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Chapter Four: The Next Step
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"Each time you attack you must be deliberate and precise. Each time you defend you must be agile and strong. My grandfather once told me that my house was traditionally the best group of swordsmen of their time." Kirito paused, raising his cutlass outward. "You must treat your sword as if it is a part of yourself, can you all drop your arms? No. You must consider your weapon as such too."
He paced to the front of the raised platform, lines of other players watching intently from the grass.
"Most enemies in this game have predictable attack patterns that become consistently more random as we progress. However, using information provided to me by my friend Argo, I believe that this raid shall be an easy one...If we are prepared. So! Get into lines."
Kirito watched as the men slowly and awkwardly made rows and Kirito approached his sparring partner. "Okay, so these guys are called [Sentinels]. Now some of them are really strong, but not boss room ones. They have limited damage range and their blocks are only timed to really bad strikes. Yuuki here is carrying their standard weapon, the [Sponge Club], which is...utter trash. Watch."
Yuuki swung her metal pole randomly after jumping at Kirito, and he simply moved aside and gripped Yuuki's arm, preventing any further attacks. "They always jump at you or swing violently, once you trap them, they're done for. Your objective is simple, don't get hit, and then rush in and-" Kirito raised his cutlass and pointed it to Yuuki's forehead, inches from striking. "Kill. Any questions?"
"That doesn't sound too bad." said one player.
"Yeah." Kirito snickered. "That's the easy part. Tomorrow we'll be formed into groups, two will screen the main group from [Sentinels] which will, in turn, take on Illfang directly. Who...is very tricky. He tends to smash any guard and has pretty unpredictable attack patterns." Kirito raised his arm, dividing his view of his audience. "One half will be trained by my sister, Leafa, in parrying and countering. The other half will be with Yuuki and I, and we'll train you in how to deal with Illfang."
Another male player turned to Agil, a tall man carrying a two-handed battle ax. "Why are we being trained by a buncha kids?"
"Didn't you know?" He uncrossed his arms. "They're the best in the whole game."
Leafa called over one half of the crowd to her, waving her [Katana] in the air. "Okay everyone, over here now!"
Many players were just shocked by Yuuki's prowess at sword fighting. "Eyes on me people!" Men stopped mumbling to each other and watched Yuuki demonstrate her technique on Kirito. "It doesn't matter what the hell you're doing, you gotta do it fast. Watch."
Yuuki closed the distance between her and Kirito so quickly most players watching missed it. She swung her sword twice and Kirito parried both of them away, the system registering two missed strikes with loud pinging sounds within a split second of each other.
"See that?" asked Yuuki as she stood up straight.
Agil chuckled. "See what?"
"Kirito here didn't know I was going to come at him right there and then. But he still made a move and was confident about it. That...is what you're going for. Illfang is about ten times stronger than I am. But not as fast, that's the angle you all have to play off of to beat him."
A spikey orange haired player named Kibaou scoffed. "How the hell do you know all this missy?"
"I'm a beta tester, how else?" the girl answered.
"Right, of course you are." Kibaou laughed quietly.
Yuuki nodded to Kirito. "Switch out with uh...Mr. Cheetoh Einstein."
"Hah. Nice." Kirito moved past Kibaou who readied his sword against Yuuki.
She stood quietly, waiting for the man to move. He let out a loud war cry and swung randomly thrice, prompting Yuuki to move back twice and parry the third attack so strongly that Kibaou overswung and exposed his back to Yuuki.
The dark haired girl smacked him over the head with the flat side of her sword using the tiny window of opportunity she had and pushed him onto the ground. Kibaou rubbed his temple on the ground. "Ow..."
"Mr...Sword Master here thinks that attacking willy nilly equals success. If you attack you better be controlled, or you might find yourself getting your ass beat." Yuuki smirked with her hands on her hips down at her quickly defeated opponent. "Form into pairs, start training yourselves on distance measurement and strike timing. Since your main advantage over Illfang will be speed, that's what we got to improve. Kirito and I will observe and give commentary when needed."
The pair watched as the various players sparred, practicing blocking and improving the precision of their attacks.
Kirito cleared his throat amidst the singing steel. "That was one of the finest counters I've seen, are you sure you haven't practiced any form of swordplay before?"
"Nope. Did nothing but basketball since I was old enough to play." Yuuki smiled.
"Well you're amazing I think."
"Aww...thank you Kirito." the girl smiled and laughed a little, prompting Kirito to chuckle quietly and hold the back of his neck.
His black eyes widened.
'Damn, Sugu could've seen that.'
He turned around and Leafa had one side of her mouth turned inward in a jealous 'Hmm' from the other group as men sparred behind her.
'Yup.'
"Think anyone here can fight at all?" Yuuki watched as Kirito turned back from looking at his younger sibling.
He shrugged. "Him." Kirito pointed to Agil. "Better than all the rest by far. Everyone else is painfully average."
