FATAL ERROR: SYSTEM REBOOT
Final Reset
Chapter Three: Old Friends
Man, I'm sorry for taking so long on this! I like to believe that high quality is much better than fast update speed, so I try not to rush myself… but then, I end up not doing anything for like, three weeks OR MORE. It sucks.
Well, I'm back now, and I brought an update with me! I hope it's to everyone's liking! Well, I guess that's it for now!
Have a good read, and I'll see you at the bottom!
When I got through the passage and it disappeared from behind me, I found myself on the next level of «Aincrad». The second floor. The mountainous terrain had no effect on me as I walked on, determined to make it to the next village… to keep going until I beat the game. I didn't care if I had to do it singlehandedly. I knew I could.
"When you see this coat, just know that it's the «Beater»— the one who's gonna beat this game!"
I brought my right hand out in front of me, clenching it into a tight fist. I looked up at the cloudy sky.
Well… we'll find out.
It had been exactly one week since my stunt in the first floor boss room, and I still received glares of hatred every time I crossed paths with another player. But I didn't care.
I'd rather everyone hate me than hate the rest of the testers.
Soon after I entered the second floor, I had run into Argo, who was running from a group of people trying to PK her for information that she refused to give them. I fought them off for her, and that led to her telling me about… well, you'll see.
As I walked through the «Crystal Cave» on my way to the outer mountains, I couldn't help but marvel at the pink and crimson crystals that covered the walls. Every time I looked directly at one of them, I could see the reflection of a fourteen-year old boy wearing an incriminating black coat. The reflection of a teen who was hated by the entire population of Sword Art Online. The reflection that even I myself hate. The reflection of the one and only «Beater».
My reflection.
I sighed, closing my eyes to calm my thoughts.
It's all right… I'm all right. I can take all the hate.
I looked around once more, reminiscing about my time here in the beta.
"That's right… this was where I first met them. My first friends in the beta. Argo said they were all okay, but I'm still a little worried."
After all, they were total newbies in the beta before I got to them. The fact that things are changing from the beta means that they might have problems adapting… oh, what am I saying? I'm just overthinking things. They were all really strong in their own ways by the end of the beta, so I'm sure they're fine.
I sighed, turning my gaze to the bright light ahead—
"Wait, a bright light? Am I at the end of the tunnel?"
I started rushing towards the light, completely ignoring everything that blurred by me. However, just before I got to the exit, I heard the sound of crumbling earth coming from…
Above me?
I looked up, my eyes widening when I saw what clung to the ceiling right over my head. The object of my horror started falling from the ceiling, and I dove out of the way just in time to avoid being impaled by one of its spiked legs.
The beast before me had the appearance of a scorpion, with pinkish-red crystals jutting out of every single centimeter of its back. It had six legs, all of which had deadly points on the end. In front of its six legs, two long, thick arms held claws almost as big as my body. A long, red tail protruded from its behind, curling over it until the red crystal tip loomed just a meter over its head. Eight eyes stared at me hungrily, and I could feel the murderous intent radiating off of the monstrosity.
Two health bars appeared, one on top of the other as they filled up with a line of changing color. Red, then yellow, then green, and finally, the line turned blue once it reached the end of the top health bar. Above the scorpion's head, a name appeared.
«NM: The Crystallize Claw»
I looked around, scanning the area for players.
If no one's here, I'll just use «Dual-Wielding» to take it down, but if there's another player here, then I'm screwed! No one would help me at this point!
Just as I thought I had confirmed that no players were in the area, I heard the sound of rushing footsteps coming from behind me. I turned around and saw a familiar brown-haired player running up to me.
"Coper?! What are you doing out here?!" I shouted.
When he reached my side, he stopped, giving me a mock-offended expression. "Good to see you too, man."
I looked at him incredulously, my mind racing.
Why is he here? Scratch that; how is he here? There's no way he could have gotten this far as fast as me!
"Well, if you're done with whatever internal monologue you're having, I'd say it's time to kick some ass, don't you think?" Coper asked me dryly.
"I-I was not doing that!" I feverishly denied.
"Well, it doesn't matter," Coper said, looking towards the mini-boss. "We gotta beat this giant bug if we wanna go ahead, right? Let's do that before we continue arguing about your internal monologues."
