12

“…to! Kirito!”

Asuna’s near screaming woke me from the darkness. I slowly sat upright, grimacing at the splitting pain in my head.

“Owww…”

I was in the boss’s chamber. Motes of blue light still danced in the air—I hadn’t lost consciousness for more than a few seconds, it seemed.

Asuna’s face hovered over mine. She appeared to be on the verge of tears, biting her lip, her eyebrows knitted.

“You idiot! That was so reckless!” she cried, squeezing me around the neck. I was so shocked that I momentarily forgot the throbbing pain in my head.

“…Don’t strangle me too hard, or you’ll wipe out the rest of my HP,” I joked lamely, but she looked furious. A moment later, she plugged a small bottle into my lips. The liquid, which tasted like a mix of green tea and lemon juice, was a restorative hi-potion. The potion would finish restoring all of my health in just five minutes, but the feeling of weakness would last for quite a bit longer.

Asuna checked to ensure that I’d finished the entire bottle, then placed her forehead on my shoulder so I couldn’t see her face crinkling into tears.

Footsteps approached, and I heard Klein speak up hesitantly.

“We’ve healed the rest of the survivors, but Corvatz and two others are dead…”

“I see…We haven’t lost anyone to a boss since the sixty-seventh floor.”

“Can you even call this ‘winning’ the battle? The idiot…What good does it do to challenge the boss if it gets you killed?” Klein spat angrily. He shook his head and sighed, then changed the subject. “But on the other hand, what the hell did you just do?”

“…Do I have to tell you?”

“Bet your ass you do! I’ve never seen anything like that before!”

I suddenly realized that every person in the room aside from Asuna was staring at me, waiting on my answer.

“It’s an extra skill: Dual Blades.”

There was a murmur among the Army survivors and Klein’s guildmates.

SAO’s weapon skills were normally arranged into several major schools, with new categories unlocking in stages. Take swords, for example: After enough proficiency with the basic One-Handed Sword skill, other options such as Rapiers or Two-Handed Swords would become available in your skill list.

Klein pushed me for details, clearly interested.

“H-how do you unlock it?”

“If I knew that, I’d have announced it publicly.” He grunted in understanding.

There were a few weapon categories known as Extra Skills, whose requirements were unknown, possibly even random. Klein’s Katana skill was an example of this. It was one of the easier Extra Skills to obtain—most received it from relentlessly upgrading their Curved Swords skill.

Most of the dozen or so Extra Skills known throughout the game had been earned by a good ten people, at least. But my Extra Skill Dual Blades and another skill wielded by a well-known figure were the only exceptions to that rule.

Those two might as well be called “Unique Skills,” because only one person in all of Aincrad possessed them. I’d kept my dual-wield capability under wraps until now, but there was no avoiding the inevitable—by tomorrow the rest of the game would be buzzing with the second instance of a Unique Skill. There was no hiding it anymore, not after so many had just seen it in action.

“How could you keep such a crazy ability from me, Kirito?”

“If I knew how I got it, I wouldn’t be hiding it. I seriously have no idea.” I shrugged.

I wasn’t lying. One day about a year ago, I noticed that “Dual Blades” had simply popped into my skill window. There was no way of knowing what caused it to appear.

Since then, I’d been diligently working on the skill where there was no danger of being seen. Even after I’d nearly mastered it, I only ever used it while adventuring if I was in true danger—partially because I wanted it to be my safety net, partially because I didn’t want to attract extra attention if I could help it. I’d been hoping that someone else would emerge with the skill at some point, but that moment never came.

I scratched nervously behind my ear, mumbling my defense. “If people find out I’ve got this rare skill, they might bug me about it…I just don’t really want the trouble and attention…”

Klein nodded. “Online gamers are nothing if not jealous. I won’t give you grief ’cos I’m a stand-up guy, but there will always be haters out there. Besides…”

He paused, cast a glance at Asuna, who was still clamped tight to my side, and grinned widely.

“Well, consider suffering to be just another part of your training. Good luck, youngster!”

