My(Virtual) Reality Chapter 5: 'The strongest in Sword Art Online.'

Despite everything that had just happened, emerging on the second floor of Aincrad after an entire month felt like coming back from the dead.

I had seen it during the beta, of course, and was glad to see it hadn't changed too drastically. The second floor of Aincrad was a mountainous range with caves running through it and towns built into its side. It reminded me of photos I had seen of the ancient Inca. I sighed and took a quick moment to stretch. Even though my body here wasn't real, the feeling of my shoulders popping still felt satisfying.

I needed to activate the warp gate on this floor. Until I did, the only way for players to get onto this floor would be to go through the Labyrinth and walk up the stairs in the boss room. Thankfully, the warp gate was always in the first town on a floor, and the route to said town was usually pretty devoid of monsters.

I started running toward the first town. I had made myself into the entire front line's enemy, so any delays in their progress that could be tied to me was something I desperately wanted to avoid. Moving at my highest speed, I was able to get there within fifteen minutes. The towns on the second floor had buildings that were way taller than anything on the first to accommodate the height of the mountain.

The town was a safe zone, so I couldn't take any damage while I was in here. Even so, I took a second to map out an escape route for myself. There was no doubt the raid party was angry at me, and I dreaded to imagine the kind of confrontation that would occur if I stuck around. So, the second I touched the warp gate and it activated, I was already moving.

I jumped up onto the balcony of a nearby building before leaping again and landing on the rooftop of the opposite building. Now that I was on the roof, I leapt from building to building with the bell tower of a cathedral as my destination. I'm sure there was something ironic about someone with my identity and sexual preference looking toward something resembling a church for safety, but I couldn't bring myself to care at the moment.

I reached the tower before too long and entered it through a window. "Windows are so convenient…" I muttered to myself as I stepped inside. The bell tower was barren of any kind of furniture and made up of wooden planks. That was only to be expected, and it didn't bother me so much since I wasn't planning on staying here for long.

I would just wait a few hours for the clearers initial rage to die off and get back to my usual routine of fighting solo on the front lines. Even with people now stigmatizing me for being a beater, I doubted any of them would try to hurt me. Even Kibaou hadn't wanted that, he just wanted to get at my items and money.

Ugh, why did this have to be so damn complicated?! You would think everyone here being trapped together would make us more likely to put aside our differences and work together, but I guess human nature wasn't that simple. If there was any silver lining to this whole mess, it was that I had more or less removed myself from whatever potential drama would arise on the front lines. Because with idiot's like Kibaou attempting to lead us, that was almost unavoidable.

I spent the next two hours or so going over my items and skills. I would probably need to have my Anneal blade upgraded again soon if I wanted to keep pushing forward at the same pace I had been. Suddenly, the sounds of a nearby commotion drew my attention, and I looked outside of the bell tower to see what was going on.

That was when I saw the familiar cloaked form of Argo racing through the streets of the town with two players hot on her heels. That was worrying enough of it's own, but considering Argo's level and agility stat, I was more concerned that the pursuing players were able to keep up with her. That showed me that they must've been at a pretty decent level.

I jumped out of the window again and started following them from above. Argo was the best info broker in the game, so it felt backwards that she would run from anyone who might be a potential customer. Shit, had my whole beater plan failed and they were after her because she was a beta tester? That was a frightening thought, and had me running even faster to catch up.

Argo and her pursuers left the town, but that was actually good news for me because it meant they had to slow down now that they were in dangerous territory. I leapt from the nearest building and managed to land between the two of them, drawing my sword in the process.

"Why are you after Argo?" I asked calmly.

The two players standing aside from me looked like ninja's. As in, the fictionalized ninja's you saw all the time in movies, anime and games. They had the whole black uniforms and masks thing going on, and they each had a small scimitar strapped to their back. I was almost impressed. Given that SAO was a death game, I didn't think anyone would wanna role play, but there it was.

"Who are you?! A warrior from an enemy clan?" one asked.

"Uh… no? Wait a minute, I recognize you guys. You're, um, you're… let's see, the F, Fu… Food? No, Fugue-no, not that either…"

"It is Fuma!"

"We are Kotaro and Isuke of the Fuma clan!"

"Right, that's it!"

"Step aside. We have business with the rat."

