Unital Ring II: The Virtual Study Society

by whitworth5274

In the wake of Unital Ring's rise, Kirito, Jaymes, and their friends are threatened by a new enemy-Mutasina, a mysteriously powerful witch and leader of the Virtual Study Society who has roped in one hundred ALO players under her control. But the troubles don't end there: Someone outside Rath has logged into the Underworld, and to investigate, Jaymes will need new friends.

5. The Orthinanos Girl, Cordelia

Joined by Lux, Argo, Kirito, and I escaped the meeting in the coliseum. While Kirito and Argo did some light shopping, I questioned Lix on his presence here in Unital RIng.

Hiyori "Lux" Kashiwazaka is a beautiful white-haired girl who ran into Liz, Silica, and Leafa last year when we had relatively new ALO accounts. They encountered her during a quest line similar to a quest Lisbeth and I did in SAO, the "Angel's Whisper Wings." Back then, she had a Spriggan avatar named Kuro; guess which famed SAO swordsman she looked remarkably similar to... She was such a big fan of Kirito that she copied his dual-wielding style.

Afterward, she transferred to the survivor school, a former survivor of SAO herself. I first met her at the school and got to know her well as Lisbeth haggled me around with her until I stopped playing ALO for GGO with Kureha. Then earlier this year, sometime between stopping Tia from resurrecting Aincrad and the OS incident, that's where the story gets complicated.

She's a former member of Laughing Coffin, and when we learned of that, it took Lisbeth and Silica to talk me out of doing something unsavory and letting Lux explain herself. She was coerced into PoH's guild after being saved by them from monsters. She never killed anyone as she was a member of the town infiltration team that stayed green—similar to Koharu and Lisbeth's assaulter, Annihilator, a sicko who stayed green by assaulting and killing women in duels. Because I trusted Lisbeth (who I was still dating) and Silica, I decided to trust Lux.

With that said, she usually shies away from the trouble we find ourselves in...or maybe she was too afraid to be with us after her blunder when meeting Kirito for the first time. She did help in the Otherworlder War; I do not believe she was one of the few survivors, or I didn't speak directly to her. And now, in UR, she finds himself entangled in our troubles with Mutasina and company. Why?

"When you guys had that meeting the other day, I happened to sneak over and overhear it. I wasn't online when the conversion happened, but I heard things from Silica before that meeting about this game. I didn't plan on going online to join either, but... I know I'm still an outsider to you guys, but I want to help. That's the right thing to do, I think...as Silica and the others once told me."

I cross my arms and smile. "You're not the same girl I met back then, nor are you an outsider. Yes, we can use your help, and I'm sure they'll be happy to see you."

"Y-You sure? I feel like they're going to yell at me for sneaking in like this."

"Knowing Liz, that means she's happy. Same for Leafa and Silica. Trust me on that. But...let's not speak of the curse, okay?"

"You sure?"

I slowly nod, then turn my head toward Kirito and Argo. Knowing Kirito, he'll ask us to keep that he and Lux are afflicted by the Noose of the Accursed debuff from everyone. I don't necessarily agree, for the sole reason I know the hell we're going to get for keeping it a secret, but we don't know how to combat it. No, there's no way to do so. Mutasina's spell has no limit on range and time. Only by her will or her death can the spell end. Our only advantage is that she is unaware Kirito and I were present at the meeting.

And even if we didn't make it, Argo and Lux were there too. "For now, we have other things to worry about. The only one who can undo the curse is Mutasina, and I doubt she'll be forthcoming in that manner."

xxxxxxxxxxx

The rest of the night was not as eventful as the coliseum.

We reunited with Philia, Alice, and Kuro, enjoying a snack as we introduced Lux to Alice and recalled the events that transpired, omitting the fact Kirito and Lux are affected by the Noose of the Accursed spell. Since I let Kirito speak on those matters, I am unsure if Alice and Philia bought the deception. Alice seemed to do so, but Philia is victim to us boys chronically leaving vital information out until it backfires.

She says nothing about it the entire trip back to Ruis na Rig, the new name for Kirito Town. After returning to the Maruba River, we found a cavern behind the waterfall. Hearing a blacksmith over my shoulder telling me to get to mining, we did just that, then Kirito returned to the waterfall entrance to seal it up. Afterward, we delved deeper into the cavern, and came across a field boss, the Stinking Snail.

