Sword Art Online: American Chronicles

by Flastor

This is a story about my brother and I fighting through Aincrad and our lives after the fact. Along the way, we meet friends new and known. We also face hardships and near impossible odds. How far will we have to go to beat the death game? And how will it change us after the fact? Enjoy! I had a lot of fun writing out this story.

6. Aincrad 6: Sleeping Warriors

1

November 6th, 2024.

It's been 2 months since Laughing Coffin's annihilation. Which brings our elapsed time stuck in Aincrad to 2 years. Majiku and I came to a unanimous decision that if the front needed us for a boss raid, they could come get us. We'd still participate in raids, and continue to keep our levels on par. But our recent brush with PKers needed to be our last. So we settled down... Or at least, our definition of settled down.

Majiku started hanging out with the girl, Rena, more. They really hit it off after she got over the fact that we all could have died. They spent at least 4 days out of the week together. Whenever she didn't have guild responsibilities to mess with, they were doing anything they wanted. I was happy for him. He needed to find a good girl in his life. She seemed nice. I had the chance to sit with the two. They mocked each other, had fights over little things that had no meaning to whatever the conversation was. More importantly, Maj was happy.

When I left the front I was immediately recruited by Argo to help with her info gathering, and I had no complaints about that. I got to spend my entire day with Argo. After the deal with Laughing Coffin, I couldn't ask for anything more. I helped her test hunting spots, complete quests, and try the new foods of the front, good or not.

There was one restaurant that we tried that made us sick... Literally, we got a debuff called 'Food Poisoning'. Only after we chucked up everything we ate did we realize the restaurant was actually part of a chain quest. The quests involved getting better ingredients for the chef, gathering materials to renovate the dilapidated building, and enjoying watching the chef getting yelled at by a well known cook for his horrible practices. Every quest, to our dispar, ended with us sampling the 'improved' food the chef made... Each time, the length of the 'Food Poisoning' debuff had a shorter duration. We got to the point where we tricked Majiku and Rena into eating the food because Argo and I literally couldn't take it... Let's just say I'm glad Argo and I were faster than them when they found out why we insisted on them eating.

At the end of it all... The food finally didn't give us the debuff. Actually, it tasted really good and gave us a good speed and durability buff... But it wasn't worth not wanting to eat for the rest of our lives... Silver lining, we got to eat at the restaurant at a discounted price.

Besides saving the entire front lines from a terrible fate of food poisoning, it felt like I was doing real good for others. Except for one time when someone felt cheated in regards to some mob farming info he bought. He felt that the amount of materials he got wasn't worth what Argo charged. He challenged me to a duel. Loser paid for the info.

"Ya clearly don't know who this is, huh?" Argo sneered. Most of the time people wouldn't recognize me because I wouldn't wear my signature blue coat unless I fought. Almost always I was just wearing the black, long-sleeved shirt that I wore under my coat.

He clearly was one that didn't know my face, just my name. "I don't give a flying crap who this is, fight me or give my Col back." Argo just lowered her head, still smiling.

"Have it yer way slick, kick his ass babe," She said, patting my shoulder.

I cracked my neck. "Yes, ma'am..." I smiled and stepped forward.

I opened my Player Screen and equipped my coat and sword. This guy must live under a rock, because he still didn't know who I was.

The dude shot forward pretty fast. But he didn't even try to hide his attack. He held his sword over his head as he ran towards me.

Without moving my feet, or even twisting my waist, I drew my sword and blocked his attack.

Dude stepped back and spun to the right. I brought my sword around to meet his, still barely moving my feet.

Then Dude screwed up. He jumped over my head, which I had to give credit for pulling off, and started to bring his sword down as he landed. I reached behind me and blocked, my sword parallel to my back and crossing from my right shoulder to the lower left part of my back.

"You're done..." I said, locking eyes with him. I finally let out some force. I pushed Dude's sword back and up. Then I spun on my heels, brought my sword down to my right side, then swung upwards as I faced Dude, getting him square in the chest. Due to our stat difference, that one hit from me brought his health down to the point that the duel ended.

I swung my sword to the right and sheathed it. Argo walked up to me and patted my arm.

"Know a player by the name of Flastor, slick?" The guy nodded, still not recognizing me. Argo placed her hand on my shoulder, and gestured to my coat. "You know... The BLUE Blur."

The guy's eyes widened in realization. "No fair, you can't have a front-runner fight your battles!"

"Cry me a river, you lost fair and square. Pay the lady." I replied.

"Screw that I ain't paying that bi-" I cut him short by dashing next to him. To the outside person, it probably appeared like I teleported next to him.

"Choose your next words very carefully, friend... I'm an ex-front-runner. I have all the time in the world to make your life a nightmare..." I said calmly. "And for the record, I could have ended that fight the minute I drew my sword. You're really slow... Now, are you gonna pay the lady for her time? Or are we gonna have a problem?" He shuddered.

"I'll uh... I'll go ahead and pay the lady..." He produced the 2000 Col he owed. I took the Col and tossed it to Argo. Usually I would have left it at that, but I felt like a good explanation was in order, as he seriously misunderstood the information he got. And we were in a back alley that no one ever walked down, so I was comfortable with talking shop without anyone hearing.

I sighed loudly so he could hear. Then I opened my menu and produced a bag of 500 Col. "Listen here, buddy. I'm feeling extremely nice today. There's more to the spot than what you think."

"Bullcrap!" The guy shouted. "We needed insect legs for upgrades. Your spot doesn't spawn any monsters after about a half hour of farming!"

"Lemme ask you a few questions." I jingled the bag of Col in my hand, loudly. "Argo did tell you there's more to the spot, but the added info would cost 500 more, right?"

"What's the point?!" He responded, angrily. "All you need is the location. After that it's just kill."

I turned to Argo and tossed her the bag of 500 Col.

"We are way beyond that point, dude." I faced him and calmed myself. His point was decent for any normal game. But this was anything but normal. "Did you ever try to just cut the legs off of the insects?" He shook his head. "Well if you did, you would have noticed that they grow back within about 5 minutes if you only cut off one or two per bug. With the amount of bugs that usually spawn there, you should be able to harvest legs for about an hour before they stop growing back. But by then, you will have gotten about 2 times the amount that you would have by killing them."

