Author's Note: I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed the previous chapter for their wonderful comments. That was one of the biggest battles in the story, so I'm happy to hear that I did a good job with it. Anyway, the title of this chapter is a reference to one of my favorite guilty pleasure movies, the 1970s version of Conan the Barbarian. Since that movie was referenced in the last story, I decided to reference it again in this one.
Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online.
Chapter 6: The Riddle of Steel
Asuna followed Hilda up a flight of stone steps in the mysterious castle that she knew only as Valhalla. When the two of them reached the top, they arrived in a large chamber that appeared to be some sort of dining hall. There were round wooden tables everywhere in the room, and against the far wall on Asuna's left was a large and well-stocked bar manned by two other Valkyries, one with short dark-brown hair another with bright red hair tied back in a braided ponytail. The most notable feature of this dining hall though – besides the fact that it was totally empty except for the two Valkyrie barmaids – was that the end of it appeared to be some sort of balcony that showed a massive chamber walled with stone brick. Hilda escorted Asuna over to one of the tables by this balcony, allowing the blunette to get a much better look at the chamber beyond.
The gargantuan stone chamber was in fact a throne room, and at the end of the room on Asuna's left was a golden throne that was currently inhabited by a gigantic old man with long white hair and an even longer white beard that grew half way down his chest. The giant Santa-like figure was clad in white robes with a burgundy sash around his waist, and a golden plate covered his right eye. Asuna instantly recognized the giant as Odin, the king of the Norse Gods. The blunette had encountered Odin a few times before during the events leading up to the Donis incident, and it trouble Asuna to be meeting with the Norse God again because he was no ordinary NPC. Odin was an A.I. that the Cardinal System had created as a way to purge the Azathoth Virus from ALO before it completely overwrote the existing game with a world of Lovecraftian horrors. The fact that Asuna was meeting Odin again made her wonder if there was once again something terribly wrong with the game.
The dining hall's balcony made it so that Asuna was more or less at eye-level with Odin. Once the blunette had sat down, Hilda bowed to her and left the room.
After the blonde Valkyrie had left the room, Odin's silvery eye turned to look at Asuna. "Welcome, fairy swordswoman. It is a pleasure to see you once again."
"Why am I here?" Asuna asked.
"There will be time for that later." Odin told her. "For now, you must be famished after your glorious battle. Take this moment to eat and rest."
With that, Hilda returned carrying a silver and gold goblet and a large jug containing some sort of red wine. Following Hilda were two other Valkyries, one with long sky-blue hair and another with short pink hair. Each of the other two Valkyries was carrying a silver tray full of food. As Hilda set the goblet down in front of Asuna and filled it with wine, her two companions laid the trays out on the table. Soon after, another Valkyrie with long olive-green hair showed up and placed a basket full of some kind of bread on the table's center.
In moments, Hilda and her companions left, leaving the jug of wine on the table for Asuna to use if she wanted a refill. Spread out before Asuna on the wooden table was an assortment of food that was much too large for any single person to eat. One platter had various cuts of steak while another had an entire roast pig. There was also a bowl of mashed potatoes complete with a separate gravy boat, along with a platter of baked potatoes and some butter to go with it. There were also some bowls containing other vegetables such as carrots and peas. In short, the food was the type of assortment that one might expect to see as part of a Viking feast.
Realizing that her earlier battle with Cthulhu had made her extremely hungry, Asuna decided to go ahead and partake from the spread. A virtual meal was better than nothing. The blunette took one of the stakes, along with a loaf of bread, a small helping of the mashed potatoes, and some of the other vegetables. Before digging in, Asuna took a sip from the goblet of wine that Hilda had poured for her. The liquid had a sweet yet bitter taste and burned a trail down her throat. As for the rest of the meal, Asuna found the steak to be very well prepared, and the mashed potatoes that had been seasoned with some kind of herb that that had given them an extra kick of flavor. The other vegetables too had also been cooked to perfection, and there were a few moments that Asuna felt like she was indeed partaking in the food of the gods.
Odin at in patient silence as Asuna ate. During the meal, Asuna noticed that her HP gauge had gone back to a hundred percent. After several minutes, Asuna had practically cleaned her plate. As the blunette poured another glass of wine, she found herself wishing that the other members of her party had been there to enjoy the feast with her.
"I trust that you are now well-rested." Odin spoke upon seeing that Asuna was done. "To answer your earlier question, you were brought here because of your feat against the thing known as Cthulhu, the foul alien god who invaded this world from the stars. Though your battle was a costly one, in the end you were still able to slay the abhorrent god and even steal the book of his primal magic for yourself. For that feat, I've have decided to reward you."
