Chapter 2

The Knights of Survival

It was time for the Battle of the Guilds Tournament.

A few weeks back, there was a system announcement about the tournament. The announcement did not go into any details about the tournament but it attracted everyone's attention because of the prizes at stake.

Apart from the EXP points which the players would gain, all the players of the winning guild would receive Ultra Rare Items and Sword Skills which were not listed on the Info Brokers List.

To top that, there was also a legendary weapon waiting to be won. Rumour had it that this weapon was so powerful that it could even destroy the 'Immortal Objects' in the game.

Asuna did not believe the last part. She just considered it to be an over exaggeration. She was still worried about Kirito's whereabouts. But she had promised the others that she would take part in the tournament and she did not want to disappoint them.

But their guild was at a disadvantage. Even though Klein, Egil and Asuna, herself were one of the strongest players in SAO, it was different in ALO. ALO involved magic and healing. There were large guilds with mages and healers which made them almost invincible.

Add to that the fact that Kirito would not be fighting for their guild. Maybe if Yuuki was still she was In our guild we'd be so much stronger..A tear rolled down Asuna's chhek thinking about Yuuki. It had been a month since Absolute Sword had passed away. Yuuki-san… Asuna instantly, shook that thought away and felt happy for Yuuki.

"Hey Asuna! Are you spaced out? Concentrate! We have a tournament to win! And so many prizes to take home!" said Klein in an excited voice.

"Hey calm down! Who made you the leader huh? Just because Kirito is not around doesn't mean you get to start giving orders! " Egil's words made everyone burst into laughter. Klein stood in the centre of the room scratching his head.

Asuna too smiled, and Yui, having noticed this felt happy. She could sense that Asuna was worried about Kirito.

Lyfa, Liz and Sinon were all discussing the battle plan. Klein was checking out his knew sword when Egil stood up all of sudden.

Seeing the giant Egil stand up suddenly, everyone stared at him. "Why is the name of our guild? We need to have a guild name to enter the tournament! What do we do now? "

Having heard Egil's words, everyone turned to Asuna. Asuna looked startled at this and looked away. "Why are you all looking at me?"

There was a brief silence in the room, which was once again broken by Klein. "How about Klein's guild? That sounds nice!" Klein was clearly worked up for this tournament.

Everyone shook their heads in disagreement.

"How about Furinkazaan? Or maybe the Redhead Guild? Or Klein's warriors?" Klein asked.

Lyfa was getting annoyed by Klein's suggestions.

"I know! I got it! The Guild of Kingdom Klein!" Klein said it out so loud that he had broken Lyfa's patience.

Lyfa chan marched upto Klein and without a warning,punched him in the gut. Klein yelled in pain and fell to the ground. "This is not your guild Klein. And stop with the ridiculous names. Is you Amusphere not working properly? Or is it your brain that's malfunctioning?". Lyfa's actions made everyone other than Klein laugh, who was still on the ground.

Then, Liz said, "Since we all survived SAO.." , her gaze fell upon Sinon and Lyfa, "Okay. Most of us. Why don't we call ourselves – The Knights of Survival? "

Asuna felt the name was old-fashioned. But she agreed. What's in a name after all?

Others also seemed to agree. Asuna, then formed the guild and everyone accepted the request to join the group. Asuna also sent a request to Kirito. But she didn't know whether he had received the message or not. She wished he had.

Asuna, Klein, Egil, Lyfa, Liz, Sinon. Six members of 'The Knights of Survival' were going up against guilds like 'The Holy Dragon Alliance' which had about 50 members. What's in trying?

They all left for 'The Town of Beginnings', the venue of the tournament.

The six of them arrived in the centre of The Town of beginnings to find that the place was completely filled with guilds of all kinds. Clearly everyone wanted that prize. It brought back memories of the first day in SAO. That was so long ago. Kirito saved us back then. Where are you Kirito?

Asuna looked up at the countdown timer.

The timer was ticking.

10…

9….

8…

7….