Hey all! I've finally finished the third chapter of this story! Sorry for the long wait(again)! Trust me when I say Jay's been getting on me about my timing soooo you all have representation when it comes to me getting my chapters out quicker. Anywho, I wanted this chapter to fit well so it took a little longer anyway. The fight sequence couldn't be too long but I didn't want it to be too short. Plus, it turned out this chapter was going to be shorter than I anticipated, so I needed to find something to put towards the end.

Also, thought I should mention our podcast! Our pilot episode is uploaded on Spotify so check it out if you feel like it! WARNING: it does include some cursing, which will be noted at the beginning of every episode. More info can befound on my profile page. Don't forget to leave a comment! We've currenty recorded our first discussion episode with the topic of our personal favorite anime and whatnot, discussing a little here and there, and that is currently being edited by Jay! Finally, we plan on recording sometime in the next few days our second discussion episode which we shall discuss writing and fanfiction! Hope y'all enjoy! :P

All that aside, I hope you all enjoy this chapter! Don't forget to leave your thoughts and comments! :D

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN SWORD ART ONLINE OR ANY REAL WORLD REFERENCES IN THIS STORY!

Ch3 - My Vigilante Debut

I once thought, like any rational person, that dragons were only creatures of fantasy. The fact that I was seeing one right in front of me was surreal. They shouldn't exist at all, yet one was headed in my direction. It's crimson scales glistening in the sunlight, it's razor sharp fangs shaking me to my core. It had to be at least forty feet long from head to tail, with a wingspan of roughly twenty feet. I quickly snapped out of my utter shock and realised I should probably be trying to avoid death instead. I meant only to turn and start running, yet a strange sensation. As soon as I started moving, I found myself staring directly at the exterior wall of my building. But not from just anywhere: my nose was about a centimeter from the cold stone.

I could have sworn I had just started to move. Something wasn't right. Maybe this had to don the swords and the outfit. That's the only reason that this could be possible in the first place. I almost forgot Yui was panicking beside me, fluttering around and waving her hands.

"C-Come on!" She squeaked, "Do s-something!"

"And what exactly do I do at this point?" I turned back to face the beast. As it landed, it sent a small shockwave, knocking me and anyone close by to the ground. I quickly tried to stand up as I watched it tear up the street, heading in my direction. I froze, unable to move. Unable to do anything. People screaming in terror, running for their lives. I wondered if this was it, where I would die. That's when I took a deep breath and made my decision.

If I do nothing, I'll die anyway. I thought. Might as well try.

And so I did. I ducked into a corner and tried to quiet my mind and focus. Trying to bring out my otherworldly attire. When I opened my eyes, it seemed to have worked. The telltale sign was the fingerless gloves and the weight of the swords. For some reason, however, they felt lighter. I looked over both of my shoulders and noticed only one appeared this time. Had I done something wrong? What happened to the other one?

I drew the sword, noticing that it wasn't the Night Sky Sword from the museum. It was the other sword I'd seen in my vision. Yui fluttered over to me, gazing at the blade. "The Elucidator," she said. Her eyes told an unspoken story. One that involved this blade. I remember seeing her in my dream, with Quintus. She had to know of the blade because of that, right?

I shook that thought out of my head for the moment. I quickly turned back towards the streets. The dragon drew closer, now bringing a feeling of guilt with it. The mouth, the fangs. They were covered in a dark shade of red: blood. I cursed myself for hesitating.

And then I charged.

As far as the dragon was from me, I closed the distance rather quickly. A little too quickly. Especially with the sword in my hand. I mean the damn thing weighed much heavier than I would have thought. The beast turned its head towards me and roared. It's breath assaulting my nostrils with the stench of death. It raised its one claw and swung it at me, forcing me to take a step back. I felt the force of its swing as it passed me by.

I tried to think of a course of action that wouldn't get me killed. As far as I knew, this sword might not even cut through the dragon's hide. Well, there was no time like the present to find out, right? And so I swung the blade at the dragon's other arm as it struck at me again. The blade seemed to bounce right off. Great. I have a sword and it's useless to me. I had to dodge another swing from it's giant claws, and suddenly I noticed something.

