Chapter 21 – Merging Into Destiny

October 24th, 2024 - «New Black Cats of the Full Moon Guild House»

The weather was getting colder as fall drifted its course through October. With cold weather always brings sickness, no matter what.

"Ughhhhh…." Norie said muffledly as she sniffed up the dripping mucus from her nose. Even though there was no "physical" mucus dripping from her nose, it always felt as if there were.

"The feeling is the worst in the morning…." She commented slowly getting up, sitting in her bed. "Achhooo!" she sneezed. "Ow!..." Norie moaned as she rubbed her throbbing back.

"Jeez Norie, do you have to sneeze so loud?" Ellen whined as she appeared from her sword, lying on Norie's lap as she yawned.

"I can't help it, my body in real life is sick"

"And you can't do anything about it?"

Norie shook her head, "I have to wait… until the cold passes…." She said while coughing between words.

"Honestly, people are weird. How do you get sick? I just don't get it" Ellen inquired as she followed Norie down the living quarters and into the living room. "Is it like a computer virus that enters your body? Or what?"

"Kind of, it's kind of like when you touch «Dark Matter». Your stomach feels weird, your head hurts, and you feel all sleepy right?" Norie asked rhetorically

Ellen nodded

"Well, that's kind of how I feel right now" She replied sneezing again. "Gahh…." Norie rubbed her nose as she wandered around the guild house.

"Where is everyone?" Ellen asked as Norie walked into the kitchen. Normally there would at least be one person home right now. No one usually leaves the house until 11 or noon.

"Are they doing something? Or…." Norie muttered stuffily as she opened up the guild "fridge" (A place where they stored food rather, to keep it from expiring). There was an item with a small envelope icon attached to it. Curious about what it said, Norie took it out. It was a bowl of soup.

Try to get better okay? And stay warm! If you think you feel better, then you will get better!

Sakai

Smiling warmly as she sat down, "Thanks Sakai" she said before eating.

ooo

"Ne Norie, do you think it will snow soon?" Ellen asked as Norie stood on the front porch of the guild house. She was playing with the cold air as she exhaled and looked intently at her visible breath.

"Of course it will snow" Norie replied as she sneezed again. "Brrr, "she shivered while rubbing her arms together. The bitter cold of mid fall bit at Norie's legs. Of course, wearing shorts in this kind of weather wasn't the best idea, even in the virtual world. Opening up her inventory, she equipped a purple scarf, and black stockings that covered both her legs. "Ahh, better" she sighed with relief as she took a look at the environment around her. The light mist that covered the streets was starting to disappear with the light of late morning.

Norie woke up pretty late actually, it was around 11A.M. ALT (Aincrad Local Time), and only a few minutes ago, Norie received a notification from Sachi.

We're training on the 74th Floor «Labyrinth», if you feel better, feel free to join us

Sachi

Sighing to herself as she walked down the street towards the «Transfer Gate», Norie said, "That Sachi… She's been so eager to get to the 90's once she hit 86"

"But you just hit level 91 didn't you Norie? Why do you need to train?" Ellen asked as she sat on Norie's shoulders.

"I know I don't need to really, but I do need some cash. Its winter, and you know what that means right?"

"Treats!" Ellen called out gleefully.

Norie chuckled, "That's right Ellen, treats" she said trying not to sound too depressed.

Aincrad 74th Floor «Labyrinth»

"Haah!" Norie called out deflecting the spear of a «Dusk Lizard». Spinning around to her right and slashing at its side, she uppercut and rushed behind delivering the killing stab. Sighing as she collected her loot, Norie looked around at the strangely decorated «Labyrinth». The floor was a starch white as the dark background was filled with lines of various colors, moving around in various directions. It was quite abstract indeed; it was more like something she would see in an art gallery or something.

"I wonder where they are…" Norie muttered to herself as Ellen floated next to her.

"Hey, Norie…" she asked pulling on Norie's unicorn tail.

"Mmh?"

"You know how everyone at the guild you consider your family right?"

"Yea"

"What about the real world? Do you have family there?"

Norie was silent as she walked through the «Labyrinth», with the sound of her footsteps echoing through the walls. It was a sensitive question to ask Norie, especially lately when her depression of Keren and her broken family began to arise again. But Norie knew it was an innocent question, and deserved to be answered.

After a while of not talking, Norie look at Ellen and nodded. "Yea… I have family in the real world." She said lowly and sentimentally, "I have a mom, and a dad…. And a younger sister"

"Oh…" Ellen replied contently as Norie began walking again, "What's your sister like?"

Norie was a bit hesitant before talking, "Well… she's very kind, loving. But she kind of a loudmouth sometimes, like a certain someone I know" she said symbolically of Ellen.

"Hey! I'm not a loudmouth!" Ellen replied rather loudly, pouting with her hands on her hips.

