Chapter 3 – Rondo of the Transient Sword

# Note: Italics = Thoughts

# Note: Remember, the SAO AI (Or the part of the System which deals with it) doesn't use ambushing tactics until about Floor 40-50. Mobs only actively use it until Floors 70+.

I DO NOT OWN SAO. I ONLY OWN THIS WRITING, WHICH IS BASED OFF IT. (ALTHOUGH I WISH I DID OWN IT)

It was a bright morning, the sun shining brilliantly through the world of Aincraid. Birds chirping, cows grazing and Kirito sleeping. The female player residing in his house however, was wide awake and eating some food. She was also noting how peaceful the boy looked when he was asleep – a stark change from his serious face when he was awake. After a few minutes, the boy stirred and woke up, opening his eyes to the world once more. He noted that his companion got up earlier than he did and stood up, yawning as he did so. Walking over to the table and sitting down once more, he opened his menu and materialized a «Black Bread» and a yellow bottle. Seeing that his partner was also eating some bread, still in the cloak he was growing to hate, he said:

"Here. Use some of this."

"What is it?"

"Use it. You'll see."

Tapping on the bottle, the fencer was surprised to see a faint blue glow on her finger. Seeing Kirito gesture towards the bread, she ran her finger down the bread, amazed at the spread that came out.

[Order: Asuna, Kirito]

"Cream?"

"Yep. Take a bite."

Looking at her now creamed bread, she tentatively took a bite. As soon as the food entered her mouth, her first thought was "I'm in heaven". Quickly devouring the rest of the bread, she sighed, wishing she had some more. Patiently waiting for her partner to finish his breakfast, she looked around, taking in her surroundings.

[Order: Kirito, Asuna]

"Ok, you ready to go?"

"Huh? Yeah, I'm ready."

"Alright. Today we're gonna go to the «Western Forest». A mob called "Frenzy Wolf" spawns there and the rapier we're looking for is what they sometimes drop."

"Ok."

XxXxXxXx

-Western Forest-

The forest was slightly dark, with sunlight squeezing through the gaps in the tree leaves. Through the low chirping of small insects a low growl could be heard from the distance. Two players, one dressed in a black jacket, the other in a red coat, walked along the meandering path leading into the center of the woods.

[Order: Asuna, Kirito]

"Why aren't any mobs spawning?"

"This game has an intricate system. If your level is higher than a certain number mobs won't spawn, under conditions. For example, since this forest has a level cap of 6, they aren't going to spawn as long as I walk in the front, seeing as my level is higher. Unless of course they spawn behind you."

"What level are you? And how do you know all this stuff anyways?"

"I play a lot of MMO's."

"Level?"

"..."

"Well?"

"Well, while we're walking, I might as well explain how «Switching» works. Basically, we use «Switching» to catch an enemy by surprise with a different fighting style or weapon. If not, we do it so that the player with low health can safely recover. We do this by first making the enemy unable to attack, for example using the «Blade Bash» skill to stun, then call for a switch. The other player then jumps in and starts attacking. That's really all there is to it. Do you understand or do you want me to repeat it again?"

"Change of subject much."

"Do you want me to repeat it or not?"

"No, I understand. How close are we to the center of the forest?"

"Not far. We should be seeing our first wolf soon."

Almost as if Kirito had summoned one with his words, both players registered a cursor in their field of vision. As they focused on it, the name "Frenzy Wolf" appeared.

"All right. First, we'll try doing some «Switching» to practice, just in case an «Event Boss» appears. So, wait for me to engage and stun them. The second I do, rush in and start attacking."

"Wait a bit. What's an event boss?"

"They're a special type of boss that only spawns when you complete a certain...well...anything really."

"Oh. Alright then."

"You don't say much do you?"

"…"

"Alright, get ready."

Carefully walking towards the "Frenzy Wolf" Kirito scanned his screen, making sure that he wouldn't be ambushed. As he neared the wolf, he raised his sword to his hip, activating the skill «Rage Spike», thrusting at its chest and bringing its health down by just a fraction. "The level difference is 4 and it reduced HP by that little!? This thing is a beast!" The wolf was undoubtedly strong, barely taking any damage from the poison effect made by his sword. This time. the wolf changed its attack pattern and lunged, surprising Kirito, forcing him to block with the flat of his sword. Calling for a «Switch», he kicked the wolf away from him (which dealt no damage) and blasted it with the «Blade Bash», inflicting a "stun" effect. Hearing his companion rushing towards his direction, he moved out of the way, just in time to see her «Linear» up close. From far away, he couldn't see how fast it was. But up close, the only thing he could relate it to was a meteor. Surpassing the speed set by the sword skill was astounding, but she could do it – a total newbie to MMOs. "Wow." Grinning, Kirito relaxed a bit, watching the amazing speed and gracefulness of her actions. After seeing another red cursor appear in his vision, he said:

"Fencer-san, fight on your own for a bit. More mobs are spawning and we won't be able to switch. Don't take any risks and if you need help gimme a shout."

