It was February, and all of the player could agree on one crucial fact: Floor 25 sucked. It sucked more than any 5 previous floors combined. The floor was incredibly confusing because it was a maze, an incredibly huge maze, but no, the floor didn't just stop at that. It had pitfalls that led to dangerous swamps that could very well poison someone, so people were advised to carry antidotes. There was one thing that could trump all others about this floor.
The deaths.
This floor's unpredictability was the reason for the second most amounts of deaths on a floor, with the first floor being at the top of the list. The clearers however, were getting ready for the boss fight. They were determined to get out of this hell-hole as quickly as possible.
Currently, many of [Aincrad]'s top guilds were gathered around a room on the 25th floor. A total of over 15 guilds, big and small were gathered. There were also some stray parties and players hanging around, since some people didn't want to be in guilds, or parties.
A few of the most mentionable guilds would be the Aincrad Liberation Force, the Knights of Blood, and the Divine Dragon Alliance.
The Aincrad Liberation Force or the Army for short, took refuge on the first floor. They mainly took care of most of the crimes that happened in the floating castle but have been helping out in the recent boss fights. The clearers could agree that having the extra manpower was a godsend for the longer fights. Easily noticed by their dark green or grey armour, they held the highest amount of members of any guild. Currently, the Army's clearers were led by a familiar orange cactus, Kibaou.
The guild Knights of Blood came up only recently, but they've been a great help. They specialized in having a defensive line-up, bringing many tanks to boss fights and soaking up much of the damage that the bosses deal out so DPS people could do their jobs. They would also stand out in a crowd, given their red-trimmed white uniforms, with their leader Heathcliff, having an inverse of their uniform; white-trimmed red armour.
The last guild, Divine Dragon Alliance was a large guild. Second only to the Army in amount of members, it was still a relatively strong guild with high average levels and many DPS personnel. They were all in uniform, armour that was coloured silver. It was said that they prioritized being the best of the best. The leader of the group was Lynd, but he also had a sub-commander name Schmitt.
The three guild leaders were currently sitting at a table, along with many other guild leaders of smaller guilds, party leaders and solo players evenly spaced out. They were all discussing the course of action for the boss raid of the 25th floor.
"This boss's name is the Two-Headed Giant, and yes, what you're imagining right now is pretty close to his appearance. He has two heads, and he holds a club in one hand and he's got potions on his belt." Heathcliff started out, gaining the attention of everyone at the table.
"Well, two heads are better than one I guess," Lynd mumbled, gaining a few chuckles from across the room, "but seriously, this will be trouble. He'll have a large field of view since both heads can focus on other things. Anything known on those potions on his belt, Heathcliff-san?"
"Given what we already know about this floor, the potions will probably be poisoned, so he'll probably throw them. It could also be possible that those are buffs for him, but I can't be certain."
At this point, Kibaou spoke for the first time. "Hey beaters, is this true?"
Many beta testers sent a glare at Kibaou for labelling them as 'beaters' when they all knew Kirito and Sinon took up those mantles to direct the hate towards themselves. Still, it seemed like people couldn't let things go.
Unfazed by Kibaou's rude question, Kirito replied, "He had only 4 potions on his belt back in the beta testing. Other than that, everything else said is the same with the Beta Test"
"Alright, let's start planning." Kibaou said as he began speaking with the other guild leaders.
"You're welcome." Kirito murmured out.
"Hey, don't mind him. Just focus." One of the betas told him. Seeing no point in getting riled up over nothing, Kirito just focused on the planning for the boss fight.
After an hour and a half, the meeting was over. Players casually walked out of the room conversing with each other about the boss raid or anything that wasn't really important. Kirito's group however,
"I want to take a nap."
"Kirito-kun! We have a boss fight in 2 days! How can you think of sleeping now?" Asuna scolded. Kirito had been training at night and had been taking naps during the day. Something about more mobs and space created.
"Its fine Asuna, I'll be ready for the boss fight. I'll even get a full nights rest the day before."
"You sure?" Sinon sounded very skeptical, "you're not going to grind all night and be dead tired for the boss fight right? If I don't see you in the house, I will find you, and I'll shoot a paralyzing arrow at you and drag you back home."
"No ma'am," was Kirito's quick reply. "I'll be home early."
Chuckles could be heard from around them; no doubt everyone was enjoying seeing 'The Black Swordsman' being whipped.
Ignoring the chuckles, and sending glares to the people whom he knew, he decided to change the topic to something more productive.
"Well, we might as well go get some items upgraded, right?"
"Hm? So productive now Kirito, what're you planning?"
"She's right, you know. What's the catch?"
Sinon and Asuna asked him respectively, suspicion laced with every word they said.
"Ah, uh, work and then take a nap?" He replied nervously.
