Well, here you go folks' chapter three I do hope you all enjoy.
Theblazepanzer24 thank you for the review I write like that because when I read, I sometimes miss the quotation marks so that is why I write like that.
Disclaimer I do not own Sword Art Online Reki Kawahara does please support the official release
A/N 07/08/2021 I am on a roll tonight 3 chapters fixed
: December 5th, 2022, Aincrad floor 1:
Kirito and Sinon got to the amphitheater that was going to be used as the meeting place, they looked around seeing about 40-50 people all seated around them.
They also noticed the girl in the cloak from the day before with Argo sitting behind her, then their attention was drawn to the man in the arena.
"Welcome one and all my name is Diabal, and I fancy myself a knight!" he shouted to the crowd.
Laughter started to erupt with people yelling back that there were no specific class or job system in this game.
He waved his hands to calm them all down. "Well anyway I called this meeting due to my party having finally found the boss room yesterday." He stated which surprised everyone there.
"I wanted to form up a raid party to take it out in 2 days' time and finally gets us to the second floor." He said.
Everyone was starting to agree with him till there was an interruption.
"Hey Diabal-San I would like to say something first." The man said.
He was a little shorter than Diabal and his hair looked like a cactus.
"My name is Kibaou, and I want the beta testers to apologize now and hand over all their equipment and Cor they have stolen from us new player!" He shouted to everyone.
There were gasps all around Kirito looked over to where Argo was sitting, he could see she was shaken by what this man said.
"When this death game was announced they abandoned us took all the best span points and quests and now 2000 people are dead because of them, now I know some of you are beta testers so come on fork it all over and we can continue with this meeting." Kibaou said.
Diabal had walked over to him asking him to stop but was being ignored Kibaou was about to shout again when suddenly, a large black man stood over him.
In a voice that was calm and collected he spoke. "Kibaou is it?" He asked and Kibaou nodded.
"So let me get this straight your saying that the 2000 that have died already is all the beta tester's fault for leaving us all behind?" he asked.
Kibaou nodded again.
"Let me ask what you honestly believe was the best thing to get on those first days was, good spawns, good quests, weapons or armor?" He asked as he reached into his pouch and pulled out a small book.
"Me I would prefer information and that is what I got that is what everyone got this book was available on the day of the launch for free at any merchant, it is written by the beta testers explaining how to use the skill's where to go for quests, and where the good spawn points are." He explained as Kibaou looked at it.
"The information was there and yet people still died and if you had bothered to pay attention you would have known at least half of those deaths was caused by suicide, so in turn I would like to say thank you to the beta testers for making sure we had this on day 1, and for updating all the changes between beta and live." Agil stated as he sat back down.
Kibaou was removed from the stage and sat down as Diabal was restarting what he was saying.
"Thank you Agil was it, thank you for bringing up the data guide so anyway the boss is called Illfang the kobold lord and he will be using an axe and shield when he is on his last health bar, he will switch to a Talwar, and his minions will stop spawning." Diabal explained as he was reading the guide.
"Now I want everyone to pair up in groups of 6 please and if you are not at least level 13 or higher please leave now." He stated which caused about 7 people to leave.
Kirito looked around and saw the hooded girl talking with Argo who was shaking her head he and Sinon scooted over to her.
"Hello again Rapier-San did no one invite you to a group?" Kirito asked.
"I was trying to ask Argo-San, but she says she does not do boss fights." The girl replied.
"Not always no but we have a spot available if you would like to join us." Kirito stated.
She just nodded as Kirito sent the party request, she pushed the blue button and her name appeared in the party as Kirito and Sinon looked up.
"Well welcome to our group Asuna-San." Sinon said.
Asuna turned and glared at Argo then back at Sinon. "How do you know my name?" She demanded.
Sinon Argo and Kirito looked at her with their mouths hanging open.
"Well, Asuna if you move just your eyes to the top left you will see under your health bar there are two others our names should be on them." Kirito explained as she did so.
