..:Aɪɴᴄʀᴀᴅ Nᴇxᴜs:.. [Cʏᴘʜᴇʀxᴋ2 & Iʀᴏɴɪᴄ]

He was late to the boss fight, by about 20 minutes or so, but when he appeared again, a sentinal was sent sailing over Asuna's head by a high speed "Stinger" sword skill. Flipping his Devil's Cry into a reversed grip, he loosed a charged Raiser's Divide at another Sentinal, killing it despite it's heavily armored body. He was slightly over leveled for this, it seemed. Whatever, if this ended it quicker then he wouldn't complain. Turning into a weapon lock with another Sentinel, he was left open to attack by a fourth one to his right Flank.

A female ninja in cybernetic armor, something he threw in as a gag, stopped the Sentinel from hitting him and shoved it away. Taking that as a cue, he let his claymore twist and turned with it. The sentinel he was engaged with slammed his mace into the floor as he caught it in the neck with a unward slash. That badly hurt that one, making it charge him. Time for a new tactic on this one.

"Where'd you go, Caliban?" Trystal called, watching as he jumped once, seem to land on a magic seal that he jumped off of, and sliced the Sentinel from behind with a Helm breaker attack.

"Small side quest that was required to access the next floor." He said, noticing that his party had increased in size by one,"In any case, where did our new member come from?"

"There's no time for questions, Midnight Reaper." The Cyborg Ninja cut in, easily taking out two fresh Sentinels at once with a seemingly carefree swing of her Katana, "It will begin again shortly, and the AI that you tried to save awaits you and her mother on the next floor. Only you and she can end this coming horror. I will aid you with information, but you must survive using all your knowledge and skill. Life has guided an angel to your side. You must give that angel reason to stay."

"Wait, What do you mean Yui is waiting for her mother and me on the next floor?!" He yelled at the Ninja, only to see she was gone, "Hey, get back here!!"

15 minutes after that, he looked just in time to see Illfang freeze mid-attack. Suddenly, something seemed to throw him, Trystal, and Asuna together as a red circle covered the floor around boss and minions. All of Squads A and B were inside the circle, as well as half of Squads C, D, E, and G. Jasper was caught in the circle as well, pounding on an invisible barrier that separated them from each other. Everyone outside was hit with paralysis, though he fought through it to reach the barrier and Jasper.

"Greetings players, by now you will be well into the battle with Illfang the Kolbold Lord. My congratulations on such a hard fought battle, but it's time for the stage to be reset." A booming voice said, seeming to come from everywhere as Illfang vanished, only to be replaced by The Gleam Eyes,"To the survivors of Sword Art Online, I apologize for returning you to the darkness you escaped from 3 years ago, but I must see for myself the horrors that transpired. I must discover what drove you to fight as you did to survive that nightmare. I ask you to stay out of this, you've suffered enough."

He felt his gut go into freefall as he understood exactly what was being said. A check of his menu confirmed that the log out option was gone, but a new menu option label, "Administration" was under the options menu. He closed his menu as he looked at Jasper, suddenly feeling tears falling as he realized his fellow party member would be lost. He looked down as a friend request from Jasper popped up, which he accepted without a second thought. Though he couldn't hear Jasper, he made a promise through a text message.

"I'll clear this game, I'll clear it for both of us. I swear to you, I will."

"Just live your life. There's no need to seek revenge or vengeance for me. I have terminal lung cancer, in a way, this is a blessing for me. Just tell my family I love them more than anything. Take this too, it's a healing spell called Salvation. Remember me when you use it, and don't turn your back on Trystal or Asuna, They need you. All I ask is this. Survive, you have to.........."

"JAAASSSSSPPPPPPEEEEERRRRRR!!!!!!!" He screamed, only able to watch helplessly as the Gleam Eyes left a trail of devastation in it's wake, ending with his teammate.

On his HUD, almost half of the health bars for the raid party disappeared, never to return. He howled in anger and grievous frustration. Even punched the barrier a few times as he cried for the loss of life. The owner of that voice would pay dearly. God have mercy on his soul, for his ass would be his.

"You have six months to clear 50 floors. Fail and you will die when the update terminates. I pray you make it in time." The voice continued, sounding genuinely pained over the loss of life it had a hand in causing, "Your bodies have been moved to a research center for observation and care. Families have been notified and well compensated for your participation in this experiment. Do enjoy yourselves in the meantime."

"You.... You.... You're no better than Kayaba Akihiko!!!" He screamed in fury, his magic becoming visible around him as he yelled at the voice, "Forcing people to fight for their lives just so you can have live fucking lab rats!! That is fucking sick and inhumane on so many levels. You better fucking pray I die in here, but I if I survive this shit. Even Hell won't be able to hide you from me!!!!"

His Devil's Cry was replaced by his Elucidator and he pulled out the Dark Repulsor as well, somehow fully restored and in a amethyst color as he engaged the Gleam eyes alone. His anger was transposed into a status effect called Berserk, which overrode his paralysis. The Gleam Eyes, though leagues higher in level, was losing health alarmingly fast. It wasn't long before it was HP critical. It became wilder and more aggressive then, not letting him get an attack in as his own health was in the red as well while he locked in a cross block. He needed help and he needed it now.
 
Whirling her head around she would notice Caliban arriving fashionably late. “Awesome for you to join us.” She spat the words at him, tinged with sarcasm. “It’s this floor that we’re worried about now, not the second floor just yet. We have to take it step-by-step.” Her voice tensed up when she spoke due to her vigorous fighting as she exerted every muscle in her body for strength.