The dude's face grew slack with shock. "You can't be serious?"

"I'm the one that found the spot. So yea, I'm deadly serious." I said. "Next time, when you're looking for a specific monster part that you can access, try only going for that part. Half of the time, the monster will have the ability to regenerate if you are in a certain area. That's why this info costs so much." I pointed to Argo. "And for a measly 500 Col more, you would have known that. And for 500 more on top of that, you would have known what you can do with the extra legs that you will have after upgrading."

The dude was silent. Just looking at me while he processed all of this. After a moment, the dude hung his head, stood up, and opened his menu. He produced a bag of Col. He tossed it to me and I caught it.

"I'd like to know the rest, please," he said, sincerely. "I ended up with a few extras and most of the stores won't buy them for much."

I tapped on the bag. The amount window showed 1000 Col. I smiled, tossed the bag to Argo, and faced the guy.

"Insolitum Alimenta."

"Bless you?"

"It roughly translates to Unusual Foods," I explained. "It's a restaurant tucked away on the 65th floor. Once a week, they have a stall outside their building where they sell some strange ingredients that only extremely high level cooks can use. The insect legs sell for quite the premium there; as, if they are cooked properly, they actually taste like chicken from IRL."

"Really?" The dude smiled. "I haven't tasted chicken in a long time."

"The reason Argo and I charge so much is the owner never stops buying and her prices rarely drop." I continued. "So if you take a day, and actively farm for the legs, you could make 1000 Col a week at least."

The guy's eyes got wide. "1000 a week? You're joking!"

"Nope. That's actually lowballing it." I leaned against one of the brick buildings. "This is just a friendly tip. What I would do is use the earnings to either rent or buy a room that has good storage and keep the legs there until her prices are up, then sell."

"Yea..." The guy's gaze lowered. I could tell he was troubled.

"What's wrong?" I asked, kind of annoyed. "You'll literally make your Col back and then some in a week, tops."

"No no. It's not that!" He said, waving his arms. "It's just... I've heard stories about you two. How you're just a couple of swindlers." I raised my eyebrow. "I dunno... it just doesn't seem fair."

"Eh," I waved my arm. "I don't care what others think. As long as there are people that benefit from what we have, that's enough. Plus..." I looked at Argo and smiled. She returned the smile and winked. "I've already got all the approval I need." I looked back at the guy. "Helping people is just a nice bonus."

"Heh," the guy chuckled. "I guess so." He looked at me with shocking determination. "I'm gonna tell everyone I know how awesome your info is."

"Just keep the details scarce," I said. "The value of info goes down after people know about it."

The guy nodded, and bowed. Then made his way out of the alley with a confident stride.

I couldn't really hate the life I've lived over the past couple of months. Argo and I were always together. Hanging out, gathering Intel, helping low-level players get geared to fight on the front lines. I even went looking for the bard that was on 47 the day of the LC raid, but I could never find her. I just wrote it off that she changed her mind and left the front. It didn't help that I didn't have her name.

I even offered to train Sam and Kira so they could fight on the front if they wanted.

"I think I'm good. I really enjoy working at Liz's shop!" Kira told me.

"Yea and I think I'll leave the ass kicking and making grown men piss their pants to you, bro," was Sam's reply. It was fine with me. Like I told every person that we helped get to the front. If your whole heart isn't in the fight, the frontline isn't for you.

Literally, if I were to actually die in this world, I couldn't ask for a better scenario. But something still lingered in the back of my mind...

My promise.

My promise to get Argo and everyone else out of here.

I thought about all of this while sitting on top of our nameless hill on floor 22, gazing over a lake, with Argo leaning on my shoulder. She must have sensed that my mind was not here.

"Whatcha thinking about?"

"A little bit of everything," I said. "I got a nasty habit of thinking of everything and nothing at the same time," I said, looking over to the lake. Argo giggled.

"Sounds right, soon as we get comfortable somewhere you clock out," she chided.

"Says the one that can literally fall asleep in a half a second." I shot back. Argo laughed, thinking about the multiple times she's just passed out on me. "Hey, you got the new papers ready for the month?" I always tried to keep up with her work. Between the two of us, the quality of her Intel has nearly doubled.

"Oh, yea! I nearly forgot." Argo pulled out the latest issue of the Weekly Argo, the newspaper that she keeps updated. "I got something to show you." She held it up for us to look at.

Front and center. Kirito, dual wielding, charging at a floor boss. I grabbed the edge to make sure I wasn't seeing things.

"What in the actual hell is he doing?" I said.

"He took on the 74th-floor boss by himself," Argo explained.

"I see that!" A side thought occurred. "Remind me to laugh at Asuna later." I looked closer to be certain my eyes weren't messing with me, but there it was. He was wielding his black sword, Elucidator, in his right hand; and a new blue sword that I've never seen him use before in his left hand. "What I want to know is when in the hell did dual wielding become a thing? I want it! How do we-"

Argo cut me off by bursting into laughter. "Seriously, boys and their skills. Sadly, I looked into it. It's a unique skill. He's the only one that has it."

"Damn lucky son of a-" Argo put her hand over my mouth.

"Keep reading slick, he's been busy." So I did. After he revealed his skill, he challenged the commander of the KoB, Heathcliff, to get Asuna some leave from the guild.

"Seriously? Can't they just give her some time off? We've been our busting ass for 2 years now," I said.

"I agree. The KoB is pretty far stuck up their butts sometimes. But that's not the juicy part." Argo gestured to a section at the bottom of the page.

It explained that since Kirito lost, he became a member of the KoB. On his first day of official training, an undercover member of the now destroyed Laughing Coffin attempted to kill him. Kirito was able to overpower him and kill him after Asuna came and cured Kirito of paralysis.

"Jesus Christ. Have we heard from them after this?" I asked, about to send him a message. Argo smiled wildly.

"Oh, I think he'll be fine. Word has it that he and Asu got married, and are now living here on 22."

"Well, that answers that then." They seemed to be living happily. So what did that mean for the front? How long would it take us to get out now that 4 frontline leaders (I hate calling myself that, but it is what it is) were off the front?

