Chapter 2- Goals and Dreams

The second chapter of SAO: Blood Knight. In this chapter Mikael begins his training in the Ruby Palace while Kayaba prepare for him to take floor boss Skull Reaper. I hope you enjoy as I will work on this story over time while I will be more focused on SAO: Hunter & Prey.

I saw found myself in the Ruby Palace as I followed Heathcliff or Ahikiko Kayaba as he was better known as we went up the stair after teleporting. I was surprised at the design of the Ruby Palace as I was excepting it to be made out of actually rubies but instead it was made of a crystal that was white while the floor was more blood red then ruby red. I was surprised to see the Knight of the Blood Oath logo engraved on the throne in the centre of the room. Heath cliff went over and sat on the throne while I looked around the palace. "So what do you think of this place" he asked me. I turned towards him and said "I think you spent a lot of time designing this place." "Well I kinda 'wanted to make this place a reward to the players who make it pass the other 99 floors" he told me. "What do you mean by the players who make it pass the other 99 floors. Are you excepting a certain number of players to make it here" I asked him getting slightly angry at the thought of him planning out who will make it.

"Well Mikael I will be honest with you. I was excepting only one player to make it. That player I have called 'The Hero of Aincrad.' As he or she will raise above a defeat me. To begin with I believe that was you but since you rejected I will look have to look for a new hero. However, now I believe that more people will survive this game" he explained to me. "Okay how will more people survive now" I asked him. He smiled and replied "Because of you. I believe that you have the will to unite the player against me when I am revealed as the man who trapped them all here." "My next question now is why will I be able to unite the player after all you saw how they reacted to players form the beta. Just imagine how they will react when they learn that I knew who you were this entire time and didn't tell anyone" I responded. "I know they hate players who have information that could make this game end quicker but when the one player they looked up to and saw that player as someone who could get them home turns out to their greatest enemy, they will look toward other player and I want you to be one of those players. What do you say Mikael will you do that" he told me in detail. I was tempted to say no but soon remember what Sliver said to me before she died. I recalled her words as 'Don't apologise Mikael, I know you did your best but you need to remain strong as everyone need someone to remain strong in time like this.'

"Alright I will do that" I replied. "Is it because of Sliver" he asked. I immediately charged at him and held my blade near his throat. "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO SAY THAT NAME. IT BECAUSE OF YOU THAT SHE HAD TO DIE. SHE WAS ONLY FIFTEEN WITH HER OWN DREAM AND YOU TOOK THEM AWAY" I shouted at him. He smiled as I retracted my sword. "That it Mikael use that anger and hatred to tap into your unique skill" he told me. I was shocked but should have known he knew about it since he created it. "No I won't use that skill" I told him. "Why not Mikael. If you use that skill, then you would be able to clear these floor by yourself after all Boss beater is the strongest unique skill I created and is only rewarded to the player who is willing to clear this game no matter what" he replied. "Because the last time I used that skill, a whole group was wiped out because I attacked them" I responded. "They only died because you couldn't control it but if you accept it instead of rejecting it then I could help you to control it and then you could access other unique skills" he told me. "What other unique skills" I asked him. "From what I can tell your avatar can access five unique skills. These unique skills are Boss Beater, Relentless Speed, Multi wielder, Beast Summoner and God Blade. These unique skills are power by themselves but together you will be god like" he told me. "How do I access these skills" I asked him, curious about these skills.

"You need to defeat certain bosses to gain them and must practise using them for two days straight in order to master them. The bosses you need to beat are Blade Bull, Four armed knight, Dark Wyvern and Skull Reaper. That is why training here is a good idea as here I can summon those bosses for you to fight. But first you need to fight me" he demanded. "Why should I fight you" I asked him. "If you fight me then there is a chance that you can control Boss Beater as well as master it" he replied. "Alright but I doubt I can win" I replied before I became serious know that I could take this duel lightly. I pulled my blade out of it sheath while Heathcliff equipped his shield and pulled out his sword. I took up a fighting stance and he did the same before opening up his menu. The message 'Heathcliff has challenged you to a duel. Do you except this duel? YES OR NO.' I pressed the yes button and notice that the duel was last drop duel. This duel was a duel that would only end when one of the player's health drops into the red area. The countdown began soon after I pressed yes and we both waited for it to reach zero. The minute it reached zero I charged straight at him only to be knocked back.

