Hello again. Welcome back to Alicization Nightshade. I've been reading Volume 16 of SAO and have been hit with a lot of motivation to write about Alicization. Honestly, I love the Human Empire and War of the Underworld arcs too much.

Anyway, enjoy. See you at the bottom.

Chapter 3

The Beginning of a Swordsman

To be honest, next to nothing happened out of the ordinary the day before the tournament. Some contestants arrived in the afternoon, heading straight to the inn and beginning to boast about how no one in their village had bested them. Several were nobles it seemed. Either way, it didn't interfere with my schedule much.

The morning of the Vetal Duelling Tourney (which was the full name of the tournament), excitement was buzzing in the air. I had no idea how much this meant to everyone until I found out it meant a day off their Calling to watch the tournament. I suppose a day off work would make anyone happy.

I begun to head over to the area that had been set up for duelling. It was in a field just outside of the town, the opposite side of where I practised. A large bit of field had been fenced off, leaving plenty of space for people to stand around the edge. Already, quite the crowd had gathered.

Myne begun approaching me. I changed my course to head over to her. She was stand with her hands behind her back. "Hey, you need to head into the guard barracks."

"Thanks." I looked back at the town and sighed. I just walked all the way down here.

"Oh, wait a second." She revealed what was behind her back. It was a short sword with a thick blade. "I wasn't exactly being truthful when I said I needed to prepare for the tournament. I know you'll probably get a better sword after this, but I thought it might be better than the one you've currently got."

I felt the sword, balancing it on my finger. "It's perfect." I couldn't stop the grin on my face from showing. "Thank you Myne. I mean it."

She blushed, waving it off. "It was nothing. Just…promise me we'll see each other after you head to Centoria."

"Of course." I sheathed the blade on my side. "I won't ever forget you."

"I'll be over there." She pointed to a spot next to the entrance. She began walking over.

I could barely hear her. Everything became fuzzy. My head felt like it was going to explode but I couldn't move to grab it.

I was in a long hallway. A tall hooded figure holding a scythe towered over two people. I approached them. Everything was frozen, but I could hear echoes of a conversation.

"Leon? You're joking, aren't you?" The first figure cradled the body of a second. I couldn't see the first figure fully, but the second was crystal clear. He was tall, black hair covering one eye. He was wearing silver armour, one arm covered by an enormous shield that was snapped in half.

I know this person…

"Light…don't leave me…please…"

"I'm right here. I won't…I won't ever leave you. I won't ever forget you…"

"His brainwaves are increasing in regularity. Maybe it's succeeding. Plug Kirito in."

"Hello?" A hand waved in front of my face, drawing me back to reality. I looked at the owner and saw Killian. "Are you crying?"

I lifted my hand to my cheek to indeed find them wet. I rubbed my eyes and forced a smile. "I'm fine. I need to get going. See you in a bit." I gave Killian a wave before heading up the hill back to town.

What the hell was that? How did I know that guy lying on the ground? And who is Kirito?

I shook these thoughts out of my head. I had to focus on the task ahead. I would have to remember that name. It might hold some answers should the Administrator hold none. Something scared me about that name though, carrying a weight that I couldn't describe. I didn't recognise it, but still…

It took a minute to get to the barracks. There were several people there, varying from tall and muscular, to me. Already I was receiving several sneers and scoffs, very few taking me seriously. The only two were people I knew lived in Vetal.

One was a boy around my age with short black hair that was combed back. I saw him mainly around the stalls, staring at the food. The other was a girl with shoulder length white hair, that wasn't combed at all, looking like she had just gotten out of bed. She was the blacksmith's daughter if I remembered correctly. Both of them were in the corner talking to each other, a sword dangling from their waist.

