Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online or their characters. If I do, I wouldn't be writing fan fiction of it. Any character not in the novel is mine though!
Monica's stats (24/2/2024)
Level: 73
Strength: 73
Agility: 146
Health/Base: 11 214 / 2094hp
Skills: One Handed Dagger Lv543, Battle Healing Mastered (700hp/10sec), Familiar Communication Lv475, Familiar Recovery Lv489, Night Vision Lv452, Acrobatics Lv412, Heavy Metal Equipment Lv432, Sprint Lv 233, Musical Instrument Lv5, (Unique Skill) Beast Master Lv413
Equipment:
Dragon Dancer's Costume (Clothes): Strength+5 and Agility+5. Gives random buffs, no speed reduction
Silver Chainmail+6 (4D, 2Q): Strength+40 (800+200hp), reduces speed by 5-2%. Durability: 800+200, HP+3500. No upgrades remaining.
Silver Bracers +5 (3D, 2Q): Strength +20 (400+150hp), reduces speed by 6-2%. Durability: 400+150, HP+1500. No upgrades remaining
Dragonian Shin guards +11 (8D, 3Q): Strength +20 (400+400hp), reduces speed by 6-3%. Durability: 550+400. Reflects 50% of the damage impacted on this equipment, HP+1600. 3/20 Upgrades remaining
Howling Gale (Katar) +22 (10S, 10D, 2Q): 660-670+100dmg, no speed reduction. Durability: 1000+500. 17/50 Upgrades Remaining
Dark Elf Pendant: Strength +3
Chapter 9: Deranged Rose
Edited after Kent Rigel's review. Hope you can see a major chance of Monica's character now.
17th February 2024, Aincrad 53rd floor, Teleport Gates of Tera.
"That guy is still at it…" I muttered to Kirito while watching a sliver clad knight kneeling at the Gates of Grandum, pleading for someone to help him.
"Yeah… It's kind of pitiful…" Kirito murmured in agreement while watching him.
"It really can't be helped… We are going to clear this floor's boss…"
"Once we get back, you are going to help him, right?"
"Un… We need to put a stop to all these PKing…But I still need to keep an eye on as well, so…"
"Yeah, yeah… Come on then, Kirito, Alaska." I motioned to my now three wolves to follow me. Kirito's worrying too much about me now. I haven't had those thoughts for a long time… what makes it any different today?
23rd February 2024, Aincrad 35th floor, Forest of Wandering.
I jumped from one tree to another using my acrobatics skill to propel me. Landing on a tree above a party, I scanned the tree line for Kirito.
He should have gotten my report from tracking the other green PKer. I spotted him hiding behind one of the tree trunks, Elucidator held ready. The party in question consisted of Silica, my friend and now idol, a member of the Titan's hand, and four other players.
I cannot wait for the moment the Titan hand member reveals himself. I will have much fun interrogating him… Oh… uh ho… Focus on the task first!
Silica and a red hair lady were arguing about something, I'm guessing crystals, before Silica closed her inventory screen and left the party. She declared something before storming off.
"I'm going to follow her, you continue to track them." Kirito gestured to me, before taking off.
I silently followed the group to another place, taking out another group of Drunken Apes. Suddenly, a group of eight orange players appeared before them, their cursor orange in color. I gave a shrill whistle, indicating for my wolves to pull any players to me, while observing them.
The party of four scattered in multiple directions, two players at their heels. One of the players ran past my tree, which I took advantage of to scoop him up. Leaving him terrified on the tree trunk, I watched the map to follow what was going on.
Two of the players ran off in the opposite direction, and disappeared quickly. The beautiful array of blue polygons can give the worst assumption for them. The last one was being chased by my wolf trio, the two members of the PK party falling behind.
"Please don't kill me!" The man squeaked, attracting my attention. For a moment, I considered before I realized what he had said. Oops… This is bad…
I turned around; placing a single finger on my lip, then continue tracking the last player.
Alaska is doing quite fine, bringing him towards the tree after losing the pursuers. I jumped off the tree, landing onto the silver knight that I was tracking. The blue staff-user gaped at me, scrambling down the tree to help his friend up.
"Good work, Alaska." I whispered to my familiar, petting him on his head. He replied with a yip.
"Another beast tamer? What luck!" The silver mace-user whispered to the staff-user.