I rather not go into detail about how disgusting the fight was. Just imagine fighting a ten-foot snail that expelled mucus that smelled, gradually sapped MP, inhibited vision, and increased cooldown times. For the first time since...geez, I don't even know, I agreed with the female players that a virtual bath is necessary. I got decay magic from it, as Kirito believes he owes me one for giving Yui the fire spell. I accept though it pisses me off that to gain the spell, I had to consume the magicrystal. I convinced him to hand over the ice magicrystal as well, which came from the wraith earlier.

But I didn't ingest that one right away. I could see on Kirito's face how...sad he looked, and Alice caught on too. Their friend from Alice's homeworld, Eugeo, wielded ice magic very well, and his sword, the Blue Rose, had the incarnation of ice imbued within. I've only seen Kirito use the blade, and I'm sure the Crimson Emperor has seen the Star King use it on many occasions. For that reason, with respect to Eugeo, who I owe plenty for looking after Kirito, I keep the ice crystal in my possession.

But I swallowed my pride and the dull gray orb and, after a moment of nothing, wished I hadn't decided to honor Eugeo's memory for the time being. After suffering the awful taste, I gained a point in decay magic proficiency and a new skill, Rotten Shot.

"Look at Mister Mage Knight now, wielding such disgusting arts."

"How the mighty have fallen in such a short time."

I block the voices of the two friends from the Underworld as I play with Rotten Shot as we sail out of the cave back to the familiar surroundings between the Great Zelletelio Forest and the waterfall. As we continue onwards, I take a momentary glance at the time. It's past midnight, meaning another late night...and Asuna's eighteenth birthday. Allowing Kirito to finish typing his message. I send one to my best friend and academic rival.

Happy birthday, idiot.

At the same time, and for the rest of the night, while hearing how successful Asuna, Koharu, Liz, and Yui were in getting the Bashin's aid, I remembered what's to be done later today. Kirito, Asuna, Alice, Kureha, and I will enter the Underworld...and suddenly the words left to me by my Fluctlight ring in my ear.

"Of course, she wouldn't, for it would just trouble you. But I'm not sure if she'll ever tell you, or if you find out, it'd be in a situation you weren't prepared for. So I'll tell you myself... Shortly before I left her, Eydis...had a daughter."

xxxxxxxxxxx

September 30th, Rath Roppongi Branch

At approximately 2:30 pm, Kazuto, Asuna, and I made it to the Rath location in Roppongi, Minato Ward, Tokyo. As she told me this morning, Momiji met us at the front of the building and took us to the fifth floor via an elevator. At the lab's entrance was a biometric scan and smartphone check, then we were allowed inside.

"Kirito, Asuna, Jaymes, welcome!" greeted the pleased voice of Alice, dressed in a white blouse and navy skirt. She comes to hug Asuna, who greets her back. Kazuto answers her with a fist bump while I regard her with a silent nod. It hasn't been that long since we've seen Alice, nearly 12 hours for me as I logged off around three in the morning. But regarding her physical form, a robotic body coined by Mr. Higa as Ichiemon with her physical likeness projected over it, Asuna and Kazuto haven't seen her in two weeks, less than that for me.

As I stated before, Project ALICE is jointly owned by the government and my family company. Rath itself is a part-public, part-private research agency owned by the government. Legally, Alice and all Fluctlights are owned by the government; RoboTelligence is just a contracted agency to assist with developing Project ALICE. But the data and all records are owned by both parties, and we developed the most critical pieces of the project, the Lightcube Cluster and the Soul Translators, so it's fair to say we own at least half the task. Since many researchers within Rath are RoboTelligence employees, Rath is partly ours too.

After the Ocean Turtle incident this past summer, my father argued those points. He won the right for RoboTelligence to continue overseeing Rath and Project ALICE for the time being as the public owner. Meanwhile, the government fights itself over who gets private ownership: the Department of Defense, which Kikuoka is a member of; the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, the owners of the Ocean Turtle, where the Lightcube Cluster and the mainframe for Project ALICE are located; and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Kikuoka's old home when I met him post- SAO and the ministry looking at AI development.

