Hey guys. This is the 63rd chapter. Sorry for the late update, I've been quite busy with assignments, catching up on latest anime, games, social life and so on so forth. So I haven't really been able to work on the chapter.

But at least I got it done now.

Anyways, to how Yuuki will affect the academy arc. Her presence will definitely change Kirito and Eugeo's life, at least compared to canon. But I won't reveal too much XD.

So yeah, with that aside, here's the newest chapter.

XXX

As the referee announced the beginning of the match, Kirito stared at Gladio.

From the previous match, the man had used his superior strength with the cleaver to take down Tecchi's shield and sword, so his main strength was his huge strength behind each blow.

Kirito narrowed his eyes at the taller man in front of him, and with one glance, he knew Gladio wasn't taking him lightly at all.

The larger man smirked, before he gripped his cleaver and charged forward.

(linebreak: at the same time)

Meanwhile, on top of a building, two cloaked figures stood on the roof, staring down at the arena where Kirito and Gladio were fighting. And behind them, were two dragons, playing around silently on the roof.

The taller figure, a male, asked, annoyance evident in his voice, "Alice-sama, why are we wasting our time here?"

The shorter figure, revealed to be Alice, stayed silent, watching her childhood friend clash blades with his opponent.

After a short moment, Alice answered, "Eldrie, that one in the ring, as of now, he will definitely beat you in a straight on fight."

The knight's eyes widened, "W-what? Alice-sama, are you hearing yourself?"

The blonde had a small smile on her face, regardless of being much younger, the man acted like a kid a lot of times, "Yes. Provided, the two of you have equal equipment, of course. Give him a Divine Class Weapon, and he can probably defeat over half of our knights."

Eldrie had a shocked expression on his face, "Y-you must be joking!"

Alice shook her head, "I'm not."

After a short while, Alice turned and walked towards Ameyori, "Come on, the match is over, and we still need to get to the borders. Scheta is waiting for us."

Eldrie blinked as he stared down at the ring again, before shaking away his thoughts and followed Alice onto his own dragon.

As the pair flew away, Alice glanced back at the ring, smiling, 'Good luck, Kirito, Eugeo. I'll see you in a year.'

(Linebreak)

Back with the fight, Kirito had been dodging Gladio's swings easily. The teen had to admit, Gladio's swings were strong. Everytime the cleaver touched the ground, dust would cover the area.

The shorter man was sure, if he were to be hit by the sword even once, the match would be over. But everything is always balanced, for the strong swings, Gladio was rather slow, and Kirito took advantage of that.

Looking at the taller man, Kirito noticed his breathing was getting heavier. After a split second, Kirito decided to move.

Pulling his sword back, Kirito allowed the mana in his body to focus on his right arm, flowing into his sword, causing it to glow green. Taking a breath, Kirito spoke quietly, "Aincrad style: Snake Bite!"

Gladio narrowed his eyes at the tell tale glow of the sword skill, preparing himself to block the attack before going for a counter attack.

That was his mistake.

Kirito charged, and stopped right in front of his opponent, using his momentum to swing the blade at Gladio.

As expected, the man raised his sword to block the blow, and he did. But right as Kirito's sword bounced off of the cleaver to the left, the teen pulled back hard, sending another slash at the cleaver.

In the next moment, Gladio's eyes widened in shock, as all that was left of his cleaver, was a broken blade connected to a hilt, the broken piece of the sword stabbing itself in the ground some distance away from them.

After a second, Gladio was snapped out of his shock when he felt Kirito's blade at his neck. The teen asked, "So, do you yield?"

The larger man let out a breath and closed his eyes, letting the broken sword in his hands drop to the ground, "Yeah, you win."

The referee nodded and announced, "Winner, Kirito."

The teen nodded, lowering his blade, before extending his hand to the larger man, "Thank you, it was a great match."

Gladio chuckled, grasping Kirito's hand firmly, not surprised by the teen anymore, "Yeah, the next we meet, I'll win."

The younger man just smirked, "I'll look forward to it."

