(Kirito's Perspective)
Heathcliff sits down at the table in our guild's kitchen. I'm probably the definition of suspicious, having frozen in position whenever I laid eyes on him, but he hardly gave me a sideways glance.
Internally, I'm going 1000 miles an hour. Thoughts flit through my head so fast that my train of thought is a blur. Later, attempting to recall anything became an impossible task. Well, aside from the one major, dominating thought:
I'm screwed.
Thankfully I still followed the rest of my new guild members as they led Heathcliff to the dining area. I managed to sit down without falling out of my chair too.
Heathcliff accepts a cup of tea that Sachi offers and takes a sip before setting his cup down and looking at Keita. "Thank you for welcoming me into your guild."
Keita bows his head. "It's an honor to have you here, Sir."
Heathcliff waves his hand dismissively. "I would appreciate it if you didn't call me sir. I'm just the head of a guild, like you, so we are on equal footing." He chuckles "In fact, seeing as you're the one treating me, it should probably be the other way around."
Keita shakes his head. "Informal, then."
Heathcliff smiles and take another sip of his tea. "I trust you have heard of my hiring initiative?"
Everyone including me nods. Tetsuo speaks up. "Yeah, you're hiring guilds to work for you, right?"
Heathcliff takes another sip of his tea. Strangely, his calm slow demeanor was calming me down as well. A small part of my mind wonders if that was intentional, to calm down anyone who, like me, is wound up meeting the number one player. I begrudgingly give him a point in his favor.
"Yes, that is correct. Up until now, I have been recruiting entire guilds to work for me, and give them payment when they complete a task. It's useful for things I cannot afford to send my own Knights of the Blood to do. For example, The Dragon Alliance and the KoB do not get along, so we have hired several in-betweens that negotiate on our behalves. While that is only one of the tamer jobs I have to offer, it is nonetheless an important one."
Keita folds his hands. "Of course, you said that our group would have a more interesting proposition?"
Heathcliff sets his cup back down. Sachi notes that it is completely empty and quickly picks it up to provide a refill. "That is correct. Recently, one of my own has gone rogue."
The rest of the Moonlit Black Cats have a sharp intake of breath. Personally, I get a very bad feeling about this.
"Really? Why would anyone do that?" Sasamaru knits his brows together.
Heathcliff sighs and puts his head in his hands. "My lieutenant, Miss Asuna… She was led astray by Kirito."
My heart is pounding. Led astray my ass. I had to restrain myself from reaching over and trying to deck the guy, despite any number of reasons that wouldn't work. Level differences, in-city protection zone, five enamored guild mates… A disguise to maintain...
"She was trained by him, and when he developed his idea that we lived in a false world, she paid more heed than was due to her former teacher's word. Yesterday, I found her clearing her office in the KoB in preparation to more to some other location. When I asked her about it, she said that she had 'seen the light' and was going to follow in her mentor's footsteps."
I grit my teeth.
"That's horrible! You couldn't convince her to stay?" Sachi holds her hand over her mouth.
Heathcliff shrugs his shoulders. "She wouldn't listen to a word I said. She wants to be like Kirito, and that's that." He reaches up and wipes a tear from his eye. "We've gotten a bit off track. Asuna went into hiding today, and I do not think it's prudent to send any of my members after her, seeing as they may join her cause. That's where you come in."
He looks each of us in the eye in turn. "I want you to find where Asuna is hiding. It will be a long job, but I will pay a lot in advance. Needless to say, if you reject this offer you need to keep silent about it. I will provide you with high level equipment, and you will all be given a chance to power-level to become stronger faster."
Tetsuo and Sasamaru high-five each other. I have no difficulty telling that they were into the offer. Ducker smirks as he opens his menu. He had a habit of checking where he was in his skill tree each time he thought of leveling up. Keita's face is neutral. Sachi was the only member of the Moonlit Black Cats that actually seemed unhappy about the offer. Me? I'm pretty sure I was too busy looking at the rest of my new guild mates to form a response.
