Let me get one thing clear, I'm NOT a heavy sleeper.

I only need a working alarm clock to wake me up, not the sound of swords clashing!

I was sleeping peacefully, exhausted from yesterday's monsters killing spree. For all I care, I deserved a goddamn break once in a while, but instead, I got this!?

I'm starting to get tired of all this...

"What the hell?!"

I woke up, walked to the window and looked outside.

In the plaza just outside the inn, there are two groups of people fighting each other.

Ah, the KBO knights and the HDA paladins going at it again, as usual...

Well, can't stay in the bed forever, right?

I equipped my gears and ran to the first floor of the inn, where I found numerous people inside the inn, taking refuge from the violence that happened outside.

I looked around the room, trying to find and ask someone who could tell me the whole story.

"Hey! Agil!"

I called out to a brown-skinned man with a large build. His name is Agil. He was the one who helped me and Asuna beat the first floor boss together, and since then, kept in contact with me. He's currently earn his living in this world as a merchant in a small shop on the 50th floor.

He's a good man, always providing me news about what's going on and giving me discounts on his items.

Still, what's he doing here?

"Oi, Kirito! What are you doing here!?" Agil asked.

"I was about to ask you that! Never mind, just tell me what's going on."

Agil shook his head.

"I don't really know about it. I was just standing out there, buying some items, when some HDA paladins approached a young girl wearing the KBO uniform, and accused her of stealing a very rare item from them. The girl denied about it, and tried to get away. But the paladins surrounded her. Suddenly, the KBO knights appeared out of nowhere, and before anyone knew it, swords were drawn and all hell break loose." Agil explained.

"Darn it, so much for starting a new day, huh?"

"Couldn't agree more..." I said miserably.

"So who's this girl you're talking about anyways?" I asked.

Agil pointed to an orange-brown hair girl dressed in red and white KBO uniform.

"Oh, you've got to be joking!"

It was none other than Asuna, the vice commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath.

"Yeah, can't believe that little girl became this capable fighter herself, right?" Agil said.

"Yeah, just what I needed..."

"Anyways, why won't you help her out a little? Isn't she your girlfriend?"

"SHE'S! NOT! MY! GIRLFRIEND!" I yelled.

"Hey, what's with you!? Having a bad sleep last night!?" Agil asked confusingly.

I looked outside, Asuna is fighting two HDA paladins with a rapier. She seemed to hold her own just fine, despite her opponents being much stronger than her.

One knight suddenly crashed into the inn through the window. Apparently he was kicked by his opponent, one of the HDA paladins, who then followed him in.

"I've got you, you bastard!" The paladin screamed out, and prepared to strike his blade into the downed knight, he was already knocked out by the impact so he had no chance of defending himself.

Now, now, this has gone too far.

I pulled out my Elucidator and moved the sword to block the paladin's blade, just inches from the knight's face.

"Hey! This doesn't involve you! Get out of the way if you don't wanna get hurt!" The paladin shouted at me.

"Sorry, dude, but that's just low. Striking an opponent while he's downed is against the rules..." I said coldly.

"What rules!? There's not a single rule in this game that stated like that!" He asked confusingly.

"Who said anything about the game's rules?"

I then slashed my sword up, knocking the paladin backwards by sheer force.

I looked back at the downed KBO knight, he's regaining consciousness now.

"Take care of him, Agil." I said, before going outside to join the battle.

The paladin finally got up, he stared at me furiously.

"So, you asked for it, right? NOW COME GET SOME!" The paladin screamed out, before lunged at me.

I easily dodged the attack, before slashing my sword into his back.

"AHHHH!"

In just a split second, the paladin fell to the ground, unable to fight, but still alive.

The other paladins turned around and saw me.

"Hey! This new meat just picked a fight with us, let's get him!" A paladin in a bright, shining silver armor, who's apparently the leader of the paladins, shouted up.

A group of seven or so HDA paladins surrounded me.

Shouldn't be a big problem.

I looked further, and saw that the rest of paladins continued fighting the KBO knights. I looked at Asuna. She didn't realize yet that I'm here.

"DIE! YOU PIECE OF-"

Before he finished his curse, I kicked the leader of the paladins in his stomach and sent him flying. Other two paladins closed in on me, but the sheer size of their armors slowed them enough for me to outrun them. Another one is in front of me, I plunged my sword forward so fast he didn't even have the time to react. My sword shattered his blade, disarming him, before I uses another hand and punched the poor guy right in the face.

Within a minute, all seven paladins laid down all around me, defeated.

I looked around, other paladins managed to drive the fewer KBO knights away, only Asuna is still fighting.

The other paladins then closed in on her while her back is turned. She was too busy defending herself from the two paladins in front of her.

At this rate, she's going to be knocked out!

I ran toward her, and raise my sword to block the incoming attack just in time.

"Wha!? What the heck!?" Asuna turned around, and showed a surprised look when she saw me.

"Maybe...you should...consider...bringing...more...friends!" I told her, while ferociously fending off the paladin's attacks.

