8Part 2 – The World of Opportunities
Prologue
"You have to think less linear, dear," the lady chuckled. Easily sidestepping the raging boar, the woman finished it off with a sword skill.
Turning back to her companion with a smile, the woman laughed at her stricken husband.
"It's so easy when you do it," he complained bitterly. "We should just wait for the issue to be resolved on the other side."
Frowning, the lady gave her husband from the real world a once over. Recently married, they had bought this game as a sort of 'bonding' attempt. Raised in a middle-income family, the woman's parents had found her a partner when she hadn't found one herself.
Not surprising, the woman grumbled internally. Shy, scared to speak her mind, obedient. Even thinking about how she had been before, made her grind her teeth in anger. The husband that had been chosen for her stood there whining as she pretended to listen.
"Yes dear," she faithfully repeated back. Obedient to a fault, she had never spoken up against the marriage to a man she didn't love. She even stayed silent as he fulfilled his husbandly duties. The age gap of almost ten years had put a mild strain on their relationship. He worked, she cleaned. He took her when he wanted, she obeyed.
Eventually, a desire to understand his subservient wife led them to Sword Art Online. When pushed to decide, this is what she had chosen. A world of freedom she had heard. As years of holding her tongue built, she had finally found freedom, a purpose.
When Kayaba had damned them to living in Aincrad, depression overcame them all, except one. Budding joy threatened to make her laugh in the square.
Finally. Free. Free to be more than a trophy wife. The role that her father had beaten into her. The role her mother had also possessed. It was hard to look at her husband. Desire to keep up appearances combatted her desire to break free and do as she wished.
She had finally gotten her husband to leave the safe zone and come hunting. This was all in the hope that he would see the fun and excitement. Instead, all he saw was fear and death. Even against these simple boars the man struggled and was often paralysed in terror.
Unwilling to abandon him in case they were freed from SAO, the woman continued to hesitate before making large decisions.
"Yuuko!" the man growled menacingly. A month ago, she would have cowered and asked forgiveness before her husband's rage, now however…
"Is there a problem, Grimlock?" The woman replied easily, with special emphasis on his avatar's name.
"Pay attention! Griselda," Grimlock grinded out.
"I'll do my best," Griselda replied with a demure, yet confident smile. Walking past her baffled husband, Griselda returned to the Town of Beginnings for the night.
Chapter 1
Wednesday Dec 7th, 2022
"We should go now!" Arthur growled, "they're losing confidence!"
"No!" Naruto replied for what was hopefully the last time that day. With Coper the sixteen of them were all ready to face Illfang again, they trusted him. However, Naruto wanted three more parties. One for each kobold companion Illfang brought with him. The others complained it was overkill, but Naruto knew different. Having many people would be beneficial for morale during the fight. Nerves could be even more of a problem than Diavel's overconfidence was.
Tasting bile, Naruto had to look away as the list rang through his head one more time. Diavel, Lind, Kreuger, and Kato. Four deaths. Four more than would die on the second attempt Naruto told himself.
This time Illfang wouldn't leave his sight. To this end, Naruto wanted an entire party on each Kobold Trooper that spawned. Overkill it may be, but Naruto wanted the insurance.
So far, Naruto had two parties willing to make an attempt at the boss: Agil's, and another that had shown up not long ago. The Legend Braves they called themselves. Each name was based on some mythical hero: Orlando, Cuchulainn, and so forth. Talks with the other parties had gone… badly. Many of them blamed either Naruto or Argo for Diavel's death.
Time was creeping on and Naruto knew the desire for tangible results was pressing down on him. Word of the failure had sent a shockwave of despair across the floor. Half of a party wiped out; the leader felled in one sword skill. With rumours abounding only Argo's quick mind and wide influence managed to halt the entire player base from sinking into depression. If suicide became the norm, there would be no one left to save.
Naruto couldn't help but sigh as he thought back on that day. The day he declared his path to the world.
Monday Dec 5th, 2022
The horror of yesterday fresh in his mind, Naruto breathed a breath of fresh air at last. Having paid his respects to the memorial in the black iron palace, Naruto looked around the courtyard where Kayaba had caused so much pain. It was here that Argo had organized it. It was here where crowds of people would assemble to hear him speak.
Organized by Argo in less than a day, it was truly incredible what the girl had managed. Looking over his shoulder he saw her chatting with Sachi and Asuna. As much as she had tried to appear unaffected, Naruto knew better. Her nerves were as fried as his were about this meeting. If he didn't convince the public here and now that the game was indeed beatable, they were screwed.
The lynch mobs would come for those they blamed. Argo, Naruto, and eventually the rest of the beta testers. Anyone they could pin their circumstances on. Terror would blind them.
Determined not to bring death upon his friends, Naruto resolved himself to bring some degree of confidence to the people trapped in the game.