Norie chuckled, "But I care about her a lot" she added with a light smile on her face. But sadly, the virtual Ellen had no knowledge of the tragic fate of real Ellen.

Even more silence enveloped as Norie made her way through the maze. Strangely, there weren't many monsters in her area, she wondered why.

"Norie… what'll you do after this game is over?" Ellen asked rather out of the blue. It wasn't a question Ellen would normally ask.

Norie shook her head, "I don't know"

"You know, when this game is over, I'll probably disappear, and you'll go back to your life and forget about me" Ellen said sadly. This was strange indeed, Ellen never showed emotions of sadness or

The guilt and sadness suddenly built up in Norie as she clenched her fist. She didn't want to leave Ellen as much as Ellen didn't want to leave her. Turning to Ellen, who was now standing with her feet planted on the ground, Norie wrapped her arms around her most trusted companion. "I'll never forget about you, no matter what, Ellen. You're the world to me, and even when I leave this game, I'll never leave you. Never…" She said

ooo

"That was close" Kirito remarked as he panted and panted, sitting next to Asuna against the wall of a «Labyrinth». He and Asuna had just escaped the terror of the 74th Floor boss, «Gleameyes», in which they encountered by accident while fighting in the area.

"You're telling me" Asuna replied as she caught her breath. That was probably the scariest moment in Asuna's life here in SAO, other than the time she spent on the 31st Floor, where it was home to supernatural creatures such as ghosts and spirits.

Relieving themselves of the moment of fright and calming themselves down, Kirito and Asuna decided to take a little lunch break. Asuna brought some sandwiches and tea, and they chowed down.

"It's... really good..."

Kirito bit into it twice, thrice in a row, and then uttered my sincere appreciation. The shape seemed somewhat European, like the food that the NPC restaurants offered, but the taste was different. The slightly sour and sweet flavor was definitely similar to the Japanese fast foods that he had eaten until two years ago. He ate the huge sandwich quickly, feeling like he was going to cry from the nostalgic taste.

After finishing the last piece and downing the tea that Asuna gave he, he finally gave a sigh.

"How did you manage this flavor...?"

"It's the result of a year of training and experimentation. I made it after analyzing the data on how alllllllll of the herbs affect the taste reproduction engine. This is glogwa seed, shuble leaf, and calim water."

As Asuna said this, she took out two small bottles from the basket, opened one of them, and stuck her index finger in. The finger came out with some indescribable substance on it that was sticky and purple. Then she said,

"Open your mouth."

Kirito had no clue what it was, but as he opened his mouth on reflex, and Asuna flung the substance into it. The gooey substance flew into his mouth accurately and its flavor amazed him beyond this world.

"...It's mayonnaise!"

"And this is abilpa beans, sag leaves, and uransipi bones."

The last one sounded like the ingredient for an antidote, but the liquid flew into his mouth before he had any time to think about it. Its taste shocked him even more than the previous one. This was definitely soy sauce. Kirito was so ecstatic that he grabbed Asuna's hand and put her finger in his mouth.

"Kya!"

Asuna screamed and snatched her hand out while glaring at Kirito. But then she started laughing at his expression after he had just licked her finger.

"That's what I made the sandwich out of."

"...It's amazing! Perfect! You could make a fortune with this!"

To tell the truth, the sandwich tasted even better than the Ragout Rabbit meal he had yesterday.

"R-Really?"

Asuna smiled sheepishly.

"No, it'd be better not to sell them. I can't let my share disappear."

"Uwa, you're so greedy! ...If you want, I'll make it again for you sometime."

She added the last bit quietly and leaned slightly against his shoulder. As a calm silence filled the room, he even forgot that this was in the front-lines, a place where they fought with our lives at stake.

If he could eat this sort of thing every day, he could steel his resolve and move to Salemburg... right next to Asuna's house... he started thinking this without realizing it, and just as he was about to say this out aloud—

"Hey Norie, do you know when they start selling the winter specials at the bakeries?" The familiar sound of Ellen's loudmouthed voice echoed in the area. Both Asuna and Kirito looked around to see where her voice was coming from after they widened the distance between them, and the figure of Norie slowly trodded its way through the darkness and into view, until she was visible to the eyes of Asuna and Kirito.

"I'm… sure that… they'll start selling… soon…." Norie said weakly.

"Norie!" Kirito called out as he waved from his relaxed sitting. Asuna also waved.

"Kirito…" Norie tried to call out in return as she waved her sluggish arm up, but only a raspy voice shrilled out. Her head was throbbing as her knees rocked trembling. Her neck was stiff, her chest was cold, and her arms were sore. She tried to walk faster, but her consciousness gave out and she collapsed on the floor, breathing rapidly.

"Norie!" Ellen cried out as she tried to shake her best friend awake, "Norie! What's wrong? Wake up!"

They both gasped as they instantly got up and went to help Norie up.

