A/N:
Early post! Got stuff I'm working on tomorrow so not going to be a lot of time for me to post, so you're getting it tonight instead. Just wanna give a heartfelt thank you for the support you've given for this story thus far. The feedback is especially appreciated, and I'm glad to see that the OCs are not just tolerated, but appreciated! It's flattering to know that they're fitting into the regular cast seamlessly. If you decide to leave a comment/review, lemme know which (if any) of the OCs are your favorite thus far.
Without further ado, I present to you the next chapter. It's time to clear the 10th floor, y'all.
Klein was apprehensive.
Was that the right word? It didn't feel like it. Apprehensive, while correct, didn't describe the breadth of what Klein was feeling right now as he stared at the doors to the 10th floor boss chamber. He was uneasy, uncertain, and impatient. The little kid inside - which, admittedly, made itself known outwardly from time to time - was jumping for joy at the prospect of facing down a samurai boss. It was no secret to anyone who knew Klein that the redhead was a fan of the samurai aesthetic. Hell, his current armor did its best to mimic that style, though Klein had limited options so far in how the various armor styles at this level looked.
No, what he was feeling was anxious.
"Hey, you alright man?" A deep, familiar voice asked him.
Klein turned around to see Agil right behind him, a look of concern painted on his dark features. The merchant Clearer was joined by two others; Klein remembered the one on the left was named Wolfgang, but honestly he couldn't remember who the other player was. Was it Mako? Mako sounded right. Until proven otherwise, merchant clearer number three was now Mako.
"Y-yeah." Klein said with a gulp, reigning his thoughts in and bringing them back to the task at hand. He flashed a smile. "Just eager to whip some samurai ass!"
"Nervous too, huh?" Agil asked, apparently seeing right past Klein's blustering facade. Was he that easy to read? Agil pointed a thumb towards the many players assembled nearby, he continued. "Don't sweat it. I'm pretty sure everyone's feeling the same way."
"This is a pretty big step here, Agil." Klein confessed. "Kirito and Argo told me no one's gotten past this guy, not even in the beta."
"You've got a point there…" Agil murmured. He straightened himself, gripped the haft of his axe just a little tighter, and looked straight ahead at the gates. "But back then they didn't have a good reason to fight. We do."
Klein nodded, feeling just a little bit inspired. Damn, Agil was cool.
He looked around one last time before the fight would begin in earnest. Just behind him, the rest of Fuurinkazan was mingling with a few of the Renegades and half of the Braves. It sounded like they were talking about some sort of training they held yesterday, but Klein was too far away to pick up any more than that. Nearby was the other half of the Renegades - including Kizmel, to Klein's continued surprise - chatting with the other half of the Braves. Kirito and Asuna were with neither group at the moment, instead standing up front with the rest of the raid leadership. Kirito may be calling the shots on this raid, but Klein knew better than to assume his young friend would be able to accomplish this without proper communication and coordination with the other leaders.
His eyes continued to wander until they met a particularly hardened pair of eyes that were peeking out from behind a scarf. Klein almost took a step back in surprise. It was that ninja girl everyone had been talking about, the one from the meeting yesterday. He'd no idea what her name was but his first knee-jerk reaction was that she had to be a badass. She held a kind of stoic calm about her, but her posture and body language spoke volumes of how ready she was to leap into action at a moment's notice.
For the first time in a long time, Klein did not feel the need to hit on a woman. He valued his continued existence too much.
She gave him a curt nod, and only then did he realize he'd been staring. He felt his face flush a little in embarrassment at being caught but he had the decency to smile and nod back. He awkwardly shifted his attention back to the gate as it creaked open and an eerie silence hung over the Clearer raid group. With the rest of Fuurinkazan finally grouping back up with him, Klein stepped forward into the chamber.
The first thing he noticed was that it was dark. Ominously so, given how spacious the chamber seemed to be. He couldn't see the walls, nor could he see the far end of the chamber, but on some instinctual level he knew they weren't alone. There was something in the darkness there with them.
Klein was about to say something witty about somebody turning the light out when the room lit up.
A set of braziers on either side of the chamber, nearest the Clearers, were the first to erupt with flame. A second later, another two, just next to the initial two and further in, lit up. This continued for the next few seconds as the only sounds in the chamber were the sounds of numerous flames lighting. Finally, a set of braziers, these two larger than the rest and elevated on a stone platform, lit up, casting an orange glow on a towering figure. Klein felt his heart jump in his chest at the sight.