"The underbelly." I murmured to myself. Looking at the underbelly of the beast, I noticed an object protruding from between the plates of its belly. It was a piece of asphalt. It was lodged there, probably from when it went to land. If my hypothesis was right, and I could lodge my sword in between the plates, I might be able to make this thing bleed.

I made my decision and rushed the beast again, this time trying not to get burnt as it spewed flames at me. I slid underneath its body, found a spot, and plunged my blade into its body. The beast let out a howl of pain and rage as I pulled my blood covered sword out. I dashed away as I realized that I had a distinct disadvantage being underneath the dragon. This was proven true as it shoved its body into the pavement where I'd just been. I shivered to think I could have died right then and there. I tried to keep that quick attack as my strategy against the beast as long as I could, noticing the police had cordoned off the intersection where the dragon stood.

Yui decided at that moment to mention something that might have helped a little earlier. "Try using a sword skill!" She squeaked as I slid out of the way of a stream of fire.

"I'm sorry." I said, confused. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"A sword skill!" She replied, as she flew beside my face. "You have to concentrate! A sword skill is essentially a magic attack! You have to start the motion by getting into a position, and if you have practiced and concentrated enough, you can execute that skill!"

Doging another stream of fire, I questioned her logic. "How is that even possible!?" I asked, clearly not understanding how to activate anything. "I haven't practiced anything! I'm just barely keeping myself from being charred to death!"

"I suggest you try the skill: Vorpal Strike." She said, folding her arm like she was holding a sword, towards the shoulder and slightly twisting the body to the right. She then proceeded with a quick thrust after a short pause. From that demonstration, I got the gist of what was needed. Luckily, I found an opening and got into position. I repeated exactly how Yui showed me. The blade seemed to hum and began to give off a crimson glow. I took that as a sign it was working. The dragon charged at me with an ear-piercing howl. I shifted and suddenly took off towards the dragon's gaping jaws. In an instant, I was behind its head, near the base of its neck. The hilt of my blade was covered in blood, while most of the blade itself was embedded in the dragon's neck. I took notice that it no longer seemed to be glowing. I felt a wave of exhaustion flow over me as I tried to turn, only being able to glance backwards. My eyes widened to see a large slice going from its mouth, all the way to where I had stopped. It slumped over and hit the ground, obviously dying. But it still tried to get off.

I must have done something right, probably giving it a major spinal injury. Not only that, I probably cut into it's throat too. It wouldn't be long before it died, but it was still trying to put up a fight. I don't know what came over me, but as soon as I could move, I made its death official. Raising my blade high, I put it down with one final strike. It was clean and over in a second. The dragon's eyes were fixed on me, even after it's body stopped shuddering. I stood there, resting my hand against its head, feeling the warmth of its body slowly fading. Yui fluttered beside me, as the sirens wailed from the blockade of cop cars. It soon hit me that I might want to leave before any of that whole "arrest the vigilante" business began.

Looking at Yui, she pointed up towards the buildings. I assumed she meant for me to try and get up there quickly and lose them. Without thinking, I took a leap at a nearby building. I got higher than I expected, and jumped from wall to wall between it and another. Trying to get out of people's view.

As soon as I was sure no one could see me, I carefully went towards my apartment. I quietly climbed in through the window via the fire escape. I sat down on my bathroom floor, the dragon's blood drying on my black trenchcoat. I reflected on what just happened, wondering if it had been, and still was, a dream. I felt for the dried blood on my trench coat, and tried pinching myself. Both proved to me that I actually slayed a dragon.

"Thanks for the help, Yui." I managed to say, staring at the sink. I finally snapped out of my daze, and I forced my original outfit to come back. It was completely fine. No burns or blood. Like nothing had happened. I looked at my face, noticing some blood still resided there. I washed it off slowly, as Yui sat on my shoulder with a worried look.

"Are you alright, Kazuto?" She asked, concerned for my confused mental state. I nodded as I fixed myself up.