(linebreak)

After a short moment, Kirito reached the audience seats, though Eugeo and Yuuki had already went down to the arena.

As Kirito sat down, Tecchi said, "Congrats man, you're in the finals now."

Kirito nodded, "Yeah, thanks man."

Nori grinned, "I think he's more concerned about who he'll be facing after this. Its Yuuki or Eugeo after all."

Siune smiled, but said, "Okay, enough, they're starting."

(linebreak)

Yuuki grinned at Eugeo, who grinned back in turn. The both of them pretty much knew what each other could do, but it still didn't ease the excitement of facing each other, especially knowing that the winner would face Kirito in the finals.

The referee glanced between them as he asked, "Are you ready?"

Both of them nodded, Eugeo taking his stance, while Yuuki brandished her sword.

The referee nodded and stepped back, "Very well, BEGIN!"

Immediately, Yuuki charged forward, aiming a thrust at Eugeo's chest. The blonde narrowed his eyes, sidestepping right in time to dodge the attack, at the same time positioning his blade so that it was right at Yuuki's gut.

But before Eugeo could swing, Yuuki twisted her body, dodging the slash as she landed some distance away from him.

The two grinned at each other, both impressed with the other's display of skill.

Then, both of them took a stance.

Eugeo pulled his sword back, his sword glowing bright pale blue, while Yuuki's sword glowed bright white.

Then both of them charged, yelling the names of their respective sword skills, "Aincrad Style: Rage Spike/Shooting Star!"

The two blades met, but not completely striking, as both swords grinded against each other, sliding past each other, as the swords headed for the opposing wielders.

(just like a double cross counter)

Gasps could be heard from the audience, as the swords seemingly headed for both of their heads.

But fortunately, both of them were fine, as Yuuki tilted her head just in time to dodge the stab, while Eugeo turned his head slightly, letting the sword graze his cheek.

Eugeo and Yuuki both grinned at each other for a brief moment before they quickly separated, leaping back.

Seeing that both fighters were fine, the crowd started to roar in anticipation, prompting both of them to charge each other again.

For the next few moments, the two were locked in a dance. Every strike was either blocked, parried or dodged by each other.

As Eugeo redirected one of Yuuki's stabs away, he pulled his blade up, aiming a slash at her chest.

But the girl quickly pulled herself back, letting the tip of the sword barely grazing past the chest plate, leaving a small mark as she stepped back.

The two stared at each other, before once again moving into a stance, causing their respective swords to glow.

Eugeo announced, bending his knees as he prepared to leap forward, "Aincrad style: Sonic Leap."

At the same time, Yuuki pulled her sword back, "Vorpal Strike!"

The two then charged, with Eugeo leaping forward, while Yuuki charging forward with her blade.

Then, in that next instant, the two swordsmen clashed blades, before moving past each other, swords extended in front of them, at the same time, the whole audience fell silent.

Then, as Yuuki and Eugeo were about to turn and continue, two clangs caught their attention respectively, and they both saw the upper half of their blades on the ground in front of them.

The two turned, facing each other, noticing their broken blades and grinned.

Without a word, the two charged each other, and to everyone's surprise, the two still fought pretty well with their broken weapons, causing another roar of excitement from the crowd.

Due to the shortened range their broken weapons had, they had both resorted to using their blades like daggers, Eugeo more so than Yuuki.

After clashing blades several more times, Yuuki and Eugeo backed away, none of them letting their guards down.

Then, in a blink of an eye, both of them charged forward. They quickly closed the gap, and Eugeo swung his sword at Yuuki, who blocked it before redirecting it to the floor.

Then, the girl quickly pulled her sword back, swinging it before stopping right at Eugeo's neck, "I win."

Eugeo glanced up at her, a small grin tugging at his lips, "Think again."

Yuuki's eyes widened when she felt something at her stomach, and she glanced down before noticing Eugeo's sword pointed at her stomach.

The two stared at each other, and before they could countinue, they were interrupted by a bell.

That snapped them back to reality, as the referee announced, "Due to the time limit, along with the fact that none of the fighters are down, this match is a draw."

