Floor 10 - Boss - Kagachi the Samurai Lord
After another journey of walking and talking, the group had reached Hatu again and handed her and Ouroboros the Demonblade, with some small amount of information on the boss they'd be facing. The boss was, as they'd all assumed, the sorcerer who'd taken over Senja, who had once been named Kagachi. If the information from Hatu, and the revitalised Ouroboros was correct, then they were expecting Kagachi to summon minions to attack them, whilst using various area attacks on them, which required a specific potion to be made to nullify the effects. That quest had been taken on by Kirito, Asuna and Mito as it turned out, so they were certain of a positive result there.
That being said, Klein had been slightly disappointed in not getting a fancy blade as the quest reward, but he wasn't about to turn his nose up at the amount of Col and XP that had given to them either, especially not as the amount that Thinker and Yulier had received was enough to, in their own words, ''keep the guild well equipped for at least a month''. With that revelation, Jet idly wondered if perhaps the amount they actually spent on equipment and upgrades might just be a bit on the high side, given that would last the four of them about two weeks. Either way, and with the loot divvied up between them, the group had split up - Thinker and Yulier returning to their guild, having offered them all a place, should they want it, an offer that was politely declined in all cases, whilst the others headed back into Senja Town, to meet up with Argo.
''So, little brother... how are you okay with fighting snake monsters, but not with actual snakes?'' Strea asked, looking back to her brother, who was currently stabbing an Orochi Foot Soldier, whilst Koharu flanked around it, her dagger slashing along its right side and back.
''They don't really look like snakes- rragh!- More like humans with snake features!'' Jet grunted, retrieving his sword from the stomach of the unlucky Orochi before it burst into pixels.
''You're gonna be okay going up against the big 'un though, right?'' The slightly bored purple-ette asked, whilst leaning on her sword as if they weren't in the middle of a fight against samurai snakes... ''Oh, by the way, finished my lot. You owe me ten Col.'' She grinned.
''It wasn't a race you know... nor am I giving you ten Col.'' He rolled his eyes at his sister, before continuing. ''Also, yes, I'll be fine. Just the whole Ouroboros thing that weirded me out, and that's over and done with now.''
''You know you could've told her no, right?'' Koharu, now finished with sheathing her rapier, stated as she walked back to the siblings. ''If snakes really do freak you out that much, even.''
''As I said, Ko, I'm fine against the actual monsters, it's more just actual snakes.'' He reiterated, earning a look of annoyance from his sister.
''You are as stubborn as a mule, you know that, right?'' Strea rolled her eyes, as she stood back up to walk off, but not before she finished her thoughts on the matter, ''Either that, or stupid enough to risk your own life to impress a girl that already loves you. I can never tell with you, Michael.'' The use of his real name seemed to hit home, and Jet sighed to himself. He considered trying to explain it, but realised it would sound even more stupid, and so decided not to.
''It's neither.'' Jet muttered under his breath as the pair followed behind, only barely loud enough for Koharu, who was immediately next to him to hear.
''I don't think she means it like that, she's just worried for you... I think.'' Koharu honestly couldn't tell. The siblings had a complicated relationship, and both would admit it to anyone who asked. What they refused to admit was that both could be civil with each other, without resorting to insults, and just being straightforward with each other instead.
''Something like that, I guess. Look, Ko, I-'' started Jet, before getting cut off as the other trio approached them.
''Figured we'd find you around somewhere. You look...'' Kirito spoke offhandedly, before the combined glares of Asuna and Mito shut him up before he could insult anyone accidentally. ''-well.''
''It's nothing.'' Jet lied, before putting his usual persona back on display. ''Anyway, you guys got the potions?''
''We did. Did you guys get anything?''
''A bit of information, and some Col and XP, but that's about it.'' Phillia admitted, as she and Rain rejoined the couple.
''Still better than nothing. I'm guessing it uses some form of AoE attack, given the whole potion quest, but did you find anything else?''
''Don't get hit by its sword.'' Jet stated, watching as both Asuna and Mito rolled their eyes at him, before realising why. ''According to lore, that blade can cut through anything. Some part of me says we've been told that so no idiot tries to block an attack from it.'' He continued, ignoring the small fact that, of everyone present, the most likely to do as he'd stated... was in fact himself. Especially given he had prior form for it, and the expressions that Kirito, Asuna and Koharu were giving him suggested they had a similar thought to.