"So, Kirito and Sinon ok I'm sorry I did not know." She said now feeling bad that she got angry at them for something so trivial.
"It is ok Asuna-San your new to the game anyway we got two days till the boss fight would you like to practice with us?" Sinon asked.
"Yes, that would most likely be best when did you want to do so.?" She agreed to and then asked.
"Most likely tomorrow that way we can spend the whole day practicing right now we got to go and get our weapons and armor upgraded and such then back to our room." Kirito explained.
Asuna looked at the new rapier she got yesterday the wind floret and asked them how they upgraded it.
"Well, Asu-Chan you have all the items needed for it come I will show you we can meet up with these two later." Argo stated Asuna just nodded.
They walked away and Kirito looked at Sinon. "Was it me or was Argo being really overly helpful to Asuna there?" Kirito asked.
Sinon just shrugged. "Maybe the rat is fond of her Kirito." Sinon stated with a devious smile on her face.
"I swear your mind is like a lecher sometimes Sinon when we are in here, anyway lets go find a blacksmith to get our gear upgraded." Kirito said.
Sinon giggled a little as they went out to the town square.
As they were walking around, they noticed a brunette girl with a small furnace going and a tiny anvil, they walked over to her she looked up as they approached her.
"Hi welcome to Lisbeth's smith shop would you like to buy a sword or throwing knives?" She said.
The throwing knives caught Sinon's eyes she figured they would be great to used till she did the quest on floor three to get her bow.
"Yes, we would like you to upgrade our weapons for us and my partner would like to purchase about 30 throwing knives." Kirito explained.
Lisbeth looked a little down at the request for upgrades. "I am going to be honest with you my upgrading has been off I would rather you try an NPC smith for that, so I do not break your weapons." She said.
Kirito looked to Sinon and then back to Lisbeth. "Nonsense I think you will do great here I would like you to upgrade it from +3 to +6 please here is the mats and cor." Kirito said as he opened the trade window to her.
She took the blade placed it on the fire with the upgrade mats after 5 minutes she moved it to the anvil.
"Here goes nothing." She says as she brings her hammer down with a loud bang and a window popped up Upgrade successful to +4, she repeated the same motion and a new window popped up that said Upgrade successful to +5, she was happy at this and brought the hammer down for the final strike and the window popped up again Upgrade successful to +6.
"Yes, it worked wow this is the first time my upgrades did not fail here you go sir." She said handing it back to him.
"Arigatō Lisbeth my name is Kirito by the way, and this is Sinon, I knew you could do it." Kirito said with a smile.
Sinon stepped up and handed her the dagger. "I would like you to upgrade this from +3 to +6 as well Lisbeth-San." Sinon said as she opened a trade window with the mats.
Lisbeth repeated the process and got the dagger on the anvil the first strike was successful the second one was as well however the third one popped a window up that said upgrade failed.
"Gomen'nasai Sinon-San the final upgrade failed." Lisbeth said as she handed the dagger back to Sinon.
Sinon twirled in her hand and then looked at Lisbeth and smiled. "It is ok Lisbeth-San you did a good job getting it to +5 it feels like it could last me awhile, also I need 30 of your throwing knives please." Sinon asked.
Liz nodded and opened the transaction window and traded her the knives for the Cor.
"Arigatō Kirito-San and Sinon-San good luck with the boss fight I will be rooting for you." Lisbeth said with a smile on her face.
"Arigatō Lisbeth and when we beat him, we will come to you to get our repairs done if that is, ok?" Kirito asked.
Lisbeth was slightly excited that she had two customers that wanted to utilize her services. Most people today have been rather anti-social towards her, she nodded yes with a large smile, and they left to head back to their room.
As they were heading back, they bumped into Asuna and Argo. "Hey girls how did your upgrades go?" Kirito asked.
"It was fine Ki-Bo, she got it to +3 the highest she can on this floor, but you're in for a lot of teaching tomorrow." Argo said.
Kirito looked at Asuna and then over to question Argo what she meant but the rat was missing.
"What did she mean?" Kirito asked.