"Y-Yeah. I think so." I replied. "If this is going to be a regular thing, then I might as well start getting used to it." She seemed to understand what I was saying. I finished tidying up and went back out the door. I was back with the craziness outside, what with cops looking for me and keeping the public away from the dragon's corpse. It was hectic. People were shuffling around, murmuring and taking pictures. I saw quite a few reporters on the scene, including a chopper in the air. From what I could tell, I did a good job at keeping the dragon's attention on me. The buildings that had surrounded it took damage that looked like it could be handled with some time, and no one seemed injured. But that was only what I could see. I could hear the sirens of ambulances and firetrucks. I knew there was no way that beast didn't kill anyone.

A feeling of guilt rose up, my heart felt constricted. Maybe if I had reacted quirker… I thought to myself. I shook that thought out of my head, and headed for my rendezvous with Asuna and the others. Hopefully she wouldn't kill me.

When I arrived at the cafe that we decided to meet at, they all had questions. Was I alright? Did I see anything? What really happened? All those and more of the typical questions that are asked after a dragon attack.

"We were worried about you, Kazuto!" Asuna said, her face holding a worried look. I assured her that I was completely fine, and we all sat down.

"Who would've thought a dragon would show up out of nowhere." Eugeo sighed. "I wonder how that's going to go down." He was right. There were plenty of witnesses to my fight with the dragon. That also drummed up the question as to who might have seen my face.

Alice took a sip of her latte. "And I heard that there was someone there who killed it, they were dressed in black or something." I tensed up a little, though I hoped no one noticed. I was about to change up the topic, when Asuna said something that surprised me.

"I honestly think that'd be cool." She said, tracing her finger around the rim of her mug. "A savior dressed in black, almost like a modern day knight."

Trying to keep my cool and hide my blush I quickly excused myself and went to the restroom. There I calmed myself down, gave myself a mental high five, and went back to my friends. Not too much later, we went to visit Ryoutarou and Andrew at the bar. We found them at the bar, where Ryoutarou, being his usual self, attempted to hit on Alice. Granted, he'd probably have done this before if I hadn't told him to not attempt it. This earned him a blow right to the gut. That one wasn't for me, however. It was for Eugeo, who I knew had a huge crush on the blonde from day one. That was also for Alice. She looked a little freaked out by Ryoutarou acting like an ass, plus she doesn't handle new(er) people fairly well.

"You just don't get it, do you, Ryou?" I sighed, patting his shoulder as we took our seats. Eventually, everyone simmered down and we relaxed for the rest of the day. Classes didn't start for another few days, so we would have time to actually hang out. But that got me thinking. What if the dragon I had killed before wasn't the only one. What if more appeared? How would I deal with that? I knew I shouldn't be thinking about this now, but I couldn't help it.

Later that night when we returned to our building, Asuna asked if she could stop by. I personally was glad she asked, but also I was curious as to why. When she came back, it was in a loose t-shirt and shorts. She sat on the couch as I grabbed her a soda from the fridge. As I handed it to her, I noticed she had a look of worry on her face.

"What's up, Asuna?" I asked her, wondering what could be on her mind.

"I could ask you the same thing, Kazuto." She replied. "You seemed out of it today. Like something was bothering you."

I can't say I was surprised. She could always tell if I was trying to hide how I was feeling. But I couldn't tell her I just fought a dragon with a magic sword. That I had just run from the scene to meet them, and that's why I was late. No, I had to tell her something else. Though, I hated not being able to tell her the truth. "Well, I can't say that I haven't thought about what happened earlier today." I said, rubbing the back of my head. "I just can't get it out of my mind."

I then felt a warm sensation on my other hand. Looking at it, Asuna had placed her hand on mine. I looked back at her. The warmth of her eyes, filled with kindness and concern. I felt my cheeks flush a little. She smiled at me. "Don't worry. Everything is going to be okay, Kazuto." Not only did her eyes often captivate me, but also her voice. Whenever she spoke like this, I always felt calmer and more relaxed. Her presence was always soothing. Took a deep breath and tried not to lose my cool. I thought once again about telling her how I felt, but figured that it wasn't the right time. And so, the rest of our night consisted of watching a movie and eating ice cream from their tubs.

