Chapter 5: The Illusive Blade

It has been around 3 months since everyone became pawns in a death game. We had been able to clear 27 floors in that time. Kirito had told me about his experience with the Moonlit Black Cats and I did everything I could to comfort him. I didn't want to get into detail with what had happened to him. Losing all of your guild members in a day must really take a toll on someone. It did for Kirito, he changed so much. Being trapped inside of a game where the aim is to clear all 100 floors is quite terrifying, but for me, it isn't. I'm not that bothered by the whole 'Once your HP reaches zero, you die in real life' thing. If I die, then I die, it's as simple as that. That is the rule for every player. Izume told me to enjoy life whilst you still have it, and I've kept those words into consideration. I decided to part ways with Izume for the time being just so I could help out Kirito. I did suggest that Izume should join the Knights of the Blood Oath. I let her know that their a powerful guild and they could do with her talent with the blade, whether she took my advice is unknown to me unless she messages me. Kirito also told me about his encounter with Silica, who I had yet to meet. From what Kirito had told me about her, she sounded very sweet. But I had earned the title 'The Illusive Blade' and I wanted people to remember the name. I had to do something to make the whole of SAO remember who I was. So I decided that the best way was for people to duel me. That way I could use the new skill I had acquired from Draxis called 'Nocturnal Silence'. This sword skill allows me to vanish behind the enemy and strike them from behind with seven quick but powerful slices and strikes and with the last slash/strike, I slash through them in a diagonal slice sending me from behind them to become in front of them while slicing them with my blade 'Seraphin' finishing my sword skill. If I could use this sword skill to my advantage in these duels, then I would make a name for everyone to remember...

Players gathered to duel me. I was quite surprised by this because I didn't expect my message to appeal to that many players. Now in a duel, two players will fight until one of the players' health reach the yellow zone. Then the duel ends and whoever didn't reach the yellow zone wins. My level and ability surpassed everyone that came to duel me. I wasn't expecting my level being 50 to be that high but apparently it was with all the players level's being around the 25 to 35 mark. Duel after duel I would preform the 'Nocturnal Silence' sword skill and always win the duel. Everyone started calling me 'The Illusive Blade'. But I wasn't finished dueling yet, I had barely broken a sweat. These duels were too Izume in her same attire but in white and red which told me that she did join the Knights of the Blood Oath. I felt a bunch of emotions. I was happy that she joined a guild to protect her, but I felt alone, I didn't have anyone to team up with. Kirito was a solo player and from what he told me, Asuna was also in the Knights of the Blood Oath so had nobody to team up with. I was in the middle of a duel so I let my guard dwn which cost me to get hit so I had to regain my focus. I could tell the Knights of the Blood Oath were watching me, so I had to put on a show, and I had mastered activating sword skills without having to shout them, so I knew they'd be impressed. I ran at my opponent with blistering speed as they charged at me and I activated 'Nocturnal Silence' causing my opponent to wonder where I would strike from, and just as he turned away I took my opportunity and attacked him from behind hitting all seven strikes and slashes causing his health to reach the yellow zone and ending the duel. I sheathed Seraphin and walked over to Izume and the Knights of the Blood Oath.

"Well, well, well. You took my advice Izume, you joined the Knights of the Blood Oath." I said looking at her new attire.

"Yep. I am an official commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath." Izume responded quirkily.

"And I see you still have your upbeat nature." I said laughing.

"Of course, that won't ever change." She replied with a smile.

"And it's my honour to meet the second in command of the Knights of the Blood Oath again, pleasure to see you again Asuna." I said offering my hand out for a hand shake.

"It's a pleasure to actually speak to you..." Asuna said while asking for my name while shaking my hand.

"Akito." I answered. "The name's Akito."

"Well, it's nice to finally talk with you." Asuna said smiling.

"As am I. It's great to know you can talk with people in this game." I said.

"I will say this, I am very impressed with your skills as a swordsman. You stand out from other players." Asuna told me.

I chuckled. "Thanks, but I'm nobody special."

"Oh you are Akito. I've been hearing about you dueling players. You've become what they call The Illusive Blade" Asuna said inspecting my equipment.

"Oh that. That's just my title. It's nothing special." I responded.

"But enough about that. I'm curious to know where you managed to get a S Class sword and S class armor when we aren't even past the 30th floor." Asuna asked.

"Well, I'm sure if you ask Izume, she'll give you all the answers you need." I smiled as I walked away but Asuna wasn't letting me escape that easily.

"Oh, Izume told me everything, I just want to hear it from you." Asuna said looking me eye to eye.

"Well, can we talk somewhere a little less public?" I asked.