"Well." Yuuki stretched upwards with a small groan. "You do have a very high standard." She saw one player react very slowly and cop a thrust through the arm. "Ugh. So trashy."
Leafa called Kirito over to her when the groups switched and they spoke together.
"So that Yuuki girl...how do you know her so well?"
Kirito looked at her funny. "We beta tested the game together remember?"
"Right but you're forgetting that...I...am your sibling." Leafa pointed to herself.
"It's different though," explained Kirito.
"I've known you longer and practice the traditions of our family with you." Leafa glanced at Yuuki school another player at fighting as if it was a breeze. "She just happens to be good at swords and you think she's cute."
"Sugu are you jealous of her?" Kirito smirked.
"No! I..." she trailed.
Kirito's smiled turned genuine. "Well, no one is as cute as you." He leaned in and pressed his lips to her reddening cheek, causing her to blush further.
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A light blue haired knight who gathered every willing player to an amphitheater to brief them on the raid held his Beta Tester's Guide firmly. "Good evening players! Welcome to the attack, I am your fearless leader, Diavel!"
The young man took a bow and bored applause followed from a small number of players.
"Thank you, thank you! No please that's enough. Anyway, you all know why we're here, thank you to Kirito on that account." He nodded to the Assassin who sat a few rows above with Yuuki and Leafa on either side of him. "Now if he trained you properly, you'll all have no trouble today. The plan of attack is simple, the first and last third of groups will be assigned to defend the middle set of groups so they can focus on the boss. Don't break formation, don't run off, and stick to your group's objective. If there are no questions, form parties of six and then I'll assign you to an objective."
Kirito muttered to Leafa. "We'll join up with the centermost group with Agil and Diavel, they seem like the strongest where we can handle the boss most directly."
"But that's only five people. We need one more," noted Yuuki.
Leafa turned around and looked at the rows above her. "What about her?"
An orange haired girl was sitting quietly by herself with her rapier at her hip and a calm attitude.
"Hey! Wanna join us?" Kirito waved her over and the girl accepted. She walked down from the steps above and Kirito asked her a follow-up question. "What's your name?"
"I'm Asuna." The girl fixed her elegant posture.
"Leafa." Kirito's younger sibling nodded and threw a thumb to her teammate. "She's Yuuki."
"And I'm Kirito. A pleasure to meet you." The Assassin placed his hands on his cutlass' grips. "We're thinking of joining with the centermost group with Diavel. It'll be the toughest by far, but we don't have to join."
Asuna breathed in quickly in a sniff. "I think I can handle it."
"Great. Diavel! Can we join your group!?" called Kirito from afar.
He showed two thumbs up and returned to his conversation with Agil.
"This is going to be easy." surmised Leafa.
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"Ya nervous?" Leafa readied her katana.
Yuuki chuckled with her [Anneal Blade] pulled. "Please. This is just another basketball game for me."
Kirito put his hood on and stretched his neck by moving his head from side to side.
"Do you have to wear that thing?" Leafa complained. "It's dumb."
"It's not dumb. It's awesome!" replied Kirito, drawing his [Hidden Blades].
Diavel got everyone's attention by piercing the ground beneath him with his sword. "All right everyone. Let's win!"
The players cheered and Kirito felt his blood pump faster. A signature phrase of his was muttered calmly. "Party time."
Diavel pushed the doors to the boss room open and the raid rushed through yelling. Kirito was the fastest into the room and him, Asuna, Leafa and Yuuki lead the entire raid vigorously.
"You all know what to do!" shouted Diavel as stared down a roaring Illfang.
Players fought using the skills Kirito trained them in, parrying at the right time, trapping arms and crushing [Sentinels] with various weapons.
Yuuki cut a [Sentinel] out of the air with a strike so precise the entire world seemed paused around her.
"Okay Asuna, you have to-"
"Stay out of my way!" Leafa cut a [Sentinel] down so quickly the mob couldn't react and Asuna then [Flash Thrusted] through another one.
'Damn nice technique right there. Guess she has some natural talent like Yuuki.' thought Kirito.
Kibaou was knocked down by two [Sentinels] ganging up on him and Yuuki laughed loudly while she disarmed one tenaciously. "Watch your footwork missy!" taunted the beta tester.
A large number of players who weren't engaging Illfang's minions took him head-on. However, the slashes from his [Great Bone Axe] forced most of them to stay back.
"Diavel!" said Kirito. "On me, we'll take him together!"
"Right!"
The black-haired boy did a front flip over Illfang's slash and dashed right up to his knees. He activated [Flurry Stab] and took a chunk out of Illfang's health with multiple glowing attacks from his hidden blades.
Illfang groaned and stumbled, allowing Diavel to cut right across the boss' knee.
"Watch out for those [Sentinels] guys!" warned Kirito to the other groups. "The more health we take out of Illfang the more they spawn!"
The other players were kept on their toes from this and fought harder, slamming them using the basics Kirito trained them in.