Or, maybe I was making a face, because Keita takes one look at me and his eyebrow shoot up. "Klutz?"
I blink and straighten up in my seat. "Er, yes? What do you need?"
"You looked like you wanted to take our heads off for a second." Keita gives me a lopsided grin. "What's bugging you?"
The man across the table. "Oh… I didn't get much sleep last night."
Several snickers great my response. To my great horror, Heathcliff had a small smile on his face. Oh crap he recognizes me from the news- My eyes widen. Maybe he has already figured out who I am? It would explain why he was doing this personal interview with us-
"Unfortunately, I must delay Klutz here a while longer. The rest of you may go and do whatever you wish."
SHIT.
The four males of the group shrug and go raid the food storage. Sachi gives me a questioning look, her eyes asking me what she should do.
I give her a smile that is hopefully able to convey that I'll be alright. She stands up and gives a little bow, than walks out of the room.
Heathcliff clears his throat. I open my menu subtly underneath the table, hoping he wouldn't notice my arm twitching- or use any outside programs to see what I was doing. Of course, I had little hope that any of my currently subpar weapons could do anything to his massive health.
"Klutz. What an… interesting nickname."
I shrug. "I always went by my regular name until I joined this guild. I'm kind of clumsy, so it fits."
"And you joined this guild rather recently, is that correct?" Heathcliff opens his menu and glances at a few different pages before closing it back down.
"I joined yesterday." I take a deep breath and sit back in my chair.
"What motivated you to join a guild?"
I have been dreading this question. I had avoided thinking about it too much, but now that was coming back to bite me.
My eyes automatically flit up to the top corner of my vision as I receive a message. Heathcliff was apparently watching me closely enough to see the involuntary movement.
"Go ahead and answer the message." He says dismissively. "I'm in no hurry, and this tea is delicious." He takes a long sip as if to demonstrate his point.
I open the mail to find a letter from X. How convenient. I open it swiftly.
"Your character has lost both of his parents to an unknown PK guild. You are motivated by revenge. If you had actually read my backstory instead of skimming it, you wouldn't be having problems."
My eye twitches. I type back a response as fast as I can.
"Maybe if it wasn't literally an entire backstory worthy of its own play! I would still be less than halfway through it if I hadn't skipped most of it!"
I send off the message and close my menu in a huff. Heathcliff sets down his tea. "Where were we? Ah, yes. Your reason for joining the Moonlit Black Cats."
I look down at the table. "My parents were killed by a PK guild. I don't know which one, but I'm trying to find them. I need to be strong to deal with them, so I joined this guild. It's a bit more fun than I thought it was going to be though." I raise my head. "I actually forgot about why yesterday when I was fighting by their sides. It was like I was finally alive. I even forgot about avenging my parents temporarily, which was a relief to be honest."
Hopefully, enough of the truth was mixed in there that Heathcliff wouldn't see through the lie.
Heathcliff nods. "I too once had someone I wanted to kill for crimes against me and my own."
My skin crawls. I would bet all of my old Col that Heathcliff was talking about me. Past me.
"However, that is of no concern anymore. I have come to talk to you about your special duties if your guild accepts this mission, or even if they decline it. You will go along with the rest of your guild until you find Asuna for me. Then, your special task begins."
Please, please don't tell me to kill Asuna. I won't be able to do that.
"I want you, and you alone to make contact with Asuna and her new party and infiltrate them. I currently have no way of spying in on them, which was as you recall one of my reasons for hiring guilds outside the KoB. It will be especially risky, because I have a suspicion that they are still attempting to head for the one hundredth floor."
My mouth started talking of its own accord, despite my brain frantically informing my mouth that speaking this particular thought was a horrifyingly bad idea. "Why is that bad?"
Heathcliff nods. "I have gotten that question a lot today. What level were you're parents when they were killed?"