It was a samurai.
Well, less a samurai and more a demon dressed in samurai armor. No human could be that physically imposing. The thing had to be at least 20 feet tall and exuded power and strength. Adorning its body was a full suit of ceremonial samurai armor, the black metals glinting in the torchlight. Its red faceplate was fearsome, displaying a grinning, fanged countenance that was surely meant to invoke fear in its opponents.
Well, it was working.
As a long, serpentine tongue snaked its way out of the faceplate and waved around, Klein recoiled at the sight. "What the shit?!"
"Damn. Kayaba sure knew how to make 'em, didn't he?" Orlando remarked, he and his guild standing a short distance away from Fuurinkazan.
The sound of scraping steel echoed through the chamber, interrupting any conversations that might have been going on at the moment, as the boss unsheathed the katana strapped to his waist. It was a beautiful blade, if Klein was being honest. The blade itself was a clean silver, and the way the light bounced off its surface was nothing short of mesmerizing. The guard was golden, perfectly complimenting the deadly and regal appearance of the blade.
Too bad it was going to be used to kill people.
The massive samurai slowly walked forward, its armored footsteps clanging against the stone floor. Five health bars displayed above its helmeted head, just under its nameplate.
((Kagachi the Samurai Lord)).
"Battle positions!" Kirito roared, spurring the tanks to take up their assigned places. The damage dealers weren't far behind, placing themselves either behind the wall of tanks or on the flanks. "He's going to come in fast!"
Klein unsheathed his own curved sword, noting how pitiful it was in comparison to Kagachi's katana. He'd have to ask Liz to make him a new sword after this. The leader of Fuurinkazan took his position behind the right flank. A quick glance around made Klein realize he and his guild were right next to some of the Renegades, the entirety of the Braves, and that ninja girl.
True enough, Kagachi suddenly shot forward at the nearest target with a long, curved slash of its katana. The resulting clang of katana meeting shield resounded and echoed through the chamber, but Kagachi wasn't done yet. Despite its sheer, overwhelming size, the demonic samurai could really move. After the first strike made contact, two more quickly followed, pushing back the poor shielder who'd unfortunately been the target of its attack.
"Tanks! Start rotating!" Kirito commanded, his voice barely audible over the sounds of Kagachi unleashing absolute hell on the shield wall. "DPS, flank but be careful!"
Circling around to Kagachi's right rear flank, Klein struck with his sword, scoring two direct hits on the samurai's leg. Stepping back for a moment - mostly to gauge the samurai's reaction - he saw Dale swing out with his weapon, carving a gash across the samurai's calf. He, too, stepped back as the as-of-yet-unnamed ninja girl sprinted in, jumping and stepping off Dale's shoulder and lashing out with her dagger twice, scoring direct hits on the samurai's shoulder.
"Hey!" Dale cried out, clearly caught off guard with being used as a springboard.
The ninja then kicked off of Kagachi's shoulder and landed behind Klein, dagger held in a reverse grip. Klein would have been more impressed, but at the moment he had more pressing matters to deal with. Namely, the fact that his little sub-group had dealt too much damage in such a short amount of time. Naturally, that drew the demon samurai's ire, and Klein gulped as he saw that crimson visage turn his way.
Shit. His eyes were glowing red.
"Back away!" Klein shouted, trying to keep his voice from sounding panicked. Fortunately, everyone nearby started to jump or step back, heeding his warning. Unfortunately, Kagachi had the benefit of reach on its side. The demon samurai swung out with its monstrously large katana and Klein took the first attack, barely raising his sword to block the blow. The impact was too great, sending him flying back. He felt himself collide with somebody behind him.
"Shit." Klein cursed as he struggled to untangle himself from the player underneath him. "He hits like a truck."
"Klein, we need to get you a shield, man." Nautilus said as he crawled out from under Klein. "Oh. Thanks, Kuroi."
Klein shook his head and looked up to see the ninja girl pulling Nautilus to his feet. She merely answered him with another nod before holding a hand out to Klein. So that was her name. Kuroi.
"Thanks." Klein said as he was hefted to his feet. Kuroi nodded once before speeding back into the fray. Not one to be outdone, Klein ran back in towards Kagachi, this time a little wary of the demon samurai's deceptive speed.
