7

9:00 AM

The weather was set to “lightly cloudy.” The morning fog enshrouding the city still hung thick, refracting the sunlight from the aperture into fine particles and dyeing the sights in lemon yellow.

According to Aincrad’s calendar, this was the Month of the Ash Tree, deeper into autumn. The air was cool on the skin, the most refreshing of all the seasons, but my mood was downcast.

I stood in the teleport gate square on the seventy-fourth floor, waiting for Asuna. For once, I’d struggled to sleep, tossing and turning in my bed back in Algade. I don’t think I finally passed out until after three in the morning. SAO has a number of useful features to assist players, but a button that would instantly put you to sleep was sadly not one of them.

But for some reason, it can do the opposite. The main menu has a “forced alarm” option that will automatically wake you up to the music of your choice, though it can’t prevent you from falling back asleep. I’d set my alarm to 8:50 and successfully managed to roll out of bed.

It was gospel to the great unwashed hordes of SAO that there was no need to bathe or change clothes—you could take a bath if you wanted, but the liquid simulation was rather taxing on the NerveGear, and it just wasn’t quite up to the standards of a real bath. So a mere twenty seconds after waking up, I was in my armor, shuffling off to Algade’s teleport gate and struggling with my lack of sleep, because I was supposed to be meeting Asuna. And yet…

“She’s not coming…”

It was already ten past the hour. Diligent clearers were popping out of the gate one after the other and heading off to the labyrinth. Since I didn’t have anything better to do, I opened my menu to pore over the already memorized labyrinth map and check on my skill progress. I was briefly disgusted when I caught myself hoping for a handheld game console of some kind to kill time.

Itching to play a video game inside a video game? It was enough to make me want to crawl back into bed…when the blue light of the teleport gate flashed again. I automatically flicked my eyes over, not expecting much, when—

“Aaaah! L-look out!”

“Whaaa?!”

Normally, you pop out of a teleport gate with your boots firmly on the ground, but for some reason, this person materialized several feet in the air—and flying directly at me.

“Wh…what the…?”

There was no time to duck or brace myself for the impact. We collided at full force and sprawled onto the paving stones, the back of my head smacking hard. If we weren’t in the safety of town, I’d have easily lost a few ticks off my HP bar.

I was piecing it all together in my head. Whoever this idiot was had probably jumped directly into the teleport gate, emerging on the other side with the same balance and momentum as before. Grappling with wooziness, I lifted my right hand up to shove the moron off me and squeezed.

“…?”

The sensation on my hand was not at all unpleasant. Trying to identify the soft but resilient material, I squeezed a few more times.

“Aaaah!!”

A piercing scream erupted directly in my ear, and the back of my head was slammed into the pavement again. The weight finally lifted off. Back to my senses from this new impact, I bolted upright.

Before me was a female player, sitting on the ground. She wore a knight’s uniform with red stitching on a white background, a miniskirt, a silver rapier hung in a scabbard, and for some reason, a vicious glare of pure murder. The emotion simulator plastered her face red from ear to ear, and her arms were crossed tightly over her…chest…?

Suddenly I realized what I’d been squeezing. And with that came the belated recognition of my present danger. All of my finely honed escape instincts forgotten, I sat frozen with my mouth an open circle, my hand helplessly closing and opening.

“H-hey…morning, Asuna.”

It seemed as though the malice in her eyes grew hotter. They were the eyes of someone debating whether or not to draw her weapon.

Just as I began to seriously consider the option of dropping everything and fleeing for my life, the teleport gate flashed again. Asuna spun around with a start, hastily getting to her feet and circling around behind me.

“Wha…?”

I stood there, confused. The gate grew brighter and brighter until a new figure emerged. This one had the good sense to be standing upright.

When the light faded, a familiar face came into view. Another ostentatious white cape with red insignia—it was the Knights of the Blood uniform. He was clad in loud plate armor, just a bit too ornamental for its own good, and a large double-handed sword. It was the long-haired guard who’d attended to Asuna yesterday. Kuradeel, if I recalled his name correctly.