"I… I think around level ten each?" It comes out more like a question, but Heathcliff shrugs it off.
Seriously, he wasn't acting at all in the way I would expect him too. It's getting worrying.
"Well, until recently, we were barely holding back the monsters on floor twelve. Since almost half the floors have been opened up, We have been able to learn about all new types of monsters, all of which are very capable of killing us a lot more easily that the ones on level twelve. I worry that someone will open a floor and release something that will come down to the lower levels and eradicate us. If you recall any of our history, you know that we used to have up past floor thirty, then got pushed back when we were unable to hold our own against the powerful creatures. Then, we had a lot more people willing to fight on a regular basis than we have now."
He takes a sip of his tea. "If we let Asuna continue to open more levels, who knows when she'll unlock a floor that goes straight through everyone like they're wielding cheap swords? I need to make sure that we can defend those who do not wish to fight when or if it comes to that."
Frankly, I'm impressed and a little shocked. That wasn't something I had thought of as I had ripped through the lower floors, and now here it was being presented as a problem that might've even swayed my opinion when I was just starting out if I had heard it. My stomach churns. What would I have done if I had inadvertently allowed something to get down to the lower floors and kill mom and dad?
"I hadn't thought of that." I say honestly. "I never thought that they were doing any harm before, but when you put it that way…"
Heathcliff leans back in his chair. "I'm glad you agree. I am sure now that you're the candidate for my spy. Will you accept this task I have assigned you, despite whatever the rest of your guild decides?"
I furrow my brow as I think. My mind keeps drifting back to imagining my mother being torn to shreds by a giant dragon I had been unable to stop, or a large troll thing or maybe even those scorpions on floor twelve. "I…"
It would be a chance to see Asuna again. She was still trying to continue what I had started, but I wasn't too sure about that anymore. I mean, Heathcliff had said that there wasn't anything outside the game for us, and I would kill myself if I doomed everyone in Aincrad to living inside those gel tubes. My entire reason to fight since floor 13 was slipping from my grasp, suddenly becoming a lot harder to rationalize.
"Klutz?" Heathcliff asks. "If you want, I can give you a day to think about it."
I snap my head upright. "No need. I'll… I'll do it." Say with all the conviction I can muster. In any case, I get to see Asuna again. I can figure out something from there.
Heathcliff smiles. "Excellent. Now, I hope I can get your guild members to join, as it will be safer for you overall if you have backup."
He picks up his teacup, tilts his head back to swallow the rest of its contents, and sets it down with a loud clack on the table. "Please excuse me. I have another matter that has just cropped up." He opens his menu and flicks through a few things. "Klutz, hmm. I'm sending you a friend invite so that we can stay in communication. Please inform me of the other's decision when they come to one."
"I understand." I say. "Though, if I know them, then they were already listening to us talk and could probably give you their answer right now."
Heathcliff chuckles. "No doubt. Still, I must be off. Give my regards." He waves as he strides out of the room towards the guild exit.
I stand there in the kitchen for what seems like an hour until I am interrupted by Sachi cleaning up the table. "Er, Let me help with that-"
Three days later, I look around at my now much slicker looking guild. Everyone has much better armor and weapons now, and even I feel like I am getting back to my old strength after power-leveling on floor 48. We had been teamed up with, quite oddly, Fuurinkazan. I had hoped to see Klein there, but nobody seemed to know where he was. When I got asked why I wanted to know, I always just said I wanted to meet such a powerful guy. That always earned a few chuckles.
While still not really anywhere close to level 80, I was feeling pretty good about myself. Everyone in our guild is more or less at level 50, which ought to be enough to take out anything or anyone that gets in our way. I really didn't like the idea of killing more players; I supposed that if we encounter people out in the wilderness I might not have much of a choice.
Keita wraps an arm around Sachi in a friendly manner, but it still makes her blush. "How you holding up Sachi?"