Before he could defend himself, he could hear a small, but obvious laugh from downwind. ''Think it's yerself that should be worried 'bout that one, Knight-boy...'' Argo grinned, an expression that told Jet he should run. Very fast, and very far, as there probably wasn't a place on Aincrad safe from Argo... ''Still tho', the boss info won't be the only valuable bitta info tonight. Apparently, there's a new guild joinin' the boss fight too...''
''New guild?'' asked Koharu, racking her brain to think who it might be, before a realisation occurred.
''Yea, looks like Diavel managed ta gather a force o' his own. Worries me a bit tho', I can't find much on any of 'em.'' If the earlier revelation had set off alarm bells, those bells now sounded as if they were about to deafen anyone unfortunate enough to be near them. If even Argo, perhaps the most resourceful person they knew, couldn't gather much information on them, then they were doing a good job at keeping their cards close to their chest, and considering who was in charge of the guild... that filled Jet with a slight sense of dread. Just who exactly were they about to have to fight side by side with...
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As it turned out, Jet's concerns were not allayed by the strategy meeting. In fact, he was now more on edge than almost any other boss fight in Aincrad so far because of that meeting. Almost every previous strategy meeting had suffered from some degree of bickering, usually between Kibaou and Lind or their subordinates, but this one had been particularly spectacular. An argument had broke out less than a minute into the meeting, as Diavel attempted to take over the leadership role in the meeting, before being told exactly where to take that ambition, and exactly where to insert it...
Even with the intervention of Asuna, who attempted to play the neutral party, it had been... less than civil. Barbs were traded between Kibaou, Lind and Diavel, mostly at each of their various performances throughout the months, and eventually it had gotten to the point where even members of the respective guilds had stepped in to perform the meeting, simply to prevent the ungodly amount of bickering.
The second in command of Diavel's new guild, the Heroes of Aincrad, was a tall man, only slightly shorter than Jet, standing at around 5ft 10in, and had this uncanny ability to seemingly take charge of the situation, without a single doubt as to who was in charge when he spoke. The man known as Heathcliff, was an older gentleman too, something that was admittedly an oddity in Aincrad with the vast majority of players seemingly in their late teens or early twenties. Despite the aura of respect he seemed to command, something about the man felt... off. If he truly did have this level of presence, then the obvious question that occurred was ''Why is he the second in command?''...
Needless to say, the arrival of the HOA had already possibly tipped the balance on the frontlines, a fact that worried many of the frontliners. Some were worried for their own selfish reasons, that they had backed the wrong horse in this race, whilst some worried that the arrival of the HOA may cause an irreparable schism in the Assault Team, and do far more harm than good to clearing efforts. After all, even the hardliners amongst the guilds had accepted that just one guild alone had neither the skill nor numbers needed to take on the increasingly more difficult task of defeating the floor bosses, and that some degree of co-operation was essential for the success of each boss fight.
All of which served to explain why Jet, Koharu, Klein, Agil, Kirito and Asuna were sat in a nearby inn, playing with a number of matchsticks on a table, whilst everyone else in the groups were either stood watching and listening as the impromptu discussion of strategies against Kagachi continued, or in the case of Strea, drinking at the bar.
''Okay, so I think that works. Jet, Koharu, Rain and Phillia, you'll be Force A for now. You'll be fighting back the Elite Guards, and keeping them away from the rest of us. If you need help, call and Fuurinkazen will assist you, got that?''
''Sounds like a plan. You going to stab them in the crotch again, Jet?'' joked Klein, earning a theatrical roll of the eyes from Jet and a smattering of laughter from amongst the group.
''Not unless they really get on my nerves, no.''
Asuna continued with her briefing, turning towards Klein as she did. ''Anyway, Fuurinkazen, you'll be Force B. We'll need you to focus attacks on Kagachi, whilst Force C, which will be us-'' Asuna pointed towards Kirito and Mito, and towards Agil and his group. ''-and we've got the difficult task of keeping its attention on us. Thanks to Fuurinkazen, we know that Kagachi's sword can apparently cut through almost everything, so defence is going to take a back step, in favour of evasion here.''
''In other words, no one should try to block that sword... I got it, don't worry.'' Jet accepted that he was a bit known for headstrong actions, but he did wish that he wasn't used as a cautionary tale... or in his sister's case, using him as a verb, as she had apparently taken to describing reckless actions as ''Jetting''.