Asuna paid little to no attention to the female ninja, preoccupied with her battle with the minions beginning to circulate around her. Everyone else around her had their own fight to deal with, leaving Asuna to try and fend for herself as she tried to think of a quick strategy to defeat the three minions at once.

Suddenly, and out of reflex, she used her Star Splash rapier skill; a high-level-8-hit combo. She begins with three short thrusts, one at each minion’s chest, provoking the targets to raise their guard up. Although the first three thrusts do not deal much damage, the number of hits and speed is overwhelming. Afterwards, the three thrusts are followed by two slashes at the minion’s now undefended legs. Asuna then performs two strong jabs high and low, followed by a final strong stab at each of the minion’s chests. All three of them turn to pixelated mush, the girl breathing heavy from her harsh battle.

"Wait, What do you mean Yui is waiting for her mother and me on the next floor?!" Caliban screamed at the disappearing female ninja, causing Asuna’s eyes to broaden and her mouth to gawk open in disbelief. Yui… is alive? How did he know who she was? Just as Asuna started to race towards him to find the answers she was searching for she paused out of nowhere, her body paralyzed from the head down. Was she glitching? As her eyes glanced around everyone was in the same position as her, Caliban fighting through it out of sheer force and will and managing to break free. No matter how hard Asuna tries she couldn't.

A ferocious voice echoed inside of the thick walls inside of the raid, reverberating and resounding inside of her ears. No… no no no! This cannot be… This. Can’t. Happen. Again. Was this another nightmare? Maybe she was just dreaming, but this wasn’t a dream no matter how hard she pretended as she laid in her paralyzed state. Streams of river-like tears flowed down her face as it pitter-pattered on the hard floor under her. A group of players were trapped and Caliban tried to save their comrade Jasper from his uncertain fate. Why… Why did this anonymous individual kill people already? To prove to everyone that this horror has been revived?

Every player’s avatars slowly began to change into what their true appearances were in real life, Asuna’s not changing at all but others around her drastically shifting. Trystal, Jasper and Caliban all changed radically, not even close to how their avatars appeared. Everyone always questions what the player on the other side really looks like in real life, this hack definitely solving those answers.


“Jasper, don’t say that! You have every right to live! We’re a team!” Asuna hollered at the top of her lungs, tears heavily pouring down like a hurricane. “Don’t surrender, fight!!! Fight like you did before!!!” She wept as she tried to break free, but her attempts were failed as the game would override all actions.

Sadly, despite her screams of despair and reassurance that both she and Caliban gave to Jasper it was no use. The Gleam Eyes was merciless, killing the group in a single swipe of his weapon. A huge chunk of usernames would eternally disappear from her screen, millions of pixels flying into the air to rid of what was left of the players, Jasper’s remains being one of them before they evaporated into thin air, as if he never walked this virtual reality.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!” Trystal cried out, her heart aching in incredulity. Despite his fate he still managed to smile all throughout the ordeal, not wanting to leave them with memories of his crying face before he disappeared. He would be remembered in a heroic way, always and forever. The paralysis effect finally ceased, Trysal and Asuna falling flat on the ground as Caliban fought through the boss as everyone else regained their voluntary actions.

“…No…No…” Asuna’s knees and palms stayed on the floor as her head bowed down, tears dripping onto the back of her hand as she wept for the deceased and her memories. “NO!!!!” She screamed as her cries grew louder, oblivious to the fight before her. She didn’t care anymore, it was over for her.

“Asuna, stop acting like an idiot!” Trystal raised her voice as she forcibly gripped her upper arm to draw her back onto her feet, slapping her in the face. “Get ahold of yourself, we need to beat this again! We’re in this together, and no matter how much we cry it isn’t going to solve anything.” Trystal held onto her shoulders as she looked her into the eyes, making sure each word pierced into her soul to awaken her up. “I want to see the fighter I looked up to back on SAO.” Trystal was about to say something else until she noticed Caliban’s health turn red, her heart skipping a beat. “Before we lose another friend, please, snap out of it! Caliban needs our help!” Asuna blinked a few times, coming out of the pit of despair she fell into. Her body pivoted around in his direction, seeing what Trystal said for herself.

“Caliban, switch!” She shouted as they both darted towards the beast, everyone else in the raid group fighting off minions that kept responding endlessly. Their roles were critical damage to the boss, being known for the strongest in SAO. Trystal aggro’d the Gleam Eyes, causing him to whip around as she grabbed his attention. Asuna dashed to his backside, using her Linear skill; a basic 1-hit rapier strike. Her rapier darted into a single thrust straight forward by holding the rapier in front of her body and then putting in a twist from there. Sparks of light flew around the impacted wound as the boss flew away from her, the bright glow of the rapier disappearing like smoke vanishing in the wind. His health was dangerously low, one more attack and it would be called quits.

“Caliban, hit him one last time to get the final hit reward! We’ll distract him so you don’t get hit!” Trystal barked as she dodged a blow with her shield from the boss, the impact making her skid against the floor before he moved to Asuna. She jumped like a prancing deer, missing the waves of his fists until the next swing of his fist was unpredictable and smashed into her backside, causing her to fall face-first on the floor before her body tumbled a few feet from her landing point.

