The Hollow Instructor

by NoNameBecauseWhy

Based on the game Re:Hollow Fragment. After reaching the 76th floor of Aincrad, the Assault Team is in disarray. There are too many issues to handle: Heathcliff's secret identity, a huge system error and new, inexperienced players arriving at the frontlines, even from outside the game! Help arrives in form of a player who's experienced in training other players.

52. Kirito and Goblins' Ops III

Okay, here's the next chapter.

The last two chapters were comparatively short, but I guess that's it with the shorter chapters for now. This one is quite long. Well, I could've divided it into two parts, which would've worked nicely since the first half is all about battles and the second half is all about shenanigans, but I decided against it. I also could've shortened the major battle, but I had a lot of ideas for it, and I'm not sure when will be the next time I get to write about potential combat strengths and weaknesses of so many characters like this. Not to mention that I really enjoyed writing that part, so I have no regrets.

Last time, Kirito and the girls entered the fortress where they have to steal equipment through a secret entrance, which turned out to be quite nerve-wrecking, especially for Lisbeth. Now, they have to make their way through a remote passage inside that building.

---

Given how surprisingly difficult getting inside the lizardman fortress had been, making their way through it was comparatively easy for Kirito, Silica, Lisbeth, Leafa and Philia. It was an undoubtedly welcome change of pace.

At first, they had expected a rather cramped space behind the hatch that they had reached with such difficulty. In short, they had feared to find some sort of maintenance shaft. What they had found, however, had been more like a secret tunnel. It was still gloomy, dusty and overall kind of mouldy, but it was at least somewhat spacious. In fact, the tunnel was wide enough for the whole party to walk side by side, and the ceiling was more than high enough for them to stand upright.

It hadn't taken them long to find out why this corridor was so large… and it hadn't been a particularly pleasant reason. Soon after entering the place, the walls had started to be covered with cobwebs. This had been the first indication of the upcoming challenge: The tunnel was infested with spider monsters. The party had to fight their way through them, and the players needed a lot of space to fight effectively.

---

At the moment, they were busy fighting off four of these spider monsters, which were called Common Arachnids. A Common Arachnid was roughly the size of a large shepherd dog, which was quite average for non-boss spider monsters in SAO, and they had hardly any special attacks, so dealing with them was easy as long as Kirito and the girls could keep their enemy's numbers down.

Well, judging from a purely combat-related point of view, that is. The psychological issues of fighting spiders that were larger than most pets was an entirely different matter. Nevertheless, they kept their act together and fought overall well.

That didn't come as a surprise, though. They knew the most effective tactic against spider monsters: First, cut off their legs with Slash attacks. Once (almost) all of their legs were destroyed, the monsters were rendered immobile and helpless, so it was easy to attack their weak spots – usually their eyes, mouth or underbelly. Blunt attacks were the most effective since they could break through the monsters' exoskeletons to deal additional damage.

Most of the time, Kirito and Leafa fought one Common Arachnid alone, although Kirito took on two or maybe three when there were too many. Silica, Lisbeth and Philia worked together to take care of the rest.

To be honest, Silica was the one who had the most trouble fighting these spiders. That was partially because of the aforementioned issues, but there was also the problem that her dagger was ill-suited for these battles. Piercing the monsters' natural armour with a dagger and low Strength was difficult unless she managed to hit a weak spot. At the same time, her dagger was too small to sever the relatively thick legs of the Common Arachnids efficiently. Thus, she usually played a supportive role here, helping out either Lisbeth or Philia.

Philia, on the other hand, was actually doing perfectly fine on her own. She was used to fighting alone, especially in limited spaces like this tunnel. Well, she still understood how to fight in a group, and she had improved a lot in that regard since "joining forces" with Silica, Lisbeth and Leafa. Anyway, other major factors were that fighting these spider monsters suited someone with her combat style, and she didn't have any issues with battles against spiders (which was yet another story).

And Lisbeth… Well, let's save that for later.

For now, let's focus on Kirito's battle. He had already made considerable progress in quite a short time: The Common Arachnid had lost about half of its HP and its two front legs, which these monsters used to swipe at their targets.

Kirito's opponent scurried a bit backwards, but only to leap at Kirito for its next attack. Kirito countered by swinging his right sword at the Common Arachnid's head, and while the sword didn't cut deeply into the monster's body, it was enough to parry the attack.

Now, the Common Arachnid stood on its hind legs, trying to overpower Kirito. It also managed to wrap one of its left legs around his right arm, and the monster began to try to wrench the arm away. However, Kirito was already preparing his next attack, and he ignored the monster's action for the time time being. He used Vertical Arc with his left sword, aiming at the spider monster's right legs, and he cut two more of them off.

After recovering from the short post-motion delay, Kirito used his now free left hand to push the Common Arachnid to the side, and he broke free from the monster's grip. With only one leg on its right side, the spider monster could hardly move around anymore, although it still tried to crawl around.

From that point on, the battle was easy to win. Kirito used Vertical, first with his right sword, then with the left one, and he pierced the Common Arachnid's body around the eye section. It took only a few seconds until the monster's remaining HP had been depleted.

This battle was exemplary for Kirito's battle style these days. While many SAO players made a huge deal of Dual Wielding, the skill wasn't that useful in everyday battles. As Kirito phrased it himself, he was usually using one one-handed sword in each hand rather than dual-wielding two swords.

The main problem was that it was difficult to use the sword in his non-dominant hand. Compared to strikes with his right sword, his attacks with his left sword lacked precision. Likewise, parrying or deflecting blows with his left was comparatively hard. At the same time, the additional weight in his left hand felt off when he used his normal one-handed sword technique.

The only way how Kirito could bypass that problem was by using Sword Skills. With the help of the system assistant, it didn't make any difference whether he used his dominant or non-dominant hand. To be fair, the Dual Wielding Sword Skills were extremely powerful, and it was also thanks to them that he and Asuna could take on quest or dungeon bosses that would be somewhat difficult to deal with for a full party. Asuna cornered, distracted or confused the boss to create an opening, and Kirito used that to attack – it was a pattern that worked extremely well.

However, it was a special method to fight bosses. Most of the Dual Wielding Sword Skills were blatant overkill against average monsters. In the end, Kirito had the feeling that the Dual Wielding skill had been designed to allow a single player to close the gap in combat strength between players and boss monsters, and he had found it strangely fitting that SAO's "most notorious solo player" (as many Assault Team members had referred to him before he had become Asuna's partner) had received this Unique Skill.

Well, as long as he was fighting monsters one by one, that overkill wasn't a problem, but he normally ended up fighting several monsters simultaneously. In that situation, the disadvantages of the Dual Wielding Sword Skills outweighed the advantages. They simply made his fighting style less flexible. For starters, executing these Sword Skills took too long, and monsters could attack him from blind spots before he finished his own attacks. Even if he could avoid counterattacks while using the Sword Skills, the long post-motion delay created fatal openings afterwards. On top of that, there were hardly any AOE Sword Skills for Dual Wielding.

When fighting against superior numbers, one-handed Sword Skills such as Horizontal Arc or Horizontal Square were much more effective. Even against single run-of-the-mill monsters, simple Sword Skills such as Vertical Square were more suitable. Therefore, Kirito had adopted a style that used his right sword to fend off attacks and the left sword to counterattack.

Well, this fighting style was still only possible because of Dual Wielding. There was a mod called "One-Handed Assistance", and the purpose behind that mod was rather simple: Normally, if a player tried to use two one-handed weapons and used a Sword Skill with one of them, he would drop the other one while the system assistant performed the pre-programmed movements, which normally made attempts to dual-wield weapons completely pointless. One-Handed Assistance prevented exactly that issue.

Let's leave the "how to dual-wield" digression at that. After defeating his opponent, Kirito took a deep breath before looking around to check on his party members.

Only a few metres behind him, Lisbeth was fighting another Common Arachnid alone. Silica was currently helping Philia. Well, Lisbeth's battle was going quite smoothly, and thanks to several heavy hits, Lisbeth had already reduced the Common Arachnid's HP by more than two thirds.

When Kirito began observing the battle, the Common Arachnid backed away slightly, and it stood up on its hind legs. At the same time, it pulled back its front legs, which created the impression that it was taking a swing at Lisbeth. In order to prevent that as fast as possible, Lisbeth instinctively swung her maze at the monster in a vertical arc. The attack hit it right in the center of its eye section, and the blow knocked the monster down again.

However, Lisbeth had made one mistake: She had only paid attention to her foe's front section. From afar, Kirito had noticed another detail: The Common Arachnid had coiled its abdomen so that its spinneret was pointing at Lisbeth now. This showed that it was about to use a different kind of attack. There was no time left to warn her, though. Before Lisbeth could finish her attack, the Common Arachnid splattered a large chunk of cobweb towards her.

The sticky substance hit her around her upper arms and shoulders. This cobweb hindered a players movements, so it slowed them down. Lisbeth had particularly bad luck with this. Basically, her upper body was already covered with a thin layer of cobweb. The nastiest part about it was that this cobweb was downright impossible to remove. However, its Durability was low, and it deteriorated very quickly, so it would disappear in a matter of minutes.

Right now, Lisbeth couldn't wait a few minutes, though. The Common Arachnid may have sustained another critical hit, but it hadn't been a strong blow, so the monster still had a shred of its HP bar left. It got back on its feet almost immediately, and now it was about to attack Lisbeth for real.

The new cobweb threads glued the girl's arms to her torso, and she couldn't use her weapon to defend herself like that. She could only back away and try to dodge.

Lisbeth: I need some help here!