''Good, I think that's everything then. Let's try and show what we can do when there's actually a plan in place!'' Finishing her little speech, the time of day had finally caught up with Asuna, a yawn escaping as she drew to a close... and setting off almost everyone else present, given it was just shy of midnight, and they were all still in the inn.
''I think we should probably call it a night, if they want us to meet at ten.'' Agil, seemingly the only responsible adult present, commented, earning a few murmurings of agreement, and one slight snore, as Jet noticed Koharu now leaning against him, eyes closed.
''Yeah, just a bit. Meet back here in the morning?'' Jet asked, as he weighed up his options with the sleeping Koharu. He could wake her up, but if she was anything like him, she'd struggle to drop off again when they actually got to bed... or the option that filled him with a degree of dread, given that everyone was present, he could carry her up the stairs.
Deciding that he could deal with the awkwardness later, he picked Koharu up and headed off up to their room. In reality, had Michael tried the same thing, he'd have almost certainly dropped her, given he had the carrying capability of a dodgy shelf, in his own opinion. Fortunately though, for Jet, the weight of a person was reduced significantly in Aincrad, which allowed for much more acrobatic movements, assuming the user had high enough strength and agility stats too, and more importantly in this case, made them lighter to carry.
As the couple approached the room, Jet, rather ironically given his name and the rapid connotations it brings to mind, moving almost as slowly as a bus on the Gloucester Road in peak hours (or that was the feeling he took away from it, anyway), could tell Koharu was mumbling something, her head rested against his shoulder as she did. ''M-mom?'' she muttered, as Jet felt something damp on his coat, and he was fairly sure it wasn't that she was dribbling...
''Nope, just me I'm afraid.'' Jet whispered as he opened the door and placed Koharu down on the bed, before getting into bed next to her, evidently far more tired than he let on, given he was still wearing his coat. As he felt his eyes get heavy, he could hear his sister's words replaying in his head, telling him just how much of an idiot he was, and that whatever happened was his own fault. This was not going to be a peaceful night, that much he knew for certain...
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The next morning came, and the groups all met up at the inn as planned, before doing another briefing just to be on the safe side. After all, a strategy meeting just before midnight wasn't generally when people were at their optimum performance, and so, with the rerun of the plan and strategy against Kagachi complete, and breakfast devoured, the group set off to the town gate, where the Assault ''Team'' were to meet up.
Needless to say, nerves were more frayed than usual, a situation really not ideal in a battle against a monster with a possible one hit kill weapon...
Still though, if there was one thing that had been guaranteed... it was Diavel. This time, he was making a speech to his guild members, a number of which were almost immediately recognised by Kirito and Asuna, who looked at each other disbelievingly... they were who Diavel had recruited?
''Did... did he seriously recruit the Legend Braves, of all people?'' asked Asuna, a question aimed seemingly at no one. Most of their group gave her a confused look, even Jet and Koharu, who actually knew of the... fiasco, on the Second Floor, and just how close that the guilds had came to PK'ing the group's blacksmith, Nezha. That whole experience, even for those who weren't present, had left a sour taste in their mouths, and now, they'd be having to work together?
If Jet's anxiety was already on a knife edge, it was now getting sliced to little pieces, with that discovery. Hopefully, the groups could put their bad blood aside for now, and focus on the importance of the task at hand... defeating Kagachi the Samurai Lord.
''Welcome everyone!'' Well, at least Diavel was still as good at commanding attention from the group, as the entire unit turned towards the blue haired knight and his entourage. ''Our battle today is against an enemy with a weapon that may potentially be a single hit kill...'' Diavel's speech to the group did at least seem to put some fears to rest. The group were still willing to follow him, even if there were members of each group that certainly weren't entirely fond of the idea, and they had set off to the labyrinth with possibly the largest force yet, nearly forty players all in all...
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The journey through the labyrinth was an uncomfortable one for some of the group, especially as Strea evidently hadn't cooled down as much as Jet had hoped, and as a result, was bulldozing her way through any enemy in her path... with the exception of a small number of larger mobs which required some assistance from the rest of Fuurinkazen to deal with.
Jet, on the other hand, had become slightly preoccupied with watching how the ''Heroes of Aincrad'' held up in actual combat. As it turned out, the former Legend Braves handled themselves well, and the cohesion they showed told Jet that they'd been a unit long before they'd met up with Diavel, whilst something about Heathcliff, the other notable member, still didn't sit well with Jet.
