Shield And Swords

Chapter 4— Twisting Paths

..

Original Title: Sword Art Online(ソードアート・オンライン)

Original Concept by: Kawahara Reki

written by: wrathie

Author's Notes: And another update within 12 hours. This is just...

Anyway, thank you bowpurity for the beta. If there's any silly errors, blame him!

..

'Y-You... alright?'

Klein gave a relieved sigh as he panted from dealing with the swarm of ants that had surrounded the girl that was surrounded. He was both relieved that they had managed to help her, but at the same time was confused at why the reasonably high-levelled player was doing here in this low-middle levelled dungeon. Higher levelled players were discouraged from taking lower levelled levelling spots as it would not be fair to the lower-levelled players who needed the experience more.

It was thankful that this hidden dungeon was mostly too dangerous for the lower-levelled players and they were deep enough within it to not get in the way of the middle-levelled players. Due to the large amounts of Ants that he had slayed though, Klein did gain a small amount of EXP from this attempt. It wasn't as efficient as levelling in the higher levels, but if he wished to grind for loot and gold, this was a decent place if they kept at the same rate.

'Yes... Thank you.'

The solo girl player replied softly even as she pushed back the visor of the small helm that she was wearing before bowing to Klein for his assistance. Honestly though, Klein didn't think that his help was really needed seeing that she was still very calm after going through such an experience. She must be a solo player, if her party members have died, Klein would have difficulty believing that she could remain so calm.

'A—Ahh... it's fine. I'm Klein, I'm 24, and single.'

Klein blurted out his usual greetings when he realized that yes, this was really quite a cute girl with her short black hair and more than average facial features. Her eyes however, made Klein flinch a little. It was like looking into Kirito's eyes when he was mad, and he made a mental note to not make this girl mad at all cost.

'Sachi. I'm part of the Black Cats of the Full Moon, Klein-san.'

'The Black Cats... Oh... Oh! You're part of Kirito's guild aren't you?'

Klein snapped his fingers in recognition before scratching his head in embarrassment. They had met with that small guild that Kirito had joined just once before, it was a time when they bumped into each other during a trip to the town to replenish supplies.

Klein had been very glad that Kirito had finally teamed up with someone, and had an enjoyable time trading jokes and information with the leader of the Guild, Keita. He hadn't even noticed that there was such a cute girl in the guild too, perhaps he was just too happy for Kirito then.

'Yes, I'm in the same guild as Kirito-kun.'

Sachi answered softly even as she reached down to pick up her shield before dismissing it and equipping another instead.

'Y-Yeaaah... So erm, Sachi-san. Why are you doing here alone? I know that you're probably strong enough to deal with all those Ants by yourself... but it's still quite dangerous. Your stuffs durability would run out eventually.'

Klein tried explaining to her even as the rest of his guild members gathered behind him as well, looking curious at someone who had not immediately shot down their leader after his customary greeting.

It had became quite a running jokes, as well as constant annoyance for them as if the trend continues, they would be forever alone due to their leader's lack of charisma, and die in battle because of his chivalry... Ah, the problems of a group of noble people were great indeed.

'I brought extras, Klein-san... Thank you for your concern.'

Sachi gave him a brief nod before she pushed the visor of her helm down slightly again. Wearing a helm was something that wasn't popular in the players rank due to how it does restrict the field of vision, despite it providing better defense to the player than your run of the mill hat or bandanna. Then again, a bandanna does provide some useful effects like increased speed or perhaps a boost towards dexterity that a helm doesn't. Anyway, players who wear helms were traditionally forwards, tanks who took damage and lured monsters to them for their party.

They were also subsequently roles that were the most disliked and risky in SAO, due to how it was a death game. As combat might turn in a single second due to the unpredictability of the game itself, it wasn't unusual for a tank to be killed when more mobs would suddenly materialize and subsequently overwhelm the tank when he was unable to match his own recovery with the rate in which he was taking damage. Well, there would normally be a pair of tanks to rotate and switch with, just like how players paired up when attacking to make levelling much easier.