"I already told ya!" Argo shouted from behind me. "I'm not sellin' th' info no matter what, so stop askin'!"

"We are more than willing to pay, so please inform us of the location for the extra skill!"

Extra skill? What was he talking about? I had no way of knowing, but since Argo was in trouble I didn't hesitate to step in. "She said she's not selling. Whatever it is you want, get it some other way."

"You curr! I hadn't wanted this to descend into battle, but you're leaving me no choice!" the ninja said, raising a hand to his scimitar. I adjusted my stance slightly and faced them. This was escalating rather quickly, but I had a feeling it was just a show on their part. No sane person was gonna participate in PVP now, so chances are they were just trying to use the threat of violence to get me to back off. Two could play at that game, though.

At least, that's what I'd been thinking. But then I noticed something behind the ninja player's that made me smirk. "I'd be pointing that weapon in a different direction, if I were you."

"What are you-"

Of course, his question was interrupted by the roar of the large Trembling Ox behind him. They were the standard mob on this floor, kinda like the boars on floor one. The one caveat being that they were stronger to match the increasing difficulty of each floor. I hadn't seen these guys at the floor one boss raid, or the front lines in general, so I doubted their levels were high enough to handle this on their own.

My theory was proven correct when the ninjas swiftly ran away. The taurus ran after them, targeting the ninja for their lower levels and leaving Argo and myself in relative peace. I sheath my Anneal blade and turn to my friend. I was sure she'd already heard about my little stunt back on the first floor, and that left me feeling a little awkward.

Of course, Argo just smiled enigmatically and said, "Well look who came ta my rescue. Kii-gal: th' already infamous beater. From what I hear, shouldn't ya be off stealin' th' hard work of th' 'righteous' front line players?"

"Eheh… um, what were those guys bothering you about?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

Argo's stare was piercing, and I gulped loudly. "Alright, Kii-gal, I'll tell ya, but in exchange we're gonna have a talk about that stunt of yers. Specifically that claim of yers about info brokers."

Oh geez, that had gotten back to her? I could already tell that wasn't going to be a conversation I enjoyed. "Yes ma'am…" I muttered.

"Good. I'm glad we came ta an agreeable transaction."

"Agreeable for you, maybe."

Argo smiled and flashed a peace sign, unrepentant in her self-interest. "Anyway, ya know I always come through. Those pushy guys were wantin' ta know about the location of th' Martial Arts extra skill."

That piqued my interest. "That's real? I thought it was just a rumour." It had circulated near the end of the beta, that a skill which let you attack with your fists could be acquired on the second floor, but nobody was able to find it before the beta ended. Or so I thought.

"Oh it's real, an' I'm probably th' only person who knows where it is."

"Is that why you didn't sell the info?"

Argo shook her head. "Nope."

I was confused. "What's the problem, then?"

"I don't wanna be held responsible fer the consequences of letting that info loose," she said with a shudder.

"I'm not sure I follow."

Argo looked me up and down, as if searching for something. I can only guess she found whatever she was looking for, because she abruptly took my arm and started pulling me along. "Ya know what, Kii-gal? I jus' realized I oughta reward ya properly fer savin' me from those guys. So I'll show ya where th' quest fer th' martial arts skill is."

"Oh, um, thanks?" I did happen to have a skill slot that was currently empty; this extra skill might be the perfect thing to fill it with. Since I didn't use a shield or two-handed swords, it might end up complimenting my fighting style really well. The more I considered it, the more excited I got at the prospect.

"I know, I know. I'm bein' more saintly than I usually am with this, but ya have ta promise ya won't blame me fer anythin' that happens."

Her words had me a little worried, but I still said, "Alright, I promise." Effectively sealing my fate. Argo dragged me around for a long time. Through the various plateaus and mountain ranges that made up the second floor. We ended up taking such a circuitous route that I couldn't stop myself from asking, "How in the hell did you even find this place?"

"Never underestimate my abilities as an info broker!" she cheered, but left it at that.

I kept my mouth shut for the rest of the walk. Eventually, Argo led me through a series of caves before finally stopping. In front of us, there was a chute-like hole in the ground. I couldn't see into it because of the darkness of the cave, but I could just make out the illuminating light of the outdoors, letting me know that the chute led somewhere out of the cave.

"So, what do we do now?" I asked, perhaps needlessly.

