The Black and White Sword Dance

October 17th, 2024 - 74th Floor: Dungeon

Hikari: "Huff puff... You're an annoying one you know that?" I clenched my dagger tightly

I was fighting a Lizardman Lod and this monster is annoying since it has a shield

Lizardman Lord: "Sssss...." It then powers its weapon and charges at me

...

Hikari: "Heh..." I smirked

...

I parried its attack and used the sword skill "Circular Burst" which stunned it for a bit

Hikari: "It's Over!" I used another sword skill "Rapid Bite" and I thrust my dagger into its chest disintegrating it

After killing it I got 8120 EXP and 1000 Col

Hikari: "Neat." I then holstered my dagger

Hikari: "Welp I'm done mapping this floor it's time to head back." I started walking

Hikari: 'Well it's almost time for Kiritos duel wielding skill to be revealed' I then saw someone nearby

Hikari: "Speak of the devil there he is." I spotted him walking back

Hikari: "Hey Kirito fancy meeting you here." He turned to me

Kirito: "Oh Hikari you were just heading back?"

Hikari: "Yep it seems your going back as well."

Kirito: "Yeah I'm just going to go back and rest for a bit."

Hikari: "Mind if I tag along?"

Kirito: "Sure but why?" He asks me

Hikari: "Nothing really I'm just bored." Kirito shrugged and we walked together

Hikari: 'Yeah that was a lie I just wanted to find another Ragout Rabbit.'

We were outside of the dungeon and were still walking till we both heard rustling around the area

Hikari: "Something is around here."

Kirito: "Yeah..." We both scanned the area when we found a Ragout rabbit

Kirito: "That's..."

Hikari: "Hurry up and kill it."

Kirito: "On it." Kirito grabbed two throwing needles and powered one of it

He then threw one of the needles at a tree to make the rabbit jump right into his view and it worked

The rabbit jumped when it saw one of the needles near itself and Kirito threw another needle at its face disintegrating it

50th Floor - Algade

We went to Agil to see if we can sell it since the "both" doesn't have a high enough cooking skill to even cook it

Agil: "W-Whoa... Isn't this an S-class rare item?! I've never even seen this before."

Hikari: 'Well it is an S-class rare item for a reason so it's pretty hard to find.'

Agil: "Say, Kirito, Hikari. You guys aren't in need of any money, right? Trying to sell it... Haven't you two thought about eating it?"

Kirito: "Of course we have it's not something the two of us will likely find again, after all."

Agil: "Then why?"

Hikari: "Heres the thing Agil. You need to find a person high enough Cooking level to even cook it."

Agil: "But don't you have the Cooking skill?"

Hikari: "Yes I do but it's not a high enough level. And I doubt you guys have a Cooking Skill as well." I lied I already max it out

Agil: "That's true even if we tried to cook it, it would burn to a crisp..."

Kirito: "And if Hikari's Cooking level isn't high enough it would be just a regular dish."

We all sighed when somebody called out to us

Asuna: "Hikari, Kirito-kun."

Kirito&Hikari: "Huh?" We both turned to see Asuna and Kuradeel behind us

Kirito looked at her for a second...

Kirito: "Chef captured" He held her hand when he knew that Asuna also had the Cooking skill

Asuna: "W-What?"

Hikari: "Umm Kirito you should probably let go of her hand." I pointed to Kuradeel whos her bodyguard and he's staring at him

Kirito: "O-Oh. Uh, fancy seeing you here, Asuna I didn't expect you to come to a dump like this." Agil was a bit annoyed when he said it was a dump

Hikari: "Really Kirito? Now that's just harsh."

Asuna: "It's almost time for the next boss raid, so I came to see if you two were still alive."

Kirito: "I'm on your friends list. aren't I"

Asuna: "I don't have Hikari on my friends list so I figured she would be with you and now I know for sure you two are alive."

Hikari: 'It is true though I never friended anybody except for my old guild.'

Asuna: "That aside, what's up? You said something about a chef."

Kirito: "Oh, that's right. Around what level is your Cooking skill right now?" He asks

Asuna: "Hmph. I maxed it out last week."