The shy girl ducks her head to hide behind her hair. "I'm doing fine, really. We're very strong now."
Keita smiles broadly. "That's right! I bet we could go right up and kick even that Kirito guy's ass if we wanted too!"
Not a chance. Not that I would say that out loud.
Speaking of my former self, I had been announced dead officially and had my actions detailed with an understandable bent on how poorly my actions were thought out. My talk with Heathcliff only makes the words dig more deeply. Not for the first time in the past three days, I wonder just how much Heathcliff knows. If he knew my identity, he couldn't have done a better job at undermining my confidence in my own actions. If he didn't know, that went doubly so.
I shift uncomfortably to my other leg. I have been standing around with the rest of the Moonlit Black Cats for the better part of an hour, waiting for Heathcliff. Hs latest message to me was that he wants to meet all of us before we go out and search for Asuna.
The past three days, I had watched as the news of my death spread. Heathcliff had made a statement so heartfelt that he almost had me in tears before I remember that not only was he mourning me, but he was the one that killed me. I still couldn't get a solid read on the man, as if he had multiple personalities that he could turn on or off at will.
After the announcement, I had wondered how my parents were coping. The answer was that they weren't. I had arrived at their shop during normal opening hours only to find that it had been closed down, possibly for good. I couldn't exactly ask where they had gone without raising suspicion, so I had decided to head back.
I saw them on my way back to the telepad. Dad and mom look like they had been hit by a Warhammer. Neither of them looked up from their shoes except to navigate. They were clinging to each other like they were afraid if they let go the other would drift away. I wanted so desperately to go to them and comfort them, but I couldn't exactly tell them what happened. Even if I tried to, it would result in someone I didn't want to know it knowing it. Heathcliff would go back to hunting me as fast as you can say "teleport crystal."
"Klutz?"
I jerk back to my senses and blink at Ducker's amused face.
"What's got you so distant?"
"Just thinking about my parents."
The rest of the Moonlit Black Cat's jaws snap closed audibly, their conversations instantly forgotten. Sachi turns her worried gaze to me.
Oh, right. I had told them my backstory, since I was pretty sure they had heard a little bit earlier anyway. They had taken it well, and after a bit of commiserating, they had graciously dropped the subject.
"Don't worry, I'm fine." I plaster a grin to my face. "You guys ready?"
"Yeah, or I will be when Heathcliff decided to show up." Ducker says. He's currently sifting through some menus, all hidden from our view.
"Then, your wait is over."
We all turn to find the imposing grey haired man smiling at us. "Good morning."
"Good morning." Comes the sentiment echoed from all of our throats.
"Thank you for holding off on leaving until I arrived. I was… delayed by some information that had to be taken care of immediately."
Keita shrugs. "It happens, especially when you have a large guild, I suspect."
Heathcliff chuckles. "Yes, I suppose you are right." He gathers himself and draws an item from his inventory. He tosses the package to me. "I entrust this object to you. It will help you get in with Asuna when the time comes. However, should that item ever be let out of your sight or inventory, you must tell me immediately. It contains something very dangerous. I would recommend opening it only once you have located Asuna."
I nod my head and tuck the package into my inventory. Sasamaru and Ducker look curious as to the contents, but I shoot them a glare.
"Good luck to you all. Please update me as soon as you find anything."
Keita gives an affirmative reply and we turn and step onto the teleporter pad.
"Teleport: Midplains!"
(Asuna's Perspective)
Klein sits across from me in our new base. I had picked this one because it was on a floor most people wouldn't be familiar with, but was already mapped so nobody was likely to come by surveying to complete their map. Floor 45, Midplains.
Although, Midplains was only its main name. It seems to have a few names, judging by the sign that had greeted us as we teleported in. My personal favorite was "Rim of the Sky" which made the most sense, it being an almost completely flat floor covered in greenery, which seems uninteresting until the ground and plants start attacking you whenever you attempted to wade through them. We would all exceptionally lucky that we had Silica along, since her dragons grew to full size on this floor and were able to carry us over the majority of the threats. The southwestern area is covered by a forest, and in there are all the cities on this floor, alone with buildings scattered throughout the forest.