"Sure." Asuna responded.

We walked into Agil's shop. The place was empty apart from Kirito and another girl sat talking to Agil. Kirito turned and noticed us all, he looked confused but somewhat happy.

"Hey everyone. What are you all doing here?" Kirito asked.

"We just came by to get away from the public, if you haven't heard, Akito has gained quite the title."

"Oh, you have?" Kirito asked.

"Yeah. I guess dueling people and using a sword skill earns you a title." I laughed.

"So, am I going to here this story then Mr Illusive Blade or not?" Asuna questioned.

"Yes, you'll hear the story. But I want to know who the little girl is next to you Kirito." I said.

"That's Silica, the girl I told you about." Kirito replied.

"Hi. It's nice to meet you all." Silica greeted us politely.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." The rest of us replied politely.

"Akito! Stop stalling." Asuna said getting frustrated.

"Okay! Okay! Okay! Jeez..." I said. "Well, it was the second floor, Me and Izume fought the second floor boss VFT Mark 3 just like you were supposed to, but since I am a beta tester, I knew about the secret boss Draxis the Elder Dragon, I didn't tell Izume about this because I didn't want her to worry. So once we defeated VFT Mark 3 within the time limit that would spawn Draxis, Izume thought we had won, that's when I let her know. Draxis was a high level which is why we trained for so long. We struggled fighting him as his agro targeted the lowest hp at the time, which was mine. We fought hard and defeated him which is why we have our equipment and weaponry. That's why I have Seraphin. This is the only one in existence. That's the story."

"That still doesn't explain how you're able to vanish. That shouldn't be able to happen within the game. Players are visible to all. How are you able to vanish and hide you stats?" Asuna asked.

"Oh, you want to know about that. That's my sword skill called 'Nocturnal Silence'." I answered.

"Nocturnal Silence?" Kirito questioned. "I tested the beta and I've never heard of it."

"Neither had I, which makes me wonder why I have it, I mean, I'm going to use it but I still wonder how I aqquired it. I think I obtained it from defeating Draxis. But that should mean Izume should have gained it as well, unless you have to be a blade user, which Izume isn't." I said think about it even more.

"I'll check my sword skills." Izume said checking her sword skills. "Nope. No sword skill called Nocturnal Silence but I do have a sword skill called Dragons Whisper." Izume added.

"That's it!" I said realizing why I have the sword skill.

"What's it?" Kirito asked.

"Since me and Izume use different weapons, we gained a sword skill suitable for that weapon. If there had been more people then there could have been more sword skills distributed." I explained.

"That would be the most reasonable answer, so we'll stick to that." Asuna agreed.

We discussed a little while longer before the shop door opened. A man with white hair in a ponytail walked in. He looked quite tall and a wore pale dark green cloak with black clothes. He looked very mysterious. Which made me want to learn more about him. I checked his name to see he was called Yinsei. He picked up a long slim blade which looked like a Hayabusa and left. I caught a glimpse of a logo on his arm but couldn't decipher what it could have been. I stood up to follow him but was pulled back down by Asuna.

"Hey! What's that for." I asked.

"Do you not know who that is?" Asuna scolded at me.

"No. Why, should I?" I asked looking confused.

"Yes. That's Yinsei, he is a solo player who is very strong. He has never lost a duel." Asuna told me.

"Well, neither have I. I want to find out how strong this Yinsei really is." I said.

"Fine, but it's your loss." Asuna told me.

"I think Akito will win." Izume said. "I've seen him fight the bosses. He doesn't give up."

"It's not about giving up, it's about who's health reaches the yellow point first." Kirito said.

"Well, we should cheer Akito on, right?" Silica asked sweetly.

"You know what, let's do it." Asuna said. "But if you lose, you're treating us all to dinner." She added.

"Deal." I smiled. "But I don't plan on losing."

We walked outside to find Yinsei asking about me. I felt a chill through my body. I hadn't had this much pressure on me ever. Back in reality, I never felt this pressure during my tests with kendo and studies. Yinsei walked up to Kirito and asked if he knew The Illusive Blade. Kirito pointed at me and Yinsei walked in front of me.

"Are you The Illusive Blade?" Yinsei asked. His voice as quite stern and solemn. It was somewhat eerie and creepy, like it omitted some sort of horrors within. His face was covered apart from his eyes.

"Yeah, why?" I asked looking into his eyes.

"I wish to duel you. I've heard you have yet to lose, but so do I." Yinsei said sending me a duel request.

"Okay, but don't go easy. I expect your very best." I said accepting the duel.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." He smirked.

