama and other unneeded things into the atmosphere, yet he continued anyways. It might strike a chord with the girl and get some kind of positive reaction from her.

"I have a little sister in real life too," Kirito began. "Our parents are really busy with our mom working what seems like 24/7 and our dad always overseas, so it's usually up to me to care for her. I'm not just fighting for myself, Asuna. I'm going to clear this game so that I can see her again, apologize for being gone for so long, and then become the older brother that I was."

Asuna's countenance began to brighten ever so slightly. A small smile made its way onto her beautiful features. She could finally look into Kirito's eyes for more than a minute before looking away. Said male protagonist saw the traces of hope and determination starting to take root in her eyes.

"You better take care of me then." Asuna said, most of her depression was gone. A small portion of her still wanted to give up, though it was easily overshadowed by her newfound conviction.

"Of course, I already told I would help you until you said enough right? Besides I would feel more confident having a pretty girl watching my back." Kirito said, deciding to add a little playful ending to it.

Asuna's cheeks blushed a pretty shade of pink, while she adverted her eyes slightly from Kirito. Sure she had been called beautiful and gorgeous by many other boys in real life and in MMOs, but for some reason, Kirito's teasing managed to bring out her shy side. She 'Hmph'ed before crossing her arms under her chest and pouting slightly.

Kirito chucked at the sight of all of her previous depression leaving her. It seemed like his words had worked after all. There was a long road ahead of them, but at least this time he wouldn't have to travel it alone. He looked over to Asuna after his brief reflection and saw that nothing but determination and a little bit of something else that he swore he saw before in her eyes. None of that depression was there. She smiled and nodded, before coming up to Kirito's side as they both ran towards the next village.

XXXXX Rosemary Village XXXXX

Kirito and Asuna let out a sigh of relief as they finally saw that the village was in sight. It was a simple and small village, typical for one of those that were found near the beginning of an MMO with the typical homey name attached to it. Rosemary Village was what it was called and Kirito was certain that the quest that they would receive would be somewhere along the southern area of town.

Their travel to the town was rather uneventful with the minor exception of a few trash mobs that decided to get in their way. Needless to say, they were quickly butchered. Both of the players had leveled up to four along the way, with the reason being around fifty of said wolves.

Kirito was surprised by Asuna's speed which easily put his to shame. It wasn't to say that he was slow, it was just that Asuna was so damn fast. Combined with her weapon of choice, the rapier. It was scary. Kirito found various crystals after he slaughtered the wolves in his way. With his luck they dropped like they were going out of style even though they were supposed to be incredibly rare. He only kept the ones that increased the amount of critical damage he dealt, seeing as it was going to become the only kind of damage he dealt soon. He just needed a decent enough weapon that would be able to socket and the quest that he was going to do with Asuna was going to give them both decent starting items.

Both of them made their way to a small cottage in the village and found a woman with a golden question mark above her head, denoting that she had a quest for them. Apparently her daughter was gravely ill and no doctor could cure said illness. Only the flower on top of a Little Nepent, the Little Nepent's Ovule, would be able to cure her ailment.

After hearing it twice due to it being a solo quest, Kirito led them to the forest that was outside the village. They searched for said monsters before they found a couple of weird, ugly plant like things with insanely huge red lips. Both Kirito and Asuna unsheathed their weapons before falling into their own weapon stances.

"Ne, Asuna. Don't push yourself too far. You can't die here right now."

"B-baka." Asuna felt a slight heat in her cheeks with the concern in his voice.

Kirito took off from where they were first, using his Sonic Leap to close the gap between him and one of the weird plant like creatures before sending it into oblivion with the thrust part of the skill. The recovery time for the skill was reduced slightly from the effects his agility had on his stats, so he was able to avoid another one of the creature's assault.

He could say confidently that twenty of them held no challenge to him even at his current level with his pitiful items.

