August 1st, 2025, ALO, Lisbeth

"So Asuna, you've known both Jaymes and my brother the longest out of us… Who was the better swordsman in SAO?"

Leafa's question takes the other six girls by surprise. Philia, Asuna, Yui, Lisbeth, Leafa, Strea, and Silica enjoy a girl's-only picnic on the first floor of New Aincrad. Kirito and Agil, as far as they know, haven't logged on; Klein is spending time with his guild; Jaymes is elsewhere in the world, though he hasn't said where he was going or what he's doing. It was he who suggested the girls do something together, rarely are they all together without either he or Kirito around. And until now, Lisbeth has not thought about her boyfriend or her best friend's boyfriend until Leafa posed the question of questions.

Asuna, with all eyes on her, blushes as she ponders the question. "I… Well, that's a complicated question, to be honest."

"How so?"

"For one, they fight differently. Whenever I thought of who would win in a fight, I was sure Kirito would, but that takes no account of Jaymes' defensive ability. Then whenever I lean Jaymes' way, Kirito obtains a second sword. Take into account their best skills, Starburst Stream versus Dragon's Fury, Trojan Walls and Horse… I think, if SAO continued, Jaymes would win with that counter ability."

Silica places her head on her kneecaps. "Trojan Horse invalidates all defense, right? Is that how he struck Heathcliff, right?"

"But at the cost of being attacked himself," Philia adds. "In other words, he has to take damage to activate the skill. Even then, all we heard was that it dropped Heathcliff's health from green to yellow. No indication of how close it was to the red zone."

"But the skill requires him to be alive to use it, so technically if he counters, Kirito is toast!" Strea claps excitedly at her conclusion, then suddenly changes into a thoughtful gaze. "But he used it as a knife skill, and there's no way he would use a knife in a fight against Kirito. So… Maybe Kirito does win."

"Yeah, and knowing them both, it'll be Kirito's two blades versus Joshua's sword and shield." Asuna sighs as she bites her sandwich. "Well, to be honest, they did fight each other once."

"WHAT?"

"But I wouldn't count it! It was very early in the game, after we beat the 10th Floor. Kirito wanted to see just how much stronger Jaymes had gotten since the beta, when it was clear who was superior, and Jaymes wanted to see if Kirito was still better."

Lisbeth folds her arms. That sounds so much like Kirito and Jaymes, always challenging each other. But the only time she has seen them combat each other was when Jaymes prepared him for the Heathcliff duel. But an actual fight between the boys… "And? What happened?"

"Kirito won, eventually. It was a first strike duel, and it lasted for minutes. It was also the only time Jaymes fought without his shield, just to level the field. So, I guess if we put them sword against sword, Kirito wins, but let them fight as they were when SAO ended, it is hard to decide."

"What about ALO?" Leafa asks. "So many other factors included, right?"

"That is so," Yui says. "Sword skills are part of the game, but neither player has the ultimate sword arts as before. Then there's the ability to fly, magic… But what is more important is Daddy's speed versus Uncle's defense. Those are the only two stats that vary significantly between them." Uncle? Lisbeth wonders when that started happening. She knows Jaymes loves Yui (though he prefers the younger "sister", Strea, since she's his own) but she hopes Yui doesn't expand her vocabulary into calling Lisbeth "Auntie".

Strea nods. "There are many other factors, but those two will affect the battle the most."

"Maybe it doesn't matter what game they're playing, Jaymes and Kirito will always be nearly equal to one another." Lisbeth leans back on her arms, then as a thought pops in her head, she gives Asuna a knowing smirk. "Maybe Kirito is not the best swordsman. Sure, he hasn't truly beaten Jaymes, but I know who he has never beaten."

Asuna smiles sheepishly. "I guess that's true, huh?" The rest of the group looks at the pair of grinning girls, unaware of what happened in a duel on the 56th Floor between Kirito and Asuna. Lisbeth remembers Jaymes' retelling of it, saying that it was surprising to see Asuna actually beat Kirito, and both were taking the duel seriously. Now hearing that the boy's are equal to a degree, it makes her wonder who would win between Flash and Crimson Warrior.

"You beat my brother?"

"No offense, but I find that hard to believe."

"Well, Asuna is faster than Kirito."

"Well, I think there's only one way to settle this," Lisbeth says. "Asuna and Jaymes must duel one day. What do you say, Asuna?"

Asuna shrugs. "I don't know. What do you think Jaymes will say? He doesn't care much for duels, to be honest."

"We can ask him tomorrow during our double date. Believe me, we both know the way to get him to agree. After all, he hasn't changed much from when I first met him."

"You know," Leafa says while tapping her chin, "it has always been said that you and Jaymes were close before even dating, even before Koharu passed. But unlike Asuna or Philia, his bond with you wasn't forged on the battlefield. He's so kind and helpful, I can't imagine him any other way."

"Are you crushing on your brother's best friend, Leafa?" Philia teases as Leafa turns red. "Then you got quite a tale for you. The Jaymes you know is not totally the one we met, but yeah, he hasn't changed much. I think it's best Asuna goes first, since she knew him the longest."