"Stop thinking about the front. If they need you, they'll message you, okay?" Argo said, poking my face. "Don't try to hide it, your eyebrows knit slightly when you think too hard." Damn, she had me backed into a corner.

"It's not healthy to be in my head like that, girl." I chuckled.

Argo brought her head up and kissed me gently. Even after all of this time it still made me feel warm. We pulled away and her cheeks were as red as an apple.

"It's not that bad." She smiled and laid her head back on my shoulder, and passed out. I leaned back on the tree and did the same.

After an hour I opened my eyes. The sun was setting on the horizon. I decided we should start to head back to the inn we were both staying at. I poked Argo's face.

"Hey, wake up. We gotta go back." Argo lifted her eyes, but almost as soon as they fluttered open, they fluttered shut again.

"Carry me?"

To most people, that would be a lazy request. But I knew that she had been working really hard on the info for the latest floor to get it ready to sell. I caught her up at 3 AM once when I was going out to do some late night leveling to keep myself in shape. I kneeled down.

"Hop on," I said, helping her get situated on my back, then stood. As soon as she found a comfy position on my back she started snoring softly. I smiled and made my way to town.

After a short hike to town, we made it to the inn. As I walked in I got funny looks from people. Some looked concerned, a group of girls just giggled. I nodded to them, just playing around.

"Afternoon, ladies." As soon as I said that Argo lifted her hand up to my face and flicked me. "Jesus, you're not asleep?" I said, extremely surprised. Argo smiled sleepily and her arm went limp. "Oh my god, did you just sleep flick me?" This made the group of girls laugh. I rolled my eyes and continued walking. "You are a piece of work, woman." Argo smiled again.

I carried her up the stairs and into her room. I sat down at the edge of the bed.

"OK, sleeping beauty, onto the bed you go." I laid down on my side to get Argo situated. After she was on her back, I went to get up and pull the covers over her. But Sleep Argo must have had other plans. She lunged and grabbed me, and started pulling me down. "Holy crap." I tumbled next to her on the bed.

As I rolled over to face her, expecting her to be awake, she pulled herself close and continued to sleep soundly. If I tried to wiggle even a small amount, she would tighten her grip on me.

"Fine, fine... You win, turd." I settled in and quickly fell asleep.

2

I woke to knocking on the door.

"Hello? Flastor? Argo? Are you in there?" A familiar voice called from the other side.

I got up groggily after prying myself from Argo's sleep grip. Sunlight streamed into the room from the rising sun. Who the heck is waking me up so dang early?

I got to the door and opened it, what I saw took a minute to process. Kirito and Asuna, Sam and Kira, Majiku and Rena. Willow was there too, although she looked troubled.

"Uh... Hey everybody. What brings... All of you here?" I asked, looking around at them. Sam smiled wickedly.

"Busting you apparently. Long night, buddy?" He asked, glancing over my shoulder at the still sleeping Argo.

"Something like that..." I said, not registering the accusation and wiping the sleep out of my eyes. I turned to Argo, "Argo! Wake up. We have... A lot of company."

She groaned and rolled over to face away. I walked over to her and rolled her onto her back, her mouth hung open slightly. I poked her cheek.

"Heyyy... Wake up, we have stuff and things to do."

"Uuuhhh, five more minutes..." Argo groaned as she rolled over. I could hear all of them snickering behind me.

"Argo, Majiku brought this cute German Shepherd puppy! Come here, Fido." Argo lunged at me and wrapped her legs around me to keep off of the ground.

"For the love of all things Holy keep it away!" Argo shouted. She buried her head in my shoulder. When she realized there was no dog, she looked up confused.

"Morning! Sleep OK?" I said, gesturing to our guests. "We have some visitors."

The others filed into the room. Argo unlatched from me, her face red with embarrassment.

"Why do you scare me like that? I hate dogs..." Argo grumbled.

"I know. If you can name another way to wake you up, I'm all ears," was my comeback to that.

Everyone laughed, including me and Argo.

"So guys, what's going on?" I dreaded the answer, waiting to hear the 'time to go back to the front' speech, but Asuna spoke up.

"Kirito is going after this giant fish here on 22. Maj told us that you both grew up fishing and we thought you would like to come." She wasn't wrong. Up until I was maybe 18, every summer was spent fishing with my grandpa. Maj smiled, most likely thinking the same thing.

"I can't pass up a fishing trip." I turned to Argo and offered a hand, "You in?" She smiled, took my hand, and got up.

"Sounds like a blast to me! You can tell me all of your fish stories," Argo said, rising from the bed.

"And boy do we have some, there was one time, when-," Maj started

"Save it for the lake man, we have plenty of good ones," I said.

We got to the lake and all sat around the same blanket that we did back in front of Liz's shop.

We waited for the guy that Kirito was gonna fish with. Apparently, this fish is so big, they will need to switch when the guy hooks it, so Kirito can real it in. And I thought my stories were wild. As we sat I couldn't help but notice Willow just sitting, looking down at her sandwich in front of her. While the others were talking, I motioned to her.

"Hey, what's up? Having fun?" I asked. She looked up, her eyes were full of sorrow.

"I've been thinking... Of home..." Willow said, sadly. "Look how far we still are... 26 floors..." She took a shaky breath. I tapped Argo for back up. "And even when we get back, what happened to our old lives? How the hell do we come back from this?" She had a fair point. 2 long years here. A lot could change. Argo left it to me but had her hand on my back for reassurance.

I had a flash of wisdom, so I spoke before I lost it.

"I know how you feel. There was a lot going on in the real world when we got trapped. My sister had to have life-changing surgery, I don't know if she made it or not. A friend of my Dad's got into a really bad car accident and he was fighting for his life. I can't be there for him." Willow started to look worried, so I recovered fast. "But that's not a good way to think while we are here. Instead of saying 'what if', you say 'I will'. I will see my sister again. I will see my Dad's friend again. I will get back to the real world. That's how you should think, you will get back to the real world and your life will continue on." I looked around. "It may be a pain when we get back. But we will get through it and live life to the fullest..."