Standing on top of the teleport gate in the center of the plaza, Naruto was struck by the sea of people here. By rough estimate he would assume that almost all surviving players had shown up. Not from force this time, but hope. The last vestige of hope was what Naruto offered. The final tuft of grass before the cliff. No matter how unlikely, instinct tells one to grab hold and never let go. That's what Naruto would have to do. He had to support all these players.
Gulping, Naruto held up his hand for silence. In a wave the great plaza quieted. "Thank you all for coming. I know this place brings all of you bad memories. It does for me as well.
"However, we can't let that experience control us. We can't let Kayaba control us. As I'm sure you have all heard by now, the first boss raid attempt was a failure. As a participant in it, I deserve some of that blame. But I am not here to apologise about past mistakes or wrongs. No, I am here to look to the future. To our families, the loved ones we left behind. To the world we were ripped out of. I am here to offer you hope.
"It may not be today, it may not be next week, next month, or even next year. But believe me when I tell you, Sword Art Online will be cleared."
At Naruto's resolute declaration, murmurs ran through the crowd. He had said what almost none of them could bring themselves to think. 100 floors and they were stuck on number one. How could anyone stand there and say that when the first boss had repelled them?
"Before this week is out, I will be on the second floor. For this to happen without more causalities, we need fighters. We need people who can risk everything to return to their families. We need people who can stand in front of the charging monsters and not flee. We need heroes. We need you to remember the resolve of childhood dreams and act on it. Your name will be remembered throughout history as the liberator of Sword Art Online. However, it will never happen, unless you start levelling up."
With a sour taste in his mouth, Naruto listened to the roar of appreciation. He had played them like a fiddle. Promise them fame and glory, it was the oldest trick in the book. The fact it had worked on these loner type gamers was somewhat surprising.
"To freedom!" Naruto cried, leaping through the teleport gate he was standing on, he returned to Tolbana. Not staying around to answer questions, Argo had figured it would be better for now to remain separate. An idol to look up to, not a comrade to chat with. Sighing about the theatrics, Naruto went in search of a bed he could sleep the stress away in.
Wednesday Dec 7th, 2022
The end of the week he had declared. Saturday. If he could get a third party tomorrow, that gave one day to practice and the then the day of the boss fight. Groaning, Naruto held his head in his hands.
"Bad day?" Sachi asked soothingly, rubbing his shoulders.
"Nah, just stressful," Naruto informed her. "Have any of the parties had a change of heart?"
"I think Kibaou is starting to come around," Sachi answered slowly. "For some reason the other parties in the raid seem to look to him as the new leader."
"Hmm," Tapping his fingers, Naruto thought of how he could get them to come to his side. Basically, every group that wouldn't join him blamed him for the death of Diavel's party if not Diavel himself. Retreating was the right move; he knew it was. Argo had assured him there was no katanas in the beta, at least in what they managed to get to.
With a slam, the door was flung open and panting, the subject of Naruto's thoughts, Argo, entered.
"Nar-boi! You're not going to believe this!"
With Argo's nose a hairsbreadth away, Sachi whispered menacingly, "back off Argo! Do you want the whole world to know he has two girlfriends?"
Noticing her position, Argo blushed and took a seat. "Sorry about that," Regardless, her excitement was undampened. "So, you know that long series of fetch quests that I was slowly working on?"
"Yeah, the new ones with bad rewards."
"Right, the promise of something big at the end kept me going…"
"And you got something good?" Naruto interrupted, joining in her excitement.
"Uh huh," Argo nodded excited. "Information on Illfang. Details on his katana form and the skills that he can use with it!"
"That's fantastic!" Naruto shouted excited. Reading the list, Naruto let out a chuckle. "'Whirling Death', Illfang jumps into the air and lands with a counter clockwise horizontal slash, AOE. High chance of stunning. The skill is activated when Illfang places his left hand on the ground."
"It's perfect," Argo crowed happily.
"There's thirteen skills here…" Sachi murmured, "How is anyone supposed to recognize what skill is which without hours of practice?"
"For the average player they won't…" Argo trailed off, gazing at Naruto.
Sighing, Naruto knew what Argo was implying. "Yes, I should be able to counter the skills with this info. Publish this and send Agil to go talk to Kibaou again. I think he's scared of him."
"That's my Nar-boi," Argo sang happily. With a smile she moved to carry out Naruto's instructions.
"Wait." Naruto called out before she could fully leave.
"Huh? What's up?"
"Was there nothing in the reward on weaknesses?"
"No, you saw everything I got. Illfang likes using an axe and buckler to cut through his opponents with force. Although, when pushed into a corner, he resorts to his coveted nodachi; a blade that prioritizes speed over power, blows that aren't blocked inflict serious damage. The rest is info on his sword skills."