The next few minutes seemed to drag on forever, in Klein's opinion. The problem with Kagachi, unlike the bosses before it, was not its bulk. Compared to other bosses, it actually wasn't that heavily armored, given the only form of covering outside of the pauldrons, the bracers, chestplate, and greaves was mostly cloth. Unfortunately, that lent the demon samurai an unnatural speed for its size. What attacks weren't actively blocked or parried were dodged. Slower players like Leonn and Agil just weren't fast enough to land hits consistently, while players like Yuna, Asuna, Silica, and Kuroi were really the only players having any measure of success.
Seeing his health drop lower than he was comfortable with, Klein retreated back behind the front line. He spotted Kirito also taking a break to drink a health potion, so he came up alongside him as he fished out his own.
"What's this guy's deal, man?" Klein asked, uncorking the stopper on his potion and guzzling it. He felt a shiver as he finished the bitter tonic before tossing the empty vial to the side. "It's like we're barely damaging him."
A streak of pale blue light screamed over their heads, impacting Kagachi's helmet and causing it to stagger back from the blow. Klein whipped around to see Sinon with her bow still raised, clearly having fired such a massive shot.
"Damn, Sinon!" Klein exclaimed, pumping a fist in the air. "You go, girl!"
Sinon glanced in his direction before giving a smirk. It looked like she was going to say something, but her eyes suddenly went wide. She quickly dived to the side just as a winding white beam snaked its way over Klein's head and slammed into the spot where Sinon just stood.
"What the hell?!" Klein screamed out, wheeling around to see that Kagachi had a ribbon of white light wrapped around his arm. It yanked the magical-looking ribbon back, exposing what looked like the head of a glowing white snake. The energy dissipated as Kagachi resumed its melee offensive on the tanks in front of it.
"Shit." Kirito muttered under his breath, clearly displeased. He looked over at the ranged players. "Ranged, ease up on your attacks! Low, consistent damage! Too much at once and he'll shift aggro!"
"This guy doesn't mess around, does he?" Klein mumbled, more to himself than anybody else. He took a closer look at Kagachi as the boss lashed out multiple times with its katana. There had to be a weakness they were overlooking. He hit way too hard not to have some hidden weakness. Most every boss prior had something similar if they were this difficult, but what was it? He shrugged.
In the meantime, he'd slash the hell out of it until a weakness did show its face.
Klein charged in again, sword at the ready. As he approached one of the tanks was knocked back by a particularly strong attack that he clearly was not braced for. Those in the back line immediately caught him, and Klein used the break in the shield wall as an opening. He weaved in and had to duck as Kagachi's katana soared over his head. He slid to his knees, coming up underneath the demonic samurai. Not one to waste an opportunity, Klein slashed upward twice with his sword.
Klein was pretty sure the damn thing wasn't human, so he had no qualms about cutting up the demon's junk.
As he slid under and past the samurai, he leapt to his feet, spinning to deal one last strike across Kagachi's backside. He slid on his feet, the momentum of the maneuver carrying him past Kagachi's melee range. The demon samurai, for its part, was not pleased with the underhanded - or was it underlegged, in this case? - tactic and shifted its attention onto Klein.
Shit. He'd done too much damage at once.
Klein backpedalled, eager to let the tanks try and re-establish aggro on the rampaging boss monster. Kagachi slashed out with his katana, only to be met with a maul as Leonn stepped in and parried the blow. Unfortunately, the boss was still too fast for the beta tester, and a second attack from the demon sent Leonn careening to the side.
"GAH!" Leonn cried out as he went tumbling into one of the nearby braziers. He slowly got up onto his feet and gave a thumbs up. "I'm good!"
Klein couldn't afford to dwell on that too long, as another strike of the katana came screaming at him. This time, it was Kizmel who stepped in, deflecting the katana with her shield. She lashed out once with her sword before she, too, was swatted away with a spinning strike from the demon. That katana was just too long and too strong.
Then it dawned on him. That was it.
Klein was never more thankful than now that he was a bit of a samurai nerd. There was a reason why he based his aesthetic off of the Japanese warriors of old. There was an elegant honor to them that always appealed to Klein. That was beside the point right now, though, but that particular fascination of his made the next observation all the more obvious.
Katanas were elegant weapons, and they were normally very suited for close combat. In fact, compared to an average longsword, they were shorter and better at striking targets within close range. The blade of your average katana was typically twice the length of the pommel, giving it excellent close-quarters maneuverability. Kagachi's "katana" was too long. It was more of a nodachi than anything else, given its stupidly long reach. To that end, Kagachi was using attacks and strikes that focused at keeping opponents at moderate range.