She didn't have to say that twice. Kirito was already on the verge of jumping in. As soon as Lisbeth began drawing back, he dashed forward while preparing to swing his right sword at the Common Arachnid, which was leaping at Lisbeth. His plan was to preempt the attack by striking the spider monster in midair, or at least to step between the monster and its target to shield Lisbeth from the attack.

Kirito: Liz, move to a safe distance while…

Silica: I've got this!

Well, Kirito's plan failed in an unexpected way. Just when he had been about to spring into action, Silica had also thrown a glance at Lisbeth's battle, so she had noticed her party member's peril. Her reaction had been a bit slower than Kirito's, who had already been ready to take action, but she was quick on her feet, so she was the first one to help, albeit by a hair's breadth. Kirito was already swinging his sword when Silica suddenly rushed past him through the air, delivering a flying kick to the Common Arachnid's side, which pushed the monster away and disrupted the attack that way.

Furthermore, a mere second after the Common Arachnid had fallen to the ground once again, Silica followed up by stabbing it in one of its eyes. The monster wriggled around for another few seconds until the remains of its HP were gone.

Kirito could only watch the scene in bewilderment. Silica's sudden interference had caught him completely by surprise. It was good that he had been able to stop his attack in time, or else he might've hit Silica instead. However, Kirito was even more amazed to see Silica taking on a spider that was almost her size as if it was nothing. Well, Silica had been complaining about the "gross monsters" in between the fights, but she certainly wasn't holding back when push came to shove...

Now that the threat had been reduced to dust/polygons, Silica got up again and gave Kirito an apologetic smile.

Silica: S-sorry, I acted a bit rash, so I didn't…

Pina's warning cry and a menacing hissing noise interrupted Silica's apology. The Common Arachnid she had been fighting alongside Philia came rushing towards her. Kirito was just as startled as Silica when the monster scurried past him. He raised his swords once more and was about to jump after the Common Arachnid to stop it from attacking Silica, who could hardly raise her arms in time to shield herself…

...when the next individual passed by at remarkable speed. This time, it was Philia, who caught up to the Common Arachnid just in time. While the monster was lunging at Silica, Philia stabbed it in the side before twisting her body around to the opposite side to yank the large spider away from its target. That way, the Common Arachnid rammed the wall next to Silica without causing the girl any harm.

That wasn't enough to kill the monster, though, and Philia was aware of that. While twisting her body, she also pulled her sword out of the monster's body again, and she whirled the weapon around in her hand and swung it over her shoulder in preparation for a Sword Skill.

Meanwhile, the Common Arachnid shifted its focus to Philia, and it dashed at her. She dodged by leaping back and slightly to the side in order to take position to the monster's right. She took the starting stance for Slant, and when the monster paused for a moment after its attack, she countered with that Sword Skill. This Common Arachnid's right front legs had been cut off, so it couldn't shield itself from the blow, which hit its eyes directly. That diagonal downward slash drained its remaining HP.

Philia: Puh, that was close. Sorry, Silica, I couldn't stop this monster from following you after all. [slightly annoyed] But you really acted on the spur of the moment! That didn't even leave me enough time…

Silica: R-right… [sighs, dejectedly] I just thought that I should go and help Liz-san quickly, but I only caused problems somewhere else by helping out there… In the end, that's not particularly good teamwork, is it?

Lisbeth: W-well, don't be so hard on yourself, okay? [annoyed] Now, if only I could do something about these ICKY SPIDER WEBS!

As if to emphasise the point, Lisbeth tried to free her arms and to tear of some of the cobweb that stuck to her body. It didn't really work.

Leafa: You know that's not going to work, Liz-san.

Everyone turned towards Leafa, who, judging from the fact that she had time to comment on Lisbeth's momentary problems, seemed to be done with her battle as well. Well, it was a bit different, though. She stood there, impaling the Common Arachnid she had been fighting while it was lying on the ground helplessly. Leafa had dismembered it completely, so she could just stab it and wait with one hand on the hilt of her katana until her enemy would die.

Philia [awkwardly]: Y-you know, Leafa, you sure look… um…

Silica [slightly grumpily]: Like a battle-hardened warrior. Honestly, this doesn't seem to faze you at all…

Lisbeth: Yeah, what's up with you standing there, leaning on that sword, which, you know, impales a frigging monster spider, as if it's normal?!

Leafa [slightly upset]: What do you mean, "as if it's normal"?! These yucky spiders freak me out just as much, and that's why I'm trying not to think too much about them!

Kirito: Well, you could finish them off faster, though. You know that? Just stabbing them and waiting for their HP to run out is…

Leafa [upset]: I just said that I don't wanna think about them, didn't I?! This way, I don't even have to look at them!

Almost as if the complain, the last remaining Common Arachnid screeched loudly and wriggled around. Without limbs, however, it had no chance to struggle free, and it died after another few seconds.

Leafa: Shut up! Ugh, I just hope we're done with all the spiders soon.

Silica and Lisbeth: Me too…

Philia: Now, now, don't be so disheartened just because of some monsters! We've been doing a good job at handling them so far, right? [defensively] A-and don't get mad at me for saying that! Aren't the looks you're giving me too intense? [casually] Besides, if you say things like "I hope we're done", you just jinx it! I mean, next thing we know, there will be even more of them. Or maybe a really big, powerful super-spider or something. [surprised] Huh? W-what's wrong now? Why are you looking at me as if something horrifying is sitting on my head? [nervously] Or… as if it's behind me…

Philia slowly turned around with an anxious expression. Behind her, she could see a set of glowing red lights that had appeared in the darkness that engulfed the tunnel further ahead. They came closer, and a loud, spine-chilling, screeching howl could be heard from their direction right before an HP bar appeared above those eerie lights.

---

A giant spider emerged from the dark. In terms of style, it was similar to a Common Arachnid, but it was several times bigger. Its legs spread so far that it could barely walk inside this tunnel, and its height exceeded two metres at the abdomen. The monster wasn't exceedingly fast, but it would probably mow down everything in its path, trampling down anything as if it were a bulldozer.

This monster was called "Alpha Arachnid", and it was similar to a dungeon boss, but only regarding its roll as the final enemy in that area. In terms of power and abilities, it was hardly more than an upscaled version of the Common Arachnids, although it had a few small surprises up its sleeve.

Silica and Philia, who stood closest to the approaching monster, quickly backed away from it. At the same time, Kirito rushed forward to intercept the Alpha Arachnid. He wasn't sure what he could do, but he thought that he should at least try to buy time so that the girls could come up with some kind of battle formation. Well, his reaction was mainly instinctive anyway. To be fair, the Alpha Arachnid moved so fast that a tactical retreat might've not been an option, so Kirito's decision to fight was probably the best course of action.

Kirito used Cross Block to stop the enemy's vigorous assault with both swords. When the Alpha Arachnid rammed its head into the crossed blades, Kirito was almost sent flying, and he had to muster all his strength just to stop the enormous monster from shoving him along its path.

The Alpha Arachnid wanted to swipe at Kirito with its front legs in order to tip the scales in its favour. Thankfully, Leafa and Philia rushed to his side to block the attacks.

Leafa was overall doing fine. She had instinctively taken a steady stance right off the bat, and she was holding her opponent back by pressing the edge of her katana against the upper part of the Alpha Arachnid's leg. Philia, on the other hand, had just barely caught the tip of the other leg with the flat side of her blade, so the Alpha Arachnid could use leverage to its advantage on this side. The monster easily gained the upper hand and shoved Philia backwards until she bumped into Kirito, who shifted his position so that he could support Philia while keeping the Alpha Arachnid in check on his end.

Alas, at this rate, it was only a matter of time until the monster would completely overpower them. Therefore, the remaining players sprang into action. Well, to be more precise, Lisbeth did. She figured that the best way to counterattack in this situation was to pass by the three players in the centre, who kept the Alpha Arachnid occupied, in order to attack from the flank.

However, she simply didn't know that the Alpha Arachnid used the mechanic to react to such flank attacks. When Lisbeth raised her maze to take a swing at the monster, it swung back the leg it had attacked Philia with, and it hit Lisbeth in the stomach at full force. The monster's attack swept her away and slammed her against the wall.

Well, at the very least, Philia was free now and could take a moment to prepare a better defense. It was futile, though. The next attack came from a completely unexpected direction. The Alpha Arachnid shifted its body backwards, only to push it forward again after a second. It was a movement like a battering ram's, and it had the same effect. In that moment, Kirito was distracted by what had happened to Lisbeth, so he couldn't brace himself against the shove. Both he and Philia were knocked down. Only Leafa, who had taken a steady position and could avoid taking the full brunt of the attack, managed to stay on her feet.

The Alpha Arachnid seemed to direct its attention at Kirito, who was currently defenseless, so Leafa quickly slashed one of its eyes to draw its aggro. She was showered with strikes from the left, the front and the right in retribution, but she could stand her ground with precise parries and evasive movements for the moment.

In the meantime, Kirito and Philia got up again, and Silica went to Lisbeth, who seemed to have some sort of trouble. Silica had seen her comrade jerking her upper body and her arms forward, which looked as if she was trying to break free from some sort of restraint.

Silica: Liz-san, is something…

She didn't have to finish the question. Once the dust had settled completely and she stood right next to Lisbeth, Silica could see what had happened.

Lisbeth: Argh, what is it with me and these damn spider webs today?!

Lisbeth had crashed right into a spider web on the wall. It was different from the cobweb that had been described earlier. When a player touched those webs, they got caught in it. Lisbeth's entire back, upper arms and upper legs were glued to this web, so not only could she not move away from the wall, her ability to move at all had been severely hampered.

