Sword Art Online – Hollow Reminiscence

Part 4

The rest of the dungeon was strangely quiet. Maybe because we had already defeated more than a 100 of those Lizardmen back near the entrance. If that was the case, only the boss was left. But the cavern showed no signs of change, just the same endless rock hallway. I looked at Akari, who was silently walking beside me. Thanks to her, I could move on without doubt. Ignorance was sometimes bliss.

"Oh yeah, that speech." I said, breaking the dreadful silence. "Was that something you made up, or from somewhere else?"

"It was my….Brother's. He used to always say it whenever he had the chance, changing the subject only." She replied hesitantly, a sad smile on her face. "I heard it so many times it got seared into my brain."

Was? Did her brother pass on the ownership of the speech to her or something? No matter, it seemed like a sensitive topic, so I should avoid it for the time being. Suddenly, the arrow guiding us to Vlad began blinking, a sign that the objective was close by. And it was pointing to an unnaturally large double door with fancy designs all over it.

"This must be the boss room." Akari said in awe, observing the door head to toe. "Because nothing screams 'Boss ahead' louder than this thing."

"I know, right?" I replied, also looking up at the top of the door, which was at least five times our height. "Open it?"

Akari nodded, and we pushed the huge but surprisingly light door open. Once it was completely out of the way, a 'Congratulations!' window popped out, nearly making me jump through the ceiling. What, did we get congratulations on opening the door?

"Look, over there." Akari pointed to the center of the room, where a single figure stood still as blue shards floated into the sky. "He managed to defeat the boss on his own?"

The person who beat us to the boss was most likely a man, judging from his appearance. I took a step forward, and something came flying towards me at near light speed. If it wasn't for my hypersensitive reflexes, the object would've already gone straight through my skull. Instead, I pulled out my sword quick enough to change its course.

"Excellent." The man ahead said, his mischievous voice echoing through the circular room we were in. "Players really are stronger than these monsters, but you'll make a fine prey."

Without any warning, he charged towards me, empty-handed. Before I could say anything, he leapt over me and onto the spot where the flying object had landed. I quickly turned towards it, and finally got a good look at him. The man was clad head to toe, minus the helmet, in crimson red armor, neither light nor heavy, but somewhere in between. He had long white hair, stretching halfway over his back, and front bangs almost obstructing his eyes completely. But since it wasn't completely covered, his eyes were visible, glowing like a pair of piercing green jewels. He could easily scare a lion away with a glance. As he glared at me, he had a mischievous grin on his face and a spear nearly twice my height.

"So, Guild Leader, nice to finally meet you!" he grinned, bringing two fingers to his forehead and moving it forward. "I have several thousand questions for you."

"Yeah, me too." I said. "So why don't we just have a cha-"

"But first, I have to do this, as per instructions." He twirled his spear until it was pointed directly at me and charged. Just in the nick of time, I leapt out of its path, avoiding being impaled again. What the heck was this guy doing? Weren't we supposed to be Guild Mates? And what did he mean by instructions? Anyways, judging from his behavior, it seemed that he wasn't willing to talk until I defeat him. So be it.

I drew my sword and pointed it at him. If it was a duel he wanted, it's a duel he'll get. He grinned and charged again, spear pointed straight again. Once he was close enough, I batted the spear away and made ready to strike him. But then I remembered one of Akari's tips for beginners. Hitting another player will label you an 'Orange Player', and killing another will make you a 'Red Player' or simply Player Killer. Changing my mind at the last minute, I spun out of his vicinity before my sword made contact. Then I leapt away to a safe distance to think for a bit. For now, it's safe to assume that he's not here to kill me, since his movements are slow enough to dodge three minutes before he reached me. And he seemed to be using the exact same attack.

As expected, Vlad charged towards me again exactly like the last two times. But instead of countering, I leapt further away. Was he testing me or something? Now that I think about it, I heard about it from somewhere I can't exactly remember, that a method of building trust was a test of strength. It wasn't a solid lead, but no harm in trying it. Wait, there is; if I can't match his strength, there's a chance that I'll get skewered. In which case, makes this plan the last chance.

When Vlad began assuming his pre-charge position, I took in a deep breath and let it out. This was a huge risk, but I'll take it. I flexed my sword arm and planted my feet in a firm position as Vlad kicked off of the ground. Once at a specific speed, I thrust my sword forward, the tip meeting the tip of his spear. On contact, sparks flew into the air, and didn't stop. He was strong, since it was taking more than my usual strength to keep his spear at bay. Nevertheless, we remained locked in the same position for around two minutes until my arm began to falter, and I slowly receded. My strength was evaporating over the second, but Vlad on the other hand seemed just fine, with a smirk still on his face. At this rate, I'm really going to get skewered. Adjusting my position could be fatal, when he was still at full strength. In that case, I'll have to aim to wear down the weapon instead of the user. Yes, if the spear's durability gets reduced to zero, it would be considered my victory.

"Constant Pierce!" My sword began glowing blue and the disrupted air around it could be seen. With that, I felt Vlad being pushed back slowly. Alright, the tables have turned.