Agil&Kirito: "What?!"

Hikari: "Oh okay."

Asuna: "You're not surprised?"

Hikari: "It was kind of obvious you were increasing your Cooking skill judging from our last adventure together so it wasn't much of a surprise."

Hikari: 'And also that I maxed mine out in 6 months.'

Kirito: "In that case, I have a favor to ask you." Kirito then shows the Ragout rabbit to her in order to make a deal with her

Asuna: "Huh?! Th-This is... a Ragout Rabbit?!"

Kirito: "Here's a proposition. If you cook this for us two, I'll let you have a bite" two?

Hikari: "Wait you're letting me have a bite?"

Kirito: "Yeah think of it as another way of repaying you."

Hikari: "Well I won't say no to free food thanks Kirito."

Kirito: "Your welco-" he gets interrupted by Asuna who grabbed him

Asuna: "I want half."

Kirito: "Uh, fine..."

Asuna: "All right!" Kirito smiled at her personality

Kirito: "Sorry. With that said, it's not up for sale anymore."

Agil: "Hey we're friends, right? Right? You could give me a bite too-"

Kirito: "I'll write you an 800-word essay on how good it was." Asuna and Kirito went outside of his shop while I stayed behind for a bit

Agil: "Y-You've got to be kidding me!"

Hikari: "Ahaha... Don't worry Agil I'll save some for you."

Agil: "Really?! Thank you so much, Hikari."

Hikari: "It's no problem at all see you Agil." I then followed Kirito and Asuna

Asuna: "So, where are we going to cook it?" She ask Kirito

Kirito: "Um..."

Asuna: "Your room doesn't even have the proper appliances or utensils, does it?" He stands there thinking that she's right

Kirito: "What about your place Hikari?"

Hikari: "Kirito I don't even have a pad I only live at the inns if the floor has one." We both heard Asuna sighed

Asuna: "Just this once. in respect for the ingredients. I wouldn't mind inviting you two to my house."

Hikari: "Eh?"

Kirito: "Huh?!"

Asuna: "You're dismissed for today. Thank you." She says to her bodyguard

Kuradeel: "Asuna-sama, I don't approve of you inviting two suspicious people to your house." She then sighed

Asuna: "backgrounds aside, these two have skills that are already proven. They're probably ten levels higher than you, Kuradeel."

Kuradeel: "You're saying I'm inferior to these two? I see! These two are the beaters..."

Hikari: 'Hold on I thought I was proven I wasn't a beater'

Kirito: "Yeah, that's right but Hikari isn't a beater like me so don't pull her into this."

Kuradeel: "Asuna-sama, guys like him only care about themselves! You're just asking for trouble by getting involved with these two."

Bystander 1: "What's going on?"

Bystander 2: "Isn't she Asuna-sama, "The Flash"? and look there's Hikari-sama she's one of the solo players."

Hikari: 'sama?'

Bystander 3: "Whoa, you're right."

Bystander 4: "Those two are cute."

Hikari: 'Great there are people looking at us.' I was getting nervous I never liked being in the spotlight

Asuna: "Anyway, you're dismissed for today. This is an order from your vice-commander" She then grabs the two of us from the back

Hikari&Kirito: "Huh?"

Kirito: "Hey, wait, is this okay?"

Asuna: "It's fine!"

Hikari: "A-Asuna did you really have to p-put us on the spot like that?" I couldn't help but stutter at the amount of attention we're having

Asuna: "It will go away soon so let's go." the two of us then looked at Kuradeel who was staring intently at the both of us

61st Floor: Selmburg

We arrived at the floor her house was on and it was really quite

Kirito: "It's spacious and there isn't a lot of people. It has a liberating atmosphere."

Hikari: "It's kind of peaceful as well."

Asuna: "If you two like it, why don't you guys move here too?

Kirito: "I have nowhere near enough money to afford it."

Hikari: "Yeah I'd rather just save my money than burn it to buy a house here."

Hikari: 'I'm not going to lie I do have enough money to buy a pad in this floor but it's just too expensive and I've already gotten used to living at the Inn.'