"I don't— oh, whatever," I said, sighing in resignation. "So, what's our plan of attack?"
"Good question," Coper said. "Well, you probably have a higher attack stat than me, so I'll distract this bug while you chain skills from behind. I'm willing to bet that it can get the «Dismembered Limb» status, so check that out, too."
"Got it! Let's go!"
Coper ran ahead, activating a skill on the mini-boss's head. It blocked with its right claw, then came in for a strike with its left. Luckily, the recoil of his skill sent him out of the way of the strike.
I ran behind the scorpion and continued on past it, turning around once I was a safe distance away. Then, I put my sword on level with my cheek, parallel to the ground. I watched as it began to grow with a yellow color, and when I felt it stop charging, I released my new skill.
«Lightning Streak»
As if it were a gun, the skill launched me towards my foe at an incredibly high speed. Just as my yellow-glowing sword stabbed into a chink in the exoskeleton of the scorpion's tail, I jumped into the air, then came down on its tail once more with a vertical spin-slash. The tail fell to the ground and shattered, having been severed from its owner.
Yes! I can do this!
The «Crystallize Claw» screamed with an ear-splitting frequency, turning to face me. I could feel its rage emanating outward. However, just as it raised its claw to strike, Coper hit it from behind with a powerful skill, causing it to turn around to face him.
"Thanks for the save!"
"No problem!"
I backed up slightly, then ran back in, slashing a leg off before sliding under the beast and hacking yet another leg off from underneath. When I slid out from under it, I immediately got up and jumped over all its left legs. I put my «Anneal Blade» in the position to activate a powerful spinning skill with extended reach, watching the mini-boss as my sword began to glow white.
«Spinning Vector»
Within the span of one second, all of its remaining left legs had been severed from its body by the devastating spin attack. Without an entire side of legs to support it, it fell to the ground, moving around helplessly. The force of its fall created a huge tremor that made both me and Coper fly backwards, though we both landed on our feet.
Coper, for lack of better word choice, decided to act like a total idiot, rushing in while calling, "Skill spam time!"
But of course, by the time he was halfway to the mini-boss, I saw a horrifying sight. The «Crystallize Claw» had regenerated all of its dismembered limbs, and was preparing to attack Coper.
Coper, on the other hand, had a skill half-charged, but was frozen in place from fear. I looked at the situation before me, then remembered…
When he stood close to the boss, Diabel began to charge up a mid-level skill, one that had a long post-motion delay.
That skill isn't nearly strong enough to beat it! What the hell is he thinking?!
Illfang grabbed the blade behind his back, swiftly pulling it out. As soon as it fully left its sheath, my blood froze in my veins.
That's not a «Tulwar»! It's a «Nodachi»! This is bad! Even a two-hit skill would be more than enough to kill Diabel! And if it's using a different weapon, then its attack patterns will be different!
"Wait, stop! It's no good! GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE!" I screamed, desperately hoping he would understand and run away.
He didn't.
Illfang leaped into the air, kicking off of one of several pillars throughout the room. It started jumping off pillar after pillar, finally coming down a few seconds later with a two-hit skill already in motion. Within a fraction of a second, the skill made contact with Diabel's chest, leaving a deep gash before coming around in the second hit.
The last hit sent him sailing through the air until he landed several meters away.
I snapped out of my thoughts, noticing that the mini-boss had almost reached Coper. I began to run at them, determined not to let Coper share Diabel's fate.
"I'll get you first!"
I put my «Anneal Blade» over my shoulder, letting it glow white in preparation of «Sonic Leap». When it finished charging, I released the skill, letting it launch me at the mini-boss with incredible speed.
Coper regained his senses just in time to move out of the way, allowing me to rocket past him and hit the «Crystallize Claw» in the center of its head. It flew back several meters, falling to the ground in a daze.
Coper looked at me gratefully. "Thanks, man!"
"No problem!" I replied, eyeing the mini-boss carefully. "But I'll take it from here."
"Are you insane?!" Coper shouted, a horrified expression on his face.
"Some people call me that."
With that remark, I charged back into the battle, leaving a shocked Coper behind to watch.
CLASH!
My sword made contact with its right claw. Its other claw came in for a strike with lightning speed—
But I was faster.