"Alright."

Turning his attention to the new foe, Kirito waited for it to attack, which it did, lunging. Swiftly sidestepping to the right he slashed at the length of the wolf's body, bringing the HP down by a fraction. Growling, the beast turned around, charging yet again. As Kirito sidestepped again, he cursed as he noticed the wolf on its feet, now clawing him. Getting struck in the chest by three really sharp claws didn't really appeal to the boy so he jumped back, the claws nicking his chest and dropping his HP by but a little. This time taking the initiative, Kirito activated the «Horizontal» skill, creating a deadly arc of blue in the air. It made contact with the wolf, creating a large gash in its face which not only dropped its HP to yellow but also made it look like a lopsided raccoon. After the red gash had disappeared (relatively short time) the wolf ran at him. Prepared for this, Kirito prepared to use «Slant» to send it off balance. As it neared, he activated the skill, slashing diagonally into the space in front of him. Again it hit the wolf in the face, causing the wolf's HP to drop once more, teetering on the edge of the red zone. The next action Kirito half-expected, but was suprised nonetheless. It howled, calling for more wolves to join it, bringing the ratio of wolf to Kirito to about 6:1.

"Well. This is gonna be fun." Grinning, he set off at a run, charging up his next skill with a shout.

XxXxXxXx

Slash. The "Frenzy Wolf" shattered into a multitude of polygons. Panting slightly, he stood up straight again, turning to face his partner.

"So, Fencer-san. You still alive?"

"No."

"Very funny."

"Shut up. Did you find the rapier you were talking about?"

"No. It should be a random drop from the wolves over here, so I guess we were just unlucky. Wanna try again tomorrow?"

"So we're heading back now?"

"Yeah."

"Let me get rid of this last one then."

"Which one?"

He didn't need to ask. With his eyes following his now running companion he spotted the new wolf. Unlike the other wolves which were grey in colour this one had a silver pelt. As he focused on it the name "The Purgatory" appeared. Recognising the "The" in front of the mob name as a hint that the mob was a boss he shouted a warning to his partner, hoping she would react in time. His warning came too late. She had already activated her skill, leaving her in a vulnerable "post-motion" state. The wolf transformed, standing on two legs and boasting two HP bars. It swiped at the player, sending her flying backwards and dropping her HP dangerously close to 0. "Dammit...don't die...Asuna" Repeating this sentence in his head over and over like mantra he raised a "Health Potion" to her mouth, telling her to drink. She accepted, holding the bottle in her left hand and drinking slowly.

"Wait until you get back to full health before you start fighting again, no less. I don't want you dying on me."

Not even waiting for her confirmation, he ran at the boss, charging up a skill. Swinging diagonally upwards the «Slant» skill activated, covering the sword in a light-blue glow, knocking the downward swipe aimed at him away and creating a large gash in the boss's chest, marginally dropping its HP. As the wolf swiped again, horizontally this time, Kirito jumped backwards, only to find the boss lunging with one hand, forcing him to sidestep. Slashing again, he saw the wolf try to claw him from behind so he sidestepped again, this time finding a furry tail swinging at him. Quickly activating a sword skill he attacked, cutting the tail off but still only doing minimal damage to the boss. He needed time to think, so he backed off quickly after sending a «Blade Bash» at the boss.

"Alright. So I can inflict "Limb Loss" to this guy, which has really good stats. Poison doesn't seem to affect it and it hasn't got any sword skills but attacks really fast. So I need to wait for him to attack then I need to aim to cut off one of its arms. Seems easy enough."

Seeing the wolf lunging again, he positioned himself for a sidestep. Then, realising he wouldn't have enough time to dodge he charged «Slant» again, hoping he could parry the blow. Luckily for him, it did, the resulting clash sending both fighters off balance. Then, a noise was heard, followed by the boss howling in pain. Seeing his partner back on full health and ready to fight, he smiled, saying

"We'll do this with switching ok? Go in to do some damage whenever you see an opportunity. Got it?" "Looks like I won't need to aim for the arms then."