"Oh no you don't. You've got a good point in upgrading items, but we're going to get some extra training."
"...as you say, Sinon-sama."
Along with a smack to the head, his hopes of a nice nap were also destroyed.
The trio went to the tenth floor, the settler's floor, and current home to many merchants and blacksmiths. Reason for this was all the free space to set up stalls and setting up a store here seemed to fit into the floor itself.
Traversing through the many stores and stalls, they found a familiar sign and brown haired girl.
"Heya, Lisbeth."
"Oh, hey Asuna."
Asuna and Lisbeth had formed a strong bond between the two of them, mainly because Asuna would continuously come get her rapier sharpened to keep it in the best condition it could be. Obviously with someone coming that often, you were bound to start talking to them, and such, Asuna and Lisbeth started their friendship.
"Oh, Kirito and Sinon are here too."
"Hey."
"Hello."
Came their replies respectively.
"So, what can I do for you 3?"
Hearing her question, Asuna answered, "You up for some weapon upgrades?"
"Sure! Kirito, Sinon, why don't you give your weapons and materials to Asuna and have a walk around the town? We have some catching up to do."
They both agreed and gave Asuna their weapons and materials. As they turned to walk away, Sinon noticed a smug look going towards Asuna's sweating forehead. Deciding that Asuna was in for some teasing, she gave Lisbeth a thumbs up and walked away with Kirito.
"So Sinon, where do you want to go?"
"Let's go to a cafe. I remember going to one with Asuna. The tea there was really nice."
"Sure. I haven't been to a cafe in a while."
"Last time was 5 floors ago. That's not that long."
At this little jab, Kirito's expression changed to something of minor annoyance, but he got rid of it and answered back to her,
"The both of you go almost every day though, so mine could be considered long enough."
"Eh, whatever. Be a gentleman and escort a lady to her destination." As Sinon said that, she held her hand out, a light flush on her face.
Kirito, resenting, moved his arm around so she could hang her hand off his arm. "...shall we go, ojou-sama?"
"How very gentlemanly of you."
"Not much of a choice really..." Was his murmer, quiet enough that only he could hear it.
Asuna was sitting inside the small store while Lisbeth was currently upgrading their weapons. Both girls were making small talk as she worked, and the peaceful atmosphere around them was very nice.
Although, small talk ended when Lisbeth decided to bug her on Kirito.
"So... How are you and 'The Black Swordsman' doing? Hmmmm?"
Asuna didn't like that tone of voice. Neither did she like that face Lisbeth was making. It seemed to her that if she answered. She'd be embarrassed, and if she didn't answer, Lisbeth would come up with some crazy situation that would still embarrass her.
"T-Things are going fine." Was her shaky reply.
"Oho? Only fine?" Lisbeth started her interrogation, "Tell me, my dear Asuna, how fine is fine? Is it super fine? Is it not so fine? You can't possibly think of satisfying my curiosity with just a vague word!"
Cue the over dramatical poses and emphasis of voice.
"Come on Asuna, you can't hide from me. Spill the beans." Lisbeth had a glint in her eyes. It was not a good glint. Unfortunately for Asuna, there was no avoiding her. Once she gets riled up, she doesn't calm down until she's satisfied with your answers.
"Guhhh- fine. I've been on a few dates with him. Just me and him alone. Well, of you call dates training and then having a picnic. I've gotten to know more about him too. So it isn't that bad."
"Buuuuuuuuuuuut?"
"Didn't you really need to stretch that word out?"
"Yes. Obviously."
Relentless. This girl was relentless.
"I don't really know. We're getting closer, but he's still rather distant to both me and Sinon. I know she has feelings for him too, but, eh, I don't really know."
Lisbeth, still being overly dramatic at the time, had her hand holding her other arms elbow, and the hand on that arm were cupping her face. It looked like she was in deep thought. She looked really serious. That is, until she snapped her fingers and made some coy looking face.
"You should talk it out with Sinon, maybe she'd be willing to share. Not even Kirito would be able to resist 2 beauties at once."
Hearing her suggest this- or even say something along the lines of what she just said made Asuna's face a nice red. Given that her imagination might've gone somewhere else with what Lisbeth said, it probably still would've given the same reaction even if she was on the same page as Lisbeth.
"It was just a suggestion Asuna," she started, "but give it a try. I know both of you like him, and he has some feelings for both of you. Talk t over with Sinon, and I'm sure you'll find out something together."
Less red than before, Asuna nodded her head.
"Anyways~ how about you tell me about the upper floors?" Lisbeth asked her, trying to steer the conversation elsewhere.
Asuna, silently thanking some higher being that the conversation didn't continue the way it was going, decided to satisfy Lisbeth's curiosity on the upper floors and what it was like being a clearer.
"Well..."