I reacted just in time, jumping into the air to avoid the strike. In the split second I hung, suspended in the air, I moved my sword to activate a powerful skill that would send me down on the mini-boss's back.
«Lightning Fall»
I came back down on the mini-boss with unmatched speed, my blue-glowing «Anneal Blade» stabbing into the exoskeleton of its back. As soon as the skill ended, I jumped off, taking advantage of the stun effect to immediately activate another skill.
«Star Squint Prominence»
My crimson-glowing sword delivered a diagonal left-up slash to the mini-boss's head, then slashed rightward through its head once more. The skill continued into a diagonal left-down strike through its head, then came back to the center for an uppercut slash. Then, the final hit of the skill initiated. My sword drew back, avoiding the scorpion-like monstrosity as it moved downward.
"HAAAAH!"
With the speed of lightning, my sword made one final strike: a thrust that went straight through the «Crystallize Claw's» head. The mini-boss flew backwards from the force of the thrust, giving the post-motion delay of my skill time to wear off.
Once I could move again, I eyed its health bars. The first one was fully depleted, and the second one had about one fourth left to go. I smiled, knowing that I had almost finished the thing.
Looks like it won't be much longer!
While it was still recovering from the damage I inflicted, I activated «Rage Spike» once more, launching me towards the boss at a speed that couldn't even be tracked by the human eye. The skill made direct contact with the head of the beast, allowing me to follow directly with an uppercut that sent me back-flipping into the air just as it tried to strike where I had stood on the ground.
I activated «Lightning Fall» once more, stabbing into its head with incredible force. I used the momentum of the force to maneuver under the mini-boss, dislodging my blade just as I was fully under its giant body. I dragged my sword through its underbelly as I ran to the center, then took it out and put it over my shoulder.
This is it!
«Sonic Leap»
"HAAAAAAH!"
With the skill aimed at the ceiling, I pierced through the underbelly of the monstrosity, my blade tearing a path for me until I emerged from the other side. Just before I inevitably hit the ceiling, I executed one, final skill.
«Comet Pierce»
I spun in the air, letting go of my silver-glowing blade and watching it as it flew with near-invisible speed until it pierced straight through the mini-boss's head. I then dropped to the ground just as the sword began to move on its own. It flew towards me, the handle finding its way back to my hand as the silver glow faded.
All was silent. Then, after a moment's pause…
The «Crystallize Claw» shattered into innumerable polygons of all colors, every last one of them floating into the air until they dissipated upon contact with the ceiling of the cave.
I fell to my knees, panting heavily. I could feel a dull throbbing coming from in my head, and I felt that my entire body was drenched in sweat. My vision was no better, growing hazy from sheer exhaustion. It took everything I had just to stay conscious now that the adrenaline rush of the fight had worn off.
I heard the sound of footsteps coming towards me. I turned towards the source, and when my vision cleared up, I found Coper standing in front of me, a potion in his hands. He tossed it down to me, and I caught it with my left hand.
"Man, you are insane!" Coper shouted. "What level are you?"
I looked down, hesitating. Should I tell him? Well, he's a beta-tester like me, but… I'm probably at least four levels ahead of him.
"W-well…" after several seconds of thinking, I finally relented, giving him the information that he so desired. "I'm level twenty-two."
I looked up at him, waiting for a reaction. For all of five seconds, he refrained from giving me any noteworthy response. Then…
"How do you do it?!" he shouted. "I'm only level eighteen, and I've been grinding like hell all the time!"
"W-well…" I rubbed my neck with my right hand, getting up slowly.
As if Coper had just remembered something really important, Coper suddenly gave me a weird look. "By the way, whatever you did in the boss room worked."
"What do you mean?" I asked him.
"People don't hate the testers anymore," he said, smiling before his face turned grim. "But they go on and on about you, the «Beater». In summation, they're fine with every tester but you."
I looked to the ground. I knew that this would happen, but it still hurts. But even so…
"I don't care," I told Coper. "If it saves you, Argo, my other friends, and all the other testers from getting a bad rep, then I could care less if they hate me."
Coper just stood there, looking at me dumbly. I could see his mind racing to come up with a reply, even though he had no idea what to say.
"Man, that's… really selfless," Coper finally said, giving me a smile. "I hope this works out for you."
"Thanks, man."