So it was confusing to see a girl, and quite a petite one at that, equipped only with leather armor, a simply wooden shield wearing a helm and acting like a forward.

'No, it's not okay, Sachi-san... Where is the rest of your party, and your guild? Where's Kirito? If that bastard let you train here alone, I'm going to...'

Klein growled, partly due to his indignation at his friend potentially having a girl at his beck and call like that, and partly due to him allowing a girl to go through such brutal training in the first place.

'… My guild members are dead. All of them, but Kirito-kun.'

Sachi's words caused Klein to freeze and the guys behind him gave their own gasp as they winced too. Klein had known about the Black Cats of the Full Moon and quickly found out that Kirito was hiding his true level from them. He had played along, teasing Kirito about not being jealous about their levels and all that. He had a lot of friends and contacts within SAO, and his guild was considered one of the most approachable and contactable clearer guilds of SAO. It was also due to that did he know about the resentment and perhaps unhappiness the middle and lower levelled guilds felt for the clearers in general.

They were grateful that they were doing their best to clear each level of Aincrad, but with the increasing level gap from the clearers to those guilds, the competition got harder and harder. Many smaller guilds were simply unable to keep up with the pace, or were not strong enough to even try to hunt in the better levelling spots in the lower levels that were being occupied by the bigger guilds to raise their numbers.

Klein knew that Kirito had already taken a great hit by being called a beater as well as a solo, even if those titles weren't really able to be linked to him as a player, it would still be difficult for Kirito to ever open up to everyone.

Seeing Kirito in a guild that welcomed him, and treated him as one one of them was a huge relief, and he had helped him conceal that secret.

But the guild members... were now dead?

..

'… I'm... I'm sorry for your loss, Sachi-san.'

Klein bit his lip even as he tried hard to not lose his temper, or frustration at the news. His guild members, upon hearing their leader act in that way, tried hard to meet him even as Klein sheathed his sword and continued.

'Is there anything I can help you with, Sachi-san? Anything at all, just name it.'

Klein was tempted to rest a hand on her shoulder to reassure her, but refrained from doing it in fear of scaring her away. The incident must have happened in another area, definitely not here... and it must have happened quite recently for on hindsight the girl looked simply exhausted, definitely not just from fighting the monsters here, but from other things as well.

Where was Kirito when he needed him now?

Klein also noted cynically that he has came a long time from how he would scream, or simply vent his frustration on his surroundings in frustration when he first saw someone die. Death, was a constant in SAO, and it had apparently stopped affecting him as much, something which disgusted him as well.

'… Could you help me reach the Ant Queen?'

Sachi asked softly even as Klein raised an eyebrow at her request. Defeat the Ant Queen? Now? Why would she want to do that? Wouldn't it be more important for her to take a rest, to mourn, or to do something else rather than fighting? Or did Kirito tell her that the best way to grieve was to kill things? If he did, Klein will punch him, protocols be damned.

It was at that point that Klein also decided that he would never understand woman.

It was as if Sachi could read Klein's mind for she shook her head and explained that Kirito was being taken care of by Argo.

'… Kirito-kun didn't take the news well... He still hasn't woken up.'

'Then you should be with him, Sachi-san. He's strong, but he's always weak... that Kirito would never admit to less than that.'

Klein protested softly, him raising his hands to elaborate even as his guild members agreed with him. There were no funerals in SAO, when people died, they simply fragmented into thousands of polygons, and so the only way to mourn differed from individuals. They were all human after all, and they had the right to cry, to mourn, and to be upset about the loss of someone important to them. Especially one's guild mates, they were the people they entrusted with their lives after all. And to have one of those people lose their lives was something of a great loss, of great sadness, and something that shouldn't be shrugged off, or dismissed so easily.