As Kuradeel walked out of the gate and spotted us standing together, the furrows between his eyebrows grew deeper. He couldn’t have been that old, probably in his early twenties, but the wrinkles made him look much older. He clenched his teeth so hard it was practically audible and spoke with barely suppressed rage.

“L…Lady Asuna, this willful behavior will not do!”

The hysterical tone to his high-pitched voice told me this was nothing but trouble. Kuradeel continued, his beady eyes flashing white.

“Come, Lady Asuna, let us return to the guild.”

“No way, I’m not on guild duty today! Besides, why were you camping out in front of my house this morning?” She sounded plenty angry herself, behind my back.

“Hah! I had a premonition this might happen. As a matter of fact, I’ve been performing early-morning guard duties here in Selmburg for the past month.”

It was hard not to be taken aback by Kuradeel’s arrogant response. Asuna was equally frozen with shock. She spoke after a long pause, her voice hard.

“That…wasn’t on the commander’s orders, was it…?”

“My orders are to guard you, end of story! Naturally, that includes home observation…”

“N-no, it doesn’t, you idiot!”

Kuradeel’s expression instantly flashed with greater irritation. He stormed over, muscled me out of the way, and grabbed Asuna’s arm.

“Please, my lady, see reason. Come back to headquarters.”

Asuna momentarily shrank back at the barely controlled force in his voice. She cast a pleading glance in my direction.

Until that moment, I’d been grappling with my typical instinct to flee and avoid trouble. But the look in her eyes caused my hand to move of its own accord. It closed around the wrist of Kuradeel’s offending hand, just soft enough not to set off the anti-criminal code within the safe limits of town.

“Sorry, pal. I’m renting out your vice commander for the day.” It was a groaner of a line, but there was no turning back now. Forced to acknowledge my existence at last, Kuradeel swung his arm away, his face a mask of rage.

“Insolent brat!” he gnashed. Even accounting for SAO’s tendency to exaggerate facial expressions, something in his face seemed to have gone off the rails.

“I’ll take responsibility for Asuna’s safety. We’re not running off to fight a boss today. You can go back to your HQ.”

“N-nonsense! I would never leave Lady Asuna in the hands of a no-name like you! I am a full member of the Knights of the Blood—”

“I’ll do a much better job of it than you.”

Honestly, I shouldn’t have said that one.

“Why, you snotty little…If you’re going to talk the talk, then let’s see you walk the walk.”

His face pale, Kuradeel pulled open his window with a trembling hand. A translucent system message appeared before me, but I didn’t need to read it to know what it was.

Kuradeel has challenged you to a one-on-one duel. Do you accept?

Beside the clinical words were buttons for YES and NO and a few options. I glanced at Asuna next to me. She couldn’t see the prompt, but she seemed to understand what was happening. I assumed that she’d tell us to knock it off, but to my surprise, she gave a curt nod, her face hard.

“Are you sure? Is this going to cause trouble within the guild?” I muttered. She responded in the same low tone.

“Don’t worry, I’ll report to the commander.”

I nodded and pressed the YES button, selecting FIRST STRIKE out of the list of victory conditions. This meant that whoever inflicted a heavy blow first or got his opponent down to 50 percent HP would win the duel. The message changed to read, You have agreed to a one-on-one duel with Kuradeel, accompanied by a minute-long countdown. When that clock reached zero, the HP protections afforded us by the town would disappear, and we’d battle until a winner emerged.

Kuradeel seemed to have found his own unique interpretation of Asuna’s consent.

“Watch closely, Lady Asuna! You’ll see that no one else is fit to stand guard for you!” he cried in a tone that suggested madness, noisily unsheathing his massive sword in a theatrical display.