"Nice try Mikael but you might what to try something new if you hope to win this duel" he said to me. I activated my sword skill 'Flame Burst Stream' and was able to knock off a quarter of health. He smiled and said "That is interest combining two sword skill together in order to create a brand new one." He then activated 'Sonic Leap' and charged at me. I waited until the last second before jumping out of the way. I was sure I dodged out of the way but then all of the sudden I felt a sharp pain in my chest and looked down to see that Heathcliff's blade had piece my chest. I coughed out blood as he became to retract his blade. "Well you tried your best but unfortunately your best was not good enough" he told me as my health began to drop reaching the yellow area. "I'M…..NOT" I tried to speak but found it hard as his blade had pieced my lung. "You're not what, Mikael" he asked me. "I SAID I'M NOT FINISHED YET" I shouted at him as a familiar red glow surrounded my hand as I grabbed his blade. I pulled out his blade and immediately shattered it. He then jumped back as far as he could and took up a defensive stance as I had destroyed his sword. I charged at him as my sword and his shield clashed. I fought against me using only his shield as I relentlessly attack him trying to deal some damage but was unable to do so as I was unfocused. I jumped back as I took a moment to calm myself down as my temper made me unfocused. Once I was focused I charged straight at him to attack him. He shot his shield at me to stop my attack but I dodged out of the way in the nick of time and land my blade through his chest and slashed up, knocking his health all the way down to the red zone. I then saw that the red glow was still around me as the words 'Winner' appeared by my name.

"Wow that was a surprise I wasn't expect you to be able to deal that much damage in a single blow but it seems you were able to get control of Boss Beater" he told me. "So it seems you were right about me fighting you but what to stop me taking your life right now and ending this game once and for all" I asked him. "Well that is simple, you won't because you don't want to and now I am an immortal object so your blade can't harm me" he told me. I then threw a throwing pick to test that statement of his as the throwing pick bounced off him and the words 'Immortal Object' then appeared. "So now what" I asked him. "Now" he said but was then interrupted by a sudden crash. A Skeleton creature appeared behind him. "Now you fight the Skull Reaper" he told me as the skull reaper let out a monstrous roar and it health bar appeared. I jumped back and activated Boss beater. I analysed the boss and saw that it weakness was in the joints of the bones that made up its spine. I jumped above the head of the skull reaper and launched myself at one of his joint. Suddenly I was blocked by one of its bone scythes as the second one impaled me in the back taking out three quarter of my health before it threw me at a wall. "Well it appears you aren't as strong as I thought you were" Heathcliff said. I suddenly felt myself become enraged as I then glared at the skull reaper.

'No this isn't where I die. I will live not only for my sake but for Sliver's sake. I won't allow her to be forget. No one deserves that' I thought to myself as the red glow around my hand changed into a dark blue glow. "I WILL DEFEAT YOU" I screamed at the skull reaper as the blue glow completely surrounded me. I saw Heathcliff grin at me as the Skull Reaper came at me. I notice that instead of my sword in my hand, I was now holding two scythes made of the blue glow. I jumped above the Skull Reaper head and aimed for one of the joints again. It put it scythe where I was aiming but this time my scythe sliced through its and my second scythe hit it joint and cut through the entire spine. My attack knocked off all of its health and destroyed it. The words 'CONGULATION' appeared which was the sign of having defeated a boss. A message soon appeared before me saying 'Unique Skill unlocked: God Blade.' "Well done Mikael, you have just beaten the bosses of floor 75 as well as took your unique skill to the next level" Heathcliff told me.

"What do you mean by taken my unique skill to the next level" I asked him. "With Boss beater, there are five level to it that increase the strength you gain each time as well as added something new to it. Each level is a different colour red is level 1, blue is level 2, sliver is level 3, white is level 4 and black is level 5. With level two you gain a weapon similar the boss you are fighting which is why you got scythes when fighting the Skull reaper. And now you have gained a new skill which one is it" eh explained and asked. "It was God Blade" I told him. "That a good one. It is the ability to craft blades out a aura that can piece anything. That skill is in fact the one skill that could kill me" he replied. I soon activated the skill and two blades that were pure black appeared in my hand. "So now what do you want to do, Mikael" Heathcliff asked me. "Bring up the next boss" I asked him. He was surprised at what I said and asked "Are you sure about that, Mikael." I could tell by his voice that he was worried which I found strange as this was the man who trapped everyone in this game but with the time I had spent with him I felt as if I was beginning to understand him. He didn't want to sentence people to their death, he wanted to live his dream. That was what Aincrad was, this world was the dream of Akihiko Kayaba and the way he achieved it was through the use of Virtual Reality. And his reason for trapping people in this game it wasn't too scary us or make us hate him. I now could figure out he wanted to inspire us, to see what the virtual world was capable but instead we all saw him as a mad man. Now I understood him and wanted to understand him even more.

'are you sure he is asking me. Well just like him I have dreams as well. My dream is to find my brother. To do that I need to escape Sword Art Online and in order to escape Sword Art Online I need to become stronger. Yes, I am sure about fight the next boss' I thought to myself before turning toward him. "Yeah I am sure; I need to become stronger" I told him. He smiled before saying "Okay is you are determined to do so then I guess I can't stop you." The next boss then appeared and it was the blade bull.