Meanwhile, my father, Kikuoka, and Dr. Koujiro sought to use Alice as a symbol for human rights for AI in the public eye. She's been fettered around events and parties since her reveal in August to the point I feel sorry for her and for Momiji, who has been RoboTelligence's representative and Alice's constant companion in place of my father, still in recovery after an accident last month.

We headed to the STL Room, where we met Dr. Rinko Koujiro, a woman I met when Asuna boarded the Ocean Turtle looking for then-comatic Kazuto and me. I knew her as a respected scientist and a former lover of Akihiko Kayaba prior. She met him in college and worked with him to develop Sword Art Online. While hospitals took care of us players, she took care of Kayaba (the only person who could log in and out of SAO, according to her, which explains Heathcliff's habit of disappearing for short periods). She was acquitted of her crimes after it was (falsely) revealed that he kept her hostage with an implanted microchip bomb. She appeared on the Ocean Turtle with Asuna at the latter's request despite refusing Kikuoka's prior request.

I've long let go of my grudge against Kayaba, given he's saved my life and Koharu's personally many times more than directly threatened it, so when I met Dr. Koujiro, I bore no ill will. I respect her as a colleague, especially now that we are working towards the same goal with PROJECT Alice.

Asuna, Alice, Kazuto, and I haven't dived into the Underworld in a month since the weird IP address was sent to Kazuto. I almost went in over a week and a half ago after meeting with my Fluctlight, the version of me who remembers the two centuries I stayed in the Underworld completely but held back. He told me a stunning revelation, and to this day, I still have a mixed reaction to it that I have to force myself not to think about the Underworld.

So while the others in the STL Room chat about the future of the Soul Translators, I take off my school jacket and partially tune into that conversation between Kazuto and Dr. Koujiro. mind. "Can you not actually use the STL that way? Not just for the Underworld, I mean. Can you dive into a random virtual office and use the fluctlight acceleration rate to get your work done faster?"

"In short, yes. But to do that, you need hardware like the Main Visualizer on the Ocean Turtle. And to build one of those, it would cost as much as ten state-of-the-art mainframes. But in the distant future—let's say thirty or forty years from now—wearable devices with FLA capabilities might be common, so everyone can work or study in a time-accelerated environment. Or play games, of course."

"Thirty years?"

I'll be forty-nine in 2056. Could devices capable of FLA exist? Possibly. Who knows, some idiot might make a game within an accelerated world, calling it something stupid like Accel World. I look to Momiji, seated on the STL she'll dive in on, and speak my thoughts to her in English. She rolls her eyes and grumbles, "Only you would think something as crappy as that name."

"You think it's possible?"

"The idea of an 'accelerated world' as Kazuto implies? Possibly in the next few years. A game on that level may be possible too. Maybe using the same technology that Project ALICE uses. Imagine GGO on that level; we'll get much more stuff done without losing much time in real life. A game like SAO wouldn't have lasted two years if everything proceeded at the same rate. It would have ended in a week."

I think about that as I lay down on the STL bed. "4,000 people dying in a week is not that much better, Momiji."

"You're right... Hey, while we're down there, you don't plan on...you know." Momiji and Koharu (and maybe Rei, as her AI is integrated into my home) are the only ones aware of me engaging with my Fluctlight a couple of weekends ago, but Momiji's the only one who knows the details. Not even the other teenagers in the room know I've engaged with the Crimson Emperor. Why I told her, I have no clue besides us being childhood friends, or maybe I needed someone to help me sort those thoughts out. I don't know if Koharu knows I'm here right now; I never told her about this plan. Asuna may have done so yesterday evening or this morning, and Kazuto might have spoken about it during their morning classes. I just haven't found the words to speak to Koharu...or the words I can speak are still unbelievable to me.

I sigh and look up at the ceiling. "Maybe. I do believe him, I wouldn't lie to myself like that, but he never saw that for himself. So if I want to confirm what the emperor said, I have to see Eydis. But our task takes priority."

"Of course," she says with a nod. "But when you go, I'll be there for you. I also want to meet this Eydis myself."

I have a bad feeling about that, but I say nothing as I look at the dark-haired girl with a smile. "Thanks."

"Well, we're all ready," Dr. Koujiro announces after lowering the tablet in her hand. "How are you feeling?"