Asuna laughs with a blush. "Well… I don't think I am the best person to start with… I guess you can say the relationship I have with Jaymes now is the same, even the friendly banter. But it did not start out friendly. When we grouped up at the dungeon, Koharu tried to introduce herself and her partner, but I rudely passed it off. I didn't mean to, but we were at the dungeon, and...to be honest, I didn't have much regard for him originally. He didn't seem like much of a strong player. Anyway, Kirito and I were assigned to support the vanguard, which is where Jaymes and Koharu were. As you heard from Jaymes last week, Leafa, the boss suddenly switched weapons that were different from the beta, and thus, our current knowledge. We expected a scimitar, but it turned out to be a katana. Our leader, Diavel, was stunned and in trouble, but Jaymes sprinted forward and saved him. Risking his own life, he thought of someone else, proving my prior thoughts about him invalid. Seeing that, paired with the moment I had with Kirito the night prior...it inspired me to fight harder. Anyway, after the whole 'Beater' fiasco, I told him, Koharu, and Agil about how Kirito saved me from a dungeon in which I hadn't slept in days, and your boyfriend started off kind, asking why I would do such a thing. After I explained and said I was heading to Kirito, he told me to tell Kirito that 'I'll be there' at the next dungeon, and that he expected me to be there as well. He was the second person to recognize my strength, and I've always remembered it. He was a nice guy...until the Elf Quest. The four of us started hanging out more often outside the quests, and that's when the relationship we have now was born." Asuna looks to the sky, sighing happily. "I guess...he hasn't changed in my eyes, not until someone started dating him."

"Shut it."

Silica raises her eyebrow. "Umm, that sounds just like Jaymes now. He's always been like that in battle."

"Bullocks!" Philia shouts. "You met him with Koharu, you, Silica, and Lisbeth. Of course it won't seem like he's any different. Believe me, Leafa, he was much different without her. It was the thirty-first floor, and I needed a partner for a treasure hunt that was tougher than going alone. So I advertised the quest by the teleport gate, but most people ignored me. Jaymes, however, looked interested, and heard me out. Then when I told him how we'll split it, he almost backed out."

"What was the split?"

"70/30… What? Hey, that's a pretty nice deal, I'll let you know. Anyway, we spent ten minutes debating the logistics of splitting the reward until he got me to agree to 51/49. Less than fair, very rude, but it got me a partner. So we go on the hunt, it was supposedly a rare crafting material, the purest diamond in SAO. Eventually, we run into Rain, who is also after the diamond, and once she met him, she became a fangirl. He convinces her to join us, splitting the reward three ways. Then when we complete the quest, he takes the diamond only. No Col, none of the other spoils, just the diamond. Then two days later...he hands me a new knife. He could have made a new sword or shield, or gave the knife to Koharu, but he gave it to me. What an idiot." Philia drops her face as if the story truly irritates her, but everyone can see she really cherishes the memory. "Hmph, I guess it's not too bad of a memory."

Strea nods. "How could you have a bad memory of Jaymes? After all, you were the one always saying how you wished he could just be partied with us all the time instead of the front lines."

"Strea!" Philia stuffs bread in Strea's mouth before folding her arms in annoyance. Eyeing Lisbeth, the female Spriggan stares blankly. "Your turn. You met him outside of battle but with Koharu. How different was he?"

"Well, Philia met the 'willing to help" version, but I met the cocky, unhelpful version of him. First thing he said was that he beat all of the previous bosses of Floors 1 through 3, which Koharu quickly reprimanded him for. When I asked him about gathering materials, he was unwilling to do so since someone else had annoyed them to no end, but once I said I'd reward him handsomely with a showcase of my handiwork, he was game. I guess I impressed him in the end, he was my first high-profile customer until the very end. Not a grand story like Asuna's or Philia's, but that's how we met. Originally thought him to be a bragging jackass but turns out he's...everything but that."

"Of course," Asuna says, leaning into Lisbeth's face, "I wonder who fell for who first… Must have been you, Lis."

Lisbeth chuckles, "I guess I did make all the moves, huh? But he did so to, in his own way. He took me on the one and only 'date' we had, he made sure I could fend for myself, and even before last year, he watched over me. But I believe it was the night he came home while you and the boys were investigating the 'murders' that I started to realize my feelings. He was distraught by not being able to capture the 'murderer' that I found him taking out his anger out in the smithy. I've never seen him so angry...and it was late already, so…"

Silica smiles wickedly. "Lisbeth, you dirty girl!"

Leafa laughs herself. "All that joking you did with Asuna last week, I didn't believe it when you said you could've done more than her and Kirito. But now…"

Lisbeth grumbles as most of the girls (Philia being the sole exception) laughs at her expense. "So what? If I wasn't feeling guilty about Koharu, I would have done something! I was in love...stupid game ended right as I confessed too."

"Anyway," Philia says as she stands up and turns her back to the group, "I think it's time we wrap this up. The food is gone." Lisbeth looks at the blanket on the ground, indeed seeing that the sandwiches and sweets are gone for good. They've really spent all day here, huh? At Asuna's command, the girls clean up to wrap up their picnic. As they do so, Lisbeth catches a glare from Philia. She has no idea what she's done to earn the girl's ire, but she could tell there's something bugging Philia ever since the subject switched to the swordsmen. Lisbeth wants to figure it out...but first she asks Jaymes about it.

"Hey," From above comes Kirito and Jaymes, the two swordsman landing by their respective partners. Jaymes caresses Lisbeth's hair as he notices her stern face. "Hey, is something wrong?:

"Can we talk tomorrow, before we meet with Kirito and Asuna?"

He nods. "Sure."

"Hey, Daddy, Uncle," Yui flies between both boys, smiling. "We want to know...who would win in a duel between you two?"

Kirito and Jaymes glance at each other, then face us girls with a determined face. "I would! Huh?"

Asuna chuckles. "As expected."

Leafa steps forward, behind Asuna, and holds her shoulders as she looks at Jaymes. "But would you fight Asuna?"

He shakes his head. "Hell no. Nah. Nada. Never. I know who will win that, and I do not need to have it known I've lost to Asuna. She beat Kirito, Kirito and I are pretty even, so do the math. Although…" He scratches his chin, then smirking towards Asuna as a light bulb goes off in his head, the one Lisbeth knew that'll go off. If he beats Asuna, it proves he's better than Kirito. "Nevermind, let's do it!"