Chapter 12
“...-kun! Kirito-kun!!”
Asuna's calls, which were almost like screams, forced me awake. As I sat up, pain spiked through my head and caused my face to distort.
“Owww...”
I looked around and saw that we were still in the boss room. Blue light fragments were still floating around the room. It seemed like I had only lost consciousness for a few seconds.
Asuna was kneeling on the ground, her face right before my eyes. Her eyebrows were tightened, and she was biting her lip. It looked like she was going to cry.
“You idiot...! Why...!?”
She shouted and then jumped into my arms and hugged me. It shocked me enough to make me forget my pain for a moment. I could only blink in surprise.
“...Don't hug me so tightly. You're going to make my HP disappear.”
I said in a joking tone, but Asuna responded with a really angry expression. She shoved a small bottle into my mouth. The liquid which flowed in was a high-quality potion that tasted like a combination of lemon juice and green tea. It should fully heal my HP within five minutes, but my fatigue was going to last a while.
Asuna checked to confirm that I had drunk all of it. Then, as her face began to scrunch up, she put her forehead on my shoulder to hide it.
I raised my head at the sound of footsteps and saw Klein approach. He seemed a little apologetic for disturbing us, but started speaking nevertheless.
“We've finished healing all the remaining Army members, but Kobatz and two of his men had already died...”
“...Yeah. It's the first time since the 67th floor that someone died during a boss fight...”
“That wasn't even a fight. That idiot Kobatz... You can't do anything if you're dead...”
Klein spat out. Then he took a deep breath, shook his head, and asked me in an attempt to change the mood.
“But back to the topic, what the hell was that just then!?”
“……Do I have to say it?”
“Of course! I've never seen something like that before!”
I suddenly noticed that aside from Asuna, everyone in the room was looking at me, waiting for my reply.
“...It's an extra skill: «Dual Blades».”
Expressions of amazement rose throughout Klein's party and the survivors from the Army.
All weapon skills had to be learned in a certain order depending on their type. Take swords for an example; you had to train the one-handed straight sword skill quite a bit before «Rapier» and «Two-Handed Sword» appeared on the list.
Naturally, Klein was interested, and he urged me to tell the rest.
“Wh-What are the conditions that have to be met?”
“I'd have told everyone if I knew that.”
As I shook my head, Klein sighed and muttered.
“You're right...”
Weapon skills that didn't have clear conditions for appearing are called extra skills. They were sometimes even called random conditions.
An example would be Klein's «Katana». But «Katana» wasn't all that rare and appeared quite often as long as you kept training the Curved Sword skill.
Most of the ten-plus extra skills that had been found up until now, «Katana» included, had at least ten people who used each of them. The only exceptions were my «Dual Blades» and one other man's extra skill.
These two were most likely limited to only one person, so they should be called «Unique Skill». I had hidden the existence of my unique skill up until now. But from today, the news that I was the second unique skill user would spread throughout the world. There was no way I could hide it after using it in front of so many people.
“I'm disappointed Kirito. You didn't even tell me that you had such an awesome skill.”
“I would have told you if I knew the conditions for its appearance. But I really couldn't figure out how it happened.”
I answered Klein's complaint with a shrug.
There wasn't a shred of lie in what I said. About a year ago, I opened my skills window one day and found the name «Dual Blades» just sitting there. I really had no clue on what conditions made it appear.
Since then, I only trained it when there was nobody around. Even after I nearly Completed it, I rarely used it against monsters unless it was an emergency. Aside from using it to protect myself in a crisis, I simply didn't like this kind of skill due to the attention it draws.
I even thought that it would be better if another Dual Blades user appeared—
I scratched the area around my ear and muttered.
“...If it became known that I had such a rare skill, not only would people pester me for information... it might attract other kinds of problems too...”
Klein nodded.
“Online gamers get jealous easily. I wouldn't since I'm an understanding guy, but there sure are plenty of envious people. Not to mention...”
Klein suddenly stopped talking and looked at Asuna, who was still tightly hugging me, and smiled meaningfully.
“...Well, just consider suffering as another way of training yourself, young Kirito.”
“So, to you it's just someone else's problem...?”
Klein bent over and thumped me on the shoulder, then turned around and walked towards the survivors of «The Army».
“Hey, you guys, do you think you'll be able to make it back to HQ by yourselves?”
One of them nodded at Klein's question. He was a boy who looked like he was in his teens.
“OK. Tell your superiors what happened here today and that they shouldn't do something this stupid again.”
“Yes. ...and, err...thank you.”
“Thank him over there.”
Klein pointed my way with his thumb. The players from the army stood up shakily, turned towards Asuna and I, who were still on the floor, and bowed deeply before walking out of the room. Once they reached the passageway, they used their crystals to teleport out one after another.