"Not yet, Forward Impale!" He smirked, and his spear began glowing red and doing the same thing my sword was doing. Once again, I felt his inhuman strength pushing me back. As I thought, beating him with strength alone was impossible. The only thing I could do was wait until his spear runs out of durability.

"If you're trying to wear down my spear, it's impossible." Vlad chuckled, glaring at me. "It's a rare-class weapon known for its near infinite durability, behold, the power of Grungnir!"

Crap. Why didn't he mention it sooner? Now that the Plan B went straight down the chute, I can see no potential way to escape this corner. If I tried to dodge, the spear would instantly skewer me, with the strength behind it. Begging for forgiveness was out of the question. Was I going to die here, without ever finding out the truth behind my existence? I looked over to where Akari was standing. She was watching with a stern look on her face, straight at me, as if telling me that I wouldn't get my share of the loot if I didn't defeat the guy. That's right; I had to show her that I was worth helping. If it wasn't for her, I would be wandering the world, with as much knowledge as a new-born. I turned back to Vlad, who still had a smirk on his face. Well, don't worry; I'll make sure to thoroughly wipe that off your face.

"Shattering Pierce!" With a cry, I pushed forward using my newfound strength, pushing Vlad's spear back. My sword began to light up brighter, and eventually shattering the spear, my sword along with it. With nothing in my hands now, I stumbled forward, bumping foreheads with Vlad, which felt like smashing my head against a steel plate. I then fell back onto my rear, rubbing my bruised forehead. What was he made of? As I sat pondering that question, Akari ran over to my side.

"Asami, are you okay?" She said, kneeling down beside me. "Sorry I didn't help; I just….something was telling me to leave it to you."

"You made the right choice, young lady." Vlad replied before I could. He was chilling on the floor, apparently unhurt from our previous contact. On his face was his trademark smirk. "Because I didn't want to deal with more prey yet. One was enough."

"And you! Aren't you supposed to be Asami's Guild Member? Why'd you attack him out of the blue?" she frowned, eyes glinting with ferocity.

"Whoa, slow down there, lemme explain, ok?" he chuckled, raising his hands in defeat and reassumed his previous position a second later. "Well, you see, I know you're confused, but trust me, I'm as confused as you are."

"What do you mean?" I said, the pain in my forehead disappearing, since I remembered that the game makers were at least kind enough to lower the pain simulators.

"Hey, how can one not be confused when they're dropped into a 'Game' without their memories?" Vlad shrugged. "Except a line of totally useless information and the spear you broke just now, I had nothing. And could remember nothing!"

He was also dumped in without memories? Damn it, I was hoping he would know why I was here. But turns out, he was in the same boat that I was in.

"Wait, what was that about the instruction thing?" I quickly said, hope once again rising. "I didn't hear anything like that when I got dropped."

"Heh, as I said; useless instructions." Vlad scoffed, dismissing it with a wave of the hand. "It told me to come here and kill something called the boss. I figured it was the big fat guy waiting in this room, so I killed it. Then you showed up."

"You defeated the Titan of the Water by yourself!?" Akari exclaimed, jaw dropping onto the floor.

"If you meant the dude with the whip, then yeah, I did." He shrugged. "And as I as saying, the instructions included a part where you would show up and that I had to test you if you were worthy of leadership."

"Leadership?" I guessed that meant the Guild. "So that's why you attacked me, right?"

"Although I lost my memories, I remember that I only follow people stronger than me. Not only physical strength but mental as well." He nodded. "And you proved that when you broke through my charge, and my spear."

"Sorry about that."

"Eh, no biggie. I just got another one from the fat man just now. The problem is that yours broke as well."

Come to think of it, when I won, both our weapons broke simultaneously. So right now, I only have the sword I was found with left.

"Anyways," Vlad stood up and stretched a bit. "Mind if I tagged along with you for now? I'm sick of wandering this place alone. Gonna drive me crazy without anyone to talk to."

I looked at Akari, who shrugged back. Wait, weren't we going to go our separate ways? I guess that would be best, since I didn't want to drag her into our quest for our memories. Just as I was about to mention it, she spoke up suddenly, as if figuring something out.

"Wait a minute. You were instructed to come kill the Titan of Water specifically, right?" she asked Vlad, a little too excitedly.

"Well, I was told to come to the Winter Cavern and kill the boss, but…." He replied, his guard slowly rising.

"There were four members in your Guild, including Vlad, and he was told to come to the Winter Cavern specifically. Now that we cleared it, there are three more dungeons left. Same as the number of members left. They may be at the other dungeons, just a guess."

Silence followed for the next three seconds, until Vlad spoke up.

"In that case, we should move on to the next dungeon." He said and looked to me. "So, leader?"

Although it sounds too biased, it was better than looking for someone without any lead. I turned to Akari, who looked at me expectantly. I sighed. Might as well ask for her help.

"Akari, since your goal and ours are similar, mind if you stick around?" I said. She grinned for a second, then shook her head and cleared her throat.

"If you insist." She replied. For some reason, it feels as if she wanted to come along. I stood up and glanced at Vlad. Now, I have taken the first of many steps to regaining my memories, which really skyrocketed my motivation level. Who knows what we will find next, since the world, game or reality, can be unpredictable.

Part 4 End