I leaned against the fence and waited for some sort of announcement. Eventually, the captain of the guard came out, his purple blade hanging from his side. He looked at everyone and nodded. "A typical set of warriors it seems. Let's see…fourteen, fifteen…sixteen. Perfect." He slammed his blade in the ground, drawing the attention of the few that were still talking amongst themselves. "Welcome to the Vetal Duelling Tournament. It is a rather simple procedure. You shall write your name on a sheet of paper. We shall draw four names, and those will fight until one is left standing, and then the remaining few will take each other on in one-on-one duels. The duels will use stop short rules. You will not cause permanent harm to anyone." He glanced at the girl who laughed nervously. "The top four will be granted permission to apply to the Swordcraft Academy in Centoria. However, the last contestant will be given the opportunity to duel me for this blade."

One of the more muscular men chuckled. "I'm surprised no one has taken it from you already old man."

I couldn't help but smile at that observation. True, the captain was old and probably didn't have the same reaction speed as many of the people here, but there had to be a reason why he hadn't given up the blade.

A wad of paper and a quill was handed around. I wrote my name down on one of the pieces and passed the rest of the paper on. I placed it inside the helmet that was left on a table. As I headed back I could hear one of the contestant muttering. "Kid should just go back to shovelling pig shit."

I looked at him and saw who he was looking at. The boy who was at the market a lot. I smirked. "Well, I'm sure you'll love getting acquainted with it."

The man growled as he turned his attention to me. "What did you just say?"

"I'm just saying that when you get knocked down, I'm sure there's going to be a nice pile of crap waiting." I shrugged. "Karma is usually like that."

"Sorry, what am I like?"

I looked to see the boy looking confused. It took a second for me to realise my mistake. Oh, his name must be Karma. "Just saying how you could probably take this guy."

"Your blessing means nothing to me." Karma glared at me.

Man. You try to lift someone up…

The captain took four names from the helmet. "Kimiko, Lent, Eugene and Karma. If you would all follow me down to the duelling area, we can begin."

Upon stepping outside, I could see that the crowd had gotten even bigger. I couldn't help but smile at the reaction. Obviously this was an event everyone looked forward to. Most of the competitors joined the crowd. I headed slightly away from the crowd.

Since this was a new blade, I had to adjust to it quickly. Though to be honest, this blade wasn't much heavier than the practise blade despite being made of a much denser material. I opened the Stacia window of the sword. It had an Object Authority of 15, far below my own. I gave it a swing, feeling much more weight behind my swing. I smiled. This weight made the blade feel like the first real sword I had used.

I swung it a few more times to make sure I had it completely under my control. I sheathed the blade on my side as a huge roar came from the crowd. "They really get fired up about this." I muttered to myself. I headed back around to the fight to see only the girl still standing. The rest of the competitors were on the ground. I felt a mix of surprise and frustration. Surprise that she had ended it so quickly and frustration that I had missed it.

She gave her opponents a bow before walking away. The captain of the guard stepped forward and rubbed his nose. "Well, I'm now a little worried." The crowd laughed. "Kimiko will be progressing to the next round." He took the helmet and pulled out four more pieces of paper. "Kazuma, Light, Dolt and Ren."

I moved through the crowd to be in the centre. Everyone else was already waiting in the ring. The captain directed us all to different corners. I drew my blade and got into a stance. This would be the second time I had actually had a fight with someone else, and the first time I had fought multiple people.

Or was it…?

A bell sounded and the person to my immediate right charged me. I guess he thought I was going to be an easy target. As a result, he left his front wide open and he could be easily be knocked off balance. Even so, I thought I'd indulge him for a bit. I swung at me, hard. I dodged backwards. He had obviously relied on being able to hit, overswinging and stumbling forwards, straight into my foot. I kicked him onto his back and pointed my sword down at him, knocking him out of the fight.

The other two were duelling, their swords clashing together. I took the opportunity to observe their fighting styles. One was very aggressive, swinging with huge power behind their swings with no sense of style. However, the speed meant he left very little opportunity for being on the receiving end of a strike. The other was dodging the strikes, most likely due to the hugely telegraphed attacks. All it would take is one mistake from either one and it would be over.

