The Tri-Blade Alliance
Chapter 3: Old Friends and New Allies
A/N: Hello, everybody! I'm back with another chapter of the Tri-Blade Alliance. And for all of you Kirito/Asuna shippers; don't worry. I won't ruin that pairing in any way, and I'll do my best to follow the canon. Collabed with SolarEnergy07 (I forgot to add that in the previous chapters, and this entire story is collabed with Solar.)
I also forgot to add this at the end of the last chapter:
Imouto is Japanese for "younger sister"
Also, I paraphrased the Floor 1 meeting a bit, and I made some edits to the previous chapters.
Disclaimer: I do not own SAO.
It's been a month since SAO began. In that time, over two thousand players have been killed, and we still can't find the first floor boss. It makes no damn sense. Kirito and I are two of the beta testers, but the boss isn't where we remember it was. Is Kayaba screwing with us?
Speaking of Kirito, he and I went our separate ways about a month ago. It was his suggestion, so we could both solo-grind EXP and hopefully reach decent levels. I'm level 28 now, and I can only imagine how Kirito's doing. Knowing him, he's at least level 25 by now. We handed out some guidebooks to the new players some time before we split up. It wouldn't have been fair otherwise. We can't beat this game by ourselves. Which is why we need backup. And I know the perfect people.
(x)
Arctic was sitting at a bar in a tavern, where he was staying the night. He was waiting for someone who had a really bad habit of-
"Kept you waiting, huh?" a very familiar voice called out to Arctic. Turning around, he saw an old friend walking towards him while waving.
"Kirito. It's been a while," Arctic said getting up to give his friend a brofist.
"Yeah, it really has been. What level are you?" Kirito asked.
"I reached level 28 a couple days ago. I need to kill one more mob to reach level 29. How about you? You're level 25 at least, right?"
Kirito smirked. "Try already level 29."
"You fucking hacker."
"So why'd you call me here?"
Arctic smiled. "Well, I used my friend tracker to find out where you were, and I saw that you were in town. I recommend this tavern, and I wanted to catch up."
"That's not all, is it?"
"I can't put anything past you, Kirito." Arctic turned back and sat at the bar. As Kirito took the seat next to him, Arctic ordered two drinks; one for himself, and the other for Kirito. While the drinks were being made, Arctic continued, "I was thinking about how we were going to clear this game. And not just you and me. I'm talking about all of the players in Aincrad. You and I are going to need some extra help. We can't keep going as just the two of us."
When their drinks were brought, Arctic thanked the bartender and gave him a generous amount of Col in exchange for his excellent services. To the both of them, Col was not a problem. They could literally do raids and earn a hell of a lot more than what they spend. "So you're saying that we need to take in more players? Wouldn't that be a bad idea, seeing as how most of the players still alive are new to the game and slowly learning?"
"Who said I was talking about new players?"
"So you mean…"
"That's right, Kirito. I tracked down two extremely skilled players to this town. With skills that only beta testers could have. And they are two that we met before. That's the whole reason why I was in this town in the first place."
"So you're talking about-"
Before Kirito could finish what he was saying, a player barged in through the doors of the tavern, startling everyone currently in the bar. He was yelling, "Everyone come outside! There's a duel going on right now!" With that, all of the patrons, as well as the bartender, went outside to see the supposed duel.
Looking back towards Kirito, Arctic said, "Maybe we'll get lucky and find who we're looking for."
"Right. Remember, if not the face, then look for any signature moves or fighting styles."
"Gotcha." With that being said, Arctic and Kirito went outside and saw that a duel was indeed happening.
(x)
"Whoa, take it easy man," one of the duelists tried to defuse the situation. "I don't want to accidentally hurt you. Or worse."
The other duelist laughed. "How can a kid like you hurt me?! I'm a fucking tank!"
Sighing after realizing there was no way out of this, the previous duelist said, "Let's see then, shall we?" in a voice and tone that was very much different than his lighthearted and fun tone before. Now, he was dead serious.
Without further delays, the countdown, which had been nearing 0 while banter was exchanged between the two, had finally reached 0. The younger duelist charged the older duelist with a speed that was impossible for a new player to have after only one month in the game, and performed a Sword Spin move, before turning his back to the other and, much to the shock of everyone watching the duel, did a Spinning Stab technique right after the Sword Spin ended. The older duelist's health was on the brink of yellow, but it finally reached yellow when the younger duelist spun around and performed an uppercut to knock the man back. That ended the duel. The caption above the victor read, "And the Winner is… Solar!"
"Tank, my ass," the victor spat to the loser, who was still on his ass from the uppercut.
"Yep. That's one of them," the victor, Solar, overheard one player say the other. The outfits of both seemed very familiar. That's when he realized that the reason why the outfits and voices of the two speakers were familiar; he had met them both before, in the beta test of SAO.
"Arctic? Kirito? Is that really you guys?" Solar asked the two as they approached him.