It was then that I was made painfully aware of the fact that I had promised to meet up with Argo later that day. How, you ask?
I got a very angry message, that's how. Even the subject line made me cringe.
I opened it up, reading the contents before shouting, "I gotta go! Coper, you up for coming with me?"
"Where are we headed?" he queried.
I responded with, "I'm meeting up with Argo to get some info on a quest. The reward is supposed to be pretty good, so I'm going to check it out. I'm supposed to be there in fifteen minutes, so if you have your «Sprinting Skill» leveled high, then you can come with me. What do you say, Coper?"
"Let's go!"
Ten minutes later, we had sprinted more than three-hundred meters, ending up at the base of the tallest mountain on the floor. I looked around, finding a small hut about ten meters to my left. When I eyed it closer, I found a girl in a brown cloak leaning on the wall next to the door. I waved at her, catching her attention, and she waved back soon enough.
When we reached her, Argo took her hood down, giving me a smile. "It's been a few days, hasn't it?"
"Yeah, I guess it has," I replied, observing the mischievous glint in her eyes. I knew she was planning something, but I couldn't figure out what it was for the life of me. "Whatever stunt you're planning to pull, don't."
"You're no fun~" Argo said, looking at me with a cat-like grin.
Weird considering that her name is «The Rat».
"Well, whatever," Argo dismissed, looking away. "Anyway, there's a quest inside this hut. It's pretty good that you two came together, since it's a lot harder to do on your own."
"Wait, what does this have to do with your whisker marks?" I queried, eyeing her suspiciously. Her expression was no longer mischievous, and now looked entirely business-focused.
"You'll see," Argo replied. "I should probably tell you, however, that there's a penalty for quitting the quest without completing it."
I looked at her with narrowed eyes. "What kind of penalty?"
"Find out for yourself," Argo said smugly. "I'll wait out here for you two."
Annoying.
Coper and I walked past Argo and into the hut, finding a muscular man in clothing suited for martial arts, sitting in a chair by a fireplace. He looked over at us upon our entrance, a stern expression on his face. "Have you come to train in my technique?"
I noticed an exclamation point over the man's head appear, signifying that he was a quest NPC. I looked to Coper, and he looked at me. Through a silent exchange, we came to an agreement.
"Yes. We both did," I told the muscular quest NPC.
"Good," the man said. "First, you must prove that you are worthy. The rock next to my house is nearly unbreakable. If you wish for me to train you, then you must break it. You may use whatever means necessary, but should you accept and fail…"
I looked at Coper once more, noting that he now looked somewhat nervous. I looked back to the man, waiting for him to continue.
"Your faces will be branded with the marks of shame. Do you accept these terms?"
One final time, I looked at Coper, and he looked at me. Another silent exchange passed between us, and we both knew exactly what to say.
"We accept!" Coper and I shouted in unison.
As we walked out the door, the man said one final phrase, one that somehow managed to scare me.
"Good luck."
When we emerged from the hut, I looked around for Argo. I found her waiting for us by a giant rock that I hadn't seen before, presumably having just appeared for the quest.
"Judging by the rock being here now, I'm assuming you two accepted the quest," Argo said, giving us a sly look.
"Sharp as ever, Argo," I told her, receiving a glare in response.
"That comment doesn't make up for what I heard you said in the boss room," she told me, her glare intensifying.
"What did he say?" Coper asked.
"He said that he knew more than any info broker," Argo said, her glare turning to Coper. "And guess what my profession is?"
"Y-you're an info broker, r-right?" Coper stuttered out, clearly afraid of the claw-wielding girl.
"Exactly!" she shouted, turning her glare back onto me. "So, what do you have to say for yourself, Kirito?"
"I'm sorry, Argo…" I sighed. "You've got way more info than me, okay? Are you happy?"
"Very," Argo replied, giving me a smug smile. "Now that that's out of the way, how about I tell you two a few extra details about this quest?"
"Such as?" Coper asked her.
"For starters, «Sword Skills» have no effect on the rock. You have to use your own power to beat it. Also, it's treated like an in-game item by the system, meaning that it has a durability level. Even so, that level only goes down when you hit it with a powerful strike, so you can't just wait for its durability to run out over time.