"So… what now?" Klein asks softly.
"I… We need to form a strategy for clearing the next floor. We also need to get more recruits." I say halfheartedly. Really, I just wanted to lie in my bed and go to sleep, but given I had developed something akin to insomnia the past few days, that felt like a distant dream.
"Right. I talked to Yui though, and she said that that weren't any good candidates out there. Only the one guy, and he joined a different guild."
I sigh heavily. This was the third time we've had this conversation, or at least a version of it. I think Klein realizes that I just don't want to go just yet, but is continuing to push me towards leaving sooner rather than later. "Yeah, she told me already. I don't envy her the job she's doing, seeing as we still wouldn't have found this… what did she say he calls himself?"
"Klutz." Klein shrugs. "He sounds like a joke, but if Yui says that he's our best candidate, he's our best candidate."
I briefly consider how Klein's demeanor towards Yui has changed. He started off thinking she was creepy and completely ignoring her advice, and now he nearly regards it as infallible. It brings a small smile to my face.
"Er, how long do you think it's going to be before Klutz catches up to us?" Klein asks. "I mean, the longer we stay here, the more likely we are to be found, by someone else as likely as him."
I push my chair back and stand up. "I'm going to get some fresh air. I can't think in here right now."
Klein nods resignedly. "Do you know where Lizbeth is?"
I shake my head. "She said she was going to go see if she could scrounge up some food. If I see her, I'll tell her to send you a message."
Klein nods and set his head in his hands above the desk. As I close the door behind me, I see him swipe his fingers downwards to open his menu, eyes still hidden by his left hand.
Klein and Lizbeth had something interesting happening between them. I am sure that Lizbeth liked Kirito due to how hard she had taken his death, but she seems to be recovering faster than I am. Maybe she and Klein were developing feelings for each other?
I have to admit that I'm a bit jealous of the two of them. I wish I could just move on too, but… I was the only one to actually see what happened with my eyes. I think Lizbeth and the others still think somewhere, deep in their hearts, that Kirito could still be alive somewhere. I know that if I hadn't seen it first hand, I wouldn't believe it either.
The fresh air hits my face as I step out the door. Leaves float away on the wind, turning into little bursts of color as they shatter and the prisms making them up catch the dying light. The little sound of the individual shatterings couldn't be heard, but the frequency that they occurred causes a steady rustling sound that is quite soothing.
I let the sounds wash over me as I close my eyes, ignoring my primary sense to just listen. I remain there, silent and alone for a while.
When I finally open my eyes back up, the light has almost completely faded. I sigh and turn around, meaning to head inside.
Our guild hall, or whatever anyone wants to call it, is actually a very nice cabin. It's only got one story, but it is ornately decorated and has very nice woodwork all around it. If I wasn't currently hiding from my former boss, I would have been thrilled to own this little cabin.
I would've liked to share it with Kirito.
I'm still not sure how I feel about him. He was only in my life for a few weeks, but… I like him. It doesn't make sense, and the more I think about it the more absurd it becomes. At first I thought it might be a crush that formed just because he saved me twice, but I don't think a crush would hurt as much as this did.
I shake those thoughts loose. It does no good dwelling on them. I realize I'm still staring up at the building and not inside, so I move to the door and open it.
"Asuna?"
I turn to face Lizbeth. "Oh, hi. I didn't see you there."
She bobs her head distractedly. "Yeah. Er, Yui sent me to look for you."
I raise my eyebrows. "Yui sent you? Why?"
"She said that there are players approaching our location. One of them is supposed to be the guy we're picking up."
I stare at Lizbeth for a second. "Just like that?"
"Yeah, I'm getting a bad feeling too. Yui was also acting weirdly, so you might want to check what's up with her as well."