Kirito and Sinon were sitting in a rather empty cafe, in which the only other people there were the NPC's.
"I understand you completely Sinon, this is a very popular cafe. I can see all the bustling people coming to have a seat in here. I can even see a line outside the door too!"
To Kirito's teasing, Sinon just pulled him closer to her, which caused him to blush. His face was really close to her face, what was she going to do? This is being really bold-ah. Punch him on top of the head and give him the 'Shut it, idiot' thing.
"Sorry Shino."
"Hmph. You tease me too much Kazuto."
"Can I take your orders?" Interrupted the voice of a NPC. It looked like she was their waitress. Kirito decided to have black tea while Sinon decided to have herbal tea. "I'll be back with your orders shortly." Was he NPCs short reply and then she bowed and left.
"Anyway you tease me too much Kazuto. Back in real life you'd tease the crap out of me. In or outside of school. Stupid..."
Kirito just rubbed the back if his head and laughed all awkwardly.
"...I miss it. When we could just be normal kids, going to a normal Highschool and doing normal things." Sinon's voice rang out. It was soft.
Kirito moved his chair so he was right next to her, pulled her closer to him. She put her head on his shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
"It's hard.. I miss our friends. I miss the days that your mother would invite me to dinner, and when I could just have random conversations with your sister."
"Hey, Kazuto. Do you think we'll be able to return?"
"Don't be dumb. Of course we'll return. Granted, it'll be hard-"
"Of course it'll be hard."
"And because it'll be hard, it'll be so much sweeter once we escape."
There was determination in his voice. A guarantee that he would make sure that they'd return.
"You always know how to reassure someone."
At Sinon's little comment, Kirito chuckled a bit.
"Sweet talker."
"Eh?" And then she goes and makes some random comment about him.
"Yes, yes. I'm a sweet talker. Anyways feeling better?"
"Yeah. Thanks."
"It's no problem. Anyways it looks like our waitress is coming with our tea."
As the waitress came by and put the tea on the table, she looked at Kirito with a very sweet smile. Too sweet.
"Dear customer, please don't move the furniture around."
This was all too familiar. That super sweet smile that was actually a 'you-better-listen-to-me-or-I'll-make-you-regret-it' face was not something you could ignore.
"Yes ma'am! I'll remember that!" Was his extremely panicked reply. How the hell did Kayaba manage to insert such emotions into NPC's? What sort of witchcraft was this!?
Then, the waitress's facial expressing calmed down.
"Thank you for understanding, dear customer."
Sinon just stifled a laugh beside him.
The next day, they decided to train and get some of their skills levelled up. Since this was their last day before the boss fight, they decided to prepare and train as much as they could.
"Alright, so let's go grind in the dungeons until we call it a day." Was Asuna's suggestion, Kirito agreed, but Sinon decided that there was something more efficient.
"Before we do, let's go back into town for a second. There's this one quest that has requirements of basically killing a few hundreds of the monsters in the dungeon."
Asuna was slightly surprised. There was a quest like that in the town? Why didn't anyone tell her? Actually, why didn't Kirito know about this?
"Really? Nobody mentioned this before."
Both girls just looked towards Kirito, and suddenly he felt small. Sinon's deadpan look and Asuna's glare made him back up into a non-existent corner.
"Ahh.. I forgot?"
"Lame excuse."
"So there was a quest that could have gotten us more exp than just hunting monsters? How do you forget something like that?"
"A-Anyways let's return to the town and start this quest."
As they headed back, they spotted a few players and parties heading the opposite direction.
"You know, maybe going to the dungeon isn't the best idea. These guys are probably going to the dungeon right now, and we probably won't be able to kill the required amount of monsters for that quest." Asuna stated. "By the way, how many monsters do we have to kill?"
Asuna looked at her comrades for an answer. Kirito just shrugged and looked at Sinon.
"333."
"E-Eh? That many?" Asuna asked, surprised that a quest would require such a high amount of monster kills.
"333 huh. If we had the dungeon to ourselves and the rest of the day, maybe. Right now we don't really have the dungeons to ourselves," Kirito started, "but we could go to a mini dungeon."
It sounded like a good idea. Most mini dungeons had a higher spawn rate of monsters than normal dungeons, but the general levels of the monsters were lower.
Sinon agreed to this, but Asuna had a question. "Which one though?"
"There's one on this floor. It's not that far from the boss dungeon so it won't take long to get there." Kirito supplied.
"How are you so sure of this Kirito-kun?" Asuna asked. Where did he get this information? Was it from a NPC or was it from a billboard?
"Someone told me."
"That's not very helpful. Be more specific Kirito-kun."
"Rats."
Asuna had a look of confusion on her face, but quickly adopted a look of understanding. Sinon just wanted to know how that one crucial thing.
"How much?"