“Easy for you to say…”

Klein bent over to pat my shoulder, then turned and walked to the Army survivors. “Can you make it back to your headquarters?”

One of them nodded. He had to be a teenager still.

“Good. Tell them exactly what happened here. Convince them never to do something so reckless again.”

“Yes, sir. Um…thank you.”

“Thank him.” He jabbed a thumb at me. The Army men struggled to their feet and bowed deeply to Asuna and me, then left the room. Once they’d stepped out into the hallway, they each used a crystal to teleport out of the labyrinth.

Once the light of their travel had died out, Klein turned back to us with his hands on his hips, satisfied.

“We’re going to go activate the seventy-fifth-floor teleport gate. What’s your plan? You’re the man of the hour—want to do the honor?”

“Nah, you go ahead. I’m all tuckered out.”

“All right. Take care, then.”

Klein nodded and signaled to his friends. The group of six made its way to the large door at the back of the chamber, beyond which would be the staircase to the next floor. The lanky leader stopped at the door and turned around.

“Hey, Kirito…when I saw you leap to the Army’s rescue like that…”

“What?”

“It did my heart good. That’s all. Until next time!”

I had no idea what that meant. Klein threw me a thumbs-up over his shoulder, then opened the door and disappeared through it.

Asuna and I were all alone in the cavernous chamber. The flames emitting from the floor had died down. The previous uneasy eeriness of the room might as well never have been. It was filled with the same soft light as the hallway now, and no traces remained of the carnage that had ensued there.

I spoke to Asuna, her head still on my shoulder.

“Hey…Asuna…”

“…I was so scared…I didn’t know what I’d do if you died…”

It was as timid and trembling a voice as I’d ever heard out of her.

“Don’t be silly. Besides, you were the one who leaped in first.”

I placed a hand on Asuna’s shoulder. If I made my touch a little too obvious, the system’s harassment detection might kick in, but this wasn’t the time to be worrying about that. I pulled her gently toward me and heard her speak right near my ear, barely a whisper.

“I’m going to take a break from the guild for a while.”

“T-take a break…? What are you going to do?”

“Did you forget that I said I’d be teaming up with you?”

The instant I heard those words, I was startled to discover a powerful sensation that could only be longing welling up deep in my chest. I was Kirito the solo player. I’d cut off all ties with other human beings in order to survive. I’d turned my back on the only friend I had on the day it all began. I was a coward.

How could I seek the company of a friend—or something even greater?

I’d already learned in the most painful way possible what could happen. I’d sworn to myself that I would never make that mistake again, never open my heart to another.

And yet…

My hand was frozen. It wouldn’t leave Asuna’s shoulder. I couldn’t pull myself away from the virtual warmth that she represented.

I grappled with that massive contradiction, and enveloped by a single, unspeakable emotion, I gave her the simplest of answers.

“…All right.”

Asuna nodded over my shoulder.

The next day, I spent all morning moping in the second floor of Agil’s general store. I sat back in a rocking chair with my legs crossed, unhappily sipping a cup of oddly scented tea that was probably there because no one would buy it.

All of Algade—all of Aincrad, most likely—was buzzing with yesterday’s incident.

The completion of a floor and the opening of a new town were always cause for excitement, but there was more than usual to discuss this time around. You had the “Army battalion wiped out by a demon,” you had “a guy wielding two swords who took it down on his own with a fifty-hit combo”…I knew stories grew legs, but this was ridiculous.

Early in the morning, I was even set upon by swordsmen and intel brokers outside my home—how did they find me?—and had to use a teleport crystal just to get away from them.

“I’ve got to move out. I’ll find a real secluded, out-of-the-way floor where no one will find me,” I muttered, as Agil grinned from ear to ear.

“C’mon, big shot, don’t be like that. Everyone deserves his fifteen minutes of fame. Give them a live demonstration! I’ll just handle the ticket sales and—”

“In your dreams!”