"What do ya think? Enjoy th' ride of course!" After giving me those 'helpful' instructions, Argo slammed her hand onto my back, making me stumble forward a couple steps and fall headfirst into the hole. I screamed as I fell, but quickly stopped once I realized what was actually happening.

The chute was angled so that I wasn't actually falling, I was sliding. And the undercurrent of water running through ensured that I didn't get stuck. In other words, I was racing down a natural water slide! Even though my positioning was totally backwards because of Argo's push, I still found myself grinning as I started to enjoy the ride. The sense of speed was intoxicating, and given that Argo was the one who led me here, I knew that it wasn't any sort of trap.

I let out a small whoop as I was thrown around a corner. A second after that, I was launched out of the chute and into open air. I did a flip and landed on my feet with a grace that was entirely impossible in the real world. Then, I took a couple steps to my left, trying to determine where Argo would land with her smaller frame.

Once I was pretty sure I had it figured out, Argo came barreling out of the chute herself, and landed directly into my outstretched arms. I smiled victoriously when she looked at me in surprise, feeling rather pleased with myself. Of course, this being Argo, she quickly recovered and managed to throw me off my game when she leaned up to bump her nose against mine and said, "My hero, er, or heroin' in this case." Then she leaned backward and escaped my grip with a back-handspring.

I tried to control my flustered expression by scanning the area around us. The chute had delivered us to a rather scenic looking clearing. Tree's surrounded us on all sides with their leaves the orange and red colors of autumn. The meadow encased by said trees was populated by a stone walkway leading to a traditional wafu-style Japanese house, complete with a pond where one could catch cod fish and what looked like a shrine of some sort with a bunch of large stone rocks surrounding it.

"Oh wow. This place is really pretty," I vocalized.

"Ya better believe it is. This' where yer gonna find the quest giver who offers th' martial arts skill," Argo explained.

"Oh, cool. Are they in the house over there?" I asked.

Argo shook her head, and as if just to accentuate her point, a spindly yet nonetheless wild looking old man with a long beard hopped into my field of view. "Oh? What's this? A couple of youngsters hoping to learn my ancient technique's? Well I warn ya, it's not gonna be as easy as you think…"

After he said that, my quest log was updated. I immediately accepted when I saw that the reward for completion was the martial arts skill. Now that I'd accepted, the old man appeared right in front of me with speed so blinding Asuna might've been surprised. His hand dipped into a bowl before flashing in front of my face. I felt something touch each of my cheeks three times, before the old guy leaped back as quick as he came.

"In my experience, beginners find themselves marked with a donation of their abilities, so I've given you the mark that you will wear for this training, beginner!" the old man said, cackling like a loon.

I looked into the pond to see my reflection, wondering what the mark he was talking about was supposed to be. When I got a look at myself, however, I was shocked. There were three whisker marks painted on each of my cheeks. When I tried to wipe them off with my hand, it didn't work, and I realized I was likely stuck with them until I finished the quest.

Wait a minute, "This is where your whisker marks came from, right Argo!" I accused, pointing at her.

She shrugged and pressed a finger to her cheek, appearing the very picture of innocence. "Oh, who's to say? Jus' remember, ya promised ya wouldn't be mad at me no matter what."

Dammit, she had me there. Ugh, whatever; I guess I'll just have to complete the quest quickly. "Do they at least look good?" I asked hopefully. I mean, Argo managed to make it work, right?

Said girl sauntered over to me and placed her hands on my hips, saying, "Ya look good in everythin', Kii-gal."

"Trust me to ask for your opinion again…" I grumbled, turning away petulantly.

Argo just deepened her embrace and rested her chin on my shoulder. "Hey, hey, don't be like that, Kii-gal. Ya should probably stay away from th' front lines fer a bit anyway while people cool down, so this is a good opportunity. Th' house is super comfy an' everythin', so jus' think of this as a vacation."

I immediately dropped my feigned distaste after hearing her words. "Well, you're not wrong about that," I conceded.

She finally pulled away from me and patted my back twice. "See? I knew ya'd see things my way. Plus, I'll consider this recompence fer ya saying ya knew more than me. Don't ya feel lucky now?"