Ducking below a tentacle swipe from one of the mobs, he readied a Horizontal to sever the main body from the legs and ultimately kill the creature. The swing made contact and the plant made a horrible shriek of pain before the two halves fell to the ground. It was too much longer until the legs of the creature disappeared and the body soon followed after, but there wasn't any time to ponder abut that particular monster anymore.

Already, two more had taken its place in the battle. Kirito simply maintained his usual calm façade and prepared himself to counterattack. Parrying a tentacle slap he chopped off the appendage in his counterattack as he used Slant to bisect the creature's partner diagonally, allowing both halves to disappear into shards of blue glass. The original with just one of its leafy tentacles left could do nothing as it was met with a simple Vertical, bisecting it as well.

There still wasn't a mob with a flower on its head in sight. The only thing that Kirito could do at the moment was continue mowing down the trash mobs and then wait for the slightly more challenging one with a flower on its head.

He fought like a seasoned warrior. His movements and techniques that he learned from kendo and other forms of swordplay made their presence known in his dance of death. He wasn't simply moving side to side, parrying and cutting the opposition. He was seemingly flowing and deftly decimating the monster's population. It was almost like real life. All of his hard work in dealing with his overbearing grandfather and his hatred of kendo had finally paid off.

He had thought about quitting a multitude of times, but he could safely say that the only reason why he didn't quit was that it wouldn't feel right if he left Suguha alone again. Last year he qualified for nationals and placed fourth when he lost during the semi-final. That was using the traditional two-handed style of course. In secret, Kirito was practicing wielding the bamboo rods with both hands. Originally his left arm's coordination was awful, barely passable for a sword strike, but with persistence it was at the level he was now, practically ambidextrous.

He sidestepped to the right before unleashing another Horizontal on the monster and then quickly preparing a Slant while turning around to deal with the one behind him. The instant that the blue shards of glass dispersed, he could see the object of his current desires. On the head of twoLittle Nepents was a red flower. Using another Sonic Leap to pierce two ordinary plant creatures that were merely in his way to the flower bearers. The blue shards of glass shattered and were blown into the wind as he prepared for his assault on the two harder versions of the trash mobs he had just encountered.

Unlike the previous monsters, the two in front of him had significantly improved AI and didn't blindly charge the player in hopes of landing a hit. Two of them could actually work as a team and take him down. Still Kirito was confident that wouldn't happen and readied himself against the two plants in front of him.

Initiating the fight again with another Sonic Leap, Kirito lunged his blade towards the center of the creature's body before it managed to move enough so that the damage to it wouldn't be lethal. The plant hissed in pain before stabbing its tentacles to the player's side making Kirito dodge for he couldn't move his sword fast enough. Soon enough, the teamwork of the two creatures was making itself known with the combined assault that the four appendages managed to create.

When he was able to finally parry one strike, another would come attempting to blindside him, and thus causing him to lose his opportunity for a counter attack. It fell into a rhythm of biding his time and waiting for the tiniest of opportunities to present itself. The durability on his starting sword was starting to become lower and lower, almost to a third of the original. He was silently cursing at how pitiful his current sword was until he saw the briefest glimmer of opportunity.

The AI had tried to change it up so that both of the creatures attack him at the same time from opposite sides. A foolish idea for Kirito simply ducked below the assault as he heard a deafening crack from the two appendages smacking each other. The raven haired teen performed a slash that managed to cleave a few root like legs off of one of the creatures. It simply shrieked in pain before doubling over and falling onto its main body unceremoniously. Taking his attention away from the incapacitated monster, Kirito refocused his attention on the other Little Nepent.

Using another Sonic Leap, he once again closed the distance between him and the creature before attempting a lunge. Much like before it shifted slightly to his left as the blade plunged into its body in a non-vital area, dealing significantly less damage to it. Knowing the follow up that the AI would choose, he dodged the stab by ducking this time as he used his current strength to drag the blade through the abdomen of the creature, creating a large, uneven red gash in the center of the monster. Kirito readied another Slant before bisecting the creature once again. One on one, they weren't much harder than the normal creatures he had decimated.