Kirito: "That aside, was it really okay for you to ditch him?"

Asuna: "I said I didn't need an escort, but leaders are apparently required to have one."

Asuna: "In the past. we were just a small guild where the leader personally invited people. Soon after, we started attracting more people, and once we came to be known as the strongest guild, everything changed." She then turned to us

Asuna: "Well, it's nothing serious, so no need to worry!" She then continued walking

Asuna: "If we don't hurry, it'll get dark."

Hikari: "Oh yeah we should definitely hurry up."

Kirito: "R-Right..."

~Asuna's House~

Kirito&Hikari: "Pardon the intrusion..."

Hikari: "Woah..."

Hikari: 'This place looks cozy.'

Kirito: "Say, how much did this all cost?"

Asuna: "I think the house and the interior cost around four million col total. I'm going to go change, so why don't you two have a seat."

Kirito: "O-Okay." She then went to change

Hikari: "That's a lot of col..."

Kirito: "Yeah four million. Four mega-col, huh?" We both sat the empty chairs

Kirito: "I should have earned about that much by now, but..."

Hikari: "But we all spent it on our equipment..."

Hikari: 'I have to be honest I have ten million col so I could very well buy one but... Four million for this house?' We then heard Asuna coming out in a casual outfit and I smirked when I saw Kirito staring at her

Asuna: "How long do you two plan to stay dressed like that?"

Kirito: "O-Oh, right."

Hikari: "Sorry we'll change right now." I changed into the clothes I wear at the Inn which is a simple white T-shirt and black shorts that reaches my thighs

Asuna then takes out the Ragout Rabbit out of her inventory and lays it on a tray

Asuna: "So this is the legendary S-class ingredient, huh? So, how do you guys want me to prepare it?"

Hikari: "I'm fine with anything so long as it's good."

Kirito: "I'll leave it up to the Chef."

Asuna: "Let's see... Then I'll make it into a stew." She then takes out a pot

Asuna: "Ragout is a stew that's named after the Ragout Rabbit, after all." She then takes out the necessary ingredients for a stew dish then she takes out a knife

Asuna then taps the knife on the Ragout Rabbit and was instantly chopped into pieces she then did the same with the other ingredients

Kirito was just staring at how easy she's making it look

Hikari: "Amazed right? That's how I was when I first started cooking." He nods

Asuna: "Normally, there are a lot more steps to this. But in SAO, cooking is so oversimplified that it's boring." She then transfers all the ingredients to the pot and then puts it at the oven and sets the timer for 25 seconds

Hikari: 'I have to admit as a Chef as well it is kind of boring since I loved cooking foods as well when I was young.'

Asuna: "And that's it for the stew. In the meantime, I'll make some garnish." She then takes out more ingredients to cook and Kirito was yet again staring at her and I smirked at him

*DING*

Asuna then takes the pot out of the oven and lays it on the table she then smirked at us then lifted up the lid

...

Kirito&Hikari: *Gulp*

~After an amazing dinner~

Hikari: "Ohh that tastes soo good."

Hikari: 'Ah right I should give some to Agil.' I then took a bit of the stew and transfer it to a container and added it to my inventory

Asuna: "An S-class ingredient... I've been here for two years now, but this is my first time eating one. I'm glad I managed to survive this long.

Kirito: "Agreed."

Asuna: "It's strange. For some reason, it feels like I've been living in this world for all my life. ever since I was born."

Kirito: "Lately, I've been thinking less and less about the real world."

Hikari: "I wouldn't blame you for thinking like that since we've been living in this world every day now. It's kind of like a second home for us at this point"

Kirito: "Yeah, and it's not just us either. Recently the number of people trying to clear the game, fighting ceaselessly for freedom, have dwindled."

Asuna: "Now, all the people fighting on the front lines combined don't even add up to 500. Everyone's become used to it... to this world."

...

Asuna: "Still, I want to go back."

Kirito: "Huh?"

Asuna: "After all, there are plenty of things I've yet to do there."