I turn around and walk quickly through the door, and Lizbeth follows shortly after. True to form, once the building was secured Yui teleports in and looks at me. "Did you get my message?"
"Yes. You said Klutz is coming here now?"
Yui continues to stare at me without moving. "Yes. Although, I advise caution. He has gone through some unusual stress patterns in the past few days. These emotional fluctuations started when he met with Papa."
My eyes unfocus. What? How did Leader know… I look back at the unmoving, unreadable little girl. Maybe she's still working for Leader? No, that didn't make sense, since she was telling us now. Then why was Klutz with them?
Yui's head tilts. "They are within sight of the cabin. I will inform the three others in this building of their impending arrival."
Lizbeth nods and Yui disappears. I turn to the pink haired blacksmith. "What do you think?"
She shakes her head. "I think we should ambush them, figure out which one is Klutz, and capture the others. We can tie them up while we relocate."
"Yeah, but I'm still not sure we can even trust Klutz. Remember what Yui said."
"Good point. We ambush all of them, knock them out, and get Klutz's facts straight."
I nod and turn to the nearest window. Klein and Kuradeel both come out of the back rooms, weapons already drawn. Kuradeel motions for me to get away from the window, and for once I comply, as he looks more concerned with the intruders than me.
I almost felt so relieved that I forgot about those outside. Almost.
"Have they been spotted? Do we know their numbers?" Klein asks quietly, despite the sound barrier that would make it impossible for them to hear us.
"No they haven't been spotted, but I think Yui would know how many of them there are."
"Six." Comes the little girl's voice. "Including Klutz, who is currently an unknown."
"Okay, we're going to ambush them." I say. "We knock them all out, and then we find out which one of them we want."
Lizbeth looks around her. "Um, where's Silica?"
"She decided to exit through the back window, heading for the cave where we're keeping the dragons."
I glare at Klein. "Why didn't you go with her?"
His eyes widen. "She's not my responsibility!"
I resist the urge to stab him with my rapier. "Fine. I'll head back and exit through the rear. You three wait for them in here, and I'll try my best to get the two of us behind them before you get attacked."
Klein gulps and gives me a nervous thumbs up. Lizbeth and Kuradeel both respond in kind. I repeat the gesture and bolt for the back of the cabin.
(Kirito's Perspective)
"Whoa, it looks like Heathcliff's information was accurate." Ducker whispers in awe.
Despite the fact I was staring right at the guy, I was having a hard time seeing him. So that's what a maxed out stealth character looks like. I had put a lot of points into stealth, but I had always prioritized damage rather than sneaking. I had to admit that Ducker's build was perfect for our current job. Heathcliff has very good judgment, which wasn't necessarily a good thing. I still don't know how much he knows, which is infuriating, let me tell you.
"Well duh, he wouldn't send us on a wild goose chase without warning us first." Keita says, also quietly.
Sachi grips my arm as I look back and forth between the building and our party. "So, what's the plan?" I ask matching the volume of the others.
"We don't know how many of them there are, so we need to sneak up on them and hopefully get them by surprise. It's not going to end well if we go against a guild twice our size in a full frontal assault. I need to form an actual plan now, so we should retreat temporarily." Keita says thoughtfully.
Sachi looks at him owlishly. "But, how are we sure that there's even someone in there? Or that if there is, that's it's the people we're looking for?"
"Because Heathcliff told us this is the most likely spot for them to be hiding. As to whether or not there's anyone here…" Tetsuo points to the cabin.
We all look where he's pointing to see a pale white face looking out the window.
Directly at me.
Aw crap, I forgot Yui was working for Asuna. That means she already knows we're here, and are probably trying to do something about us now. I'm not even sure if that's bad though. I'm trying to find where my loyalties lay, a great thing to do on a stealth mission. Especially one that just went belly up.
"Uh, I think she sees us." I say, putting an edge in my voice. "We should go."