Everyone was staring at me. It was like Déjà vu. I waited for Willow to protest since I'm horrible with words. But she just stared at me.

Kirito spoke up. "It's always best to give yourself something to fight for. That in turn, naturally makes you faster and stronger. If you hold doubt, you move slower. Keep your head up. We will make it through." He was way better at this than I was. This was enough to make Willow regain herself.

She smiled. "You're right, I can't give up."

Argo took the opportunity to fully lighten the mood. She patted my back,

"Hey, wanna do the thing?" She asked.

I smiled and nodded. I opened my inventory and brought out a lute that I learned to play. Majiku smiled,

"Grandpa still rubbing off on you, huh?"

"Well he did play on the TV," I said, smiling.

Argo looked at me stunned. "He did? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Why would I? He sat on the TV and played the guitar."

Maj laughed. "Ha! Classic grandpa joke."

Argo shoved me and Rena lightly pinched Majiku. Everyone laughed at that more than my joke.

"Seriously though, you can play?" Willow asked.

I nodded. "It's not realistic. There's a system like blacksmithing. It was easy to learn here. And it's even better, check this out."

Argo had come up with this song that is based on how we met. It won't be winning any awards. But it was special to her, so I gladly learned it and helped get a tune for it.

I started strumming. Then Argo sang.

"I wake up in this strange place, where the ground below, is a sky above. Where the ring of swords, is a nightly serenade. For the longest time, I was deep in the dark. I walked these roads alone. I am... A Sleeping Warrior."

I started to hum in tune with the lute. Argo continued to sing.

"In a flash, you came to me. Lighting my life. You brought with you, not a care in the world. You showed your strength. And opened your heart. You vowed with your life, to defend my own. Until the end of your days. Your strength and heart... My Sleeping Warrior."

I hit the side of the lute for a drum effect and kept humming in tune. I noticed others had gathered around.

"We stand and fight. We laugh and cry. We'll face all our hardships, with a will of fire. Together as one, we forge on ahead. We'll never look back, because our future calls. We are, the Sleeping Warriors."

I finished the tune. Everyone looked at us, stunned.

"What? Just 'cause I'm a swordsman and she's a Rat, doesn't mean we can't do other stuff." Argo smacked my chest and I grunted loudly. Both of us, smiling.

Then applause came from the crowd of random players that had grown around us. Everyone was talking at once. Asking when I learned to play and complementing on how good Argo sounded.

An older guy came up and patted Kirito's shoulder.

"You ready to catch this beast?" He asked. Kirito got up and nodded.

"Let's do this thing," Kirito said.

The next few minutes were a blur, mostly because I couldn't stop laughing.

The fish that Kirito and the fisherman, Nishida, were going after was actually a giant mid-level boss monster fish that chased Kirito around for a bit until Asuna took care of it. By the end of it all I was literally on my back holding my stomach because I was laughing so hard. We all were having a good time. Until Maj, Rena, Kirito, Asuna, Willow, and I got a message from the commander of the Knight of the Blood Oath.

3

"What the hell, Heathcliff?" I groaned laying on the grass in front of the KoB HQ, Argo sitting next to me. "Can't we all just chill for one day without a dire message to ruin the fun?" I waited for Argo to complain too, but she just looked concerned.

"I bet 1000 Col I know what he wants..." Argo said, grimly. "Time to raid the 75th-floor boss."

"You're kidding? And you think they need ALL of us to be there? All 6 of us together haven't been needed in the fights lately. There are plenty of strong players on the front now." Argo wouldn't meet my gaze. I leaned up and wrapped my arm around her. "What's wrong? You have that look of impending doom."

"Don't even joke about that," Argo said, seriously. "Even I don't know anything about this boss. That should be enough to justify my worry!" Argo pulled her legs close to her chest. "No one can get in and get back out. The door seals when the party goes in. And I assume it's an Anti-Crystal zone too, so not only is there no warping out, but you'll have to rely solely on potions to heal. Nearly impossible for some tanks to be effective." I understood why she was freaking out. Even Majiku and I would have some trouble keeping in good condition with potions alone with our health being as high as it is. One of the drawbacks of being DPS with a crap ton of health.

I scooted closer to her and lightly rested my head on Argo's. "Look, with all of us there, it'll be fine. Majiku and I are literally walking hybrid tank... DPS... Things. And Kirito blew his secret, so he deals twice the damage." Argo wasn't convinced, so I tried to strike a deal. "You wait on 47. When I get back, all the cake you can eat." This made her perk up.

"All I can eat, plus a fishing trip," Argo said. I smiled and kissed her cheek.

"You got it," I said, smiling. I could tell Argo was still holding back a question. "Out with it then. What is it?" I asked, poking her forehead.

She shoved my hand away and laughed slightly, then she turned downcast.

"So, listen, this is kinda personal. How much Col would I have to pay to get your real name?" Argo asked.

I was stunned. I never even thought about it. I haven't heard my real name in 2 years, maybe even longer than that since I was rarely called by name. I almost forgot about it. Argo always made the joke that she would sell her own IRL info for a stupid amount of Col.

"Not that I'm against it... But where is this coming from?" I asked.

Argo sighed and lowered her head. "It's kind of a morbid thought... But I want to be able to find your family if..." She couldn't finish the thought.

"Right..." I sighed. I didn't want this to be the reason why we exchange our real life info. But the more I think about it, the more I realized it's probably a good idea... But... "How about an even exchange? Cause I know I ain't dying today."

Argo blushed, then smiled. "Square deal. My name is Teresa Luna. I'm 20."

"That... Is an epic name, I can't compare to that." She pouted, waiting for my answer. "My name is Jake Truman, I'm 21."

Argo's eyes got wide... "Truman? Like the road?"

She was cut off by Kirito and Asuna walking up to us. They both looked shot, and Asuna looked like she had been crying.

"It's time to go," Kirito said.

I glared at Kirito without meaning to, but he had some terrible timing. "Give us a minute." I turned to Argo to ask her what she meant, but she had turned away.

"Better get going, you have cake to buy me later," Argo said, hiding her tears. I turned to Kirito and Asuna and motioned that I'll be right there. They nodded and walked away. I faced Argo and put my hand on her head.