“I’m fine, just make sure he gets the last attack!” Asuna managed to yell out as her face winced in pain, her health in yellow.
 
Springboarding abruptly off Trystal's shield, the Elucidator and Dark Repulsor in his hands erupted with lightning and flames around the blades as he launched into a magically enhanced Starburst Stream in mid air. The sword skill was done instinctively so his mana points and sp weren't affected. He knew about the sword skill because he remembered when Kirito had described it to Agil. The fact he had the passive skill Air hike from his Devil's Cry was how he could continue his combo in mid-air. His last hit was a high speed spin attack that hit upward of 30 times on top of the 16 that came with the Starburst Stream. After kicking of off the Gleam Eyes' face, he landed facing away from the boss as it shattered into millions of blue pixelated particles.

"Show's over, Shirley." He said, kneeling on one knee as both swords were held in a reverse grip.

Standing, he sheathed both swords before he collapsed.

(Not where I would like it to be but I'm deciding to post it as is due to my family severely pissing me off.)
 
Caliban's health was blinking as the red bar almost diminished into nothing. Asuna and Trystal both ran towards him in arms length until their bodies shimmered in a blue light before they all were teleported out of the raid and on the grassy fields of the second floor. Asuna's back was laid against the tall green grass as the sun shined down against her face, blinding her eyes and causing her to squint in confusion. She sat up and turned her head around to see if anyone was nearby, Trystal and Caliban both laying on the ground. All of their health was restored after arriving to the new floor.

"Caliban, are you okay?" Asuna murmured as she knelt over his unconscious body, placing a hand on his forearm in hopes that her touch will cause him to move.

"You did a great job. You were almost gone out there..." Trystal had a hard time saying the last few words, looking away as she bit her quivering lower lip. Her mind replayed the scene where Jasper was slaughtered, his smiling face radiating despite his demise. Tears silently fell as she whimpered, sniffing to try and make it subside. Asuna frowned before scooting over towards her, resting a reassuring hand on her shoulder before pulling her close to hold her.

"Shhh..." Is all Asuna could say. She couldn't say that everything will be alright. She didn't know their fate. The last thing she wanted to do was sugar coat the situation they already lived. "We'll get through this. One way or another. We have to give it our all."
 
One player, username BlackxSwordsxKiller, ran over and kicked Caliban while he was down. Yeah, good call there, bud. He was blasted off his feet with a five-hit sword skill that took him straight to 1hp from max health. Caliban, still somewhat unconscious, was moving on instinct. That instinct that promised death to anything that stood in the way. Standing from his crouch and resheathing his Elucidator, he glared at the player as he regained consciousness.

"You're lucky we are under a one hour invulnerably window from beating the last floor." He snapped, holding his side, "That Original Sword Skill you just got hit with had a 97% chance of an insta-kill against non-boss type targets."

"I knew it..... You were the one who started the redesign of SAO. You're part of the reason we're stuck here!!" A player said, as the rest of the surviving raid group members huddled around the downed player.

"Hey, dumbass, If I had planned to trap people in the game, why the fuck would I be playing the game too?" Caliban said, seeing that this had turned into a rehash of the beta testers bullshit from the first game, this just made him head for the next dungeon, "If you really feel I had a hand in this, do yourself a favor and get yourself killed. Save me the trouble of killing you my damn self."

"Where are you going?" Trystal asked through sobs, tears still falling as she looked after him.

"Solo dungeon clearing." He replied, looking over his shoulder at Trystal, "Might even try to solo the boss too."
 
"He did say that he didn't plan on leaving anyways." Asuna stood up and confronted the group that teleported with them. Many gasps sounded out in the field, many covering their mouths not wanting to believe the words.

"If it wasn't for you, Jasper would've still been here with us." Asuna wiped a cascading tear down her cheek before sobbing into her hands. He did know a lot of information about the game, more than anyone else. Why would he not want to do this if he didn't want to not leave SAO?

Trystal stood there just as in shock as everyone surrounding her, shaking her head in disappointment. "I can't believe it." She mouthed.

"Forget about the team we made, you always want to be solo. Why do you never want to surround yourself with people? It doesn't make sense, we never done anything bad to you to deserve to be treated like this. I feel like you just ignore us anyways." Asuna sobbed as she spoke to Caliban, tears consuming her face as they dripped down on the ground. Trystal jumped in and caressed her back as she looked at Caliban spitefully.

"We need you now more than ever and you decide to leave." Trystal spoke through clenched teeth.
 
"Caliban is and always has been a stand offish player. He witnessed the destruction of the guild he joined 5 different times, he operates solo as a means of achieving the goals of the team." The ninja from before said as the katana she wielded pressed against Asuna's throat, "His goal for recreating Sword Art Online was to decover the reason behind why he developed a killing instinct, nothing more. You should be ashamed for not recognizing the recurrence of the incident involving the player Kirito. You assume he does not care for the other players around him. If he did not, he would not have done the boss raid briefing."

She turned, looking at all the players with cold disdain , "Had he not taken on the task of fighting the Gleam Eyes on his own until assistance was rendered, we all would have perished as the Gleam Eyes increased in strength with every kill. One more death would have made the Gleam Eyes immune to our attacks. To label him as the reason for being stuck in the game makes you all no better than the true culprit. To survive, we must work together. Alienating an ally means we have lost before we even begin. I will stand by him, but you all have acted most dishonorably and do not deserve to call yourselves warriors." The last part was spoken so that only Asuna could hear, "You in particular, Yukki Asuna, have so much more to lose than honor. Should you sever ties with him, your daughter with be forever lost to you."

