Beater and the Black Cats of the Full Moon
Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online
Warning: I am still studying so please forgive me if there is too much grammar mistake. It will also be appreciated if you would help correct my grammar mistakes.
Chapter 2
Seven Legends
"This floor is..."
"Algade, the 50th floor of Aincrad. A bit smaller than the starting city but still a messy one. We met each other once in Agil's shop, didn't we?"
Squeezing through the crowds, Kirito held Asuna's hand to make sure that they would not be separated. Of course Asuna was blushing madly at the touch of Kirito's hand but our game addict Beater was very dense in these subjects.
"Ahm...So we are going to Agil's house?" Asuna replied. She prayed for Kayaba that the NerveGear could not sense her embarrassment and showed it on her face. However a glance at a mirror that was hung on a certain shop, gave her another reason to hate Kayaba.
"No. For now we are going to my house."
"(YOUR HOUSE!?)" Asuna almost shouted however her embarrassment kept her voice down.
This is my first thing holding hands with another boy and now I am going to his house? Aren't things advancing a bit too fast? What should I do? I am still inexperience in such subjects such as romance. Even Lisbeth always teased me about it. What should I do? Should I ran away? But Kirito was a nice guy, he even looked cute. No no no don't let his looks deceive you Asuna! He must be a bad guy! He's even bringing me to his house! But I am the one that decided that I want to be with him...Eh since when did I decide that? Wait I only decided to join his Guild where are we going now!? Wait what am I thinking!? Eh!? Eh!? Eh!?
"Come on Asuna. We are almost there!" Kirito said while pulling the totally red Asuna through the crowd.
"Wait Kirito! Aren't we rushing things a bit!?" I only just joined you guild...
"There is no time left! We must reach my house as fast as possible!"
"As fast as possible!?" But my heart is not ready yet!
"Or else that girl will have my head!"
"But-...huh? That girl?" What girl...? Eh?
"I will tell you about that later! That's my house!" Kirito shouted while pointing towards a house the was at the corner of the street. It looked plain from the outside but Asuna made a mental note that her house's walls was also as plain as his. Never judge a book by its appearance.
Like how you shouldn't judge Kirito by his appearance. Asuna and a certain rifle user made a mental note about it.
"KIRITO!"
Bam!
Suddenly the warmth of Kirito's hand faded when someone suddenly delivered a beautiful flying kick from the side towards Kirito head. Kirito flew towards a lamp post and had his head slammed directly on it. If this wasn't an anti criminal code zone, Kirito would have probably lost half of his hp from that.
The assassin landed perfectly on the ground and proceeded towards the semi consciousness Kirito. Asuna regained from the shock quickly grabbed the assassin from behind.
"Wait who are-" The Assassin turned around. She looked into Asuna's face for a moment before replied.
"Ah nice to meet you. I am Argo, an Information Broker. Now please excuse me for a moment, I have something important to settle with our dear dual blader here-"
"...You sure got your news fast Argo..." Kirito muttered while trying to stand up by leaning into the lamppost for support. Looks like that kick got him.
"Kirito! I heard about the Unique skill! Why didn't you tell me anything about it!? I sold you so many skills and secrets and you couldn't even tell me one secret!?"
"...ah...I...a..m...v..er..y...s..or.r...y...a"
Kirito struggled to form his apology with Argo shaking Kirito's head back and forth by the collar. Asuna wondered what should she do but nothing came into her mind.
"I will let you go for now." Argo said as she released her hands from Kirito's collar. "Looks like I am not the only one with the fast information. We better talk inside your house!"
True to Argo's words, a mass players could be seen squeezing through the crowds and heading towards them. Argo happened to reach Kirito first because she knew where he lived. However now that everyone else know Kirito's whereabouts, there was only one place left for them to hide.
"Asuna quickly!"
"Huh? Ah!"
Kirito quickly held Asuna's hand and pulled her towards his house. The marching like footsteps were getting closer. In fact players with some notebooks on their hand were already in sight.
Kirito quickly unlocked the door, pushed Argo and Asuna in, locked the door.
Just in the nick of time to hear the bashing sound of the people that crashed onto the door.
"Looks like we are safe for now..." Kirito said and sighed a breath of relief. Being an antisocial person, he could stand small company like Argo and Asuna but facing against the entire crowd? He would chose to battle the floor boss alone if given the choice.
