This is the second part of the Scouting Run chapter, which I split into parts due to not knowing how to continue from the first part.

Also, a reviewer, AliCynthesis, noted my inaccuracy concerning sword skills and Kirito's proficiency with them, along with other things. Let me remind you that I don't have access to the Light Novels and that Origin Story is an original story (as original as fanfiction goes.)

And Ali, this entire story was meant to be pre-SAO, for character development. There will be sequels to it.

First Floor Boss Room

First Floor, Sword Art Online

August 5, 2022

Kazuto "Kirito" Kirigaya

Kirito blocked an overhead strike from a Kobold Sentinel with relative ease, kicking the creature away. As the majority of the scouts fought the boss (only until his last bar was damaged and any new tactics began usage,) Kirito and Jaymes found themselves in add control.

"So... we've got all this potential, and we're relagated to add control?!" Jaymes yelled, bashing his Sentinel's head with his shield before slicing it off.

"Yeah! This is a part of it!" Kirito replied, lashing at his enemy with a Vertical Strike.

"Damn it." the warrior muttered.

The black haired swordsman rammed his blade into the Sentinel's exposed neck, draining its HP to zero. As the Kobold dematerialized, he decided to take a look at the teams attacking Illfang.

The Kobold Lord had successfully killed three players with its tail and axe, with the survivors playing it safer to determine attack patterns.

"Kirito, watch out!"

He turned around with his sword ready, blocking an attack from a Sentinel's halberd that would have cleaved him in two otherwise. He swung at the hands to make the creature drop its halberd, then he swung at its various weakpoints to kill it as fast as possible.

He added another Sentinel to his kill count, focusing on the main battle now that the Sentinels had died.

So far, he hadn't started using new tactics, and one of his health bars were depleted.

Okay, nothing special happens after the first bar's depletion. he noted.

A trio of Kobold Sentinels spawned near the other scouts, prompting Kirito and Jaymes to rush towards them to eliminate them. This time, they worked together on the same ones, as they had gotten tougher since the last deployment.

Meanwhile, the other scouts started to go full offense on Illfang, having gotten a good look at his attack patterns. However, Kirito knew that he would switch to that talwar he had and gain new attack patterns.

They needed to remember that the objective was to bring Illfang down to a low enough health that he'd have exhausted all of his tactics and escape, but the rest of the party was too focused on killing him, by the looks of it.

"Jaymes, we need to remind the others that they aren't supposed to kill the boss!" Kirito yelled, stunning a Kobold Sentinel.

"Right!" his red armored companion yelled, finishing off the weakened Sentinel.

"Everyone! You don't need to kill the boss, remember?!"

They didn't hear him well enough.

"Damn it."

One health bar later, Illfang was seemingly weakened, and when a player with a huge axe struck him and sent that last bar to half, he threw the buckler and shield away, pulling a long, sharp talwar out in its stead.

Thankfully, Diavel remembered the initial goal, and he ordered the other scouts to go fully passive to clock the Kobold Lord's attacks and then bug out.

"Good thing Diavel remembered the original goal of this." Jaymes said, killing the final Sentinel with the edge of his shield crushing its windpipe.

The sound of polygons shattering alerted the two to another player death, and some of the scouts were backing away as Illfang impaled another player on his talwar.

He better pull us out of here quick, or this'll be a slaughter.

Right on cue, Diavel addressed the scouts.

"Alright, everyone, that's enough!" he yelled. "We've got what we came for, so it's time to leave!"

The players present and still alive, Kirito and Jaymes included, were never more grateful for that order to be given, and they all turned and ran out of the door as fast as humanly possible.

Town of Beginnings

"That was hectic."

"Definitely. At least we got the info we needed."

"Yeah, that attack kinda hurt a little more than it should have."

The scouting party was back in the Town Square, discussing the results of the scouting run. Not only did the beta testers find out how to beat Illfang, but they also found bugs in the game, like an occasionally faulty pain absorber or a failing connection with the player's avatar, which caused some of the deaths.

The dead players respawned in front of the massive Black Iron Palace, bummed out with danaged prides and gear in need of repair. However, Kirito and Jaymes were not on this list.

"So, Kirito, you wonder why they left us on ad duty?" Jaymes asked.

"I dunno. Maybe he thought we'd kill the boss." the black haired swordsman assumed.

Diavel approached the two players and patted them on the shoulder as he spoke.

"I'm sorry I didn't include you in the fight, but I felt that you'd end up killing the boss. Besides, it should be more satisfying to defeat the boss tomorrow because of it."

I was right about the reason?

"Right." Jaymes said.

"Anyways, you ought to go ahead and log off for the day, because you both did a lot today, even if it feels like you didn't." Diavel said before he walked off.

"Alright, let's tell Possum our run was a success and be on our way."

"Sure thing. You think he'd really want to be spoiled, Jaymes?" Kirito asked.

"I'm not giving major spoilers or anything, dude. It'll be fine."

Kirito swiped his right index finger downwards, pulling the menu down. Selecting the logout button, he looked at his red armored ally for confirmation before he hit "yes."

After a nod, he pressed the blue button and everything faded to white as he dematerialized from Aincrad once more.

Kirigaya Residence, Kawagoe

Japan, Real World

Kazuto pulled the helmet-like VR platform off of his head and set it down beside him on his bed, sitting up.

A notification from his phone told him that Jaymes had sent Ian the last mission's results through their group chat, and he stood up to look out the window.

The patio's roof blocked most of his view, but he could see two sets of shins that stuck out like sore thumbs, kendo robes coming down to their shins.

Looks like they just got done with practice. he absentmindedly thought as he turned to leave the room. Maybe I should go to the dojo myself...

"Sugu would like that." he chuckled to himself before he left the room.

Joshua Hardin

Hardin Residence, Tokyo Outskirts

Joshua removed his NerveGear from his head and set it on his bedside table, running a hand through his dark brown locks. Reaching for his phone, he went to his group chat on Discord and began to type in a message.

JaymesTheFirst: We did the scouting run, and the boss is huge. We're gonna follow up with the big raid tomorrow.

Hitting send, he stood up and placed his phone in his pocket.

Deciding that he should go ahead and get his school uniform ready for the schooldays, the heir pulled a black blazer, white dress shirt, and black dress pants out from his drawers, finding the red tie that accompanied the rest and setting the clothes down on his dresser.

He was pretty sure that Mr. Eji was supposed to iron out his school uniform, but he wasn't too worried about that. It was the weekend, after all.

However, it was possible that his father might choose to take him to another lesson in Business 101, as the lack of school for the next two days could easily be replaced with lessons about running a company.

"I sure hope that Dad doesn't decide to take me on another business venture." he murmured to himself.

Who am I kidding? He'll definitely do it.The boy heard three knocks on the door and he knew who it was.

"Yes, Mr. Eji?" he asked.

"Your father wishes to speak with you about family matters." the caretaker said, opening the door.

Damn it, of course I was right.

"I understand." Joshua said, walking past Mr. Eji down to his father, who was dressed in a grey business suit and waiting for him.

"Well, once more unto the breach." he murmured to himself before he joined Suzaki.

This chapter's on the shorter side, but it's meant to be a part two to the last one, so I'm considering calling them both one chapter.

Either way, Joshua's family drama's rather wholesome and intriguing in its own way, and I'm probably going to do more extensive research on that subject.

Finally, I might split The Wolf of Blades into two parts: the Progressive part that will require me to read stories set during Progressive, and my favorite part of the Aincrad Arc, the second half of the game.That's all for today, and I'll see you around.