"In the VR-flesh, my friend," Arctic introduced. "Have you heard from-"
"Yeah, actually I have. She told me that she was going to go grind by herself in the morning. She didn't tell me what tavern she'd be sleeping in, though." Solar said, as Arctic looked him over. Solar's outfit consisted of a primary sunset-red kind of color, with traces of jet black on his gauntlets, boots, and on the hilt of his blade, which was red as well. On his right wrist, he had a blood red wristband over the sleeve, with an identical jet black wristband on his left wrist. He had the standard outfit that most male players had on from the start of the game. His hair color was a blood-red/ bright red mixture to look intimidating to those who didn't know him, and warm and comforting to those that did know him. His eye color was a fierce, yet gentle red color. His hair was styled with his bangs in front, and a faux hawk above the bangs, high enough so that it sticks up above the rest of his neck-length hair, but not crazy-high.
"Great," Kirito said. "So what level are you?"
"Level 29."
"Is everyone a level higher than I am?!" Arctic all but shouted quietly.
Solar chuckled. "What's up your ass?" he questioned Arctic.
Before he could answer, however, Kirito cut in. "He's level 28."
Solar laughed. "Don't worry, man," he said, still chuckling as he put a hand on Arctic's shoulder. "There'll be more mobs tomorrow."
"Speaking of tomorrow," Kirito cut in, "there's going to be a meeting held. We're going to try and find the boss."
"Count me in," Solar said.
"Me too," Arctic answered. "But right now," he yawned, "I need my sleep." He turned and walked back towards the tavern , waving back at Kirito and Solar. "I'll see you in the morning!" he called out.
(x)
When Arctic woke up, ate something, and headed outside the tavern, he honestly wasn't surprised to see Solar and Kirito waiting outside for him. "Morning, guys."
"Morning," the two replied.
"Kirito, when's the meeting?"
"In three hours."
"Perfect! That'll give us enough time to find our friend."
"Let's check the fields first," Solar said helpfully. "She's bound to be there, and we can some more grinding in as well. It's a win-win!"
"Yeah," Arctic replied. "You tagging along, Kirito?"
"Yeah, I'll meet you there," Kirito answered. "I haven't eaten yet." As if to prove a point, Kirito's stomach growled embarrassingly loud.
"Okay, then. You just get some breakfast, and Arctic and I will meet you there."
(x)
Arctic shouted as he killed a mob with a strong slash. He cheered when he saw his level increase to 30. "How you holding up, Solar?!" he called to his friend.
"Hold on!" Solar shouted back. He screamed when he charged a sword skill and thrust his blade through the head of the monster, killing it. Solar cheered as well when his level hit 30. "Just reached level 30. You?"
"Same here." Before Arctic could say anymore, however, he heard a noise. "You hear that?" he asked Solar quietly. Solar nodded, and the two drew their blades and quietly ran towards the direction of the sound. When they reached the source of the noise, however, the two sheathed their blades and smiled.
In the middle of the field was a female player fighting a mob. The player charged up a sword skill and patiently waited for the monster to charge her. Sure enough, it did, and right before the monster could hit her, she jumped up high and thrust her blade down, stabbing the monster through the head and killing it. She let a cheer when she saw her level skyrocket to 30.
"Hey, that's―!" Solar said.
"Yep," Arctic replied, smiling. "It's her." After he finished saying that, he jumped down and shouted.
(x)
The player sighed as she lied down on the grass. To get a better feeling of the sun on her face, she pulled her hood down. Right before she could enter a true state of bliss, however, she heard someone call her.
"Skye!" the voice shouted. She opened her eyes, irritated at how rudely she was shaken from her bliss. She got up and turned around, ready to shout, but stopped and smiled at seeing a friendly face; two of them, to be exact.
As Arctic walked up to Skye, he took in her new look: She was dressed in a white long-sleeved shirt, and a yellow skirt with stockings the same color as her shirt. She, too, had a cloak, but her hood was down. She had sunrise yellow hair that reached down to her back and and kind yellow eyes, as well as an ample body.
"Arctic? Solar?" she questioned, obviously happy to see them.
"Long time no see, right?" Solar asked, causing Arctic to frown.
"That's my line!" he complained. Skye laughed. They really hadn't changed.
As the three exchanged friendly banter, Arctic got a message from Kirito. Come to the plaza, the message read. "Everybody," Arctic announced, catching the attention of his two friends. "Let's head to the plaza. There's a meeting on how to beat the boss."
(x)
"Okay people," a solo player clapped his hands together for everyone's attention at the podium, "now that everyone's here, let's get this meeting started."
While the player was talking, Kirito worryingly looked around for any sign of his friends. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw Arctic and Solar, along with Skye, show up and sit down together.
"So anyway," the player continued. "My name is Diabel, I have the job of knight in the system!"
Some players snickered, while others kept yelling that there was no job system in SAO.