Chopping off the flower from the top of the Little Nepent's head before it dissipated, he walked over to the still downed form of the other plant that tried to attack him. He raised his sword to perform another vertical to bisect it. As the blade finished glowing red, he swung down ferociously but noticed that something was terribly wrong with the scene in front of him. Sure the plant like thing was bisected and dissolving into pretty shards of glass. But the top of his head didn't have a flower. Instead was the form of a recently cut fruit from his vertical.

XXXXX With Asuna XXXXX

Asuna watched Kirito use his Sonic Leap to destroy one of the monsters. She wasn't able to see any more after than due to the amount that surrounded him, forming a small perimeter. She too was met with the same plant like things albeit much less due to her not brazenly charging into their nest. She readied her rapier before closing her eyes for one final thought.

'Stay safe, Kirito-kun.'

Her rapier glowed a soft gold as she lunged out with her Linear skill. The result was extremely satisfactory to say the least. With her incredible speed, she was able to hit the vitals of the plant monster perfectly. A small circle hat was missing from the creature had the edges of it turn to glass before it slowly expanded, encompassing the entire monster and turning it into fine powder.

Sensing that another one of the plants was about to attack, she quickly turned around with her rapier glowing once again. This time she slashed with the weapon, using the skill called Swipe to cleanly bisect her opponent. Turning her attention to the growing number of opponents in front of her. She steeled her resolve before charging into the middle of currently three Little Nepents.

Her form was much more graceful than that of Kirito's with her being much more flexible. It allowed her to easily weave between the clumsy and slow attack the plant things were trying. It if was possible, she felt that the AI was getting frustrated as she saw the attacks get slightly faster but overall more predictable and easily countered. Soon enough an opening to finish all three of the enemies was found by her calculative eyes.

Dodging a tentacle that had just tabbed into the ground, she leaped up onto the appendage, before using her grace to land on the strange creature's head. She stabbed her rapier through the back of the creature's mouth before slash her way out, causing the creature to explode in shards of glass. She didn't waste any time until she found another and did a similar action once again causing the plant to disappear forever. The third one wasn't in leaping range, so she settled for a Linear to finish the job. Once again, a small hole was in the creature's vitals as it didn't even get to shriek in pain before dispelling.

Asuna, letting out a sigh of relief, looked over her shoulders to see that there was one of the creatures that Kirito said would give them what they needed. A red colored flower rested on top of the Little Nepent's head, making it a target for Asuna who simply beelined towards it. All of the ordinary mobs met their doom if they tried to interfere with the charge courtesy of a Linear or two. The target of her charge was unsuspecting so it freely took another one of the deadly jabs to its side. It shrieked in pain as it turned around to attack the chestnut haired beauty.

It was a simple enough fight. It was barbaric and stupid like most of its brethren. The AI couldn't even take advantage of numbers due to there being only one non-suicidal plant creature there. All of the regular Little Nepents that interfered with the fight met their untimely ends with a single slash of Asuna's rapier. The target was currently trying to retreat, knowing the disadvantage it possessed in its current situation.

Unfortunately it was met with a single strike that pierced its model. It promptly disappeared into glass, allowing Asuna to cut the flower from the top of its head which soon followed. She looked over the area in an attempt to find Kirito. She sniffed the air and noticed an odd smell. It was sweet smelling yet foul at the same time, a truly strange combination. She found Kirito staring wide eyed at a downed form of a plant creature. She made her way over to the still shocked boy.

"Kirito-kun! I have my flower so we can get out of here now right?" Asuna asked, still oblivious to the severity of the situation. Kirito snapped out of his stupor before he grabbed Asuna's wrist and quickly started to run away…in the opposite direction of where he was supposed to go. What an idiot.

"No time to talk Asuna, we gotta get out of here." Kirito stated before returning his attention to running the hell away.