"Should we ask her to party with us?" Why are they so ignorant of what happened. Do they really want to die? Should I just kill them and get over it? Wait… What?
I sighed and turned around. If I saw correctly, the red lady was the one who turned on them.
"Do you know the name of the one in red? The one arguing with Silica?" I questioned.
"Ah, her name is Rosalia, she was in league with those PKers." The silver mace user spat.
So she was the member… I should have killed her while I had the chance.
"Ah… I see…" I nodded my head in agreement while sending Kirito a message.
"Erm… If it is not too much to ask… could you party with us for awhile?" The man clad in blue asked. I gave it some thought before replying.
"Not right now, I need to stop the PKing first."
"Ah… another time then, let's add each other as a friend first." He replied while sending a friend request to me. His name was Lancelot, like the name from the stories of King Arthur.
"Okay." I gave a smile while accepting his request. The silver mace user sent his friend request next, introducing himself as Terra. I scrutinized the name before telling him straight on.
"You actually wanted a female character, right?"
Lancelot unsuccessfully held in laughter while Terra blush a bright red color.
"I actually wanted to see how much of a change we could have…" he confessed. Ah well, it is not like he could change that.
Bidding them good bye, I moved to the rendezvous location set up by Kirito, a room next to Silica.
"So her name is Rosalia, huh?" Kirito asked while I entered his room.
"Yes, she uses a spear and has curly red hair and armor." I explained while taking a seat in the room. "Should have taken her out as quickly as possible…"
"We'd just met a few minutes ago… So that's who the PKer was…" Kirito mused while deep in thought. There went another chance…
"Well… chances are she would have someone eavesdropping on you right now. We can use this chance to set up bait. Or we could get rid of him first."
"I'm already done with that… we're heading to the hill of memories." Kirito bluntly replied.
"To get the Pneuma Flower? Did Pina die? You'd lost them didn't you…"
"Ahh… She teleported once, and Pina died before I found them again."
"I see…" I keep quiet after that.
We sat in silence for a while, thinking of our own problems. The door was then knocked on.
"Who is it?" Kirito asks, meanwhile, I moved myself to the window of the room.
"It's Silica, can I come in?" I silently opened the window and hoped out of the building. Alaska and his partners following behind.
I hear Kirito trying to find me for a moment. Really, he worries about his friends too much, I thought while typing a message to him.
Kirito,
I left through the window, stop trying to find me…
If you don't succeed, should I pass her my Pneuma Flower?
Monica.
Hitting the send button, I made my way into the inn to rent a room.
24th February 2024, Aincrad 47th floor, Entrance of the Hill of Memories.
Patience was never one of my good points.
I tapped my foot impatiently while watching the road to the Hill of Memories. Five minutes ago, Kirito and Silica left to obtain the Pneuma Flower while I was on sentry duty.
I had secluded myself in one of the trees again, using my acrobatics skill to lift me and the two players I had rescued into the tree. There were three entrances to the Hill of Memories, one directly from Floria, one from the Forest of Giant Flowers and one to the Scented field opposite Floria. It is highly unlikely that Rosalia and her guild would enter by the latter two routes, which were where Lancelot and Terra were stationed at.
Another five minutes had pass when I saw Titan's Hand arriving at my entrance. Hitting the send button of the prepared message to Kirito, I watched them begin to set up, hiding wherever possible.
Kirito's POV.
I hope nothing bad has happened to Monica yet; dealing with one of her mental breakdowns was never nice. I wonder how Klein survives everyday with her around.
A little down the hill was the bridge Silica and I had crossed a few moments ago, now it was occupied with multiple members of the Titan Hand. While we could only see Rosailia now, there wasn't any doubt in my mind that her lackey's are nearby. Just then, a system message popped out telling me about the size of the PK party in front of us
The message was prepared by me; hence I would already know what it was. I feigned shock and concern on my face, making Silica feel a little worried. The message was a little too late, both Silica and I were close to that place. Rosalia must have seen us already; she would be suspicious if we suddenly walked away.
"Kirito-kun? What's wrong?" Silica asked, concern written on her face.
"I have a bad feeling about Rosalia' presence here…" I told her while pointing her at the direction of Rosalia. Silica was rather surprised when they saw each other.
We stopped at the bridge, and I called to them.
"You guys lying in ambush, come out right now."
"What...!?"