Once I’d seen Asuna take several steps back to give us room, I pulled out my own weapon. True to his status as a member of an elite guild, his blade was certainly more impressive than mine. Not only was his two-handed sword much larger than my weapon, it was also augmented with some of the finest decorative craftwork you could see in the game. In comparison, my sword was simple, unadorned, and of average size.

We took positions about five yards apart. The countdown hadn’t finished, but an audience was already forming. This wasn’t a surprise—we were right next to the teleport gate in the middle of town, and both of us were reasonably well-known players.

“Look, Kirito the solo and someone from the KoB are starting a duel!” someone cried out, and the crowd raised a cheer. Duels were normally between friends testing their skills, so the gallery roared, hooting and whistling, unaware of the ugly dispute that had led to this moment.

As the count dwindled, the din of the crowd faded. Much like when I faced a monster, I could feel frozen cords of pure concentration piercing my body. My entire focus was trained on Kuradeel, who was clearly annoyed by the onlookers. I watched the way he held his sword, the opening of his stance.

The tricks and tells of what skill you were about to use were much more important when fighting another human being than when fighting the AI-controlled monsters of SAO. Giving away too much information—whether your next move was to charge or defend, going high or ducking low—could be the difference between victory and defeat in a duel against another player.

Kuradeel held his sword at mid-level, balancing the weight of the blade, his waist slightly crouched forward—clear signs of an upper-thrust attack. This could have been a feint, of course. I myself was loosely holding my sword downward, giving off the appearance that I’d strike low and fast to begin. Only instinct and experience could help you win a game of bluffs.

The count reached single digits, and I closed the window. I couldn’t even hear the crowd anymore.

Kuradeel’s eyes bounced back and forth between the countdown and me until he finally tensed up, his entire body still. A purple sign flashing DUEL!! blinked into the space between us, and I leaped forward in the same instant. Sparks flew from the soles of my boots, and the air growled as I sliced through it.

Kuradeel burst into motion as well, just the faintest moment after I did, but a look of shock was plastered across his face. Instead of pouncing low to receive his attack, I was charging full-speed.

As I suspected, Kuradeel’s initial move was Avalanche, a greatsword upward dash skill. It was an excellent attack—even if you managed to block it, the impact was too strong to transition to an effective counterattack, and if you dodged, the lengthy charge distance gave the attacker plenty of time to turn around and prepare for you. If you were a monster, that is.

Knowing that it was coming, I’d chosen Sonic Leap, another upward charge attack. Our skills would be intersecting in midair.

His attack was more powerful than mine. Furthermore, when two attacks collide, the heavier one is given the advantage. Under normal circumstances, my sword would be jolted aside, and although the impact would weaken his blow, it’d probably still be enough to win the duel. But I wasn’t trying to hit Kuradeel himself.

We closed simultaneously at blinding speed, but my senses were accelerated, slowing down my perception of time. Whether this was the SAO system giving me a boost or just my natural human instincts was unclear. At any rate, I could easily see every little movement he made as he unleashed his attack.

The greatsword held far behind his back came rushing up at me, trailing orange light. He was apparently a worthy member of that elite guild, as his skill came faster than I was expecting. If that glowing blade hit me, it could inflict critical damage, duel or not. Kuradeel’s face was flush with mad excitement, his victory all but assured. Except…

My sword was faster. It flew in a diagonal arc, its own light yellow-green, intersecting with the side of the greatsword just as it was about to connect with me. Sparks exploded from the collision.

It was the other possible outcome when two blades meet: weapon destruction.

This rarely ever happens, of course. It’s only possible when a skill is just beginning or ending, no hit detection has occurred yet, and a powerful outside force strikes the weakest structural point or angle of the weapon.

But I knew it would break. The most finely ornamental swords didn’t stand up to rigorous combat.

And with an earsplitting metallic crack, Kuradeel’s two-handed sword split apart, right along the side. Glowing lights burst in every direction like a bomb exploding. Our bodies continued through the air, and we each landed on the other’s launching point. The half of his sword that fractured off flew through the air, flashing in the sunlight, then clattered on the pavement between us. Soon after, both the broken edge and the hilt still clutched in Kuradeel’s hand crumbled into countless tiny polygons.