As if on cue, a notification for a quest called "Yui's Heart" popped up for Asuna. The problem was she would not be able to even access it until she had 750/1000 camaraderie with Caliban. The ninja, sheathing her sword, walked to where Caliban stood alone and placed a hand on his shoulder. He turned, looking into the visor of the ninja before nodding. Silent agreement set, He left the party and headed for the nearby city. He had prep to do.

"You carry the burden of your suffering alone, Kōhai." She whispered, staring after Caliban as he dealt with a plant monster that had grabbed him from behind with it's roots, "When will you realize you don't have to bear that pain alone?"
 
Asuna flinched as soon as the katana's blade was withdrawn from its sheath, the blade shimmering against the daylight above. Her posture straightened but she didn't move, her eyes locked onto hers as her body tensed up. She didn't like this woman at all and it wasn't going to be a pleasant game experience with her. Although, she did feel somewhat regretful for her words and actions but it didn't change how she felt about his actions.

"If that may be true but he shouldn't leave without the group he pledged to." Her eyes narrowed as the blade surrendered back into its sheath, Asuna keeping a close eye onto her just in case she decided to do something fishy. Then, she mentioned something crazy that little to no one knew about. Yui. Her eyes expanded and just like that a notification was sent out to her. A quest. But why did it cause for her to befriend Caliban? This expansion didn't make sense at all.

Before she had time to ask questions about everything that was happening they disbanded, Caliban leaving the group and venturing off into his own world. "Fuck him and that nosy bitch." Asuna grumbled under her breath to Trystal before their backs turned on everyone else.

"What are we suppose to do now?" The lost girl dug the tip of her boot into the soil as her fingers nervously twiddled together. Asuna thought briefly before shrugging in response.

"What I did last time was level up and get new gear and such. Maybe we can go around and prepare for the next boss?" She smiled as she extended a hand of guidance, Trystal taking it happily. "Lets go into the city and look for quests and missions on the board that'll help."
 
'Attention, The boss of Floor 2 has been defeated. Access to Floor 3 has been authorized for all player. Repeat.'

Well, that was a stampeding migraine and a half. He lay on his back, staring at the ceiling as the Dark Repulser he had turned black. The boss, some strange cross between a creampuff and a xenomorph, had been a difficult one to take down. The fact he did it alone was reckless and stupid. He was glad he beat it, but at the same time he couldn't take any satisfaction in the feat. He felt he was too strong for things this early in the game.

When he was teleported to the oasis of the third floor, something rendered him unconscious.
 
A few hours had passed before Asuna and Trystal felt comfortable enough to try and tackle the boss by themselves. Trystal was level 7 and Asuna 8. Her rapier skills were increased to 300/1,000 while Trystal tanking skills were about the same amount.

'Attention, The boss of Floor 2 has been defeated. Access to Floor 3 has been authorized for all player. Repeat.'

The text flashed in bold on their screen as soon as they approached the door to enter inside of the boss raid. The two girls looked at each other in shock and already knew what has happened and who was held responsible for finishing this boss raid. Caliban.

"Why does he always have to take the fun away?" Trystal pouted as she crossed her arms across her breastplate, frowning in dissatisfaction.

"We'll have our fun. Let's check out the third floor now and gain levels. It'll be fun." Asuna tried to cheer her up as they teleported to the third floor. Everything was becoming more enhanced than previous floors. The beasts more powerful and the architecture more intricate. It was like entering inside of a new world. "Even though it's taboo to say, I did miss it here on SAO." Asuna admitted to the girl, looking down as the wind blew through her hair. "I miss the feeling of a family on here like I had before, except the family I once knew disbanded me..." Her expression changed to being pained.

Asuna yearned for that hole in her heart to be filled again.

"It'll come back sooner or later, don't worry. That's just how things work." Trystal shrugged her shoulders as if it wasn't a big deal, patting her on the back reassuringly. "C'mon. Let's get some quests done again and some dungeons. Perhaps we can run into Caliban again?"

"I don't know about that..." Asuna replied, rolling her eyes at the thought of his name. He seemed selfish and not interested in their well-being. If only she got to know him more, but he seemed so secretive that it was hard to get close to him. "Let's just worry about us right now, and if we cross paths again then we do." She looked up at the sky briefly before turning her direction on Trystal.

"Okay, I'm ready."
 
"Kenji, I'm scared. I want to go home."

"Yui??" Caliban said, pushing himself up onto his knees as he looked around groggily, "Where.... Where are you?"

An indicator popped up on his hud, leading him to the local inn. He found he had access to a room on the third floor when he accessed the menu for renting a room. Going up to the room, he starting using his detection skill to look for anything out of the ordinary. Nothing doing, it looked clear to him. Walking in, he saw her sitting on a bed. He couldn't believe his eyes.

"Kenji.... You made it.... You really came...." She cried, running into his arms as he felt tears start falling.

"Are you kidding? I'd have to be dead not to come after you." He said, wiping tears away from her face as she did the same for him, "I never stopped trying to find you, it was one of the reasons I worked on the remastered version of SAO." He whispered, holding her tightly as he received a notification that she'd joined him as a permanent battle support character.

"So I am in Sword Art Online again?" She asked, a shudder going through her.