Especially for girls, Klein always thought that girls were better in expressing their emotions than men, and he had seen his share of players breaking down in the bars when they came back missing a team mate or sometimes, the entire party.

Never a woman though, Klein's bad luck with the opposite almost guaranteed that.

..

'… I would. But I need... to experience this.'

'Experience this?'

Klein raised an eyebrow in surprise even as Sachi pushed the visor of her helm back to look at him again.

'I want to experience a boss fight, Klein-san.'

'Huh?!'

..

Klein had seen many amazing things in his time in SAO, one of the few things that he found truly amazing was how Kirito performed in the front line. From his amazing dexterity, the way he handled his swords, to how he always seemed to be impossible to stop when in the midst of combat. He was straight, that part was a guarantee, but it still was captivating to see the dance of steel and flesh attack the Bosses of each level. Kirito had always participated in the boss clear for all the floors since level one, and in many cases, was the first to attack, or the last one to retreat till the participation of the Knights of the Blood, Heathcliff, who was now taking the front-lines as a forward. It was said that he was impossible to stop, similar to Kirito.

But this really took the cake, the sight of the frailer girl taking the role of the forward in front of his guild members as they confronted the Ant Queen and her army of Worker Ants by herself without fear or flinching.

Of course, Klein had no intention of letting Sachi take on the boss by herself, and he reckoned that if he refused, she would go ahead by herself anyway. He might as well cut himself the break and agree to her request for help to reach the Ant Queen. Sachi wasn't as low levelled as he had imagined, she was hovering around 7 levels lower than the average level of the clearers, and that by itself was more than enough for the dungeon, only it would take forever for her to reach the Ant Queen.

Of course Klein didn't know why she wanted to face a field boss like that, but he had no doubt that this was Argo's request, to help Sachi who was trying this dungeon for the first time by herself.

Since she was invited to the party, Klein had been able to keep a close eye on Sachi's HP bar. It was always just hovering above the danger level of 10% and never above, and she would always reject his guild's assistance for help with a healing crystal, instead relying on potions to replenish her HP.

Klein didn't know what she was trying to prove, or what skill she was training to stick to such a regime... and he was worried that Sachi might have more than a few loose screws.

Argo apparently agreed with him, for when he sent a message back to tell her that they found Sachi and was accompanying her to fight the Ant Queen. The reply message had simply been to watch over her, and to make sure she didn't do anything dangerous.

Klein would argue that facing a field boss was dangerous, but he digressed. The Ant Queen wasn't really dangerous, it was the first Field Boss, and a hidden Field Boss to be found in Aincrad after all. In terms of levels, it was perhaps similar to the Kobold King that they fought in the first boss fight, but it's actual attacks were pathetically weak as compared to it.

No, the threat came from the huge mob of Ant monsters that guarded the Ant Queen. They were the real threats, and from what he had heard, they were mostly Soldier Ants, which meant more of that 'hugging' thing from them as well.

This will definitely not be fun.

..

Another thing that Klein noted from their resident female forward was how she fought. Initially he thought that Sachi was perhaps training her guard or parry skills, both skills which were important to be a forward, but that changed when she saw what he was doing.

She wasn't simply parrying or guarding, she was allowing the ants to attack her with their jaws, allowing them to deliver slashing blows to her body even as she winced at the sensation. Now there really wasn't any real pain in SAO, the most one would feel was the impact of the blow, as well as some numbness from the attacks. It wasn't as realistic as it should be, but remember, SAO was supposed to be a game. But inexplicably, Sachi still reacted as though she was in pain, wincing when she was struck before her own counter was delivered back to the ant.

Unlike Klein, who used his one-sided sword to slash and hack away at his enemies, or Kirito who favored dual-edged swords due to his own style of delivering quick and powerful slashes from all angles, Sachi preferred quick stabbing actions with her short sword. And it worked quite well too, for she was a forward, and being a forward allowed her to get in close with the monsters who was crying for her blood.