I snorted. She'd never change, but I wouldn't want it any other way. Argo left after that, exiting through the surrounding woods. Then I was told approximately just how much of a pain in the ass this was going to be. The old guy told me I would have to break one of the big stones in the training area if he was gonna teach me, and I had to do it with nothing but my hands. I had no idea how I was gonna make that happen. Every punch I delivered to the stone would chip away at it's durability, but it would probably take me a full week of punching before I was able to break it in half.

I figured there had to be a better way to do it than that. Now that I think about it, the point of this exercise was probably to teach me the initial motions for martial arts skills. That would make sense, because they were probably way different to the initial motions of the sword skills I was so used to.

With that thought in mind, I started my first day of training. Hours passed with me punching and kicking the damn rock. Every time it became clear what I was trying wasn't working, I tried to change my approach. Maybe my footing was off, or I needed to angle my first down more. Anything I could imagine to get the god-forsaken thing to break in half.

Eventually, night fell, and I was still no closer to completing my task then when I'd started. With a sign, I resigned myself to try again tomorrow and entered the dojo. At least Argo hadn't been lying about the accommodations. My room was nice and cozy, and when I collapsed onto the bed I fell asleep almost immediately.

The next morning, I continued pounding away at the rock after a quick breakfast. I was determined to blast through this quest as quickly as possible. Knowing Argo, she was probably hoping I'd give up and walk around with whiskers on my face like her, and I refused to let her hold that over me. Still, no matter what I tried, the rock didn't budge an inch.

"Dammit! If technique won't get me anywhere, maybe I can break you in half by getting pissed off!" I howled to the open air. I started slamming my fists into the stone, unleashing all of my rage and fury. I would shout with every strike like the characters in those old kung fu movies. But all that achieved was leaving me totally spent after an hour.

It's a good thing Argo isn't here, because I would totally curse her name if she was. This quest was a pain in the ass, and I'm sure most players would've already lost their patience and given up by now. I just didn't have the necessary information; there were no clues in the environment to help me figure out what I was supposed to do. It was like being asked to have the answer to a question you hadn't even been asked.

Moreover, how long could I even afford to spend on this? All the drive in the world wouldn't mean much if I only broke the stupid stone after we reached floor ninety. At most, I could probably take a week off the front lines without falling behind too far. Until that time comes, I'll give it everything I got.

Snap.

I immediately exploded into a sitting position. In an area as tranquil as this dojo, the sound of a branch being stepped on was incredibly noticeable. When I whipped my head in that direction, though, I didn't see anything. Or at least, I didn't see anything with my eyes. My searching skill easily picked up on the form of another player hiding in the brush. Though it said a lot that their hiding skill was high enough that my searching couldn't spot them completely.

"I know you're there, so you might as well come out." I said to the open air. If anyone else happened to be watching, I probably looked like a crazy person. Still, I unequipped my Anneal blade and raised my hands in a surrendering motion. "See? No weapons, so I can't hurt you. Will you introduce yourself now? I feel awkward talking to myself like this."

Finally, there was a rustling in the bushes, and the hidden player stepped out into the open. It was another woman like myself, but she was about half a head shorter than me. Her black hair was shorter than mine as well, with the fronts of it tied together by metal clips into strips that framed her face. She was kind of skinny, but she was undeniably cute. Her stature and build made me feel like I wanted to protect her.

Of course, that appearance was starkly contrasted by her expression, which was fierce and dangerous. She had the look of a proper warrior, and I found my battle instincts responding in kind. She was strong, I could tell, especially if she had made it all the way here by herself.

I put aside my slight shock at having come across another solo player this far into the second floor, and instead focused on the girl herself as she stepped into the clearing proper. "...How'd you find this place?"

She has a rather straightforward attitude, but that was fine with me. I preferred people who didn't try to hide how they felt. "A friend brought me here."

"Sounds nice," the girl looked off to the side, and I got the feeling she was considering whether to leave or not.

"So, what's your name?"

The girl turned her attention back to me. She still refused to move past the entrance of the clearing. I'll be honest and say she'd piqued my interest, though. She was a solo player on the front lines, like myself, but I had never seen her before. It made me wonder why she hadn't participated in the boss fight.

...Plus, I really wanted a break from punching the rock.

Finally, the girl seemed like she'd decided to stay and talk for a bit. "Sinon."

I rolled my head from side to side, cracking my neck. "Alright, Sinon, are you here because you heard about the extra skill?"

Sinon nodded. "It's real, then?"