Hikari: "Your right. We can't live here forever." Kirito nods

Kirito: "If we give up now, the efforts of the worker-class players who've been constantly supporting us will be all for naught." We all then took a sip on our tea then Asuna looks at Kirito for a second

Asuna: "Ah... Stop right there." She then waves her hand in front of Kirito and I laughed internally about what's about to happen

Kirito: "Hm? What do you mean?"

Asuna: "In the past, that expression has a tendency of preceding a marriage proposal."

Kirito: "Huh?!"

Hikari: "What's wrong Kirito? Were you actually going to propose to her?" I tease

Kirito: "N-No of course not!" Asuna then chuckles a bit

Asuna: "Judging from your reaction, you're not close to any other girls, are you?" Kirito then regains his composure

Hikari: 'Well other than me Kirito hasn't really been hanging out with the other girls much.'

Kirito: "That doesn't matter since I'm a solo player." He then drinks his tea

...

...

...

Asuna: "Hikari, Kirito-kun, don't you two want to join a guild?"

Hikari&Kirito: "Eh?"

Asuna: "I understand that former beta testers like you don't get along with groups and I know that you prefer to be alone Hikari. But don't you two know, ever since we cleared the 70th Floor, I've been getting the feeling that irregularities in monster behavior have increased." We both nodded

Asuna: "If you two play solo, there will be unexpected situations that you guys can't handle alone. And you two won't always be able to emergency teleport away."

Hikari: 'She has a point. Sooner or later I may have to join a group but so long as I'm careful I should be still good to be still a solo player."

Kirito: "I always keep my health above a certain level."

Hikari: "Yeah and I know the risk about being solo so I'm always extra prepared."

Kirito: "And besides, when it comes to party members, they tend to get in my way more often than not."

Asuna: "Is that so?" She then takes out a knife and points it at his head

Kirito: "Ah..." He then looks at me when I was beside him

Hikari: "I won't help you Kirito, even I'm a bit offended by your words." Kirito sighs

Kirito: "Okay, I get it. you two are an exception."

Asuna: "Good." She then lowers the knife and Kirito sighed in relief

Asuna: "In that case, why don't you two party up with me, for old times' sake." She says after playing the knife

Hikari&Kirito: "What!?"

Asuna: "This week's two lucky colors are black and red, after all."

Kirito: "What're you saying?!"

Hikari: "But Asuna, what about your guild?! Don't you have responsibilities over there?!"

Asuna: "It's not like we have a leveling quota."

Kirito: "Th-Then what about your escort?"

Asuna: "I'll just ditch him."

Hikari: "Are you serious..." Kirito then tries to sip but realize it was empty

Kirito: "Ah..." Kirito then proceeds to push the cup to Asuna to pour some tea and Kirito sips his tea again not before the both of us see Asuna sending an invite request to us he ignored this and sips his tea

Kirito: "The front lines are dangerous." The instant he said that Asuna thrust the knife almost at his face but stopped midway

Kirito: "Y-You win." He then accepts the Invite

I was going to decline when Asuna did the same thing to me and pointed the knife right at my face I then sighed

Hikari: "I shouldn't have come..." I then accepted the invite and Asuna didn't lower her knife

Hikari: "U-Umm Asuna I accepted the invite you can lower down the knife now."

Asuna: "That's not the only request I sent." It took me a while to get it and she meant about the friend request she sent me months ago

Hikari: "Alright fine..." I reluctantly accept her friend request and she finally pulls away the knife out of my face and has a smile on her face

Hikari: 'Why...'

...

Asuna: "I guess I should thank you two for today. I enjoyed the meal."

Kirito: "That's supposed to be our line. I'll ask you again next time- At least, that's what I'd like to do, but I doubt we'll find something like that again."

Hikari: "What do you mean? Regular ingredients can taste good if you prepare them properly."

Asuna: "She's right you know?"

...

...

...

We then look up at the sky

Kirito: "The world as it is now... Is it really what Kayaba Akihiko aimed to create?"

October 18th, 2024 - 74th Floor: Kamdet

Me and Kirito were sitting in front of the teleport gate waiting for Asuna to come

Kirito: "She's late."