Bam!
The three twitched when they heard the sound of a mace slamming against the door. However the door was an indestructible object so they did not need to worry about people breaking in.
"First the Beater, second the Black Swordsman and now the Dual Blader? You are becoming a celebrity in Aincrad already."
"Shut up Argo. And the first one is making me notorious not famous." Kirito replied and settled into the single sofa in the living room.
Kirito's house was plain in the outside, plain in the inside. Asuna and Argo both made a mental note to decorate this house when Kirito was unconsciousness. The living room had a long sofa and a single sofa. The girls settled down on the longer sofa and looked around to see if there's anything interesting.
"No I didn't decorate it with anything." Kirito said. He could feel the annoyance of the three person- Wait, he counted. There were only two other person here so where did the third person come from?
Kirito. Tea.
"Ah. I will go and make some tea." Kirito said as he got up and headed towards his kitchen.
Unlike real life or SAO's normal food, the level to make a perfect tea was quite low that Kirito had actually mastered it unintentionally after having the habit of making one whenever he came back home. If there's any purpose for Kirito to buy a house, first its close to Agil's shop, second it served as a free place for him to return to when he was tired and third, a place for him to have tea alone in silence.
It did not take long for Kirito to come back with a tray of tea. He settled the tea on the table and proceeded to savor the calming aroma of the tea after an exhausting day.
Red tea is the best~
Kirito was sure that he was a mad man already so he didn't pay any attention to Sachi's voice in his head. But she helped him a lot of times that Kirito wondered if he was really hallucinating or not.
"Well since dual blade is an Unique Skill so I won't persuade anything more about it however you better repay me with some good information one day Kirito." Argo glared Kirito. However Kirito only noted that Argo really looked like an angry cat that he had once seen outside his house.
"So onto the main topic." Argo calmed down and said. "It seems that the people outside are more interested in Asuna than Kirito. Mind explaining what happened? As far as I know, Kirito don't want to let anyone join his Guild and then Asuna don't want to join any guild. What happened is totally the polar opposite of your idea Kirito, Asuna."
"About that. I also want to hear about your reasonings Asuna. Why do you want to join my Guild. By the way for your information Argo, Asuna forcefully joined my Guild without my consent." Kirito said while starting at Asuna.
"Hehehe..." With two pair of eyes staring into her, she felt as it she was a prisoner being questioned. She could only make an awkward laugh and tried to change the topic.
You have one message.
I am saved! Asuna thought as she opened the message. Hopefully it was something that could help her to change the topic.
ASUNA! WHAT DO THE INFORMATION BROKERS MEANT BY YOU JOINED KIRITO'S-
"Ah it's nothing. Let's continue the topic." Asuna closed the message without finishing it. Argo would be wondering who was it from but Kirito guessed that it was from a certain Blacksmith that made his Dark Repulser.
""Well"" Both Kirito and Argo questioned at the same time, succeeding in stressing Asuna more.
"Hm...Well that's because Kirito kept on urging to to join a Guild..."
"You could have joined the Knight of Blood-"
"But aren't you the one that stopped her? I got friends in KOB you know." Kirito sweatdropped after hearing Argo came up with the perfect reason to protect Asuna. He should have seen it coming when he decided to party with Asuna.
"Well when I hear Kurandeel talking about you Guild. I got very angry at him. Well I am already quite pissed off with him already." Unconsciousness, Asuna let her irritated face shown. Argo updated her information about Asuna the flash with 'Extremely hate Kurandeel.' in her mind.
"So?" Kirito said, he already knew where was this heading to.
"So I joined your Guild to prove that he's wrong. You should try to defend yourself Kirito. What would have happened if I didn't interfere?"
"Kurandeel is right that I killed my Guild members."
"It is nobody's fault that they died Kirito. You did all that you could to save them"
It is not your fault that we died Kirito.
"... ..."
Kirito fell into silence. Sachi's voice comforted him again. However there was no way that he could forgive himself for hiding his own levels and let them died. He should have realized that Keita wouldn't be able to handle the news. He should have stopped him.
But he should have, but he didn't.
"Kirito. Tell me, why didn't you quit the Black Cats Of The Full Moon?"