"I'm coming back, don't you believe anything otherwise. You hear me?" She nodded, but still wouldn't look at me. "See you on 47. OK?" She nodded again. I was about to say something that I still haven't said to her yet aside from the time we were neck deep in war, but truly felt it from the bottom of my heart...

Instead, I got up and walked to the town to teleport to the front lines once again.

I had one final thought... I turned my head and talked back to Argo.

"There's a road named after my family in the town I grew up in... When I get back, I'll tell you all about it..."

When I got to floor 75, it was packed. All high-level players were called to battle. The entire square was full of heavily armored players, all trying way too hard to look intimidating. As I wandered, I couldn't get the clump out of my throat... I replayed my conversation with Argo, and I realized how much of an impact it had on her... And me. I noticed Majiku was standing with Rena, Willow, Sam, and Kira. I walked up to them and faced Sam and Kira, slightly concerned.

"Hey, guys. Are you in the raid too?" They both shook their heads.

"Oh no. We just came to wish you luck! People that were coming into the shop were saying this boss might be a doozy," Kira said, trying to hide the worry in her eyes. I looked at Sam and he was the same way.

"Be careful, man. If something were to happen, your sister would kill me," Sam said, trying to kid around.

"What is it with the doom and gloom around here?" I asked.

"I'm glad it's not just me thinking that!" Majiku added. "This place reeks of depression."

A couple of dudes wandered up to us, clearly trying to cause trouble.

"Man, they are really scraping the bottom of the barrel. Letting nobodies like you join is a joke," one said, looking down at me. I looked at Maj, thinking is this guy really that stupid? Then I realized neither him nor I were wearing our equipment. I smiled and turned to the guy.

"Man I know. They found us kicking ass outside of town. They figured we should come to compensate for your massive ego." This made him turn red.

"You little... I'll have you know, I am the leader of the 4th raiding squad of the Holy Dragon Alliance. And the highest level in my whole party, level 80." Maj took the opportunity.

"Oooh, level 80! Flastor, when did we hit 80?" He said, emphasizing my name and equipping his crimson coat and massive sword.

"It's been so long, Majiku," I said, putting equal emphasis to his name. I equipped my own coat and Tyrfing. "Was that 3 months ago?"

"More like 4, man. Get your head on straight," Maj said.

The guy looked like someone had slapped him in the face. He struggled for words.

"Cannon Brothers?" Was all he could manage. We both looked at him and smirked.

"Cannon Brothers..." I said genuinely, for the first time ever.

I couldn't very well make fun of it after Argo told me she had spread the name to make us look cooler. Everyone in earshot turned and gawked at Maj and me.

With us arriving, the top 4 players of SAO were going to be fighting in the same raid for the first time in months. Some were happy, some were worried. Either way, the point was made.

The guy just walked away like he never saw us.

"Dumb ass," I said under my breath. I rubbed my neck, the lump in my throat only getting worse. I had to get something off my chest, but I didn't want to worry everyone. I turned to face Sam and Kira. They were both frowning. "Guys, we'll be fine. I promise you," I reassured.

"He's right," I was shocked that Rena spoke up. She jabbed her finger into Majiku's chest, "I'll be there to watch this guy's back."

Willow spoke up next, walking next to me. "And I told Argo before I came that I would watch this Idiot's back." She jabbed her thumb to me when she said idiot.

"Idiot? What the hell was that for?" I complained.

Willow smiled. "I was only quoting what Argo said."

"... That's fair..." I said as we all laughed.

Everyone made some small talk. After a few minutes, the Teleport gate shimmered. A tall man with long silver hair stepped off. He was dawned in blood red armor from neck to toe and wielded a shield that was half his height. He was flanked by 2 men on each side of him. No doubt about it. The commander of the KoB had arrived.

"This is it," I said softly.

Sam fist bumped me. Kira gave me a hug instead of a fist bump.

"Be back faster than Asuna," I said, making fun of her nickname.

Heathcliff held up a corridor crystal and opened a corridor to the boss room. The air shimmered and revealed a cave. As we walked through the portal, the air shifted. It became heavy with dread.

"Jeez, what a jolly place," Maj said, standing next to me. Rena stood next to him, gripping his sleeve, but her face was filled with determination. To my left, Willow was facing forward. She looked concerned.

"I know Argo said to watch my back," I said. "But remember, I got yours, too."

She smiled and regained herself. "We got this."

"Damn right we do!" I cheered to try to ease the tension.

The commander drove his shield into the ground, getting everyone's attention.

"This is it," he said. "The Knights of the Blood Oath will be up front, blocking it's attacks. The rest, try to figure out it's attack pattern and flank it." Simple and straightforward, I like it. With that, he turned and opened the door. As it opened I couldn't see anything inside. Just a giant empty room. We all readied our weapons.

"We're all going to hang back as far as we can. As soon as we're in the door, flank to the left," I said. Everyone nodded in agreement. I looked at Rena. "That includes you too. I don't give a damn what Commander Butt-Face says..." Rena's eyes got wide, then she must have realized that I was saying that to keep her away from harm until we knew exactly what we were dealing with. She smiled and nodded at me.

Heathcliff raised his sword. "Forward to battle!"

Everyone rushed in. When we broke the threshold of the door, we all turned hard left. What I saw in the room was the horrifyingly, awful...

Giant empty room...

As the last of the party swarmed in, sure enough, the door disappeared. We stood at the edge of the room, waiting for the boss to appear. But there was nothing. And it was starting to freak me out.

My senses were on full blast. There was a crackling sound echoing, but I couldn't narrow down where it was coming from. Then, from the center of the room, I heard Asuna shout.

"Up there!"

I looked up. And there was the horrifying, awful boss. It was a long skeletal centipede, with scythes for arms. When the name showed up, I nearly had a panic attack.

The Skull Reaper...

4

The Reaper unlatched from the ceiling and began to fall. My fear of spiders for some reason took over and I said:

"That thing has way too many legs, and eyes!"

"Spread out! Get away from the center!" Heathcliff said as the giant monster fell from the ceiling. Everyone scrambled from the center, except for two guys who were frozen in fear.