After the blue lights faded, Klein put his hands on his hips and started speaking.
“Well, let's see... We're going to continue on to the 75th floor and open the gate there. How 'bout you? You're the man of the day, so do you want to do it?”
“No, I'll leave it to you. I'm totally wiped.”
“If that's the case... be careful on your way back.”
Klein nodded and then signaled to his teammates. The six walked over to the huge door in the corner of the room. Behind it should be the stairs to the next floor. The katana-wielder stopped in front of the door and turned around.
“Hey... Kirito. Y'know when you jumped in to save those Army members...”
“...What about it?”
“I was... well, really glad. That's all I have to say. See ya around sometime.”
I don't get what he was trying to say. As I cocked my head, Klein gave me a thumbs-up, then opened the door and disappeared through it with his party.
Only Asuna and I were left in the huge boss room. The blue flames that had been flaring up from the floor had disappeared some time ago, and the sinister atmosphere that once filled the room had vanished without a trace. The soft light that filled the passageway now flooded this room as well. Not a single sign of the battle remained.
I said something to Asuna, who still had her head against my shoulder.
“Hey... Asuna...”
“...I was so scared... I didn't know what I'd do... If you had died.”
Her shaking voice was weaker than I had ever heard it.
“...What are you talking about? You were the one who charged in first.”
I said this as I softly placed my hand on Asuna's shoulder. A manner infraction flag would come up if I grabbed her too blatantly, but this really wasn't a situation where I should worry about that.
As I gently pulled her towards me, my ears had almost missed her small voice.
“I'm going to take a short break from the guild.”
“T-Take a break...? Why?”
“...I said that I was going to party with you for a while... Did you forget already?”
As soon as I heard that...
Somewhere deep within my heart, a feeling that could only be described as a strong longing reached out. It surprised even me.
I —solo player Kirito— was a person who had abandoned every other player in order to keep myself alive in this world. I was the coward who had turned his back on his only friend and ran away two years ago, on the day that all of this had started.
A person like me, who didn't even have any right to wish for a comrade—let alone something more than that.
I had already realized this in a painful and unforgettable way. I had sworn never to wish again, never to yearn for the care of others.
But—
My left hand, which had turned rigid, didn't want to let go of Asuna's shoulder. I just couldn't pull myself away from the virtual warmth of her body.
I buried this huge contradicting conflict inside me with an inexplicable emotion, and then answered with a short reply.
“...Okay.”
After hearing my response, Asuna's head nodded slightly on my shoulder.
The next day.
I had been hiding on the second floor of Agil's shop since this morning. I was sitting on a rocking chair with my legs crossed and was drinking a strangely flavored tea, which I figured was probably a defective product. I was also in a rather foul mood.
All of Algade— No, most probably all of Aincrad was busy discussing the events of yesterday.
Floor clearing, which meant the opening of a new city, was already enough to start an exorbitant amount of gossiping. But this time, various other rumor had also been mixed in, like «The demon that wiped out a whole Army battalion» and «The Twin Blade swordsman that killed the demon by himself with fifty hits»... There should be a limit on how much they can exaggerate these things by.
Somehow they had found out about where I lived. As a result, swordsmen and information dealers had crowded around my house since early morning. I ended up having to go through the trouble of using a teleport crystal to escape.
“I'm going to move... To some super-rural floor, to some village where they'll never be able to find me....”
As I endlessly muttered my complaints, Agil walked over to me with a smile.
“Hey, don't be like that. It's good to become famous for once in your life. Why don't you host a presentation? I'll take care of the tickets and the venue...”
“No way!”
I shouted and threw the cup in my right hand, aiming for the area about fifty centimeters to the right of Agil's head.
But I habitually made the motion which activated my Throw Weapon skill and hurled the cup towards the wall at a high speed. The cup left a trail of light before it smashed into the wall with a loud noise. Thankfully, the room was an indestructible object, so nothing else happened other than the appearance of the «Immortal Object» system tag. If I had hit a piece of furniture, it would have been destroyed for sure.
“Ah, are you trying to kill me here!?”
At the shopkeeper's exaggerated shout, I raised my right hand as a sign of apology and leaned back against the chair once more.
Agil was currently examining the treasure I had received from yesterday's fight. Every once in a while, he would make a strange noise, which most probably meant that there were some pretty valuable goods in there.
I had planned to equally share with Asuna the money I would get from selling the loot, but it was already past the promised meeting time and she still hadn't arrived. I had already sent her a friend-message, so she should know where I was...
We parted at the main street teleport gate of the 74th floor yesterday. She said that she was going to apply for a break and went to the KoB HQ in Granzam on the 55th floor. I asked her if I should go with her, given the trouble with Kuradeel and all. But she said it was fine with a smile on her face, so I abandoned the thought.