Silica quickly looked towards the other side, but she couldn't see anyone. After a few tense seconds passed, the leaves started moving with a rustling sound. Cursors that represented the players appeared. They were green, so they weren't criminals.
"Ro-Rosalia-san...!? Why are you at a place like..."
Rosalia smiled lopsidedly and ignored the question from Silica, whose eyes were wide open with surprise.
"To think that you saw through my hiding; it seems that your scan skill is pretty high, swordsman. Did I underestimate you a little?"
Then she turned towards Silica:
"Looks like you luckily managed to get Pneuma's Flower. Congratulations, Silica."
Silica, who couldn't figure out Rosalia's true intentions, took a couple of steps back. She felt something inexplicably bad about this. Rosalia didn't betray her expectations and began speaking a second later:
"Hand over that flower right now."
Silica didn't know what to say.
" What... what are you saying...?"
I merely stepped forward and opened my mouth.
"I can't let you do that, Rosalia-san, or rather, leader of the orange guild Titan's Hand."
Rosalia's eyebrows twitched upwards and the smile disappeared from her face.
In SAO, players who commit acts that are judged as criminals, such as stealing, harming other players, or killing them, have their cursors' color changed from green to orange. Therefore, people refer to these criminal individuals as orange players and a guild that consist of them as orange guilds. Silica must have known about this, but she must have never seen them before.
Yet Rosalia's cursor, which she could see right in front of her eyes, was green no matter how she looked at it. Silica looked up at me, who was standing next to her, and asked in a dry voice:
"Hey... but... look... Rosalia-san's, it's green..."
"Even in an orange guild, there are plenty of occasions when not all of the members are orange. The green members search out prey and hide amongst their parties before luring them to the ambush point. The person whom tried eavesdropping on us yesterday must be a member of her group as well."
"Wha-What..."
Silica looked at Rosalia with shock and loathing.
"The—then, the reason she partied with us for the past two weeks was because..."
Rosalia smiled venomously once again and spoke:
"Yeah… I was checking out how strong the party was, and at the same time was waiting for them to grow fat on the money they earned through their adventuring. In fact, I took care of them yesterday."
Not completely, but I didn't tell her that. The day before, after Silica had fallen asleep in my room, I took the two survivors of the attack and trained them overnight with the help of Monica. Speaking of which, where was she?
'Rosailia' licked her lips as she stared at Silica.
"I was wondering why the person I looked forward to hunting the most suddenly left, and then I heard that you were going to get a rare item. Pneuma's Flower is pretty expensive these days. Gathering information is important after all…"
Then she stopped talking for a moment, giving a weird look at me, and shrugged.
"But swordsman, you were playing with this kid even though you knew that? Are you some kind of idiot? Or did you really fall for her?"
Silica's face reddened with fury at Rosalia's insults. Her hand moved to draw her dagger. But I just grabbed her shoulder and bluntly replied to her.
"No, it's none of those things."
I coldly replied.
"I, or rather, we were looking for you as well, Rosalia-san."
"We…? What do you mean?"
"You attacked the guild Silver Flag ten days ago on the thirty-eighth floor, right? The one where four members died and only the leader survived."
"Ah… those beggars?"
Rosalia didn't even flinch as she nodded.
"That leader... he was looking for somebody to avenge his team in the gate plaza at the front lines, crying from morning till night."
A terrifying coldness could be felt from my words. It felt like a blade of ice that had been sharpened to cut anything that came near.
"But when I received his request, he didn't ask me to kill you. All he asked me to do was to throw you all into the prison of the Black Iron Castle… could you understand how he felt?"
"Nope."
Rosalia answered as if she couldn't even be bothered. I'm pretty sure I felt Monica turning bloodthirsty… If only I can find her and stop her…
"What? Why are you acting so serious? Are you stupid? There's no evidence that the person dies in real life if you kill them here anyway. Besides, it's not like this will be a crime when we return to the real world. We don't even know if we can go back, yet here you talk about justice and rules; it's not even funny. I hate guys like you the most, people who dragged some weird logic in with them when they came into this world."
Rosalia's eyes grew angry.
"So, you mean to tell me that you seriously took the words of some guy who couldn't even die properly and were looking for us? You really have nothing to do. Well, I'll acknowledge that I fell for your bait. But... do you really think that you can do anything with just two people...?"
A sadistic smile appeared on her face and she waved her hand twice in the air.