Asuna then explained that she did not understand how the switch function worked and a few other things.
"Well, you can come back to our room, and we could discuss some of it." Kirito stated.
Asuna glared at him. "No thank you I will get a room at the inn." She said as she started to walk away.
Kirito thought that the inn was sold out they a light bulb went off in his head.
"Well, that is just fine me and Sinon will go back to our room that has all you can drink free milk and a full bath." He said.
When she heard the word bath, she stopped short and spun around on her heals and ran up to him.
"What did you?" She demanded as Kirito had a look of fear on his face.
"What my own floor as a room?" he asked she shook her head no, "You mean the milk?" he asked again she still shook her head no and was now glaring at him so hard you would think she was trying to cause him to burst into flames.
"Well that just leaves the bath." He says and she starts nodding her head quickly.
"May I use your bath?" She asked, Kirito looked back at Sinon to see what she thought when Sinon was laughing hard while rolling on the ground.
Kirito glared at her as Sinon looked back up at him and nodded it was ok.
: December 6th, 2022, the entrance to the first-floor boss room:
The group was all assembled for the first boss fight Kirito, Sinon and Asuna where standing near the back and to their right was Klein and his group.
"I only have one thing to say to everyone let's WIN!" Diabal shouted out as he pushed the boss door open.
They all filed in as all the torches on the sides started to light in the back of the room was a large kobold who then jumped in front of the players.
In his arms was a small buckler like shield and a one-handed Axe.
"TOO BATTLE!" Diabal yelled as everyone from teams a through d went in to attack the boss.
Sinon was in the back ranks using her throwing picks and knives to help with the minions while Asuna and Kirito charged them.
After about a half hour of fighting the boss hit his last health gauge and Kirito, Asuna and Sinon took out the last minions.
They all prepared for the final push when Diabal yelled out for everyone to stand back he had this.
Kirito and Klein looked up when the boss tossed his original weapons to the floor and pulled out was supposed to be a Talwar, but Kirito and Klein noticed something was off with the weapon.
"Diabal no pull back that is not a Talwar it's a Nodachi!" Kirito yelled Kibaou heard this and looked over towards Diabal.
Diabal did not have a chance to react to what was said and was sliced across his chest then thrown towards the back.
Kirito at this point took charge. "Klein, Asuna help them out Sinon give them cover!" Kirito yelled pointing towards the players that Illfang jumped in front of.
Sinon hit him in the eye with a throwing pick which caused him to step back a bit while Klein sliced at him and Asuna used linear on him.
Kirito rushed over to Diabal as his health was starting to fall from yellow to red, he pulled out a health potion, only to have Diabal push it away.
"No go win this defeat him for those that have died please." Diabal said.
Kirito while surprised shoved the tip of the potion into his mouth forcing him to take it.
"No, you said no one dies in here today that means you as well, I figured out you are a beta tester like me you were after the last attack bonus, sorry but you're going to be here when it's over." Kirito said to him as his health stopped falling and rose back into the yellow.
Kirito yelled over for Kibaou to take him, and he ran over to help the others out.
Illfang was about to take a swing at Asuna when it was suddenly blocked by Kirito.
"Listen I need you to help me defeat him just like with the minions we can do this." Kirito says to Asuna and to Sinon, they both nodded and Sinon jumped back as Kirito and Asuna ran towards the boss.
Kirito parried Illfang's sword. "Switch!" he yelled to Asuna who nodded and went in for the hit landing it perfectly.
Sinon meanwhile was launching throwing knives at him causing his health to finally dip into the red.
The three of them repeated this as Kirito would parry and Asuna would go in to deliver the blow that gave Sinon an opening to a critical hit spot.
Only this time Illfang recovered and swung for Asuna she dodged at the last second losing her cloak in the process.
Kirito was a little stunned by this and did not notice Illfang swing for him.
"KIRITO!" Sinon yelled out.
Kirito looked up and saw it only able to block part of the strike he is then kicked by the boss having him slam into Asuna and then Sinon, looking up he sees health bar go into the red.