In other words, not like a katana at all.
Klein shot forward, making the most of the opportunity afforded by the two Renegades. He skidded to a stop almost directly underneath the boss and began slashing out with his sword, carving red lines into Kagachi's thighs and shins. Kagachi swung with its katana, but Klein was able to duck and dodge easily, not that he really needed to; with how close he was to the boss, if the attack made contact Klein would have been hit by Kagachi's forearm or the sword's pommel, not its blade.
"Kirito!" Klein shouted as he ducked under Kagachi's next swing. He shuffled under the boss's legs again before appearing on the other side, whereupon he executed a stronger sword skill on the unsuspecting boss's back. "He's got too much reach!"
"Be careful though!" Kirito warned. "He'll probably move to create space! Tanks, get ready to adapt!"
Klein suddenly found himself joined by Geeou and Silica, who'd both managed to slip past Kagachi's offensive to join Klein in his unorthodox assault. The trio kept the pressure on Kagachi, slipping away from its wide-sweeping slashes. Having Silica up front was an added bonus, since any damage taken was quickly patched up by Pina, who was clutching onto her master's shoulder for dear life, rather than be caught in the air and within slashing distance.
Just as Klein finished a ((Horizontal)), Kagachi leapt up and over the tank wall, retreating further into the chamber. Now that it had some space to work with, Klein could properly see the white wrapped cloth along its forearm unravel itself and form that familiar glowing white snake. Klein's eyes widened as Kagachi used the snake like a whip, stretching and elongating its form to strike the left-most flank of players. With another jerk of its arm, the whip retracted and lashed out again, this time hitting the right flank.
"Ranged, keep up the pressure!" Kirito commanded as he ran forward. "Everyone else, spread out and charge!"
As instructed, the entirety of the raid group spread out and advanced on Kagachi's position. With everyone as spread out as they were, Kagachi wasn't able to hit as many targets with that glowing-snake move, and those that were targeted were able to dodge with ease without having to worry about colliding with their neighbor. Kirito really had a knack for battle tactics. Even now, several months since the day he met the swordsman, Klein was still learning something from his junior. It was simultaneously sobering and embarrassing.
With a firm grasp of Kagachi's attack patterns, the next few minutes of battle went rather smoothly. Those that were quick enough closed the distance and got inside Kagachi's bubble and were able to deal damage in relative safety, provided they were swift enough to dodge any attacks. Meanwhile, the tanks kept most of the focus on them and away from the damage dealers. For a while, things were looking up, but as the boss's health bars dwindled and dwindles, Klein was waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Then Kagachi's health hit the last health bar.
"Phase change!" Kirito roared, prompting everyone to immediately step back, resituate themselves, and wait for the boss to finish whatever bullshit-upgrade Kayaba programmed for it.
With a serpentine hiss, Kagachi swept outward with his katana, a move that normally would have knocked everyone in immediate range back. Fortunately, quick thinking from their raid leader prevented that from happening. As Klein hastily drank a healing potion, he watched as Kagachi held his free hand out and proceeded to manifest a second katana out of thin air.
"I'm sorry, what?!" Nautilus cried out in alarm, his reaction mirrored by many in the Clearer group.
"He's dual wielding?! How is that fair?!" Another voice called out.
"He's gonna get faster!" Kirito warned. "DPS, fall back! Tanks, move in! Nobody engages until we learn the new attack patterns!"
Kagachi shot forward, slamming into the nearest players - who were fortunately the tanks - and unleashed a flurry of dizzying strikes that kept the shielders on the defensive. The sounds of clanging metal were a cacophony on the ears, and Klein winced at the unpleasant and incessant sound. He quickly backed off and took position next to Kirito, curious to see what his friend thought of this new development.
"He got faster." Kirito said. Klein was about to reprimand him for his keen grasp of the obvious but stopped, seeing the pensive look on his friend's face. That was probably less an observation and more thinking aloud. "We're not going to get many opportunities to sneak in hits like before. He's too fast for that."
"So what are we supposed to do, Beater?" Kibaou asked pointedly, walking up alongside them. Klein shot him a glare before redirecting his attention back to Kirito.
Kirito merely looked forward, watching Kagachi closely as the demon samurai turned into a flurry of steel. Noting his previous patterns, Klein decided to voice his opinion on the matter.
"Kirito, he might not be able to use that freaky snake thing anymore." Klein began, pointing forward at the boss with his sword. "His free hand isn't free anymore."