"But that is a weakness, Argo." Naruto told her with an evil smile.
Almost feeling a little bad for the poor kobold, Argo darted out of the inn.
Once Argo had left, Sachi hesitantly spoke up. "Can I talk to you about something?"
Ripping his gaze away from the sheet of paper that contained the answer to his problems, Naruto smiled. "Of course."
"I messaged Silica again. She's continuing to fight."
"Did she hear my speech?" Naruto asked quietly.
Nodding Sachi bit her lip nervously. She knew this was a touchy subject for Naruto.
"I wonder if my speech is actually going to save anyone," Naruto wondered, his eyes tracing lines in the ceiling. "Would it have been better to leave them in despair or play on their fantasies?"
"I think, and so does everyone else, that the speech was necessary. Dying trying to clear the game is better than falling off the edge of Aincrad in the hopes that Kayaba lied to us."
Sighing, Naruto rubbed his eyes, exhaustion setting in from the sleepless nights. "But then, their blood wouldn't be on my hands," Naruto answered sadly.
Casting a glance at his morose girlfriend who didn't know what to say, Naruto sat up straight. Grabbing her hands, Naruto smiled gently. "So, what else did Silica say?"
"Oh, right." Sachi laughed. "I got so distracted I forgot to tell you the most important part. Apparently, a lot of men doubt her abilities, so she has trouble finding parties. I guess she teamed up with another girl who is having the same issues."
"So, it's just the two of them?" Naruto asked worried.
"It seems that way. Well, she did mention something a blacksmith in passing, but I fail to see how that helps them fight."
Frowning, Naruto agreed. Blacksmithing required quite a bit of money put into it before it could start to make it back. This was mainly due to the difficulty of mining and transporting ores. Also, at low experience, the NPC's would sell better equipment and have higher upgrading chances. "I guess I could give them a kickstart…"
"Absolutely not!" Sachi denied instantly.
"Huh? Why?" Naruto asked, baffled by the vehement denial.
"Uh… Well, you have to study the Illfang notes, and you know, get another party…" Sachi blushed lightly, knowing her denial had been out of line. But Silica's messages… She had fawned over Naruto, she didn't even know his name, she called him the Black Swordsman, for his black hair and eyes as well as the general monotone state of his leather armour. Sachi had rolled her eyes at the nickname, but truth be told, it was steadily growing on her. Sachi had no basis for it but putting Naruto into a place with two more girls just felt like a bad idea. She didn't want to confine Naruto to herself, but she also didn't have to just smile and allow Naruto to run off with other girls. Especially when the clearing of the floor had priority.
Naruto looked at Sachi suspiciously, detecting hidden motives but deciding she was right. "Indeed. Defeating Illfang is more important than their lives. Hopefully you've said enough that they'll be safe until we can help them out."
"Well… I can always go and help…" Sachi offered nervously.
"Really?" Naruto asked in surprise. "You're willing to go and help another party learn how to fight without me there?"
Sachi lowered her head embarrassed. It was such a clear contradiction from what she had said earlier in this game. She had told herself if Naruto stopped fighting, then so would she. But she had changed. Sachi was no longer the person who had collapsed in her room a month ago.
Raising her head, Sachi stared resolutely into Naruto's eyes. "I'd like permission to use today and tomorrow to help Silica. Also, I'd like permission to bring Asuna along."
Nodding, Naruto smiled proudly at his girlfriend. This was the girl he remembered. His oldest friend had returned, and better than ever. "I may need you for parts of tomorrow if I find another party today. I want the full raid assembled."
Bringing Naruto in for one final hug, Sachi beamed at him before darting out the inn door like Argo did mere minutes before.
"You wanted to talk?"
Nodding with a sour look on his face, Kibaou stepped forward. They were gathered in the amphitheatre that Diavel had called them all to, to organize the first boss raid. Reminiscent of then, most of the people from the first raid were here as well. Naruto was the only one from his two parties.
"Agil here showed up with the info on Illfang."
"Yes, it was a great find and should help immensely." Naruto agreed, giving nothing away.
"Everyone here has read it." Kibaou spit angrily. "Where did you get the info from? Why didn't you know this before the last raid!? Huh!?"
Smiling, Naruto accepted the charges with a nod. "That information which was freely given was the reward for the fetch quests issued around Tolbana."
"T-Those!?" Kibaou squealed.
"I gave up after the tenth part of uselessness." One of the assembled players admitted.
"As you can see, the quests were completed in the time after the last raid hoping that there would be something worthwhile at the end, and there was."
Accepting the words silently, Kibaou had a complicated look on his face. "I may have been wrong about you. Diavel once told me, that he was scared you would take command from him."
The old raid group shifted in confusion at the change in pace.