"Yep." I proceeded to explain the quest to her. I didn't have any reason not to, after all.

"How long have you been here?"

"Today's my second day," I said with a long groan filled with my growing frustration.

Sinon looked at the rock, then the dojo, then me. "The NPC's inside, right?"

"Um, yeah. You sure you wanna do it? I wouldn't mind some company, but-"

"It's fine. I won't be here long."

"O...kay. If you say so…"

She disappeared inside the building, and once again I found myself wondering about this elusive girl named Sinon. She was clearly confident in her skills, and it once again made me consider why she hadn't put those apparent efforts to use on the front lines. It was possible she was a mid-leveler on floor one who'd been inspired to take action after we cleared the first floor. If my theory was correct, then it said a lot about her character that she'd been willing to risk her life on the more dangerous floor two instead of growing stronger on the floor below.

Sinon walked out into the training area with the whiskers on her face, and it made me want to lay more curses upon Argo. Somehow, her marks had managed to look rather cute, instead of mine which made me feel like a clown. She steadfastly approached a nearby stone with a quiet, but nonetheless overpowering confidence. I asked her, "Do you have some kind of strategy? If you do, I'd love to hear it. I haven't had an lu-"

My words were torn from my mouth in a shocked gasp when Sinon-in one smooth motion-reared her hand beside her head with her fist half-clenched, and brought it down on the rock once her hand started growing a pale orange. The rock immediately shattered in half. Sinon rolled her shoulders casually, as if just to taunt me by demonstrating how easy that'd been for her.

Then, the old man NPC emerged from the Dojo. He congratulated Sinon on her success and told her that she'd need to 'develop her skills on her own now'. That was, of course, just the game's way of telling the player that they'd acquired the martials arts skill and now needed to upgrade it the same way they would any other skill.

All of that might as well have been white noise to me. She'd blown through that quest like it was nothing! What the hell?! "How did you do that?!" I yelped while Sinon washed off her whiskers in the pound. She looked back at me disaffected, like she'd entirely forgotten I was there.

"Why should I tell you?"

I made a face at her question. Was she Argo's protege or something? "C'mon, please! I really wanna complete this quest."

Sinon stood up and turned to face me. Her brow was scrunched in thought, but she eventually asked, "What's your name?"

"Hm?"

"You never told me."

"Ah, you're right. Sorry, it's Kirito."

Her grin suddenly turned predatory, and it made me nervous. "I thought so. You're kinda famous. The 'beater' who stole the LA during the first floor boss raid."

I looked off to the side. "That's not how it went down," I told her. I was already starting to regret my action's down on the first floor. Even if I'd managed to protect Argo and the other testers, I now had this beater stigma following me wherever I go. It was going to get draining really fast.

"Doesn't matter to me. You're strong; maybe the strongest in SAO, right?"

The nervous feeling quickly returned, but this time it came accompanied by just a bit of excitement. "What are you getting at?"

"Let's make a bet. I want you to duel me; if you win, I'll tell you how to get the martial arts extra skill."

So far, so good, but I knew things weren't going to fall in my favor like that. "And if you win…?"

Sinon pointed at me. "I get that Anneal blade of yours."

A tingle went up my spine, but it wasn't one of fear or apprehension. I was getting pumped up. A gamble; with both Sinon and myself having something to gain if we won. I understood better than ever now that I'd have to take risks if I wanted to get what I want, and right now that was the martial arts extra skill. Even so, I recognized this little bet was more in Sinon's favor than mine, so I said, "A couple caveat's. First, I get to keep the Anneal blade until we reach the town. I'm sure you can guess why."

"I'm not so cruel I'd leave you this deep into the second floor without a weapon, so that's fine."

"Awesome. Second thing, if we're gonna do this I'll need something more than that info if I'm gonna feel good about letting go of my Anneal blade."

Sinon's smirk finally dropped. "I get it, what else do you want?"

My own expression settled into a neutral frown. It was curious that Sinon was willing to accommodate me like this. Most players would've dropped the bet the second I talked about changing the terms. They were just too impatient to go through the process of making a fair and honest bet. For some reason I didn't know, Sinon really wanted to fight me. Honestly though, that only made me want to accept more. I had a feeling she was gonna give me a good fight.