"That's a good point, but we can't rely on our ranged players to carry the damage." Kirito replied, giving a nod but still looking thoughtful.
Klein grimaced. Kagachi was too fast, which meant that nobody short of a tank would be able to get close enough to deal melee damage. The few people who could get through were only able to land a hit or two before having to retreat. With the insane reach those blades had, and the speed at which they were being swung, he couldn't see any way to get past them reliably. Maybe a parry? Katanas were light blades, so a successful parry might throw off its speed and rhythm enough to create an opening. Leonn had done it before, but was too slow to avoid the follow-up strike.
"Kirito, we can try parrying it." Klein advised, drawing baffled looks from some of the others. "Katanas and nodachis are light blades. They should be easy to parry."
"Are you crazy?" Lind asked him, gesturing towards the flurry of steel a short distance away. "How are we supposed to parry that?"
"Very carefully, but in theory it should be easier since there's two of them." Kirito answered for him. He cupped his hands over his mouth. "Leonn! Think you can parry that?"
"What?!" Leonn shouted back, stopping his attack and giving Kirito an incredulous look. He looked back and forth between Kirito and Kagachi before sighing and giving a shrug. "... Yeah, I can certainly try!"
"Not alone you're not!" Orlando added, sliding up to Leonn's side and whipping out his spear. "There's two blades, after all."
Klein grinned and ran towards Leonn and Orlando, while he called out to the other members of Fuurinkazan. "Dale! Issin! Kuni! Come on, we're backing them up!"
"Got it, boss!" Issin shouted back as he and Kunimittz ran to meet their leader. Dale looked to be finishing off a health potion, but ran over anyway. Harry One and Dynamm were busy tanking, so Klein opted to leave them as is.
Klein gave a light thump on Leonn's shoulder. The Renegade heavy turned to glance at Klein, who in turn gave him a nod. "Ready when you both are!"
"Let's go!" Orlando cried out, running forward. Leonn lumbered behind him, while Fuurinkazan followed close behind, ready to strike. Klein looked forward to see that Kagachi was close to death. They might even be able to finish it off with this maneuver, if they were lucky.
Orlando, due to his faster speed, was the first to make contact. Kagachi saw his approach and whipped its katana forward. Orlando brought his spear up, deflecting the katana and shoving it away in the same motion. The second katana came down, aimed at Orlando's head, but was throttled away by a successful parry by Leonn. With both of its attacks parried, Kagachi looked thrown off-balance as it reeled back from the impacts.
Perfect.
Dale was first up, brandishing his claymore and carving a deep gash across Kagachi's leg, bringing the colossal samurai to a knee. Issin and Kunimittz were next up, flanking either side of the samurai and striking out on either side of its chest. Klein took up the rear, bringing his curved sword in a downward slash on the torso. As Klein passed by, he saw a blur of white slam into Kagachi's back. As the samurai lurched forward from the impact, Asuna leapt off and quickly retreated behind the tanks. Klein turned around, fully expecting the congratulatory message in the air, complete with pixelated used-to-be-samurai confetti.
Instead, he was greeted by two katanas screaming down at him.
"Shit!" Klein leapt back to avoid the first strike. He managed to avoid the first blade, but the second one nicked his chest, which was still enough for him to lose 10% of his health. Klein backpedalled in horror as Kagachi pushed its offensive, and a third katana strike homed in on him.
Dynamm slid in and raised his shield, blocking the third katana strike. Klein raised his arm to cover his face as three more wide-reaching slashes bashed against Dynamm's shield. With the assault at its end, Klein let out a brief sigh of relief. That could have gone badly.
"Thanks, buddy." Klein said, giving Dynamm a quick nudge.
A battlecry brought his attention back to the fight as Klein saw others taking advantage of the openings provided. Orlando and the Legend Braves. Kirito and the Renegades. Kuroi. Even a few members of the ALS and DKB came in to land their attacks, and Klein was not about to stand by and not help. Bringing his curved sword up, he dashed in directly at the samurai.
Kagachi saw his approach and lashed out with a katana. A quick side step ensured that the blade met stone, not (virtual) flesh, and Klein continued forward. He slashed diagonally, rending a red line across Kagachi's stomach, before he skidded to a stop on the other side of the demon samurai. Just before he turned back, he heard the sound of glass shattering.
He whipped his head back and saw a cloud of pixels.