It didn't take long. The person dodging jumped a little bit too far, their foot stepping on the side of a rock. I could hear the snap of his ankle as the other blade stopped just short of his neck, moving away quickly to let him fall.

Me and the aggressive guy let him get carried off before continuing. With my short sword, I could probably hold back an attack. His blade was a longsword, so he had the range advantage. I smiled as I took up a stance, thinking of a strategy.

My opponent yelled as they swung towards me. It was a swing from left to right. Perfect. I ducked down and tackled them to the ground. I rolled to my feet and pointed my blade at him.

With that, I had won the first match.

I sat away from the crowd, wiping my sword with a small cloth. I could hear the sounds of blades clashing and the crowd cheering. I noticed Karma walking away, looking pissed. Not that I could blame him. If I got knocked out in the first round, I would be pissed too. Maybe my accidental encouragement didn't help either. I thought about going after him for a second, but then again, I didn't want to make him feel worse.

I sighed to myself before sheathing my blade. The next round, I would be facing a fellow winner of the previous round. Either way, I had made it into the Swordscraft Academy. Either way, it would get me to Centoria, which is where I needed to be for this tournament to become an Integrity Knight. Maybe I should ask someone about it next time I had the opportunity.

A cheer came from the crowd, meaning that the final duel had concluded. I headed back over and waited on the edge of the arena. The sun was at the highest point in the sky, so several people were heading back to the village for a water refill. I noticed Kimiko was talking to the captain over on the other side and started heading over. If anyone knew what that tournament was, it was going to be him.

"Come on, let me fight him next." Kimiko was looking disappointed.

"I can't change the rules. It's against the Taboo Index. Surely even you know that." The captain sighed. "If you really want to fight him next, maybe you should start praying to Stacia." He turned to see me. "Ah, speak of the devil."

I gave him a quick bow. "Sorry, I was hoping to ask you about some stuff. My friends seemed to skip out on some details." The captain nodded, waiting for me to continue. "I want to become an Integrity Knight. I believe it might hold some answers to my memory loss. I know there's a tournament in Centoria that allows you to become one but I'm unsure of what journey I should take to get there."

Kimiko snorted, something I chose to ignore. The captain smiled. "You're already on your way there son. The Swordcraft Academy will hold the tournament. I thought that was the whole reason you were joining this in the first place."

"To be honest, I just wanted the sword." I shrugged.

"Well, soon you'll have the chance to prove yourself worthy of the blade." The captain nodded, turning to see how much of the crowd had returned. "Well, only two more fights to go. Good luck to the both of you." He looked behind to Kimiko who sighed.

I was left standing there, facing Kimiko. I had no idea if I should just walk away or talk. She was standing there like she was expecting something. "Um…good luck in the next round."

She smiled, shaking her head. "Honestly, did falling out of the sky make that much of a dent in your brain? I'm going to be fighting you soon. Why would you wish me luck?"

I rolled my eyes. "Well, obviously I'll be going for that sword. But it's called manners."

"You won't be wanting to be polite when I wipe the floor with you." Kimiko walked away. Honestly, she was kind of irritating. Maybe this was why Karma was so pissed off back in the barracks, having to put up with that.

"The next round will be beginning shortly. Contestants, gather around in the centre. Everyone else, gather around the edge."

To be honest, the conversation at the end with the captain was kind of me patching up a detail that I had forgot to mention in the last chapter. I apologise if it seems forced in. That's completely my fault.

But the fight was very short, something that will be rectified in the next 2 chapters. I always enjoy writing long fights, and one in particular is going to take up a lot of the chapter. Kimiko is a character whose name you might recognise. Don't worry, she won't remain a brat forever. Character development is important. It's no fun for a character to be the same at the start and the end.

Even so, I hope you enjoyed. Light's journey is only just beginning...or has it begun long ago and we're just tuning in partway through? Who is Leon? Find out...soon. Let's go with that. Criticism is always appreciated. Until next time, Stay Cool.