"Good to go!" Kazuto eagerly replies. The rest of us nod with the same level of excitement.

"In that case...it's almost three o'clock now. When it turns five, use the same gesture command as the last time to log out. If you don't emerge on your own, I'll disconnect you at five-ten."

"...Are you sure we can't push it to six o'clock?"

"No," she replies with a tone to dissuade any further arguments from Kazuto. "This dive is to check for safety. We can't allow you to dive for longer periods unless we know you all are able to connect without any issues."

"Fiiine..."

"The actual investigation into the break-in will have to wait for Saturday. You're free to look around Centoria, but do not approach Central Cathedral!" Shutting down Kazuto completely, she faces Alice. "I'm sure there is much that you wish to know, too...but I'll ask for a bit more patience. I'll ensure you can visit the Underworld every day for as long as possible. Very soon."

"Yes, Dr. Koujiro. I know." Alice smiles and reclines back in the chair she sits in, closing her eyes. The rest of us lie back in the beds, but before Dr. Koujiro begins, she looks at me.

"As for you, Joshua... I'm sure you wish to do your own thing, but for today..."

I nod. "I will focus on the task at hand. We'll be out on time." The doctor nods and taps on the tablet. The lights in the room lower, and the head block of the STL lowers on our heads.. As the machines access my fluctlight, they pull me from one world to drop me into another.

xxxxxxxxx

"Oh shit."

Those are the first words spoken by me, Jaymes, the former Crimson Emperor of the Dark Territory. When I opened my eyes, I found myself in a luxurious room that looked straight out of a medieval European home. Of course, I recognize the environment as that of the Norlangarthian style, specifically of a house I'm well acquainted with. On one of the walls is a hanging sword with a flower across the blade. The flower is a bulb of small red flowers projecting from the tip of the stem, and long, slender stamens protrude out of them.

To Japan, this is the Lycoris radiata flower. To me, this is the symbol of the Orthinanos family.

During my last dive with Kirito and Asuna, we initially started in space, then met the descendants of the Orthinanos, Arabel, and Schtrinen families, all affiliated with the Integrity Knight Order like their ancestors. We returned with the three back to Centoria, then first to Laurannei Arabel's home in Centoria while being hidden in the cargo hold of a vehicle. We didn't get much time to speak to them, but I accomplished two goals simultaneously in that small timeframe.

I got to say goodbye to my friend, Medina Orthinanos and reunited Alice with her friend and my empress, Eydis Synthesis Ten.

I must have returned to the Orthinanos residence before time concluded, which explains why I'm here. But if I remember correctly... Is this the Uetra Valley home or the manor north of Centoria? Medina's family, last I remember, remained in Uetra Valley since they were ousted there by the Pontifex after being deemed defects, but the Crimson Emperor told me Medina herself possessed property in the plains outside the capital after the Otherworlder War.

In any case, I'm separated from Kirito, Asuna, and Alice, so... "'Oh shit.'"

As for Kureha, she's somehow beside me on this bed, scanning the room quietly. She tests her arm and finger movements, most likely curious about the near-reality of the Underworld's design. To be frank, the Underworld was designed to be as life-like as possible and necessary, so all human processes are possible except excretion. We can eat all we want but cannot poop. I decide not to tell her this and ruin what I believe is her first actual dive into the Underworld, her overall second entry as she came during the Otherworld War with our friends via Amusphere.

I scoot off the bed and step over to the large window. Without knowing which direction I'm facing, I quickly learn that I am north of Centoria, for I can see the ivory tower as plain as the sun. The sea of green grass called the Cordea Plains separates this home from the capital. I feel a little disappointed to find myself here, not in Uetra Valley, and my first view of the outside world is not the lycoris garden that, once upon a time, was the only vegetation that sprouted when that land was barren. I changed it long ago, so it should look like these plains, but the image of that garden is one of my favorites.

"So that's the cathedral?" Kureha asks as she slides up next to me. "It's as beautiful in person as it is on screen."