Illfang comes in to give the finishing blow on them when suddenly, they hear a clank and look up both Agil and Klein blocking the blow.
"We got this till you get your health back up!" Agil yells.
Kirito nods and takes a health pot as do the other two there health now back into the green.
Kirito looks at his partners. "Are you two ready to finish this?" Kirito asks.
"Yes." Is all Asuna says as she steps up next to Kirito he turns and looks at Sinon.
"I got your back partner." Sinon says pulling out the last of her throwing knives.
"Right then let's do it." He says as him and Asuna charge at Illfang while Sinon starts a throwing skill.
Illfang brings his sword up to take out Klein and Agil when suddenly hi is hit in the belly by a throwing knife.
He staggers back a little while Kirito and Asuna rush in, Illfang recovers and charges up a sword skill that Kirito bats away giving Asuna a opening.
"All right Sinon, Asuna lets finish this." He yells out as Asuna goes in for a linear attack while Sinon throws the last of her throwing knives.
"Switch!" He yells as Asuna jumps back and Kirito goes in, he hits Illfang on the belly and then activates the vertical sword skill slicing up to his head finishing off the last of his health.
After the boss disappears into a sea of pixels a giant congratulations sign appears with everyone getting there little window saying what they received from the kill.
Kirito gets an extra window for the last attack bonus the coat of midnight.
Sinon comes up and places a hand on his shoulders and Asuna stands next to him on the other side.
Everyone is cheering when suddenly, they here Kibaou yelling for them to stop.
Everyone turns to him as someone else is helping Diabal back up.
"Why, why did you not say anything sooner about the bosses second weapon you knew didn't you, you knew and said nothing Diabal almost dies because of that." Kibaou asked.
"I know why he is a beta tester he knew and said nothing because he is a beta tester only looking out for himself." The other said.
"Oh no if I don't find a way to nip this fast, we are going to have a lot more issues." Kirito thought to himself.
"He was one of the ones that left us in the dust to die the day this death game launched." Another by the name of Lind yelled.
"Hey back off I would be dead if he did not help me on the day of launch!" Klein yelled in defense of Kirito.
The arguing started to intensify when suddenly Kirito started laughing.
This caused everyone to look at him as he got up from where he was sitting.
"Kazuto-Kun what are you doing?" Sinon whispered into his ear, he placed a hand up towards her.
She was taken aback by this gesture unsure of what was going on.
"Beta testers please don't lump me in with those noobs, they had no idea what they were doing when they got here." He said.
"Yeah, I knew what the boss was going to do because I made it higher than anybody else in the beta test, I saw bosses with sword skills you have not seen yet that was how I knew." He said manically.
"Wait that, that makes you a cheater as well so a beta tester and a cheater, you're a beater!" Lind and Kibaou both yelled out.
Sinon seeing this jumped up and joined him.
"That is right, but he was not alone I was right there with him the whole time." Sinon yelled back.
"Shino what are you doing?" he whispered to her.
"You're not taking this heat alone not while I'm with you Kazuto-Kun." She replied.
"Beater I like it just don't lump me in with those lousy beta testers." He said as he equipped his new item and him and Sinon walked towards the stairs.
Asuna not sure what had just happened looked at Klein and Agil who had figured out that Kirito and Sinon took all the heat off the rest of the beta testers.
She ran up the stairs after them, they turned towards her, and she stopped.
"What are you guys doing?" She asked.
"Listen Asuna you need to not associate with us ok it is for the best." Sinon said.
She shook her head. "Listen Asuna you have the chance to be one of the strongest in the game if someone you trusts invites you to a guild take it ok." Kirito stated as he removed Asuna from the group and he and Sinon continued their way up the stairs and to floor 2.
They activated the door and walked out onto the field of floor 2 they looked around and started to head for the main village to activate the teleport gate.
They were about 20 meters away when they heard people shouting for them, they could not make out what they were saying and thought it was the raid group laying in on them.
They kept walking till suddenly Kirito felt a hand grab his arm and start to twist him around.