"Reward me?" Asuna repeated. "With what?"
"Before that, you must first pass one final test to prove that you are indeed worthy of it." Odin told her. "You must answer the riddle of steel."
"Alright. What is this riddle?" Asuna asked.
Odin stood from his throne and paced around the room for a few moments with his hands behind his back as if collecting his thoughts. "Once, ages ago, there was a warrior of average strength. He slew many of the opponents who came before him, but none of his deeds were truly worthy of song. So the warrior sought out the greatest blacksmith in all the land and asked him to forge a sword that would make him strong enough to slay entire armies. Having received a hefty price, the blacksmith called upon all his knowledge and the primal magic of the earth itself and crafted an enchanted blade so great that it could bring armies to their knees.
"With this sword, in hand the warrior set out to carve his legend. The power of the sword allowed him to conquer entire kingdoms and slay legions of soldiers. Before long, people finally started to sing songs of his deeds. Then one day, a great champion known as Erik the Grey appeared before the warrior and challenged him to combat. During one of his conquests, the warrior had unknowingly slain one of Erik's friends. Thus, Erik wished to avenge his friend and challenged the warrior to battle using an average sword that even the most novice blacksmith could craft.
"So Erik and the warrior fought, and despite the power of the warrior's sword, Erik had been able to slay him easily. So my question to you is this, fairy swordswoman. If this warrior had been gifted with such a powerful sword, a sword that allowed him to make entire kingdoms bow at his feet, why then did he lose to Erik, who was wielding an ordinary old blade?"
Asuna pondered Odin's story for a few moments and suddenly recalled the dark time right after the SAO incident when her would-be suitor, Sugou Nobuyuki held her prisoner in the original version of ALO. At that time, Kirito had infiltrated the game and challenged Sugou to battle. Sugou's weapon in that fight had been the legendary sword, Excalibur, while Kirito meanwhile had only been armed with a piece of low-level battle gear. Despite the difference in weapon strength though, Kirito had been easily been able to defeat Sugou, and the thing that had decided that battle was that Kirito had been the more experienced player.
"In the end… a weapon is only is strong as the person using it." Asuna spoke.
Odin smiled and nodded. "It is not steel but flesh that contains the true power. I knew that you would know the answer to the riddle, being the consort of the one who wields both Excalibur and the Master's Blade. You have passed the final test, and thus have earned the reward I spoke of."
A flash of golden light appeared by Asuna, and when it faded she saw sword floating beside her. The weapon was a rapier made of a strange golden metal. The guard for the sword was styled like the upside-down petals of a rose and bore a ruby-red gemstone on the front. Carved down the side of the weapon's blade was some form of ancient writing that she recognized from one of Kirito's two most powerful weapons, the Master's Blade. Somewhat hesitantly, Asuna touched the blade and it vanished with another small flash of light. A second afterward, a screen appeared before the blunette that she had received an item called the Valkyrie's Rose.
"That sword was forged using the same metal and magic used to forge the Master's Blade." Odin told her. "As such, it has the same power as that ancient weapon. I know that you will wield it well, fairy swordswoman."
"Thank you." Asuna replied.
Odin nodded. "And now… because the hour has grown late, I shall return you home."
With that, a blinding flash of white light washed out the dining hall and Odin's throne room. When the light cleared, Asuna found herself standing outside the door to her cabin in New Aincrad. The blunette sighed and went into the little house. As Asuna prepared to finally log out, she couldn't help but wonder about the real reason why Odin had gifted her with that sword. While there was no way to tell for sure, getting that sword seemed like a sign that another major threat to ALO was on the horizon.
It was a breezy yet calm afternoon as Asuna relaxed on a bench at her favorite park in the real world. The whole time, her mind had been on the battle with Cthulhu, meeting Odin again, and upon other things like the upcoming Clash of Queens tournament. Earlier that day, Asuna found that she had gotten messages from everyone who had gone on the raid against Cthulhu except for Rika. All of the messages basically told Asuna not to feel bad about how the battle had gone down. An Si-eun had even told Asuna that she felt like they had all let her down, but Asuna felt like that she was the one who had let everyone else down. In the end, the quest against Cthulhu had not gone the way she had wanted.
"I thought I'd fine you here." A very familiar voice spoke.
Asuna looked up, and standing a few feet away to her right was a young man with dark hair, wearing a black leather jacket with a grey-furred collar over a dark-blue shirt, along with a pair of grey jeans and a pair of black sneakers. This was Asuna's boyfriend, Kazuto Kirigaya, known in the virtual worlds as Kirito. Asuna instantly got off of the bench and ran over to him.
