Chapter 3 / The Hunt:
Fear. That was all the Black Swordsman could comprehend as he pushed himself further, sprinting through the forest despite his exhaustion. His virtual body felt no pain, but mentally he was wiped.
Kirito ran as fast as his legs would carry him, weaving between the trees in an attempt to catch up with the pack of Dusk Demons currently hunting Adira. He burst through a bush, coming to a halt in front of a tiny stream. He looked around, searching for any sign as to where his enemies had gone. Panic rose within him as he failed to find any form of evidence.
"Come on…please…" he begged, possibly to the game itself. There must be something that he was missing. Right? Wasn't that how things worked? There was always something.
Kirito fell to his knees, despair getting the better of him. He felt hopeless, useless even. What was the point of anything if he couldn't even save his friend?
His thoughts swirled darker and darker, hopelessness and self-hatred consuming him. He had a sudden stroke of luck, however, when the Demon's war horn sounded once more. He looked up, snapping his head round to the direction it had come from. He was on his feet in an instant, rushing forwards towards certain danger.
If the horn had sounded again then it must mean that they are close to Adira, he thought, pouring all of his effort into his virtual bodies movements. He ran for what felt like forever, racing as if a life depended on it, which in fact, one did. He slowed to a halt when he reached the edge of clearing, taking a moment to catch his breath and survey the scene in front of him.
A female player was sprawled in the dirt, unable to fight any longer. The teal haired woman wore a plain white tunic, with black full-length bottoms and a one handed sword sheath strapped to her side. The missing weapon was nowhere to be seen. Kirito was surprised at how little Adira had changed since the last time they had seen each other.
She was surrounded by a group of Dusk Demons, five of them, Kirito noted, all of which had their swords drawn. He was in luck, he thought, realising that they were all unarmoured. Each Demon was humanoid, with dark grey skin and cold black eyes.
"I can do this. I have to…" Kirito muttered, boosting his confidence, "…they're all vulnerable. They don't have health bars, only critical points. It'll only take one precise hit to finish off each one…" He trailed off, drawing his sword as he pulled on all of his focus. He began to charge a specific sword skill: Sonic Leap. His blade glowed blue as he prepared the dash, directing his attention to the Demon closest to Adira.
The Demon slashed its sword, the blade rushing in a diagonal arc towards Adira. The Demon suddenly burst into bright shards, its weapon never finding the target as a black clad figure flew past, skidding to a halt next to the teal haired woman. Kirito took a moment to send Adira a reassuring smile before turning to face his remaining four opponents, sword positioned in a protective stance across his body.
He paused, waiting for the enemies to make the first move. They slowly began to circle him, much like the previous Demons he had faced. He decided to take the initiative, impatient of waiting. Kirito rushed forwards, locking blades with the first of the Dusk Demons. He grimaced, frustrated that his attack had been blocked. He quickly moved, breaking his standstill before rushing to meet the next enemy, who had been sneaking up behind him. The solo player launched a throwing knife, hitting the Demon in its sword arm, staggering them for a moment. A moment was all he needed, bringing his blade around in a clean arc to slice through his opponent, exploding them into bright shards.
He returned to his defensive position, dodging attacks from the remaining Demons. Three left. He blocked a swing from the first to attack, using a sword skill to carry him into the air. He must have taken the attacker by surprise, as he caught them in a critical point, slamming to the ground, disintegrating his enemy in the process. Two left.
Both the remaining Demons attacked him simultaneously. He managed to counter one, landing a decent hit, although not enough to defeat them. The other caught Kirito in the back, consuming a good chunk of his health. He was in bad shape, he knew that he couldn't keep this battle up much longer. In a desperate attempt, the Black Swordsman threw his sword at the Demon who had damaged him, catching them in the chest. Kirito rushed forwards as they fell to their knees, swiftly grabbing his blade whilst spring-boarding off of the creatures chest, using the extra momentum to attack the last Demon, who had been tailing him, ready to strike. Kirito struck first, destroying the enemy as he sliced them in two.
The Black Swordsman slowly stood, glowing shards swirling through the air around him. He was breathing heavily, using his remaining focus to keep himself from collapsing. After a moment's breather, he turned, his eyes meeting the player's whom he had spent the past five days tracking.
Adira slowly stood, shakily getting to her feet as Kirito crossed the distance between them. They entangled themselves in a hug, relieved that they had finally found each other again.
"Adira, are you okay?" Kirito asked as they parted, concern deep within his voice.
"Now I am, yeah..." Adira responded, cruising through her menu for something. "It's been a rough week, but I've survived. Those Demons are really insistent." She finally found the option she had been looking for, exclaiming a short "aha!" before pressing the option. Kirito watched as all of her inventories items materialised before him, piling up into a small mound of weapons and armour.
"You retrieved all of your items? Wh…" He asked, pausing in his questions when Adira picked up her primary sword, understanding glinting in his eyes.
"Shall we get going then?" She asked, sheathing her sword before returning the rest of her items to her inventory.
"Yeah, I know a good place..." Kirito replied, fatigue entering his voice. The two of them began to move, staggering off deeper into the forest, their minds pretesting from exhaustion.
Hey, just another note:
-the retrieve all items trick can be used to regain a lost weapon if performed within an hour of loosing it. It might have been called something different, but its along those lines. I think it was in the first SAO Progressive novel, but it might have popped up somewhere else.