Silica: Wait, you can't struggle free from that! You have to… [slightly contemplatively] No, I have to…

Silica eyed the web Lisbeth had got caught in thoroughly. She remembered that the only way to free a player from such a web was to cut all threads that attached the web to its surroundings, which would cause the entire spider web to be destroyed. Akinym had instilled such knowledge into all of his students during their training, and Silica had been no exception.

Thus, Silica searched for these joints. She found several of them. There even was one above Lisbeth's head, which Silica probably wouldn't be able to reach. This was bad, but since lamenting would've been pointless, Silica just got to work instead. She began to cut the nearest joint… or maybe it would be more accurate to say that she tried to saw through it. These threads were considerably tougher than they looked.

Silica: Just sit tight! I'll cut you free!

Lisbeth: Sorry, Silica, but your fiddling with that thread doesn't look very convincing.

Philia: Wait, I'll help you! Kirito, go and help Leafa, okay?

Kirito: Got it!

Philia rushed to the two girls. She switched her weapon for a saw, a tool that was designed specifically for tasks like this, and she immediately began to sever a thread on Lisbeth's other side.

Silica: Shouldn't you help them instead, Philia-san? I got this, so…

Philia: We've got no time to waste here! This thing is so tough that I think it'll take all of us together to beat it, so we gotta hurry here.

She had a point, and Silica had to admit that Philia's handy "survival kit" would certainly make this easier, so she stopped objecting.

While Silica and Philia had begun to work on Lisbeth's problem, Leafa had been pushed to her limit by the Alpha Arachnid. Its onslaught had left some shallow bruises here and there, but so far, Leafa had lost hardly any HP, and she probably could've continued fending off her opponent's strikes for another minute. It was just that she had absolutely no chance for a counterattack.

The Alpha Arachnid pulled back its body and lifted its head, so that it was aiming its mouth at Leafa's upper body. Judging from what she had seen so far, Leafa was sure that the monster intended to lunge forward and bite her, so she took quick, controlled steps backwards while keeping her eyes on the foe in front of her.

However, she simply couldn't have known that the Alpha Arachnid would – in utter ignorance to an actual spider's anatomy – shoot a thick silk thread from its mouth. The sticky thread hit Leafa's two hands and the hilt of her sword, effectively tying them together. Leafa tried to free her hands, just as Lisbeth had tried to break free from the spider web, but to the same effect.

The Alpha Arachnid began to suck in the silk thread, and it basically hauled Leafa in along with the thread. The force tugging at her hands was so strong that Leafa was unable to fight back. While pulling her closer, the Alpha Arachnid took a wide swing with both of its front legs.

At that point, Kirito jumped in from the side, and he used the Sword Skill Sonic Leap to close the distance and cut through the thread. Once it was severed, its remains burst into polygons, so Leafa was freed and could retreat.

In reaction to this attack, the Alpha Arachnid turned its attention to Kirito. Fortunately, the monster needed a moment to readjust, so when it tried to slam him with one of its front legs, he managed to block the attack by using the Parry skill. However, the attack was powerful enough to knock him over. The Alpha Arachnid tried to stomp on Kirito with its other front leg while he was still on the ground, but Kirito was aware that the monster would follow up with another attack, so he used Cross Block to fend it off.

Kirito wasn't out of danger yet, though. He could avoid a direct hit, but he had to push back with all his strength against the monster's leg to stop it from crushing him under its foot.

Leafa: Brother! Hang on, I'll draw its aggro again!

Kirito: No! Leafa… attack… its legs! We need to destroy… them… with a strong… [groans] attack!

Frankly, the Alpha Arachnid was too strong for them to defeat it while it could move around. They had to immobilise it first. Their opponent was currently occupied, so this was the perfect opportunity for a surprise attack. However, Leafa had to attack from a distance, or the Alpha Arachnid would react to her actions as it had done with Lisbeth earlier. Kirito figured that a long-reached attack such as Tsujikaze would be perfect for this. It was a very good idea…

...but he had simply overlooked something in the heat of the moment. Leafa didn't view Sword Skills the same way he did. They weren't her common means of fighting. Even despite Akinym's efforts to get Leafa used to system-assisted attacks during her training, she only used them when it was explicitly pointed out to her. Well, that is, with one exception, but that didn't help now.

Leafa charged directly at the Alpha Arachnid. As expected, the monster reacted to the seemingly rushed attack and swung its other front leg at her. However, while Leafa wasn't very familiar with Sword Skills, she also knew exactly how to make up for that. The counterattack didn't catch her by surprise, and she avoided it half by ducking and half by deflecting it above her head. That way, she easily got past her foe's only line of defense, and she didn't even need to stop for more than a second.

With that out of the way, Leafa swung her katana at the base of the leg which the Alpha Arachnid pinned Kirito down with. It was a perfectly precise strike, and the blade dug deep into the target.

It wasn't enough, though. There was also something Leafa had failed to consider. Sword Skills were still the number one method of fighting for a reason, and it wasn't just for convenience. A system-assisted attack carried more power, and it would've been enough to sever one of the Alpha Arachnid's limbs, but Leafa's manual blow wasn't.

The Alpha Arachnid stepped back and raised the front section of its body. Leafa's katana got stuck, so she was lifted into the air along with it since she didn't want to let go of her weapon. That left her wide open, though, and the Alpha Arachnid rammed the two middle legs on the side where she was into her stomach. Leafa flew a few metres through the air before she had a rough landing. Well, at least she could keep her grip on her katana, so it was blown away along with its holder, although that didn't help at the moment.

Nevertheless, Leafa had achieved one of her goals: The Alpha Arachnid had had to let Kirito be in order to defend itself against her, so Kirito had enough time to jump to his feet and to get ready to fight. Furthermore, the Alpha Arachnid had had to lift more than half of its legs and the entire front part of its body into the air, and it needed to set that heavy part of its body onto the ground again to regain its balance before it could do anything else, which create an opening for an attack.

Kirito was well aware of that, and he wanted to use this chance for a strong Sword Skill. However, he wasn't sure how the Alpha Arachnid would react to it, so he decided not to use an overly long Sword Skill or one that had a long post-motion delay. Without any time to elaborate these thoughts, he settled for Crimson Splash.

Kirito got ready as fast as possible, and he unleashed the Sword Skill at the very moment when the Alpha Arachnid put its legs on the ground again. It was the most vulnerable during the few seconds its legs needed to absorb the drop. The monster was unable to do anything as the first three thrusts hit its mouth and eyes.

After that, however… Even Kirito, cautious as he may have been, had underestimated how quickly the Alpha Arachnid would react. It leapt backwards as soon as it could. To be fair, this heavy colossus of a spider couldn't jump away very far, so it landed just about two to three metres further down the tunnel with a loud thud. Nevertheless, the next few strikes of Crimson Splash missed completely, but the system assistant did at least let Kirito dash at the Alpha Arachnid again while it performed those attacks. He had caught up to the target when he used the final two, simultaneous slashes, but the Alpha Arachnid shielded itself against those blows with one of its front legs.

When the post-motion delay began, the Alpha Arachnid swiftly swept Kirito away with a swing of its other front leg. As soon as he could move again, Kirito tried to get up before the next attack, but he still felt a bit dazed, and the Alpha Arachnid was already taking a swing for another powerful strike with both of its front legs.

Leafa: Switch!

With the declaration to take care of defense now, Leafa stepped between Kirito and the monster.

Kirito: Leafa, what are you…

Frankly, Kirito's first thought was that this was way too reckless. There wasn't even enough time to draw its aggro, so what was she trying to do? Block the next attack with her body? Well, no. She still had one ace up her sleeve. Leafa positioned herself so that she was directly facing one of the legs the Alpha Arachnid thrust forward, and the blade of her katana began to glow.

This was the one Sword Skill Leafa used as her own technique. She had acquired this skill on a quest in the Hollow Area. After restoring a monument for great warriors together with Kirito, the spirits of these warriors had taught them this Sword Skill, which was connected to Leafa through the special lesson she had received to master it and the fond memory of the quest with her brother, not to mention that its starting stance was very close to her usual kendo stance, so it suited Leafa's style outstandingly well. This was the one Sword Skill in SAO that Leafa gladly considered a part of herself: the Sword Skill Silpheed Hurricane.

The Sword Skill was charged in an instant, which was fortunate because Leafa didn't have more time than that. By the time she was ready, the attack had reached her. From the looks of it, the giant spider monster would certainly stomp her into the ground… Alas, the large spider leg that was thrust at Leafa was blown back like a piece of paper in a storm gust by the first strike of her Sword Skill. The other front leg passed by her and was still aimed at Kirito, but Leafa's second strike pushed it to the side just with just as much force.

Silpheed Hurricane was truly a hurricane of sword strikes. After performing these two attacks, Leafa had the undivided attention of the Alpha Arachnid. However, when it set its eyes on her, she basically vanished from the spot where she had stood. Leafa dashed forward at mind-boggling speed and closed the distance between herself and her opponent's body in an instant. Her next strike cut through the leg she had tried to sever earlier as if it was nothing. The Alpha Arachnid turned its head towards her, but that only made it easier for her. Leafa's fourth and final strike hit the monster's eye section, and it left a deep cut across this part of the Alpha Arachnid's body.

The Sword Skill Silpheed Hurricane was certainly a superior technique. It let even a player with Leafa's Agility, which was about average for an Assault Team member, move so fast that it looked as if the four strikes were dealt at once, and each blow carried tremendous power. On top of that, it had a low charging time, and even the post-motion delay was relatively short.

The only downside was that the four strikes weren't very precise. The only thing that was sure was that the Sword Skill started with a vertical strike, followed by a horizontal one. After that the player took a wide step forward. The two final strikes were dealt diagonally in opposite directions. Everything other than that was unpredictable. It had been pure luck that Leafa had hit the weak spot of the Alpha Arachnid's leg and its eyes.