"It is." I turn away from the window and look at her. She wears a long, strapless black and white dress. The dress is black along the lateral portion, puffy just below the exposed shoulders and upper back, but slims down as it travels down her arms to become folded white cuffs. It extends down her body to just above her ankles like a coat. Down the midline is the white portion; the front side ends at her upper thighs and detached from the rest of the dress, while the back side remains with the dress to the bottom. Red straps tighten the clothing around her abdomen and sleeves, but it doesn't look uncomfortable to her. Covering her legs is a red-heeled boot that extends up to her thighs. Around her neck is a white collar, unconnected to the dress, and a golden cross underneath it.

Besides that, her pink side-ponytail and blue eyes are present, so the "Kureha" I know is with me. As for me, I don the armor I originally came here with, a red and gold tunic with plates of armor on my shoulders and upper chest, black pants, and brown leather boots. I don't have my cape, though, and no clue what happened to it except I took it off before the war. Looking around the bed, I find a black sheath with a golden T-shaped hilt encrusted with eight gems sticking out and a golden shield with those same eight gems right beside it. I smile and pick them up, strapping the sheath to my waist on the left and the shield to the gauntlet-covered portion of my left arm.

Falchion and Vindica, my sword and shield. As my hand brushes against my partners, I feel a welcoming sensation from them both. I take a moment to wonder if it'll be okay to carry my weapons, but I decide to save that for later. No one in the year 582 would know me upon first glance besides Eydis and the descendants of Medina, Ronie, and Tiese...and maybe a few others I don't know about.

I clear my throat and look at Kureha. "We should try linking up first with Kirito and the girls. We only have two hours, no time to waste."

"You're right. I bet you're eager to see how much has changed now that you've heard about them twice."

Laurranei Arabel, Stica Schtrinen, and Mathias Orthinanos told us about the new world in our previous dive. While Eydis and the Dark Council still rule the Dark Territory, the Human Empire is ruled by the Stellar Unification Council, not the Axiom Church. My other self confirmed this when he told me the story of the early years after the Otherworlder War when the Kirito and Asuna's Unification Council and my imperial rule began.

Not much time has passed since Kirito, Asuna, and I logged out from our 200-year imprisonment sometime during the morning of July 7th, twenty minutes in real time after the Otherworld War ended. We didn't wake until August 1st, and we returned in late August. Since we logged out, the Underworld has been running in real-time, but it doesn't help that most of the people I knew - and those I would come to know but don't remember - are long gone. Eydis and Alice's little sister Selka, kept in deep freeze in the tower, are the only remains of a bygone era I know about. I wonder about the other Integrity Knights, but those answers will come later.

My last vivid memories are mere hours after the end of the war. I returned ahead of Kirito and Asuna from the World End's Altar to the remaining Human Guardian and Dark Territory forces deep in the dark world's land. I reunited with Medina, who stopped me from chopping down a large tree that housed the fluctlight of PoH, the leader of Laughing Coffin and a member of Gabriel Miller's boarding party on the Ocean Turtle. She passed out in my arms, and we returned to the empire's side of the great ravine. There, I spoke with Eydis about Commander Bercouli's wish for peace for the two worlds, my goal to enact it, and my proposal for us to stay together for the time I'm here. The last thing I remember is visiting Medina once again, the young woman resting in a medical tent, and after speaking a few words with her, I fell asleep in her lap.

It is those thoughts in my head that I don't hear the door to the bedroom open, so when I happen to turn in that direction, I jump at the presence of a girl standing there. She doesn't look afraid but mesmerized and awed. For some reason, I remember seeing her before, but it must be my memory of Medina messing with my thoughts because, logic aside, I'm looking at the beautiful redhead friend of mine of 200 years past. The girl's hair is longer than Medina's, long enough to cover one of her green eyes, her face is more relaxed, and her chest...well, that carried down the bloodline. From the looks of things, she's taller than her ancestor by a tiny bit, her frame thinner but fit for combat. Instead of light armor, she wears a simple red blouse and a dark skirt.

Kureha notices her, too, stunned by the girl's sudden appearance. I meant to use my arts to teleport to the Arabel home, but it seems I remained in my thoughts too long. Meanwhile, the girl steps into the room and closes the door behind her. Trapped, I try to think of something, but the girl speaks first as she strides over to me and grabs my hands. "You... You must be him!"

"Huh? Uh... Oh, right. I am Jaymes." Forgetting momentarily that the Orthinanos family remained close to the rulers of the Dark Territory and that Mathias identified me at first sight, I relax and bow my head to the woman. "Sorry for the sudden appearance. Over there is Kureha. It's nice to meet you...um..."