His other hand reached for his sword till he noticed who it was.
"Asuna?" He said surprised as was Sinon, it was then they noticed Agil, Klein, his group of friends and Argo running up to them.
"I will not let you run off on me like that." Asuna stated.
"Look if your seen with us they will treat you badly Asuna." Sinon says.
Asuna glares at her for a second. "So, what if they do I see you guys as friends and I don't care what the others say about you." She said which took Kirito and Sinon by surprise.
"Yeah man I would not have even been in there or even alive if it were not for you helping me that day, I stand behind you no matter what." Klein said which also caught Kirito by surprise.
"Wait Klein I just left you there and ran off on you, how?" Kirito started to say.
"Hey man remember it was me that said 6 more people would drag you down, and if you feel that bad about supposedly abandoning me then I will not forgive you completely for it till we share a good meal on the other side." Klein said.
Kirito was in utter shock surprised that even with the hatred towards beta testers focused on him and Sinon these people still trusted them.
The next to speak was the giant of a man with a battle axe. "Listen man I know why you did, and I really respect that you stopped that before it became a full-on PK fest in there." Agil stated.
Kirito looked over at Sinon who nodded her head in agreement with the others.
Kirito just shrugged his shoulders. "All right if you want to stay with us who am I to say no." Kirito said as they all cheered.
They headed off to the next village once they arrived, they went and checked into the inn Kirito and Sinon sharing a room while they offered Asuna to stay with then she declined going with Argo instead Klein and his guys as well as Agil got their own rooms.
: Kirito and Sinon's room:
They got in and saw two beds and started to relax a little as Kirito pulled out two pieces of that dry bread form the first floor.
Sinon looked at him and scoffed. "Kazuto-Kun do we really need to eat that bread again." She asked.
"Well, I guess we have enough Cor to go out to eat tonight want to see if the others want to join us?" he asked.
She nodded and they all said yes.
They met in the Café right next to the Inn they sat down ordered there food and started eating as soon as it arrived.
"SO, Kirito what do you plan to do when we reach the third floor?" Klein asked.
Kirito knew what he meant that was where guilds could finally be formed.
"Well, we have to do a quest to get Sinon her bow but other than that most likely grinding and mapping you?" Kirito asked.
"Me and the boys here are going to form our guild you three are welcome in it of course." Klein said.
They all looked at each other Sinon Shook her head no knowing the ridicule Klein would get for having the two beaters in his guild.
"I can't speak for Asuna or the little rat over here but me and Sinon are going to stay solo for a while." Kirito stated.
"While I should hit Ki-Bo for calling me little, but I can't join a guild being an info broker means being impartial and being in a guild destroys that." Argo stated.
"I am not sure yet Klein there is a lot of things about me people that a lot of people do not like about me so I will stay solo for the time being as well but Arigatō." Asuna said.
"What the hell is she talking about she is good looking smart strong and good at the game?" Sinon thought to herself.
"All right then the offer will always be there for all of you should you ever change your minds." Klein said.
They all spent the rest of the night eating and talking.
: April 8th, 2023:
Sinon and Kirito were heading back to the town on floor 17 after hunting down materials so that Sinon could get Lisbeth to craft arrows for her.
Sinon had been able to do the quest to get the bow skill on floor three and it was after that they finally parted ways with Asuna promising to keep in contact with her.
Though they both found it amusing that when they did come into random contact with her, she was with Argo the Rat, though she did take their advice and joined a guild.
She became immensely powerful and was on her way to being second in command of her guild, Argo was still the best info broker in the game and the most expensive as well.
She would sell you info while at the same time finding ways to empty your wallet.
Klein kept in contact with us trying to get us to join his guild repeatedly saying that Lind and his Divine Dragon Alliance guild would stop trying to put you guys on trash duty in boss raids.
They turned him down repeatedly afraid they would tarnish his guild with them still being labeled beaters by the DDA and Kibaou and his following.
However, Kirito and Sinon seemed to have caught the eye of the leader of the Knights of the Blood Heathcliff, this was also the same guild Asuna had joined.