There was also the fact that Silpheed Hurricane had a cooldown of ten minutes, so she probably wouldn't be able to use it again in this battle, which was a bit of a downer considering that this had been the players' most successful attack so far. The Alpha Arachnid even backed away in case Leafa's Sword Skill would continue.

Kirito: Thanks, Leafa! Now, switch! We'll try our tactic from earlier again!

Leafa: No, wait! Let's swap roles!

Kirito [slightly confusedly]: Huh, swap roles?

Leafa: Yeah, you saw how our last attempt at a flank attack ended! I'm better at defending here, so you take care of the attack from the side!

It was a solid point. Besides, performing flank attacks against their foe seemed to be just as dangerous and difficult as fending off its frontal attacks.

Kirito: Alright, I'll leave it to you!

Leafa: Yeah, sure, I'll… Wait, I'll try to…

Leafa had an idea as to how she could make Kirito's task easier. She moved closer to the wall on one side, where she took position right in front of a spot that wasn't covered with one of the spider webs that Lisbeth had got caught in. She stood on the side where the Alpha Arachnid had lost its front leg, which would've been its main weapon against opponents on that flank.

And this was exactly the point. In order to attack better, the giant monster had to turn. It was so large that there was almost no space left between its legs and the walls, so a true flank attack hadn't been possible so far. Now, the Alpha Arachnid had to move into a new position that exposed its side.

It took a moment and a lot of manoeuvring for the monster to get into position inside this tunnel, which was simply too narrow for it to move around like this. Basically, it was like reversing into a parking space that was just barely big enough for the car to fit into it. This also meant that the Alpha Arachnid's movements would be greatly restricted once it had reached the right position.

Kirito used this time to assess the situation. A quick look at the monster's HP bar revealed that all the previous attacks together had chipped away hardly more than one quarter of its HP. This was a bit troublesome… Kirito figured that this battle would drag on for a while unless he could hit the Alpha Arachnid's weak spot (which was probably its eyes) with one of his strongest Sword Skills. Judging from his previous experience with Crimson Splash, this would only work out if they immobilised the monster first. So, yeah… There was no way around destroying the monster's legs first.

Well, at the very least, their enemy had only one HP bar. It may have been an elite monster with boss-like parameters, but with only one HP bar, it probably didn't have any hidden mechanics, and it wouldn't change its behaviour midway through the fight. Well, there was still a certain chance that something might happen when its HP bar dropped into the yellow zone, so they'd have to keep that in mind.

Kirito also had to come up with a way to cut off the monster's limbs once it was his turn. It would fight back, that much was certain. Kirito's first idea was to do what he had wanted Leafa to do earlier: use a strong, long-reached Sword Skill. Vorpal Strike had come to his mind, but he doubted that he could hit the base of one of the Alpha Arachnid's legs with that attack, and the long post-motion delay would make him way too vulnerable afterwards.

There was one more idea he had. It was a trick that was based on something Akinym had once mentioned about his technique, which was something that had come to Kirito's mind while he was pondering over potential plans.

Once the Alpha Arachnid had turned its flank towards Kirito, he started. He walked forward at a steady, but oddly relaxed pace and raised both of his swords above his head as if taking a swing. As expected, the Alpha Arachnid reacted to this act of aggression, and it lunged out with three of its legs. However, Kirito had only waited for that. He immediately jumped back to dodge the counterattack, so the spider monster only stomped the barren ground.

The monster's centre of balance had shifted, and its body swayed to the side. It's current somewhat unsteady stance was disadvantageous for its fight against Leafa, so the Alpha Arachnid drew back its legs to take its previous well-balanced position. This took a brief moment, but while there wasn't much time, it still allowed Kirito to get ready to use a short-reached Sword Skill without giving the Alpha Arachnid the chance to prepare countermeasures, which it would've done if he had tried to attack with such a Sword Skill right away.

This had been the trick: Feint an attack to provoke the enemy, and when it counterattacks, dodge before preparing the actual attack while the target needed to recover. It was something Akinym had apparently been doing on a regular basis. To be fair, Kirito had used similar tactics before, but that was only if he had had an appropriate idea like that, which also had to seem like the best course of action. Well, just as in this particular battle.

Anyway, he quickly used Nightmare Rain before the Alpha Arachnid could do anything about it. In lack of any other defense, the monster tried to block Kirito's path with its legs. Kirito couldn't reach the vulnerable joints that way. More than half of the strikes only hit the legs, but the impact force of the blades made it difficult for the Alpha Arachnid to keep a steady stance. In the end, one of its hind legs got pushed to the side, which opened a gap that the Alpha Arachnid couldn't close before Kirito got in. The last two strikes of Nightmare Rain cut off the two hind legs and even inflicted deep slashes on the monster's body.

Kirito turned his attention to the two remaining legs on this side when he suddenly heard a voice behind him.

Philia: Kirito, I'll help you!

Kirito: Huh, Philia? What about Liz and…

Kirito, who had turned around and noticed that Philia was running up to him, glanced over at Lisbeth. She was still stuck to the wall, but a closer look revealed that Silica was currently cutting the last thread, so Philia had probably just left that to her while joining the actual battle.

Kirito: Okay… Philia, we have to destroy the monster's legs, so can you handle the one at the back? I'll walk around and take care of the one at the front.

Philia: Got it!

Philia readied her weapon and got into position. She wanted to coordinate her attack with Kirito to make it harder for the Alpha Arachnid to fight back. Speaking of Kirito, he got ready, too. He intended to use one of his stronger Sword Skills to sever the leg that was in the way and to keep attacking so that he could deal more damage. A frontal attack would probably hit the Alpha Arachnid's weak spots at its head, but there was also the risk of accidentally hitting Leafa, so Kirito had to take care of that issue first.

Kirito: Leafa, did you hear that? We're gonna finish this battle, but I need you to let me take over!

Right now, Leafa was defending herself against a bite attack. With only its front legs left to support its body on one side, the Alpha Arachnid could barely keep its balance, and its movements had become rather sluggish as a result, which made defense a lot easier. Nevertheless, she was so immersed in her task that she barely caught her name when Kirito had called out to her.

Leafa: Huh?! What's the matter?!

Kirito: I said we need to switch for the next attack!

For a second, Leafa was a bit reluctant to change their tactic again. However, she decided to trust that Kirito had a good plan.

Leafa: Alright, I'll only need a second!

Leafa had been fighting in a pretty small space between her opponent and the wall, which she wanted to come out of by retreating to the side, but the Alpha Arachnid tried to block her path with one of its legs. The monster swung it horizontally at her, and while Leafa had no trouble parrying the blow, it successfully stopped her from getting away.

She tried to divert the attack upward to open her escape route again, but that wasn't so easy. Kirito helped her by using Slant from the lower starting stance in order to deal out an upward diagonal strike with one of his swords. He managed to push the spider's leg up, so Leafa could slip out beneath it.

Philia also saw this as the perfect opportunity to start her own attack. The Alpha Arachnid could hardly keep standing with only the leg she was targeting to support itself on this side, so her enemy had no chance to fight back at all. She used Vertical Arc, and while the first strike hit the wrong spot, the second one hit the base of the leg perfectly from below. Her blade carved into the monster's flesh…

...but it didn't cut through it. This blow alone simply wasn't strong enough. Philia cursed under her breath, but she saw no other choice but to accept that she couldn't cut any deeper and to try another, more powerful Sword Skill. She was about to pull her sword out again when someone stopped her.

Leafa: Philia, I'll help you!

Leafa, who had just switched places with Kirito, noticed Philia's attack, and she also saw that her comrade needed a helping hand for the last push, so instead of retreating further, she rushed over and swung her katana in a downward arc at the joint Philia was attacking. It cut so deep that she could feel her blade touching Philia's. Simultaneously, the two girls pulled out their swords to their respective sides, slicing through what little flesh kept connecting limb and body. This was enough to finally sever the monster's leg.

The Alpha Arachnid slammed its last remaining leg on the ground in a desperate attempt to keep standing. However, this one leg at the very front wasn't enough to support its bulky body, so while it didn't fall over yet, it was staggering.

This was the perfect opportunity for Kirito to attack. He decided to go for Starburst Stream. When he took the starting stance, however, he saw that the Alpha Arachnid twisted its head and body as much as possible in order to face him. It raised its head, seemingly aiming its mouth at him. Kirito remembered that pattern, so he quickly postponed using the skill and jumped to the side. The next second, the monster shot a thick silk thread towards the spot where he had stood.

Now that the enemy had fired off its last resort to no avail, Kirito got ready again and used Starburst Stream. The first four strikes hit the last leg they had to cut off, and it was severed easily. The Alpha Arachnid's massive body blew up quite a lot of dust when it keeled over, but that didn't stop Kirito's Sword Skill. The next strikes all hit the monster's vulnerable head, so they dealt considerable damage.

Once the post-motion delay was over, Kirito took a step back and checked their foe's HP bar. He estimated that it had somewhere between twenty-five and thirty per cent left. Meanwhile, the monster apparently tried crawl on the floor, but no matter how much it kicked the ground with its remaining three legs on one side, it couldn't move.

Kirito [thinks, slightly taken aback]: This monster really can take a hit, can't it? [seriously] Well, its defenseless, and if I go all out, I should be able to finish it with one more Sword Skill. The Eclipse should be enough…

He was taking the starting stance for his final attack when a sudden outcry behind him stopped him.

Lisbeth: Hold it!

Kirito flinched. Since he hadn't really paid attention to anything but his target in front of him, the voice behind him had become rather faint… so it had sounded more like a clearly disgruntled growl.