Hikari: "No kidding and we woke up this early." The both of us then heard someone coming out from the teleport gate

Asuna: "Ahhh!" It was Asuna and she fell down right on top of Kirito

Kirito: "Huaaagh!"

Hiakri: 'Here it comes pft.'

I then heard a squishy sound and I smirked

*Squish* *Squish*

Kirito: "What..."

*Squish* *Squish*

Kirito: "is this?"

*Squish* *Squish*

Asuna: "Huh?! HIYYAAAAA!" She slapped Kirito so hard he slammed himself to a support pillar

Kirito: "Ouch..." Once he focused his vision on Asuna he saw her covering her chest and he knew exactly what he had done and he squished his hands then blushed

Kirito: "U-Um... Morning, Asuna." I walked toward him

Hikari: "So Kirito how does it feel to touch a girl's breast?" To be honest I really don't care if I'm flat-chested it just makes the guys get away from me since they all love big chested women

Kirito: "U-Uhh umm it..."

Asuna: "Tch.."

Kirito: "HII!" He flinched

The two of us heard somebody coming out of the teleport gate and Asuna instantly went behind us more specifically behind Kirito

Kirito: "What is it?" The person then comes out and it was Kuradeel

Kuradeel: "Asuna-sama, please refrain from running off on your own. Let us return to the guild headquarters."

Asuna: "I refuse! Anyway, what were you doing waiting in front of my house so early?"

Hikari: "He what?"

Kirito: "Huh?!"

Kuradeel: "I predicted this might happen, so I had taken the responsibility of monitoring you at Selmburg for the past month."

Asuna: "B-But that wasn't part of the commander's orders!"

Kuradeel: "It is my duty to protect you. Naturally, that extends to watching over your home."

Asuna: "No, it doesn't you idiot!" Kuradeel sighs then walk towards us

Kuradeel: "Please stop being so unreasonable. Now let's return to headquarters." She tried to run away but Kuradeel caught her hand and drags her away but Kirito stops him

Kirito: "Sorry, but your vice commander will be spending the day with the two of us today." He then shakes off Kiritos hand

Hikari: "Don't worry we'll take responsibility for her safety and besides we're not going to fight a boss."

Kirito: "So go back to your headquarters alone."

Kuradeel: "Don't be absurd! An incompetent player like you two couldn't possibly protect her! I'm a member of the glorious Knights of the Blood-"

Kirito: "We can do a better job than you can."

Kuradeel: "Grrr... Seeing how you're so confident in your abilities, you'd be willing to prove them to me, wouldn't you?" He then sends a duel request to Kirito for a 1v1

Hikari: "Kirito can you handle this for me? I don't want to put myself into the spotlight." He nods then looks at Asuna for approval and she nods

Kirito: "Are you sure?"

Asuna: "Don't worry. I'll report this to the commander." He then accepts the duel to be a "First Strike" after that the countdown counted down from 60

Kuradeel: "Watch closely, Asuna-sama. I shall now prove that nobody is better suited to protect you than I." He takes out his sword and so does Kirito

Hikari: "Oh this will be good." I smirked

Bystander 1: The solo player Kirito and a member of the Knights of the Blood are dueling! This'll will be quite the show."

I then spotted a familiar hooded person watching

Hikari: 'Ahh so it was Gabriel who is the one who was watching this battle.'

Kuradeel: "Tch..." they both got in stance and I can see Kirito focusing on his sword and was aiming to break it

3

2

1

"START"

They both powered up their swords and charged at each other and I can see that Kuradeel was aiming to kill Kirito

Kirito then swung his sword to his and they both made contact

With one swift movement, Kirito broke his sword into two pieces

Kuradeel: "P-Preposterous." His sword then disintegrated from his hands and he fell down to his knees

Bystander 2: "Wh-Whoa, he broke his weapon."

Bystander 3: "Was that his goal?" Kirito then put his sword back on his back

Kirito: "You can feel free to try again with a different weapon, but don't you think this is enough?"