When he finally realized that he was running in the wrong direction, he stopped abruptly. He scanned his surrounding in an attempt to determine their location. Luckily for them, they were still in a section that he already mapped out. A confused look fell on Asuna's features when they suddenly stopped. A very cute expression when she tilted her head slightly.

"Kirito-kun, where are we?" The girl asked, truly not sure of how deep into the forest they were.

"Hehe, sorry Asuna. We just had to get out of there. I may have activated a trap on accident." The boy put a nervous smile and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

Asuna's eye twitched when she heard this. This idiot in front of her told her to be careful and not overexert herself and then abandons all sense of care himself.

"Baka!" Asuna yelled before bonking the top of Kirito's head, leaving a comically sized bump on his head. Oh if she didn't like that wait until she heard the other part

"Umm…" He began nervously before trying to drop it but Asuna's expression made no room for negotiation as he began to sweat. "I also may have run in the wrong direction so we're going to have to go back through there."

As soon as he finished that, there was a good second of nothing happening before Kirito was soaring into a tree. He twitched slightly after he was buried into the trunk. As he pulled himself out of the tree his two thoughts were, 'Ok, maybe I deserved that. Holy shit, am I turning into a masochist?! NO! I didn't deserve that much pain!' and 'what the hell is her strength stat?!'

Ending the comical scene was a brief chime of bell, the sound of a notification.

"New quest received?" Kirito asked to no one in particular. Judging by Asuna's confused face, it was easy to tell that she was equally confused.

The quest was called, the source of confusion, a really ironic name for the current situation. It was almost as if Kayaba was trolling them again. The rewards for the quest were insane, a full suit of armor that was as enchant able as the sword that was the reward for their current one. The only condition was to kill a mob called Taogral, The Sentinel, a boss mob according to the quest information. Just as Asuna and Kirito finished reading the information the quest gave, they heard a dull thud against the forest floor with many snaps accompanying it.

Looking around at the scene, Kirito's eyes widened at the damage caused. No longer were they in the middle of a forest, but rather in the center of a fresh new clearing. Asuna seemed to be in the same state of bewilderment as they both shared a brief look before Kirito caught something move in the corner of his eye.

At the edge of the new clearing, stood a moss covered stone golem. Stone that was elegantly carved with intricate runes and script were covered with moss that came with prolonged exposure to the dampness of the forest. Blue energy seemed to hold the entire construct together and was visible where there was no stone covering it. It was human in shape, having flat slabs for feet, capable of crushing while its arms, which were made for smashing and sweeping, were handless and thus fingerless. It didn't have a head made of stone, but rather a sphere of the blue stuff holding it together was where it was supposed to be. Its chest was cracked heavily on the left side of the chest, where the heart was supposed to be. There was something shining in the crack, but Kirito was too far away to determine what it was.

Two health bars rose from nothing and began to fill up as its name and title adorned the top of them. Taogral, The Sentinel was in thick white letters, easily seen by any brain dead person. Both Kirito and Asuna gulped at the golem in front of them. They could only hope that its movements were slow and predictable or else they would surely be dead. A barrier could be seen erecting itself around the clearing perimeter to keep anyone from getting in, or more importantly, out.

"Ready Asuna?" A small nod from the chestnut haired girl answered his question. "Be careful alright."

A small smack his the back of his head as he chuckled sheepishly at her deadpan expression before refocusing on the boss monster in front of him. He tensed for a moment before activating his Sonic Leap to close in the distance. Instead of thrusting this time, he swung diagonally on a piece of stone, hearing an empty clang for his efforts. He looked at the boss's total HP and saw that it didn't even take one point of damage.

'So the blue energy areas are its weakness.' The golem performed a lazy smash on the ground with its right arm, cracking the ground heavily. It would surely be game over if he was hit with that. Luckily, it seemed that the boss was super slow and very predictable. He turned towards his party member. "Asuna! Aim for the blue parts! It's the only way we can damage him without hammers or stuff like that!"