"Do you know what's wrong with her Ellen? What are you two doing here anyway?" Asuna asked as Kirito slung the unconscious Norie's arm around his shoulder and dragged her to the wall he and Asuna were resting on earlier.

"She hasn't been feeling well lately, and she wanted to catch up with Sachi and the rest." Ellen replied rather shakily as she tried to stay calm about Norie's collapse.

"Sachi's nearby?" Kirito asked as he laid Norie down.

"Mhm, she and the others are training around this area, but we got lost"

"Mmnnnn…" Norie muttered as she stirred a bit. Shaking her head, and rubbing her face, "What happened…?" she asked drowsily

"You collapsed, what up with you Norie?" Asuna asked as she took a seat next to her.

"I have a cold" she sneezed

"You should be more careful" Asuna said worriedly as she opened up her inventory. Taking out a blanket and spreading it over Norie, she also took out a cup of hot tea that she had made in the morning. "Here, drink this. It'll help you feel better"

"Thank you" Norie replied taking the cup and drinking the hot liquid. It was very sweet and soothing. It tasted like honey, with a hint of mint and barley tea. "Sorry for making you worry."

"It's okay" Kirito replied as he sat in Indian style in front of Norie, "But you should be more careful. What if you collapsed outside the safe zone? Monsters surely would have gotten to you"

"Again, sorry" Norie apologized as she took another sip of tea.

"Norie! I was so worried" Ellen wailed out rather tearfully as she dug her face into Norie's side.

"Ah, it's okay Ellen. I'll be okay" Norie replied as she sneezed once again.

Just then, entering the safe zone were a band of 6 players, their leader wielded a katana. It was Klein, leader of «Fuurinkazan».

"Yo, Kirito! It's been a while eh?" Klein waved, "Hey, Norie! Long time no see!"

Kirito stood up to greet his old friend. "You still alive Klein?" he asked jokingly

"Hey Klein, haven't seen you in some time" Norie said muffledly behind her scarf and her congested sinuses as she went up with Kirito to greet Klein after gulping down the rest of her tea.

"Uncle Klein!" Ellen called out gladly as she stood upright in front of him. Klein was actually very nice to Ellen whenever they met; he would buy her treats that Norie wouldn't normally get for her, so they were pretty close.

"Hey Ellen!" He said while rubbing Ellen's pink hair. Turning his attention back to Kirito, "Still foul mouthed as ever, why are you of all people in a par-ty…" Klein slowed down as both his eyes and mouth were wide open.

"Hey, Klein, say something… are you lagging?"

Norie snapped her fingers in front of him and looked to where he was staring at as she sneezed.

"H-Hello! I'm just a guy c-c-called Klein! Bachelor! Twenty-four!"

Norie and Kirito glared at each other in confusion as Kirito jabbed him again, but harder this time. Even before he finished talking, his party members rushed up and began to introduce themselves.

There was some thought of self-hatred permeating in Kirito's heart that he ignored, and spoke to Asuna,

"...Well, they're not bad people, if you ignore the leader's thuggish face."

"Hey!" Klein replied stomping down on Kirito's foot as hard as he could. Upon seeing this, Asuna burst out laughing, unable to hold it back, Klein smiled sheepishly, but then turned to Kirito and asked him in a voice filled with murderous intent.

"H-H-How did this happen Kirito!?" He asked gripping Kirito's shoulders. Kirito looked for the right words to say before Asuna spoke before him.

"Nice to meet you. We've decided to party with each other for a while. I hope we get along." Though it was kind of a moot point to say "Nice to meet you", especially since Asuna and Klein have seen each other on numerous occasions in the past, especially when clearing floors.

Klein and his party made expressions of anger and depression, "Kirito you bastard…" he muttered before turning to Norie. "Which reminds me, what are you doing here Norie?"

"Achoo!" Norie sniffled, "I was searching for Sachi and the rest, but got lost"

"Oh no, you don't sound too good. You should get some rest soon"

"I got the idea already" she replied as she shrugged. Then footsteps resounded through the doorway to the left that Fuurinkazan had recently come through. Asuna tensed at who was coming.

"Look, just because we're married doesn't mean you get to hog all the sheets you know!" Sachi's voice permeated from her bleak figure as it appeared through the gate, along with Keshiga. They've been married for about four months now, and the little discrepancies in marriage started to show.

"Heheheh, sorry! I can't help it, it gets so cold!" Keshiga excused.

"It can't get cold inside" Sachi pouted as she noticed he group of familiar players gathering in the safe zone.

"Ah! Norie! There you are!" Keshiga said in a relieving tone.

Sachi's eyes widened as she began to turn red eying the group of players that had heard what she had just said. "Eep!" she muttered as she hid behind Keshiga embarrassedly to avoid the stares of others as he kept walking to greet his friends.