Kirito lifted his head up. He could see the Argo was looking at him attentively. Argo had known him since the first floor. Even though Kirito met Asuna first, he met Argo more because she was an Information Broker. Kirito knew that Argo almost knew everything about him. He could also see that she was really concern about him.
"It's to remind myself to never join a Guild ever again." Kirito answered. "It serve as a reminder for why must I continue to live and fight until the Final Floor."
"You are trying to win the game for all those that are lost?" Argo asked.
"No it's not that." Kirito replied. "I have no doubt that Kayaba himself will be the final boss in the 100th floor. When I finally reach 100th floor, I will ask him why did he created this world...And kill him."
"...Kirito..." Asuna muttered under her breath. She could almost feel the hatred that was pouring out of Kirito. It's dark...but she could understand the darkness behind it.
Because she too, want to kill Kayaba.
Of course when the time comes, she was sure that she would not be able to kill him. She would undoubtedly hesitate. She also knew that everyone in this world would want to kill Kayaba for trapping them in this world.
However Asuna could feel it. Kirito was really going to kill Kayaba when the time came.
"Killing the Final Boss will not be easy Kirito. Even with your Dual Blade I doubted that you have the chance of winning him with one Unique Skill."
"...You have something interesting for me don't you Argo."
Argo smirked. It was her signature smirk that she had whenever she have a very important information or skill. Most of the time its skill but in this case, Kirito have the feeling that the information this time was not some random information or skill.
"That's right. I can guarantee that this will be some of my greatest information that I would sell in this game." Argo smiled. From what Argo had previously said, it would be something that would help Kirito. Of course the price was going to be high but-
-as long as I can meet Kayaba...and kill him.
"If you wanted money I have quite a lot from the drop of the boss just now. It's a pity that there wasn't any special drop but I supposed the money would worth the information. So what's the price?" Kirito asked as he lifted his hand to prepare to transfer money to Argo for the information.
However something else popped up first.
Argo request to join the Black Cats of the Full Moon
Accept? Decline?
"This is..."
"That's the price of the information." Argo said while smiling. "I already said that its one of the most important information that I would ever find in Aincrad. The price of course couldn't be as cheap as money."
"...I thought Information Brokers side with no one?" Kirito's finger floated in front of the Decline button.
"It's different for everyone." Argo said. "I have always wanted to join your Guild but I never mentioned about it for your personal reasons. However now that Asuna is in the Guild, I also want to be part of it! Besides you need this information, don't you?"
It's Argo the Rat's smirk again. Kirito really wanted to press the decline button.
Argo has joined your Guild.
"Eh?" To Kirito's surprise, the system announced that he had let Argo joined the Guild. However Kirito's finger was still at the same position before.
Forget about us Kirito.
Kirito shook his head again. He has been hearing Sachi's voice a lot today. Now that Argo has joined the Black Cats of the Full Moon (by force, Kirito noted to himself), he should ask for the information now.
"So what's this information that is so important that is enough for you to immediately proclaim it as one of the most important ones?" Kirito asked and slipped his tea. The aroma helped to calm his mind down.
"I am sure that you wouldn't be disappointed by this." Argo promised. However Asuna cut in before Argo could proceed with the information.
"Anno...Is it alright for me to listen to the information? I haven't pay anything yet..."
"Don't worry Asuna! From now on we are in the same Guild so the information that I share from now onwards is free, with the exception of Kirito of course!"
"Why am I being excluded!?" Kirito shouted.
"Dual Blade."
"... ...Let's continue with your information."
Kirito gave up and sunk back into his chair. Argo had a satisfying smile before she began her story of the information.
"It happened just a few moments before I got the news about your Dual Blade. I was leveling in 60th floor, the floor with a lot of mist remember? Since the mist was too thick at that time, I could only rely on my map to try to head back to the town. However when I opened the map, nothing was shown and I was in a total loss what to do."
"Wait." Kirito interfered. "What do you mean by nothing appeared in the map?"
"I meant literally Kirito." Argo continued. "I only have a blank screen when I tried to open the map. Even my teleportation crystals weren't working too. To be honest, I was very afraid. I thought that I would die alone in such a gloomy place until he appeared."
"Who is this he you are talking about?"
"Remember the NPC for the martial arts extra skill? He was the one that appeared out of nowhere from the mist and approached me."