Kuradeel: "Grrr..." He then takes out a dagger and attacks Kirito again but Asuna stopped him and flips his dagger out of his hands with her rapier

Kuradeel: "A-Asuna-sama..." He tries to come up wih an excuse

Kuradeel: "The destruction of my weapon must've been a ruse! Otherwise, there's no way a dirty beater could have..."

Hikari: 'Seriously... What a dumb excuse.'

Asuna: "Kuradeel. I order you as a vice-commander of the Knight of the Blood. As of today, I relieve you of your escort duties. Standby at headquarters until you receive further orders. That is all."

Kuradeel: "What? You..." he wasn't liking this one bit but ultimately he gives up and goes back to the teleport gate

Kuradeel: "Teleport to Grandum." He then teleported away

Asuna: "Phew... " She then collapsed on Kirito from exhaustion I then spotted Gabriel retreating from the area

Hikari: 'We'll see you again next season Gabriel.' I then walked toward to the two

Hikari: "You alright Asuna?"

Asuna: "I'm fine and I'm sorry for involving you two like this."

Hikari: 'But I did nothing...'

Kirito: "No, I'm fine. But are you sure your fine?"

Asuna: "Yes. I think the stifling atmosphere of my guild is the result of me prioritizing the game's completion which in turn puts so much pressure on the other members."

Hikari: 'Not on Kuradeel though I'm sure he has an alternative motive.'

Kirito: "That's... I'd say you're doing the right thing... Besides, if there wasn't somebody like you, the clearing group wouldn't have made it this far." She then looks at him

Hikari: "I mean it is true though I'm pretty sure without you the clearing group wouldn't have reached the 74th Floor by now although... Us solo players should be saying this."

Kirito: "Anyway, even if you want to take a break by partying with a slacker like us. I don't think anybody has the right to prevent you from doing so."

...

Asuna: "Well, I guess I should thank you two. Okay, I'll take you for your word and take it easy today."

Hikari: 'Oh no...'

Asuna: "Good luck to you two taking turns being the forward." She then walks to the dungeon

Kirito: "W-Wait a second!"

Hikari: "Look what you have done now Kirito..." I started walking accepting my fate to do even more work because of Kirito

Kirito: "It's not my fault! And shouldn't we all take turns being the forward?!"

Asuna: "I'll take care of it tomorrow!"

Hikari: "I hate you Kirito..."

Kirito: "What?!"

74th Floor: Dungeon

Hikari: 'I forgot she's this fast...'

Asuna dodged the Demonic Servants attack and she used "Horizontal Square" then instantly uses another sword skill and rapidly attacks the monster then swung her rapier to its legs and finally stabs its chest

Kirito: "Having two skilled partners makes the fighting a lot easier..."

Hikari: "Yeah it has gotten much easier now."

Asuna: "Kirito-kun, Hikari, time to switch!

Kirito: "Y-Yeah, got it!"

Asuna then break its guard and Kirito went in and does a "Horizontal Square" but it still wasn't enough and was about to power up its a sword but I came in

Hikari: "Oh no you don't." Kirito jumped up and I went in and do a sword skill "Vorpal Strike" I then went through the Demonic Servant shattering it

~A few minutes later~

The three of us were mapping the dungeon but since I was already finished I didn't need to

Asuna: "Hey Hikari, Kirito-kun, look."

Kiriro&Hikari: "Hm?" We looked at what she pointed at and see a big door

Asuna: "Isn't this..."

Kirito: "Probably is."

Hikari: "Yep it's the boss room alright."

Asuna: "What do we do now? Should we take a small peek?"

Kirito: "Boss monsters never leave the rooms that they're guarding."

Hikari: "Then it's fine if we just opened the door right?" He nods

Kirito: "But just in case, keep a teleport crystal at hand."

Asuna: "Right." The three of us took out our teleport crystal in case things goes for the worst

Kirito: "Ready you two? Here we go." We both nodded and we all pushed the door open with our weapons ready

When we opened the door and it was pitched black inside. We entered the room and waited to see what was waiting inside

Just then Blue flames lit up the room and it revealed to be The Gleam Eyes

Hikari: 'Oh boy...'