"...10000 col."
"Ouch."
The mini dungeon on the 25th floor was unlike the floor itself. It was cleaner, not really following the poisonous swamp theme the entire floor had. Instead, it was more of a cave system, with underground lakes. The monsters here were amphibious creatures which only applied weak poisons when you were attacked. They would also try and jump back into the water if you attacked them, however-
"Vertical Arc!"
If you were fast enough, you could catch them before they had the chance.
Two hits, and the foot long frog burst into polygons before it could get back into the water.
"Not the greatest mini dungeon to train in." Came Asuna's whine. Though there was no real reason for it. Being a rapier user, her skills were rather fast and precise, allowing quick and accurate strikes to her opponents. Just one Thrust would be enough.
"You're able to kill them faster than me. How are you one to complain?" Sinon asked, slight irritation in her voice. Having a bow, she could keep an arrow pulled back and ready to fire at any moments notice. The problem however, was that she had to pull another arrow from her quiver and reload her arrow, allowing just enough time for any of the mobs to hit the water.
"Don't mind our speed. We're making good time anyways. We might even get a level before we go back home." Kirito pointed out, sword above his shoulder, preparing to use a slant. With a glow, the sword cut through the air in less than a second. It also missed. "Eh?"
*Splash*
At Kirito's great mob killing skills, Asuna and Sinon attempted to suppress their laugh. They were unsuccessful.
"Oh great Kirito, please show us how to kill mobs faster."
"Pfffft. Oh yes Kirito-sama, take us as your disciples. We must learn from the best!"
It is at this time that we find our hero in the clutches of one of his most formidable foes: teasing girls.
Knowing that he would lose this, he just resigned and let them go on. 'This isn't going to be fun.'
"Maybe it still will be fun." He murmured, staring at the large doors in front of him. Big doors could only mean one thing. Bosses. That or giant mobs-which was rather unlikely at the end of a dungeon.
"When did we stop having fun?" Asuna asked, head tilted in obvious confusion.
"Ah- it's, uh, nothing. Yeah, don't worry about it." He quickly replied. Best feign ignorance so she doesn't pick anything up, he thought.
"...Well, alright then. Let's hope this boss won't take too long and that it'll give us good drops." Sinon said, also falling for his ignorance. "Or it could be one of those dungeons where the boss is super hard and drops something that we can't use."
"Don't be such a pessimist. We could always sell it right?" Asuna's cheery voice chimed in.
"Maybe."
The door opened with a loud creaking noise as the trio walked into the room. It wasn't any different from the rest of the dungeon. It still had some lakes, a large circular stone roof, basically just another underwater cave.
"So... This is cool and all, but where's the boss?" Kirito asked, looking around, then stopping his gaze on a large amount of eggs in a brown container looking device. It seemed like Asuna saw it too.
"Maybe if we destroy the eggs and that nest the boss will come out? Only possible thing right?"
Silently, they all agreed. The real question was, how the hell do they deal with it?
Whilst Asuna and Kirito were having a conversation on the fastest killing technique, an arrow whizzed past Kirito's ear.
"Hey! You did that on purpose!"
Sinon feigned innocence as best as she could. "I don't know what you're talking about. I was just trying to kill the eggs and the nest."
"Sure you were. You totally didn't just shoot an arrow past my face...? What's up?" Mid rant, his voice for softer and he stopped. Sinon and Asuna both had bothered looks on their faces. "Guys?"
Being roughly handled by Asuna, he was spin around. He really wished he wasn't.
The so called 'nest' was actually the boss. It was most likely a frog that kept her eggs in her back until they hatched. This suddenly didn't look like a very easy boss fight.
"Welp, shit."
"Get ready!"
Flinching at the girl's combined voices, he sighed. "It suddenly became less fun than I hoped it would be."
With a loud roar, the boss camping rushing(jumping) towards them.
Kirito just prepared his blades and rushed forwards with Asuna to intercept it. 'Guess I'll figure out something while we fight.' The boss having 3 health bars, it seemed like he had quite some time to fight.
Going through a quick Horizontal, he decided low cooldown skills were the best option right now.
Bracing himself when the boss opened it's mouth, he quickly dived left, dodging a tongue that left a crater where he once stood.
"F-fast!"
Truly, having skills with low cooldowns were a godsend.
"Sinon! Get to the other side of the room! Snipe it from there! Asuna! Don't use high cooldown skills. This boss is really fast!"
Sinon complied, while Asuna replied, "Be careful though!" While getting into position.
"Seriously, not as fun as I initially thought it would be." He mumbled to himself, dodging a claw and retaliating with a slant.
"LESS TALKY MORE FIGHTY!"
Snapping himself back to attention, he readied himself for the next strike-
-which went directly to Asuna.
"Back!"