"Enough Col that I can get a sword close to the value of the Anneal blade." I did a couple quick calculations in my head to figure out that number, before telling her, "So… 12,000."

"Those terms are acceptable."

I nodded and opened my menu, reequipping my treasured Anneal blade. This was a scary prospect; even if I got myself a sword close in quality, losing my current blade would be a serious blow to me. Even so, I couldn't afford to waste time. This game wasn't going to wait for me to get stronger and challenge it. I had to become a hunter, and grab what I wanted with my own two hands.

With all the preamble now settled, Sinon and I stood opposite each other in the training grounds of the dojo. She opened her menu and sent me the duel request. Normally, it was considered a crime to harm another player in SAO, and doing so would turn one's cursor orange. However, in a duel, it was totally acceptable to have a fight with another player.

On the dual request window, I was given three rule sets to choose from. They were all rather self explanatory, though. The first was single strike, the second was until half health, and the third and final was a straight-up battle to the death. Obviously, that one wasn't an option, but neither Sinon nor myself would be satisfied if the battle ended with one attack, so I selected half health.

A sixty second timer appeared in the space between us. In those sixty seconds, Sinon navigated through her own menu and equipped a short, thin spear. It occured to me that it must be her weapon, but I wonder why she hadn't had it equipped when she first showed up? She might have some sort of trick up her sleeve I don't know about; I'd have to keep my guard up when fighting her.

When the timer buzzed, I rushed forward. Since Sinon was using a spear-at least for now-I wanted to get close and put her at a disadvantage. She narrowed her eyes and charged a sword skill as I approached her. She's trying to stop me from advancing in order to keep me in range of her spear.

The fact that she'd taken a defensive action instead of trying to challenge my attack told me one of two things. Either she simply had a defensive fighting style, or her agility wasn't high enough to compete with my own. Regardless, her spear licked forward with a Linear, but it wasn't anywhere near as fast as Asuna's, so I batted the tip away with my sword.

Linear had a really short cool down, but in the instant Sinon was paralyzed by the post sword-skill delay, my Anneal blade lashed out and cut across her ribs. She grunted but didn't falter, responding by driving the haft of her spear into my stomach. I choked on the simulated feeling of having the wind knocked out of me before hopping back, giving Sinon her distance.

I now understood the advantage of her stockley spear, which more resembled a javelin. It's shorter length allowed her to fight me close quarters by using it like a bo-staff. I hadn't fought against any players who use spears in the beta, and none of the monsters who used them attacked with the haft, so I had been focusing all of my attention on the spear point when fighting Sinon.

That had been a mistake. Players would invariably conquer the limitations of the system; this entire virtual world was something I'd have to fight to clear SAO.

The tip of Sinon's spear flashed forward again-no sword skill this time-and I parried it like before. I stepped forward and sliced at her neck, but she flipped her spear vertically and blocked it. That was exactly what I'd been hoping for, however. Before she could bring her weapon down, I unleashed the sword skill Circular, striking the haft of her spear again.

To most, that would have seemed like a pointless action, but I hadn't been acting impulsively. I had a feeling Sinon was at least one or two levels below my own considering I hadn't seen her before. If that was true, it meant that my strength score would outclass hers, especially if she hadn't been putting that many points into it.

With my attack, I'd been hoping to take advantage of my strength to overpower her and tear her spear from her hands. And that's exactly what happened, but it was way too easy. I only realized my error when Sinon crouched low and her foot started to glow a pale green. She'd purposefully let go of her weapon! All so she could attack me with martials arts while I was recovering after my sword skill!

Sinon's black boot slammed into my gut and sent me rocketing backward. I smacked against the ground a couple times before rolling to a stop. While I was pulling myself to my feet, Sinon said, "This is too easy. Fight harder, Kirito."

I gritted my teeth in response. "I'd worry about yourself more, Sinon. Even if you have the martial arts skill, you just lost your weapon!" With a shout, I charge toward her again. Except somehow, I had managed to forget my own observations about her having some kind of trick up her sleeve.

Whatever came flying at me, it moved so fast that even with my reactions, I was only able to turn it into a glancing blow that cut across my hip instead of avoiding it entirely. After I heard the telltale thunk of an object penetrating grass, I turned and found a throwing pick sunk a few inches into the ground. That had to be what Sinon threw at me.