When he turned around, Kirito saw Lisbeth slowly marching towards him – or rather towards the Alpha Arachnid. She was still covered in cobwebs (now with a lot of dust on top of that), her hair and clothes were utterly disheveled, and "mad" didn't even begin to describe the look in her eyes. Silica was following her timidly at a considerable safety distance – yet another bad sign.

Lisbeth raised her maze and slammed it into the palm of her left hand.

Lisbeth: Leave that thing to me…

Her voice sent shivers down Kirito's spine, and none of the others felt differently. Kirito figured that he had the choice to either let Lisbeth blast the Alpha Arachnid into oblivion or to suffer that fate himself, so he wasted no time to step aside. Lisbeth walked past the rest of her group without another word and took position right in front of the helpless spider monster.

Lisbeth: You and your little friends sure had a blast with all of your GOD DAMN SPIDER WEBS! What is it with you and the webs?! Can't a girl catch a break for FIVE MINUTES?! [flatly] You know what? [laughs maniacally] You know what?! Fine! It's fine! [takes the starting stance of Variable Blow] After all, it's over, so now [unleashes Variable Blow] SUFFER AS I HAVE SUFFEREEEED!

The others were completely aghast (and terrified) as they watched Lisbeth using the 8-hit combo Variable Blow, the strongest known maze Sword Skill, against her "tormentor" while screaming like a berserker.

The attack was just strong enough to drain the Alpha Arachnid's remaining HP, so the death animation made it look as if Lisbeth's last strike literally smashed the large monster to smithereens.

---

While the polygons that were left behind and swirled through the tunnel were fading, Lisbeth was slouching and panting heavily. None of the others dared to approach her, fearing that her rage might've not subsided yet. This resulted in an almost disturbingly heavy silence, which lasted until Lisbeth's breathing became more even and she stood upright again. Even then, the one to break said silence was none other than Lisbeth herself.

Lisbeth [calmly]: That was the last of them, right?

Philia: Um, y-yeah, probably…

Silica: That… That monster gave off some "final boss" vibes, didn't it?

Kirito: I can't pick up anything with Searching, so I guess we're done.

Lisbeth took another deep breath, which felt a lot like heaving a sigh of relief. Now that she seemed to calm down, the others could relax as well.

Kirito: Ah, right, how about we take a short break and have a look at our drops? [looks at the reward list in front of him, slightly excitedly] This monster right now has dropped a lot of Magnificent Spider Silk. That's an enhancement material I…

Kirito was cut short by Leafa, who had rushed over to him to whack him over the head.

Kirito: Leafa! What are…

Leafa [whispers, sternly]: What are you thinking?! Why did you have to restart the whole spider topic?!

He didn't know how to respond to that. Kirito had only wanted to ask for enhancement materials he needed, which just happened to be a kind of spider silk. To be fair, now that Leafa mentioned it, he had to admit that it probably hadn't been a good idea…

All of them glanced at Lisbeth. Well, she was smiling… but even keeping aside how strained that smile was, her twitching eye brow gave her true feelings away all too clearly.

Lisbeth: Y-yeah, sure! Let's check that… "magnificent" spider stuff!

Not good… Kirito hastily searched the list of drops for anything that would allow him to change the topic, and he found something that actually took him by surprise.

Kirito: Huh? What's this? "Superior Leg of the Great Spider"?

With curiosity taking the better of him, Kirito immediately opened his inventory to search for that item and to have a closer look at it. The girls (that is, most of them) weren't… quite as thrilled, to say the least.

Leafa [mutters]: It's a spider leg…

Silica: I have a bad feeling about this…

Philia: Why are you so negative? Maybe it's a rare drop…!

Lisbeth [mutters]: You're honestly the only person who can get so excited over a frigging spider leg. [looks at Kirito] Well, not the only one, to be fair…

Kirito had been undeterred, and he finally found the item he had been looking for. When he turned it into an object, a large piece of a spider's leg appeared in his hands. It was about as thick as one of the Alpha Arachnid's legs – maybe a little bit thinner – but it was nowhere near as long. It looked more like the lower half of one of these legs. Frankly it wasn't exactly a pleasant sight for most of them, and Silica, Lisbeth and Leafa all took a step back. Well, Philia, on the other hand, actually came even closer and threw a curious look at the object.

Meanwhile, Kirito opened the information overview of this item, and his eyes widened in surprise when he saw what he had actually got.

Kirito: It's an ingredient!

Silica [nervously], Lisbeth, Leafa [shocked] and Philia [impressed]: You can cook that?!

Kirito: Yeah… [excitedly] And it's A class! That's amazing! [slightly excitedly] I wonder what this tastes like… [contemplatively] But… How do you even cook this? It's pretty large… and I don't think it can be cut…

Well, what could it be? Kirito even wondered if this leg would have to be grilled on open fire.

In the end, these thoughts were rudely interrupted when someone cut the ominous ingredient in half with a swift sword strike that was aimed masterfully at a joint, which was the weakest spot of this object. The sudden action caused Kirito to jump back and to let out a surprised scream. He could only watch as the remains of the leg fell to the ground before vanishing into nothingness… or into polygons, to be more precise.

When Kirito looked up, he saw that the "culprit" was Leafa. She seemed unperturbed while she was sheathing her katana.

Kirito: Leafa! What are you doing?! That was good meat!

Leafa: Deal with it! I'm only doing what Asuna-san told me to. She said, "If Kirito-kun gets any funny ideas about bringing home weird ingredients, stop him! You're allowed to use violence." In fact, I think you should be glad that I stopped you before you could bring that… thing to Asuna-san.

Kirito: You didn't have to destroy it, though! I… I mean, I could've at least sold it!

Leafa [narrows her eyes]: Are you even believing that yourself?! I saw that look in your eyes. That was the exact same look you always had on holidays when Mom got to cook something fancy, and I swear, every single time, she had to stop you before you could eat half of it by yourself!

Kirito [dejectedly, slightly embarrassed]: You didn't have to bring up that story! [slightly upset] Besides, this spider leg was A class. A class! Can you blame me for wondering how it would taste?!

Lisbeth: I can blame you for trying to make Asuna cook that! For crying out loud… [very sternly] Girls. Do not. Want. To eat. Bugs! Got it?!

Kirito [grumpily]: She wouldn't have had to eat some herself if she hadn't wanted to…

Lisbeth and Leafa: That goes for cooking them, too!

Kirito [defensively, slightly dejectedly]: Okay, okay…

Philia: Um, I think you don't have to be that harsh on him. I mean, it is as he said: It was an A class ingredient. Actually, I think it might've been kinda like crab meat.

Kirito [slightly contemplatively]: Crab meat, you say? [frustrated] Argh, now I want to know even more how it would've tasted! I guess you mean that we'd have to cook it, break it apart and then remove the meat from inside the exoskeleton. That could've worked…

Leafa: Stop it already! And don't describe it in detail! And you, Philia, don't encourage him! It was a spider, what other reason do you need?

Philia: I don't really understand why that's so bad… I mean, okay: Normally, I wouldn't want to eat a spider either, but if it's like crab, I wouldn't mind that. Spiders aren't the worst thing out there!

Lisbeth [exasperatedly]: You really are a child of nature, aren't you? I could never get used to bugs, and you… [sighs heavily] Whatever…

There was something else on Lisbeth's mind, too. Something – or rather someone – who had stayed completely out of this conversation. She turned towards Silica.

Lisbeth had supposed that Silica would've said… anything, to be honest. It could've been anything from expressing concern about Kirito's culinary ideas to planning a full course spider meal for him, yet there had been nothing. Silica had merely been looking on with a pensive, somewhat concerned expression on her face.

Lisbeth: Um, Silica, is something wrong?

Silica: Well, no. It's just… Isn't it a bit odd that we were fighting giant spiders a few minutes ago, and now you're discussing if they might taste like crabs… and so casually, at that.

Leafa [annoyed]: No, only Philia and Kirito-kun do that. Liz-san and I are desperately trying to get them to stop.

Leafa glanced over at Lisbeth, seemingly expecting her comrade-in-arms to agree. However, Lisbeth seemed to calmly think about something, and after a brief moment, she put on a smile before putting an arm around Silica's shoulder and pulling the other girl with her.

Lisbeth: You know, Silica, you're probably right! So, how about we get going? We don't have all day, after all. Let's finish our job at a place with no spiders to fight and no spiders to eat!

It was a rather sudden change of pace, but the rest of the party had to agree: They probably should stop dawdling, so they followed the two girls at the front.

---

Just as the group had anticipated (and hoped), they didn't encounter any more spider monsters after that. In fact, they even left the section of the tunnel that was covered in cobwebs shortly after defeating the Alpha Arachnid.

Leaving behind the "spider den" only marked the beginning of the next… odd occurrence, though.

Leafa: Um, Philia… What are you doing?

Philia [seriously]: I'm looking for hidden treasure, of course!

Lisbeth [hesitantly]: You know, that's not what this looks like…

Well, what did it look like? It looked as if Philia was feeling the wall for… something. Since it was unlikely that she suspected treasure to be hidden inside the gaps between the bricks, the other girls had no idea what was going through her mind while she was examining the entire wall closely.

Kirito [slightly taken aback]: You're looking for a secret passage or something like that, aren't you?

Philia [slightly excitedly]: Exactly! You never know where to find a hidden chamber or something, but that's where the good stuff is! [excitedly] Like there!

Philia rushed a few metres ahead. Frankly, none of the others could see anything of significance over there. What had caught Philia's attention had been nothing other than the fact that the gaps around a certain brick were noticeably bigger. Now, she was pressing her hand against that brick, and she managed to push it further into the wall.

Philia: A bit clichéd, but that only makes it easier to find!