"Norie… where have you been?" She asked peeping her head out from over Keshiga's shoulder.

"Mmh I got lost" Norie replied stuffily as she rubbed the back of her head with a chuckle.

"She passed out near the safe zone" Kirito pointed out as Norie planted her hands on her hips and tilted her head at Kirito.

"Jeez Norie, I told you to join us if you felt better." Sachi said disapprovingly

Shrugging at Sachi with a wry smile on her face, "Well I did felt better, and then I didn't"

"Well, I think you should take the day off today" Sachi said shaking her head and sighing, "What something happened to you? I wouldn't know what to do if you died"

Aside from Sachi's worry chatter, Kirito was glad Sachi was showing her leadership by worrying about her guild members. Then, Asuna grabbed his arm and whispered something about «The Army».

Immediately turning his gaze towards the doorway, the heavily armed unit that he and Asuna had seen in the forest came into sight. Klein and his party backed into the wall, as Sachi grabbed Keshiga's hand and did the same. The group was in a twin column formation, but it wasn't too orderly. Their footsteps were heavy, and they seemed extremely tired.

"Hmph" Sachi scoffed under her breath while frowning and disapprovingly staring at the fatigued members of «The Army». The lack of mutual respect while in party was something she really disliked, especially in guilds where player relationships should be highly regarded.

They stopped at the wall opposite from Kirito and the others in the safe area, and the man in front gave a dismissed order, at which the other eleven dropped to the floor. The "leader" walked towards them without even glancing.

He stopped in front of them, and took off his helmet. He was rather tall and appeared to be in his late thirties. He had a sharp face, very short hair, and a pair of harp eyes below his thick eyebrows.

"I'm Lieutenant Colonel Cobert of the Aincrad Liberation Force" he said

Kirito was rather annoyed at how «The Army» had evolved into such a formal organization.

"Kirito, solo" he replied

"Have you mapped the area ahead of here?"

Kirito nodded, "I've mapped the area all the way up to the boss room."

"Hmm, then I hope you would supply us with the mapping data"

Being surprised by his rather demanding attitude, Kirito was about to reply, but Klein got angry and butted in.

"What? Supply you with it? Don't you even know how hard mapping is?"

It was quite true. Maps of unexplored areas were important information; they could be sold to treasure hunters who sought out chests at high prices.

"We are fighting for the freedom of players like you" He thrust his chin forward and continued

"It is your duty to cooperate with us!"

The word arrogance span in the minds of everyone who listened in on what he was saying. Norie shook her head the same way as Sachi.

"Wait a second, how could you…"

"You, you bastard…"

"You have no right to take information just like that!"

"Meh, you «Army» guys think you're so cocky huh? I've been on the front lines longer than any of you"

Asuna, Klein, Sachi, and Norie, who had been standing to his sides, stepped forward with their voices full of outrage. Spreading his arms apart and stopping them, "It's okay, I was going to spread it around when I got back anyway" he said.

"Hey hey! You're being way to kind Kirito!" Klein protested

"Ey Kirito, are you sure about this?" Norie asked while sneezing again.

"It's okay, I don't have any plans to sell the maps for money" he said while undergoing the transaction.

"Thank you for your cooperation" He replied without any gratitude and turned around to head back.

"Take some advice yea? You're better off not attacking that boss."

"That's for me to decide" Colbert replied. "Get up you useless pieces of trash!" he commanded as they stood up shakily and reformed two columns.

Sachi, who was flaringly angry at this point, tried to contain her anger by clenching her fists. She just despised it. She wondered, why would you call your guild members trash? Guild members were supposed to be your closest friends. The people you respected and trusted, not someone you could call a piece of trash and order around.

Although they still had 100% of their HP on the outside, the strenuous fights of SAO left a fatigue that couldn't be seen. The player's real bodies in the other world may not be moving a muscle, but the feeling of weariness still stayed until they either slept or rested on this side. Based on what they saw, those Army players were already exhausted, since they weren't used to fighting on the front-lines.

"…I wonder if they'll be okay…" Klein spoke in a worried voice as the Army members disappeared into the passageway that led to the higher floor.

"They're not stupid enough to challenge the boss are they?" Asuna replied worried as well. There was an air of recklessness with that man named Colbert.

"Should we see what they're doing?" Kirito asked. Not only did Klein, Asuna, and the other 5 members of Fuurinkazan agree, but Sachi, Norie and Keshiga also wanted to accompany them.

Quickly pacing themselves, a sound reached Kirito's ears. He could tell that Klein was whispering to Asuna behind him, and he was wondering if he hadn't received enough jabs when the content of their conversation surprised him.

"Ah— Asuna-san, how should I put this...that guy, Kirito, please treat him well. Even though he's not very good with words, isn't very fun, and is a battle-crazed idiot." He muttered to her

"Klein!" Sachi slapped him on the back of his head. She, frankly, disagreed with everything that Klein said about Kirito.