"Why would you think they know we're here?"
"Y- The person in the window is looking at me." I say, quickly covering up the slip of the tongue. I almost said Yui, which would not be a wise move.
Keita grimaces. "Okay then. We have little choice." He draws his weapon, a two handed staff that he had received from Heathcliff. "Prepare to defend yourselves."
Ducker slips back behind our formation and draws his daggers, his stealth effect still going strong for at least another minute.
"We don't know how far Asuna's group is willing to go, so be prepared to fight to the death." Keita says.
Sachi grips my arm hard enough to make me drop the sword I was holding. "Sachi, you need to let go."
She abruptly releases my arm and blushes. I pick my sword back up and get into a ready stance, as close as I can be to activating my sword skill without the sword glowing and trying to force me through the motions of a combo.
A tense silence falls over those assembled. I can feel my muscles quivering from waiting in place. We wait an eternity that my casual glances at my clock assured me was less than a minute overall.
Sasamaru opens his mouth to speak, but Keita puts his finger to his lips before he can say anything.
Something snaps to my left. I whirl around and slice at the source of the noise, only to find I had sliced something into pieces. A small window opens and informs me I had slain a monster and earned-
The window disappears of its own accord, something that only happens when being attacked or after a minute of inactivity. I shove my sword upwards without even looking and block a strike with a loud clang.
My eyes track up to see a very determined Asuna had jumped off a dragon to fight with me.
"From above!" I shout as I block Asuna's follow up strike, a thrust that skims along my sword and leaves her overextended. If I had been aiming to kill her, I would have the perfect chance right now. Of course, since I didn't I contented myself with staring at her very surprised face.
I have to admit, had I not heard the twig and subsequently killed… whatever, Asuna's strike would likely have knocked me out. Good thing I know how the system works.
Asuna lands gracefully, which must have been hard to do from her full on dive, and her rapier immediately comes around and attempts to poke a hole in my chest. I let it slide along my sword again, flicking my wrist at the last second to deflect the weapon off to the side. Asuna's grip on the weapon slackens, but she retains her hold on the sword.
"Who are you?" She hisses at me, switching the sword to her left hand and shaking her wrist out.
"I'm-"
Sachi screams. I whip my head around to find Silica standing over the prone form of the blue haired girl.
I immediately rush over and smack Silica off of her, apologizing profusely in my head as I check her health bar in my party status area.
Damn, that is useful.
She's alright, but unconscious. I turn back to Asuna. "So, you aren't intending to kill us."
She narrows her eyes. "What makes you think that?"
"Neither of your attacks were meant to kill, and Sachi's alright. If anyone would be dead by now it's her."
Asuna's only response is to charge me with her sword outstretched. I easily dodge it, but too late I notice that her sword is glowing white, disguised by the white color of the sword itself. Her sword combo starts in earnest, making me go completely on the defensive. My sword weaves back and forth, attempting to stall out the move, but her sword darts in and out faster than I could track properly. Me losing so many levels had really made me a lot slower.
I recognize the combo after the third strike. It's a high level rapier skill designed to poke a lot of shallow holes in someone, causing more pain than damage. It's a lot more effective against players than monsters, seeing as players respond to pain more readily, but does have its uses against certain monsters. It's an eleven strike combo.
I fail to block the tenth hit.
Asuna's sword jabs into my stomach, sudden pain searing through me. Must be a fire sword, I think distantly. The last strike, and incidentally the most powerful, collides with my head.
I feel myself fall backwards and struggle to keep my eyes open as my brain reels from the impact.
Asuna walks into my sight, blocking my view of the forest canopy.
I couldn't hear what she was saying, my ears ringing loud enough to block out all but the loudest sounds. Fortunately, I understand the gist of what she was getting at.
"I'm not going to be stopped by the likes of you."
She looks up and a see a flash of red from a sword skill right before my eyes close and I lose my senses.