The girl was already behind the golem when she heard Kirito's advice. She narrowed her eyes at the shoulder of the golem, seeing a surge of blue energy there, she readied her skill, Linear. The rapier glowed gold and was thirsted directly into the shoulder of the stone construct causing it to roar wildly in pain. The arm was sliced off surprisingly easily for a piece of stone but they paid it no attention until it cracked halfway down, revealing whitish crystals underneath the stone. The arm disappeared, or rather the stone parts of it, leaving the crystal and ore behind as loot for the taking.

Kirito was already thinking and trying to remember what they were until he finally remembered. Those crystals and ore were easily mid-tier ingredients, things that shouldn't be found until floor 50. They were used to create powerful equipment at these floors that were easily overpowered at this point. So he quickly changed his plans. Asuna landed right beside him after the devastating blow to the golem, it took away a quarter of his first bar of HP.

"Change of plans Asuna." She listened, thinking it was probably because of the introduction of the crystals they saw. "We're going to break that golem apart."

Asuna's eyes widened at the prospect, Kirito's sword didn't do anything to the thing unless that kind of interaction was planned. She noticed that he aimed for a spot that was outlined with a crack when he first went forward with his skill. So maybe that was it. She nodded in understanding, seeing the smirk on Kirito's face that was a message for, 'I knew you could figure it out.'

She watched as the reckless male protagonist charged at the golem once again, this time slash away at the cracks around its left arm, making it crumble and revealing the white crystalline ore underneath. Asuna then sprang into action, this time cutting them limb off from where the elbow would be on the construct, making more glass flutter in the wind. The deposit of ore fell to the ground with a thump and sat there, waiting for the battle to conclude so that the new owners could pick it up. A dull roar of pain came from the golem again, wailing about how it practically lost almost all forms of attack.

Kirito used the opportunity to slash at the cracks around the knees, destroying the rubble covering them and revealing the ore underneath which Asuna promptly collected by severing the limbs. While the boss fight might have been hard as a solo player, having Asuna around made the massive golem seem like a pushover.

With no limbs available to move itself, the golem fell pitifully to the ground, surrounded by the crystals that dropped from it. Kirito came up and was determined to bring the finishing blow. The boss was barely alive at this point, and since it couldn't bleed, someone had to deliver the final strike. Kirito's iron sword glowed gold as he prepared his Lunge, a skill that he never particularly liked. It struck true and right where the crack on the golem's chest originated. The golem roared for the final time, sounding more painful than the other times. The entire chest turned into the special ore that they saw, but there was an odd black sheath stuck in it. Kirito pulled the sword out of its crystalline prison.

It was definitely a longsword that was for certain. It was slightly heavier than what he was used to, but it was still a good weight to grow into with his ever increasing strength. He took the blade out of its sheathe and was temporarily blinded by the blade itself. It was a silverfish white at the edges of the blade where it was the sharpest, but was a strange glowing pure white everywhere else. Besides the blade, it was jet black, fitting perfectly with the color scheme of the sheathe it came with. He quickly used his inspect skill on it, it wasn't that high but it could inspect anything that dropped for the player.

Shirokou – White Steel

'Forged by legendary smiths for three months straight, it is said that the sword was their best creation. However, it was lost two days after its creation, never to be found again.'

Material – Diamantite

Quality – 0/7 - Legendary

Durability – 1/10000

Damage – 157

Crit Chance – 22%

Strength – (+12)

Agility – (+18)

Enhancements – 0/10

Enchantments – 0/1

Item for next quality level - Diamantine Ingot x 2

'Due to being lost for so long, the blade has not been kept well, by adding certain materials to it, the quality can be upped seven times to further increase the base stats as well as add certain effects'

After reading the description, he quickly stowed the weapon in his inventory, not wanting to even breathe on it in case it were to fall apart. After letting out a sigh of relief he turned around to see Asuna hovering right over his shoulder. He did the elegant thing of freaking out by jumping backwards before calming his racing heart. Asuna just giggled at him the entire time before turning to him with a smile.

