Sword Art Online III: Asgard

Girl's Ops: Three and Others.

"Oh thank you, brave adventurers!" Tilnel the Dark Elf declared.

Sinon was watching warily, ready to draw her bow if anyone charged them. As the group's archer and scout, she had to keep an eye out. She REALLY wished she had her sniper rifle, rather than this short ranged bow...

'Tilnel sure is pretty though,' Sinon found herself admitting.

Mind you, most NPCs were attractive, other than obvious bad guys. The designers clearly knew their audience was MOSTLY young men, so most NPCs were babes.

The willowy, slim Dark Elf had a sweetly kind expression, as if she were a nurse or caregiver of some sort. She was dressed in flowing robes, not armor, and had a plain sachel and just a small dagger at her waist.

"Why were they trying to kill you?" Liz asked, frowning at the woman.

"I am on a quest to find my lost sister, Kizmel," Tilnel explained earnestly.

(If Argo had been there, she would have instantly recognized both names. Alas, neither her, Asuna or Kirito were there, and none of the others had met them on the earkly floors.)

"You're not a fighter?" Lux asked.

"I am a healer," Tilnel told them, "but I swear I can help you."

"We'll probably need her help anyway," Silica pointed out reasonably, the smaller girl sighing at yet another babe joining the party.

"Leafa?" Liz asked the experienced AOL player.

"Works for me," Leafa agreed, the busty blond looking over at their other party member, "Youko?"

The more mature looking Salamander shrugged, "Certainly."

"All right," Liz addressed Tilnel, "we'll help you."

A Quest Notification appeared above Tilnel reading 'The Forgotten Dusk Maiden, Part One.'

"Part one?" Sinon murmured, realizing they'd (possibly) signed on for a multi-part quest.

"Well, maybe it'll be good for our experience," Liz said wryly.

"Let's hope," Leafa agreed.

"Adventurers?" Tilnel looked at them questioningly.

"Let's go," Liz agreed.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"WE MADE IT!"

Pitohui and her team emerged from the top floor of the Dungeon leading to Asgard. As almost none of them had learned any of the in game magic, they had several total party kills, and had had to start all over.

On the plus side, they had leveled up a LOT.

"Now," Pitohui grinned, "to find that bastard Kirito."

"You're still focused on that?" Clarence asked mildly.

"Damn right," Pito agreed.

Fuka rolled her eyes, hefting a huge sword they had gotten as a monster drop. "It's not like he just casually appears," she pointed out. "And knowing him and his crew, they probably already finished this dungeon."

Pito growled.

"You're looking for Kirito-sama?" a perky looking Sylph noted. "Yes, they and Log Horizon finished a few days ago."

"Thank you," Llenn sighed.

"That was convenient," M noted.

"No breaking the fourth wall," Shirley sighed.

Everyone just decided to ignore that.

Shirley then addressed Pito, "Do you want to keep playing and look for this Kirito?"

"Oh course! I WILL GET REVENGE ON THAT LITTLE TWINK!" Pito declared.

"... I don't think he really qualifies as a twink," M offered.

Llenn groaned quietly, "I just wanna go back to Gun Gale Online."

"At least you get to be a short, cute character in this game too," Fuka pointed out.

"True," Llenn agreed.

"And... it is kind of nice fighting beside you, here," Fuka admitted.

(When she had introduced Karen to online gaming, Fuka had WANTED to have her join her in AOL. Sadly, getting a huge avatar had turned the other girl off the game. So now, it was kind of nice having that wish fullfilled.)

"Me too," Llenn agreed.

"Awwww," Clarence smiled, watching the two.

"Hmph," Pito grumped. "Okay, let's go!"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The Fortune Hunters Guild, being more experienced players, cleared the dungeon to Asgard somewhat quicker, and were only a day behind Kirito and the others.

They were then promptly massacred by new monsters on Asgard itself.

"This is SO unfair!" Mary Hunt bitched.

"Now now," Keith Claes sighed.

"We just have to level grind a bit," Nicol Ascart added.

"I HATE level grinding," Geordo Stewart sighed, his brother Alan nodding.

"At least we can all explore together," Katarina Claes beamed winningly at everyone.

Everyone sighed at her beauty and good naturedness.

"Let's take over this level," Sophia declared.

"For Katarina!" Maria Campbell agreed fiercely.

"Aye!" the rest cheered.

"Let's go," Katarina agreed, unaware she had fired them all up.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Unaware of the crazy Gun Gale Online player who wanted to kick Kirito's ass OR of the situation with Tilnel, Asuna, Kirito and their daughter, Yui, were at the cabin they owned on one of the heavily forested floors.

"Not rampaging all over Asgard?" Asuna asked.

"Taking a day out," Kirito chuckled.

"You got behind on homework again?" Asuna teased.

"Urk," Kirito laughed, who YES was sitting at the large dining room table as he worked on a school project.

(While Kirito WAS a major gamer, he had ambitions in the real world too. He wanted to get into AI and robotics, both or which would require high grades. So yes, he couldn't let himself fall behind too much... )

"Daddy," Yui scolded, "you need to balance school and gaming better."

"I just have to finish this project," Kirito defended himself.

"Besides, we can go out later," Asuna added.

Before Yui could say something else, there was a loud thumping on the door.

"Huh?" Asuna blinked, checking who it was. "Argo?" she noted.

"Better let her in," Kirito noted, saving his work. Clearly SOMETHING was going on.

Argo hurried in, her hood thrown bacl and her usual whiskers painted on her face. She looked agitated, unusual for the information broker.

"Something wrong?" Asuna asked her.

"Just... got a surprise," Argo said, smiling weakly. "Have either of you reached Valhalla on Asgard level yet?"

"No," Kirito admitted, "I had a assignment due."

"Studying for tests," Asuna nodded.

"Ah," Argo made a face, "I REALLY wish you'd have seen it too."

"What did the developers do now? Or was it Cardinal?" Kirito asked, a bit alarmed.

"Cardinal, I think," Argo made a face, "I was doing a recon of the main hall of Valhalla, just to take a look to see what to expect."

"That's... the hall of the Heroic Dead, right?" Asuna remembered.

"Hmm," Argo nodded, "I didn't look long, but I'm SURE I saw Diavel standing there."

"Diavel?" Asuna blinked.

"Wait.. from the first floor? Who died on our first boss raid?" Kirito asked. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Blue hair and all," Argo said flatly.

"How...? Is it a NPC based on him, or something?" Asuna asked, concerned.

"I don't know," Argo admitted, "but I think we'll need to find out."

To be continued...