I playfully tossed the teacup in the direction of Agil’s head, aiming a foot or two to the right, but the motion was so familiar that my Throwing Blade skill kicked in. The cup flashed brilliantly and shot across the room, exploding against the wall with a deafening crash.

Fortunately, the building itself was indestructible—all that happened was the usual system warning that popped up reading IMMORTAL OBJECT—but if I’d hit any of the furniture, it probably would have been blasted to splinters.

“Whoa! Are you trying to kill me?” the shopkeeper screamed. I apologized, my hand raised, and sat back down sheepishly.

Agil was appraising the treasure I’d brought back from yesterday’s battle. Judging from the occasional yelps of surprise, it must have contained some pretty rare loot.

Once I’d sold the goods, I was going to split the money with Asuna, but she didn’t show up when we were due to meet. I sent her an in-game message through my friends list so she knew where to find me.

We’d gone our separate ways at the seventy-fourth-floor teleport gate yesterday. Asuna said she’d submit a notice of leave from the KoB and headed to their headquarters in Grandzam on the fifty-fifth floor. There was the matter with Kuradeel to report as well, so I offered to come along and corroborate her story, but she smiled and said she was fine alone.

It was already two hours after our meeting time. Something must have happened to make her so late. Should I have insisted on going with her after all? I drank down the rest of the tea, trying to keep my anxiety from rising.

By the time the teapot was entirely empty and Agil was mostly finished appraising my items, I finally heard the tapping of quick footsteps coming up the stairs. The door flew open.

“Yo, Asuna…”

But I swallowed my lighthearted tease before it could leave my throat. Asuna was in her usual uniform, but her face was pale and her eyes were wide with concern. She clenched her hands in front of her chest and bit her lip several times before finally saying, “What’ll we do, Kirito?” Her voice verged on tears. “There’s been…some trouble.”

Once we’d made some fresh tea and Asuna regained some color in her cheeks, she began to explain. Agil was considerate enough to tend to the storefront downstairs.

“After everything that happened yesterday, I went to guild HQ in Grandzam to report to the commander. I told him that I wanted to take some time away from the guild, then went home for the night…and I was expecting that decision to be accepted at this morning’s meeting, but…”

Asuna looked down at the cup of tea she held in both hands.

“The commander claimed that he’d only agree to my temporary leave on one condition. He wants to have…a one-on-one with you…

“What…?”

For an instant, I didn’t understand. One-on-one? Like a duel? How did Asuna’s leave of absence turn into that? I asked her.

“I don’t know, either,” she murmured, hanging her head. “I tried to convince him it was pointless, but…he just wouldn’t listen.”

“That’s strange. I didn’t think he was the type of man to put forth a condition like that,” I said, picturing the image of the fellow as I knew him.

“Exactly. Normally, he entrusts the guild affairs and even the labyrinth strategy to us. He doesn’t give a single order of his own. This seems to be an exception…”

The commander of the Knights of the Blood was such a compelling figure that he roused the hearts of not just his own guild, but virtually all the high-level players active in clearing the game. Yet he hardly ever issued orders. I’d been in his presence during boss battles on multiple occasions, and his silent support for all involved was worthy of admiration.

So it was extremely odd that he chose this moment, of all moments, to cast a contrary vote and challenge me to a duel. I was puzzled, but I also wanted to put Asuna at ease.

“Well, anyway…I’ll go to Grandzam and see if I can help straighten this out.”

“Sorry about this. I didn’t mean to cause you so much trouble.”

“I’ll do anything. You mean a lot to…”

I stopped to search for the right words. Asuna watched me closely.

“You’re a valuable ally in beating the game after all.”

Her mouth twisted in slight disappointment, but then she gave me a smile at last.

The strongest man in Aincrad. The living legend. The paladin. The leader of the Knights of the Blood was a man of many monikers.

His name was Heathcliff. Before the stories about my Dual Blades made the rounds, he was the only player out of six thousand known to possess a Unique Skill.