The square was silent for several moments. All stood stock-still, mouths agape. I rose from my landing position, swung my sword left and right out of habit, and a cheer rose all around us.

I could hear individual voices picking apart our exchange, wondering if I really meant to do that. I had to bottle up a sigh—it didn’t feel right to have to show off a secret trick like that before a crowd of onlookers.

My sword still in hand, I turned and walked slowly to Kuradeel, still slumped on the ground. His back was trembling beneath the white cape. I audibly pushed my sword back into its scabbard to draw his attention and then spoke in a low voice.

“I’ll wait if you want to switch weapons…but I think we’ve settled this.”

Kuradeel did not look at me, but he scraped his nails into the stones with apparent rage, his frame quivering. Finally, his voice grating, he said, “I resign,” in English. It would have been perfectly valid to say it in Japanese, though.

The purple text flashed again in the same location, this time marking the end of the duel and announcing the winner. Another cheer rose from the throng. Kuradeel lurched to his feet and screamed at the onlookers.

“This isn’t a sideshow! Move along!” He slowly turned to face me. “I will kill you…On my word, you will die by my hand.”

I couldn’t deny that the look in his eyes sent a shiver down my spine. SAO’s emotion display engine may have had a penchant for being overly expressive, but even accounting for that, the sheer hatred in Kuradeel’s beady eyes was more ferocious than any monster. I held back silently as someone stepped forward beside me.

“Kuradeel, as vice commander of the Knights of the Blood, I hereby relieve you of your guard duty. Return to guild headquarters to await further orders.”

Asuna’s voice was even frostier than her look suggested, but I could sense the note of suppressed pain in it and unconsciously put a hand on her shoulder. Her tense body shifted slightly, leaning some of its weight on me.

“…Wh…wha…? You…little…”

I heard it faintly. Kuradeel glared at us, a hundred foul curses and epithets spilling out under his breath. I could see the gears working in his head, a plot forming to equip his backup weapon and attack us, anti-crime limitations be damned.

But he controlled himself and pulled a teleport crystal from the underside of his cape. Gripping it so tightly he could have crushed the stone, he sputtered, “T-teleport: Grandzam.” Kuradeel continued glaring at us with sheer loathing until the blue light subsided and he disappeared for good.

The square hung with an uncomfortable silence. The onlookers all appeared as shocked as though Kuradeel had directed his vitriol directly at them, and bit by bit, they broke off and wandered away. Finally, only Asuna and I remained.

My mind screamed at me to say something, anything, but I’d spent the last two years honing my skills in combat, not mingling in society. I didn’t have anything clever or considerate to say. I wasn’t even sure if it was a good thing that I’d accepted the duel and won.

Asuna finally took a step away and said, without any of her usual vigor, “I’m sorry. You didn’t need to be dragged into that.”

“Uh, I’m fine. How are you doing?”

The vice commander of the most powerful guild in the game shook her head slowly, flashing a brave but frail smile.

“Well, I suppose I’m partially responsible for pushing the guild to follow rules in order to prioritize beating the game…”

“I don’t think you can be blamed for that. I mean, if it wasn’t for people like you, we’d be way further behind on conquering the castle. I know that means nothing coming from a solo player like me. But…what I mean is…”

I’d totally lost sight of what I wanted to say and grasped for the right words.

“If you feel like you need to take a breather by partying up with someone irresponsible like me, I don’t think anyone has a right to blame you for it.”

Asuna looked stunned. She blinked several times, then broke into a halfhearted grin.

“Well…thanks for saying that. Maybe I will accept your offer and take it easy for a day. Thanks for taking forward position!”

She spun around and headed toward the town gate.

“Uh, hey, you’re supposed to trade off at forward!” I complained, breathed a sigh of relief, and followed the swaying chestnut hair.