Yuuki's [Anneal Blade] bounced right off Illfang's shield, and knowing a counter was coming, Yuuki closed the distance with a [Dash Hack], using the momentum of her sprint to cut Illfang's thigh while his strike missed. He decided to use his massive weight to try and crush the players beneath him and drop down but Leafa clambered onto him with her strength by jumping as high as she could onto him. When Kirito and Yuuki ran away to avoid being killed, Leafa dug her sword as deeply as she could into his shoulder, drawing half of another bar of his health.
Illfang shrieked and before he could smack the girl off his shoulder, she ran across his body and punched him right in the eye with her fist glowing bright pink. Kirito observed this and smiled.
'Pure guts. She doesn't care that it'll barely deal any damage, she just wants to taunt him at this point.'
Illfang stumbled about as Leafa jumped off his nape, dragging her sword down his back the whole way down.
The other players cheered her on as Illfang stood back up and roared, sitting at a bar and a half of HP. The boss was beyond infuriated and tried cutting Leafa in two with his great ax, only for the girl to dash to the side to evade it, the ax buried in the cement of his boss room.
Illfang tried to use his gargantuan strength to pull his weapon out in time, but Leafa had already leaped onto it and cut across his wrist. Illfang howled in pain and Leafa raised her katana in victory, the steel shining brightly in the boss room.
Everyone watched from their own battles as Leafa cut the wooden handle of Illfang's ax off in a single strike.
Agil felt motivated by this to cut into Illfang as if he swung his ax to cut wood open, striking his back as hard as he could.
Other players took the opportunity to drill damage as much as they could into him, Kirito slashing across the Kobold Lords side with red colored [Hack Cuts]. Using Kenway's signature fast hacking style, Kirito and the other players dealt enough damage to put Illfang into the red.
He stood up and roared again, drawing a nōdachi slowly.
Diavel and the other beta testers knew what this meant, keeping their distance. Kayaba had changed the game since the beta.
Illfang started leaping around the boss room's pillars. Players watched as he flew around, not knowing when he'd land. When he did the ground shook, and a large slash came flying toward Diavel and a small collection of other players. The second Illfang hit the ground, Kirito sprinted as fast as his legs could carry him to protect his fellow players.
The Assassin crossed [Kenway's Swords] together and braced himself for the coming attack by mustering all his energy in a fixed defensive stance. The room stood in awe as Kirito absorbed a hack that would've cut through any other blade, Illfang's nōdachi bouncing right off his guard.
When he stumbled back, Kirito knew he'd have to attack or Illfang would cut someone down. He came running as fast as he could towards Illfang and jumped right onto the boss using his large amounts of speed and strength. When he landed he drove the tips of his cutlasses right into Illfang's eyes, defeating him in one perfect strike.
Light glowed from across the Kobold Lord as he screamed. The room burst into cheers when the dust from Illfang's defeated body settled, and Kirito landed in an excellent roll to disperse the impact.
He checked his reward soon after.
[You got the last attacking bonus!]
[You have leveled up! Level 11-Level 13]
[Bonus Item: Coat of Midnight]
[Result]:
|Exp- 657|
|Col- 987|
|Items- 1|
Yuuki and Leafa rushed to him and lifted him into the air in a hug and interrupted the checking of his notifications, laughing very loudly as they did so.
Diavel wiped away sweat. "He almost had me there, thanks for saving me."
"That was some incredible swordsmanship too," admitted Agil with crossed arms.
Kirito smiled as he hugged Leafa and Yuuki back. "It's my job." He stopped embracing his friends and addressed the crowd of players. "Thank you all for this victory, it was a team effort, and I'm grateful for having trained all of you."
The players cheered again in thanks, and Kirito, Leafa, and Yuuki made for the doors out of the boss room.
"Hey," said Asuna on the steps out of Illfang's room. "Kirito was it?"
The hooded boy turned around. "Yeah?"
"I'd really like to join your party. I can't stop hearing how you three are the best players around and...I'd enjoy fighting with you all for the remainder of the game."
Kirito turned to Leafa and Yuuki. "Well, I don't see why not."
"I'm fine with it." concurred Yuuki.
Leafa said nothing and Kirito sent a party request invite. Asuna accepted and walked ahead of the group to speak to Yuuki. Something wasn't sticking right with Kirito, so he hung back and talked to Leafa. "Hey, you didn't seem too keen about her joining us, why not?"
"Don't need any more competition." briskly said Leafa as she rushed forward to gab with her fellow girls.
Kirito stopped walking, dead in his tracks.
'Was...was she kidding?... God, I have no idea.'
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To clarify after reading the reviews from the last chapter, my writing schedule is simply the order in which I upload, there are no exact deadlines I set for myself. And if you checked it out, you'd see I'm barely following it. I'm still asking people to tell me what TV Tropes is all about and how it's related to fanfiction. Can someone explain it to me? (Sorry, I'm pretty new at all this.)
If any of you like RWBY or Avatar: The Last Airbender I write on those if anyone's interested. And I'll see you all at the next update!