"I thought that's what you were doing when you ordered the retreat. Merely using Diavel's death as a stepping stone to take over…"
Swallowing Kiabou seemed to lose his voice for a moment. Fixing his gaze on Naruto's, Kibaou continued.
"When the rest of the raid retreated, I stayed to hear his final words. He really was the stronger one after all. That's what he said. So, I want you to prove it right now. Duel me. If you win, then I'll follow you to the end of the game. Show me that Diavel's faith in you wasn't misplaced. Prove that your grand speech wasn't an illusion!"
Finishing at a shout, Naruto was stunned by the heartfelt speech he'd just heard. Realizing his naivety made him chuckle. He thought he could define someone using a label. Kibaou wasn't a bully, he was confused, scared, and looking for someone to blame for taking away the person who had given him hope. He wanted to pin his issues on beta testers. He wanted a way out. Now, however, Naruto was his last hope, and so he too was holding onto it. Testing how reliable it was.
Timer ticking down, the raid moved out of the way for the half-finish duel. The one-handed swordsman against the one-handed swordsman with a shield and light metal armour. Merely stating it like that gave the impression that Kibaou had a massive advantage.
Growling, Kibaou opened the duel identical to how Diavel had all those weeks ago.
Smiling nostalgically, Naruto decided to deal with it the same way. Dodging backwards, Naruto almost laughed at the stunned expression that he was greeted with. Dropping a 'Vertical' on Kibaou's unarmored spiky head brought the duel to a close. Naruto's highly enhanced blade travelled far faster now than it had against Diavel. He knew there was room for improvement still, especially in the game related aspects of fighting, but this was more than enough for this duel.
Having the duel end so one-sided, Naruto was unsure how Kibaou would react. Trepidation at whether he should have fed the man's ego warred inside him.
"Huh?" Naruto grunted in surprise. Kibaou leaned his head back and roared in laughter.
"No wonder!" Kiabou laughed happily. "That overgrown Lizard won't stand a chance against you!"
"A marvelous duel," a voice broke in.
"Shivata?" Naruto asked surprised. It was from this very man that Naruto had learned the names of Diavel's fallen party members. Last time he had talked to him, Shivata was going back to the town of beginnings to regroup.
"I never got the chance to thank you Naruto." Shivata began seriously, "you saved my life from Illfang's descending blade. I too would like the chance to join you in your raid."
Ripples of conversation broke out throughout the group. Shivata's declaration was perhaps even more meaningful than Kibaou's. Shivata was one of the people in Diavel's party, part of his inner circle. The easiest person to blame for his death was Naruto.
"Thank you for agreeing, both of you." Nodding to the two new members he had acquired, Naruto focused on the rest of the uneasy group, called there by Kibaou to discuss the Illfang reveal. "As I'm sure you all know, I am planning a raid on Illfang this week, the earlier the better. To do this, I want at least one more party. We have four already, but a fifth could be essential for success."
Looking upon the rows of people, they shifted nervously. Images of a blue-haired knight exploding into polygons assaulting their minds, even the display of power just shown couldn't fully sway them.
Standing up, Agil led his party over. "I've already agreed to be there. You can count on us to participate in the raid."
Losing part of their support the crowd seemed to fold within themselves, everyone hoping someone else would take the job away from them.
"Did you guys forget Diavel already!?" Kibaou growled threateningly. "What would he do if he was here? Huh? Would he sit there and stare at his feet?"
Slowly but surely, members of the raid group came over. Most of them seemed to be members of Kibaou's past party. A dagger user with a sullen face caught Naruto's eye, his expression at odds with his actions.
Nodding at those who joined, Naruto then faced the ones who didn't. "Remember this day. When we get to the second floor, what will you do? If you won't fight this boss, will you fight the next? Think hard on what role you want to play in this story, MMO's aren't nice to those who fall behind."
Turning with a flourish, Naruto left the shocked remnants of the old raid group behind. A new raid for a new future Naruto mused silently.
"Good one!" Sachi congratulated the young girl. Wielding a dagger, the cute pigtail girl had just taken down a wolf monster.
High fiving, the four girls smiled at each other. In a game where the male to female ratio was heavily skewed, they were unsure whether events like this would be common or rare. On one hand, their rarity would make one think that girls would have very little interaction with each other. On the other hand, forming girl groups would also allow them some breathing room away from lecherous males panting after them.
"Hey Liten!" Silica yelped excitedly. "We're going to hit level three off this quest!"
"We are indeed Silica," the medium length brown-haired Liten answered with a smile. Her petite face was framed by loose strands of hair hanging just below her shoulders. Sachi put her age around fourteen or so, similar to her own.
The girls had apparently met at the same party recruitment event where the girls were passed over for more "reliable-looking" men.
