Chapter 2 / Safe Zone?:

Exhaustion. That was all that the Black Swordsman could feel. That and the constant worry that had been embedded deep within him for the past five days. The sun was just beginning to set when Kirito reached the town. He paused at the entrance to the safe zone, debating on what his next move should be. After a pause that felt like an age, he finally decided that the tavern was his best bet at finding Adira.

All of the players turned to face him as he entered, looking up from their tables. The npc's, however, were oblivious, their only purpose was to make the place seem more lively. A middle-aged player got up from his seat and approached Kirito.

"You wouldn't happen to be Kirito, would you?" The stranger asked.

"Yeah…uh…that's me…" Kirito replied, taken aback. "Sorry uh…do I…know you?"

"I'm so sorry, how rude me of. My name is Albert." He replied. "You're probably wondering how I knew who you were." He paused. "Lone player, one-handed sword, black coat. Adira's description of you was exactly on point."

Kirito paused for a second, a shocked look taking residence upon his face. "You…you know Adira? Is she safe?!" he asked desperately.

"I do." Albert responded, "she came into town two days ago. She was badly hurt. Said her menu items weren't working. She's been taking it easy the past two days. Letting her natural health regeneration do its thing. I asked her if she had any family or friends in this game, and she described you. She was so sure you'd be coming for her."

"Yeah…I'm just sorry it took as long as it did…" Kirito spoke, guilt at not getting there sooner beginning to form in his stomach. Albert reached out and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"What matters is that you're here now." He stated, eyes boring into the Black Swordman's. "Come on, I'll take you to her." Albert began to move forward, continuing: "She's currently visiting the weapons vendor to repair her equipment."

Kirito sighed in relief and followed the older man out of the tavern. They walked across the safe zone for a few minutes, discussing Adira's condition and her connection to Kirito, when they suddenly heard the sound of a war horn coming from ahead. They froze.

"What is that?" Albert questioned, gazing in Kirito's direction in the hope of answers.

"I really don't kn…" Kirito was cut off as he was shoved aside by a group of players from behind. They rushed past the two of them, heading towards the source of the horn. The Black Swordsman regained his footing. "What was that about?"

"That's the resident guild of this town." Albert informed him. "They call themselves the Iron Will. This must be some sort of training exercise…"

Albert trailed off, finding it hard to convince himself that that was all that was happening. Kirito gave him a look of sympathy, wishing he could believe it too. A piercing scream abruptly cut through their thoughts.

"I don't suppose that could be part of the exercise?" Albert asked hopefully, turning to look at Kirito to find that he was already running towards the commotion. After a brief moment of hesitation, he followed.

The two of them came skidding to a halt when they saw the source of the screams. A pair of identical npc's, armoured head-to-toe in bronze, were wading through a sea of panicked players, cutting down anyone who came close to them.

"That's…impossible." Albert stated. "There can't be enemies here…the towns are supposed to be safe zones…"

Kirito was lost in his own thoughts. Bronze armour, defying the normal restrictions bound to enemies. They could only be one thing…

"Kirito! What do we do? How can they be in the safe zone?" Albert repeated, desperate for some sort of answer.

"They're called Dusk Demons…" the Black Swordsman replied, his face rigid with tension. "I had Argo investigate into what was hunting Adira when she first went missing. They don't abide by the same rules as other enemy types."

The commander of the Iron Will guild was screaming orders to anyone who would listen, attempt to get his troops under control and organised. Kirito quickly approached him.

"You need to withdraw all of your people. NOW!" Kirito ordered as the commander turned around to face him, shocked to find a solo player giving him orders.

"What?! Are you out of your mind?! These things are running rampant through this town. My men are the only ones who can stop them!" he argued, glaring at the random kid.

"Your men are getting slaughtered over there!" Kirito growled. "These are Dusk Demons! They don't play by the rules your men are used to. Look at them! Their attack patterns can't be predicted, they fight more like players than they do npc's! Taking them on is suicide!"

The commander paused momentarily, re-observing his adversaries for a second. He returned his gaze to the black dressed player. "And I should just take it in good faith that you know what you're talking about then, should I?"

Kirito opened his mouth, unsure of what to say to convince the commander to trust him, when one of the guild members spoke up: "Sir, he's the Black Swordsman. The Beater who fights on the front-lines. He's just about as experienced as you can get."

The commander paused once more, processing this new information. He had heard rumours of the Black Swordsman, but surely a kid this young couldn't be him. Screams drew his attention back to the battle raging on behind him. His men were being torn apart, the enemies were too well armoured, they couldn't land a hit. He sighed.

"I hope you know what you're doing kid." He breathed as he opened his menu to send a warning notification to his guild, ordering them to retreat. "There are still plenty of low-level players out there who are going to get killed by those thi…"

"I'll handle it." Kirito interjected firmly as he strode forward, heading towards the chaos.

"What are you doing?!" Albert shouted after him. "I thought you said that taking those things on was suicide!"

"That's my problem Albert!" Kirito replied, drawing his sword from its sheath on his back. "I'm inconsistent!"

Pouring all of his focus onto the two enemies before him, he charged.

A young member of the Iron Will guild was helpless. Knocked to floor, their weapon, a battle-axe, meters away from them, they looked up in fear as the first of the two Dusk Demons approached, raising its sword with a speed that the player had no hope of dodging. The guild member closed their eyes, trembling as they heard the clash of metal against metal. They slowly opened one of their eyes, confused as to why they were still alive, to find the jagged bronze blade of the Demon to be blocked by a straight black bladed one. They gasped in surprise as they noticed the dark robed figure, standing over them protectively, holding the enemies weapon up with their own.