While he did not offer an invitation to them to join, he did however value their advice and counsel at boss meetings which seemed to anger Lind.
Sinon turned to Kirito. "Hey Kazuto-Kun we have a few days before we take on the 28th floor boss and the meeting is not till tomorrow afternoon, what you want to do tonight?" Sinon asked both still reverting to using their real names with each other when alone.
Kirito just shrugs and goes to answer when they hear a scream in the distance, they run towards it and find a small group of players with one playing forward the others trying to take on the mob from a small distance with spears.
Without thinking Sinon nocks an arrow and fires while Kirito runs in to block what would have been a kill hit on the only tank build in the group.
The arrow hits it mark distracting the mob while Kirito jumps in and does a vertical square skill to destroy it.
Both he and Sinon look at the group the first one to talk is a little one in a yellow cloak and knit cap.
"Arigatō for that it looked like we were goners there." The one in yellow says.
"It was no problem if I may what your levels are though?" Kirito asks.
"Um around level 20 with a couple of us at 18 and 19." A new voice spoke up he was very tall.
Kirito and Sinon were taken aback by this.
"You know it is not recommended to do a field dungeon unless you're at least 5 to 10 levels above it right?" Sinon says.
The tall one puts his hand behind his head and rubs it. "Yeah, we know we were hoping to gain a good amount of experience with our group size so we can someday join the frontlines." He says sheepishly.
"Well anyway you should be more careful the mobs on this floor are no joke, how about we walk with you to the town teleport so that you do not have to worry so much about the MOBS." Kirito says to them.
They agree but then the tall one asks them. "Hey, would you guys like to join us on floor 11 so we can buy you a meal and drink as our thanks for you two rescuing us?" The tall one asks.
Kirito and Sinon look at each other and nod that they would like too.
"Great my name is Keita, the little one is Ducker, the one in purple is our forward Tetsuo, that is Sasamaru in green and the girl in back is Sachi, we were all in the same computer club in high school when we dove into the game." Keita explained.
"Oh, it is nice to meet you guys my name is Kirito and this is Sinon." Kirito says.
This cause some of the group to gasp hearing their names.
Ducker walks forward with a huge grin on his face. "Wait you're the Black Swordsman Kirito and the Eagle eye Archer Sinon no way you guys are like two of the greatest players on the frontlines." Ducker says with his grin getting bigger.
Kirito looks at Sinon. "Wait when did we get nicknames?" he asked as Sinon giggled.
"You can thank Asuna and her rat for that." Sinon says with a slight smile on her face.
"Damn it Leader your luck skill must be beyond limits to have these two be the ones that saved us." Ducker says.
Everyone but Keita laughs at that while Keita just chuckles a little.
: Floor 11 Taft:
"To Kirito and Sinon our hero's Kanpai!" They all yell out to a now sheepish looking Sinon and Kirito.
"Arigatō." They both respond.
"Listen I know I shouldn't really ask this, but we would like to get stronger and make it to the front lines like you guys, would you be interested in training us?" Keita asks as he opens a trade window putting in a lot of Cor.
Kirito declines the trade which slightly disheartens Keita, then they turn to each other and whisper a few things back and forth.
Kirito and Sinon then look at the group. "We would be happy to help you guys out and teach you some things but there are two conditions, one we will not be around all the time due to us being clearers second when we are working with you, you follow everything we say and not get in over your heads ok." Sinon says as they all nod with smiles on their face.
"Also, you do not have to pay us for it we will get Cor from the kills too so that is good enough ok." Kirito adds they all respond with a smile on their face.
Sinon is looking over the group when she can see Sachi fidgeting and looking a little frightened.
"Damn leader your luck is beyond great." Ducker said as Sinon got up from her chair and walked over to Sachi.
"Sachi-San may I speak with you for a moment?" Sinon asks
Sachi nods and they head outside.
"Yes Sinon-Senpai what can I do for you?" Sachi asks.