Deciding that they'd form a party of just the two of them, the girls' playstyles matched up well. Liten wielding a long mace with a shield and the beginnings of heavy armor. Silica, however, was going for a hit-and-run dagger build.
Much to Sachi's shock, the two of them declared they "had fun" hunting boars. Now Sachi and Asuna were there to help them with moving forwards.
"Liten, if you can jab with your shield when the wolf uses a skill, it will reduce damage received." Asuna instructed.
"I know," Liten pouted, "but it's really hard. There is no system assistance to help."
"Eh?" Sachi asked curiously. "I thought that the shield skill made it easier."
Laughing nervously, Liten shuffled her feet, unsure of how to answer.
"You don't have it?" Sachi asked unbelievingly.
"Why?" Asuna followed up.
"To help Liz!" Silica broke in. "Liten has mining instead!"
Mouths gaping, Sachi and Asuna couldn't understand the insanity of it all. For a tank taking a skill like mining would set them very far back. Right now, Liten would have the mace skill and the mining skill. At level six Liten would get access to a third skill, this would presumably be shield. She would therefore be without her armour skill until level twelve.
Both Asuna and Sachi were level nine and therefore had three skill slots each. Asuna had Rapier, light metal armour, and… tailoring. She knew she should probably replace it but couldn't bring herself to do so at this junction. She was still trying to choose between various options.
Sachi on the other-hand, had two-handed spear, Light metal armour, and potion making. Argo had personally recommended that someone pick up potion making due to the vast amount of money it would save over the course of the game. The caveat was that someone else would then have to take herb-gathering, which ended up being Keita.
The difference between these two scenarios, was that Sachi wasn't crippling her battle potential by having potion making, Liten was. Tetsuo already had all three skills he needed to properly tank, Liten would have to hit level twelve to become as useful.
"So, your blacksmith pushed you into this," Asuna declared with narrowed eyes, already imagining the lashing she was going to give them.
"N-No!" Liten declared. "Liz was against this, but she really needed the ore to get started! Look at my mace, she made it!"
It was impressive, Asuna admitted. The Copper Mace wasn't for sale until Horunka. Instead of spending tons of money, she got it as a gift from the blacksmith.
"Can we meet this blacksmith when we head back to town?" Sachi asked, redirecting the conversation.
"Of course!" Silica nodded happily. "She's great!"
"She!?" Asuna and Sachi's exclamations resounded at the same time. Both of them were shocked to find yet another girl in the male-dominated game.
Silica happily skipped at the head of the party, leading them back to the town of beginnings. The sight of the skipping girl brought a smile to Sachi's face. She had thought the monsters would change her, but they hadn't. Additionally, the blacksmith was female. The very knowledge of that eased Sachi's conscious. While she knew it was wrong of her, Sachi couldn't help feeling more comfortable with the fact that it wasn't a man.
After handing in the quests and receiving their level up, Liten led them to an out of the way inn. Entering one of the for-rent rooms, they were greeted by a brown-haired girl staring intently at a mat. Giving them no more than cursory grunt, the girl was intently focused on whatever held her attention.
With short hair not even reaching her shoulders, the intense look on the girl's partially freckled face gave her an older appearance.
"Liz! We brought our friends back!" Silica happily informed the distracted blacksmith.
"You did what?" Looking up for once, the blacksmith was greeted by four girls instead of the two that had set out earlier. "Huh?"
"I'm Asuna, its good to meet you." Sticking her hand out with a smile, Asuna was the picture of sophistication.
"Lisbeth," the girl replied bluntly not taking the hand. "You can call me Liz."
Blinking Asuna slowly retracted her hand.
"You have to be nicer Liz," Liten reproached her. "They're teaching us how to fight."
"Oh!" Liz reacted in excitement. "Does that mean we'll move onto the ore dungeons soon?"
"I'm Sachi by the way."
"Hey," Lisbeth beamed. "So, does it?"
"If you mean the Copper Caverns," Asuna answered slowly, "don't plan on entering it."
"Well that's one of them," Liz answered confused, "but why not?"
"Let's just say it wasn't balanced correctly." Sachi answered, anger and fear thick in her voice.
"You've been there?"
"Not personally," Sachi denied, "but I've heard the stories."
"Well the info broker I bought the information from said it was the best place for mining copper," Liz retorted.
Unsure how to answer, Sachi and Asuna looked at each other. "If you value your life, never enter that dungeon."
Face blanching, Liz nodded.
"Enough talking," Silica pouted, "let's go to the next town!"
"Ah sure." Liz answered, rolling up her mat.
"Your coming?" Sachi asked in surprise.
"Of course!" Liz shot back. "I'm not going to be left behind to twiddle my thumbs!"
"Can you fight?" Asuna asked worried for the girl.