"Congratulations, Kirito-kun." She said wholeheartedly. She didn't care that she didn't get it. It wouldn't have been any use that way. She didn't have enough strength to properly wield the heavy weapon he used. She turned to collected all of the remaining ore that he had missed. It didn't matter who got it since they already agreed on sharing their materials. "You deserved it."

Kirito just stared at the girl in front of him. Truth be told, he actually was enjoying his time around her. She wasn't one of those that were scared to take action. She was kind and strong at the same time. She didn't seem to be the jealous type either, but rather supportive of his luck in obtaining the weapon. He watched Asuna as she went around to collect any other spoils of their battle until a small ding made their ways onto their UIs. The system decided that they were finally out of combat so they were allowed to see the results of their battles.

Both of them had leveled up four times, apparently the golem boss was level 7 and supposed to take hours to clear if you didn't figure out the weakness. It also helped that the quest was turned in automatically and gave them a hefty amount of EXP. Kirito immediately put all of his stat points into his agility, leaving his strength along and only raise it when he needed to. He looked over at the scene that held all the items that they received from their adventure in the forest. It wasn't even the second day and he already felt a year older.

Checking with Asuna, they had gained a total sum of around 300 thousand Col, an astounding amount. With Kirito's luck nearly increasing their rewards by ten times the amount money wise, the amount of items were staggering as well, though the only thing that Kirito cared for were the 56 Enhancement Crystals, and 43 Diamantine Ore. It would probably be a while before any of the blacksmiths could even try to smith the mid-tier ore. So it was likely that his weapon of choice would stay the same for a while. It was fine for him though, it had the stats of a weapon found in the floors around forty.

"Ne, Asuna." The girl turned her head over to where Kirito was. "You want to go back now?"

She immediately nodded, having enough of the horrible forest where they had been for over two hours.

Standing right by Kirito's side, the pair began to walk back towards Rosemary village, both having enough fighting for the day.

XXXXXRosemary VillageXXXXX

"Please take our family heirloom. It is the only way to repay you for your help!"

Asuna and Kirito finished listening to the NPC's heartwarming thanks twice in a row. It was still just as annoying as it was when they received the quest. Oh well at least they were finished with the thing now. Kirito took his Anneal Blade that he received and pocketed it inside his inventory while Asuna did the same with her Wind Fleuret.

The walk back to Rosemary was uneventful much to the silent thanks of both of the party members. The Little Nepents seemed more docile when they found them in the forest. It seemed like destroying the golem Taogral had tamed the forest. Only a few wolves that conveniently spawned on the road back hindered them by a few fractions of a second before they were easily eradicated by a single swipe.

When they made it back to the village, they found that many of the previously empty areas of the town were now full of new players that most likely came from the Town of Beginnings. It was fine for Kirito anyways, he was only planning to spend another day or two here with Asuna before they headed out to somewhere else.

Maybe they could find some more people to join their party. If they had a full one of six then they could probably go into the dungeon and grind there.

Making a mental note to search with Asuna for more players tomorrow, he thought about everything else he needed to do. He needed to sell his old and useless items to someone, he preferred someone human so that his items could help newer players in the future. He needed to find a blacksmith to upgrade his Anneal Blade and Shirokou to respectable levels. Once again, it would be better to give the items to actual players so they could get some sort of experience and with his luck, he doubted he was going to fail. He also had to get rations for both Asuna and himself. Damn he had a lot of things he had to do tomorrow.

At least it was going to be more normal than today right?

The pair chatted amicably as they walked down towards the farmer's house that Kirito rented before they left the village. There were two bedrooms, a balcony, fresh food, and a bath! Asuna had heard of the bath portion of Kirito's description and promptly grabbed him by the collar, asking a little too sweetly if she could stay at the place he rented. He quickly relented, not wanted to deal with the malicious aura that started to surround her.

Along the way, he caught some of the glares that males sent his way, the reason clearing being right next to him. Girls were already a minority in SAO, and one being pretty and good at the game at the same time was just plain rare. For Kirito to be blessed with Asuna made the other males jealous. He was sure that they'd throw a fit if he were to show his luck stat and new sword.