"Get out of here!" Kirito barked, struggling to keep the Demons blade aloft. "I can't hold it forever!"

The player swiftly scrambled to their feet, racing off into retreat without a moments hesitation. Kirito poured all of his strength into pushing his opponents sword away, but it wasn't enough. The Demon pushed harder, forcing Kirito back a few steps, his feet scraping against the floor in an attempt to make himself immovable. He looked up into the eyes of the creature, which stared coldly back at him. Just as it seemed like the contest of strength between the two of them had reached a standstill, the solo player was struck with a thought. Where was the second Demon?

The Black Swordsman suddenly felt pressure on the back of his thigh. He attempted to twist out of the way, breaking the standstill with his first enemy, rolling to the side to put some distance between them. He looked down to his left, noting the glowing red slice that was now protruding from his thigh. He looked back up, locking his attention to the second Dusk Demon, his leg tingling from the cut.

Pain wasn't the same in Aincrad as it was in the real world. The pain dampeners made wounds feel like a numbing sensation. Kirito liked to compare it to when you get pins-and-needles. Although it didn't hurt anywhere near as bad as it should, he still found it distracting.

Kirito observed their movements as they began to circle him, taking either side as they deliberately manoeuvred in a slow, threatening manner. He had to admit that whoever coded these npc's had done an amazing job, he couldn't spot any signs in their posture as to how they were going to attack. Just as the two of them reached opposite sides of Kirito, they struck, swiping their blades through the air to hit…nothing.

The Black Swordsman was known for his speed in battle. He wasn't quite as fast as Asuna the Lightning Flash, but he could keep up with the best of fighters. A fact that the Dusk Demons found out when he leapt into the air, using the games programmed agility to his advantage as he flipped over his opponents, landing behind the first one to attack, activating a sword skill before striking forward, his blade ricocheting off of the Demons armour.

Kirito stumbled to the side, momentarily loosing his balance. He regained his composure quickly, turning to block a swing from the other Demon. Whilst mid-block, he ducked, catching the movement of the first enemy's blade out of the corner of his eye. This left an opening for the second one to overpower him, pushing forwards to knock Kirito's blade from his hands.

The solo player hit the ground, rolling upright with ease after almost two years experience in this death game. His two opponents were blocking his path back to his sword. He threw a throwing knife as the first began advancing in the hope of stunning them slightly, but it simply bounced off of the bronze shaded armour. Kirito switched to the defensive, relying on his speed and agility to keep his opponent from landing a fatal hit. He knew he couldn't keep things up much longer, he was exhausted. He was pushing himself to his most extreme limits. Time seemed to slow down as he had a sudden brain wave. He couldn't reach his sword, but there was something else he could use instead. Kirito lunged forwards, ignoring the Demon that was rapidly closing the distance behind him, picking up the battle-axe that the young player earlier had dropped. He spun round just in time to block his opponent's attack, pushing them away and regaining his composure.

The solo player began to take the offensive, continuously swinging the axe towards the Demon in front of him, preventing them from launching a counter attack. He pressed on, knowing that there was only so much he could do with a weapon that he currently had no compatible sword skills for.

As if to prove this point, he was suddenly disarmed for the second time when the other Demon seemingly got impatient, deciding to join the fray. There was only one ability he had left now. He activated a martial art skill, his fist glowing a bright yellow colour as it connected with an enemy, sending them staggering backwards. He used the sudden change of space to retrieve his sword, sending a quick swipe to his nearest opponent.

The blade caught the Demon in its knee, bringing them to the floor. He must have found a chink in the enemies armour, he thought, immediately focusing his attention onto the second opponent, activating another sword skill. He leapt towards them, bringing their swords together in a bright clash.

The two fighters battled on, neither managing to find the leeway for a critical hit on the other. Just when Kirito felt like he was going to pass out from fatigue, he found an opening. Activating another martial arts skill, he launched his fist into the Demon's helmet, staggering them long enough for the solo player swipe across, his blade passing through the gap in the neckline of the creatures armour. The Demon began to glow, its shade becoming a brighter and brighter blue, until it burst into a million shards.

Kirito fell to his knees, exhaustion getting the better of him. He looked over to see the second Demon still on the ground, seemingly unable to get up. They must be susceptible to critical hits, he observed, closing his eyes for a few seconds.

After a moments rest, Kirito got back to his feet, slowing manoeuvring his way towards the downed enemy. He gripped his sword tightly, raising it forwards.

"What do you want with…" he began, getting cut off by the sound of a war horn. Turning to the direction of the source, he saw more Dusk Demons rushing into the forest at the edge of the town, in pursuit of something. Or someone. Realisation dawned on him as his stomach began to knot uncomfortably.

"Adira…"

Just a note or two:

-Dusk Demons…not the best name ever but then names have never really been my strong point. I thought it sounded quite video-game-esque though, so yeah…

-I wanted the Demons to be a different type of enemy, who fight with random moves, making them as unpredictable and dangerous as a player. I thought that the game would have some way to counteract this difficulty though, which is why I decided to give them critical points to hit instead of health bars, allowing them to be taken down quickly with precise attacks

-For those of you who don't know, Argo the Rat is a character who specialises in retrieving information for a price. She only appears once in the anime in Red Nosed Reindeer, she's the one who tells Kirito about the St Nicholas boss, although I don't think she was ever named in the show