Heathcliff’s ability was Holy Sword, a skill that balanced offense and defense, and he appropriately wore a sword and shield fashioned into the shape of a cross. When I’d seen him use it in battle, it was the defense that floored me. Rumor held that no one had ever seen his HP bar fall into the yellow zone. His single-handed, ten-minute command of the ravaged front line in the catastrophic battle with the fiftieth-floor boss was the stuff of legend.

It was one of the unshakeable truths of Aincrad: No blade could break Heathcliff’s cruciform shield.

Now, standing on the fifty-fifth floor with Asuna, I was gripped with nerves. I had no intention of crossing swords with Heathcliff, of course. I was simply going to ask him to consider granting Asuna temporary leave from the guild.

Grandzam was the main city of the fifty-fifth floor, known as the “City of Iron.” Most of the towns of Aincrad were built of stone, but the countless minarets of Grandzam were gleaming steel. It was full of blacksmiths and engravers, and while the town boasted a considerable population, there was nothing in the way of greenery within. When the deepening autumn winds blew, Grandzam was undeniably cold, and it wasn’t just the temperature.

We crossed the teleport gate square and walked down a main street made of polished steel plates riveted into place. Asuna’s pace was slow—she feared what was about to happen.

After nearly ten minutes of winding through the towers, one came into view that was much larger than the others. A number of silver spears jutted out from above the large front door, and a banner bearing a red cross on a white field hung rippling in the chill breeze. It was the headquarters of the Knights of the Blood.

Asuna stopped in front of the building and looked up at the tower.

“Before this, our base was just a tiny little house in a remote town on the thirty-ninth floor. We used to complain about how cramped it was. I’m not saying that it’s a bad thing we’ve come a long way since then…but I hate this town. It’s so cold…”

“Let’s get this over with and find something hot to eat, then.”

“Is eating all you think about?”

She laughed, swinging her hand over and lightly squeezing the tips of my fingers. She held it there for several seconds, not seeing the panic on my face, then released her grip and said, “All recharged!” She began striding toward the tower, and I hurried to keep up.

We climbed a wide staircase to a large, open doorway, flanked by soldiers in heavy armor with frighteningly long spears. As the clicking of Asuna’s boots drew nearer, they raised their weapons and saluted with a clank.

“Keep up the good work.”

She returned a crisp salute with one hand, walking briskly. It was hard to imagine that this was the same person who’d been moping in Agil’s shop just an hour earlier. I hurriedly followed Asuna past the guards and into the tower.

The first-floor lobby of the tower was made of the same black steel as the rest of the city, and it served as a giant stairwell. There was no one inside.

I crossed the floor, a finely crafted mosaic of different kinds of metal, feeling that the building was somehow even colder than the rest of the town. The spiral staircase started at the far end of the lobby.

We climbed the stairs, our clanging footsteps echoing throughout. The tower was tall enough that a person with a weaker strength stat would give up halfway. We passed many doorways, and just when I began to wonder how much farther we could possibly go, Asuna stopped. We were in front of a nondescript metal door.

“Is this it?”

“Yep.” Asuna nodded hesitantly. But she eventually steeled her nerves, gave the door a high-pitched knock, and then opened it without waiting for an answer. I had to squint at the overwhelming light that poured through the doorway.

It was a large, circular room that took up the entire floor of the tower. All the walls were made of clear glass. The gray light that streamed inside painted the entire room in a drab monotone.

A large, semicircular desk was placed in the middle of the room, surrounded by five chairs, each of which seated a man. I didn’t recognize the four on the sides, but there was no way to mistake the man sitting in the middle. It was Heathcliff the paladin.

There was nothing imposing about his appearance. He looked to be a man in his twenties, rather scholarly, with a pointed face, as if filed down. Grayish bangs flowed over his high forehead. His tall and slender body was draped in a crimson robe that made him look less like a swordsman than the magicians that this game notably lacked.

But it was his eyes that were most notable. Those brass-colored irises seemed to throw a magnetic field over whatever they met. I’d been around him before, but I felt as intimidated as if it were our first meeting.