"The other catch is that your EXP bar is frozen while you take the quest. This means that you can't level up to increase your stats. Your best shot is to equip as much STR-boosting classed equipment as you can, then strike the rock like your life depends on it. Did you two get all that?"
"Yeah," Coper and I shouted together.
"Good," Argo said, turning around to leave. "Well, I have to go meet up with someone for some business. But before I go…"
Argo looked at me, grinning slyly. "Kirito. Kamiko is looking for you."
With a poorly-concealed snicker, she left.
I looked to the ground, a light dusting of pink spreading across my cheeks at the thought of my best friend from the beta… looking for me.
Kamiko is looking for me? But why would she? She hated me near the end of the beta…
"… Kirito!" Coper shouted, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"What is it?" I queried, my head snapping up to look at him.
"As I was saying, wasn't Kamiko the name of the second strongest player in the beta? You know, the one who followed you up until the seventh floor?" Coper asked me, a smirk on his face.
He must have seen my blush…
"Yeah, she was…" I said. "But this isn't the time, Coper. We've got a quest to complete!"
"You're right! Enough talk," Coper replied, drawing his sword. "Let's do this!"
I drew my own sword, looking over at Coper. He looked back at me, and we instantly knew what to do.
We charged.
I breathed heavily as I watched the sun come up from over the mountains. I had just finished a three-minute onslaught of incredibly fast and strong attacks on the rock, to no avail. When I saw the sun start to rise, I decided to take a break.
I went over to where Coper lay on the ground, sleeping. We had decided to take shifts between sleeping and attacking the rock. Or, right.
It had been two days since we accepted the quest, and we still had yet to see any progress. Sad as it was, I had almost given up hope earlier. Off course, Coper reminded me that we would get these mysterious 'marks of shame' should we fail. This gave me new resolve.
That was ten hours ago.
The two of us had tried everything we could think of. Nothing we tried made even the tiniest of cracks. As you could imagine, this greatly disheartened us. And yet somehow, Coper managed to keep his resolve, and even helped me when I had given up.
Well, enough of that.
I shook Coper's shoulder gently, waking him up slowly. "Come on, man. It's time we thought of a new approach."
"All right…" Coper said, letting out a loud yawn as he sat up. "What do you propose?"
"I'm thinking…" I said, falling deep into thought.
The rock is shaped like a giant sphere, which means there isn't a weak spot to strike at. Argo said that «Sword Skills» won't work, and our normal attacks aren't doing much of anything. But maybe… yeah, that could work!
"I got it, man!" I shouted, turning to Coper with a wide grin.
"What'cha got for us?" He asked me, finally waking up enough to listen.
"Okay, hear me out," I told him, looking over at the rock. "Do you have any blunt-type skills with a knockback effect?"
"Well, yeah," Coper replied. "I've been dabbling in different weapon builds for versatility— wait, I see what you're thinking!"
The look in his eyes told me that he did indeed know what idea I had in mind. "You want me to use a skill to send you flying at the rock so you can land a good hit!"
"Bingo," I said, smiling broadly. "So, what do you have that might work?"
"Yeah," he said, flashing me a smirk. "I haven't leveled my «Two-handed Axe Skill» that high yet, but it's high enough that I've learned «Whirlwind». Plus, my axe is a classed drop from a fight with a «Dead Wolf» on the first floor."
That's the skill that Egil used in the boss fight to knock Illfang back!
"Perfect!" I affirmed. "That skill will easily have enough power to do it. Just make sure that you turn the flat of the blade to me, okay? I don't want you cutting me in half."
"Well, duh!"
Coper went into his equipment menu, and soon enough, I saw his sword disappear. Not a second later, a giant black axe with the insignia of a wolf above the blade appeared on the ground next to him. He closed out of his menu, standing up and turning to face me.
We nodded, an unspoken message transferring between our eyes. We were ready.
He put his axe in the position to start charging «Whirlwind», and I tensed my muscles for a jump. Then, seconds later, his deadly spinning attack launched. While it spun, he twisted his grip, making it so the flat of the blade faced me.
Just a fraction of a second before the axe would have hit me, I jumped with amazing speed, kicking off of the flat of the axe. I flew towards the rock at an impossible speed, putting my sword over my shoulder in preparation for a powerful strike.
"HAAAAAA!"