It was already two hours past the promised time. If she was this late, did it mean that something had happened? Should I have gone with her? I downed the cup of tea in a single gulp in order to calm my anxieties.
Just as I had drained the tea pot before me, and Agil had finished his examination of my items, I heard the sound of footsteps running up the stairs. Then, the door quickly crashed open.
“Hey, Asuna...”
I had almost said “You're late” but stopped myself. Asuna was in her uniform as usual, but her face was white and worry shone through her eyes. She held both her hands in front of her chest, bit her lip twice or thrice, and then said:
“What should we do... Kirito-kun...”
She forced out in a voice that was close to tears.
“Something... bad has happened...”
After drinking some newly-boiled tea, life managed to return to Asuna's face, and she started explaining a bit hesitantly. Agil had moved back down to the first floor after noticing the atmosphere.
“Yesterday... after I returned to the HQ in Granzam, I reported everything that had happened to the guild leader. Then I said that I wanted to take a break from the guild and then went back home... I had thought that I would get permission during the regular morning guild meeting...”
Asuna, who was sitting opposite of me, lowered her eyes and grabbed her tea cup tightly before she continued.
“The leader... said that I could take a brief leave from the guild. But there was one condition... He said that... he wanted to have a fight... with Kirito-kun...”
“What...?”
I couldn't understand what she meant for a moment. Fight...? Did that mean a duel? What did a duel have to do with Asuna taking a break?
When I asked these questions...
“I don't know either....”
Asuna shook her head while looking at the floor.
“I tried to persuade him that there's no meaning in doing that... but he just wouldn't listen to me...”
“But... this is problematic. For that guy to suddenly present a condition like this...”
I muttered as the image of the guild leader flashed through my mind.
“I know. The leader usually leaves us alone even when we're planning our strategy for clearing floors, let alone everyday guild activities. But I don't know why this time he...”
Although the KoB leader had overwhelming charisma, which attracted the admiration of not only all his guild members but also most of the front lines people, he never gave any instructions or orders. I fought beside him during a couple of boss fights as well and greatly admired his ability to maintain the line without a single word.
For such a guy to put forth an objection with the condition of having a duel with me, just what on earth could it be about?
Even though I was completely confused, I spoke in order to calm Asuna down.
“...Well, let's go to Granzam first. I'll try talking to him directly.”
“Yeah... Sorry. I'm always causing you trouble...”
“I'll gladly do anything, because you're my...”
Asuna looked at me expectantly as I stopped in the middle of my sentence.
“...important partying partner.”
Asuna pouted with dissatisfaction, then revealed a warm smile.
The Strongest Man, The Living Legend, The Paladin, and et cetera— The leader of the Knights of the Blood had so many titles that you couldn't count them with your hands.
His name was Heathcliff. Before my «Dual Blades» became widely known, he was renowned as the only unique skill user amongst the six thousand players of Aincrad.
His extra skill used a sword and shield combination, both of which were cross-shaped, and allowed the user to switch freely between attack and defense. It was named «Holy Sword». I had seen it myself a couple of times and noticed that the skill's most remarkable aspect was its overwhelming defensive strength. Rumor claim that no one had ever seen his HP go into the yellow zone. During the 50th floor boss fight which had inflicted heavy casualties on the players, he had managed to hold the line by himself for ten whole minutes. This achievement remained a popular topic of conversation even today.
There was no weapon that could pierce Heathcliff's cross-shaped shield.
This was one of the most widely-accepted tenets within Aincrad.
As I arrived on the 55th floor with Asuna, I felt an indescribable nervousness. Of course, I had no intention of crossing swords with Heathcliff. I was merely going to ask him to accept Asuna's request for a temporary break from the guild; that was my only goal.
Granzam, the living area of the 55th floor, was nicknamed «Steel City». This was because Granzam, unlike the other cities which were built with stone, was mostly comprised of huge towers that were made of shining black steel. Since the city had a large number of blacksmiths, its player population was quite high. However, there weren't any trees or other greenery alongside the streets, which gave off a feeling that this city was harshly unforgiving in the winter winds.
We came through the gate plaza and walked along the road, which was made with steel plates locked into position with rivets. Asuna's footsteps seemed heavy; maybe it was because she was afraid of what might happen.
We walked amongst the steel towers for about ten minutes until an even larger tower loomed before us. Silver spears protruded out above the huge gates, while white flags with red crosses swayed in the cold wind. It was the HQ of the Knights of the Blood guild.
Asuna stopped in front of me. She looked up at the tower for a while and then said:
“Before, the HQ was a small house in a countryside village on the 39th floor. Everyone always complained that it was too small and crowded. I'm not against the guild expanding... but this city is too cold, and I don't like it...”
“Let's just get this over with quickly; then we can go get something warm to eat.”
“You're always talking about eating.”