"Get out of there!" Kirito yelled. That snapped them out of it and ran full speed.

As soon as the boss landed it dashed to them so fast I could barely follow it. It swiped once and hit both of the guys. They screamed and went flying. When Asuna tried to catch one, they shattered.

"Killed in one hit? You are FREAKING KIDDING ME!" Maj roared the last part like the Reaper might hang its head in shame and say sorry. The beast scuttled it's way around the room. I could visibly see Maj shiver as he too, hated spiders. "Kill the nasty thing with fire."

"I should have stayed in bed..." As if it heard me, the boss rushed us. "I really should have stayed in bed!" The way it scuttled seriously freaked me out. It held up its scythe to swipe. "Jump, everyone! Maj, block!"

The others quickly jumped backwards and out of the way. Majiku held up his sword and braced. I stepped in front of him, lined up my sword with his and did the same. As the boss hit, it was like trying to stop a freight train going at full speed. I groaned as we slid on the ground. We kept our balance, but we were both losing health rapidly.

"Can't... Get... Traction..." Maj groaned. "Damnit!"

I gritted my teeth and shouted to Maj, "Deflect."

He got the message. In sync, we planted our left foot and spun, putting all of our power into deflecting upwards. Somehow, we managed to get it away from us. We both sank to one knee. I looked at my health.

45% gone...

"What the hell is that? Some BS is what that is..." Maj said between breaths. I pulled out a potion and tossed it to him, we both drank to full health. Willow and Rena ran next to us, weapons ready. Then I saw the boss make its way to another player.

"Dodge! Get out of the way!" I yelled.

It was too late, the boss had bared down on him. Right as the boss swung, Heathcliff materialized next to the dazed player, blocking its scythe. Then the other Scythe started to swipe. To that side, Kirito, who was dual wielding his black and blue swords, and Asuna, blocked that swipe together.

"Me and Asuna will deal with the front! Everyone else, flank it and attack!" Kirito shouted. I looked at my party. They were waiting for my word.

"You heard him, find his soft spot and slash the crap out of it!" I yelled at everyone in earshot. "Squash that freaky bug!"

My party and a few others dashed to the left side of the Reaper. Willow was first to strike, slashing 6 times, jumping over it, slashing 3 more times as she flew, then landing and slashing 4 more times. That was nice, adding her own twist to what is normally the stationary Scimitar Skill, Legion Destroyer.

Rena was next, brandishing her katana. She dashed to the legs and slashed so fast I didn't even see her unsheathe her sword. She slashed 3 times, then twice more, the system took over and added 4 more hits to it. The Katana Skill, Washu.

"That's my girl!" Maj cheered, he stepped up to swipe at the Reapers legs. 2 fast swipes, then 2 more powerful swings delivered with the Two-Handed Skill, Cyclone. When he finished his spin his sword was level to me as I was running up. "Going up?"

"Top floor, fast as you can!" I said, readying my sword. I stepped on and he launched me up.

As I approached the monster's spine I dug my blade in, cutting upward along the skeletal spire. I reached its head and spun. When I was level with the back of the Reaper's head, I unleashed the most powerful skill I knew. The ultimate One-Handed Skill, Nova Ascension, but sped up 10 times its normal speed. After I hit 11 times I drove my sword into its skull. Then I planted both feet on it and pushed as hard as I could. As I flew through the air I righted myself to land on my feet. I skidded to a stop, digging my feet into the ground to slow down.

I looked up at The Reaper's health, thinking we took off at least half of the first of 5 HP bars. Instead, we only got it down by maybe 15%.

"This is gonna be my whole day isn't it?" I moaned under my breath. I dashed back in to join the fray.

The battle continued to rage for 45 minutes. Kirito and Asuna, paired with Commander Heathcliff; were constantly keeping the monster busy. Meanwhile, everyone else wailed on it. Agil came flying in slicing clean through the Reaper with his ax. Klein delivered devastating blows to the underside.

All the while my party continued to deliver blow after blow of constant damage. It seemed like we weren't getting anywhere with it. Last I checked we had only gotten down to half of the 3rd health bar. 2 left.

The relentless onslaught continued.

Every so often a swipe would get by Kirito and Asuna and take out another player who wasn't fast enough. Every time someone went down I counted.

7...8...9...

How many were we going to lose?

Then I, myself, got sloppy. This was the first sustained fight that has lasted this long. A swipe came flying in and I didn't have the footing to dodge.

"Crap..." I held up my sword to absorb some of the blow. I felt a hand on my back and another sword lined up with mine. It was curved and polished silver.

As the scythe hit, Willow and I went flying. Willow landed on her feet like she was a cat. I wasn't so graceful. I landed and rolled a few times until my back hit the wall.

"Uuuhhh.." I groaned. Willow ran up to me, clearly in a panic, and threw me a healing potion.

"Are you OK? Drink, DRINK!" She ordered.

I didn't notice my health had fallen into the yellow, about to turn red. I uncapped the potion and downed it. As I did my health increased back to full.

"Jesus Christ. Do not scare me like that. Argo would have destroyed me if you died," Willow shot out. I was dazed for a moment.

"Yeah, uh huh," I muttered. I'm not gonna lie, I was getting worn out. I was gonna sleep well tonight. I saw a flash behind Willow. "Duck!" I grabbed her and pushed her down flat to the floor. I readied my blade and deflected the scythe of the Reaper upwards. The boss scuttled around us, clearly more interested in what was in front of it.

Willow and I locked eyes.

"One for one. We're even."

"Ditto." I helped her up and rushed back to the fight.

Someone must have found a soft spot because when I looked at it's HP, the last health bar was being picked down.

"Advance!" I yelled. Everyone around obliged, unleashing skill after skill in a rainbow dance around the boss. Then the boss started to slow down.

"Keep going!" Majiku yelled. Without letting up we all slashed at the monster as fast and as hard as we could.

The HP bar turned yellow. I expected The Reaper to go wild. But it just sank to the floor.

"Its head! Go for the back of the head!" I yelled.