At that moment, the trees on either sides of the path that led straight from the bridge shook violently, and people appeared from between them. Cursors emerged one after another into Silica's vision. Most of them were orange. Like Monica had said, there were nine of them, including Rosalia. If we had crossed the bridge without spotting the ambush, then we would have been surrounded.
The bandits who just appeared were all male players dressed in gaudy clothes. They all had silver accessories and sub-equipment hanging from all over their bodies. But I was more worried about where Monica is, she must be somewhere nearby, ready to strike.
Silica hid behind my coat as feelings of revulsion came over her. She whispered quietly:
"Ki-Kirito-san... there are too many. We have to run...!"
"It's fine. Just have your crystal ready until I tell you to get away." I wasn't worried about the damage they could do to me, with forteen thousand health points, They couldn't kill me unless I was paralyzed.
I walked towards the other side of the bridge.
"Kirito-san...!" Silica called to me, probably worried.
But as soon as her voice rang through the field…
"Kirito...?"
I had given up on finding her now; she has cleverly used the trees to her advantage again. I just hope I can stop whatever crazy plan she has now…
One of the bandits muttered something. His smile faded and he frowned; his eyes moved from one side to another as if he were trying to remember something. His face suddenly grew pale as he stepped back.
"Thi-This is serious Rosalia-san! That bastard... he's a clearer...!"
At his words, the expressions of all the other members hardened with shock. Silica must have been surprised as well. I thought as I turned to look at her. She was totally taken aback.
Even Rosalia stood there with her mouth open for a few seconds before she came to her senses and screamed:
"Wh-Why would a clearer be wandering around here!? He probably just called himself that to scare us! What he's wearing is just some cosplay. And— even if he really were The Black Swordsman, he should be a pushover with this many people!"
As if their vigor had returned with her remark, the huge axe-wielder who stood at the head of the orange players shouted:
"Ye-Yeah! If he's a clearer then he should have a lot of items and money too right!? This is a really big chance!"
All the bandits agreed and drew their weapons. The numerous bits of metal glinted with heinous light.
"Kirito-san... it's impossible to win, run!"
Silica shouted desperately with the crystal grasped tightly in her hand. As Rosalia had said, he wouldn't be able to win no matter how strong he is with this many enemies. But Kirito didn't move. He didn't even draw his weapon.
They seemed to have taken this as a form of resignation; the eight players, which didn't include Rosalia and the other green player, all drew their weapons and raced against each other to reach Kirito first. They stomped across the short bridge and then, giving a warcry.
"Die!"
Monica's POV
They surrounded Kirito, who had his head bowed down, in a half circle before they all hit him with their weapons. Kirito's body shook violently from the force of nine attacks.
"No!"
Silica screamed as she covered her face with her hands.
"No! Stop! Kirito-san's going to, d...die!"
Like they would listen, I sighed.
Some of them laughed manically, while others kept swearing as they continued to attack Kirito as if they were intoxicated by the violence. Hell… it looks so intoxicating as well. Rosalia, who stood at the middle of the bridge, couldn't stop her excitement from showing as she stared at the tragedy while licking her finger. I wet my lips with my tongue as I started thinking of ripping that smile of her face. Perhaps dismemberment would do it.
At these floor, Kirito's HP bar wouldn't decrease as his battle healing was sixty-percent mastered. The same would have applied to me, since I had mastered it a few months ago.
The bandits finally noticed that the black swordsman in front of them showed no sign of falling and their expressions became confused.
"What the hell are you guys doing!? Kill him!"
At Rosalia's anxious order, the blows rained down for a few more seconds. But there was no change in the situation, the confusion got worse.
"Hey... what's going on...?"
Silence fell upon the area, and in the middle of it, Kirito slowly raised his head, his low, confident voice working with him.
"About 400 every 10 seconds? That's the amount of damage you nine dealt to me. I'm on level 78, my HP is 14,500... Add that I automatically regain 600 points every 10 seconds with Battle Healing. You all can't defeat me even if you keep hitting me for hours."
The bandits stood there with their mouths wide open, as if they were in shock. Eventually, the two-handed sword user, who seemed to be the sub-leader, said in a dry voice.
"Is... is that even allowed...? It doesn't even make any freaking sense..."
Of course, just a difference in numbers makes such a ridiculous disparity in strength; that's the unreasonable part of level system MMORPGs… The hunter has turned into the hunted.