2 months later

It had been two whole months since I began my training in the ruby palace and it had been two days since I completely mastered my unique skill. I had reach level 150 due to all the EXP I had gained but thanks to Heathcliff my stats said I was only level 80. My equipped was changed as well as I wore my knight of the blood Oath coat which was similar to the coat I wore before as it was black but had a red out line and the symbol of KOB on its shoulder. It also has a hood to it that allow me to hide my face whenever I need to. The coat gives me a defence of 900 which gain an extra 100 due to the armour I wore known as 'Shadow Embracer.' Shadow Embracer gave me 100 in defence, 300 in attack, 900 in stealth and 400 in speed. I also wore a red scarf known as 'Scarlet Rose' that gave me 100 in speed, 900 in blacksmithing and 500 in listening. I now wield tow blade that are called 'Nightmare Repulser' and 'Light Shatter.' Nightmare Repulser was a long black blade with one side jagged and could be used with one or two hands.

It effect was that it could piece through equipment lower than it and transfer the health of my opponent to me. Light Shatter was a long sliver blade that could switch between a dagger, rapier and a long sword. It effect was to nullify the use of items if it makes contact with my opponent and will paralysis, blind or poison my opponent. In all my stats were at max attack, max defence, max speed, max stealth, max blacksmithing, max beast taming, max listening, max throwing and 600 in cooking. I was the vice commander of Knight of the Blood Oath which had went from being a small guild to one of the leading guild in a matter of one month. This was mostly due to me and Heathcliff being able to wipe out boss by ourselves. I had defeat three of the boss when most of the assault team was unable to fight. This had earned me the nickname of the Sliver Flame as when I had defeated a boss a sliver flame would appear. In all of Aincrad only three players stood out. Those three were me, Heathcliff and the Black Swordsman. I was relaxing in the meeting room as I waited for Heathcliff to return to headquarter as he told me he was going out to take a look a next boss with the scouting party so we could get to the next floor.

I was soon about to take a nap when someone came bursting through the door. It was the one friend I had made in the Knight of the Blood Oath as most of the member didn't trust me and who could blame them, someone just appear one day with their guild leader and is name their vice command. My friend was a young female member of KOB known as Yuuki and she was known mostly for her speed which was only matched by mine as well as her sword skill Mother Rosario. "Vice commander Mikael" she said, falling to the ground after running. I got off the table and walked over to her. "How many time have I told you, Yuuki you don't need to call me Vice-commander every time you talk to me" I told her as I helped her up. I brushed her hair to reveal her red eyes which I found beautiful and would often just stand there staring at her. There was one thing I liked about Yuuki and that was despite being a member of the Knight of the Blood Oath she refused to wear the uniform and instead wore obsidian half- armour, which covered her chest and had a slight bulge, a bluebottle violet blouse and a windswept dress of the same colour beneath the armour. She was my teammate as we most went out together as well as were living in the same apartment but despite constant teasing by fellow guild member we were not a couple despite how much I wanted to reveal that I felt that way I just couldn't do it. "Sorry about that Mikael. It just that so many players called you that and I pick it up" she told me.

"It alright Yuuki, you know I can't be angry at you" I replied. "Thank Mikael, anyway the commander has returned and requested that you meet him at the front gate immediately" Yuuki told me. "Did he say why" I asked her. "No all he said was something about a new member that you need to meet" she responded. "Okay well catch up with you later Yuuki, remember it your turn to make dinner" I said to her before leaving the room. As I left I heard Yuuki whisper something but couldn't make out what it was as I began to dash to the front gate. Once I made it I saw that Heathcliff was standing there waiting. Next to him was a girl who was about 17 dressed in a knights of the blood uniform and was carrying a rapier. She had chestnut hair and yet looked familiar. It was then that I recognised her as one of the people who helped defeat the second floor boss. "Ah Mikael you are here" Heathcliff said to me. "Yep Yuuki said you want me to meet someone" I told him. "I did" he replied before pointing at the girl next to him. "This is Asuna, she is the newest member of KOB and I hope she will become your partner" he told me. I was surprised as I wasn't expecting him to be giving me a partner since for the time being I worked alone. "Partner" I asked. "Yep Asuna here is most likely one of the fastest player in this game and has accepted my invitation to join the guild. So I felt it was only appropriate she becomes your partner since I'm worried about the time you have been spending with that Yuuki girl" he told me.

"Very well sir" I replied. "Excellent oh she will also be living in your apartment until she gets a place of her own" he responded before walking inside the guild. I walked over to Asuna and put my hand forward before saying "Hello my name is Mikael, please to meet you Asuna." She finally looked up at me as was surprised by the sight of me. "Kirito" she said to me before hugging me. It was once she got a closer look that she let go of me. "Sorry about that I thought you were someone else there for a moment" she told me. "It okay, so who is this Kirito you mistake me for" I asked her.

The end of Chapter 2. Before anyone asks Yes, the Yuuki in this story is the Yuuki from the Mother Rosario but there is two difference between the two as this Yuuki is eighteen at the moment and does not have AIDS so don't except so kind of reveal in this story. With this story imagine this as I didn't universe to the main Sword Art Online story. With chapter I wanted to build up to Mikael being godlike as well as to him and Asuna becoming team mates. In the next chapter we jump straight to the events of episode 5 'Murder in a safe zone' and go to the events of episode 9 'Blue Eyed Demon.' Also the pairing in this story are KiritoxAsuna and MikaelxYuuki.