A short, light tremor shook the hall, and then, the section of the wall in front of Philia vanished, opening a door to a hidden room. It was a pretty cramped space that only about a dozen people would barely fit into, and there was nothing inside but a treasure chest right in the middle of the room.

Philia's eyes lit up when she saw that chest, and she was taking the first step towards it while bursting with anticipation… when she got caught by the collar.

Leafa [exasperatedly]: Philia, what do you think you're doing?

Philia: I wanna open the chest, of course! I'm gonna check it for traps first, if that's what you're worried about.

Leafa: That's not even the point! Geez… First, Kirito-kun wants to pick up spiders for diner, now you go and turn this into an ill-advised treasure hunt! I'm not your babysitter, so don't make me act as one!

Philia [confusedly]: I still don't really get the problem.

Silica: Do you really not remember that we're forbidden to take any treasure chests while we're searching for clues about alternative ways to clear this floor?

Leafa: Exactly! Honestly, we talked about this before, Philia! Numerous times, actually. What if we – and especially you – get into trouble because you couldn't keep your hands to yourself?!

That was an issue, which Philia had to admit to.

When Silica had agreed on behalf of her party to act as Kirito's escort, many guild leaders had voiced their concern that their newly created "recon party" would have easier access to many treasure chests around the goblin territory. In fact, they had come across a fair number of them, and players who were allied with the goblins could gain proper access to them by completing certain quests. Since the vast majority of the guild leaders didn't want Kirito and his party to "gain an unfair advantage", they had insisted that he and the girls wouldn't touch any limited resources.

That is...

Lisbeth [slightly contemplatively]: I know that there's that condition, but… Silica, didn't these guys at the assembly say we can't take anything from the goblin territory? I feel like that was the problem.

Silica [hesitantly]: Well, that is true…

Kirito [slightly exasperatedly]: Liz, aren't you just interpreting this at your own convenience? I'm not an expert on guild politics, but I'd guess that this is what everyone else will think. You're just using a convenient loophole.

Lisbeth [crosses her arms, annoyed]: Who cares! I'm simply not in the mood to humour those jerks! It's bad enough that they impose such one-sided, vexing rules on us in the first place!

Philia: Yeah, freedom for treasure hunters!

Leafa [exasperatedly]: Leave it be, Philia… [slightly upset] But I agree that it's pretty unfair to tell us to ignore any treasure we find while they're going around and taking whatever they want. What's up with that begrudging attitude?!

Lisbeth: Right? Honestly, at least let us take what we find in the lizardmen territory! If you ask me, they've probably completely missed this area anyway, so nobody else would even come here looking for anything, so where's the harm in taking whatever we find?!

Leafa sighed and accepted the situation as it was, so she let Philia go, and the enthusiastic treasure hunter immediately lunged for the treasure chest. Lisbeth and Leafa followed her, and Silica trudged along a bit hesitantly. Kirito couldn't argue against what the girls had said, so while he still wasn't sure if the rest of the Assault Team would see this the same way as Lisbeth, he simply considered himself outvoted and followed the rest of his party without another word.

Inside the small room, they gathered around the treasure chest. Philia suddenly seemed to hesitate to open it, though. She carefully looked around the room instead. However, that was only a precaution. She checked the area for traps or anything suspicious.

Philia: Okay, we're good to go.

After opening the chest without anything out of the ordinary happening, Philia gazed at the reward window in joyful anticipation. Meanwhile, the chest vanished now that it had been opened.

However, the sound effect that accompanied the disappearance of this object was followed by another, oddly suspicious noise. It sounded as if some kind of mechanism clicked into place.

Philia had overlooked a tiny detail. The treasure chest had sunk into the ground slightly. The floor tile beneath it was shaped so that the chest would fit perfectly on top of it, and its weight had pushed the loose tile into the ground. Now that the weight was gone, it snapped back as if it was connected to some sort of spring mechanism. Alas, the only mechanism it was really connected to was a hidden trap.

All of a sudden, the wall reappeared, blocking the seemingly only way outside.

Lisbeth: W-what did just…

Leafa: What?! Why did the door close?!

Philia [very surprised]: Huh? H-how? I'm sure there were no traps!

Silica [worriedly]: Not good… What are we supposed to do now? That was the only exit!

While the girls were falling into varying states of panic or shock, Kirito quickly took a look around to see if any monsters showed up. Well, the room wasn't even big enough for a large group of monsters that could pose a threat to appear, and since nothing else happened, he figured that they'd be fine for now.

Kirito [seriously, reassuringly]: Hey, calm down! I don't know what happened either, and I can only guess that there was a well-hidden trap, but that's not important right now anyway. There still gotta be a way out, even if we have to use our Teleport Crystals, so we better check if there's something else we can do!

After hearing Kirito's brief analysis, the girls calmed down again.

Lisbeth: R-right…

Silica: That's true… We should stay calm and try to think of a way out, I guess. So…

Philia: Actually, that's not really such a big problem. We should probably escape through that hole over there.

Philia pointed at one corner of the room. Just below the ceiling, their was a large rectangular hole in the wall. It seemed to be artificial, so it was safe to assume that it was meant to serve as some kind of emergency exit, which probably led to an escape tunnel of sorts. There was nothing else inside this room that stood out, so the entire group figured that this escape route was their only option.

There was only one issue...

Leafa: So far, so good, but isn't that a bit too high?

Lisbeth: Yeah, I think only someone of Agil's stature would be able to reach it…

Philia: Well, about that…

Kirito [contemplatively]: Maybe we're supposed to do a leg-up?

All the girls: Huh?

Kirito: I mean, isn't that the natural solution? The walls don't look as if you could climb, so we obviously have to make up for our lack of height, so…

Philia: That's actually not…

Lisbeth: But a leg-up? Isn't that a bit silly?

Kirito [slightly huffily]: It's just straightforward!

Philia: Well, it's also…

Leafa: It does sound a bit strange, but I guess it would work. If anything, the question should be what else we could do – because I don't have any better ideas.

Silica: There's also the question how exactly we should go about it. [slightly dejectedly] If we're doing a leg-up, I won't be of much help.

Kirito: Well, I thought that…

Kirito suddenly fell silent when he heard the sound effect of something spawning next to the group. When he turned to face the expected threat, however, he was quite surprised to see that nothing worrisome had happened. Silica, Lisbeth and Leafa did the same – to the same effect.

This noise had come from an object Philia had taken out from her inventory. Now she held it in her hands: a relatively plain wooden ladder.

Philia: I've got a ladder we can use.

Lisbeth [mutters, slightly exasperatedly]: Of course you have…

Silica: R-right… [dejectedly] I can't believe I forgot about that…

Leafa [slightly exasperatedly]: Well, I guess that means we can bury the leg-up plan.

Kirito [slightly grumpily]: It's not as if I desperately wanted to do that, so… Fine with me.

From the looks of it, they estimated that the ladder was about one and a half metres high. It wasn't much, but it was enough to deal with problems like the one they were facing at that moment. In fact, Philia carried this ladder with her exactly because it could give them easy access to areas that would normally be just out of reach. This ladder wasn't very heavy, so it didn't even take up much space in her inventory. Overall, it was yet another convenient tool Philia had at her disposal.

With the "how to" problem solved, they entered the escape tunnel one after another. Kirito went first in order to check if the area on the other side of the tunnel was safe. Well, technically speaking, he went second since Pina had already flown ahead. Anyway, Silica, Lisbeth, Leafa and Philia followed him in that order.

This "tunnel" was insanely narrow. A person had to lie flat on their stomach just in order to fit into it, and Kirito's party could just barely crawl through it. Not to mention that they had to put away their weapons. To make matters even worse, the tunnel became narrower – albeit just a bit – the further they advanced.

Frankly, this space felt more like an air shaft, only that the walls were made of stone. They might've made that connection and related this experience to similar scenes from movies if the whole situation hadn't been so inconvenient.

Kirito made haste to cross the escape tunnel, so he reached the exit by the time the rest of the group had only reached the halfway point. The first one to enter the room ahead was Pina, though. The feathered dragon flew into the next chamber and circled around it while taking a careful look around. It chirped calmly, seemingly signaling that the coast was clear. Kirito double-checked it with Searching, and since he didn't pick up anything, he followed Silica's familiar outside the shaft. Well, he had to squeeze his body through the extremely narrow gap in the wall on this side, but he managed that without too much trouble.

There was a bit of a drop, so he fell about two metres down – head-first onto the ground, that is. Well, it was a pretty rough landing. However, Kirito had no time to complain or anything, so he got up – albeit a bit groggily and grumpily – and scanned the room after quickly taking out his swords again.

It was a rather small, plain chamber. At first glance, it looked like an empty storage room. Kirito even called it a boxroom in his mind, although that was a bit of an exaggeration. There was still enough space for a full party to move around. Although… Well, that was only because there was nothing inside this room. Except for some levers on the wall, that is. Kirito wasn't sure what these levers were meant for, so he made a mental note not to touch them, but given that there didn't seem to be anything else here, this was probably some sort of control room.

Next, Kirito took a look into the hallway outside. It was akin to the hallways he knew from similar dungeons – and overall not as gloomy as the secret entryway they had found earlier, so Kirito had the feeling that they had finally reached the main part of the fortress. Furthermore, there were no enemies in sight.

Now that he had finished this brief investigation of the surrounding area, Kirito returned to the exit of the shaft.

Kirito: I think we've reached the right area. There are no monsters or traps on this side, so it's safe, but you should still hurry. I don't know if it will stay that way, and we might run into trouble if there are patrols inside the building.

Silica: R-right… [determinedly] I'll hurry up!