Just before I collided with the rock, I brought my sword down on it with incredible force. Sparks flew, and after a moment, the recoil took effect, blasting me back and forcing my sword out of my hand. I fell to the ground, pain coursing through my body from the force of the recoil. But I didn't care. Not after what I saw next.
A small crack appeared in the rock on the spot where my blade made contact. Slowly, little by little, it began to enlarge, until the entire thing was covered in cracks. And then, finally, after two days of constantly hitting it…
The giant spherical stone before us shattered into innumerable polygons of all colors. The fragments of the rock slowly floated into the sky, where they were taken away by the harsh mountain wind above us.
Coper and I slowly looked to each other, our faces sporting ever-growing smiles. After a few more seconds of silence, we both shouted one thing at the same time.
"WE DID IT!"
"That was so awesome!" I shouted, composure out the window.
"I told you we could do it!" Coper shouted gleefully, walking up to me and holding his hand up. I met it in a high-five.
When we finally calmed down several minutes later, we decided that we should probably go and collect the quest reward. Walking back into the hut, we were surprised to see a table that hadn't been there before. The table had delicious-looking food on it, and the smell alone was enough to draw us in.
When we had almost reached the table, a voice boomed from behind us.
"So you have returned!"
Strangely enough, the voice didn't sound like that of the quest NPC. I turned around, and one look at the source of the booming voice proved my suspicions.
It wasn't the quest NPC.
It was a quest boss.
In front of us was a very tall human, with bulging muscles and gleaming silver armor. Next to his head was a single health bar, and above his head, a name rested.
«NM: Breaker the Bandit»
Crap! Where's the quest NPC?
I looked around the room, trying to find the quest NPC. When I saw him crumpled on the ground next to the fireplace, I ran over to him. After I reached him, he lifted his head with what seemed like great effort, speaking softly.
"Use… the skill."
His head fell once more.
He was dead.
Then, just as I was about to snap, a window appeared before me.
Skill obtained!
Skill name: «Martial Arts Skill»
Type: «Extra Skill»
Skill subset:
«Embracer» |«Senda» | «Gengetsu» | «Free Form 5H»
I looked over at Coper, who appeared to have gotten the same window by the look on his face. He smiled, looking at me and saying, "Let's take this guy down with nothing but «Martial Arts Skills»!"
"Yeah!"
Suddenly, thousands of images flashed through my head. Images of me putting my hands in various positions, then watching them glow with different colors as if they were activating «Sword Skills».
When I snapped out of my thoughts, I found that the giant man had batted Coper aside, and was now coming for me.
How long was I out?! Well, it doesn't matter! I have to beat this guy!
Remembering one of the positions from the images, I straightened the fingers of my right hand. I then drew my arm behind my head, watching for a second as it began to glow with a golden light.
"Ha!"
«Embracer»
In an instant, my entire body streaked across the room at the activation of my skill. Before the quest boss could react, my hand had buried itself deep within his abdomen, causing a burst of radiant gold to light up the room.
I retracted my hand from his body, proceeding to lower my left hand in preparation to use a skill that could be activated by either hand. I closed it into a fist, then drew it under my shoulder, causing it to glow with a vibrant teal color. A few seconds later, while the quest boss was still stunned by my first blow, I released my second «Martial Arts Skill».
«Gengetsu»
My left hand ripped upwards in a powerful uppercut attack that connected with the chin of the quest boss, causing him to stagger backwards. Meanwhile, the skill continued, my hand dragging me up into a backflip that created even more distance between us. I eyed his health bar, finding that it was already in the yellow.
Heh! Some quest boss!
I ran back in as soon as the post-motion delay wore off, activating the dashing-type skill in my new arsenal midway.
«Senda»
My right hand thrusted out from my body as I ran, making contact with the quest boss's solar plexus a mere second later. This caused him to stagger back once more, making me question his reaction time and overall strength.
Noticing that its HP bar was now only a quarter full, I put my arms up in front of my chest in a manner similar to that of a boxer, preparing to launch the last – and most powerful – skill I had just obtained.
My fists began to radiate a brilliant red light. That light soon erupted into a fiery aura, signifying that the skill was ready. Somehow, I knew exactly what it did already. Its effect made it the best and worst «Martial Arts Skill». Why?
There was no system assist.