Immediately, that induced boos and yells of disappointment from the crowd. Though most of the participants realized it wasn't wrong, it was stated in the rules, that the participants would be given a certain amount of time for each match.

The only reason the bell was never used in the previous matches, was because the matches ended before it could be used. Each winner usually disarmed or incapacitated their opponents before the time ran out. All except for this one.

Yuuki and Eugeo stared at each other, and they both grinned before staring up at Kirito. The girl then looked at the referee, "Mr Referee, sir, how about we compromise?"

The man raised an eyebrow, "A compromise?"

Eugeo nodded, "Yeah, how about the two of us, including Kirito, have a three way fight?"

Yuuki nodded, causing the referee to consider the idea for a while. The man then looked up, where the officials were sitting, and got a small nod from one of them.

The referee nodded before he looked at the audience, "Will participant Kirito please come down to the arena? As this match is a draw, it is decided that the three of you would have a three way battle, as the final match of this tournament."

Kirito blinked, before noticing the looks on Yuuki and Eugeo's faces. The teen resisted the urge to grin, since he knew both wanted to fight him, and he wanted to fight them as well.

Tecchi grinned at him, "Well, turns out you'll be fighting both of em."

The teen nodded, "Yeah, this'll be fun."

Kirito stood up and quickly went down to the arena.

(linebreak)

Later, in the evening, the group was at a restaurant, eating dinner. Kirito, Yuuki and Eugeo were all bandaged up, having pushed themselves a lot during the tournament.

Nori commented as she took a bite out of her food, "Ya know, its kinda disappointing... I mean how can ya'll end it with a draw?!"

The girl exclaimed at the end, earning chuckles from the three finalists. Tecchi also chuckled, "I don't think they'd get a winner, at least, not in a day."

Jun nodded, "I know right?! I mean, the three of you were all almost equal! It took the whole afternoon until the match ended with a draw! And that happened because it was taking that much time!"

Kirito chuckled as he put down his cup, "Its fine, we got the reward split between us anyways..."

Eugeo nodded, smiling, "Yeah, well, it probably wouldn't end well if we really got a winner."

Yuuki smiled sheepishly, "Yeah, I'm sure all of us would be hurt pretty badly."

Tecchi chuckled, taking a bite out of his food, "Eh, as long as they're happy, let em be."

Siune nodded, "Yep, we've got the entrance test in a few weeks, let's just relax for now."

Talken nodded and cut Jun off before he could talk, "Yeah, come on and eat, the food's getting cold!"

The brunette grumbled and just bit his spoon hard, earning a round of laughter from the table.

(Roughly three weeks later)

Kirito and Eugeo were at Sadore's shop again, standing in front of the counter.

Kirito asked, "So, Sadore-san, is it done?"

The old man chuckled, "Yes yes, patience, my boy."

The old blacksmith reached down and brought out a long object wrapped in pure black cloth. He then placed it down on the counter, before unfolding the cloth, revealing a pitch black one-handed sword with a guard that had the symbol of a tree.

Even with just one glance, Kirito knew this was a sword like no other. He wasn't an expert, but he could see just how much skill and effort Sadore had put in to forging the blade.

Sadore grinned, admiring his work, "This will definitely be one of the greatest swords I've ever made in my whole life. There will never be a sword like this."

The blacksmith looked at Kirito, "Treasure it, as if it were a part of you."

The teen nodded as Sadore slid the sword across the counter to him. The old man then said, "By the way, you should think of a name for it. I was planning to, but I think its better if you did it."

Kirito blinked and looked at Sadore, "Name it?"

Sadore nodded with a small smirk, "Every weapon needs a name, and I remember the saying that if a warrior names his weapon, it'd strengthen the bond of the wielder and the weapon, making them stronger, or something like that."

The old man chuckled, "Well, you can ignore that last part, but that sword needs a name, like that blue sword of yours, Eugeo."

The blonde blinked and brought out his own sword, "My sword... That's true, it does have a name, the Blue Rose Sword (Aobana no Ken)."

Kirito nodded, "I see..."

Eugeo glanced at Kirito, "So, what will you name it?"

