Welcome to chapter four! This chapter will go pretty much the same way the one in the anime went, with a tiny change to how it went in Watchman of the Stars. So, without any delay, let's get to it!
Chapter 4: Light and Darkness
Title Song - Heroes (We could be) by Alesso (feat. Tove Lo)
2024, February 23
Floor Thirty-Five: Lost Forest
"What are you two talking about? You have that pet lizard with healing powers," A red headed woman sighed.
Ion rolled his eyes at the woman's casual attitude. He and Silica had partied up with another bunch of players to grind on floor thirty-five, however, one of the players was being… difficult.
"Rosalia, who are you to talk? You barely fight up front anyway, so why must we give our healing crystals to you?" He muttered. Aurora and Pina both started growling at the red head.
"Because I'm not part of an idol duo like you two, fans won't eagerly heal me," Rosalia explained.
Silica was about to close her menu, finishing the trade, when Ion's hand stopped her, "Don't bow to her demands," he said. Then he glared at Rosalia. "We'll be leaving this party now," He told her.
With his jacket flapping behind him, he whirled around. "Come on Silica, we don't need this hag weighing us down."
Silica nodded, and the two walked into the forest.
"This is stupid! One of these things is bad enough! But three are just crazy!" Ion yelled, ducking under the massive wooden club that was being swung his way. In his hand was no longer a rapier, but a thin sword type weapon he'd commissioned from a smith, it was a thin silver blade, with a light blue pommel and black hilt. It was an estoc, called White Light.
Silica was jumping out of the way of one of the three drunken apes that had aggro'ed on them. These were large ape like monsters with large wooden clubs in one hand, and a big jug of alcohol in the other. This not only restored their health, it also gave them an attack buff as well.
"Aurora, ice fang that one's feet!" He commanded. His faithful little companion yapped, before zipping up to the pointed ape and taking a huge bite into it's foot. As Aurora cleared away, it was noticed that ice was forming on the large appendage, and spread quickly up the leg and down to the ground.
Silica meanwhile was recovering from a heavy swing that had knocked her off her feet, "Pina! Heal!" She instructed. The little feathered dragon flew down, and exhaled a warm blue breath upon her, and her HP was restored to around sixty percent.
Ion grunted, "We're outmatched and outgunned here!" He yelled.
"You want to run?" Silica asked.
"It would be- Look out!" Ion warned. Silica reacted a moment too late, and was smashed against a tree by a powerful clubbing from one of the apes.
"Silica!" Ion yelled. He lit up his sword, and activated his new skill, Quadruple Pain. Four lightning fast jabs that knocked his foe off it's feet. Then he heard the crunch sound, and whirled around in fear.
When he saw Silica still there, he sighed with relief, then he saw she was bent over, and embracing something that was glowing blue. Ion looked closer, and gasped as Pina shattered into pixels.
"Pina!" Silica yelped, and broke down into tears.
Ion saw the ape with the frozen foot break free, and join the ape that was now baring down on Silica. He was about to jump in, when he saw a blur of black and blue slash past all three apes.
As the three apes shattered, Ion glanced at their rescuer, and was surprised to see none other than Kirito standing there, in a black and blue coat, black pants and a yellow shirt. A blue glow faded on his sword, his face was void of emotion.
But he shook it off, and ran over to his friend, who was looking in awe at their savior, before she started tearing up again, and picked up a feather that was all that was left of Pina.
Aurora limped over, and Ion noticed she was slightly hurt, HP in the yellow, he picked her up, and knelt down next to Silica.
"Silica… I'm so sorry…" He muttered. "Pina…"
"Is gone…" The girl finished.
"What's that feather?" Kirito asked, walking up behind them.
"It's Pina, Silica's feathered familiar… or… what's left of her," Ion sighed.
"You're both beast tamers aren't you?" Kirito asked. "I'm sorry, if I had been here sooner, maybe I could-"
"No. it's my fault, I was the one who thought that the four of us could make it through the lost forest on our own," Ion muttered.
"Hey… is your wolf trained with the item tracker skill? Look!" Kirito said. Ion looked at his pointing, and surely enough, Aurora was pointing at Silica's hands with her snout.
"Silica! Let me see that," Ion gasped. The girl opened her hands, and the feather glowed faintly. Ion tapped it with his finger, and a window opened, 'Pina's Soul'.
Silica hugged it even tighter, and sniffled. Kirito was quick to jump in, "Hey, don't cry, that means that Pina hasn't left completely yet. There's a chance you can revive her."