Ignoring them, Diabel continued, "The reason why you were called here is because our squad team reported back." He paused. "We found the boss room." All the players who were ignoring him suddenly listened more intently, including the beta testers. "We'll all split into parties of six. That way, we can stand a better chance against any mobs in our way." Everybody gave sounds of agreement and confirmation. In no time at all, everybody had already formed parties with each other.
While Arctic, Solar, and Skye formed a party together, Kirito looked around and saw a female player who was sitting by herself. She wore a brown cloak and kept the hood up. He quickly scooted over to the girl, who showed no sign that she saw him. Kirito started a conversation her by saying, "Did you get left out, too?"
The girl responded with, "No. Most of the guys here seemed to be friends already, so I didn't want to intrude on anything."
"Well, do you wanna party up with me?" Kirito asked. When the girl gave no answer, Kirito added, "C'mon, it'll just be for this fight."
Hesitantly, the girl nodded, and accepted the party request that Kirito sent her. Kirito read her name when it showed up on his HUD: Asuna. Asuna looked away and focused back on Diabel.
"Alright, looks like everyone's teamed up. Now then―"
"Hold on a sec!"
Before he could finish talking, a random player jumped down from the top of the steps onto the podium. "My name's Kibaou, got that?! Before we take on the boss, I wanna get something off my chest." He turned to the audience. "We all know about the 2000 people who've died so far, yeah? Well, some of you need to apologize, right now!" The audience started to murmur, wondering what Kibaou meant.
"Kibaou," Diabel said. "I think I know who you're referring to. You mean the ones who are ex-beta testers, right?"
"Of course I mean them! The day this stupid-ass game started, the beta guys just up and vanished, right?! They ditched all us beginners! They snagged all the good hunting spots and they grabbed all the easy quests, too! They were the only ones getting stronger in here. And this whole time, they ignored us like they were nothing!" He growled and looked towards the audience. "Hell, I bet there's some of them here! Come on out, beta testers!" He pointed to the audience. "We should make them apologize to us, and we should make them all give up their money and the items they've got!" He crossed his arms and closed his eyes. "We can't expect the party members to trust them when they don't trust us! Why should we?!" Arctic, Solar, Skye, and Kirito narrowed their eyes at Kibaou's wild, yet not inaccurate claims. Kirito started to tremble, before another player spoke up.
"Can I say something?"
A large, dark-skinned player who had an axe at his back got up and walked down towards Kibaou, who suddenly felt intimidated at the size difference between the two of them. "Hey," the player greeted. "My name's Agil. Kibaou, right?" Without waiting for an answer, he continued. "I wanna make sure I'm on the same page. You say the ex-beta testers should be blamed for the rookies' deaths because they didn't help them. And you want them to apologize and give up their winnings. I leave anything out?"
"No, you didn't," Kibaou answered. Agil reached into his pocket and took out a small, brown book.
"The item store hands these out for free," he informed. "It's a guidebook. You got one, didn't you?"
"Sure, I got one. So what about it?"
"You know who handed these out? The ex-beta testers." The audience gave out small cries of disbelief at the revelation. "And I remember, clear as day…" He pointed to Arctic and Kirito. "Those two over there handed them out a week ago, and they gave me this copy." Everyone turned to Arctic's group and Kirito, all of whom waved.
Agil turned to the audience once more. "Listen up," he instructed. "Everyone had equal access to this information," he continued, tapping the book with the back of his hand for emphasis. "Even so, lots of players still died. I ain't come here to point fingers at anyone. I'm here to learn from those players' deaths. I'm here because I want to find out how we're gonna defeat the boss." He turned back to Kibaou, who merely growled in annoyance and walked back to take a seat.
As Agil did the same, Diabel decided to take the stage again. "Okay. Can we get back to the meeting now? For info on the boss…" he held up the guidebook. "It's all in here―the latest issue of the guidebook you just heard about." The crowd gasped in surprise. As Diabel opened the book, he started reading the info out loud. "According to the book, the boss's name is Illfang the Kobold Lord. Also, he'll be surrounded by his minions, the Ruin Kobold Sentinels. Illfang carries an axe and a buckler. He has four health bars, and when the last one turns red, he switches to a curved sword-type weapon called a Talwar. He can change his patterns of attack too." The crowd murmured. Diabel closed the guidebook and tossed it in his hand. "That's it for the briefing. As for the distribution of loot, money will be divided equally among everyone. The party who defeats the boss gets the EXP. And whoever gets an item gets to keep it. Any objections?" Diabel finished. There were a few murmurs, but no objections. "Alright. We leave tomorrow, at 10 in the morning. Meeting adjourned, people!" He emphasized with a swipe of his hand.
Everyone got up with their parties, and started to either leave or converse among themselves. Arctic, Solar, and Skye went to see Kirito, Asuna having walked out seconds ago.
(x)
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