Kirito stared at the sword for a short while, before the Blue Rose Sword caught his eye, and he glanced back at his pitch black sword.

Kirito considered for another while, before he nodded, "I think I'll name this, the Night Sky Sword (Yozora no Ken)."

Sadore smirked, "Hmph, not a bad name, for the sword."

The man brought out a sheath and threw it at Kirito, who caught it easily, "Here, a sheath for the sword. You can clip it to your belt or wear it on your back, it should be useful."

Kirito nodded, "Thanks. So, how much is this?"

Sadore chuckled and threw Kirito a card, who also caught it easily, "Free of charge. Its been a while since I got to actually enjoy forging a sword. Just come back here regularly to let me maintain it. That card should help you keep track of when to bring it over."

Kirito flipped over the card and saw that it was a schedule, or rather, an empty schedule, for when he had to come over.

Before he could ask, Sadore spoke, "The sword needs to be maintained at least once a month, so everytime you come over for that, I'll check off one of the boxes, so that you know when was the last time your sword had done maintenance."

Kirito nodded and bowed his head slightly, "Thank you very much, Sadore-san."

The old blacksmith smirked, "Think nothing of it. Just make sure you enter the academy, or else having that sword won't do shit for you."

Kirito grinned and nodded, "Yes sir."

Sadore regarded both teens before he made shooing actions, "Now get out of here and train, I still got work to do, and the two of you have your exams coming up."

The teens just chuckled as Sadore walked back to his forge, before they too left the shop to look for Yuuki and the others.

(linebreak)

A week later, Kirito, Eugeo, Yuuki and the rest of their group were at the Sword Mastery Academy, waiting for their turn to take the test.

The exam was simple. Each participant would enter the examination room, and face off against an instructor. If the participants manage to survive for five minutes, then they pass.

After that, the participants would be graded according to their performances against the instructor, and the top 120 examinees would be accepted as students, where the top 12 students would be assigned as Valets for the current 12 Elite Swordsman-in-Training.

Now, Tecchi was up, and as his name was announced, the tall man nodded to his friends as he grabbed his shield and sword, before he walked into the room.

Shortly after that, the man walked out of the room. Talken asked, "So, how did it go?"

Tecchi smiled, "It wasn't that hard, I think. I managed to survive for five minutes, that's for sure."

The others just nodded before Jun heard his name and went in. Tecchi then said, "Okay, good luck, I'll wait for you outside."

Siune nodded, "Okay."

The man then walked out, leaving the group there to wait for their turn.

Soon, Yuuki, Talken, Nori and Siune got their turn, followed by Eugeo, and finally, Kirito was the only one of their group waiting for his turn.

The teen waited patiently as he saw many examinees walk in and out, some with confident faces, some with happy faces, and some with frustrated or sad faces.

After a while, as another examinee walked out from the door, the invigilator by the door called out, "Next, Kirito."

The teen stood up and walked towards the door. The invigilator nodded as he checked Kirito's name off the list, "You ready?"

Kirito nodded and strapped his sheath tightly to his waist, "Yes sir."

The invigilator nodded and gestured to the door, "Alright, you can go in."

Kirito nodded and opened the door, walking into a rather spacious room. In the middle of the room, was a blonde man wearing the standard staff uniform holding a normal looking one handed sword, while sitting at a side, were three judges, ready to see how Kirito did against the instructor.

The man looked at Kirito, sizing up the young man, "So, are you ready?"

Kirito nodded, drawing his sword as he went to stand in front of the man, earning a raised eyebrow from the instructor at the unusual colour of his blade, "Yes, I'm ready."

The instructor nodded, "Very well."

The man then glanced at the judges, and the one in the middle nodded, "You may begin, now!"

Immediately, Kirito charged forward, drawing his sword back, with his left hand holding his sheath so that it wouldn't swing around when he fought.

The instructor's eyes widened in slight surprise at the speed Kirito possessed, which had quickly closed the gap between them. The man barely had the time to raise his sword to block Kirito's strike.