I was aware of throwing picks, of course, and even had a few in my own inventory. Throwing picks were one of the few ranged weapons in SAO, and served great as a way to safely pick off the last of an enemy's HP at a distance. They weren't especially powerful, but they were still indispensable in battle, more so for solo players like myself and-presumably-Sinon.

But her skill with them was on another level entirely. I'd never seen someone throw a pick with as much speed or accuracy before. I imagined Sinon possessed the blade-throwing skill; it would explain why she'd used such a short spear in battle.

That observation proved to be rather prophetic when, as I was considering all of this, Sinon rushed to the side and grabbed up her spear from where I'd knocked it aside. I swore and started moving again, but it was too little too late.

Before I could take more than three steps, Sinon reared her hand back and launched the spear at me once it started to glow green. At the very least, that confirmed my theory that she possessed the blade throwing skill. I countered her attack with the sword skill slant, knocking her spear up and away. Chances are I could've deflected Sinon's spear with just my strength, but I wasn't about to risk that when failing there might've lost me the duel.

Unfortunately, I'd been so focused on the point of that spear that I hadn't noticed the two throwing picks that followed it. She'd likely thrown them with her free hand at the same moment she'd chucked the spear. With a growing sense of both admiration and dread, I was starting to understand just how exceptional my opponent really was.

Throughout the whole fight, she'd been a step ahead of me. She was clever, and always looking to put herself in an advantageous position. She never did anything halfway; her moves were sharp and flowed into one another. Honestly, I had all but forgotten about the bet at this point. I wanted to beat her as a rival, pure and simple.

The sword skill delay ended soon enough that, though it was panicked, I was able to deflect Sinon's throwing picks. Of course, this was likely another one of her tricks, but knowing that didn't mean I could prepare for it. That fact was made painfully apparent when a dagger seemingly appeared from nowhere and crashed into my wrist, tearing my treasured Anneal blade from my hand.

I was floored after that happened, and stared at my now open hand in shock. That didn't make any sense! It didn't matter how fast Sinon had thrown that blade, I should've at least been able to see the blue glow of it as it came at me. Instead, the dagger had literally poofed into existence mid-air. That just wasn't possible in SAO-

My eyes widened as it all clicked for me. "The shadow…" I whispered, my voice barely audible. "You hid the dagger in the shadow of the throwing picks!"

Sinon grinned fiercely at me. "You get brownie points for figuring that out, but that won't win you the duel."

Another thought came to me. "Why haven't you?" I asked, then immediately elaborated upon seeing her expression. "The throwing pick that damaged me earlier. Even this early in the game, you could've gotten the materials to give it the paralyze status effect. If you had, you would've won the duel right then. Why didn't you?"

Sinon's smirk dropped, but she didn't seem annoyed with my question. "Fine, you got me. I'm sure you've already figured this out, but I only joined the front lines recently. I hate myself for cowering in fear in the town of beginnings, so I wanna be strong. The strongest in Sword Art Online. If I beat you, and all the other best clearers, I know I will be."

After hearing that, I felt an immediate kinship with Sinon. She was a lot like me; in fact, I was sure I would've been acting the same way if I hadn't managed to steel my resolve on the day this death game started. Since she decided to share all of that with me, it only felt right to tell her, "I understand, Sinon. I wanna beat you too, so I'm not gonna give you the win just because I lost the Anneal blade. Let's finish this!"

I brought my fists in front of me in a poor approximation of a boxer's stance. If Sinon thought I was crazy for doing that, she certainly didn't show it. Instead, that feral, competitive grin of hers returned in full force, and she didn't hesitate to launch another throwing pick at me.

I weaved out of its way. Naturally, that meant I found myself in the way of two more throwing picks, but I avoided those with a twist. I wasn't watching the objects Sinon threw at me anymore. Instead, I was watching her eyes. Even as good as she was, she couldn't throw her picks and daggers with her eyes closed, so I could see through all her strategies by following her line of sight.

Even though I was consistently dodging all of her attacks now, I was no closer to actually winning the duel with Sinon. Without my sword, I wouldn't be able to close the gap between us. Thing is, Sinon knew that as well, and had been using her picks and daggers to keep me as far from my Anneal blade as possible. It wasn't as simple as just waiting for her to inevitably run out of ammo, either. All her thrown weapons were littered around the arena, and by this point I refused to believe that went unnoticed by Sinon.