Asuna strode over to the table, her boots clicking, and gave a brief bow.

“I’ve come to say my farewell.”

Heathcliff gave a wry smile. “There’s no need to rush to that conclusion. Let me talk with him first.”

And he cast his gaze upon me. I lowered my hood and walked up next to Asuna.

“I don’t believe we’ve met outside of the boss battles, Kirito.”

“Not quite. We did speak briefly at the planning meeting for the sixty-seventh floor,” I answered politely. Heathcliff gave a slight nod, then clasped his angular hands together on top of the table.

“That was a painful battle. We nearly lost some good people in that one. They call us the top guild, but our abilities are constantly stretched to the breaking point. And yet, you want to remove one of our core members, a pillar of our guild.”

“If she’s that important, you should put more care into picking her guards.”

The burly man in the rightmost chair bolted out of his seat at my curt reply, his face a dark mask. But Heathcliff held up a hand calmly.

“Kuradeel is serving a period of house arrest. I apologize for his transgression. But I’m afraid we cannot watch our vice commander leave without so much as a comment, Kirito…”

He stared me down. I could sense a powerful will behind the metallic glimmer of those eyes.

“If you want her, you must take her by sword—your Dual Blades, in fact. Fight me, and if you win, you may take Asuna with you. Lose, and you must join the Knights of the Blood.”

“…”

I finally felt as though I was beginning to understand the mysterious man.

He was drawn to the allure of battle. And he had absolute faith in his abilities. Even trapped prisoner inside this game of death, he still couldn’t cast off his gamer’s ego. Just like me.

Asuna had been silently listening to everything Heathcliff said, but she couldn’t hold back any longer.

“Commander, I’m not saying I want to quit the guild. I just need a bit of personal time to think about my situation.”

I placed a hand on Asuna’s shoulder as she tried to plead her case and took a step forward. I walked directly into Heathcliff’s gaze. My mouth seemed to move on its own.

“I accept. Speaking with my sword is my preference anyway. Let’s settle this with a duel.”

“You jerk! You stupid, stupid jerk!”

We were back upstairs at Agil’s store in Algade. I kicked the owner back down the stairs when he tried to peek in and observe, and now I was desperately trying to calm Asuna down.

“I was going to try and convince him myself! Why did you have to say that?”

She was sitting on the armrest of my rocking chair, bopping me with her little fists.

“Sorry, I said I was sorry! I just couldn’t help it…”

I grabbed her wrists and held them lightly to make her stop. With this method of venting denied her, she settled on puffing out her cheeks instead. It was hard not to laugh at the difference between this Asuna and the one who was all business at the guild.

“Don’t worry about it. We’ll be safe—it’ll be under the one-hit-victory rule. Besides, it’s not like I’m guaranteed to lose…”

“Arrrgh…”

Asuna groaned and crossed her slender legs, still sitting on the armrest.

“When I saw your Dual Blades in action, it seemed like you were on another dimension entirely in terms of power. But that goes for the commander’s Holy Sword ability, too…His aura of invincibility practically destroys the game balance. I honestly don’t know which of you will win. Besides, what happens if you lose? Not only will I not get a break, but you’ll be forced to join the KoB!”

“Depending on how you think of it, that might satisfy my goal as well.”

“Huh? Why?”

I had to force myself to continue.

“I mean, as long as I’m with you…that’s all I need.”

Previously, you couldn’t have held me upside down and shaken those words out of me. Asuna’s eyes went wide with surprise, and her face blushed red so fast it was practically audible. As the pause stretched on, she got up from her chair and went to stand by the window. Over her shoulder, Algade buzzed with its usual activity in the evening light.

I’d told her the honest truth, but I still didn’t want to join a guild. I thought about the guild I’d been in before, the guild that no longer existed, and a dagger of pain jabbed into my chest.

I won’t go down that easily, I told myself. I got up and joined Asuna at the window. After a few moments, I felt her head rest lightly against my shoulder.