Kirito growled in frustration. Of course, just his luck.
A couple days ago, he and his new friend Liz had nearly been killed by a dragon. Don't ask what kind of dragon, he doesn't know. He was probably too busy trying not to be killed to pay attention.
His new sword cut through the monster like scissors cutting through paper. It was another giant mantis.
With one final slash, the mantis went down. Or, rather, it turned to particles and floated upwards. Panting, he sheathed his sword and checked the mantis's drops. Nothing good.
He checked his health bar, not too bad. Not even down halfway. He continued along the road, eyes open for any more monsters.
Really, he just wanted to get out of here. Sure, this game was fun, but right now, this world ass anything but a game. It was a race to the death, and if he was last…
Well, you guess.
What was it Asuna had wanted him to do? Whatever. He would remember when the time came.
The time must have been then, because Kirito stumbles upon something he'd never seen in SAO: a Vr game?
"Wings of Fire?" He asked himself. He vaguely remembered something about a book series, but never bothered reading it.
He scooped up the game, saving it to his storage, but the ground started rumbling. Kirito pulled his sword again, expecting another battle, but was knocked quickly off his feet.
He looked up. Somehow, the Laughing Coffins has snuck up on him.
Kirito grit his teeth. Great. He was surrounded.
He managed to stand up, but he was panting. Wow, they must have hit him harder than he thought.
He checked his health. Shit! He was paralyzed!
How did they manage to sneak up on me? He asked himself. He braces for battle, but being paralyzed, he couldn't do much to protect himself.
They attacked him in a blur. Punching, kicking, you name it, he got it. Except for dying, they didn't seem too eager to kill him just yet.
Kirito felt a sharp pain in his arm, and he couldn't hold in a scream. It echoes through the forest, causing his attackers to stumble back.
White hot pain dulled his hearing. His vision swam with black dots, and he felt like passing out. It took all of Kirito's willpower to stay conscious. He glanced up, pretending to be passed out, and felt his bones warm to see they weren't paying him any attention. Quickly, he sent a message to Asuna telling her where he was and that he was in trouble.
He glanced upward again, and his heart did jumping jacks. One of from Coffins had pulled his sword and leveled it at Kirito's chest.
What was his health at? 20%. 5 seconds left of paralysis. His arm must be broken… it's the most likely reason for the blinding pain.
He watched as they approached him. 4 seconds.
He drew back the sword, ready to thrust. 3, 2…
He brought it down, just as Kirito's paralysis wore off. He rolled to the side at the last minute, sword ready.
He smirked. These coffins obviously were not expecting this.
The guy with the sword lunges forward, but Kirito dodges it and feinted a thrust. He caught the guy by surprise, and he stumbled back.
Kirito was about to slash, but is stupid broken arm caused him to stumble and he fell to his knees. Another coffin, a female, smirked and shoved her sword down at his face.
Kirito closed his eyes, expecting death, but it never came. He opened his eyes, and saw something that nearly made him cry out with joy. But he didn't, because he had a reputation.
It was Asuna, fighting off the coffins sword-to-sword. It was just her, no one else.
"I would get out of here," she growled at the coffins. With a flick of her wrist, she cut a long slash into the coffin's arm, and they turned and fled.
She bent down to study Kirito.
"What were you thinking?" She demanded. Kirito blinked.
"Taking then on by yourself?" She clarified. Kirito felt anger rush through him, and he found the strength to stand.
"You think I WANTED to fight them? They took me by surprise! I was paralyzed! Did you not read my message?" He asked her. Asuna huffed indignantly and pulled up his message.
""Asuna, I'm practically an hello. If you can, bring an Emmy," she read.
"In my defense, I was in a hurry, not to mention PARALYZED!!!" He said. Asuna just rolled her eyes at him.
"So, did you get it?" She asked him.
Kirito pulled up his bag and scrolled through it, but Asuna stopped him.
"What's that?" She asked, pointing to the VR game.
"Not sure," he said. He pulled it out of his bag and the two studied it.
"Wings of Fire? I've seen that book before," she said. "A friend of mine is in love with that series, and she tried to get me to read it." (Sound familiar bro?)
"Really? So what's it about?" Kirito asked her.
Before she could say anything, a disembodied voice said, "Why don't you find out?" And suddenly they were weightless.