«Free Form 5H»
I began my onslaught with a punch to the quest boss's abdomen with my right hand, then furthered that strike into an uppercut. My left hand moved in from the side, hitting the right half of his ribcage with inhuman strength. I spun around, hitting the quest boss with my left hand once more. I drew my right fist back, and…
With blinding speed, my right fist uncurled and straightened its fingers, then came in for a jab to the solar plexus. My hand embedded itself deep within the body of the quest boss, bathing the entire room in a red light before—
«Breaker the Bandit» shattered into countless polygons tainted with the red light of the skill, confirming my victory.
Adrenaline no longer running through me, I collapsed onto the ground, my vision growing hazy. I heard someone calling my name, but I barely recognized it, as if they were in some faraway world.
It's… over…
Everything faded into black.
When I woke up, I looked around frantically, trying to find Coper. After looking all over the hut, I walked outside, finding him leaning on the outside wall.
I walked over to him, and he looked at me with a smug smile. "You're insane, man. You pulled that off so easily. It almost looked like you were enjoying yourself."
"What?"
"You mean you didn't notice?" Coper queried, looking at me with wide eyes. "Dude, you were smiling for most of the fight."
What…? That can't be right!
"Well, it's up to you whether to believe it or not," Coper continued, obviously having noticed my expression of disbelief. "Anyway, where are you headed next?"
"I'm gonna map out the boss dungeon and give the data to the «Assault Team». Hopefully, it'll help redeem my character," I told him, a sad smile on my face.
"Man, if it's you, then I'm sure you can do it!" Coper replied, patting my back as he got up to leave. "Anyway, I'm off to the upper mountains for some more grinding."
"I see…" I whispered, looking down.
I wonder… if I'll see him again.
Coper, noticing my expression, spoke up. "Hey, let's meet up on the next floor, in the first town. What do you say?"
"Yeah… let's to that," I replied quietly, as soft smile finding its way onto my face.
I turned around to walk away, but stopped once I heard Coper speak.
"Hey, Kirito."
I turned my head back, allowing me to see him out of the corner of my eye. "Yeah?"
"I… I wanted to say… I'm sorry," he said, rubbing his neck. "What I did on the first floor… it was horrible. I almost got us both killed. I originally tried to find you so I could apologize—"
I tried, and failed, to suppress a chuckle. Turning around fully, I met his sad expression with a smiling one. "Don't worry, man. I forgave you for that the moment you came to help me back in the cave. Besides, what you did on the first floor was perfectly understandable. This isn't a game anymore, and you were just doing what you thought you needed to do to survive. Everyone was a little desperate at the time.
"Still, it's nice to hear an apology. So… thanks."
"Yeah… I guess you're right," Coper replied. "I'm glad we were able to meet again, and on better terms. So thanks for understanding, man."
"That's what friends do!"
At my words, Coper smiled broadly. "Yeah, you're right. Well, I'll be seeing you!"
"Yeah, I'll see you on floor three."
With that, we went our separate ways.
I wonder… when the second floor will be cleared?
After a few minutes of walking, I opened up my menu, going into the floor map before falling deep into thought.
From what I can tell, all they've changed so far are the monsters' and bosses' attack patterns. I doubt they've changed any of the landscape just yet.
I looked up at the sky, finding that the night had almost descended upon the players of SAO. That, of course, meant that the monsters would gain strength. But I didn't care.
"Nothing will stop me…"
After finally ceasing abusing the hell out of my «Sprinting Skill», I panted loudly, completely exhausted. But it didn't matter. I had arrived at my destination.
The boss dungeon.
I took a deep breath to calm my nerves, which also served to quell the panting. Then, three words came from my mouth, words that both scared and invigorated me.
"This is it… no turning back now."
With that, I walked into the dungeon, steeling myself for whatever trials awaited me. because I knew…
I'm ready for anything.
A/N:
Original word count: 6110
Word count with author's notes: 6260
Word count with FanFiction's word bloat (that's what I call the way it makes there appear to be more words than they are): 6508
Well, what do you guys think?
I'm not going to waste your time with a long-winded note, so I'll just skip straight to the disclaimer. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to PM me!
Well, it's disclaimer time.
I don't own the Sword Art Online light novel series or any of its adaptations!
Until we meet again!