"Yes and No, It's really an temporary update of Alfheim Online that was supposed to allow players to relive SAO without the threat of irl death. Someone screwef that up and I want to find out who and why."

"When do we start, I wish to help you." She stated, nodding as she looked at him resolutely.
 
A few days had passed and still no sign of Caliban and his whereabouts. Trystal and Asuna were staying in the Ronbaru inn on the third floor at a decent price. To be honest, Asuna was more than capable of being alone and trying to level up enough to fight the third floor boss but Trystal was lost and needed someone to hold onto. Asuna didn’t mind that one bit and it was nice to have some company and someone to level up with.

Stirring in her sleep, Asuna turned in her bed and looked at the clock that was resting on the nightstand. 7am. It was earlier than what she had wanted to waken up to but nonetheless she was up and wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep. Yawning, she outstretched her legs and hands to loosen up the tensed up muscles. She sat on the edge of the bed and began to wipe away the sleep that was in her tear ducts. Trystal was still sound asleep in her bed, covered up securely as if this was nothing more than real life instead of a virtual game.

There would hardly be anyone up at this hour so Asuna took this as an opportunity to fight some beasts and level up her skills before everyone would be up and doing the same thing. She took a quick shower and dressed before heading out onto a dirt path through a field. Everywhere she turned there were creatures to slay and gain some experience and goodies, though her eyes were set on rare’s that would pop up out of the blue. Morning was a perfect time for rare’s to be spotted since no one else was up and searching. Her feet treaded lightly on the path to ensure she was stealthed enough to not frighten it away whenever she did happen to cross paths with it.

Large pine trees grew more abundant on her journey as the path took her down a forest, an impeccable place where creatures can hide. Her rapier was held tightly in the confines of her hand as she crouched down and looked around. The more she crept into the heart of the forest, the more abundant creatures were. Finally, after all of her hard work and determination a bright red name flickered on her hub. It was a rare Ragout Rabbit. Though it was small, it was powerful and had enough meat to cook for two days. Luckily she leveled her cooking skill and it was 950/1,000 and all it required to reach max was to cook a rare meat. Go figure!

Hiding behind a grand oak tree she waited for the hare to turn her back to her as it munched on wild flowers. It knew someone was there, though it couldn’t quite pinpoint where they were. She kept her cool and continued to stay still, her eyes never leaving the white ball of fur. Once the cautious rabbit felt it was safe enough to reside eating was when she made her move. Powering up her rapier she would use her 11-hit-combo attack, Mother’s Rosario, to kill the damned hare just to make sure she got the job done quickly and left no room for it to flee or fight back.

“Phew… That was a rush.” She panted as she wiped away the sweat on her forehead with the back of her hand. She saved the meat in her inventory and would cook it later in the evening once Trystal woke up. She clicked her heel and turned around the path, starting her direction to the inn until she heard a twig snap in the distance. It was close by the way it echoed in the forest. Rapidly her body pivoted around to investigate the situation. Nothing was there. “I hear you, come out.” She spoke in a deep voice to know that she was not one to be messed with.

“You got me.” A mysterious male voice replied as he stepped out of the shadows. Both of his hands were in the air in a sign of no threat, his icon green for friendly. “I was just doing my own thing as were you.” He smiled before pocketing his hands in his pants.

“Why were you watching me?” Asuna cut to the chase and inquired, her hand resting beside her thigh right next to her rapier just in case she needed to use it.

“You looked familiar.” He answered as he placed a curious finger on his chin before walking close to her, Asuna backing up just as he was approaching her. “Woah, chill. I’m not going to hurt you.” He chuckled loudly as if her actions were the funniest thing to happen all week. “I saw you got the rare item, good job. I was wondering if you wanted to share?”

“Just as I expected, you wanted someone to get it for you?” Her eyes squinted as she inspected him, cautious of each movement he made, even the pattern of his breathing. “Sorry, but no can do. This is mine.”

“What a shame, I was hoping to make this easy and not hard.” And with that, he snapped his fingers as if calling for something to come hither in his direction. A group of men, at least five of them, stepped out of the confines of their trees, their names in orange. PVP players already?! “We know you, Asuna. You’re the greatest female rapier wielder since SAO. We couldn’t help but expect great things from you, and look at what you did? A great thing. And we want it.” His voice got even lower, his eyes fueled with bloodshed and hatred. His gang circled around her like a pack of wild wolves targeting their prey. Asuna held her stance as her head whipped around to watch everyone.

“You’re wasting your time. Try and find something else to do.” Asuna pulled out her rapier as the metal made an alarming sound as it grinded up against the sheath. She aimed the weapon straight ahead towards the male, warning him. “If you expect great things from me then you should know to scram.”

“How pathetic. Six of us and one of you? Don’t make me start to feel sympathetic.” He smirked before nodding his head to signal the group. “Go.”

And just like that they all took off towards her, their swords aimed with death as their goal. Asuna jumped and contorted her body as her rapier would strike down to her targets, the clanking of metal sounding as their weapons hit each other in a blocking defense. How could she get her hopes up that she could fight all of these guys at once. Yeah, she was a high level but it took a lot out of her to try and beat them all. It was hard to keep her guard up at all six of them, but she managed to keep it up for a small amount of time.

The mysterious male’s username came up into her hub, named Klux, and he whipped out his sword and sliced it against her side as she was preoccupied with the other five men that she didn’t bother to look at their usernames. “This is my dream, to kill someone as powerful as you.” He grinned sadistically as Asuna tumbled to the ground, her health in yellow. She tried to crawl away but Klux hovered over her, his feet standing on her wrists to hold her in place on her back as his sword was pinpointed to her neck.