Klein let out another sigh of relief as he saw that the pixels belonged to Kagachi, and a system message hovered in the air. One that he was hoping had arrived sooner, but was no less glad to see.
[Congratulations!]
A celebration was underway as the Clearers cheered. They'd cleared the 10th floor. This was huge. As his own guild came to meet up with him, he almost missed the notification message that appeared on his HUD. He tapped on the notification and his eyebrows shot up at what was contained within.
"What is it, boss?" Dale asked.
"I got it." Klein muttered.
Dale gave him a curious look, as did the rest of Fuurinkazan. Meanwhile, the Renegades and the Braves seemed to have taken notice and walked over. "Got what?"
"I got the last attack bonus." Klein said, looking up and staring at Dale, then panning over the others assembled.
"That's great, man!" Orlando said, slapping Klein on the back. "What'd ya get?"
"((Fudomyooden, Sword of the Demon))." Klein replied, excitement creeping into his voice. "It's a katana. An actual katana."
While Klein boasted to have used a katana in the past, it wasn't entirely true. There were plenty of curved swords that resembled katanas, but they all used regular longsword or curved sword-based sword skills. According to Kirito and Argo, actual katanas were classified as such in their descriptions and gave their users access to exclusive katana skills. Fudomyooden was one such weapon. It was probably the only katana in game so far, as Klein had yet to see anyone else with a true katana.
Klein immediately equipped the blade. It was a perfect recreation of the katana Kagachi used, but with the proper proportions of a katana instead of that nodachi-crap he saw the boss using. He had nothing against nodachis, necessarily, but if it was going to be called a katana it better be a frickin' katana. He held the katana up, letting the light glint off its blade.
"Nice." Sinon remarked with a smirk.
"Damn." Nautilus said. "Is that the first katana in game?"
Kirito nodded. "I think so. Argo's gonna want to see that, you know."
"That's fine with me, man." Klein said, a wide grin plastered on his face. He swung the katana around a few times experimentally. "I'm so stoked to try this baby out. She can watch if she wants to."
"You're such a dork." Liz quipped, shaking her head good-naturedly.
Klein sheathed his katana slowly, making sure to relish every moment. There were a few chuckles, a few groans, but he could tell everyone was happy. Not just for him, of course. They'd just finished the 10th floor boss and Kirito had proven - at least in his eyes - that he was a capable raid leader. That was one of the most hectic and potentially disastrous raid bosses so far and under his friend's leadership not a single soul was lost. That was huge.
Speaking of, where was the little edgelord?
Klein looked around. Fortunately, he was taller than most of the others here, so it didn't take him long to spot Kirito. The Renegade leader was standing at the base of the stairs leading up to the next floor, looking up the stairway silently. At his side stood Asuna, also looking up the staircase. Damn, the dude was lucky to have a badass like Asuna as his girlfriend.
He broke from the group and walked over to the duo, his hand resting idly on the hilt of his katana. "Everything good, buddy? Looking kind of… I don't know, gone?"
Kirito's eyes never left the staircase. "Past this point, we're going into uncharted territory here. No one got past the 10th floor. We're on our own from here on."
"We've been on our own, man." Klein refuted. "Sure, we had beta testers like you and Argo to give us an edge, but we've gotten this far with our skill alone, right?"
Kirito shrugged. "I guess so, but you get what I mean."
"Yeah." Klein solemnly replied, his gaze mirroring Kirito's as he looked up the stairwell. "Ten down, ninety to go, right?"
Asuna chuckled. "That's the spirit. Why can't you be a little more optimistic, Kirito?"
"I'm a realist." Kirito replied with another shrug. He looked back and met Klein's gaze. "You ready for this?"
Klein smiled and glanced over his shoulder. The rest of the Renegades, Fuurinkazan, and the Legend Braves were all assembled behind the trio, all of them giving smiles or stoic looks of determination. They looked like a band of badasses, if he was being honest. He looked back at Kirito and gave his shoulder a soft thump with his fist. With his other hand, he held a tight grip on the hilt of his new katana.
"As ready as I'm gonna be. Let's beat this game."
A/N:
And we've cleared the 10th floor! Finally!
It'd been too long since we got a Klein-centric chapter, and I figured the chapter with Kagachi the Samurai Lord was the best place to do it. Gotta give homeboy some love.
Just as a heads up, the next few chapters are going to involve a couple of time skips. They'll definitely mention that explicitly in the narration, but I wanted to drive that point home now in case it slips by anyone later on.
'Til next week!