But before the man could retaliate, Kirito was already moving. Quickly pulling back from the blocked attempt, Kirito spun, sending a slash at the instructor yet again.

The instructor's eyes widened, and he leaned back on reflex just in time to dodge the blade, the pitch blade metal glinting dangerously as it passed harmlessly in front of his face.

Quickly using the short amount of time to regain his footing, the instructor decided to go onto offensive, swinging his blade diagonally at Kirito.

To the man's pleasant surprise, Kirito tilted his body right at the last minute, in a way such that the sword cut through the air harmlessly, barely missing his skin by an inch.

The man caught Kirito's subtle smirk, and he realized the teen had done the exact same thing he did just a moment ago.

The instructor held back a smirk, and pulled his sword up, sending a slash at Kirito in the same path his sword had just moved through a few seconds ago.

Kirito quickly moved, blocking the attack with his own sword, shortly locking blades with the instructor.

The instructor commented, "Not bad kid."

Kirito smirked, "You ain't seen nothing yet."

The man just raised an eyebrow as he tilted his blade, pushing both of their sword arms upwards.

Kirito's eyes widened as the instructor grinned, pulling his sword down to his neck. But, surprising instructor yet again, Kirito managed to dodge the strike, kicking him away at the same time.

Kirito took a short breath, maintaining the distance between him and the instructor.

The teen then lowered his sword to his waist, initiating a sword skill, to the surprise of the instructor. The Night Sky Sword glowed, and Kirito charged.

Instantly closing the gap between them, Kirito swung his sword down vertically, clashing against the man's sword.

Then, to the instructor's surprise, Kirito pushed his sword further down, but not pushing him back, instead making his sword slide down from his own.

The instructor tried to take advantage of the small opening to attack, but Kirito was already moving, as he quickly pulled his sword back up, striking the sword again.

The man was surprised by the continuous attacks, but managed to stand his ground as he tried to attack Kirito again.

But the teen wasn't having that. Spinning, Kirito sent another upward slash from below, striking the instructor's sword hard and fast for a third time.

And in that instant, everyone heard a loud clang, and the instructors, along with the judges, all had their eyes widened, as the upper part of the instructor's sword was sent into the air, leaving the examiner with only half of a broken blade.

Then, before anyone could react, Kirito's sword was directly above the instructor's head, just a few inches from touching his hair.

Kirito let out a breath, before he asked, "Do you yield?"

The instructor blinked, before he chuckled, "Yes, yes, I yield."

The three judges quickly broke into a quiet discussion, and the instructor spoke, "You can leave, young man, you did very well, you're the third one to beat me."

He looked at the clock on the desk, and smiled forcefully, "And it seems you're also the first one to beat me in three minutes."

Kirito just smiled sheepishly, and the man cleared his throat, "Anyways, go home and get some rest, you're most likely to get into the academy... And I'll need a new sword."

Kirito just nodded, sheathing his sword, and left the room as the instructor went to talk to the three judges.

(linebreak)

Kirito walked out of the venue, and quickly spotted Eugeo, Yuuki, Tecchi, Talken, Jun, Siune and Nori waiting for him by a bench.

Kirito waved, "Hey, sorry to keep you guys waiting."

Siune smiled, "It's fine. So, how did it go?"

Kirito grinned, "I beat the instructor."

Jun sighed, "You, Eugeo and Yuuki are monsters. I couldn't even land so much of a hit, and I barely survived for five minutes."

Talken nodded, "Same here."

Nori smiled coyly and poked the bespectacled boy at the sides, "That's just 'cause you lack training, both of you."

Talken swatted the girl's arm away, rubbing his side, "Its not like we're not training at all, and its not like everyone can be as good as them!"

Tecchi chuckled, "He's not wrong."

Kirito and Eugeo just sweatdropped as Yuuki spoke, "If that's the case, how about we go train now?"

Jun gaped, "Now?! We just finished fighting against the examiner, can't we go chill at the cafe or somethin?"

Kirito chuckled, "I don't think we should, at least, not right now..."

Eugeo just smiled, not saying anything as he watched the others bicker around.