Eventually Klein observed a pattern from Sachi's actions. She would draw a monster's attention by charging forward to bash it with her shield. Subsequently allow the monster it's first hit before stabbing it quickly between the eyes as it tried for a second go, block or parry the second move and stab it again. Simply wash, rinse and repeat the second action till the monster was dead, all the while ensuring that she was within striking range, and the monster still engaging her.

Against multiple monsters, which was common enough in the Ant Hill, Sachi would take a different technique. The short run up towards the monster was always a constant, and for some reason, Sachi would always do so with her shield. She must have found out something that he didn't, but anyway, with the first hit on the monster with her shield, Sachi would then allow them to surround her, seeing how the monsters attack her head on without getting into each other's way.

Sachi would allow them the time to get organized before parrying their blows with her shield, slowly making her way into the guard of the monster in front of her till it was unable to attack her without getting into the way of his comrades. Sachi normally accomplished this by ramming her shield into the jaws of the Ant, and keeping it there, the ant exposed and helpless while she started dispatching it off with her stabbing attacks.

It was a brutally efficient method that might explain how Sachi was able to dispatch of the many ants that had gotten her way before she had been stalled by the new type of Soldier Ant. She was basically creating a situation where the mobs, even if they wanted to kill her, were effectively unable to bring their full might onto her due to the interference of their own kind.

Even if monsters were well, rarely cooperative besides the Bosses, they had a kind of limited consciousness that sometimes allowed them to fight with even terms with the players, sometimes even honorably even. But the monsters never inflicted damage on each other as far as they could help it. If they were forced to attack their members by the players, they would attack the players with even more ferocity. It was like the NPCs, they had limited consciousness as well, and this was what Sachi was taking advantage of.

With one of their members as a shield, she was effectively cripplingly the monster's attacks against her as well. It was... innovative, as well as brutal, for doing that was admitting that the monsters could think, just like they could. They weren't just bits of programming, they were things with their own lives, their own family? The players never really thought about it, Klein certainly didn't, but Sachi's actions made him hesitate just a little before he swung instinctively at another Ant monster, destroying it even as he continued to look at Sachi stabbing into the Worker Ant in front of her like she was pounding meat.

That fact alone was enough to cause him to shudder in fear, there was something definitely wrong with the girl that was with them right now.

..

Back to the Ant Queen, Sachi charged forward softly but purposefully before slamming her shield into the nearest Worker Ant, possibly stunning it before turning to ram her shield down at the tip of the Worker's ants jaws like how she did before.

Now 'trapped' within the jaws of the Ant, Sachi started stabbing it between it's eyes, causing it to thrash around desperately even as the other Ants tried to swarm Sachi unsuccessfully, for she was hanging on to the jaws of the Worker Ant as it tried to throw her off, shield and all. With that failing, the Ant would have tried to open it's jaws only for it to fail as it was already swarmed with it's own companions trying to attack Sachi. This opening what what Sachi needed, for she was now safe from the other Ants, and could kill them as slowly as she wanted.

Klein could only watch in a mixture of fascination and horror at the methods that Sachi was employing to kill the mobs. It was efficient, and it definitely got results. But it was sure scary and intimidating to watch that pretty girl stabbing all the helpless Ant Monsters to their deaths. Talk about death from a thousand paper cuts indeed.

'Oi leader, we aren't here to watch the girl murder all those ants... we're here to help her.'

Harry One commented even as he gave a scared grin of his own. The guild had gone through several dangerous situations, had flirted with death in the front lines, and just looking at Sachi slowly but surely taking down the ants in such a fashion was terrifying to watch.

'R-Right, let's back her up then!';

Klein gave a nervous cough before charging forward and drawing his sword in a quick draw, slashing a horizontal line in front of him even as he activated a skill that caused an entire row of ants to be destroyed into polygons in front of his eyes.

' Thank you for your help, Klein-san.'