This perked up the two tamers, "Are you sure?" Ion asked.
"On the south side of floor forty-seven is a field dungeon called the 'Hill of Memories', I heard there's an item there that can revive familiars," Kirito explained.
Ion sighed, they weren't ready for a floor that high, Silica knew that too.
"Normally, I'd go get the item for you, all you'd have to do is pay for the trip… but the flower won't bloom unless the familiar's master is there," Kirito sighed.
"We'll make it one day, this information is more than enough!" Ion grinned.
"Sorry to shoot you down, but there's a catch, if you don't get the flower in three days, that soul will fade forever," Kirito told them.
Ion stopped, and comforted Silica, who was about to break down into tears again.
Kirito stood up, "It's alright, you have three days," He said, and opened his menu. "Take this equipment, it should boost your stats by at least five levels, and if I tag along, we'll make it."
Silica looked at a window that had opened before her, and her eyes widened. Ion looked over her shoulder and peeked at the equipment, his eyebrows raising at the new gear.
"Hold it… why do you want to come?" Ion asked, helping Silica to her feet. Aurora leapt up onto his right shoulder, her head tilted in agreement. "Wait… I think I know, she reminds you of your sister too eh?"
Kirito jolted, "How'd you guess?" He asked.
"Same here, she reminds me of my younger, more carefree, but also sometimes shy, sister's attitude," Ion grinned.
"You got it," Kirito nodded.
Silica spoke up, "um… I know this is nowhere near enough col to pay you back-!"
Kirito stopped her, "No, that stuff is on me, besides, I have business on floor forty-seven myself."
"So, Silica, this is Kirito, we met at Floor One's boss raid," Ion said, patting the boy in black on the back. "This is Silica, a friend I made on Floor Twenty-One after becoming a beast tamer myself."
The two shook hands, "Nice to meet you," Silica smiled.
"Likewise," Kirito nodded back.
The three made it out of the forest, and entered the town of Mishe. Walking through the streets, Silica tried to spark conversation, "Do you live around here Kirito?" She asked.
"I'm on Floor Fifty, I was thinking about getting a room at an inn tonight," Kirito told them.
"You with the assault team then?" Ion asked.
"Yeah, but I've had a few days off lately," The boy in black shrugged.
"Silica! Ion!" The two turned at the hailing, spotting two players run over. One was a rather tubby player, and the other was a skinny player… with a skirt on. Ion had figured he had logged in as a female player back in the beginning, the two seemed to stick together pretty well though.
"You made it through the forest! We were worried!" Tubby said.
"Want to party up again? We'll go with you anywhere?" Skinny asked.
"Sorry guys, we're partied up with this guy, he's gonna take us up to the higher floors tomorrow," Ion told them. They both gave him a glare, as they walked away.
"Sorry about that," Silica said.
"You two seem rather popular," Kirito noted.
"Well, since we partnered up, we quickly gained a team name, The Dragon Wolves, we're kind of celebrities down here," Ion shrugged.
The three approached the inn when their popularity hit again, "Well, if it isn't the Dragon Wolves!" Ion had to resist a growl as the three turned to see Rosalia with the same party they were in earlier.
"You made it through the forest? Just you two? We were so worried when you ran off," She told them. "Wait a minute, where's your lizard friend? Did it…?"
"Pina died…" Silica muttered.
"But we'll get her back, this, I swear," Ion assured her, Aurora wouldn't stop growling at the woman before them.
"So, you'll be headed up to the Hill of Memories then? Even with your skills, I wonder if you'll get there with your level," Rosalia taunted.
"We will with Kirito watching our backs," Silica smirked.
"I was wondering who the stray was, you don't look so tough to me," the red head said, looking directly at Kirito.
He just shrugged, "How strong or weak I am is none of your business," He said. "Let's go."
Ion just missed the smirk that Rosalia gave as they left.
"Why is she so mean?" Silica sighed.
"Because she likes being the bossy snobby kind of person," Ion offered.
"Well… Is this your first MMO?" Kirito asked.
"I've played older ones before, but this is Silica's first game," Ion said.
"A person's character and attitude can often change in game, and some even like playing the role of the bad guy," Kirito began. "You see the cursors above us? And how they're green? If a player commits a crime, like theft or hurting another player, their cursor will go orange. The worst are known as player killers, also known as red players. They're all about murder…"
"Like Laughing Coffin…" Ion growled lowly. Aurora looked up from her bowl of milk, and whined at the mention of the dark guild.