The bandits stepped back, as if they were intimidated by Kirito's voice, which seemed to hide something behind it. Their surprised faces were replaced by looks of terror.
"Che."
Rosalia tutted and then drew out a teleport crystal from her hip. She raised it high up into the air and opened her mouth:
"Teleport—"
Not on my watch.
I droped down above her with a Guillotine Chop Sword Skill readied. The strike connected with her arm, slicing it off and implementing both paralyze and maim status on her.
"Ah… Ah… aaaahhh!" Her shock numbed the minute pain of losing an arm in SAO, her life decreasing from her status. Seeing her missing arm, she gave a terrified scream while I pulled the teleport crystal out of her missing arm, my blade on her neck. My cursor had once again turned orange. I leered at the terrified face of Rosailia.
"I heard you a few moments ago… you won't die if I destroy this avatar, right?"
Just move the Katar to the right and she would shatter.
The horrified looks of the orange guild was priceless, and I just need a single movement to make it even more enjoyable.
Should I?
"… You want to test your own theory out?" I whispered into her ear, licking my lips noisily to instill fear.
"Monica! Stop now!" Someone, maybe Kirito, yelled.
Why should you?
"Why should I?"
"The client said to thrown them in jail!"
"Really… what if they don't want to…" I countered while keeping an eye on the eight players. All of them seem to want to drop everything and run. But with Kirito at one side and me and the other, it wouldn't be possible. I wanted to enjoy the feeling a bit more.
At this time, Lancelot and Terra had arrived, surrounding the party of nine.
"Well…? Rosailia…?"
"Heeh!?"
"Gee… you've didn't know what I said?" I smiled while pressing the Katar harder on her throat. Her life bar had reach red from the Weapon on her neck.
Are they human?
Yes they are…
But they kill others…
…
Should we give them a taste of their medicine?
No!
Why…
Because they're human!
"Stop it, Monica… I think they've gotten your point." A young but mature voice sounded. I looked at the red life bar; it was a few dots to empty.
Just a bit more…
No!
But I want to watch the petals…
No!
I release the lady and shoved her into the group.
"And I wanted to see it again…" I sighed without thinking.
The Titan Hand was now trapped between Kirito and me. They will most likely run towards Kirito after what I did. But getting past either of us is close to impossible.
"Corridor open!"
The dark blue crystal in Kirito's hand shattered in an instant and a blue whirlpool of light appeared.
"The person who had asked me to do this bought this corridor crystal with all the money he had. He said that he set the prison area of the Black Iron Castle as the exit. So I'll be teleporting all of you to prison, and The Army could cover the rest from there."
"And if you don't want to get in there willingly, we can test out Rosailia's theory on you guys…" I continued in a sweet voice. The effect was instantaneous.
"Aaaaiiieee!"
All nine members ran into the blue light immediately. The corridor shined brightly for a moment before then vanished.
I couldn't help but laugh at the comical way they chose imprisonment over death. Didn't they say that dying here means escaping this world? Why are they so afraid of trying it out?
Yes… like the guy from December…
A slap on my left cheek shocked me out of my stupor.
"What happened to you…?"
What?
What happened?
"Why?"
Was something wrong?
I turned to stare at the player who had slapped me. It was the black swordsman, his bangs covering his eyes, so I could not see his expression.
"You've change…"
I spotted Silica a god distance away from both of us, her eye were rather wide.
Was she shocked?
I turned back to ask Kirito a question.
"What do you mean?"
He raises his head, hatred imminent in it, and started shouting.
"Everything! What happened to the Monica a few months ago! The one who cried when she took a life!? She's gone! Replaced by you now! Why are you trying to kill those players!?"
The answer for that was simple, but the way he phrased it made me feel guilty…
You almost tried to kill another player.
One life wasn't enough for you?
Killer
PKer
Criminal.
"MURDERESS!"
"Bu—But if I didn't—"
"Then you could have paralyzed them, right!? There… There's no need for anyone else to die…"
"Then… if a single death… could save ten others… would you…?"
Kirito turned around, held Silica's hand, and exchanged some words with her.
So… That was his answer…
It was the same as mine…
Kirito silently pulled Silica past me, whispering a few words into my ear.
"I don't want to see you for a few days…"
And he was gone.
Aaannnnd Stop!
Uh ho… Monica has started losing her mind into the game…
Anything that can be improved? Tell me with a review!