Hearing this also, Kirito dashed back and yanked Klein's bandana as hard as he could. "W-what are you talking about?"

The katana-wield cocked his head and scratched his goatee.

"It's remarkable that you're partying with someone. Even if it's because you fell for Asuna, it's still an extraordinary amount of progress. That's why I—"

"I-I didn't fall for her!"

Kirito argued back. But for some reason, Klein, his party members, and even Asuna, Sachi and the rest all looked at him with a smile on their faces. He couldn't do anything except silently turn back around and keep walking.

Then he heard Asuna declare:

"Please leave him to me!"

Sachi giggled at the act as she knew what was up between Kirito and Asuna. She had known for a very long time indeed.

He ran to the passageway that led up to the next floor while making a loud racket with his boots.

Half an hour passed, but still nothing.

"Maybe they used crystals to escape?" Klein joked, but no one believed that they would have done that. As a result, the group subconsciously sped up their footsteps as they walked down the long passage. When they were about halfway down, they stopped to listen.

"Ahhh…" There was a faded noise that was without a doubt, a scream.

Of course, it didn't belong to a monster. Glaring at each other, they began sprinting. Since Asuna, Kirito, and Sachi had the higher AGI than everyone else, they ran faster than everyone else.

"Sachi!" Norie called out before she locked blades with a «Dusk Lizard».

"Oi!" Klein also called out.

Soon, the great double doors came into sight, which they were already open. They could see the blue flames flickering inside and a huge shadow moving slowly within its depth. There were intermittent sounds of screaming and metals clashing.

"No..!" Asuna screamed with grief and accelerated her speed. Sachi was following closely behind her with Kirito right next to her.

"Asuna! Wait!" She called out desperately trying to catch up. Sachi did invest into AGI more than STR, but she had to balance out the STR in order to compensate for her damage loss due to the «Fragarach».

The pillars flashed on either side of the passage flashed past them. Nearing the door, they reduced their speed, causing sparks to fly off their boots.

"Oof!" Sachi even managed to fall over because of the energy building up as she ran.

"Hey! Are you guys alright?" Kirito shouted as he helped Sachi get up. Inside… was what looked like hell.

The massive zanbato like sword from the «Gleameyes» flourished, a huge flaming breath streaked out of its mountain goat like head. The damage that «The Army» dealt to its HP didn't break the one third. Across from the room, was a bunch of silhouettes, their sizes tiny compared to the demon. It was the army group, scrambling for their lives.

They no longer had any order to speak of, and as Kirito, Sachi and Asuna scanned the group, they noticed that there were two missing. Kirito thought that it was good those two escaped by using a teleport crystal, but even as he was thinking that, one of them was hit by the side of the massive zanbato and went flying. His HP hit the red zone.

"How did this…" Sachi muttered. She didn't understand it as much as Kirito did, but the demon had managed to get in between the Army and the exit, resulting in a no fleeing zone.

"What are you doing!? Use your «Teleportation Crystal»!"

He looked Kirito's way, and shouted, "That doesn't work…! T-The crystals aren't working!"

"What…?" Kirito couldn't say anything. But during his speechless moment, he heard a light thump and looked to his side.

"«Anti-Crystal Area»…." Sachi muttered gravely as she dropped to her knees again. She glared at her trembling hands unable to say anything. Her voice gagged as the visions of that unfortunate day flashed in her head. "Anti….crystal…"

Kirito knew Sachi was deeply disturbed at the mere thought of an «Anti-Crystal Area», mainly because the area was the cause of that traumatizing day a little over a year ago to her. He understood that it was almost impossible for someone to recover fully from something like that.

"Sachi…." Kirito knelt beside her rubbing her shoulder in comfort, "Will you be okay?"

Sachi nodded weakly as she wiped the tears that managed to surface from her eyes.

"How can that…?!" Asuna breathed in sharply ignoring the concern of Kirito for a moment. This wasn't a case where they could just run in and save them.

"What are you saying!? The word retreat does not exist in the Liberation Army! Fight! Fight I tell you!" Colbert's voice shouted.

"You bastard!" Sachi screamed out in complete anger in unison with her sorrow. Two people were dead because of this cursed «Anti-Crystal Area», but that wasn't what she was angry about, she was angry about the unruly idiot that led those two people to death.

Then, Klein, his party, Norie and Keshiga arrived.

"What's happening?!"

"Sachi!" Keshiga called out as he noticed she was kneeling on the ground, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine…"

"This doesn't look good.." Norie said panting as she caught up.

Kirito quickly informed the rest about the current situation.

"Isn't… Isn't there anything we can do…?" Klein asked.

Just as he asked, Colbert shouted again, "Charge!" Two of the ten had already lost almost their entire HP and were lying on the ground. The other eight had gotten into lines of four with Cobert in the center, who led the charge with his sword raised high.