"They kill other players?" Silica asked.
"In any other game, they'd chill out as a villain and have some laughs. But Sword Art Online is not any other game, that sort of thing is anything but laughable," Kirito gripped his drink tightly.
Silica looked nervous at his tense stare, "Kirito?" She asked.
Kirito snapped out of his thoughts, and realized his stare had unnerved her, "Sorry…" He sighed.
"Hey, no apology, me and Silica are in the same boat as you, you're a good person Kirito, after all, you saved our bacon back there," Ion shrugged.
"Thanks, now it looks like you're cheering me up," Kirito said.
"Hey, waiter? Can I make an order for some cheesecake?" Silica called out.
Kirito paid for two rooms, and handed a key to Silica, "Go on up Silica, I'd like to talk with Kirito for a bit," Ion said.
The girl shrugged, and went up to the rooms. Once she had gone, Ion pulled Kirito into a corner, "It's good to see you're still kicking Kirigaya," he smirked.
"You know, I don't know how I didn't recognize you back on floor one, but likewise Marc," Kirito grinned, and held up a fist.
"You owe me a drink for talking down that heat back then," Ion chuckled, bashing his own against it.
"I appreciate the help that day, so yeah, it's on me," Kirito nodded, calling over a waitress and making an order. His eyes widened, "I remember that I still need to give you some kit," he realized, and sent a trade window over with several items.
Ion shook his head, "I'm fine, I'm a bit higher than Silica, I'm probably ready for Floor Forty-Seven, it's her I'm concerned about," He said, dismissing the window. "You know you can't hide things from me for long, I see you've gained more mental scars since we parted ways," He sighed.
"… it's hard to talk about," Kirito mumbled. "It was back in October, I joined up with a small guild called the Moonlit Black Cats. They were small, as most guilds usually are, but the difference between this one and most was the comradery that they shared, they were all friends IRL, and knew how to cover each other's weaknesses and their strengths as well."
"Then one day…" Kirito paused. "It was a trap, four of us went in. I was the only one to crawl back out." He seemed to pause again.
"It's alright man, I know. The smaller guild losses are bad, but you lost all of them," Ion nodded, knowingly.
"Keita had a dream, that they would make it to the frontlines, but I killed that dream… and them… Ducker, Tetsuo, Sasamaru and Sachi… all of them died together," Kirito finished.
With that, he went upstairs. Ion followed, and knocked on Silica's door in a pattern.
She opened it a short moment later, in a green shirt and white shorts. Her hair was down, and trailed to her shoulders, and she quickly let Ion in.
Ion then went into his inventory, and pulled out a sleeping bag, and rolled it out on the other side of the room to the bed, Aurora leapt up onto the bed, and curled up, ready to sleep. He then changed his outfit into a simple white shirt and black shorts.
Both were settling down when they heard a knock at the door, Ion opened it to find Kirito there. "Yo," he said.
"I thought this was Silica's room?" Kirito asked.
"She's here, we just share the room usually, saves col, and we're cool about it," Ion shrugged. "Anyway, what's up?" He asked.
"Just thought there are a few things I wanted to tell you about before we set out tomorrow," Kirito said. "But it can wait until morning if you prefer."
"No, now is good, might as well get it done," Ion nodded.
Kirito came in, Silica was sat up on her bed, legs crossed and smiling sadly. Ion sat down next to her, as Kirito pulled the table into the middle of the room, and pulled up a chair. Lastly, he put an item on the top. Tapping it twice, it split open, forming a perfect sphere of blue light.
"What is this thing Kirito?" Asked Silica.
"It's a mirage sphere, handy for mapping out routes for quests or hunts, I often examine this at the end of a long day, and use it to plan the next day," Kirito explained.
"Man, the frontliners get all the cool toys," Ion joked.
"Here is the town area of Floor Forty-Seven," Kirito tapped one spot. Then he pointed somewhere else, "And this is the Hill of Memories." He began tracing a line from point A to point B. "I was thinking, if we take this route along here, we can…" he trailed off.
"Kirito?" Ion asked. But the more experienced swordsman shushed him, and shot for the door, slamming it open.
"Who's there?!" He snapped.
Ion blinked, that was fast! His reaction speed is incredible! He thought.
"What was that?" Silica asked, peeking out into the hallway.
"An eavesdropper," Kirito reported.
"But… that's impossible, you can't listen through a door without knocking first," Ion pointed out, as the two came back in the room.
