I've finally gotten around to typing up chapter 3! This chapter is a direct continuation of chapter 2, and I finally get to show off how Shinkou runs his guild and how quickly his personality shifts when in danger. See you at the bottom.
Chapter 3: The Black Hope Knights
We returned to our base on the twenty-fifth floor, the most recently opened floor, and waited for our other members to return. I had created a list of guild rules, and the first one was to report to one of the three sub-leaders or myself at the end of the day, if only so I knew everyone was safe. Guild activities, including grinding and scavenging, ran from dawn till dusk every day, but it was the player's choice if they did anything. This gave everyone a general curfew, and it helped me figure out who needed help getting out of the dungeons.
I had finished putting together my list of people who were in the proper level range for the boss, having known of its location for a week since the Knights of Blood told us. I only had four members outside of my party who were ready, and I knew nobody would be leveling today other than those four. The only problem was that the sun had long since set and I hadn't had contact with them since breakfast, the only time the entire guild was guaranteed to be together. I called together the rest of the guild and told them what needed to be done, the fifteen other members silent as I stated my plan. We split into groups of four, one of the leaders and three other members per group. Normally I could pull off a rescue with just my party, but the twenty-fifth floor was a giant labyrinth that had taken three weeks for the top five guilds to fully map.
I led my group down a winding corridor, one of many that looked almost identical. My group had stopped for a quick rest at one of the few safe zones when we found the room. It was a horrible trap, a secret door in the wall that closed itself after you walked in. There was a single chest in the center of the room, but no signs that my guildmates had entered here. Once the door closed, high level golems swarmed in through secret doors in the walls, surrounding us in seconds.
"I'll cut a path to one of the walls. Fight with your backs to it and they can't surround you."
I drew my weapons and dashed toward one of the golems, impaling it on the tip of my sword while I used my scythe to block its counterattack. "Frontal Cannon" I kicked the golem as hard as I could, forcing it off my sword and into one of the others slowly closing in on us. "Requiem Impact" I slammed the pommel of my sword against another golem, then spun the blade several times before it turned into data. "Infinite Temporalis" My sword turned bright orange and I began stabbing at seemingly random angles in front of me, locking onto any enemy my blade touched until it turned into data.
When I finally broke through the enemies in our path we turned to face the remainder of them, our backs gently pressing against the wall behind us. There weren't many golems left, but we were running low on HP and potions, and I was beginning to fear dying for the first time since my first boss fight. I returned both of my weapons to their sheathes, then drew a rapier from a space between my cloak and back, the sheath resting horizontally against my waist. A small gasp escaped the lips of my subordinates as I drew my weapon, but I ignored them and dashed back into the fray, disappearing into the center of a fresh wave of golems.
"Infinite Temporalis Shining Nova Requiem Stampede" I began swapping through my sword skills, blasting through the seemingly endless wall of golems, praying to myself that my allies were safe. I kept swinging, managing to level up after a few kills. I checked my HP bar, figuring I had enough time to upgrade. I opened the menu, scrolling through the windows as I dodged around a pair of golems, completely preventing them from attacking. I selected my newest skill from the list and upgraded it, then closed the menus and activated it.
"Chaos Counter" My entire body began to glow bright red just before a blade went through my back. I looked up at my HP bar, barely surprised that I hadn't taken any damage from the attack. I smiled sadistically and turned to face my attacker, the edge of my blade impaling it, wiping out its entire HP bar in a single strike. I tried swinging at another one, barely denting its bar. In return, the golem's lane scratched my shoulder, reducing my own bar slightly. I could tell that my new skill was a powerful counter from how it worked, but I knew it was also very dangerous.
There were only three golems left, my allies fighting one while the other two continued attacking me, missing every strike and receiving a counterattack in return. I was confident enough to toy with them, leading the pair of golems to their partner. The unsuspecting golems followed me into my trap, the third one beginning to focus on me too. I smiled as they backed me into a corner, then I dashed forward and used the middle on as a launch pad, jumping onto its shoulder and landing behind them.
"Catharsis: Singularity" My sword turned black and began draining my HP bar, slowly trading my health for extra damage. When I had only one point remaining, I swung my sword, cutting through all three golems at once. As they turned into data I slumped to the ground, too exhausted to read my EXP gains or open the now unguarded chest in the middle of the room.
After much consideration, I finally decided on what unique skills to give Shinkou, his counter abilities and catharsis skills. I'll explain the latter skill set in the next chapter, but just know that Shinkou's going to be taking a lot of self-inflicted damage throughout most major fights.
First off, I'll explain how guilds are set up. For a small price, anyone with a couple of willing people can start their own guild. The leader has absolute power over how the guild goes about their daily life, though most leaders give their members a fairly high degree of freedom. Sub-leaders are merely normal members who have been given special administrative power within the guild, though the power given is usually to help the leader run the guild properly. If a guild has rules, they must be followed by all members including the leader and sub-leaders. Guilds will often offer special bonuses to their members, such as free or reduced-price weapons and items, protection during grind sessions, and more opportunities to fight difficult bosses and event quests with competent players around the same level.
While I'm on the subject, I figure I'll explain how parties work in my eyes. A party can consist of between two and eight people, though most parties are four players who know each other. Within a party, players split into pairs who fight in tandem or take turns depending on the situation. The most common pairs are either good friends or lovers, though there are still some pairs that have little to no relationship with each other.
Tune in next week for a legitimate fight against the twenty-fifth floor boss, an explanation about Shinkou's catharsis skills, and the exact moment where the OCs realize that SAO isn't going to go easy on them anymore.