This was easier said than done. Silica may have been small, but for some reason, she reached the point where she began to have trouble fitting through the shaft pretty soon. She tried to push herself forward with all her might, which became harder and harder… and was accompanied by a strange scraping sound for whatever reason.

Before long, Silica became completely incapable of moving forward. She wondered if the shaft might just be uneven and narrower at some places, so she tried to shift her position backwards and then to the side. However, Silica noticed that she was unable to move into any direction. It was strange, though. She was clearly stuck, but she didn't feel stuck. Sure, she couldn't even lift her head without bumping against the ceiling, but she didn't feel any part of her body pressing against the walls in a way that would explain why she couldn't move.

It took her a few seconds, but she realised where the problem actually lay.

Silica [worriedly, slightly nervously]: Oh no… My breastplate got stuck!

All the Others: What?!

Lisbeth: Wait, is that why you suddenly stopped?

Silica: It is!

Kirito: Can you… I don't know. Can you wriggle free or something?

Silica: I already tried! Right now, I can't move from the spot at all!

Pina let out a worried cry and flew back into the shaft, probably to help its master.

Silica: Pina, it is nice that you're trying to help me, but pulling on my sleeve like that won't change anything. I think you're not strong enough.

A bit further behind, Lisbeth couldn't contain herself anymore.

Lisbeth: You gotta be kidding me!

She angrily thrashed around a bit, but that really wasn't wise. When she twisted her body to the side while tilting it a bit upwards, her breastplate got caught between the floor and the ceiling just like Silica's.

Lisbeth [wriggles around, surprised]: Wait… What? [annoyed] Really? Really?!

Kirito [worriedly]: What's wrong?

Lisbeth: I got stuck too!

Leafa: Seriously?!

Philia: This is really not going according to plan…

Leafa: Wait a moment, I'm trying to help you!

Leafa caught up to Lisbeth and grabbed her by the ankles. She tried to pull the girl in front of her back, but it didn't work. Maybe it was because the narrow space made it difficult for her to move around as well, or maybe it still would've worked if Leafa had had higher Strength. Either way, they wouldn't get anywhere like this.

Lisbeth: Argh! That's enough, Leafa! At this rate, the only thing you're going to pull out are my legs!

Leafa: A-ah, sorry!

Lisbeth [panting]: Ugh, this… is awful. Anyway, we won't get anywhere unless we find a way for Silica to get free. Besides, if she gets stuck like this, there's no way for me to fit through this tunnel all the way to the end. My breastplate is even bulkier than hers. Honestly, of course these inelastic metal parts wouldn't fit through here!

Kirito: And if you take them off?

Kirito's simple suggestion was met with shocked, embarrassed outcries from Silica and Lisbeth. Their shouts echoed through the shaft, which made them sound even more over-the-top.

Silica: K-k-kirito-san, what are you saying?!

Lisbeth: Honestly, are you out of your mind?!

Kirito [defensively]: W-why? Isn't that the obvious solution? [flatly] If you don't fit through the tunnel like this, you should take off the equipment that gets in the way, shouldn't you? [slightly at a loss] So where's the problem?

Lisbeth: Where's the problem?! The problem is that there are metal components at pretty much all of my equipment! I would… [very embarrassed] I would have to… to…

Kirito: You would have to...?

Lisbeth: I would have to strip down to my underwear, YOU DUMBASS!

Kirito stumbled backwards, partially because of Lisbeth's angry shout, but it was also because the full embarrassing nature of the situation finally hit him. He'd never had to deal with such issues, and since he had focused completely on solving the problem, this unwanted side effect had completely slipped his mind.

Kirito: R-right, that's true, so… [slightly at a loss] so… [insecurely] Actually, I think the problem remains, so… maybe there's… no other choice?

Kirito could hear Lisbeth grumble in the shaft, and for the most part, he was glad that he couldn't make out anything she said. He figured that he could do without death threats and such.

Silica [mutters]: W-what shall I do? This is so embarrassing… I might die just from thinking about… about K-kirito-san seeing me like that… But what else can I do?

Philia: N-now that I think about it, I'm also wearing light metal equipment, aren't I? I… I guess that means that I'd have to… [mutters incomprehensibly]… [mutters] as well.

After arguing back and forth in their heads for a short while, the girls gave in. Silica was the first one to tap her breastplate to open the window that allowed her to quickly stow the piece of equipment away. Lisbeth followed suit right thereafter, and Philia "got ready", too.

Leafa [awkwardly]: W-well, it's for the best, you know? I mean, you had no other choice! I… I'm sure it will be over in a flash!

Lisbeth [grumpily]: That's easy for you to say. Just wait until you get stuck here! It might very well happen… and I'm sure you can't take off what's gonna get in the way.

Leafa [upset]: What's that supposed to mean?!

Silica [slightly grumpily]: It should be obvious… If you get stuck, it'll be the price you pay for your fortune.

Leafa: Leave me alone! That's not funny!

Philia: Don't worry, Leafa! If necessary, I'm gonna push you! I'm sure it will work!

Leafa: DON'T! And don't humour them, Philia!

Meanwhile, Kirito tried his best to ignore the embarrassing situation. He had already turned away from the shaft, and he was standing guard a few metres away. After getting into similar situations on accident, he knew better – much better – than to throw so much as a glance behind himself before the girls would reach this side and get dressed again.

However, the fact that he could hear almost everything the girls said inside the shaft didn't help. There was simply nothing else he could focus on to distract himself, so his mind always wandered to their awkward conversation despite himself. That way, even the system worked against him, making the girls' words even clearer for him to hear.

Right now, Kirito cringed so much at this whole mess that he had the feeling he might die at any second.

Kirito [mutters]: What did I do to deserve this?

Unknown: Wanna hear it in chronological order?

The sudden voice scared Kirito so much that he instantly leapt so far to the side that he bumped against the wall while screaming his lungs out. He instinctively drew one of his swords and pointed it at the source of the voice, thinking that it might be a threat.

There didn't seem to be anything there, though. However, this probably meant that the person who had just spoken up used Hiding or some other kind of stealth mechanic. On top of that, Kirito was sure that the voice sounded familiar… very familiar.

Silica [worriedly]: Kirito-san?!

Lisbeth [very surprised, slightly worriedly]: What now? What was the scream for?

Leafa [very worriedly]: Are you okay?!

Philia [worriedly]: Did something happen?

Unknown [teasingly]: Awww… Ain't ya a lucky one, Kii-bou? All the girls are wonderin' if ya're alright.

Okay, after hearing that, the realisation definitely hit Kirito. His eyes widened in surprise – or maybe it would be more accurate to say in shock – as Argo appeared in front of him after deactivating Hiding… with the biggest smirk he had seen on her face in a while.

Kirito, All the Girls: Argo?!

Argo: Yep, it sure is lil' ol' me!

Kirito: That's not the point! Where did you come from all of a sudden?!

Argo: Oh, I snuck in on my own, of course! I was just on my way to the storage room where the stuff's stowed away when I heard Lizzie callin' someone a dumbass, 'n I thought to myself, "If the girl's that mad at someone, it gotta be Kii-bou," so I knew where to find ya.

Well, the rest of the story was that Argo had snuck into the room before circling around Kirito quickly and quietly to get ready for a little jump scare. Kirito had been so distracted by the ruckus the rest of his party had made that he hadn't noticed anything… much to his now clearly visible dismay.

Kirito [mutters]: You could've just approached us normally, you know? I honestly might've attacked you.

Argo [teasingly]: It was a calculated risk! [seriously] So, what's the situation? I mean, why are all the other girls inside that lousy hole up there?

Lisbeth: We're actually trying to get out! [strained] If only… it wasn't… so damn narrow!

Argo [surprised]: Ya entered this thin' from the other side?!

Kirito: Um, yeah. Is that… strange?

Argo: Ya bet it is, Kii-bou! I've heard folks talkin' 'bout this spot, 'n they said that they'd come here 'n checked the other side of that weird, cramped tunnel. Only one guy fit through it, 'n since he found nothin' but a single treasure chest on the other side, he thought that it gotta be lousy or a trap, so he left the thin' alone.

Philia: Well, there was a pair of bracers inside. I haven't checked them yet, but maybe they're really good!

Lisbeth [exasperatedly]: Really, Philia? That's what you wanna talk about now?!

Philia [slightly huffily]: Hey, I know when I come across great treasure, and I wanna enjoy it!

Leafa: Stop arguing when I'm right between you two!

This banter brought Argo's smirk back.

Argo: What a lively bunch ya are! Well, I think I can help ya. [walks to the levers] The folks who've told me 'bout this place said that they fumbled with these controls to see if it'd make things easier. Well, it did… a little. Ya should watch out, it could get a bit rough!

Lisbeth: Wait! What do you mea-AAAAAHHH!

When Argo pulled a certain lever, the wall right below the exit of the tunnel transformed. The last section of the tiny pathway turned into a slope, and as a consequence, the girls suddenly found themselves rolling down some sort of stone slide. Just as Argo had warned them, it was a rough way down and an equally rough landing as the girls fell on top of one another. After such an unpleasant fall, they obviously didn't get up right away.

Kirito instinctively checked in on them to see if they were alright. However, the moment the dust had settled enough for him to catch a glance, he instantly realised his mistake, and he turned away again without a moment's thought.

His gaze landed on Argo, who looked at him with an even more mischievous smirk. This left no room for doubt: He was screwed – totally screwed.

Behind him, the girls muttered some complaints, and after briefly venting their anger like that, they put on their equipment again before the other shoe got a chance to drop. However, what worried Kirito the most was the voice that had gone silent first. He heard footsteps coming closer and stopping right behind his back, and when he threw a nervous glance over his shoulder, he saw exactly what he had feared: Leafa giving him a scrutinising, extremely suspicious look.