“You better pray there’s something after this, because you’ll be nothing left than a pixelated mess!”
 
"Only if I'm the one that does it asshole."

Caliban, hitting the mysterious player with a stinger sword skill, skidded to a stop in front of Asuna with a look that could have frozen solid ice. The player, whom him saw was named Klux, slammed back first into a tree and landed in a heap on the roots. Devil's Cry being resheathed, he knelt next to Asuna and gave her his only potion. A cool demeanor was on being used, but that did nothing for the chilly aura he gave off. It was as if Death had made a physical appearance.

"Oh god..... II's Him." One of the idiots Asuna had fought spoke, absolute terror and fear in his voice as they all looked at the new arrival, "The Midnight Reaper..... The player that refused to join the murder guild in the last SAO game. He's still alive, we're Screwed!!"

"Shut up and kill him!!" Klux shouted, a hysterical edge in his voice as he saw his carefully laid plan self-destructing before his eyes.

All of Klux's cronies attacked him, using all of their strongest sword skills. He didn't even move as he had a 30 minute invulnerability buff from defeating a sub boss nearby. If anyone cared looked close enough they would see <<Immune>> above every hit he took. That and by grinding on said sub boss for most of the night and 4 hours after waking, he was 3 levels above Asuna with his two handed sword skill maxed and his one handed sword skill at 95%. This morons were just wearing themselves out.

"Guys, you should really take 5 before I make you take a permanent break." He said as he touched a necklace he didn't have before, the gem hang from it containing Yui's heart.
 
Asuna could feel the cold gust of wind from Caliban give off as she knelt down beside her. Her heart sank inside of her chest, not out of fear but in relief. "I can't believe you knew there was something wrong..." She muttered to him as her hands shakily took the potion, drinking it like a shot of alcohol before her health storing back to 100.

Her head turned from person to person as they chatted amongst themselves. He refused to what? Join a.... murder guild?! Even though he wasn't in it the thought of him being a killer struck a cold spurt down to her spine. Who was Caliban, really? Perhaps this aura he gave off was his true form. Someone she truly didn't know. Maybe he'll open up after all of this is said and done.

After finally catching her breath and regaining her strength, she readied her rapier and darted to Klux especially, aiming for the man who distressed her. It looked as if she was flying as she soared in the air, her feet extending outward to slam against Klux's chest to know him down onto his back, the same position he had her in. The tip of the rapier nestled against his skin, feeling his Adam's Apple bobble as he swallowed harshly. "Isn't this ironic? Wasn't I in this same position just moments ago?"

"You'll go red! You wouldn't do it!" Klux screamed at her as he grinned madly. Asuna dug the tip of he sword deeper against his skin, feeling the sharpened end almost prick through his skin. His eyes widened as he knew she was serious, her irises filled with revenge and hatred for him.

"What was that? I don't like it when people underestimate me. If I were you I would beat it before your asses get plastered as trophies." Asuna spat at him with her words as she didn't dare to move her position.

"Fine, fine!" Klux cried out as he begged to be free'd from her confines. Reluctantly she let him go, keeping the rapier to his throat until he stood on his feet.

"Try anything again and I WILL kill you. Threaten my life and my friends' and you're history." Asuna warned before resting her weapon of choice by her thigh, keeping it in her grasp still so it was readied. Her eyes darted to Caliban before a shimmering object caught her eyes. Yui's Heart necklace. The same one Asuna wore when Kirito managed to make Yui into an object.
 
"She might be forgiving but I am not." He said, skewering Klux to a tree with his Elucidator, "Oh relax, due to this necklace, I can't kill you regardless of how many times I cut you into confetti."

He twisted the Elucidator, making Klux screech in pain. It was cruel and thoroughly unnecessary but he was rather pissed and ready to show the idiot why he got the moniker "Midnight Reaper". Luckily for him, Yui stopped him from doing so. A subtle brighting of the gem on the necklace calmed him slightly. Sighing, he pushed the Elucidator all the way to the hand guard.

"Until we beat this shit, consider yourself a loose end." He growled, yanking his sword out as Klux collapsed, "Now get the fuck out of here before I change my mind."

It was amusing how fast Klux vanished despite being reduced 1 hp. Yui marked him for later as he turned and embraced Asuna. Had he been worried about her and Trystal? Definitely, he almost had turned around and rejoined them right after he left. He hadn't though because he knew she had needed space.

"Didn't think I'd make it in time." He said to her as he held her tightly, "My new battle support alerted me to to your situation and I ran as quick as I could. Thank god I made it in time."

(Think Asuna saving Kirito from Kuradeel in terms of how fast he was running.)
 
iIt was eerie to see Caliban acting in such behavior. Asuna stayed put as he continued to taunt and perpetrate pain on Klux, inspecting the scene as the unfortunate boy squawked in suffering. There was something inside Asuna that wanted to tell him to cease the misery he was inflicting on Klux but it wasn’t her place. He did nearly eradicate her, and this was his way of vengeance upon her.

Her golden irises couldn’t break from gawking at the iridescent blue necklace, her fingertips delicately grazing the skin above her clavicle where it used to be upon her neck. She felt humiliated, though; she should’ve been more cautious. Next time she will always be prepared for the worst to come so if she’s in a similar situation all alone. She will be able to handle it.