"No—!"

It was such a pointless attack. If all eight of them ran in together, they wouldn't be able to use their sword skills properly and would only add to the confusion. They should be fighting defensively, rotating in one person at a time to deal damage, and then quickly switching out for the next member.

The demon straightened up and gave a ground-shaking roar before breathing out a blinding jet of fire. It seemed as if the breath counted as a damage-inflicting attack, and the eight slowed as the blue light of the flames engulfed them. The demon seized its chance and swung its huge sword. The body of a person was knocked into the air, flew over the demon's head, and then crashed hard into the ground before the group.

It was Cobert.

His HP had vanished. With an expression that didn't even seem to understand the situation, he slowly moved his mouth.

—This is impossible.

He said soundlessly. Then, with a nerve-rending sound effect that pierced their souls, his body had shattered into a swirl of polygons. Still on the ground, Sachi screamed out despairingly as she violently gripped the sides of her head and cringed over.

With their leader gone, the Army members immediately fell into chaos. They ran around screaming. All of their HP counts were already below the halfway mark.

"No... No... No more..."

As Kirito heard Asuna's strained voice, he glanced sideways towards her. He immediately rushed to grab her arm...

But it was already too late.

"No—!"

Like a flash of light, Kirito rushed forward even faster at first sight of Asuna getting knocked down. Dragging his blade across the massive zanbato of the «Gleameyes», the demon's sword hit the floor only a few centimeters away from Asuna, digging a huge hole in the ground with an explosion like sound effect.

"Get back!" Kirito called out as he fought with the monster. There was no room for him to counter attack because with each swing of its sword, it felt as if it could take his life at any moment. Eventually, Kirito was struck, and he felt a stunning impact as his HP dropped immensely. Looking up from his stunned position, he saw the sword of the demon swing downward. He raised his sword upward to try to block, fully knowing that it was too little too late.

Clang!

Norie's unicorn tail swiveled furiously with the gust of wind the impact of Ellen and the zanbato caused. "Nrrgg!" Norie grunted as she pushed back the demon. Norie was possibly the only person who could withstand the relentless attacks from the «Gleameyes».

Without having to say anything or show any signs of switching, Sachi burst forward quickly recovering from mental breakdown only a couple of minutes before. Gliding past the free hand of the demon trying to swipe her away, Sachi delivered an uppercut to its chest. The «Gleameyes» quickly retaliated by cutting through the air with its zanbato like a hot knife through butter. Sachi narrowly blocked it, but the impact shook her as if a truck went streaming into her path, and she was sent flying.

Keshiga, who showed no signs of hesitation, used «Leap» to try to get a surprise attack on the «Gleameyes», unfortunately, before he could get any sort of jab with his spear down, the demon managed to grab him by the legs and flailed him around, eventually letting go. He smacked the wall with a loud thud as his HP took a hit.

"Sachi! Keshiga!" Kirito called out. There was only one thing he could do; he would have to use every ounce of everything he had as a damage dealer.

"Asuna! Klein! Norie! Give me ten seconds!" He shouted and swung his sword hard to block the demons blow as it turned its attention back to him rather than Norie. He then flung himself around and rolled away to give way to Klein. But Klein's katana and Asuna's rapier relied on speed, and therefore lacked weight. It was understandable that Ellen would be able to block exceptionally well because she was a cutlass type weapon, which were good for parries and weighed considerably.

Kirito laid on the floor opening his window as fast as he could. He couldn't afford to make a single mistake now. With his heart pounding against his chest, he began moving the fingers of his right hand, scrolling down his item list, picked something from it, and equipped it. The opened his skill window and changed his weapon skill. Pressing OK, he confirmed the additional weight on his back, and shouted

"I'm done!"

He saw Klein get hit once, and his HP decreased as he stepped back. Normally, he should have used a crystal to heal himself, but that wasn't possible in this room. Now, Asuna was fighting with the demon, and within just a few seconds her HP had already gone below the halfway mark and turned yellow.

After she heard Kirito, Asuna nodded with her back towards him and gave a short shout before executing a piercing skill.

"Yaaaa!"

A white streak of light flew through the air and struck The Gleameyes' weapon, causing sparks to spray out. As a loud noise resounded, the distance between Asuna and the demon widened.

In an attempt to take one last swing at Asuna, the «Gleameyes» rushed forward with a downward diagonal, but only to be deflected by Norie. Out of anger and frustration, the «Gleameyes» laid a barrage of attacks at her. With on hard swing, Norie managed to stun the boss for a split second, enabling her to roll out of the way for Kirito.

Kirito charged straight at the enemy as soon as he saw an opening. The demon quickly recovered from the short stun that Norie inflicted and raised its sword up high. With the sword in his right hand, he blocked the flame like blade. Then, he reached behind his back and drew the other sword from his back in one smooth movement, and the demon's HP dropped noticeably as the first hit registered.