Leafa: You saw it, didn't you?

Kirito [hastily, slightly nervously]: I didn't see anything! As you can see, I'm facing the other way, so there's nothing for me to see!

Leafa [mutters]: Suspicious, very suspicious…

Leafa directed her gaze at Argo, and she gave the only potential eye witness an inquiring look. Kirito had to suppress a gulp, expecting the worst.

Against his gloomy apprehension, Argo crossed her arms behind her head and put on a relaxed expression.

Argo: Well, if Kii-bou says so, I bet that's how it is. He knows what'd happen if he saw ya girls in all yer glory and lied 'bout it. Right, Kii-bou?

Kirito wasn't sure if he should thank Argo or curse her. Well, he was glad that she didn't rat him out, but what she said only worsened his worries. Actually, it didn't only do that: It also meant that Argo's confirmation (if you could really call it that) couldn't disperse Leafa's suspicions completely.

Leafa: Well, I'll leave it at that… for now.

Letting Kirito off the hook for the time being, Leafa took a step back, joining the line the rest of the girls had formed.

Lisbeth: You know, I don't even want to elaborate on that! I'm just glad that this nightmarish detour is finally over!

Silica: Yeah… [curiously] But that makes me wonder: Argo-san, how did you get here?

Kirito: That's actually a good point. You said that you "snuck in", but Hiding shouldn't work against lizardmen. They still should've been able to detect you by your smell.

Argo [feignedly hurt]: Aw, what a meanie! To tell a girl that she's so smelly that ya can easily spot her just from that alone.

Argo's mood suddenly seemed to shift as she put on a huge grin and rushed up to Kirito. Much to his embarrassment (and the girls' annoyance) she began to rub her shoulder against his chest while looking up at him, still wearing that smirk.

Argo: How 'bout ya test yer hypothesis first and take a good whiff, Kii-bou! I'll make ya eat yer words in no time!

Kirito [tries to push her away]: Argo! Stop it! I don't want to… Wait, what is this…?

He stopped struggling against Argo from one moment to the next, and as shocking as it was in the eyes of the onlooking girls, he took Argo up on her offer and began to sniff at her with an oddly pensive look.

Kirito: What's that? You smell like… like one of these clay walls or something.

Argo [snickers]: We've got a winner!

Kirito: But how?! How did you do that?!

Argo: Ya'd be surprised what ya can buy in this game. For instance, ya can get yer very own Desert Perfume!

Kirito was very surprised. He knew that players could alter their scent. In fact, he had used that many times in order to trick monsters that relied on scent to detect targets. However, he had only ever used "natural" elements such as mud or plants to cover his usual body scent. He had once tried to adopt "desert scent" by rolling around in sand, but it hadn't worked.

Of course he also knew that a variety of items such as perfume or soap could be used to alter one's scent for a limited amount of time, but his perception of such cosmetic products was that their smell was even more prominent, so he had never considered using them. Therefore, Kirito had completely missed that there was an entire collection of perfume for stealth purposes. Using those, players could adopt the smell that usual lingered in the air in various environments.

However, it wasn't Kirito who was hit the hardest by this new information.

Lisbeth: Does that mean we could've avoided this whole mess earlier?! The rope climbing, the spiders, their GOD DAMN WEBS… and the… [embarrassed] the… [upset] Argh, I don't even wanna speak it out loud!

Argo: Nyehehehe! Sounds like ya had tons of fun, Kii-bou!

Leafa [mutters, glares at Kirito]: I bet he had...

Kirito: I didn't! And why are you addressing me of all people, Argo?!

Argo [teasingly]: Tryin' to play dumb, eh, Kii-bou? [feignedly worriedly] But honestly: Poor A-chan! Bein' the ever-so-dutiful wife, she stays behind and takes care of the shoppin' with no one but her dear Sinonon keepin' her company while her good-for-nothin' husband goes 'n has fun on an adventure with a group of pretty girls, smellin' them 'n makin' them strip…

Leafa: Bro-therrrr…

Kirito: Don't look at me like that! And Argo, don't say things that will only cause misunderstandings!

Philia [nervously]: But… You know, you took Argo up on her offer to smell her awfully quickly, and there were moments when you seemed to enjoy fighting these spiders awfully much, and you even wore this creepy grin when Lisbeth got covered in more and more cobwebs…

Lisbeth: He did WHAT?!

In Kirito's defense, Lisbeth's issue with the cobwebs had been bizarrely comical for the most part, and it had reminded him of slapstick comedy, so he couldn't suppress a silly grin. The lighting had made it look creepier than it had actually been, and Philia's wild imagination right now did the rest.

Kirito: I enjoyed battling, that's all!

Philia: I'm actually not sure anymore what else you might've enjoyed… and not just today, but even the entire last week, too.

Silica: I'm actually more concerned what he might ask of Asuna-san if he goes this far even with us…

Lisbeth: Oh, I'm sure he has some ideas in that regard…

Judging from Silica's expression and the massive blush that appeared on her face, the girl probably had some very vivid scenarios playing in her mind.

Leafa: Honestly, I think I've told you that I didn't come to SAO only to find out that you've turned into a total pervert!

Kirito: And I think I told you that I didn't! And I've never asked Asuna to do anything weird, okay?!

Argo wasn't so sure about that. She had halfway reliable information about Kirito asking Asuna to wear nothing but an apron once, but she had the feeling that he really would get murdered if that story ever came to light, so she decided not to bring it up.

No, she had a way better idea…

Argo: Ain't ya innocent, Kii-bou! [teasingly] I know A-chan is a shy girl beneath that armour, but I bet ya could get her to give ya some little service every once in a while.

Kirito [exhaustedly]: Don't join this cursed topic, Argo! I'm begging you!

Argo [snickers]: Well, at least ya can make some underwear suggestions [winks at Kirito], and if ya're too shy, I'd do ya the favour and play the intermediary. [looks at Silica] I just got a glance at a kitten design that might suit her.

Silica: A-argo-san!

Kirito: I don't want you to! And… [doubtfully] Huh? Wait, wasn't it bunnies and not kittens?

Argo [grins broadly, feignedly interested, slightly teasingly]: Oh? How do ya know that, Kii-bou?

It took a short moment for Argo's remark to be completely registered in Kirito's mind. Once that was done, however, he instantly realised what a grave mistake this slip of the tongue had been. His expression distorted into one of utter shock as he turned towards the other girls.

By now, Silica looked as if she wished that intense embarrassment could actually cause damage in SAO since that would've granted her a quick death. Lisbeth and Philia… were doing better, although they had turned away slightly, and they were shielding their respective chest with their arms. Philia didn't say anything, but Lisbeth sent a spine-chilling look at Kirito. Distinct anger was shining through her embarrassed expression.

Lisbeth: So you did see it after all…

Leafa: Yeah… He sure did. Now, I think I remember Argo-san saying something about what would happen if he saw and lied about it, [opens her friend list] but I think I want a second opinion on this. So, where was Asuna-san on this list?

Kirito: WAIT, SUGU! Don't do anything rash! If you don't want to become an only child, don't contact Asuna!

To be perfectly honest, if it had been only Asuna, Kirito wouldn't have panicked as intensely as he did. Asuna would've at least given him a chance to explain himself, and he could've cleared up the misunderstanding. Asuna still would've been mad, but Kirito wouldn't have had to fear for his life.

No, Kirito was much more worried about Sinon. Sinon was currently on a shopping trip with Asuna, and there was a good chance that if Leafa sent Asuna a message now, Sinon would also catch a glimpse of it. Kirito wasn't sure what it was with him and Sinon, but he frequently managed to get on her bad side, and her "shoot first, ask questions later" policy had caused him a lot of trouble already. Well, she usually could be reasoned with, but if Sinon joined forces with Asuna, it was unclear if Kirito would get a chance to say anything before the two girls would bring unprecedented calamities over him…

Meanwhile, Argo had a blast. She couldn't hold her laughter in any longer.

Argo: Man, there's never a dull moment with ya, Kii-bou!

---

Well, I hope you share Argo's assessment, because if you do, writing this chapter - the longest one so far - has certainly paid off.

I guess one of the things that contributed to this chapter's length without a real need is the analysis of Kirito's combat style. However, I really wanted to lay out a theory how Dual Wielding (or Dual Blades, which - as I found out at some point during writing this chapter - is the skill's official name) might work in a way that doesn't turn its user into a one-man-army. Well, and this was the best place to fit it into this story.

According to the Sword Skill list on SAO Wikia, Leafa is actually using a regular one-handed sword in HF, and Philia is using a dagger. However, I think a katana suits Leafa better, and Philia's "canon" weapon looks more like a special shortsword to me. To be fair, it's somewhere in the grey zone between what I'd call a sword and what I'd call a dagger. Regardless, I've decided to make her a user of one-handed swords instead, hence why she uses the respective Sword Skills.

I actually promised at the end of the last chapter to give more insight into my "version" of Philia, but I basically cut that short. I've got a better idea how to do that, namely in a side story about the girls having a relaxed talk at home. To give you the short version without details in advance, I'll expand on Philia's fascination with treasure hunting, and she'll general enjoy exploring the unknown. This is one reason why Philia isn't appalled by the idea of eating a giant spider, and it also has something to do with the reason why Liz calls her "a child of nature" at one point.

The last part became... pretty cringey. It was another one of these times when I had the feeling that this wouldn't be a story based on the games if Kirito didn't get into bizarre, serious trouble. Well, it was also the best way to introduce Argo that I could think of, so here we are.

Anyway, the next chapter will wrap up the "Kirito and Goblins' Ops" part of the story, so stay tuned for the conclusion.