Jumping back, the girl observed an arm with sharp claws strike the air in front of her, a black blur slash at the mentioned arm, and then an arrow fling past her into the boss's shoulder area.
The boss jumped back- a good 20 feet back, and got ready to charge at the duo again.
She could tell that this was going to be one hell of an annoying fight.
"Stupid hit and run tactics."
Fighting off their mental fatigue, the trio finally managed to get it to its final health bar. Now, it was just the hard part, the boss's changed attack pattern. So far, it had been swipe and miss, then jump back and charge back in, sometimes utilizing the tongue. Not that complicated, but the true danger was the speed of the boss's attacks.
"We're close! The boss is considerably weaker and slower now. We could possible kill it before it has a chance to change attack patterns! Quick strikes and then switch!" Kirito called out, taking deeper breaths.
Asuna went in for a linear, which made the boss flinch, for only a second.
The second was enough for the boss to not notice the glowing arrow flying towards its mouth however, and that made the boss flinch for much longer.
"The item drops had better be worth it for all the trouble we've been through!" Sinon's irritated voice called from afar.
"Maybe it's about time we stopped trying to clear mini dungeons by ourselves, ne?"
Asuna said back.
"I'm also backing up that notion-whoa!" Kirito replied, dodging yet another strike from the amphibian's tongue.
"We'll talk about that later, now just kill this stupid thing!"
The boss's hp was falling faster than before, maybe because of it becoming dehydrated, proof of the obvious speed decrease.
Taking advantage of the speed decrease, Asuna performed another linear which causes the boss to jump back. The duo in front prepared for when the boss would charge forward. Any second now it would... Turn around and expose it's back towards them?
"What's it do-OH GOD. NO. EWWWW" Asuna's shriek came and filled the room.
"This is disgusting. I feel like I'm going to be traumatized by this." Kirito's voice came out, extremely uncomfortable.
"I second that." Was Sinon's call from the back.
Infront of the beaters the boss was currently hatching it's eggs, the ones that were peeking out it's back. Slowly, the frogs-yes frogs, not tadpoles- came crawling out from the holes that once housed their shells.
Kirito's eyebrow twitched furiously. "We're never doing this dungeon ever again."
Two furious nods met his statement.
The sound of croaking interrupted their agreement however.
"Get ready, it's probably going to lead it's small army. Sinon, focus down the boss. We'll take care of the small fry."
At Kirito's tactic, the two girls nodded and prepared to finish off the overgrown tadpole.
Slashing through a couple of frogs, Kirito and Asuna realized on thing. These things were extremely weak. One hit was enough to put one of them to nearly 10% hp. Perhaps it was to balance out how many just spawned.
"Kirito-kun, let's kill these quick so we can help Sinon-chan with the boss."
"Righ-Asuna!"
As he turned to reply, he saw a looming figure behind her. It was the figure of the boss, claw in the air ready to strike. There was only one possible thing to do.
He jumped towards her, left arm extended ready to grab her as the claw began its motion. He wasn't going to make it. The attack was much faster than he was. There was no possi-
"GRAWWWW"
The claw changed its course, instead of going to cleave Asuna, it went up to its eye, trying to rid itself of the arrow. If it's one thing he knows, it's that Sinon loved to make her enemies blind. Grabbing Asuna and rolling away as the boss swung randomly, he managed to get her out of safety. He however, was not so lucky. A deep red gash was left on his right arm, draining enough HP to place him into the yellow area.
"Ghk-!"
"Kirito-kun!"
Asuna grabbed Kirito by the back of his collar and placed some distance between her and the boss. Granted, it wasn't enough that they would be safe, but it was enough that she could move if the boss decided to attack.
"That..hurt more than it should've."
Smacking him on the back of the head, she pulled out a healing potion and asked(forced) him to drink it.
"Don't take that so lightly. You almost died."
"..Sorry."
"..Thanks for saving my life though."
Somehow an awkward silence formed in between them during the middle of a boss fight.
"If the 2 of you want to stop being so lovey dovey, we have a boss to kill."
In which Sinon decided to interrupt.
"Ah. Well I suppose we should finish this."
Kirito nodded, and then broke into a run with Asuna behind him.
"It looks like the boss will die with a couple of high damage sword skills. Asuna, get ready to switch!"
"Roger!"
Kirito dashed forward, sword glowing bright blue; "Horizontal Square!"
A mid-level sword skill, hitting a mob once in the front, the back, and each side for a total of 4 hits, leaving afterimages of the sword in the shape of a rhombus.
"Switch!"
The boss staggered back, and Asuna came in freeing Kirito from his cooldown state.
"Quadruple Pain!"
A rapier exclusive skill where a mob is hit 4 times in quick succession. It does have a chance to immobilize a target, but the chance is greatly reduced when used on boss monsters.