(linebreak)

The next day, the group of eight were outside the academy, where a large board stood, on it being several pieces of paper that had the names of the 120 students who managed to enrol into the academy.

Kirito looked for his name, and easily spotted it at the very top, followed by Yuuki and Eugeo.

He was about to tell Yuuki and Eugeo when he heard Nori say loudly, "Oh! I got in!"

Immediately after, Jun exclaimed in joy, "Me too!"

Tecchi smiled as he spotted his name in the middle, "Same here."

Siune just smiled as she spotted her name, stepping back so that the other students could check their names.

And finally, Eugeo stared at his name in surprise, shocked that he had managed to get second, while Kirito and Yuuki got first and third respectively.

Then, Kirito was about to congratulate his brother-in-all-but-blood, when both of them were caught in a hug by Yuuki, the girl beaming in joy, "We did it! We actually did it!"

Kirito just chuckled, "Yeah... We did it."

Eugeo just smiled, rather happy that they were progressing quite smoothly.

Tecchi chuckled, "Nice. You three will be part of the valets, and most likely get extra training from them."

Siune nodded, "Yes, and if you keep maintaining your position, you'll get Valets of your own."

Kirito just chuckled, "Eh, who knows.. It may change for all we know."

Nori grinned, "Eh who cares about that now, let's go celebrate!"

No one objected, and they left the area, ignoring some of the people yelling in joy or wallowing in disappointment.

(linebreak)

A few days later, the new 120 students had started their classes. The orientation was simple. A brief explanation of what was expected by the headmaster, and a short speech by the top student, Lovo Levantein, before the students were dismissed to enter their classes.

Now, Kirito, Eugeo and Yuuki were standing amongst the 12 Valets, and in front of them were 12 senior students, the 12 Elite Swordsman-in-Training.

The twelve newly enrolled students were to be chosen by their seniors as their valets, before they joined the other students in class.

As the senior swordsmen all approached their chosen Valets, a young woman wearing a purple variant of the standard uniform approached Kirito.

The young lady smiled, "Your name is Kirito, yes?"

Kirito blinked several times before he bowed his head slightly, "Yes, umm..."

The young woman smiled, "My name is Sortiliena Serlut, you'll be my Valet, okay?"

Kirito nodded, "Yes, Sortiliena-senpai."

Sortiliena smiled again, "Just call me Liena, my friends call me that anyways."

Kirito nodded, a small grin tugging his lips, "Got it, Liena-senpai."

Liena glanced at the others. Most of her fellow swordsmen-in-training had chosen their Valets, most of them choosing fellow nobles, except for a select few.

Gorgolosso Baltoh had chosen Eugeo. The large man in a green variant of the uniform had initially wanted to choose Kirito, as both of them were not nobles, as far as he knew. But Liena had beat him to it, so he chose Eugeo.

Konno Ran, a young woman with long brown hair, had chosen Yuuki as her Valet.

The young woman turned back to Kirito, "We're quite done here actually, just meet me outside the academy after class, kay?"

Kirito nodded, "Got it."

Liena noticed that most of her fellow seniors were leaving, and she nodded at Kirito, "I'll see you later, I still have class, and I believe you have class too, right?"

Kirito nodded, "Yeah..."

The woman smiled and started to walk away, "Have fun in class then."

The young man nodded as Liena walked away to join Gorgolosso and Ran, before Kirito turned to join up with Yuuki and Eugeo.

As Kirito walked to them, the black haired teen asked, "So, how were your mentors?"

Eugeo smiled, "Gorgolosso-senpai is pretty cool. He's kinda like us actually..."

Yuuki grinned, "Ran-senpai is awesome! This'll be great!"

Kirito nodded, "I see, good for you then."

Yuuki smiled coyly and nudged the black haired teen, "You're not that bad off yourself, I saw your mentor, she's pretty hot, ya know?"

Kirito laughed lightly and awkwardly, "Well... I guess I got lucky(?)"

Eugeo smiled. He was tempted to join in on teasing Kirito, but decided to help his best friend out, "Come on, let's go to class, we'll be late if we stay here and tease Kirito about getting a hot mentor."