"It's possible if the spy has leveled up their hearing skill enough," Kirito corrected him.
"But… why would someone eavesdrop on us?" Silica asked. Kirito just frowned, looking back at the closed door.
24th February, 2024.
Floor Forty-seven: Floria
The first thing that Ion and Silica saw when stepping off the teleport gate was flowers. Everywhere they looked, there were brightly colored flowers swaying gently in a morning breeze.
Silica had put on the outfit that Kirito had given her yesterday, a bright red overcoat glowed in the sun, it's colors were the opposite of her last coat, now with gold trims on the seams and a gold cross on the sleeves, and a black shirt was on underneath, between the two layers was a silver breastplate. She was also wearing a black pleated school skirt and black leggings that went up from her black boots to her knees and her hair was now tied up with a pair of red shiny ring baubles. A long skinny black dagger was clipped to her belt.
"Holy…!" Ion muttered.
"This place is like a dream!" Silica laughed.
"The whole floor is covered in flowers, that's why it's earned the name Flower Garden," Kirito explained.
The two boys watched Silica crouch down at a flower bed and giggle as a ladybug flittered away, Aurora sniffed several flowers next to her, and sneezed at all the pollen.
Ion glanced around again, and noticed something else. The couples. "Looks like a romantic place," he muttered, as the two walked over to where Silica was crouched.
"You gonna sit here all day? Or are we on a mission?" Ion reminded her, pulling her to her feet.
"Sorry, got sidetracked," she apologized, looking flustered.
"Come on," Kirito rolled his eyes.
As they left the town boundaries, Kirito pulled out two blue crystals, and handed them to his charges.
"Teleport crystals? Really?" Ion asked, but took the gem and pocketed it.
"It's just a precaution, I don't want to see you guys overcompensate today," Kirito shrugged.
The three players traveled along the road, with Kirito at the head. "Hey… Kirito?" Silica asked.
That was all she said before two vines snaked around her ankles and lifted her high into the air. Silica quickly grabbed her skirt before gravity took effect, and started flailing her dagger around. What had grabbed her was a large plant monster that had her above a large open maw.
"Silica!" Ion cried out with worry.
"Calm down! That thing's not that strong!" Kirito assured her.
"Easy for you to say!" Silica yelled. "Don't look but save me!"
Kirito was trying not to watch the scenario with amusement, Ion rolled his eyes at the boy's lack of help, drawing his sword.
"Silica! Divebomb!" He called, before he leapt up and cut through the vines. Silica swung her dagger, before it lit up blue and she shot down like a comet, stabbing the monster in the soft spot above. It exploded into shards, and she dropped to the ground. "Did you see anything?" She asked with a tint of pink in her cheeks.
"No, I didn't," Ion told her. Aurora shook her head too.
"Not really…" Kirito muttered.
"I swear Silica, what is it with you and monsters wanting a damn panty shot at you?" Ion asked, when they got back on the road.
"This has happened before?" Kirito asked.
"Yup, she's been tossed around a few times now, and it's nearly always by her legs," Ion chuckled.
"Ion! We agreed to keep that between us!" Silica blushed furiously. She shook her head, and turned to Kirito. "Like I tried earlier, what's your sister like?" She asked.
"Why'd you want to know?" Kirito asked.
"You said I reminded you of her," Silica reminded him.
"Well… I call her my sister, but she's actually my cousin," Kirito sighed. "We were raised like siblings since we were babies, so I doubt she even knows. But I know, and maybe that's why I started distancing myself from her."
"I never knew this," Ion said, raising an eyebrow.
"When we were young, our grandpa made us take Kendo at the local dojo, but I stopped going after a while. Grandpa beat the hell out of me for that…" Kirito sighed.
"That's awful," Silica muttered.
"But his sister stayed with Kendo, and has become quite the known swordswoman at school," Ion spoke up.
"You know each other IRL?" Silica asked, looking between Ion and Kirito.
"Ion here is the only one who can give her a hard time in practice. Sometimes their P.E teachers would break out some Kendo kit, and they have a little tournament, it's always Ion and Sugu to make it to the final match, and it's never a clear winner," Kirito smirked. Then it disappeared, "She probably hates me for dropping Kendo."
"No. She doesn't," Ion said. "Your sister, or cousin, or whatever… she loves kendo, take it from the guy who has the most fun in a sword fight with her."
"Yeah, if she's still doing it to this day, that probably accounts for something at least," Silica smiled.