We all did, Rena slashed first. Willow followed behind her spinning as she slashed. Then Majiku and I drove our swords into its head all the way to the hilts. Majiku's massive sword stuck out of the front of The Reaper's freaky face.

With that, the monster fell. It started to glow. Then it shattered into floating crystals. Majiku and I sank to the ground, supporting each other with our backs. Our swords were sticking out of the ground, crossed in an X.

The "Congratulations" banner appeared... The fight was over. And we won... But the cost was way too high...

5

I sat on the cool stone ground back to back with Maj. Rena was laying next to Maj with her arms spread out. Willow sat next to me.

All of us were breathing heavily like we just ran a mile.

After about 10 minutes of resting, Klein spoke up. "How many did we lose?" He asked grimly. Kirito responded by opening his menu and counting.

"... Fourteen of us died," He said, completely exhausted. Klein just hung his head.

"Fourteen... And we still have 25 more floors to go." Agil groaned, laying on his back. I just rubbed my face trying to calm myself down. Normally, after hard battle, my body drains and I'm out of action for a day or so. But not this time... I had a strange feeling that something was still very off. I couldn't keep the adrenaline that was swelling inside me down. My instincts were telling me there was still another boss in the room.

Out of everyone that was fighting, only one didn't look tired.

Commander Heathcliff, stood looking over his party. His HP still hovering just out of the yellow.

What is the deal with that guy? How, even after all of that, is his health not in the yellow even in the slightest? I remembered back to Kirito describing his duel with him. He said that the commander's move that turned the table was beyond the game's capabilities. As soon as I played that scenario in my head it hit me.

Was he outside of the game's boundaries? Was he an NPC? Protected by the system? An admin?... Crap...

"Maj... Get up..."

"Why?"

Before I could gather my thoughts and refocus my adrenaline into fight mode, Kirito dashed to Heathcliff. Kirito raised his sword and it hit right in Heathcliff's face.

Or at least it would have if it didn't hit a purple hexagon first. A message popped over Heathcliff's head.

Immortal Object. The same thing that popped up when something was hit that was protected by the system.

Asuna was running behind Kirito, trying to stop him at first, then she was stunned.

"Commander Heathcliff. What is the meaning of this?" She asked.

"I got the answer to that one," Kirito said, sheathing his sword. Majiku and I barely got to our feet. "The reason the commander's HP never hits yellow is because he's protected by the system."

Everyone was paying attention now.

"You know something has always bugged me," Kirito went on. "Where was he? Where was he while we were all trapped here? Then it hit me." Asuna walked up next to Kirito. "It's so simple that every kid knows it. There is nothing more boring than watching someone else play an RPG. Is there, Akihiko Kayaba?" There was an eerie silence over the room.

Majiku and I slowly got to our feet...

The commander spoke. "For my curiosity's sake, would you mind telling me how you figured it out?"

"The first time I knew something was up, was in our duel. That move you pulled. It was way too fast for any normal player," Kirito explained.

"Yes, I figured as much. But you were so fast, the only way I could win was to activate the System Assist Mod," Heathcliff nodded, looking down.

You dirty slimy no good cheat. I slowly reached for my sword that was driven into the ground.

Heathcliff looked around, then locked eyes with Kirito. "Yes, I am Akihiko Kayaba. And now that my identity has been revealed, it should come as no surprise that I am the final boss on the 100th floor." Everyone gasped. Asuna grabbed Kirito's arm, and I gripped my sword. Majiku had grabbed his sword and had pulled it out of the ground.

"So the most powerful player in the game turns out to be the final boss. Kinda cliche don't you think?" Kirito said. He gave me a side glance, maybe checking if we were ready. I slowly raised my sword from the ground.

"Actually, I kind of like that angle. More importantly, I always assumed you would be the one standing before me at the end," Heathcliff explained. "You know dual wielding is a rare skill, awarded only to the player with the fastest reaction time. He is the Hero of this story."

"You callin' me slow you rat bastard?" I yelled, not helping the situation. But I wasn't gonna stand there and be called second best to my face.

One of the KoB knights behind Heathcliff lunged. As he did, Heathcliff opened his menu and hit a couple of buttons. The guy behind him stiffened, then fell over. He was paralyzing everyone.

"Maj, launch!" I yelled. I raised my blade and activated the charging skill, Vorpal Strike. Majiku raised his sword behind me.

"I see you over there..." Before I could fully activate it, my body froze in place. Kayaba got me with a similar paralyzing effect.

"Damn you! I'll tear you apart! You will be sorry!" I roared, trying to force my sword forward.

"So what's your plan? You going to kill everyone here and cover it up?" Kirito asked, holding a paralyzed Asuna.

"Oh god, no. That wouldn't be sporting of me," Heathcliff chuckled. "No, I have a better idea. I'm going to go on ahead. I'll be waiting at the Ruby Palace. I feel bad leaving you like this. I've spent so much time building the Knights of the Blood Oath, and other elite players. Oh well, I'm sure you will reach me... Eventually..." I was gonna skewer him if he kept talking down to us. "Before I go," Heathcliff drove his shield into the ground. "Kirito, I feel like you deserve a reward for uncovering my identity."

"What kind of reward?" Kirito asked.

"A duel, me and you to the end. Beat me and you clear the game. Oh, and my immortality will be turned off." I looked at Kirito, he had an exchange with Asuna. Then he got up and drew his swords.

Maj spoke up, "He's not seriously going to fight him? Is he?"

"Idiot, fall back!" I yelled. He didn't.

"Agil..." Kirito flat out ignored me. "Thanks for helping out the players below the front." Kirito turned and smiled at Agil. "Yea, I knew. You put on a tough negotiator's face but I know you used all your earnings to help the mid level players level."

Agil was wide-eyed as I fought to move forward. He was really planning to fight Heathcliff alone.

"Klein..." Kirito looked back at the red haired samurai. "I'm sorry I bailed on you that day... I think about it all the time..."

Klein was freaking out at this point and I couldn't blame him. "Don't you say sorry yet..." Tears streamed down his face as I fought to move. "Don't say sorry... Not until we're on the other side and you're buying me dinner goddamnit!"

"You got it." Kirito gave him a thumbs up. "See you on the other side..."