Sachi spoke up from the din of destroyed ants, and Klein barely suppressed a shudder when he saw Sachi driving her short sword deep into the mouth of a worker ant, twist it, before pulling out just as it disappeared into polygons at all. Sachi derived no satisfaction or joy of victory from this, and it reminded of how Kirito looked before he joined the Black Cats of the Full Moon.

Was history repeating itself on the poor girl in front of him?

'...Damnit Kirito, where are you when we really need you. She... needs you too.'

Klein muttered even as he delivered several quick slashes that again took out another group of Ants, only to hear a shriek from the end of the Hallway, it was time for the Ant Queen to make her entrance.

'Get ready, Sachi-san! It's here!'

Klein warned, and he pretended not to see the way Sachi's features lit up a little in anticipation, or how she jumped over the Soldier Ant she was using as a meat shield to meet the approaching monster with only a dagger in hand.

Or at least, only for a while, for she equipped another shield, dismissing her first one as lost before the Ant Queen showed herself in all of it's white monstrosity glory.

..

'U-Ugh...?'

Argo's eyes snapped open when she both heard and felt the signs of someone waking up beside her. She had been busy accumulating and gathering information since she woke up, and had subsequently decided on a quick nap.

Apparently she was more tired than she though for the nap had stretched to half a day or perhaps she was just too comfortable being with Kirito. The latter was also a guilty pleasure, for she couldn't enjoy this when Kirito was suffering as well.

Argo wasn't amused by what was surely Sachi's handiwork as she received reports on a player that was gathering wolf mobs and slaughtering them under the Full Moon. As with before, the rumours was blown out of proportion, with some reports saying that they sighted a Were-wolf of all things appear to avenge his kin, and that it was a hidden-boss that was triggered by the player who did that.

Another rumour that was of interest was how there was a new NPC, or perhaps a player who had discovered a unique cloak item, a wolf-pelt of some sort. Somehow, Argo found it in her not to facepalm, or to drag a hand down her face in exasperation at the amount of luck that Sachi had in order to get away with all this. Perhaps it was true that once her string of bad luck had ran out, it was all plain sailing then?

Argo was also not amused when it became clear that Sachi was attempting to fight a field boss by herself, no matter the level of the boss, and her best intentions, Argo had absolutely no idea what she was up to.

Wasn't Kirito supposed to be her hero? Why wouldn't she want to be with him? She would want to be the first person to see him wake up, and to comfort him right?

So why was she the one clinging onto Kirito, helping him sit up and even passing him a glass of water as he slowly woke up.

Despite sleeping for around a full day, judging from how it was late evening now, Kirito still looked tired and worse for the wear.

'A-Argo...?'

Argo was flattered that the first thing that he said was her name, and despite herself, she found herself nodding to him with a gentle smile before pressing another cup of water to him, urging him to drink.

'W-What hap-...'

Kirito started to say, but his face scrunched up in grief and pain before he lowered his face into his hands in a bid to hide his suffering. Argo wasn't going to let that happen, she had been given this chance to comfort Kirito, and she was damn well going to do that.

As gently as she could, Argo cupped her hands around Kirito's head before raising it slowly to meet her. As she expected, Kirito was crying again, his grey eyes brimming full of tears even as he stared up at Argo in anguish. It nearly broke her heart to see Kirito in this state, but she still had to say it.

'Tell me, what happened, Kii-bou...'

'A-Argo...'

He managed to whisper his name before he tried to look away, but again Argo was not having none of that as her hands firmly kept his eyes on hers stubbornly. This was painful for Kirito, she knew, but it was also something that needed to be said, if only to relieve some of the burden of his heart. The same burden that had compelled Sachi to go about the entirely different way to stave it off.

Grief, and love, they were powerful things... but it all depended on how one channelled those emotions into.

'Please, Kii-bou... Tell me, what happened.'

Argo repeated, and Kirito, after a long time staring at her, nodded his head and began to tell her what had happened.

Author's Notes: Finally Kirito wakes up!