Asuna smiled and moved her left hand to gently grasp the fingers of my right hand. She didn't even look at me, who was perplexed at her behavior, and just stood there like that for a few seconds.
“Okay, charging complete!”
Then she released my hand and began to walk towards the tower in long strides. I hurried to follow behind her.
After going up the stairs, we came across two wide-open gates, although there were two heavily-armored guards equipped with a particularly long spear on each side. Asuna walked over to them, the heels of her boots clanking against the floor. As she approached them, both of the guards greeted her by raising their spears off the ground.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
With her crisp response and her confident stride, it was hard to believe that this was the same depressed girl who had been in Agil's shop just an hour ago. Following closely behind Asuna, I passed the guards and entered the tower with her.
Like the other buildings of Granzam, this tower was also built from black steel. Its first floor was a spacious lobby, but there wasn't a single person here right now.
Thinking that the building felt even colder than the streets outside, we walked past the mosaic floor, which had been meticulously constructed from numerous metal pieces, and came to a spiral staircase.
We went up the stairs; our footsteps echoing through the hall. The staircase climbed so high, a person with low vitality stats would have collapsed halfway up. After passing countless doors, I started to worry about how much further we would still have to go. Then Asuna finally stopped in front of a cold steel door.
“This is...?”
“Yeah...”
Asuna nodded with an expression of reluctance on her face. But she seemed to have arrived at a decision right away. She raised her right hand, knocked loudly on the door, and then opened it without waiting for a reply. I squinted as bright light poured out from the room.
Inside was a round room that took up an entire floor of the tower. The walls on all four sides were made of transparent glass windows. The light that filtered through them colored the room in a monotone gray.
A huge semi-circular table stood in the center of the room; five men sat in the chairs behind it. I had never seen the four on the sides, but I recognized the one in the middle all too well. He was the paladin Heathcliff.
He didn't look all that imposing. His age was probably around twenty-five. His features were sharp like that of a scholar, and a strand of steel-grey hair hung over his forehead. The richly red robe draped around his tall, thin body made him seem more like a wizard that didn't exist in this world than a swordsman.
But the most prominent features were his eyes. Those mysterious brass eyes emitted a strong magnetism that overwhelmed people. This wasn't even my first time meeting him; but to be truthful, I was still intimidated.
Asuna walked over to the table, the sound of her boots echoing, and gave a light salute.
“I've come to say my farewell.”
Heathcliff gave a bitter smile in response:
“There's no need to rush. Please allow me to talk to him for a bit first.”
He looked my way as he said that. I drew back my hood and stood next to Asuna.
“Is this the first time I've met you outside of a boss fight, Kirito?”
“No... We talked for a while during the 67th floor strategy meeting.”
I answered in a formal tone without realizing it.
Heathcliff nodded slightly and clasped his hands together on top of the table.
“That was a difficult battle. We almost took some casualties within our guild. Even though they call us the top guild, we're always short on people. Yet now you are trying to take away one of our precious top players.”
“If she's so precious, how about putting more thought in selecting her bodyguards?”
The man on the furthest right began to stand up at my sharp retort, his expression changing. But Heathcliff stopped him with simple wave of the hand.
“I've ordered Kuradeel to return to his house and reflect upon his mistakes. I must apologize for the trouble we have caused you. But, we cannot just stand aside and allow you to take our sub-leader away. Kirito—”
He suddenly glared at me; his sharp metallic eyes showed an unwavering will behind them.
“If you want to take her— win her with your sword, with «Dual Blades». If you fight me and win, then Asuna can go with you. But if you lose, then you will have to join the Knights of the Blood.”
“...”
I felt like I could finally understand a bit of this mysterious man.
He was someone obsessed with sword duels. Furthermore, he had unshakable confidence in his own skills. He was a hopeless person who could not throw away his pride as a gamer despite being trapped in this inescapable game of death. In other words, he was the same as me.
After hearing Heathcliff's words, Asuna, who had been silent until now, opened her mouth and spoke as if she couldn't take any more of this.
“Leader, I didn't say that I would quit the guild. I just wanted a temporary leave, to get away and think about some things...”
I placed my hand on Asuna's shoulder, whose words had become more agitated, and took a step forward. I faced Heathcliff's gaze directly, and my mouth moved almost by itself.
“Okay. If you want to talk through our swords, then I have no objections. We'll decide this with a duel.”
“Auu—!!! Idiotidiotidiot!!!”
We were back in Algade, on the second floor of Agil's shop. After chasing the curious shopkeeper back to the first floor, I tried to calm Asuna down.
“I was trying so hard to convince him, yet you just had to say something like that!!!”
Asuna was sitting on the armrest of the rocking chair I was on and was using her tightly balled fists to grind against me.
“I'm sorry! I'm reaaaally sorry! I just went with the flow and...”
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