"First drop the Senpai nonsense your older than me if you're in high school second what is on your mind you looked unsure and scared in there are you ok?" Sinon asks while waving her hands in front of her face.
"Have you ever wanted to run away and hide?" Sachi asks this catches Sinon by surprise.
When Sinon does not answer right away Sachi continues.
"I am afraid of dying and Keita wants me to start training with a sword and shield to be up front with Tetsuo and I am so scared that I am going to die and let them all down." Sachi says.
Sinon puts a hand on her shoulder. "Before I met Kirito I always wanted to run and hide away but once I met him it helped me get a little stronger and face things head on, now that does not mean there are not things that frighten me or anything like that and to be honest there are still times, I fell I'm not strong at all." Sinon said.
Sachi looked up at her with a little shock one of the greatest clearers in the game one of only a few that have the archery skill and the only one that does that fights on the front line.
"May I ask what frightens you or makes you feel like you're not strong enough Sinon-San?" Sachi responds with.
"Honestly Sachi I will not go into to detail about it I'm still not comfortable talking about it, but I suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and no it's not from the game but something that happened in my past, and there are still times I have nightmares and I have panic attacks but not as much as before." Sinon explains.
"Oh, ok thank you for telling me but how do I get over this fear of dying I really only wanted to stay in the town of beginnings but Keita Ducker Tetsuo all of them are my best friends in the real world I did not want to let them down." Sachi says with tears coming down her face.
Sinon moves in and hugs her lightly.
"It is ok to be scared Sachi have you told them yet?" Sinon asked.
Sachi shook her head no. "I am afraid they will hate me for it." Sachi responds with.
"Listen you use a Spear as your main weapon, correct?" Sinon asks as Sachi nods.
"Ok we can have you switch to a full Halberd which uses the same skill set as spears but also grants high blocking from a slightly more distance than a Shield and sword build." Sinon states.
Sachi cheers up a little. "But you do need to talk to your guild about this ok I believe they will understand and help you with your fears." Sinon explained.
Sachi nodded. "May I ask Sinon-San what helps you not have nightmares or panic attacks a lot anymore?" Sachi asks.
"Well for one the object that sets them off is not in the game, the other is being around Kirito, he and his sister saved me from bullies one day and became my best friends." Sinon explained.
"Oh, ok Arigatō Sinon-San for talking with me I will do as you suggest tonight." Sachi says as Sinon smiles at her.
They then walk back in to see everyone laughing at the table.
: April 12, 2023:
Everyone was celebrating the defeat of the boss on the 28th floor Sinon had gotten the last attack bonus with an arrow right into the head of the boss.
Her rare item was a new Recurve bow with far better stats than the one she had from the quest.
Kirito had congratulated her and saw one of the fighters walk up to them he was new to the clearer groups and did not seem to have a guild affiliation.
He walked up to both when he gasped at the sight of Sinon.
"Asada-San is that you?" the hooded figure asked as he pulled his hood back.
Sinon was a little surprised by who she saw.
"Shinkawa-San you're in this game?" She asked.
Kirito stood off to the side listening in.
"Well in here I am known as Spiegel and I dove in with my brother on the day of the launch, so I usually run with him but wanted to try a boss fight so here I am, who is your friend here." Spiegel asked.
"Oh, this is Kirito he is actually the brother to the girl I introduced you to in the café that day." Sinon explained.
"Also, Spiegel I go by Sinon in here." She said putting her hand out to shake his he did as well, Sinon then noticed a weird marking on his arm but chose to not ask about it.
"Well, that is great Sinon I look forward to seeing you again, but I have to get going." Spiegel says as he walks away with his waving in the air.
"Nice guy I take it he went to your old school since I never saw him in ours." Kirito said.
Sinon nodded as they heard Asuna calling over to them.
They walked up to her. "Hey, Asuna, how have you been?" Sinon asked.
"Been doing ok Sinonon, but I grabbed you guys I just got a message from Argo-Chan she wants to meet with you guys." Asuna says with a smile on her face.