"Duh," Liz scoffed, rolling her eyes. "I'm already level three from the blacksmithing experience."
Flipping through her menu Liz donned near identical gear to what Liten was wearing. Throwing the scroll into a holder across her back, Lisbeth indicated she was ready to go.
Shrugging at each other, Sachi and Asuna led them to Horunka.
Thursday December 10th, 2022
"Orlando," Naruto greeted the boy, shaking his hand.
"Thank you for the opportunity, Naruto," the boy answered back quietly, nerves battling excitement. Argo had found the group and recruited them for Naruto. The party had only recently hit level seven and were still fresh, however, they were the best Naruto could find.
Looking over the group one more time, Naruto was confused, "where is your sixth member?"
"Ah, Nezha…" the group looked at each other, unsure how to answer.
Eyebrow raised, Naruto waited patiently for the group to explain.
"W-well… he has an FNC, so we were helping him train throwing knives, but…"
"He decided to become a blacksmith," one of them finished with a shrug. Enkidu, Naruto remembered after a moment.
"I see…" Naruto answered, unsure what an FNC was but the issue was the same. The party was down a member. He was already planning on giving them Shivata and Hafner, another survivor from Diavel's party, but he'd have to find another if he wanted to bring them to eight.
"It's no big deal though, we're good with just the five of us…" Orlando told Naruto with a strange expression on his face.
"Hmm?" Puzzled at the strange blowing off, Naruto stared hard at Orlando. It was very hard to hide emotions in SAO Naruto had learned. One's facial expressions tended to be blown out of proportion. "Do you have something to tell me?"
"N-no," Orlando stuttered, "I'm not hiding anything!"
Noticing his mistake Orlando blushed while his party mates facepalmed their leader's mistake.
"I wouldn't normally pry into personal business, but this sounds serious. You won't be allowed in the raid unless you at least give me an overview about what's up."
Head hanging, Orlando looked at his party. After a short, whispered conversation, he turned back to Naruto. "A man came and talked to us yesterday while we were sitting at a pub…"
Again, looking at his party Orlando seemed at a loss of what to say.
"He was very charming," Gilgamesh admitted, "his laugh just seemed to put you at ease."
"And?"
"He showed us a technique for making money, it relies on having a blacksmith with weapon proficiency."
Suspicion mounting, Naruto waved him on.
"Basically, you can replace a good weapon with a spent one."
"Spent?" Naruto inquired.
"Er, that is a weapon with no upgrade attempts left." Orlando hastily explained.
"I see… So, the blacksmith changes out someone's weapon with a lower value replicate, but how do they not realise?"
"That's the beauty of the strategy," Beowulf interrupted sadly, "the upgrade attempt breaks the spent weapon."
"You weren't actually going to use this, were you?" Naruto whispered, thinly veiled rage blazing in his eyes.
Flinching back, Orlando tried to defend himself. "W-well, it isn't explicitly stopped by the system, and we need the money to catch up. Nezha was excited to finally be worthwhile…"
Trailing off, Orlando swallowed as he saw his words weren't working. The arguments that the cloaked man had persuaded them with so easily sounded like lame excuses now.
"So, the plan is to steal from the front liners until you're too powerful to argue against? It's almost brilliant."
Hanging his head in shame, the legend braves looked miserable.
"Thank you for telling me. You will have seven members in your party, I don't have time to find you an eighth. One last question, who was this cloaked man?"
"We don't know. We never saw his face. He just told us about the strategy and left…"
Eyes narrowing, Naruto couldn't believe what he was hearing. Why impart a technique that has the potential of making someone tons of money, and leave without saying anything? Deciding he'd talk to Argo about it later, Naruto brought the legend braves to the raid practice.
"Oh, I don't know if it's important, but he kind of reminded me of you. You have the same sort of aura." Shrugging, Orlando was unsure how to express the feeling he had gotten from the man.
"Reminds him of me…" mumbling to himself, Naruto overlooked the raid practice. In all, it was more of a social event to get the participating members to know each other. Better relations would lead to better teamwork.
"Why the long face?" Arthur asked easily, coming over to visit.
"I had an interesting conversation with the legend braves," Naruto admitted.
"Oh, what about?" Arthur asked only partially interested.
"A man who reminds them of me."
"Huh?" Arthur grunted. "In what way? Appearance?"
"No," Naruto denied. "Charisma, or aura. It was just a feeling Orlando had."
"Oh… mysterious," Arthur chuckled. "Another you could really help speed up the floor clearing."
Eyes widening in trepidation, Naruto's mind finally connected the pieces. "What if, hypothetically… I was working against the clearers. Trying to prevent you from clearing the game?"
Shivering, Arthur tried to joke it off. "We would only get as far as you let us, if I'm being honest. I can't imagine a scenario in which we win that encounter."