Kirito faced Heathcliff and got ready. The room fell completely silent. I hated that I couldn't move an inch as Kirito stood toe to toe with the 100th boss of Aincrad...

Then, lightning fast, Kirito charged head first and unloaded on Heathcliff. Blow after blow, trying to wear him down.

Heathcliff stabbed, Kirito crossed his swords and deflected. They were fighting so fast they kicked up a dust cloud. Kirito had a look in his eyes like pure, burning hatred. Like he was ready to skewer Kayaba the moment he had an opening. Maj shuffled next to me.

"You asked what you looked like when you went berserk?" He said, reminding me of a question I had asked him after the Laughing Coffin deal. He nodded his head to the fight, "That..."

"Remind me to hug Argo when we get back... For staying with me," I said. To the right, I saw Asuna, somehow on her feet and hobbling to the fight. "Asuna! Get back!" I yelled.

I squirmed against the paralysis. Then my sword started to glow dark blue. I realized that my skill was still in mid activation. The paralysis must not have cancelled the skill. I realized the skill was still slowly building energy, and was glowing brighter as a result.

Asuna didn't hear me. If she did, she didn't care.

Then I heard the sound of metal breaking. I turned, hoping to see that Kirito somehow broke the commander's shield. No such luck, Kirito's blue sword had shattered, leaving his left side wide open.

"Move, Kirito!" Majiku yelled. No good, Heathcliff brought his sword down.

Then in a flash of white, Asuna was between them taking the entire blow square in the chest.

"Asuna!" Willow and Rena both yelled. She crumpled to the ground and began to shimmer, Kirito holding her.

"No... You aren't taking anyone else, you bastard!" The bones in my arm creaked as I forced them to move. I felt the system lighten. I forced the skill to fully activate. When it did I shot forward faster than ever.

Heathcliff could only barely dodge as I gained my footing next to him

"Come on!" I swung wildly, landing 10 hits on his shield before he tried to hit me with it. I jumped, using his own shield as a springboard, and flipped over him. I was able to get a couple more blows on his shield before he knocked my sword out of my hand and kicked me back. The system paralysis took hold again.

"Damn you! You will be sorry for causing so much pain. So help me, you will pay!" I screamed, letting out all of the resentment I felt towards this man.

"You have heart, Flastor," Heathcliff said, grinning at me like he was a god. "You were a close second to Kirito for dual wielding, and instead received the blade Tyrfng. Like unique skills, Tyrfng is a unique sword. Only one person could ever obtain it. It's said that Tyrfng shows only to the player who has defended the one they love, but at a terrible price. A cursed blade that wins all of it's battles, no matter the cost even if it sacrifices it's comrades... Or it's wielders sanity... Even with that, this is not your fight..."

"I don't give a damn what you think. It's my fight now!"

"No... It's not..." Heathcliff said, unamused.

As if on cue, Kirito rose, replacing his blue sword with Asuna's rapier. Shards from a fallen player danced around him.

"Kick his ass Kirito, do it for everyone!" I tried to fire him up. It didn't work, his first swing was weak. "Come on Kirito, snap out of it!" Heathcliff was done entertaining him. He swiped and knocked Kirito's black sword out of his hand. Then Heathcliff drove his sword into Kirito's chest. "Kirito you are not giving up, you hear me?! Asuna would never forgive you if you did!" I yelled. This made him twitch as he shimmered. "God damnit fight! Fight, you idiot! FIGHT!" Kirito shouted in defiance and stabbed Heathcliff with Asuna's Sword.

Kirito stood there, then smiled. All at once Kirito and Heathcliff both shattered. The paralysis was immediately lifted. Everyone slowly got to their feet, dazed. Then a female voice rang in the room.

"On November 7th, 2022. The game has been cleared. Repeat. The game has been cleared."

I looked at the ceiling. "You're... Kidding me?"

Epilogue) Kidnapped

All at once a light enveloped me. It was like teleportation, but different. It felt like the login sequence that I felt so long ago, but backward. My mind was returning to my real body.

Then my vision went from white and peaceful, to dark and sinister. I was in a black void, not able to see anything. It felt like I was floating in nothing. It stayed like that for a few minutes.

"What the hell? What is this?" I said aloud. I tried to find light, but there was none.

Then it felt like an evil, dark veil shrouded over me.

"You're mine now, guinea pig," a man sneered. It felt like someone was poking my brain. Then it started scraping away my thoughts. Slowly my memories began to fade. Names were leaving me, faces were being erased.

"What's happening? Stop! Leave me alone!" I saw my most recent memories fading... Sitting with Argo in front of... Where were we?

Who was the dude in red? The girl with long red hair? And the girl in purple? The dude wearing a shopkeeps outfit and the girl wearing the heavy apron?

Argo's face began to blur.

"No, stop. DAMN YOU STOP!"I yelled, gripping the sides of my head in an attempt to keep my memories of Argo. In a rage I drew my sword and slashed at the darkness, trying to stop whoever was doing this. I hit nothing and my mind was slowly going completely blank. I dropped my sword and just held the sides of my head. Trying desperately to hold onto what was left of my memory. I made a mental list of what I absolutely can't forget.

Who am I? Flastor, the master swordsman.

How old am I? 21.

Where did I come from? I'm a Sword Art Online player.

Argo...

I locked all of these memories in place and only focused on those facts. Everything else was fading fast.

A softer voice echoed through space, I could have sworn it was Kayaba.

"Let him go, Sugo. He is too strong for you to contain. Release him, or face even more consequences for your actions."

"You're dead. You can't tell me what to do anymore," the other male voice chided.

"You're playing a dangerous game, Noboyuki Sugo. This one defied even me and was given something that no other person should have gotten... You will face his wrath if you meddle with his memories any further," the softer voice warned.

"Get lost. You're interfering with my work," the other man's voice said. It felt like the darkness was suffocating me. Argo's face was becoming less and less recognizable. Was her hair brown? Black?

"Very well Sugo, I warned you..." Suddenly, it felt like someone had me by my back and was pulling me out of the crushing darkness.. I was tossed into the light again, where I passed out from the massive swing in environment change...

End of Aincrad Arc.