The frog's HP dropped continuously from the 2 sword skills, but it wasn't enough. The boss's health dropped only until there was a sliver of health left. It was bad. Asuna was in the cooldown state and Kirito rushed right infront of her to block with a sword.
The boss swung. Kirito braced for impact. This would hurt so much more than before. It was a strike on his arm last time. This time it would be a strike on his torso.
"Damnit-!"
"Arrow Blow."
Accompanying Sinon's voice was a green arrow that hit the boss's head. The boss's claw burst into polygons, a mere 4 inches from Kirito's torso. Instantaneously the rest of the boss followed.
Kirito let out a sigh of relief.
"That was really close. Talk about hanging by a thread."
Sinon just put her bow back.
"Dramatic finish."
"So what was the drop?" Asuna asked. Kirito too was interested.
Sinon looked down at the screen in front of her.
"It was a battle axe."
Hearing the disappointment in her voice, Kirito suggested that they sell it to Agil.
"Oh, that's right! He uses axes for battle."
The party of three exited the dungeon, heading towards Agil's shop on the 10th floor.
"...8000 col."
"10000."
While Agil and Sinon were arguing over the price of the axe, Kirito and Asuna were browsing the shop looking for better items, and trying to ignore the bickering of the shopkeeper and customer.
"8500."
"9500."
It really was hard to ignore.
"Gah! Fine you win woman! 9500 it is."
With a smug look, the trade was complete, Sinon walked out of the store with a smile on her face, followed by Asuna. Kirito was about to follow when Agil slung an arm over his shoulder.
"How do you deal with that girl?" He complained. "She's relentless!"
Kirito considered his response for a bit.
"Practice and patience."
"You, young Kirito, are a Saint."
After leaving Agil's store, the trio decided to return home and get some rest before the boss right tomorrow.
The walk home wasn't too eventful. After a teleport to their floor and a short walk to the inn, they were at home.
"So the boss fight is tomorrow huh. It was really hard in the beta." Kirito sighed. He was reminiscing about how much fun the beta was. No death game, no real danger.
"Anything we should be aware of?" Asuna asked from the side. They were all relaxing on the couch, having a small conversation before they went to bed.
"Nothing that wasn't said in the meeting today. Just be careful okay? I've got a bad feeling this time."
Sinon being Sinon, decided to tease Kirito. "What's this? Are you so worried about us? Will you confess your love to us next?"
"Maybe I will."
Not expecting that response, Sinon could only stutter back.
"You know Kirito-kun, you shouldn't tease someone like that." Asuna chided.
"You guys always tease me though." He replied, slightly shocked that she would even say that.
"Well, because it's fun!" She replied back as she smiled.
Sinon calmed herself down, and that suggested everyone go get some rest. Asuna agreed, but as they left for their rooms they could hear Kirito mumbling and grumbling about something.
Sometime during Kirito's sleep, he dreamt of them again. The dreams have been getting clearer, he could make out faces, grass and a warm breeze. He still had troubles remember their names however.
"Kirito! I'll see you again right?" The boy with flax coloured hair asked with enthusiasm.
"Kirito... I've been waiting for you... I'll wait forever so..." The girl with blonde hair said, full of conviction.
"I-" he barely got a chance to say a response before something came up behind them. It was...female? Yes. It was most definitely female, and.. she was so beautiful, and yet her beauty was eerie. Luminescent silver hair and eyes that seemed to reflect the 7 colours of the rainbow. However, those eyes had no pupils, it was unnerving.
She then placed a hand on both of the other's heads. Kirito had an extremely bad feeling about it. Light began to shine, it was blinding, almost. He attempted to grab a hold of them.
"Wait!"
His world turned white.
He woke up, panting and his pupils dilated. He was holding onto the blanket with a death-grip.
"That dream...who were they?"
He murmured out loud, thinking the dream over.
"Kirito, are you alright? Who was in your dream?"
Giving a yelp at the sudden voice, he jumped to the edge of his bed and saw Sinon and Asuna with worry etched into their faces.
"When- no, how did you guys even get into my room?"
"The door was unlocked and Asuna saw you moving around in a strange way. Kirito, are you alright?"
"I'm fine. Just a bad dream. Don't worry about it." He assured them.
Both girls have him a sceptical look, but didn't dig further into it.
"A-anyways what time is it?"
"It's 7:30. We still have an hour and a half until the boss fight. Let's eat breakfast and then go get supplies." Asuna suggested.
"Alright."
After a hearty breakfast from the 'official' cook Asuna and buying potions, the trio headed towards the meeting place for the boss fight.
It wasn't a surprise when they saw Heathcliff standing at attention, taking note of all the players and guilds that were arriving. It seemed that Kirito's group was somewhat early.