Kirito sighed in a defeated manner as they started walking to class, ignoring the laughter from Eugeo and Yuuki.

Soon, the three reached their class. As there were only 120 students in the academy, they were split into six classes of 20 students to make teaching easier.

Fortunately, Kirito, Eugeo, Yuuki, Tecchi, Talken, Siune, Jun and Nori were all in the same class.

As they entered the class, the three saw a middle aged man with spiky brown hair explaining an upcoming assessment.

The man noticed the three and stopped his explanation, "Ah, Valets selection, yes?"

Kirito and the other two nodded, "Yes sir."

The man nodded and gestured to the seats among the students, "Take a seat, you can ask your friends later about what you missed."

Kirito, Eugeo and Yuuki all nodded, as they went to sit with their friends.

(linebreak)

After class, during the one hour break before they continued the rest of their classes, Kirito, Eugeo, Yuuki and the others were at a restaurant a short distance from the academy.

Nori asked as she took a sip from her juice, "So, how did the Valet thing go?"

Yuuki grinned, "It was great, I mean, Ran-senpai seems nice."

Eugeo nodded, "Gorgolosso-senpai seemed nice too, but we'll probably find out later. I'm meeting up with him later after class ends."

Kirito nodded, "Yeah, me too."

Yuuki smiled slyly, "I'm sure you're looking forward to it, right?"

Kirito just sighed and calmly facepalmed, earning a round of laughter from everyone else.

Tecchi smiled, "Well, who knows, maybe your mentor actually likes younger men."

Kirito groaned, "Just stop... She's just my mentor, I don't even know her apart from her name."

Nori grinned, "Not yet anyways. YET."

Everyone laughed at that, earning another groan from the poor teen. After a short moment, Siune decided to help him and spoke, "I think that's enough teasing him for now. We have less than an hour left before we have to head back to class."

Everyone knew Siune was trying to change the topic, and they just grinned/smiled coyly as they stood up from the table. Nori said, "Okay, we'll do that later."

Kirito just groaned as everyone laughed, before he followed them back to class.

(linebreak)

After class, Kirito was waiting for Liena outside the academy entrance. Eugeo and Yuuki had went to meet up with their respective mentors, and the others had went home to rest.

As he waited, Kirito heard a female voice, sounding in his head, 'Kirito...'

The teen winced, clutching his head as he heard a loud ringing in his head while the voice continued, 'Kirito... There's not much time left...'

The teen leaned on one of the lamp posts near him as he clutched his head in pain as the voice sounded in his head again, but this time, the voice was blurred, and he couldn't hear anything the voice said.

Kirito gasped in pain, leaning on the lamp post, 'What...was that?'

But before the teen could ponder any longer, a familiar voice reached his ears, "Kirito? Are you alright?"

He glanced to a side, noticing Liena standing there with a concerned look on her face. Kirito took a breath and straightened up, "N-no... It's nothing."

Liena wasn't really convinced, and she said, "If you're not feeling well, you should go home and get some rest. We can do this some other time."

Kirito shook his head, trying to clear his head at the same time, "No, its fine."

Liena let out a sigh before she nodded, "Okay, if you say so. But if you don't feel well, we can continue this later, got it?"

Kirito nodded, ignoring the slowly fading pain in his head, "Got it."

Liena nodded and turned, "Come on, I'll show you my room, then we'll find a place to talk about our arrangements."

Kirito nodded and followed after her.

(linebreak)

After half an hour, with an awkward situation for Kirito as he was shown where Liena lived, the two were at a cafe.

Liena took a sip from her cup of tea before she placed the cup down, "So, I'm pretty sure you know what a Valet is supposed to do, yes?"

Kirito nodded, "Yes, we were briefed when we started class."

Liena nodded, "While they say its required for the valets to clean our rooms, I'd prefer if you don't touch some of my stuff. So let's just make it easier for the both of us, alright?"

Kirito nodded, "Of course... So..."

Liena smiled softly, "I'll tell what you'll have to do later. But aside from that, just go on with your own stuff."