"Then it's a good thing I'm here," Naruto answered with a laugh. Putting his worries away for now, Naruto focused on the more immediate problem, Illfang.
Friday December 9th, 2022
Standing before the stone double doors once again, Naruto was stunned by the differences in raids. The last raid had been six separate parties. This time, there were only five parties, but the comradery was much higher. Despite the short amount of time spent together, Klein and Agil, as well as Keita and Orlando were quickly becoming fast friends.
The only disruption to this, was the fifth party. A vengeful Kibaou brought along his strongest seven to, "avenge Diavel". This had caused the girls in his party to roll their eyes at him, but Naruto didn't care. All they had to do was stand around and deal with a single kobold mob. He had the hard job this fight. Naruto had no intentions of yielding Illfang's aggro at any point. Close to forty minutes of intense fighting where any mistake could spell death. It was a fool's errand; it was also his duty.
Diavel's death was out of his hands, he understood that. But Diavel's party, three innocent players, were only guilty of following instructions. Images of the family they left behind, or the girlfriends they may have had, rushed through Naruto's head once again. Shaking his head to prevent them from disabling him. He had to be focused to do this. For them Naruto would do this.
Giving the other 39 members of the raid a once over, Naruto nodded in satisfaction. Despite being forced into retreat last time, nerves appeared to be under control. Clearing his throat Naruto gave the speech he had worked out ahead of time.
"I would like to thank you all for showing up today. Its takes great courage to face a foe of this caliber. Have no doubt though, all forty of us will end today on the second floor. Feel free to run out of the room if you get scared. I hold none of you responsible in helping me to defeat this boss."
Surprised murmurs passed through the group at these words.
"Indeed, I will attempt this fight even if you all leave right now. Is anyone leaving?"
Looking around the room Naruto saw only resolute gazes staring back at him. Nodding his head in appreciation, he continued.
"The battle plan will be this, Parties C, D, and E will each deal with a kobold trooper. These are the parties led by Agil, Orlando, and Kibaou respectively. Parties A and B will deal exclusively with Illfang. I will hold aggro on Illfang for the entire fight. The parties will switch around me to avoid taking aggro."
"What?"
"No way!"
"Nar-boi…"
Ignoring the complaints, Naruto held up his hand for silence. "If I need a switch, I will call for one, until them I will hold aggro. Obviously, we have a lot more manpower on the troopers than we need. Depending on timings I may call other parties to switch in for a round if they signal to me that they want to. Any questions?"
"What are we going to do about that katana?" Kibaou drawled in his distinctive kansai accent. "You haven't been clear about that." Delivered perhaps harsher than Kibaou meant, the question was still valid.
I've studied the list of skills that Argo got and will block them."
This simple answer floored most of the members present. The list was basically skill names and the hit number. Even with knowing the starting positions of the skills, it was impossible to know what skill would come next. More than that, it was ludicrous to imagine one would be able to react to skills they'd only read about. At least for most people. Naruto's plan was to instantly react to the blade moving and intercept it. If he was able to survive through a couple rounds of sword skills, then everything would get easier as he learned the speed and power of the moves.
Straightening his back, Kibaou faced the door with a stoic face. Nodding his approval, Naruto joined Kibaou in facing the door. Unsheathing his sword, Naruto pushed open the double doors with his left hand.
Walking into the room, Naruto got to experience the same animation. The torches followed by the floor lighting up. Instead of charging, Naruto let Illfang meet him closer to the exit. This had the advantage of not only an easier retreat, but it put the trooper spawns further away.
Rushing them in that triangle formation, Naruto sidestepped the leading kobold, leaving it for Agil who followed closely behind him. Finally, face-to-face with the lord of the first floor, Naruto wondered if he had miscalculated. The prospect of facing it down and dodging its skills seemed almost easy from the comfort of his inn room. Feeling Illfang's hot breath as it stared down at him was quite a different matter.
Bellowing, the kobold lord charged up one of his repetitive hatchet skills. Instinctively, Naruto dodged it. Without a shield, Naruto had no hate generation skills. This meant he had to deal significant enough damage to it that it would stay on him and not switch to someone else. 'Slant' was the skill with the shortest post-motion delay. So, Naruto used 'Slant' after 'Slant'. After a minute of ravaging Illfang, he finally signalled his party to start attacking as well.
Five minutes later, Naruto was still dodging axe skills. Not bothering to even raise his sword, he casually stepped around the brutal swings that took large chunks out of tanks in the previous fight.
"D out, E in." the words Naruto had been dreading he finally spoke. Kibaou had signalled that his party wanted in on the rotation, so Naruto put them in. He would remove them in a minute so that they would be available to fight the next set of troopers.