"And the rat could not message me?" Kirito says sarcastically.
Sinon bops him on the head. "Play nice Kirito ok we will meet her at the café next to our inn on floor 27." Sinon says.
Asuna nods as she runs off to her guild.
Kirito looks at Sinon. "So, you ever notice that when the rat is brought up Asuna seems to beam why is that?" Kirito asks.
"Dear god I am now starting to believe he lived a sheltered life." Sinon thinks to herself.
"I don't know you will have to ask her." Sinon lies kind of seeing as she is only guessing at this point.
: Floor 27 Café:
Sinon and Kirito are sitting at a table when Asuna walks up to them.
"Hi guys." Asuna greets as they wave back and say hello to her.
"So where is your pet rat?" Kirito asks.
"Now, now Ki-Bo I am not her pet just really good friend anyway I am glad you both came." Argo says as she took a seat with them.
"What do you have and how much?" Kirito said getting to the point.
"The first part of this info is free the second well it will be about 10,000 Cor." Argo stated.
Kirito mumbled something about the rat trying to take all his savings.
"Well since you paid me right away, I will start with the second bit of Info, there has been a rise of player killings by a couple of larger groups, 1 is called titans hand, though they usually rob a player and run off they only kill them if they are broke, the other is larger and seems to be more violent they are called laughing coffin. "Argo sated this caught the others by surprise.
"This laughing coffin well they are brutal lead by a guy named PoH some people are saying it stands for Prince of Hell and his lieutenants are known as Johnny Black and the red eye XaXa, you can notice them by a tattoo they brand on their members even green recon members is a skull and arm bone peeking out of a coffin." Argo explained Sinon silently gasped.
"The first part that I said was free was that someone has been asking for a lot of info on Sin-Chan I never see his face and when asked he always has some intermediaries do the trade of Cor so I cannot see his name." Argo stated.
"I just wanted to let you guys know so that you can be more careful ok I care about both of you." Argo says.
Sinon thanks her with a smile Kirito on the other hand. "If you cared about us, you would not try to empty my wallet every-time we see each other." Kirito says.
"Aw Ki-Bo I would I make a living if I gave all my info for free." Argo said with a smile as she and Asuna got up to leave and asked them to be careful.
They all agreed and left.
Later that night in their room Kirito and Sinon have gotten changed Kirito is going through his inventory while Sinon was shaking a bit at her bed.
Kirito noticed it and walked over to her bed.
"Shino are you ok?" he asked.
"Kazuto-Kun that boy we saw today that knew me in the real world he had a tattoo similar to the one that Argo describe at least I think he did I only saw part of it when he shook my hand." Shino said.
"Kazuto what if he comes after us what if he is the one hounding Argo for info on me?" She says starting to panic Kazuto shifting into comforting mode that he does when she has her nightmares and panic attacks.
"I will not let anyone harm you Shino I promise as long as I draw breath your safe you mean a lot to me and to Sugu as well." Kazuto says.
"Arigatō Kazuto-Kun." She replies as she falls asleep in his arms.
: safe zone in a cave on the 25th floor:
There is a short boy pacing back and forth in tattered cloak. "How dare he touch my Asada-San I was saving and protecting her just fine till she went to his school." The boy was saying.
Another figure walks up he is also in a tattered rode but had a mask on with glowing red eyes.
"How was the raid little brother?" The man in the mask asked.
"It went fine found Asada-San finally and she was with some boy how dare he touch my Asada-San." The boy repeated.
The man in the masks. "Would you like us to collect her little brother?" he asked.
"Yes XaXa-Nii-San I would." Spiegel says as he smile.
"Oh Asada-San XaXa-Nii-San is going to rescue you and bring you to me where you belong." The boy thought with a grotesque smile on his face
There you go folks sorry for the long chapter, but I had a lot to get out on here I did time skip a bit also I introduced Laughing Coffin here and I also set up the two death gun guys since I thought if Shino is in here why not Spiegel anyway, please review as always, I do enjoy them.
Till next Chapter Catch ya on the flip side