But, I still had an opportunity whenever she ran out of ammo.

When that happened, Sinon would have to take a couple seconds to grab some more picks and daggers. In that time, I'd take my Anneal blade back and begin my counter strike. After that, this duel would be mine. But, as I was considering all of this, I took note of the way Sinon threw her blades. She would bring her hand up to the side of her head, wait half a second while the skill charged, then bring her hand down and send it flying toward me. I don't know why, but that motion stood out to me.

Then, it all clicked. That was the exact same motion she'd used when she broke the stone in half! I had spent so much of my time fighting in Aincrad trying to break through the Cardinal system, but what if that was limiting me? Sinon was maybe the toughest opponent I'd ever faced, and her entire style likely wouldn't be possible without the aid of Cardinal. The reason I'd been stuck on this stupid quest wasn't because it was inherently difficult, I was just too focused on the idea that I'd have to bend the system to complete it.

I understand now. There were times to fight the system, and times to let it help me. If I could identify those times and learn to adapt accordingly, I could get even stronger than I am now!

My eyes narrowed, and I started darting toward Sinon again. For the first time since our duel started, it looked like I'd managed to surprise her. "Without your sword!?" she exclaimed. She couldn't possibly guess what my plan was, and that was exactly what I wanted. Still, she didn't let her shock overpower her, and didn't halt in her attack.

I swerved around all her projectile's, not stopping in my advance. Sinon wasn't about to let me get away with charging her head-on, though, and started to strafe to the side. "I won't let you get away!" I cried, and reared my hand back. I'd put in the initial motion for the sword skill Vorpal Strike. I figured if Sinon could do it with blade throwing, I could do it like this. And thankfully, I was proven correct.

My hand started to glow a pale purple, and my heart leapt with excitement. Yes! This was it! The martial arts skill. With a cry, I unleashed the skill, crossing the remaining distance between myself and Sinon in an instant and sinking my fist into her gut. She crumpled around the blow and lost her footing. I didn't hesitate to follow through on the punch, sending her careening backwards with a shout.

Sinon crashed against the ground a couple times before slamming into one of the unbroken rocks and, finally, collapsing on the ground. A second after that, our duel ended, with me as the winner. I could hardly believe it. My last attack had been a total gamble, but not only had I beaten her, I'd also-inadvertently-figured out how to get the martial arts skill.

Sinon coughed a couple times while she tried to sit up, and I winced. Even though you couldn't feel pain in the game, she still would've experienced the feeling of the wind being knocked out of her from my punch. "Uh, you okay?" I asked.

Sinon glared at me while she sat up. "How did you do that?"

I smirked. "Same way you did."

It took her a second to realize what I meant by that, but eventually she nodded. I walked over and picked up my discarded Anneal blade. After that, I used my newfound knowledge to complete the quest and earn the martial arts extra skill proper. When I washed away the stupid whiskers on my cheeks in the pond, I let out a long sigh of relief. "Finally. I looked like an idiot," I complained aloud.

"You really did." I turned to Sinon with a sour look on my face, but she just grinned. Then, she said, "So, I guess you won."

I raised an eyebrow at her question. "Uh, yeah? I guess I did." Sinon opened a trade menu with me, and that's when I remembered our bet. I'd been so wrapped up in my drive to beat Sinon I'd entirely forgotten. "Ah, you don't actually have to pay me, you know."

She eyed me skeptically. "Why not? You beat me, so I have to honor the bet."

"That's…" she wasn't wrong, but I didn't like the idea of making her pay me. In the short time I'd known her, I had really connected with Sinon. I admired her drive to overcome her weakness, and I wouldn't have been able to break down my own mental walls without her. It was only because of her that I'd figured out how to complete the quest.

Suddenly, a thought formed in my head, and I smiled. "I want you to keep the money… as an investment."

"An investment?" Sinon asked, confused.

"Uh-huh. Use it to buy yourself some better equipment, and get stronger. Even stronger than you are now. Be the strongest in SAO, and then the next time we fight, I'll consider it paid if you beat me." I extended my fist in front of me and smiled. Sinon matched it with her own, and bumped my fist.

"Don't forget, Kirito; my blade is the one that'll beat you."

I had no way of knowing it at the time, but with this one declaration, I'd tied my and Sinon's fate irrevocably tight.