"Boy, am I glad to see you!" Asuna told Kazuto as she pulled him into a tight hug.
"Klein told me a little bit about what happened yesterday." Kazuto revealed. "You doing okay?"
"Better now." Asuna answered. "I'll fill you in on the rest of what happened… and on a few other things too."
With that, Asuna and Kazuto went back over to the bench and sat back down. Asuna then told her boyfriend about her encounter with Nytokris and how she and the others had gone on the quest to unlock R'lyeh. She also told him about how the battle with Cthulhu had ended, and about meeting Odin and getting that new sword.
"Odin showing up like that after the battle is pretty weird." Kirito remarked after Asuna had finished her story. "And you said that you had already gotten an item when you actually finished Cthulhu off?"
"Yeah. So I don't know why Odin would just give me a new sword like that." Asuna replied. "I'm a bit worried about what this might mean. What if the Azathoth Virus wasn't really destroyed?"
"Whatever's going on, I'm sure we can figure out it." Kazuto assured her. "In the meantime, there's really no point in worrying about it."
"You're right." Asuna replied. "Right now, I just wish that the battle against Cthulhu had gone better. I was really hoping that quest could bring us back together again. You know how everyone's sort of drifted apart since the Donis incident. I thought that maybe fighting a boss like that together would help us reunite, but instead I think it did kind of the opposite. Or at least it did with Rika. She's the only one I never heard back from."
"I guess Liz is still having a hard time getting over how Donis tricked her." Kazuto assumed. "I know Sugu still seems to be."
"…You know in the end, I think my real reasons for going on that raid were a little more selfish." Asuna admitted. "After the way Nytokris beat me, I wanted to prove to myself that I was still strong. So I went after one of the strongest monsters in the game. I guess… the fact that I was still able to just barely beat Cthulhu in the end proves that I haven't lost my edge."
"Asuna, you're one of the strongest people I know." Kazuto told her as he gently brushed his thumb against her cheek. "Losing a single battle to a bitchy player like Nytokris won't change that. In fact, you're probably a stronger person than I could ever be."
Asuna gave Kazuto a small smile and leaned in to give him a kiss on the lips. The kiss quickly deepened, and before the two of them totally realized it their tongues were grinding against one another. When they finally broke for air, Asuna took a quick look around the park and found that the place seemed to be completely vacant. The redhead then took Kazuto's hand and pulled him off the bench. In moments, Asuna had led Kazuto to a large shady tree atop a small hill in the center of the park.
"Why'd you take us over here?" Kazuto asked.
Asuna took another quick look around to make sure they were totally alone. "I want you to nail me right here against this tree."
Kazuto's face turned a deep red. "S-Seriously? But… what if someone sees us?"
"I don't think there's any danger of that right now." Asuna assured him. "Kazuto… I really need you right now."
Kazuto could never say no to the pouting look that Asuna was giving him at the moment. The dark-haired boy finally nodded in agreement and the two of them became locked in another deep open-mouthed kiss. Minutes later as they finally broke for air, Asuna unzipped the fly of Kazuto's jeans and reached in to pull out his hardened manhood. Kazuto let out a deep groan as Asuna stroked the rod in her hand, causing him to lose more of his self-control as she rubbed it up and down. After a few moments, Asuna finally let go and lifted up her skirt as she leaned against the side of the tree.
Unable to hold back, Kazuto pushed the crotch of Asuna's panties aside and shoved his rock-hard member into her womanhood. Asuna quickly clamped her legs around Kazuto's waist and grabbed on tightly to his shoulders as her lover started to pound into her. In that moment, neither of them cared whether or not anybody caught them in the middle of doing it in the great outdoors. A blissful eternity seemed to go by before Kazuto felt Asuna's inner walls tightening around him. Then in the same sweet moment that Kazuto climaxed and released his hot seed into his lover, Asuna was rocked by her orgasm and all the tension from the last few days was blown away.
As the two lovers came down from their high, they smiled as they leaned their foreheads against one another.
"I can't believe we just did that." Asuna whispered.
"We can continue this at my place if you want." Kazuto offered. "Nobody else there will be home for hours."
"Okay." Asuna agreed.
After the two shared another light kiss on the lips, Kazuto pulled out of Asuna and zipped up his fly. Soon after, the two of them walked hand-in-hand to Kazuto's place.
Author's Note: I apologize if Asuna seemed a bit OOC at the end if this chapter for wanting an outdoor quickie. It was just kind of a hot scene when I first thought of it though, so I just couldn't help but work it into this story.
Please review and let me know what you think.