He fought like a man on a mission, his concentration never wavering for even a moment and each strike and block so meticulous, Jet could've sworn the man was a robot, and interestingly, he'd barely lost any health despite being the vanguard of the formation, whilst everyone else had lost at least a tenth, with even just the mobs in the labyrinth, the sheer number of them becoming more than just a nuisance. That little detail was cause for concern, in his opinion, especially with the boss so close to them.
''Incoming!'' He was snapped out of his daydream state and into position to defend against an Orochi attack. The snake's slammed against his shield, and without any hesitation, he pushed his shield out to gain some distance, before thrusting Hope into the snake's gut. The injured Orochi staggered back as a follow up strike turned it to pixels, and Jet turned his attention back to the corridor again, and his sister... who was currently embodying the phrase ''There's no kill like overkill''.
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Eventually, the group reached the chamber of the Samurai Lord, and in the brief reprieve from the fight, checked themselves over and took whatever potions were necessary. Unusually, in Strea's opinion, Klein seemed to be taking this far more seriously, almost as if... ''Klein, aside.'' She ordered, yanking him by his shoulders.
''Umm, what's up?'' He asked cautiously. He knew that the look on Strea's face was difficult to read on a good day, but right now? It looked as if it were in some long lost language that hadn't been spoken by human tongues in the past millennia...
''This whole seriousness... it wouldn't happen to be because you want to impress someone, would it?'' She asked, believing that she knew the answer already.
''No, not this time. I know you're a lot stronger than the average player, and certainly, well... a lot more you, but there's not a lot of room for error here.'' Klein stated, a tone of seriousness in his voice that was rarely present. To Strea, this wasn't the goofy Casanova wannabe, but the leader that was going to ensure his troops made it through alive. As he carried on about just how serious the stakes were, she could almost see a resemblance to her... adopted father.
Somewhere in her mind, a small and dishevelled creature came out, if only to throw up at the thought, before going back into the deep, dark cavern it had come from - a cave marked as ''sense of shame''.
Meanwhile, Klein had finished his speech, and was looking at her as if she'd grown a second and third head. ''Uhh, Strea?''
''Just thinking. That was all.'' She repeatedly blinked, struggling to get the thought of Klein and her dad out of her head. ''Thoughts that do not ever need to see the light of day.'' She muttered under her breath, as Klein placed a hand on her shoulder.
''Well, if you need help, call on us. That's what we're here for, right?'' And in that moment, he stopped reminding her of her dad, and went back to the dopey Casanova that she maybe... just maybe, could see herself dating. In the right circumstances, of course.
Klein went to head back to the rest of Fuurinkazen, but was stopped by Strea placing a hand on his shoulder. ''Yeah, and Klein? After this, we could go grab a drink? I mean, I am part of the group, right?'' Internally, a part of Klein shut down in complete surprise... had he just been asked out on a date? Externally, it was his turn to look completely dumbfounded, as he attempted to process the question...
''Yeah!'' He replied a little bit too quickly, before attempting to play it a little more cool, ''Of course, we have to get through this first, right!'' Strea gave a soft laugh, as she took out her sword.
''Sure... want to make this fun?'' A sly grin came over the purple haired woman as she asked... the same grin that would turn armies back, in ordinary circumstances, but that Klein found oddly charming. ''First to ten mobs killed. Whoever loses pays for the drinks?''
It didn't even require thinking about. ''Oh you are on!'' The samurai wannabe stated, as he retrieved his spear.
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Across the group, a small gaggle of people - namely, Jet, Koharu, Asuna, Kirito and Agil - were watching the display of flirting, and offering their own commentary. Either way, a consensus amongst the group was rapidly reached... ''About time!'' Came the combined statement, as Klein walked over.
''Wait, were you lot spying on us?'' Klein asked, both surprised and scandalised.
''Eh, consider it a vested interest. She is my sister, after all...'' Jet stated almost ominously, before continuing... ''I mean, that's my excuse. Everyone else...'' Jet shrugged his shoulders.
''It's only going for drinks!'' He defended himself.
''And drinking leads to you waking up the next morning in bed with each other, then-''
''Nope! Don't want to hear it!'' Koharu placed a hand over Jet's mouth, earning a bemused look from the now quietened knight as she did so.