"There you both go again, cheering me up," Kirito chuckled.
"Ok! I'm going to do my best too!" Silica said, pumped up. One step forward however triggered a trap, a large tubular monster appeared out of the ground, snaring Silica up. Kirito was quick to act. Sword drawn, he cut through the monster and it shattered quickly.
Silica flopped to the ground, and whined. She smiled weakly up at Kirito, but then remembered she was wearing a skirt, and straightened it out.
"That's the twenty-third time…" Ion muttered behind her.
"Shut up Ion, it's not my fault," Silica whined.
Kirito chuckled at the two tamer's antics, "Come on you two," he said, sheathing his sword.
The three continued along the route, Kirito often stunning monsters and switching, allowing Silica and Ion to gain the EXP. Ion also revealed his strength, taking out another of the monsters which tried to grab Silica by the ankles again.
Ion noticed the forest closing ahead, "looks like we're almost there," He observed.
"Is that reviving flower around here?" Silica asked, looking around.
"Yup, you can see the pedestal just over this hill," Kirito nodded. Silica was already moving, and sprinted ahead. Ion chuckled at her eagerness, but calmly walked on with Kirito.
When the boys caught her, she was staring numbly at a beautiful flower that looked like it was from another world. Ion pushed Silica a tiny bit, and she came out of her trance. "Go ahead, pick it up," he reminded her.
"Oh! Right," Silica giggled, gently plucking the flower from the pedestal. A window popped up, saying 'Retrieved: Pneuma Flower'.
"Back to town?" Ion asked, looking at Kirito.
"Yeah, there's a bunch of strong monsters between here and town, so let's revive her back at the inn," Kirito nodded.
The route back was easier than the way there. By the time they were back at the bridge on the boundaries of town, they were equally laughing at their accomplishment.
That was when Kirito held a hand out before his charges. "Whoever's hiding, come out, now."
A chill went up Ion's spine, when Rosalia walked out from behind a tree.
"If you saw through my hiding skill, then your detection skill must be really high swordsman," She commented. Her eyes darted over to Silica, "It seems you got your hands on the Pneuma Flower. Congratulations."
Her expression then changed drastically. "Now. Hand it over before someone gets hurt!" She ordered.
"What are you…?" Ion asked.
"No one will be handing over anything, Rosalia. Or should I call you Leader of the orange guild, Titan's Hand?" Kirito stated.
Rosalia stopped, "Nice…!" She smirked.
"Her cursor is green though!" Silica noted.
"It's a common trick, the green players scout parties and lead the good ones to where the orange members are lying in wait," Kirito explained. "That was one of your lackeys eavesdropping last night, wasn't it?"
"Then… the reason we were in the same party for two weeks was…!" Silica gasped.
"How perceptive of you, I was checking out their skill, and watching them rake in all that beautiful money," Rosalia smirked. "You two were the ones I was looking forward to the most, but when you ran off, I was so disappointed. Then you went and blabbed about getting a rare item!"
Her eyes went to Kirito, "You knew this and brought them anyway, are you an idiot? Or were you using them as bait?" She asked.
"You're wrong on both guesses," Kirito closed his eyes. "I've been looking for you, Rosalia."
"What are you talking about?" The red-haired woman asked.
"Ten days ago, you attacked a guild called 'Silver Flags'. Four died, the leader was the only survivor," Kirito reminded her.
"Oh… The losers with no money," Rosalia recounted.
"The leader went from the warp gate to the frontlines, morning 'til night, begging for someone to avenge his fallen comrades," Kirito continued. "But he didn't want you killed, he wanted you to stand for your sins in prison. Can you understand how he felt?"
Ion gave a glare now at the woman before them, "No. I can't say that I do. What kind of idiot would actually believe that if you die here, you die IRL? There's no proof of any deaths," She shrugged. "Besides, shouldn't you be more concerned about yourselves?"
With a snap of her fingers, seven thugs emerged from the treeline, all in scruffy clothing and armed with a mix of swords, axes and daggers.
"Kirito? What's the plan here?" Ion asked.
"Don't worry, until I tell you to run, just stay here and watch," Kirito told them. With that, he began to walk towards the enemy group.
"Kirito!" Silica cried out with worry.
One of the thugs seemed to recognize the name, "Kirito? Dressed in black, one-handed sword, no shield…! Holy crap, it's the Black Swordsman!" he gasped. "Rosalia, this is the guy who solos on the frontlines! He's with the assault team!"