It was already night when the two reached the farmers home. They had gotten sidetracked when Asuna brought them to a shop filled with pastries. Even though he didn't have a real wallet, Kirito almost felt like a few pounds have been lifted off of him. Stepping into the rented second floor, Kirito allowed Asuna to take the bath first which the girl was thankful for. He simply sat in a chair, thinking about his current situation.

There was bound to be animosity between players given a week of time. It was simple, the new players were going to blame the beta testers for the entire situation. He sighed at the thought. How were they supposed to conquer the 100 floors of Aincrad with only the ones that didn't have any information while also having a divided front line? It was just illogical yet some would still create the rift just for the attention it would bring around themselves. He was imagining a cactus haired bastard ranting about the unfairness of the game.

Somewhere in Aincrad, said cactus haired bastard sneezed on a sub-boss, causing it to agro onto him while he ran and let out unmanly shrieks.

Kirito still wasn't very used to leading, or even being in large groups. Sure it has gotten better from when he would be completely isolated from the real world, only living in the virtual one. Still some changes had their limits. He had become more social in the real world, he hung out with a group of friends that generally numbered around five to six at a time. For some reason he was popular at the school which attracted the attention of some girls. He wasn't as dense as some people liked to believe he was.

However, uniting the entire front against the various floors would be next to impossible. There would always be some people who hated being ordered or had a superiority complex, some rotten people who were sadistic assholes, or just people who likes stealing and watching others suffer. It was one hell of an optimistic view point.

Maybe all that was needed to raise hope up in the game was simply clearing the first floor, making it seem like it wasn't as hard as it was made out to be. Yeah that would be good. He would host an information session maybe a week and a half from now to allow the other players to level up before deciding to tackle the challenge.

He would have to become a leader, it would be hard but he could do it. After all, he still needed to apologize to Suguha for worrying her so much. Asuna still had to return to the real world along with the rest of the players trapped in the game. It gave him to motivation to do it but there was one crucial detail that he left out.

How?

How could he mend the rifts, to gain everybody's trust? Maybe he…

"Kirito-kun!" His eyes widened as he shook his head to clear all of the thoughts. He saw Asuna looking at him concerned. "I've been calling you for five minutes now. What's bothering you?"

It was funny, he had met Asuna by accident and they were already the best of friends. Maybe life or death situations did that.

"It's nothing to worry yourself over, Asuna." She still looked at him concerned. "I'm just thinking about how we can get everybody to work together."

It was still troubling him, the question of how. He never had to deal with this before.

"Just do what you think is right." She smiled at him. "I believe in you, Kirito-kun. You just need to get everyone else to as well."

Hearing her words of confidence, Kirito's face gradually turned up into a smile

"Thanks, Asuna. I needed that." Said girl turned away shyly while her cheeks flushed slightly. "I'm going to go use the bath now, see you in the morning."

He entered the room of the bathroom and turned on the water again. He didn't have to wait for the temperature to gradually change as it was a virtual reality game so he waited until it was at an adequate enough level before hopping in.

He thought about what Asuna had said, about how he should just do what he thought was right. It was going to be hard to lead all those people, but it would get done his way. He wasn't a solo player this time. He didn't have any time to be selfish in this game. He had to make sure as many people as possible survive the encounter. Well minus spiky cactus haired bastards.

Yeah, what Asuna said was right, he was going to do it his way. One day at a time, he would get everyone together under a banner just one day at a time.

He sighed as he left the comforting warm water of the bath before drying off and throwing on some of his clean clothes. Wandering his way over to his bedroom, he plopped down immediately onto the comfortable mattress. He quickly fell asleep, it was just unnatural how fast he fell asleep. It was just the first day, albeit a crazy as hell first day. He still had his lofty goals, but for now it didn't matter. All that he was doing was enjoying his sleep and dreams about a chestnut haired girl.