"And...why...are...you...still...here?!" Asuna shouted, she used her rapier to disarm one of the paladins, before stabbing him in the knee, all in a lightning-quick fashion that the paladin never had a chance to react.

Asuna's a pretty good fighter. She moved so fast even by my standard. Her opponents never saw her coming, even if they outnumbered her. Her weapon, a rapier, made up for quick yet effective hit and run tactics.

It's a no wonder that everyone else nicknamed her 'The Flash'.

The fight continued on for another two minutes, before I and Asuna finally got rid of all paladins, except for one young paladin who's still standing. He's clearly exhausted from the previous fighting.

"...why...won't...you...die!?" He then launched a desperate assault on us.

Suddenly, a sword came out of nowhere, and blocked the young paladin's sword, preventing it from reaching us.

The man carrying the sword was another paladin, but he looked different from others.

He's not wearing the usual paladin plate armor like the other HDA members. His armor is more... stylish, but also looked pretty strong enough to deflect any normal attacks. He's also wearing a helmet that's covered his entire face.

"Stop! The fight's over, Feron!" The mysterious paladin said.

The young paladin reluctantly put his sword away.

"But sir! These people! Those KBO bastards, they stole our items!"

"As far as I'm concerned, they might have stolen the items, but you have no right to start a fight with them without my permission. Look what you've caused! You just ruined the whole plaza! So much for other people starting their morning..." The mysterious paladin berated him.

"And what were you thinking? Those two here clearly outclassed you in combat. Look around you, all your friends are either downed or fled the battle. Do you think you could take on these two alone?"

The young paladin shook his head.

"Now, gather your comrades and return to our HQ. We will speak of this later, I have some other matters to do."

The young paladin gave us one last angry look before running to his downed friends and heal them, before they all ran away.

And then the mysterious man turned to us.

"Now, you two must've been through the whole thing. Might I ask how the whole ordeal began?" He asked us.

"Why should we trust you? You're wearing a paladin uniform, with the HDA insignia. You're with them, right?" Asuna asked him back, her sword still drawn.

"First of all, I must apologize for my fellow member's behaviors. Second, I'm not here to fight with you. Rather, I just wanted to ask you some questions."

He then took his helmet off, revealing his face. He seemed to be a middle-aged man with a dark brown hair and beard.

"My name is Edgar. I'm the commander of the Holy Dragon Alliance guild."

His introduction stunned us.

"Have no fear, I have no intention of causing any more damage than it is right now. But that also depends on you, young lady." He turned to Asuna.

"As I've asked before, are you responsible for all of this? Or did my subordinates attacked you first?"

Asuna looked at Edgar. She's somewhat at loss of what to say.

"Um, I think I can speak for her, Mr. Edgar." Agil, who've left the inn, joined the conversation.

"And who are you supposed to be? Mister?" Edgar asked.

"Agil. I'm just a simple merchant who witnessed the battle. I saw one of your members, that young man, intimidated her. From what I've heard, he accused her of having stolen their items. She denied about it, and her friends appeared, and then there was fighting." Agil explained.

"So it would seem." Edgar said, before turning to me.

"Ah, so you must be the notorious Black Swordsman."

What the heck? How did he knows me?

"I recognized you from your clothes and from your fighting style earlier. Kirito, isn't it? So how did you get involved with all of this?" He asked me.

"I...uh..."

I don't know what to say. I looked at Agil, he gave me a look that somewhat says You brought this on yourself, mate.

"I...I stopped one of your paladins from attacking the downed KBO knight, resulting in the other paladins thinking that I'm their enemy, and attacked me." I explained.

"I see..."

Oh, I almost forgot about that knight.

"Um, Agil? How's that knight doing?" I asked.

"He's fine, the inn owner's taking care of him. As long as he stays in there, the paladins can't attack him. He says he'll find his way back to the KBO HQ himself." Agil said.

"That's a relief." Asuna, who finally managed to said something, then sighed.

"Those hot-headed kids just do whatever they wanted these days. I told them not to start any more fights with the KBO knights until we find out who really stole our items, but yeah, I guess that didn't work..." Edgar continued.

"At any rate, I'm glad that you two are alright. I don't want to strain our relationship with the KBO guild any more than it is right now."

"Actually, I'm not a member of KBO, sir." I interrupted.

"Ye...yeah! He's just a stranger who passed by here, that's all!" Asuna gave me a menacing look like she's telling me Just shut up now.

"Well, looks like you've found yourself a great ally. From what I've known, Kirito's one of the best solo players out there." Edgar told Asuna.

"Nah, he's just my temporary 'partner'. Besides, he's not really a team player. What did he say about it? Ah, right, it'll only slow him down..." Asuna glared at me, with a devious grin on her face.

You...

"At any rate..." Edgar interrupted.

"Since you're here, that's fortunate. I was about to travel to the KBO headquarter on the floor 55 to discuss with your commander about the stolen items. Could you accompany me to the place? I'm afraid that if I go alone, they'll recognize me as a threat, with me being the commander of HDA and all..."

Edgar looked at us.