Ion gasped, "Kirito is the Black Swordsman?" He asked.
"Why would someone from the assault team be all the way down here?" Rosalia smirked. "Kill him! And take what he owns!"
All the thugs charged up sword skills, and ran at Kirito with warcries.
As this happened, Ion pulled out his teleport crystal, and whispered a few words. Rosalia snarled as he vanished in a blue glow.
Kirito didn't move while this happened, but he was wondering what Ion was up to. He got his answer when he saw a blur of white emerge from the town.
"Titan's Hand! Surrender!" Everyone turned, seeing Ion standing with his Estoc pointed to Rosalia's neck, her spear in his other hand.
One was about to move, "Come any closer and she's done for," Ion growled, bringing the blade closer. Aurora was on the ground, and was snarling at the thugs with fangs visible.
"How didn't we hurt this one? We poured everything we had into that, how's he still standing?" Asked another.
"Because I'm level 78, with 14, 500 HP. My Battle Healing skill regenerates six hundred HP every ten seconds. And you lot dish out four hundred in that time, give or take a bit," Kirito explained, casually walking towards Rosalia.
"We could stand here all day, and we wouldn't be going anywhere," He said.
Silica watched the two swordsmen, Kirito was strong, incredibly so. There was a reason why he was on the frontlines. Then she looked at Ion, seeing how tactical he could be in a situation like this.
Kirito held up a large crystal, "My client spent his entire fortune on this warp crystal, it's set to the coordinates of the prison, and I'm sending all of you bastards there!" He spat.
"Well I'm green! And if you hurt me you'll go orange-!" Rosalia yelled.
Ion moved away his blade, and Kirito's was suddenly there a moment later. "I'm a solo player, got it? If I have to be orange for a few days, so be it," He said, then leaned closer. "Same goes for red."
Rosalia surrendered rather quickly after that, and the eight players slumped through the warp gate Kirito opened.
The three then walked back to the teleport gate, and returned to Floor thirty-five.
Kirito sighed, the three sat on the bed in one room of the inn.
"I'm sorry you two, this whole time, I was using you to lure out that witch, and throw her behind bars," He sighed.
"While I wish you had just told us the truth, I'm glad for the adventure today," Ion grinned.
"Yeah! It's ok, because I knew you would protect us from harm," Silica agreed.
Aurora climbed onto the Black Swordsman's lap, and licked his face, "I think Aurora thinks the same way," Ion chuckled.
"Do you need to go so soon?" Silica asked.
"Yeah… I've been away from the frontlines for a week now, I should probably get back," Kirito nodded.
"I think the frontlines are really cool," Silica smiled.
"Yeah, you think we could make it one day?" Ion asked.
"Sure you can, we're up to floor fifty-five at the moment. If you work hard enough, you can do anything you put your mind to," Kirito assured them.
He cleared his throat, "how about we revive Pina now?" He asked.
"Good idea, I think Aurora has missed her for too long now," Ion nodded, his familiar yapped in response.
Silica stood up, and brought out Pina's Soul, setting the feather on the table, then the Pneuma Flower. With care, she held the flower above her familiar's remains, and let a drop of dew fall off the petals and onto the feather. A bright golden glow shone throughout the room.
Ion put a hand on Silica's head, as they watched the reviving take place, "We did it. Pina, when you get back, boy have we got a story to tell you," Silica grinned.
The next morning, Ion and Silica walked with Kirito to the Teleport gate, "So, we'll meet again one day," Ion smiled. Kirito nodded, and opened his menu. Ion saw a window appear before him. 'Kirito wants you to be their friend. Accept?' Ion did so, without a second thought. He also sent one to Silica, who had Pina on her head like she used to. The girl also accepted quickly.
Ion held out his fist to his friend, "Take what you can," He smirked.
Kirito gave a similar smirk, "Give nothing back," he bumped the fist.
Ion stepped back, and allowed Kirito to stand on the gate alone, "teleport! Algade!"
A sphere of light slowly enveloped him. "Take care of each other," he smiled, before vanished.
Once he had gone, Ion turned to Silica, "Let's work hard, and catch up to the frontlines."
"Yeah, I feel like me and Pina would be such a helpful team to the Assault Team!" She nodded.
Emma: You're proving to be a good duo.
Ion: Meh, two tamers are bound to be a good group.
Silica: Yeah! Don't forget Aurora and Pina too!
Kirito: What next?
Ion: I've got something in mind.
All: Next time: Daughter of Darkness