''Anyway, we're all finished, so before we hear anything more from him... we should probably get going!'' Asuna stated, preparing her rapier as she walked away with Kirito in tow, before the others followed her lead. Whatever hadn't been said yet would need to wait, as the group entered the chamber...
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As the group entered the chamber, Kagachi the Samurai Lord descended on the stage in flames, hitting like a meteorite, before the Lord stood back up. Rising to nearly fifteen foot, the reptilian creature hissed violently, and thrashed around. With a katana almost as long as it was tall in its hands, even just the thrashing made for perhaps the most imposing sight of any boss so far...
For once though, Klein and Strea took up the vanguard in facing the Samurai Lord... ''Kagachi the Samurai Lord! Your reign of terror over the people of Senja is over!'' Strea yelled, readying her sword, amongst the murmurings from the group behind...
''Know the name of those who will vanquish you! I am Klein, the Crimson Samurai... and your evil ends now!''
''Klein, remember what we discussed yesterday about katana skills!'' Kirito yelled, as Strea turned back to him.
''Have a little faith!'' This distraction proved to be a rather big mistake, as Kagachi charged towards her, his blade drawn. At the last possible moment, Strea was able to dodge out of the way, with millimetres to spare. Her sword, on the other hand, was not so fortunate, and had been cut almost to the hilt, a telling sign of just how ferocious that blade truly was...
Strea, now rendered defenceless, and without an alternate weapon, stood back up and considered her options - a fistfight with that thing was as ill advised as fighting a battleship with a BB gun, and although she could evade as well as anyone else, she'd rather not become that level of a burden. Before a saner thought had passed through, her mind suggested a way of her being of use to the group... ''Maybe I can keep it busy for a bit...'' she muttered.
''What was that, Strea?'' Klein asked, only hearing her say... something. Without thinking, she turned to Klein who was still nearby, and pulled him into a kiss. The samurai almost leapt out of his skin within that brief second, before he saw Strea sprinting off towards the Samurai Lord... and realised exactly what she was going to do. ''Strea! Don't you-''
RRRAAAGGHHH! The boss swiftly turned on its heels, and swung its blade behind its shoulder... before the blade was swung forward, the strike narrowly avoiding Strea, although the shockwave that its collision with the stage caused, threw her almost ten feet away. She tried to pick herself up, but her health bar showed the worst of news... a paralysis effect.
Kagachi, evidently fed up of this, readied another strike to finish her, and in that brief moment, Strea fought back a tear. Even with her health, there was no way in hell that she'd survive this, and she would be just another victim of this damned game... She'd often been told that, in your last moments, your life flashes before your eyes. This, as it turns out, seemed to be true for her as she pictured her biological parents, the fateful day she lost almost all of her family, before seeing her new family, the first on air job she'd had, before she heard a voice... ''Dumbass!'' The voice sounded strained, almost as if they were...
Jet, with every single ounce of strength in his body, pushed Hope against Kagachi's blade, the Lyusalan mythical sword creaking against the gigantic katana. His arms felt so heavy, and no matter what he tried, Kagachi was simply too strong to hold back... in defiance, he spat out one last speech against the monster that would inevitably take his sword, and if he wasn't incredibly lucky... his life. ''Let me tell you this... rrrrggghh... you aren't killing her! The only- rrrghhh - person who's killing her-rrrggghh-'s gonna be me, in about an hour's time!'' The blade continued to push closer towards him, and a killing blow...
''I have it.'' The most surreal and calm voice came, as Diavel's vice commander, Heathcliff held back the Samurai Lord's blade against his shield, only showing even the faintest sign of discomfort as he did so. Even Strea, who was almost ludicrously strong, seemed astonished by just how effortlessly he held back the katana...
''Much obliged, pal.'' Jet coughed, as he dodged out of the way, and pulled the still paralysed Strea with him. She wouldn't be safe anywhere on the stage, but as long as Heathcliff held him in place, it looked as if the Assault Group had gotten their acts together, and started attacking the Samurai Lord, whilst their group was holding off his minions, and whittling them down to size by the looks of it. ''Strea, blink once to say you're okay, twice for no.''
''I can talk, you know!'' She could've slapped him... if she could've moved her arms, that was.