"Hello Heathcliff." Kirito greeted.
"Greetings, Heathcliff-san."
"Hello." Asuna and Sinon also greeted.
"Hello Kirito-kun, Asuna-san and Sinon-san. Have you prepared yourself for this boss raid?"
"As much as we'll ever be." Kirito said.
"Well, we'll wait for another half hour before beginning."
"Understood."
As Kirito and company turned to leave, they all missed an appraising eye on one black swordsman.
Roughly 30 minutes later as everyone had already arrived, they headed towards the door to the boss room. It was a 15 minute walk, and everyone was double checking their armour and supplies. Heathcliff was standing in front of the door, facing the clearing group.
"Everyone, this will be an extremely difficult boss fight. From our information, this will be one of the core bosses since we're a quarter of a way through this game. Do not be fearful. Look forward. If you think you cannot defeat this boss, then you will not defeat the boss after that. Always look past an obstacle, never right at it. We'll fight on and on, for our freedom." At his charismatic speech, a roar of cheers were heard from the raid group. Giving a nod, he turned around and opened the door.
"Charge!"
As the players rushed in, they saw the boss. It had two heads, one of blue and one of red. Four health bars were on the side of its head. In one hand, a wooden club nearly 4 meters in length. The other was idly playing with one of the 5 differently coloured potions on its belt. It looked at the players and grabbed one of the potions on its belt, and threw it. It came sailing at a group of 5 players. 4 of them were quick enough to move out of the way, while one was not. The potion broke right in front of him, splashing him with its contents.
It was acid.
The player screamed. He clawed at himself, trying to rid himself of the potion, but it was too late.
He bursted into polygons. Everyone looked towards the place where he used to be. The first death had already occurred.
And it only happened in a couple of seconds.
The players tensed, preparing for battle. They wouldn't run. No, not after someone already lost his life. They began to charge forward. Heathcliff at the front and Kirito right behind him. Kirito sent out a quiet mutter.
"God damn it."
The boss responded by charging and letting out a roar of its own. No, it couldn't be called a roar. It was more like a human shouting something, but yet it was something that couldn't be compared to human.
"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!"
The club would come smashing into the ground. Players would be sent back in turn. This was unlike anything they've ever faced. If a normal floor boss's difficulty was set as 1.0, one of these would be scaled to 2.5.
"It's throwing another potion! Prepare to evade!" Heathcliff's shout echoed out.
Indeed, the boss was preparing to throw another of it's potions. It seems like it would throw one at the start of each health bar. So far, it's thrown 2, so the second health bar was just being emptied. The first potion was acid and the second was a potion that reacted on contact with air to create a gas cloud.
The boss grabbed a black potion and threw it at a group of 7, Kirito included. He was fast enough to roll out of the way, the others suffered the contents of the potion. It seemed to be...tar? Most likely some sort of oil. Everyone looked at the somewhat unimpressive substance when they heard footsteps in rapid succession. Everyone realized what it was for.
"▂▂▃▃!"
It was an absolutely horrible way to die. To be slowed, attempting to crawl away when the boss is rushing right towards you.
"Tanks!" At Heathcliff's call, many of the tanker players came to intercept the boss. "DPS, come and attack! We'll distract it before it can rush towards them! Everyone else pull them out!"
Players began moving frantically. Tanks were linked up, DPS circling around them ready to manoeuvre around and attack the boss at it's blind spots. The rest of the players were pulling the players out of the tar, inch by inch.
The boss was being held back somewhat. It seemed even AI had a sense of danger. These humans were protecting their own. Still, it would take some time before those stuck in the tar would be free.
"▂▂▃▃▄▅!"
The boss let out another roar and charged forwards, knocking tanks and DPS players alike out of the way.
"Pull faster!"
Voices of desperation were heard from the tar-covered players. Everyone was trying their best but, it seemed like a lost cause.
Some people tried to stall the boss, only to be pushed aside.
Others pulled harder, trying to get their comrades away from their imminent death.
It was futile.
The boss charged into the tar, ramming through players and smashing others with its club. They were knocked away and beaten. Only 2 survived that onslaught.
'Damn it. it was never this hard in the beta. Why...?' Were a black swordsman's thoughts, his breaths ragged. This fight was taking its toll on everyone.
"Charge! Don't let their deaths be in vain!" Healthcliff's voice brought him out of his trance. He needed to focus. If not, there would be so many deaths that this couldn't be called a victory.
The fighting seemed to go on for ever. Finally, the boss's last health bar was in the low yellow. The clearers were exhausted. The fighting was relentless.
The attacks continued, and the boss's health bar finally came to the red area. Everyone jumped back. The boss included.
"He's grabbing another potion! Get ready!" Heathcliff yelled. Everyone tensed.