Everyone who was close gathered to watch the duel. The pressure kept building for me. The 60 second timer started giving both of us time to ready up and I readied myself into my starting pose. I bent down balancing on my left leg as my right leg was fully extended ready for me to either attack first or deflect any hits coming towards me. I placed Seraphin on my left elbow and I clutched my hand tightly and pressed it against my heart. Yinsei held his Hayabusa in a diagonal position which led me to think he was ready to strike first. The timer reached 30 as I looked back at Kirito and the others, smiling at them and giving them a nod. The timer hit 0 and Yinsei charged at me with insane speed, compared to Asuna, he was slower so I could predict where he was going to strike. I ducked under his slash and sliced his stomach as I turned around and pointed Seraphin downwards. He turned to face me and smirked. He charged again and I deflected his attack and slashed at his legs but he jumped over my slice and thrust his Hayabusa at me slicing my left arm. I backed away, I could tell he was very experienced. We charged at each other, our blades clashed at lightning speeds, both of us losing hp slowly. I could tell he had a trick under his sleeve but so did I. I used Lights Ruin to break his defense and slashed twice at him bringing him close to yellow. He then summoned his own sword skill breaking my defense and slashed at me five times. I was a slither away from reaching the yellow health mark. I wasn't about to lose as he charged at me, I activated Nocturnal Silence. Everyone's eyes widened, waiting for me to strike, however, I had a different idea, I sliced at Yinsei from behind however, Yinsei blocked my hit and went to strike but I activated it again as he swung at me, and then used Nocturnal Silence and sliced and slashed all seven times hitting Yinsei, his health hitting the yellow health and the duel ended. I sheathed Seraphin and held my hand out to help Yinsei up. He brought himself up nodding at me and walked away. He was very mysterious but I hadn't time to do anything as crowds of people swarmed me. It took around half an hour for the people to disperse and I was able to finally talk to Kirito, Asuna, Izume and Silica.

"Wow... What a battle. I will have to give it to you, you are one of the best duelers I've seen in this game." Asuna congratulated me.

"Thanks, but I'm not a dueler. I just wanted a name for people to remember me by." I told her. "So, how about we go for dinner, I'll pay."

"Wait, you didn't lose though." Izume said looking puzzled.

"I know, but I'm hungry." I replied.

"That sounds like a good idea. There's a nice restaurant on the first floor." Izume suggested.

"Lets go celebrate!" Silica cheered.

We had a nice stew for all of us celebrating my win. We were very happy but I couldn't stop thinking about Yinsei. Who was he. What was the logo on his arm and where did he go. All these questions shrouded my head but I had to focus on clearing all 100 floors. There is a long road ahead of us and we need to focus on this long road ahead of us. There will be harder bosses and harder enemies that will cross our paths. But every time I tried to get Yinsei out of my head, he kept coming back. After the meal Kirito left with Asuna and Silica stayed at Agil's shop to sleep upstairs. I walked with Izume for a while and we sat on a bench.

"Hey, Akito." Izume said.

"Yeah?" I responded smiling.

"You were pretty amazing in that duel against Yinsei." Izume told me looking into my eyes.

"Heh.. Thanks. But I've been unable to stop thinking about him." I said looking up at the stars.

"Why? You beat him, there's no reason to remember him now." Izume said looking at me.

"I don't think that's why I can't forget him." I said.

"Then why can't you forget him?" Izume asked.

"He had a logo on his lower arm. He wore a cloak and hid his face except for his eyes. He is definetly someone we'll meet again. I know it, but I don't know how." I explained.

"He was creepy. But the way he battled..." Izume said starting to think of Yinsei as well.

"He knew where I was when I used Nocturnal Silence the first time, that's why I sliced the air, because if I had attacked him, I would have lost that duel." I explained further.

"He did?!" Izume jumped.

"Yeah, I could tell." I said.

"It's very dark out, wanna stay round mine?" Izume asked.

"You'd let me?" I asked.

"Of course." Izume said smiling.

We walked to Izume's house she bought on the 17th floor in the main city there. It didn't cost her much and it was a cosy place. The furniture was nice and everything in the room seemed welcoming.

"Welcome to my home. It's not much but it's comfortable." Izume welcomed me.

"Nice place." I said.

"Thanks." Izume smiled.

We changed into our sleep wear and slept in the same bed. Izume had no problems with it and nor did I. I was suprised she didn't feel weird about it but I was happy she trusted me. It meant that we'd become really close friends. Izume slept so cutely and adorably. I stayed up very late thinking about Yinsei. Who was this mysterious person? What was the logo on his lower arm? How did he know where I was when I used Nocturnal Silence? Where did he go? Who is Yinsei?