His torment concluded and he let the boy go with fear overwhelming his thoughts. That should be the last time he gets in a mess like this.

Caliban’s sincere and comforting embrace stunned her for a moment, not expecting such movements from him. Her hands found their way around his neck, coiling them tightly as she wept. “Caliban… I was so worried… I felt so alone and helpless. I don’t want to feel that way again!” The transparent tears fell from her face as they dripped from her chin.

She pulled away from him so her face could see the necklace, her hands daintily touching the tear-shaped jewel before her eyes welled up again. “Yui… My sweet, precious daughter. How did you get this?” She inquired. Her hands lifted the necklace up slightly as her head bent down, her lips caressing the gem lovingly. As if she were kissing her daughter on top of her forehead. “Did you save her?”
 
"I did, more or less. She reformatted herself about 2 months ago after I found her as corrupted code little over a month before that." He answered as the gem darkened to almost being totally black as Asuna kissed it, "She seems fine, but something is off. I'm not sure what exactly but I'll look into it. She led me to her at an inn located in the main town on this floor. When I said something about grinding my levels up and working on my blacksmithing, she guided me to a respawning sub-boss that is in a dungeon with a experience x5 multiplier in it. Was grinding on it most of the night as my level and stats reset after I beat the 2nd floor boss. When she told me I had to save her mommy, I instinctively knew to look for you somehow."

His hand closed on the gem, squeezing Asuna's hand as well as he comforted Yui without words. He was worried about her, as the color of the gem had paled when Asuna touched it, and blacked when he filled Asuna in about how he knew her. Something was definitely wrong with her, but he wouldn't push her on it. She'd open up in due time. Right now, He couldn't do anything about it. Plus he had to do something.

"I want to rejoin the team, if you'll have me." He whispered as he felt Yui hug him from the side though she wasn't there, "I wanted to rejoin the moment I left but I knew you needed time to cool down a bit."
 
"Thank you Yui for helping Caliban save me." She whispered towards the gem that soon turned black, Asuna stepping back as it alarmed her. "What do you mean there's something off? What happened?" But Caliban didn't know. It was a mystery that they had to figure out. "Perhaps when we get her back we can figure out this mess. I miss her so much..." Her tears still continued to drip from her chin, sniffling trying to hold back the on-pour of tears.

"Of course you can join." Asuna gripped his hand tightly as he gripped hers in a reassuring manner. "I apologize for the way I've acted towards you. We're suppose to be in this together, not separate. Me and Trystal have been staying at the Ronbaru Inn nearby if you'd like to join us." She offered as she took her hand away from his.

"All we were trying to do was get our level up and gain enough skills to defeat the third floor boss." She added, flipping away a stray hair from her face and made it lay against her back.
 
"I'd love to, but I'm locked out of boss raids for the next three floors. Apparently soloing a boss is a cardinal sin game-wise." He said, suddenly yawning as his adrenaline from dealing with Klux wore off, "We should get going, I've been up way too long to be any good in a high intensity fight."

The gem regained some color as he stroked it. It seemed Yui was dependent on him for comfort. He'd do his best to be a good provider for her. It was all he could do for her. Taking Asuna's hand again, he used his teleportation necklace to take them to the plaza outside the Ronbaru Inn.

"Yui and I share a room on the third floor. She transferred room ownership to me after I met her again." He said after walking into the inn and accessing the room renting menu, "I'll sent a room invitation to you and Trystal so we can talk about me rejoining. It wouldn't be fair if she didn't have a say."

A notification saying, "You have been invited to the room in use by Caliban, do you accept? Y/N" appeared to Asuna and Trystal.
 
The duo teleported back to the inn, Trystal standing downstairs, ready to look for Asuna just as they entered.

"I was worried about you!" Trystal almost yelled at Asuna, gripping her shoulders tightly as their eyes locked. "I noticed your health go down on my screen as a ping woke me up. I was scared I would lose you too... Why were you out so early in the morning anyways?!"

"I thought it was a good idea. I guess not. I have learned my lesson and will not go out without someone accompanying me. I was thoughtless." Asuna responded as if she were talking to her mom. "Just don't get so worked up. Caliban saved me luckily. If it weren't for him I would probably be toast." She tried to smile to push it aside as if it were nothing, but Trystal wasn't buying it.

"Thank you, Caliban. We missed you." Her eyes now met his, her smile warm and soothing. "Why did you decide to come with Asuna? I thought you wanted to solo?"

"He was giving us space." Asuna explained, crossing her arms over her breasts. "He wants to join our group again, which I think would be a wise idea. We need everyone right now to stick together. We can't afford to be salty anymore." She sighed. It was hard living with the frustration she felt and it felt good to finally sigh the stress away for a moment.

"Oh, I see." Trystal bit her lower lip nervously, thinking about the last time they all were together like this. "I don't mind, I just don't want any trouble."
 
"Don't worry, there won't be so long anyone from the 1st floor raid pisses me off." He said, noticing Yui's gem brighten and flicker as his comment caught her curiosity, "I'll explain later, don't worry."

He went over to a another part of the Inn, touching a quest board. A player specific quest, called "Defying fate.", was open to him. It seemed to require him to have mastered the <<Duel Blades>> skill, and for only Asuna to be in his party. He could accept it, but it wasn't able to be completed until floor 45. He took that quest, as well as one that required him to gather ore to make a few different items for some npcs. Shouldn't be too hard as the ore was on the 1st floor.