"Oh, right. My name is Cordelia Orthinanos, the only daughter of Ezier Orthinanos, the twentieth head of House Orthinanos. I didn't get to meet you last time, but I saw you, my older brother, Mathias. He told me everything, so I've been waiting for you to return. No, I'd say I've waited my whole life to meet the Crimson Emperor." As she talks, she eyes me with one sparkling green eye, like a fan meeting their favorite celebrity. It turns out I happen to be hers.

Last time we were here, Stica, Laurannei, and Mathias told us that the Star King and Queen, Kirito and Asuna, disappeared thirty years ago, while the Crimson Emperor vanished seventeen years ago. The Crimson Emperor also confirmed that same timeline, meaning I was probably gone when Cordelia was born. For some reason, our names are wiped from history. However, Alice's name has remained and worshipped; she's been gone 200 years, but her legends remained to the point I don't recognize the tales.

I scratch my head, feeling embarrassed. "Uh, yeah, that's...cool."

Still excited, Cordelia eyes Falchion and Vindica. "Oh, don't worry! I kept them clean and pristine daily, so they are in great condition! They're heavy, but my Object Control is not as high as my brother's or yours. Speaking of which, Her Lady's sword is also here, downstairs in the living room over the hearth. It's fascinating to see Divine Objects nowadays, now that there aren't any existing anymore. Or the Integrity Knights and their dragons, in that manner."

This...the Emperor did not tell me. "What do you mean about the knights?"

Cordelia looks out the window, her smile dropping. "A hundred years ago, after the First Children cultists were defeated, the remaining Integrity Knights were sealed right when we switched from the Human Era calendar to Stellar Era. That, of course, excludes Lady Eydis, but I'm sure you know that already. Now the ancient order is known as the Integrity Pilothood, we fly metal dragons called dragoncrafts, and Divine Objects are relics of the past. I've only seen Her Lady's, the empress', and the princess' Divine Weapons. Now the legendary Falchion and Vindica."

"Her Lady" must refer to Medina, as Mathias told me before, her sword remained with the family. But I stiffen at the latter mention. "Princess, huh?" Kureha eyes me for a moment, then sits down on the bed. She notices my frozen form, then shivers. "You mean the daughter of Empress Eydis, right?"

Cordelia nods. "Yes. And you're cold? Allow me." She pulls down one of a pair of levels close to the door. Close to the floor are a couple of slits in the wall, where a tinking noise originates, then suddenly, heated air flows through it into the room. If I wasn't cold before, I am now, and grateful our host got hot air into the room.

"Heating?" Kureha says with surprise. She turns to me as I sit beside her. "You said they were a medieval society, did you not?"

"A magical medieval society, yeah, but... Heating a room like an HVAC unit wasn't around two hundred years ago. I guess we spread some innovations, like how Kirito designed the dragoncraft. But how?"

Cordelia begins her explanation as she finds a seat in a velvet-cushioned chair. "We have sealed canisters of heat, air, and cold elements that eternally persist. This is a recent modification to our home and other noble homes, and they're making their way to the commoners too. This is all because of the spatial power depletion around Centoria and other major cities in the empire that started three years ago. Everything in Centoria uses sealed canisters, from factories to mechamobiles."

"Mechamobiles." I get a general idea of what one might be. That might have been what transported us otherworlders last time. If they're anything like cars in our world, they run off the ignition, and heat elements will be used. Heating elements are the most volatile and resource-consuming of the eight types.

Before I could question what could have led to the spatial depletion of the side of the End Mountains that was designed to be plentiful, Cordelia clutches her stomach just as a growl echoes from it. She looks at Kureha and me with a smile and stands up. "Would you like to join me for lunch and tea?"

Kureha looks at me, knowing we're somewhat pressed for time. I nod my head, figuring since we're not investigating the strange entry into Underworld, we can spare some time. "Very well. I want to talk to you more, Cordelia, so I hope I don't pester you with too many questions."

She smiles and gestures for us to follow her. "It is my pleasure to answer any questions you have as a friend to Her Lady."

Of course, I had no idea that my life would turn upside down as soon as we went downstairs.