"The one that trapped me in the mountain for three days and three nights and trapped you for nine days and nine nights?" Kirito could still recall the incident. After he managed to split the rock, he forced Argo to take the quest out of his anger. Though this proved to turn back at him when he was forced to look over Argo for nine days and nine nights. It was thrice the amount of time that took him to split the rock.
"Oh just shut up about it!" Argo turned red upon remembering the memory. Asuna was the only one that was clueless about what they were talking about.
"As I was saying, I met that NPC again. However that guy has the gold-colored [?] on his head even though I finished the quest last time. Seeing that I was running out of options, I talked to him to see what's happening."
Flashback
"You are the NPC from-"
"Does Thou want to hear a story of this old one?"
"... ...Yes."
"Even though your life will be changed forever after hearing this story?"
"...Yes."
After a short conversation, the [?] above the head of the old man changed into [!], it indicated that Argo had accepted the old man's quest.
Argo could feel that the mist around her has thickened as if cutting her off from the world of Aincrad. However she had no time to be concern about that when the old man start talking.
"A long time ago in Aincrad, a dark dragon called Jabberwock invaded into the clouds of Aincrad and finally Aincrad itself. It was a being that was purely made of evil and only live to destroy. Many lives were lost when the Dragon destroyed floors and floors of Aincrad. What you see in this floor was one of the floor that the dragon destroyed and inflected with part of its evil spirit.
When the Dragon was about to destroy the entire Aincrad, seven champions appeared. They were the best among the best in Aincrad. Each of them possessed Unique Skills that only the chosen may wield. The Seven of them worked together and managed to defeat the dragon, at the cost of their own death.
However, those Unique Skills were passed down to the new warriors that visited this world. Three of them has been found but the other four were still finding their chosen one that may wield them.
Even as we speak, the dark dragon Jabberwock is reviving and one day would come back to destroy Aincrad again. To defeat the Jabberwock and protect this world, would you devote your life for the sake of finding warriors to possess the Unique Skills?"
The [?] symbol appeared again. There was no need for Argo to hesitate at all. He was talking about Unique Skills! This have to be some of the most information that Argo could find in this world. The mist that was surrounding her and her inability of using map, it was all part of the plan to lead her to the old man. As an Information Broker, this was an information she couldn't effort to miss.
"I accept your request!"
Flashback end.
"Surprisingly, the quest is a Guild quest that can only be completed by a Guild with more than two people. You should be able to see the quest in your quest list by now."
Argo finished her recounting and opened her quest list with the others doing the same. To Kirito and Asuna's surprise, there was indeed a new quest added in their empty quest list.
Quest: Seven Legends
Phase 01: Mother Rosario
Summary: Absolute Sword
Reward: Starting of Phase 02, Fist of Ashura
"Mother Rosario?" Asuna muttered the name. It was in English and quite foreign to her. Neither did the other two players in the room knew what the name meant.
"I am more interested in the summary. 'Absolute Sword'? Argo do you have any information about this?" Kirito asked after reading the quest.
"Although it's against my pride as an Information Broker to say this but..." Argo sighed. "Sorry, I have no information on this Absolute Sword. There's a possibility that it is on a higher floor so that's why nobody know about it yet. I will do some investigation to see if any of the NPCs in different floors know about the tale of the Absolute Sword."
"Thanks Argo. I think you better teleport from here. Going for a walk outside isn't really a wise option." Kirito said while pointing at the door where muffled sound of different weapon smashing the door could still be heard.
"Will do." Argo said and took out a teleportation crystal. "Teleport to starting city."
"Wait you are going to the 1st floor?" Asuna asked.
"Well since its the 1st floor, there might be secrets that we players on the front line never get this chance to discover it. Its the largest city after all. I will PM you two when I find out some information. Till then, bye bye!"
After a flash of light that surrounded Argo's body, Argo vanished from the room, leaving only two more occupant in the room.
Wait...now that Argo is gone...DOES THAT MEAN THAT KIRITO AND I ARE IN THE SAME HOUSE ALONE!?
Asuna blushed. This was the first time she was alone with a boy in his house. Suddenly she had the urge to pull out her teleportation crystals and chased after Argo... ...