When I woke the next morning, I realized we had both passed out on the couch. My gaze fell on Asuna's sleeping form. Her hair draped on the arm of the couch. I smiled and brushed some of her hair out of her face. She looked peaceful. And I loved seeing her that way. If there was anything I truly wanted for her, it was a stress-free life. I know it might seem cheesy and whatnot, but oh well. I got up and stretched, folding the blanket I had used that night. I then wondered where my little visitor had been all night. Yui seemed to be sleeping in my bedroom. It was kind of cute, seeing her tiny form tucked under the covers. Like a child. I closed the door slowly so as to not wake her, and cleaned up the rest of the living room.

I then proceeded to make breakfast, figuring Asuna might be hungry once she woke up. The scent seemed to have made its way to her nose, as I heard her yawn and sit up. I looked over at her stretching and chuckled. She got up, her blanket draped over her shoulders, and made her way over to the kitchen.

"Morning." I said, mixing the eggs in the frying pan. "You looked rather comfy."

"Yeaaaah." Asuna groaned softly. She wrapped the blanket completely around her. "Probably shouldn't have eaten all that ice cream though." She sat down at the counter as I handed her a plate. She slowly consumed the eggs, humming happily. It was truly cute. Even though we were young adults at this point, that didn't stop her from showing her childish side every once in a while.

We ate, and after which she insisted on cleaning the dishes. There wasn't much to do today, so it seemed we'd probably be hanging around for a while. She eventually plopped on the couch again and turned the TV back on. I looked over at her as she was surfing the channels, and then noticed how her eyes widened. It made me curious as to what could have happened, so I peaked at the screen. She had stopped at the local news channel, which was reporting on the dragon incident yesterday. But what was truly interesting is that they were right where I had killed the dragon. And the corpse was gone.

We both stared in bewilderment as the reporter said there wasn't even a sign that the dragon was ever there, besides all the damage it caused. That included no blood on the street, It was impossible. I felt the warmth slowly leaving its body. I had seen it's life leave its eyes. So how could it just be gone? It made no sense whatsoever. Maybe it was a trick. But then again, it would have continued its rampage.

"Where could it have gone!?" Asuna gasped. "Didn't that guy in black kill it?"

"That's what I saw." I responded. I almost added that I saw the life drain from it's eyes. But that would be hard to explain for sure. I figured I'd ask Yui if it was possible later. As of right now, I couldn't exactly rush Asuna out the door to ask. I would simply just have to wait and see what other surprises awaited me.

They had just began talking about me, showing a blurry photo of me and the dragon. And I had to whoever picked out what they were going to call me, because what they picked had a nice ring to it.

"Regardless of what happened yesterday," The news anchor said, wrapping up and gathering her papers, "I think we can all agree that we owe thanks to our city's very own hero: the Black Swordsman."

In one of the skyscrapers within the middle of the city, a young man stood overlooking the skyline. His shoulder-length black hair was tied in a bun, as his crimson eyes traced the buildings. He wore a grey suit, with a white button up and a black tie. Glancing down at his watch, he took a deep breath before addressing the presence behind him.

"What's the status of the dragon's corpse?" He asked as he turned around.

His visitor was a middle-aged man in a black suit with a blue tie. He had short black hair, and red eyes. He bowed with a smile on his face. "It has been taken to our underground facilities, where it will be stripped of its scales." The visitor replied. "I hope you will find what you need from them."

The man turned with a nod. "Then our plan will proceed. I wish for the Table to not catch wind of our slip just yet." He said, bitterly. "Notify my father. Tell him to stall them."

"Of course, Mr. Adrian. I'll attend to it myself."

Adrian tensed up. "You will remember to call me by my proper name when discussing these matters, Juilian." He growled.

Julian nodded. "My apologies." He said, kneeling at his son's feet. "I'll make sure to remember it, Umbrās."

That's all I got for now folks! Hope you enjoyed! Peace out!

WritingHobbyist2020

New character's and their ages in this chapter:

- Umbrās/Adrian - 26

- Julian - 45

AS ALWAYS, FEEL FREE TO LEAVE A REVIEW OR A QUESTION IN EITHER THE REVIEW SECTION OR IN A PM, AND THANKS FOR READING! :D