Kirito nodded, "Okay, thank you, Liena-senpai."

The woman smiled, taking another sip from her cup, "I used to be a Valet too, so I know how hard it is to maintain both being a Valet and maintaining your rank in the academy."

Kirito just nodded, taking a sip from his coffee.

Liena placed her cup down before looking at Kirito, "But serious stuff aside, I'm a bit curious, Kirito."

Kirito raised an eyebrow, "Curious? About what?"

Liena answered, "You. I mean, you're not from a noble family, but yet from the records of your entrance test, you, along with your friends Eugeo and Yuuki, are the only ones to beat the instructor, and you were the one who did it with the shortest amount of time."

Kirito subconsciously gulped as he felt Liena's calculative gaze directed at him, "I-I just had a great teacher."

Liena raised an eyebrow, "May I know who your teacher is?"

Kirito opened his mouth to answer, but before he did, he remembered that he wasn't supposed to reveal Bercouli as his teacher, and he shook his head instead, "Sorry, but I made a promise not to tell anyone."

Liena stared at Kirito for a brief moment before she nodded, "I see. Never mind then."

The woman then leaned back on her chair, "Well, since you just started class recently, let's take it easy for this week then, you can start joining me in training next week."

Kirito was slightly surprised, but he nodded, "Thank you, Liena-senpai."

The woman smiled, "Don't worry about it. Though, I'll put you through hell during our training sessions."

Kirito blinked, before he sweatdropped, "O-okay..."

Liena smiled, "Now, I believe we're done with the serious business."

Kirito blinked, "We are?"

The young lady nodded, "Yep."

The senior student looked up at the clock tower, where the only clock in the town was located, and she nodded, "Okay, we have quite some time. Let's go take a walk."

Kirito blinked, "Eh?"

Liena smiled, "I'm sure you don't have anything else to do today, and I have nothing on my schedule. So let's take it easy, and get to know each other better. We're gonna be stuck together for a year after all."

Kirito blinked before he nodded slowly, "Y-yeah... That makes sense."

Liena smiled and stood up, "Good. If you want to, this can be a date too."

Kirito gaped, opening his mouth, before he closed it again, speechless. Liena saw the look on his face and giggled, "I'm kidding. Come on."

Kirito nodded and stood up, following his senior/mentor around the town, where they familiarised themselves with each other as they walked.

(linebreak)

In the evening, after dinner, Kirito and Liena had parted ways, and the teen had gone back to his shared apartment with Eugeo.

As he closed the door, he spotted Eugeo on the couch, a sly grin on his face as he waited for his best friend to enter the apartment.

Kirito greeted, "Hey."

Eugeo greeted back, the grin not leaving his face, "Hey. How was your date with Sortiliena-senpai?"

Kirito gaped as he blushed slightly, "W-what are you talking about?"

Eugeo's grin widened, "We saw you, and Sortiliena-senpai, walking around together like you were on a date."

Kirito took a breath, mentally telling himself to calm down, "Liena-senpai was just showing me around, so that our jobs as mentor and valets would be easier."

Eugeo raised an eyebrow, "Liena-senpai?"

Kirito glared at his best friend, "Yes, and not what you think, her friends call her that."

Eugeo grinned as he chuckled slightly, deciding not further antagonise his brother, "Sure sure. By the way, according to Gorgolosso-senpai, Sortiliena-senpai prefers younger men."

Kirito resisted the urge to smack Eugeo's face, and he just turned to his room, "Shut up... and go to bed... We still have class tomorrow."

Eugeo laughed, "Whatever you say."

Kirito just grumbled and went into his room, ignoring Eugeo's voice as he went to sleep.

XXX

Done. So that's the 63rd chapter. The next chapter will develop more on Kirito and Eugeo's school life, and so on so forth.

And apologies in advance, I'm in bachelor of pharmacy, so I'm gonna be quite busy for the next few years... So updates won't be as frequent as they used to be. Though I'll try my best to finish them on time, most likely and hopefully in a month.

So yeah, review please. Until the next chapter.