The boss didn't throw the potion however. He uncorked it, and drank it.
Kirito's eyes widened, as did the rest of the Beta Tester's.
"This never happened befo- what!?"
The effect was instantaneous. The boss's skin grew red, and it looked like his body grew some muscle. He also gave out another roar, but this was more comprehensible.
"Bl▅oD L▃st!"
All of the betas paused at this. There was never, in all the floors of the floating castle that were cleared during the beta test, a boss that could talk. What the hell was going on!?
"▂▂▂▃▃▃▄▄▄▅▅▅▃▄▄▅▅!"
There was no time to ponder. It was coming. It was faster than before, stronger than before. This would be the moment that fate decides if they kill it, or if it kills them all.
"Kirito-kun!" Heathcliff's voice rang out. Kirito looked into his eyes and understood. A shield needed a sword that could cut from behind it.
"Understood. Sinon! Provide long range support!"
"Right!"
And so Heathcliff and Kirito rushed forward. The shield coming to hold him back, and the sword to cut him into bits. Other players stood still. There were only two people going straight in, were they insane!?
"Stop gawking and follow them!" Asuna shouted. "Are the clearers people that would hide and let others fight for them!?"
Now, pride was something everyone had. And not many people enjoyed having it crushed. The clearers were not an exception. They paired off, following the two in front of them.
The boss was slowed by Heathcliff, who took the strike head on. He slid back, and was stopped when the other tanks came to help.
"Attack!"
Swords began glowing, the health of the boss began dropping. Everyone's morale was raised with the initial counter attack of the Black Swordsman and the Paladin. Sword skills of all types never stopped. This would be it. This was how it would end.
"Deadly Sins!" Kirito's sword glowed, and 7 strikes hit the boss.
The boss stopped. He let out one more roar, or maybe it was a cry. One could not tell.
"▂▂▃▃▄▄▃▃▂▂▂▂▂▂…"
He bursted into polygons. 6 people died during this raid, but there was only one thing everyone was thinking of.
It was finally over.
Everyone was sitting down and resting. Asuna and Sinon were leaning on Kirito's shoulders.
"That was exhausting." Asuna drawed out.
"It's probably going to happen on three more floors." Sinon mumbled.
"The 50th, 75th, and 100th." Kirito muttered.
"Kirito-kun." They didn't notice Heathcliff's arrival.
"Heathcliff-san." Kirito greeted.
"Are you still considering my offer?" He asked.
"What offer is he talking about Kirito-kun?" Asuna asked out. Sinon was also curious.
"...to join the Knights of Blood as it's sub commander." Kirito replied. Asuna and Sinon had wide eyes. "I'm sorry Heathcliff-san. I still need time to consider."
"That's quite alright. Does a week sound fine?"
".. Yeah."
"A week it is then."
After Heathcliff left, the [Teleport gate] was activated in town by the Divine Dragon Alliance. Kirito decided it was best that they go home and rest. Neither girl objected.
Arriving home, everyone sat down on the couch and took some time to relax. It was an extremely difficult boss fight after all.
"Kirito, is it true?" Sinon asked.
It was bound to come up sooner or later, so he decided to answer their questions. "Yeah. It is."
"Why didn't you accept?"
"...Maybe I didn't want to be responsible for that many people."
Asuna was somewhat confused at that. "What do you mean?"
Kirito didn't hesitate in answering. "If I was sub commander, that would mean I would be leading them into battle, and if they died it would mean that I was incompetent; that I failed in handling their lives. I can't live with that. "
"Then do what you want. It's not our right to try and control your life." Sinon said, not really interested in the topic anymore.
"That's right, Kirito-kun. Do whatever you want. We'll support your decision." Asuna agreed.
"Thanks."
Sinon got up from her place, stretching. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm dead tired. I'm going to bed."
The other 2 followed her actions. There were many things to decide on, but they needed their rest.
Everyone did after today.
Somehow, this went from 7.4k words to 7.8k words during revisions and editing. Took me quite a while because I would write so much one day, and then just write a sentence or a paragraph the next. I decided to finish it after seeing the novel illustrations for volume 15(Go spoil yourself :D). Eh, all that matters is that I finished it, right?
2 boss fights! It was honestly a pain to write the floor boss's fight because other than being an ogre with 2 heads, nothing else was described. The mini-dungeon boss was based off of a real frog. Yes. What it does with its eggs is indeed true.
Kirito was also invited into the KoB. Being a relatively new guild, Heathcliff needed a sub commander. Why Kirito? Well, how else would he be able to watch the 'hero' grow?
I honestly have no idea how I'll handle the Black Cats of the Full Moon. Really, I'm honest. No idea whatsoever.
...suggestions please?
Anyways, thanks for reading. Please leave a review with suggestions or any places where I misspelled something or any errors.