"Gonna work on my Blacksmithing skill as part of a quest. The area where I can get the ore for the quest is almost over abundant with rare class monsters to grind on, care to tag along? Monsters are about as strong as those on the 4th floor so easy exp if we work together." He said, sending a request to join their party again.
 
"I wouldn't mind, that sounds like fun. Better than staying in this Inn all day." Trystal said as she was already to go.

"Sounds like a plan to me. I just need a few hundred more to max out my rapier skill. My cooking skill will be completed once I cook the hare I caught this morning. I can't wait to cook it. I don't mind sharing either." Her smile was bright as she grew more excited to prepare the meat.

"Really?! A rare meat? That sounds sooooo good. Maybe we can have some soup and jasmine tea with it too." Trystal responded as her stomach wanted to growl just thinking about the food.

"Yeah, that's not too bad of an idea either. Perhaps a dessert too but lets not get carried away." Asuna settled down Trystal as she laughed. "We're ready whenever you are Caliban."
 
"I was thinking of making a Guild. Towairaitorīpā, Twilight Reapers." He said a few hours later, after landing from a springboard off of Trystal's shield, "Figure it would act as a front line clearer as while being predominantly a Boss raiding guild."

All three got a hefty about of experience from their 8 Rare monster in less then 10 minutes. No sooner had he unpacked his loot, one of which was a shield that looked like a cross between a jet black version of Captain America's Shield and a saw blade, he was pounced on by a rare type of wolf, called Traitorous Fang. That new shield came in handy by keeping it from being able to bite him. Yui, triggering Asuna's alert mode while making his life bar flash on her HUD, immediately went into her analytical supportive self as he struggled to get the damn wolf off him. Trystal eas tied up with a lizardman just out of sight of him. He was really getting mad as he couldn't get positioned to counterattack.

"Look..... I know you want a piece of me literally..... But would you please get the HELL OFF ME??!!"

"Mommy, help!! Caliban is in trouble!!" Yui called out, voluntarily speaking to Asuna for the first time since they separated.
 
"I like that. I like that a lot." Asuna grinned at the idea of being in another guild. "Will we have new outfits? I'm still wearing my guild outfit from SAO."

"I'm happy that we're finally all together again." Trystal chimed in, readying her shield as they would depart and venture off to attack rares. It was a nice little bonus to go out and slain a few more rares today, their skills and levels going up higher in less time than it would normally take them. They were feeling optimistic about the future. If they could keep this up then they can get this game over with in no time.

Asuna was catering to her loot in the distance, organizing what needed to be pawned and what could stay. Her bag was filled with useless items that she didn't bother to clean up since they arrived in game. She walked away from the party to go into town for a moment, telling them she would be back when she finished selling her items. She had just finished her business with the NPC before an alert popped up, along with someones familiar voice... Yui.

"Yui?! Where are you?!" Asuna cried out as her head whipped around to catch a glimpse of her daughter that was nowhere to be seen. Her heart raced at both her encounter and Caliban being in trouble. Quickly, she darted out of the shop and ran as fast as her feet will let her. She uncaringly shoved people out of her way that blocked her pathway, intensifying her speed once she broke away from town limits. A gust of debris left a trail as she ran what seemed to be faster than the speed of light.

Caliban was finally in sight, struggling with the rare wolf called Traitorous Fang. His mouth snapped and snarled at him, drool from unsought hunger coating his muzzle. Her rapier was readied, bellowing as she roared into the fight. She propelled into the air to first kick the mutt off from him, propelling the canine away and rolling on the ground until standing firmly back on all fours. He growled and snapped at Asuna, circling her as he eyed his new victim.

"Go get Trystal, she's in help too. I'll kill this rare, I want its meat for the stew tonight." She spoke lowly to Caliban as her eyes squinted at the wolf, showing no hint of fear or a weak point.
 
"You can capture certain monster types. This is one of them..... And that's another....." Caliban spoke, turn so he was back to back with Asuna as Trystal joined them with a large twin-tailed cat chasing her, "See? Overabundance of Rares. That Darkness dragon is a legendary Rare, and Legendary rares only appear to challenge parties that have a high level of base camaraderie. That Soul Cat can be caught too, Trystal, that's yours, don't back down from it. Think you can capture that wolf, Asuna? Get it into the red and knock it out. You can start trying to tame it after that."

Equipping his Dark Repulsor to accommodate the shield, he went at the dragon full force. It was like fighting a floor boss. He was barely doing damage to it. That said, he was too fast for it to damage him. It was a stalemate that he'd lose if it was drawn out. He needed help but everyone was tied up.

"Darkness breath attack in 3 seconds, Defend with your shield. It'll absorb the attack and convert it into a light based attack!!"

"Thanks Yui, I owe you." He said, huddling beneath his shield as it started pulsing with absorbed energy.

Minutes later, a smaller life gauge that was grayed out appeared under Trystal's. She'd captured the Soul Cat, so she rotated over to help Asuna as he defended himself from another Breath attack. He, due to his arm holding the shield being exhausted, was having trouble. Yui helping him made it easier but it was still a losing battle. The dragon had 75% of it's health. Talk about a killjoy having to fight this thing.

"Geez, this is getting old..... Gotta end this soon...." He groaned with a pant, spinning to bash the dragon in the eye with the edge of his shield.
 
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