The demon roared with rage as it attempted another downward strike. This time, Kirito crossed his two swords and blocked completely, after, deciding to break from his defensive position and launched a combo attack.

Sachi, slowly recovering from her collision with the wall, rocked her head as she cleared her vision to a rather familiar display of sword skills. In slow realization, Sachi realized that Kirito was using «Dual Blades». She stared in awe along with everyone else as he unleashed his 16 hit combo, «Starburst Stream».

When his senses returned, he noticed that the «Gleameyes» shattered into countless blue shards. Feeling dizzy from the aftereffects, sheathed his swords, and checked his HP. It was nearly empty, and he suddenly fell back into blackness.

Kirito slowly woke to Asuna's calls. He looked around muttering "Owww" He was still in the boss room.

"You idiot! Why?!" Asuna asked as she was kneeling on the ground, face right in front of Kirito. She shouted and jumped into his arms hugging him.

"Don't hug me so tight, you're going to make my HP disappear" Kirito joked as Sachi winced at the half serious joke. Asuna frowned as she shoved a small bottle into his mouth. His HP should heal in a bit, but the fatigue would last.

"All «the Army» members are healed and accounted for, but a total of three casualties, including Colbert" Norie said reluctantly.

"Yea, that's the first time since the 67th floor that someone died during a boss fight…" Klein added.

"We were on a good streak too" Keshiga noted.

Klein spat out a phrase of spite before taking a long breath, and asked Kirito in an attempt to change the mood. "But back to the topic, what the hell was that just then?"

"Do I really have to explain it?"

"Of course you do! I've never seen anything like that before?" Klein asked just as confusedly as everyone else other than Sachi. She was the only one who knew what was up with «Dual Blades»

"It's an extra skill, «Dual Blades»"

There was an air of amazement among Kleins party, Norie, Keshiga, and the survivors while Sachi gave Kirito a look of "are you sure?" to him.

Naturally, Klein was interested and urged him to tell the rest. "The conditions?"

"I'd have told everyone if I knew" Kirito replied shaking his head.

Klein shook his head in return as she planted his hands on his hips, "I'm disappointed Kirito. You never told me you had such an awesome skill"

"I would have told you if I knew the conditions, but I really don't know" Kirito answered with a shrug. The only other person who knew of his secret up until now was Sachi, and it was kept confidential between him and her as «Unique Skill» users.

"If it became known that I had such a rare skill, a lot of people would pester me for information, and it might even attract some problems too"

"Gamer jealousy" Norie said.

"Ah, you're glad I'm an understanding guy, but there are sure other people that won't be so nice as I am" Klein said as he smiled, "Well just consider suffering as another way of training young Kirito" Thumping Kirito on the shoulder, Klein approached the survivors of «The Army»

"You guys think you'll be able to make it back to HQ by yourselves?"

One of them nodded, he was a boy in his teens.

"Tell them what happened here today, and that they shouldn't do something this stupid again" Keshiga reprimanded.

As they disappeared with a blue light, they bowed deeply before leaving a trail of blue light behind.

"We're going to continue on to the next floor, how about you? You're the man of the day, so do you want to do it?" Klein asked.

"Nah, I'll leave it to you" Kirito replied

"Ah, be careful then." Klein nodded and signaled to his teammates onto the next floor. Before heading out, he gave Kirito a thumbs up and his traditional wink.

Sighing at his oldest friend in SAO, Kirito turned his attention to one of his oldest friends in SAO.

"Well, that was a pleasant surprise" Norie said cupping her mouth in the bend of her arm and sneezed, "I knew you were a special kid Kirito. It's about time you got your cut eh?"

"Aha" Kirito chuckled in reply.

"That was the coolest thing I have ever seen Kirito! I mean seriously! That was awesome!" Keshiga's voice rang out as it echoed through the boss room.

"Glad to hear it Keshiga"

Sachi approached Kirito with a rather light grin on her face. Leaning forward a bit to get closer to him, she said, "I kept my mouth shut" Accompanied with a slight giggle

"My bad Sachi" Kirito replied as he chuckled also, "So what'll you do now?"

"I guess we could explore the new floor. Getting a head start before everyone else sounds like a good idea right? It should give the «New Black Cats of the Full Moon» a better presence I hope" Sachi droned off as she started heading towards the new floor. "We'll be seeing you okay Kirito?"

"Alright then, see you Sachi" Kirito waved as Sachi and the rest waved back.

"I wonder what kind of food they have on the next floor" Ellen inquired as she floated next to Norie.

"I'm sure they'll have something good" Norie replied.

Aincrad 75th Floor, Collinia

"Halloweens coming up you know" Keshiga noted as he gulped his dark coffee down.