"Now that Argo is gone...with the door not an option there's only one thing we can do...Let's sleep until the crowd is gone." Kirito said while changing out of his armor with a touch of his finger on the menu.
Sleep!? Together!?
"I will take the so-"
"Ah I should chase after Argo! I suddenly remembered that I have something to ask her so bye bye! Teleport to Starting City!"
"Wait-What?"
When Kirito responded, Asuna already teleported back all the way to the first floor. Leaving only the Beater in his own house alone. Looking at his menu where a blanket was there, he started to think.
Did I do something wrong? I only wanted to invite her to sleep in my bed while I take the sofa...
Of course it's wrong! I never knew that you were that dense Kirito.
I am...dense?
Sitting on his (their) sofa while enjoying his (their) tea, Kirito has an interesting time chatting with himself (her). Although he knew that it's insane for him to talk to himself, it's better than trying to imagine when could he step out of his house. He hoped that he won't have to use teleportation crystals whenever he came back.
ooo
Unknown to anyone in the Aincrad or in the real world except to one, Kayaba Akihiko woke up from his life in Aincrad and returned back to the real world. The only person that was beside him was Rinko, his personal assistant that he was willing to entrust his life to.
"I am back Rinko. Did you find what is the bug?" Kayaba removed his NerveGear and sat up on his bed. Beside him using the computer, Rinko turned her head towards the just woken Kayaba.
"No I haven't find anything that is out of normal except for the restriction on the player Kirito during the boss fight last time. But I want to ask a question. Why did you deliberately give Argo the quest that is originally designed to appear in the 90th floor? Aren't you rushing things a bit?"
"Because that guy is there." Kayaba smiled while looking at the screen in front of his bed.
In the screen, a guy in black clothing sat on his sofa and drank his tea silently. It could be seen that the person in subject was in deep thought. The guy slipped the tea, only to realize that it had became empty and proceeded towards the kitchen. The screen followed him to the kitchen to watch him made tea.
"That Kirito guy? You sure have a lot of interest in him don't you? Even after hearing that he is going to kill you."
"That's why I am so excited Rinko." Kayaba smiled. "Among the seven unique skills, only the Dual Blade has the ability to face Holy Sword in a fair fight. The Menace Scythe may be dangerous but I am sure that it's user has no intention to end the game. Well he is a Pker after all. I can't wait for the time when Kirito to finally fight his way up to 100th floor to kill me."
"Even if it will mean your death?"
"That's what make Sword Art Online the best game that existed. It's not a simply virtual reality. It's a reality. I would rather risk my life to play this game than just watch it from the side lines. After all,
There's nothing more boring than watching someone else play a game.
ooo
A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys! 21 Reviews! There seemed to be some confusion about this story so I will make clear some of it here.
-A lot of you thought that Sachi somehow is like Yui...that is something unexpected...
-The original Black Cats of the Full Moon died by following the novel. I never mentioned Keita died by commit suicide because to Kirito he still let him down too like the others.
-Well in a certain side story, Kirito mentioned that SAO's reinforce rules are scary to both the blacksmiths and players. Since this a game where people will get killed. I assumed that Kirito would automatically get the title of the leader of the Guild with no one else left to replace Keita.
-Kayaba's assistant's name is not Saika. She is from somewhere in the novel but I can't remember where. Can anyone tell me about it? I will change it once I have the name.
And on a side note, I have planned out the seven unique skills. However the phase 02's one is a fist skill, pure fist skill that can block swords or something like that. Can anyone help suggest a name? When I got a good name I will put it up in the chapter behind the Reward: Phase 02
And to answer some reviews! (To some reviews that have questions. I shall thank those that bothered to give a small review. Even it's short, it showed that you cared for the story :) )
xtenchix: Thanks for the news! We should try spreading review News report in other story sections LOL. The News will be interesting if you add random news like what happened to the guy that is smashing Kirito's door outside.
Fangking2: That's the plan. Thinking about letting Sinon into the story. Do you think I could classify her as a ninja? Her cold attitude would suit a ninja...maybe
Kuromoki: I answered above but I will thank you here to remind me to emphasise the rules about it.
otakuheaven123123: Ya the story is going a bit of AU story but don't worry, I won't change that much to the story except for adding my personal Unique skills and future characters of the SAO novels.
Thanks for the reviews and please read and review!