''That's a shame, I was enjoying the peace...'' Jet joked, dropping a twin handed sword besides her, and forcing a healing potion down her throat. His spare sword, whilst nowhere near the size of Strea's behemoth of a blade, was still a twin handed sword, and still a fairly sizeable weapon, which he hoped would allow her to not have to undergo a massive learning curve mid-fight, once the paralysis wore off. ''Try not to nearly die this time, please.'' He joked again, but with a far sharper tone to it, the ''joke'' having a sense of anger behind it...
Looking over his own equipment, it was pretty clear that Hope had, well, had it. A massive trench had been dug into the blade from where it had clashed with the katana, and he could just about see a number of hairline cracks developing across the blade itself. With no guarantee that it would hold out through the boss fight, Jet quickly swapped it out for his old Caliburn...
Racing back in against the minions, Jet was able to get a couple of shots in at each of them, before settling on one in particular. This Elite Guard had decided to take a disliking to Koharu, and was currently trying to take her out, and before too long, he'd decided that there was no way he was having that, and thrust Caliburn through the mobs lightly armoured areas, before Koharu, now able to focus on her attacks rather than dodging, was able to bring down the Elite Guard...
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The fight against Kagachi was a gruelling test of endurance, and after nearly an hour of constant back and forth, along with constantly dodging every strike made by that damned katana, the Assault Group had finally bought the Samurai Lord down to only a slither of its final health bar.
In its final moments, Kagachi the Samurai Lord decided that, if it couldn't win... then it could certainly make the invaders victory a pyrrhic one. It readied its blade for one final strike, the blade generating a purple mist around itself, before it charged. The Assault Group had all made it out of the way, albeit only just in the nick of time in some cases, and now, Kagachi had thrown itself into a corner, the entire group of forty high level players attacking the boss, with very little in the way of restraint...
As Klein's spear punctured the skin of the Samurai Lord, it let out a truly horrific scream, a scream that would've put most horror movie effects to shame and struck fear into the hearts of the fearless usually... but now? It was almost pathetic. A fatally wounded creature desperately trying to frighten off its attackers, to no avail. It collapsed, and began to pixelate, its health bars completely absent from the players HUDs. Within a few seconds, the creature that had terrorised Senja for generations, enslaving and killing hundreds, if not thousands... was finally dead.
That realisation soon swept over Klein, who noticed that he had received the Last Attack Bonus, and retrieved it from his inventory - a blade, described as being the weapon of a true samurai. Summoning it, Klein's face dropped... it was a katana! An honest to goodness katana! Just looking at it made Klein feel like a true samurai, and his swinging of it just reinforced that belief...
With the jubilation of the exhausted crowd in the background, Jet stood up and walked over to his sister, who was now leaning against his sword in exhaustion. Without a single moment of hesitation, he pulled her into the tightest hug he'd ever given... much to her surprise. ''Uhh, Jet?'' She asked, noticing that people were beginning to stare.
Jet muttered to her as they embraced, ''You are without a doubt the most reckless, headstrong, stubborn, and at times, insufferable person I could have as an older sister...'' A sentiment she winced at, but he carried on, ''But I don't want you to die. None of us do! Please don't think your life is worth less than anyone else's...''
''I... yeah.''
Klein, having now put his new katana away, walked over to the siblings, and began his part in chewing out Strea, ''What happened to having to get through this?'' His tone was a lot less cheery than earlier, a sense of disappointment in his voice as he spoke. Jet couldn't blame him really, he was trying his best to reign some of Strea's worst tendencies in, but he wasn't a miracle worker...
Her head dropped, and she sighed. ''I didn't think I could help much more, so I thought that I could draw his fire off you all for a bit...'' Klein shook his head in disbelief, and rolled his eyes slightly, before beginning to laugh to himself. Strea, now very confused, shouted out... ''What's so funny!''
''Strea, you could've ran over to one of us, we'd have given you another weapon... you nearly died, because you didn't think to ask for another sword.'' Klein stated, as the same wave of realisation came over her. As that wave made landfall inside her mind, she held her head into her hands and groaned in annoyance...
''Please forget I ever did that... I guess the drinks are all on me now, aren't they?'' Klein nodded with a cheesy grin, as the rest of Fuurinkazen joined them. Whilst they were lightly ribbing on Strea and Klein, the rest of their group had come over to Jet, and began to chew him out...
Unsurprisingly, Koharu went first. ''Don't think you're getting off easily, mister. Remember what Asuna said before the fight...'' Jet winced, remembering Asuna's words, and the thinly veiled warning to him not to do exactly what he had done...