"Well, I was just about to return to my HQ when your paladins attacked me, so yeah, I could bring you there, but no funny tricks!" Asuna warned.

"Hey, I'm about to go there too, myself..." Agil spoke up. "I'm here to restock my supplies before going to the KBO HQ. I've a special request for a rare spear from one of their members."

This is just a coincidence, right?

All of us wanted to go to the Knights of the Blood Oath HQ, on the same day, at the same moment?

"Ah, guys. Actually, I'm going to the KBO HQ, too..." I said slowly.

Everyone looked at me, surprised.

"What's the meaning of this, you idiot!?" Asuna yelled at me.

"I thought you're not into guild-sort of things, Kirito." Agil said confusingly.

"This is really a surprising turn of events..." Edgar muttered.

"Wha..what's so wrong with this!? I'm just trying to meet some of the people I knew there!" I said.

And then everyone was quiet, not knowing of what to say.

"...Um, so...can we get going now? Or do we need to wait for, I don't know, someone to start a fight again, or something?" I asked up, trying to ease the tension in the group.

"Aw, very funny, Kirito." Asuna punched me.

"HEY! THAT HURTS, DAMNIT!"

Asuna responded by just laughing at me.

"Okay, let us be on our way, then." Edgar said, and then we walked to the Teleport Gate at the center of the town.

Since the gate can only support two people teleporting at the same time, we must choose who will go first.

"You first, miss..." Edgar looked at Asuna.

"Call me Asuna..."

"Ah...the legendary Flash, right? A pleasure to meet you." Edgar said with a smile, which made Asuna blushed a little.

Looks like Edgar's somewhat an experienced player, seeing that he knew about mine and Asuna's titles and is also the leader of the arrogant HDA guild, I guess that's saying something about him.

Asuna walked to the gate, with me following.

"Ah, hell no! I won't go with you!" Asuna pushed me out.

"Wha? What's with you!?"

Agil walked in to take my place.

"I feel sorry for you, man, really..." He whispered to me, though I knew he's trying his hardest not to laugh.

Damn...

"Teleport: Grandum!" Asuna and Agil shouted up, and then disappeared in a bright flash of light.

There's only me and Edgar left now.

"So, tell me one thing, Kirito. Why did you become a solo player in the first place?" Edgar asked me.

"I don't really know an answer to that..." I admitted.

"That girl, Asuna, she said that you think about teamwork as something that 'will only slow you down'. Is that really what you think, Kirito?"

"It's...it's not exactly true..." I said.

"I just thought that if I join a guild, then I must take care of my fellow members. I don't really know how to do that, because I've been solo-ing for so long. It's really not my style. And if I fail to protect my fellow guild members, then..."

I...can't...say it...

Edgar seemed to understand, he just nodded and continue speaking.

"It's alright if you don't want to talk about it. Solo players aren't doing anything wrong. They just found that they're better off fighting alone. What matters is whether or not they're doing it for the right thing. Whether they fight to protect others, or for the sake of themselves. This isn't a video game anymore, it's a fight for survival, not just for ourselves, but for everybody else. That's why we need to work together, to win all of this and get out of this place alive, right?"

"Y...yeah." That was all I could respond.

"So, let's get going, shall we? Wouldn't want to keep them waiting."

Edgar walked into the Teleport Gate, and I followed.

"Teleport: Grandum!"

As soon as the word ended, everything went white.

Seconds later, I found myself at the city of Grandum, along with the rest of my companions.

"Whoa..."

Even though I heard about it before, I've never thought there's a giant city like this in this game.

If Aincrad were to have a capital city, then Grandum could fit the role perfectly.

It reminded me of the old pictures of Rome I saw during my history classes in the real world, only what I'm seeing here is the real deal. Heck, there's even a replica Coliseum here!

"Took you guys long enough, what's keeping you!?" Asuna said in an annoyed voice.

"Just...little chat about guilds, that's all." I said.

Asuna stared at me, like she think I'm hiding something from her, but then shook her head.

"So, are we get going now? or shall I give you a tour around the city first?" Asuna gave me a mischievous smile.

"Very funny, Asuna."

And so, we went on our way, to the Knights of the Blood Oath Headquarters on the outskirt of the city.

Part of me feel happy to know that I'll see the Black Cats of the Full Moon guild, the sole reason I'm here, again, but another part of me feel afraid.

What would they think of me when I go back?

Will I be accepted again? Will I be forgiven? Or will I be kicked out and cursed by them?

Only time will tell.

Editor's note: Well, another chapter finished. What a day!

In this chapter, I've introduced one new OC. Commander Edgar of the Holy Dragon Alliance. I've planned him to be some sort of like Heathcliff. A reasonable and effective leader with hidden depths. Maybe a foil to him, as well, seeing that they're both commanders of their respective guilds, which also happened to be rivals to each other. If you've read a novel called Wuthering Heights by Ellis Bell (Emily Bronte), you'll probably know why I choose Edgar to be his name. FOR THE SAKE OF REFERENCE, MY FRIENDS! (Evil laugh)