"I know" Sachi replied as she frowned while drinking some of her own coffee. Even to this day, she never really enjoyed the bitter taste. "Why do people drink coffee anyway? It's yucky" she complained.

"If you've never needed it, then don't start it" Norie cautioned, "Coffee is to keep you awake, despite the taste."

"Huh…" Sachi stared bleakly into the dark brown liquid. She's never really had to stay up at night. Sachi was a good student; she got her work done during the day. So there was never really the need for caffeine.

"Achoo!" Norie sneezed as she rubbed her nose again. "I think I should get back and rest a bit" she said taking one last sip of tea. "C'mon Ellen, you can ask Sakai to make you something to eat at home"

"Okay" Ellen replied as she took one last bite of her banana cake and slid down the chair following Norie. "Bye Sachi, bye Keshiga" she waved her little hand as any child would.

"Bye Ellen. Get plenty of rest Norie" Sachi waved back.

"Hope you get better soon!" Keshiga added.

After settling down with a regular hot chocolate, Sachi sighed and crossed her arms.

"What's wrong hun?" Her husband asked in a rather teasing tone.

"I told you not to call me that" Sachi frowned lightly and furrowed her brow slightly.

Staying silent for a few moments, Keshiga rested his chin on his hand glaring at Sachi. "You knew about Kirito's skill didn't you?" He asked.

Raising an eyebrow before nodding, Sachi mumbled in reply.

"For how long?"

"Since June"

"I knew it" Keshiga said patting his fist into his palm.

"What do you mean?" His wife asked him in somewhat disarray.

"Well, after that one day in June, I've noticed that you've been playing around with two swords in your hand" Keshiga pointed out with a wink. Players could duel wield swords, it was universal, but no one could ever be "proficient" at it, as it strained the mind excessively much so. Since it does take a massive mental toll to do so, it was easier and safer for players to stick with single swords.

"Wh-when did you see that?!" Sachi asked nervously as she stood up leaning forward to get an answer out of Keshiga.

"I peeked through the crack of your door as I was passing by" Keshiga mumbled as he turned his head to avoid her gaze.

"You..what?!" Sachi spoke aloud as she started pounding her fists at Keshiga, with a o expression on her red face, "Wahhhhh!" she wined extremely embarrassedly, "Why would you do something like that?" she asked rhetorically.

"Hey! Cut it out!" Keshiga replied while giggling, trying to stop the onslaught of punches that came from Sachi.

"What kind of person just goes and peeks into someone's ro-..?" Sachi was about to asked before Keshiga leaned forward and kissed her. A light "Mmmmhh" was heard as her eyes widened, and lowered.

Pulling away from him after a moment, Sachi sat back down in her chair, blushing slightly.

"Hmph!" Sachi puffed her cheeks and turned to her side, still cross with Keshiga.

"Sorry" Keshiga replied with a smile and a rub on the back of his head.

Letting it go, Sachi sighed as she turned back to face Keshiga, "I guess I shouldn't let this get to me" she said sighing once more before sipping her drink.

"Okay then…" Keshiga replied, "Now, how about we go explore the rest of this floor?"

"Sounds like a plan"

November 1st, Aincrad 75th Floor

"The mobs on this floor are tough" Sachi complained as she shackled her aching shoulder.

"Maybe you just got lazy" Keshiga joked as he tapped her on the head.

"Speak for yourself" Sachi nudged him in the side with a smile.

The two of them were just enjoying a nice outing together on the 75th Floor of Aincrad along the southern portion of the floor.

"Sachiiii!" a voice called out from behind the couple as it echoed through the light forest. "Sachi!"

"Huh?" Sachi wondered as she and Keshiga looked back. Of all the people in Aincrad, it was Taru who was calling her name.

"Sachi! Keshiga! There you two are" Taru called out as he ran as fast as he could to catch up to them.

"Oh no, Taru, what happened this time?" Keshiga asked expecting Taru to break down in tears or something.

"Haa…haaa" He responded trying to catch his breath, "Nothing…haa.."

"Then what were you calling out my name for?" Sachi asked as she tilted her head.

"That's right, I wanted to talk to you guys about something important" Taru started to say as he brushed his fingers through his brown hair, "It's Norie's birthday soon"

A/N: Well, here you guys go. Got that published rather fast didn't I? Heh, anyway, I wanted to involve Sachi and the gang a bit more into the mainstream events of SAO. So I tried my best to incorporate lines for them in between the LN lines, but of course, most of this chapter I derived from the actual LN, so I big thank you to that. I did a relatively good job in writing up this chapter, some more cute Keshiga x Sachi moments went about here and there, but I tried to keep it rather light. I also recently noticed that the spotlight has deviated away from Norie for a bit, so I kind of wanted to focus some more on her back story, as, she is my most developed character as of late.

Anyway, expect a light mid chapter next. My story's winding down to an end for the SAO arc, so stay tuned okay?