Receiving confirmation, Kirito charged at the mob, which was currently trying to pounce him. Even though he was suprised by this maneuver, he waited calmly for the wolf to near then slashed horizontally with the «Horizontal» skill, leaving a particle effect in the air and creating a red gash in the wolf's torso, HP dropping to 82%. Taking the advantage, he activated «Skill Chain», using the «Uppercut» and «Vertical» skills, resulting in the first HP gauge being two-thirds depleted. Yelling out "Switch", Kirito activated «Blade Bash», stunning the mob again and leaving his partner room to do her work. After three super-fast strikes the wolf had regained control, swiping diagonally downwards towards the fencer. Running in, Kirito blocked the attack with the flat of the blade and swung, knocking the beast off balance once again. The fencer then ran forward, activating the «Linear» skill and finally depleting the first HP gauge, sending the boss into the yellow.

Roaring, it sent out a shockwave, surprising and stunning both the players. As it charged towards the players, Kirito noticed that the eyes had changed in colour to a deep red, most likely indicating that it was now in a "Rage Mode", where it would be much stronger than before. Straining my body to move, he shouted:

"Fencer-san, dodge all of the attacks it aims at you no matter what!"

When the stun finally ended the boss was almost upon the party, bestial eyes looming over them, readying its furred hand for a deadly attack. As the hand glowed blue, Kirito cursed, knowing that it would be a sword skill. After a brief "Get down!" warning he followed his own advice, dropping on all fours and waiting for the attack to pass overhead. After hearing it pass, Kirito jumped up, slashing upwards, sword glowing a pale blue, using the «Uppercut» skill. With the attack doing little damage and seeing the boss readying another attack, Kirito stunned it, yelling for his partner to attack. As she did so, Kirito activated «Skill Chain» yet again, this time chaining «Horizontal Arc» and «Slant», slashing horizontally once and diagonally twice. This combined with the attacks of his partner dropped the boss's HP to about a quarter of its full, which was an emboldening success for the two. As the boss had since recovered from the stun it jumped, pouncing on a new target, the fencer, who was both unready and unsuited to block or dodge. Thankfully, Kirito was, using a «Sprint» skill to cover the distance between the two players the activating «Sonic Leap», jumping into the air after the boss and slashing downwards, forcing it to the ground. As he landed he called for a final attack, seeing the boss HP in the red, readying his sword. Running towards the boss he ducked, dodging the sharp claws that came so close to killing someone, then rose, striking upwards the stunning the mob with «Blade Bash». He backed off, leaving the final sliver of HP to his partner, watching her thrust four times in quick succession, dealing massive damage and ending the fight. Howling, the mob stood erect, before finally shattering into a multitude of polygons. Panting, both quickly dismissed the "Battle Rewards" menu, choosing to rest a bit instead. After regaining his breath, Kirito congratulated his partner on her victory, commenting on her skill.

"Congratulations. You did it."

"Thanks."

"You showed pretty much no overkill today, congratulations. At this rate you'll become really good."

"You really think so?"

"Yeah, why not? Even though you're new to this game you just beat an «Event Boss», that's a huge achievement."

"I see."

"So, did you get anything?"

"Oh, right. Let me check."

"Sure."

Manipulating her menu, she accessed her "Recents" and selected "Battle Rewards". Scanning it briefly, she noted that there was a weapon icon. Pressing it, she was greeted with a confirmation window.

[Notice]

Replace (E) "Iron Rapier" with "Wind Fleuret"?

When she pressed "yes" a pale-blue rapier with a rounded hilt materialized in her hands.

(Asuna) "Beautiful…"

[Order: Kirito, Asuna]

"Wow. So it was a boss drop after all."

"I take it this is the rapier?"

"Yeah it is."

"Well, we got what we came for, so let's go back. I'm starving!"

"Alright."

"Another thing though. After tonight let's part ways. I have some stuff I needa do on my own and you've done really well, not much I an help you with anymore."

"Alright..."

Noticing the sudden change in mood from victorious to depressed, Kirito stiffened. He didn't like making people feel sad but he had to do it. He intended to become the strongest and the only way to do that was hunt. Dangerously. It was a method he wouldn't encourage anyone else to use so he did it alone.

"Sorry, fencer-san. Hope we meet again."

(A/N) Hey guys! Thanks for reading so far! Please tell me what you liked/didn't like with a review or something! Also feel free to gimme some ideas! Constructive criticism - :)