''In my defence, I wasn't gonna let my sister die!'' Jet reacted, with mixed responses. Koharu, Rain and Asuna seemed to look down at their feet slightly in guilt, whilst Kirito and Phillia showed some signs of agreement, but weren't vocal with it, whilst Mito...
''She's your sister?!''... tried her best not to yell that one from the heavens in surprise, before returning to normal volume. ''How are you two siblings, anyway?''
''When a mommy and a daddy-'' Jet started...
Mito went bright red. ''I know that bit!'' She interrupted, a snigger coming from Phillia as she did. ''I meant, you two are nothing alike!''
''Both stubborn, both have a bit of an ego on them, both self sacrificing...'' Asuna rolled her eyes as she explained the similarities in the siblings, ''Yes, they're related alright.''
Jet just gave her a rather deadpan look, evidently not impressed by the way she'd phrased the comparison, before Fuurinkazen and Agil's ''Bro Squad'' joined them... ''We're gonna head off to get a drink, celebrate the win, ya know?'' Jet cracked a slight grin as he noticed his sister's eye twitch. She knew just how skint she was going to be after this, and he'd consider it a karmic victory, if he was being brutally honest... ''You wanna join us?''
The group of teenagers all looked at each other. At least four of them still remembered New Year's, and would quite like to avoid a repeat of that event, whilst the other three could tell from the apprehensive looks on their friends faces that a drinking session with them was, quite possibly, not a good idea.
''Nah, I'm gonna go get my weapons and armour checked over, and get some rest.'' Jet explained, coming up with a plausible excuse to avoid the after boss party, and one that his whole group settled with, as Koharu, Rain and Phillia all nodded in agreement.
''Heh, suit yourself. Offer still stands though...'' Klein laughed, as they turned to Kirito, Asuna and Mito for their answer. ''So, what about you three?''
''We're... uhh, we're gonna go straight up to the next floor. You know, whilst we're still fired up.'' Kirito quickly came up with an excuse to not go drinking with them, the two girls agreeing with him almost immediately.
''You sure you don't want to come with us? Not even to celebrate not being the beater anymore?'' Klein asked.
Kirito looked baffled by the question. He was still going to be the beater to everyone else, that wouldn't change just because they'd helped in yet another boss fight... would it? ''Huh?''
''No one ever got above Floor 10 in the beta test, right?'' asked Klein, explaining to them what he meant.
Jet, who'd already cottoned onto Klein's meaning, smirked as he spoke... ''In other words... you're one of us now, Kirito.''
''I guess I am, huh.'' Kirito's confused look shifted into one of smugness, ''Though, I won't give up the top spot without one heck of a fight...''
''Oh, don't you worry, Kirito... Fuurinkazen won't make it easy for you!'' Whilst Kirito and Klein demonstrated their faux rivalry to everyone watching, Asuna looked bemused at their demonstration, and sighed.
''We really should be going now, Kirito...'' Without much else being said, Asuna and Mito, with Kirito trailing behind slightly, as they headed up to the next floor.
''Same with us, I think. Besides, sooner I can get Hope fixed, sooner I can be back on the frontlines.'' Jet gave a gesture that vaguely resembled a salute to the members of Fuurinkazen and the Bro Squad, as the group turned away to head back to the Teleport Gate in Senja. A few seconds had passed, before Jet turned back around, and shouted to them... ''Oh, and Strea? I want my sword back next time!''
Strea gave an innocent smile towards her little brother, as the rest of Fuurinkazen held back their laughter. Jet knew exactly what that smile meant... he wasn't getting his sword back.
''Some things really don't change, do they?'' Jet laughed to himself, as they headed back to the town.
{Author's Comments}
And that's Floor 10 over and done with. Boss fights are still not my strong suit, but I'd like to think I'm improving.
Also, 50th chapter! I honestly didn't think I'd get past ten chapters when I started out, over a year ago, so a massive thank you to everyone who's read An Englishman, it does mean a lot to me!
Next up in the story will be Floor 13, in two weeks.
I now have a separate story for the Side Stories here, so if you want to see more of what happens between chapters, scenes that won't make it into this or in deleted scenes, I'd appreciate you checking it out!
As always, feedback is always appreciated, and if you've enjoyed this and want to see more, follow & favourite it!
Signing off,
Midland 2541