Sweating nervously, Naruto continued to dodge almost unconsciously around Illfang. Finally, just as he was getting ready to take them out, they did it. A knife wielder with a nervous face, unleashed not one, but two sword skills during Illfang's delay. It wasn't enough to overpower the hate Naruto had built; it was enough for Illfang to acknowledge it.
'Pivoting Death'. The rather unoriginal named skill did precisely what it was foretold to. Pivoting 180 degrees, Illfang brought his axe down upon the poor dagger user's head.
Groaning at the person's stupidity, Naruto did something moronic enough to match. As the hand axe came within reach of Naruto, he grabbed the handle with his left hand. Ignoring his weight, the skill went off as expected.
Feeling like his arm was getting ripped out of its socket, Naruto used the momentum to make sure his body would hit first. Releasing his hold, Naruto hit the dagger user and the two of them went tumbling across the floor.
In SAO, damage is taken when your body hits a surface at a speed higher than your strength can absorb. This includes things like fall damage or getting thrown by a boss.
Bouncing back to his feet, Naruto's health stopped in the yellow. Starting with full, he lost over half his health to correct this idiot's mistake. Casting a quick glance at the still prone dagger user, Naruto saw he lost health too. While not as severe, Naruto was just glad the damage didn't turn him orange. It must have counted his body as an attack from Illfang, Naruto reasoned.
Stepping away from the dagger user so they wouldn't get involved in Illfang's next skill, Naruto skillfully dodged around the edges of the axe's hitbox. "E out, A in." The sweet words finally spoken, Kibaou retreated with a scowl at the dagger user to prepare for the kobolds.
With a lightning quick 'Parallel Sting' from Asuna, Illfang roared out his defiance. Three more troopers literally appeared from thin air around the throne and ran for their master. Getting intercepted halfway, Illfang was left alone at the mercy of Naruto's party.
Passing through the second bar without incident, Naruto grew increasingly worried as the end of the third bar approached. It was do or die time. With the increased damage from his parties tricked out gear, they were on pace to empty the first three health bars in only 21 minutes.
"D out, E in!" calling the switch early, Orlando frowned at Naruto but obeyed the order. Naruto had put E in early, so he could get them out early. Naruto wanted Kibaou and, more importantly, his goons nowhere close to Illfang when he entered his final form. Keeping a close eye on the dagger user, Naruto was pleasantly surprised that they were efficiently adding on damage without overextending. If that was enough to fix their habits then it was worth it, Naruto decided with a grin.
It's time, Naruto thought solemnly to himself. He had done it up until now, but that was basically warm-up. The vertical skills were nothing but bait. They drew you into surrounding Illfang. When the nodachi comes out this spelt death as they had learned painfully last time.
"E out, A in." voice cracking slightly with nerves, Naruto swallowed nervously one last time. The last time he'd get for nerves. After that, it would be ten minutes of torture.
As Illfang flung his weapons away, Naruto opened his menu. It was time for his last secret. Unnecessary until now, Naruto equipped a shield. Not just any shield, the 'Sturdy Tin Beetle Shield' that was now upgraded as well. Shining dully in the light, Naruto and Illfang faced off again.
Not missing a beat, Illfang held his katana horizontal off to his right side. Reminiscent of Kriol's 'Hurricane Strike', Illfang's skill was far deadlier. Spinning out of it, the blade came down vertically. Once, twice, and thrice, Illfang's blade landed on Naruto's shield. If you had the reactions for it, the feint was slow really. Responding with a simple 'Slant', Naruto won the health trade.
Roaring, Illfang used a different skill. The list that Argo got had thirteen sword skills for the katana. Three of them Naruto had seen used against Diavel. The fourth he had just blocked easily. The fifth, however, was a different type of skill.
Starting in a high stance, Illfang swung his blade horizontally at head height from left to right. This was followed by another slash, right to left, a foot lower. Following this pattern for another two slashes, the four hit sword skill was nigh impossible to block. Unless you knew what was coming.
Naruto had barely slept engraining those skills into his mind. The skill 'Swift Dissection' was Illfang's ultimate counter to a single tank setup. Hitting the target four times from alternating directions at descending heights made it almost impossible to block. The last two slashes came at Naruto's waist and knees, respectively.
Shield arm too high from the first two, Naruto did what, by now, his party thought of as his signature move. He backflipped over the blade. Landing roughly, Naruto was still unaccustomed to the weight of the shield. Putting shield into his third skill slot, Naruto had been training in secret since the end of the last raid.
Experience for leveling up went down as you outleveled monsters, but weapon experience was constant. In this way, Naruto now had almost 100 points into the shield skill. In addition to the sheer defense the shield provided, Naruto took minimal to no damage when tanking Illfang's blows.
Confidence soaring, Naruto looked quickly at how the troopers were fairing. Despite Kibaou getting anxious and pulling his mob closer to the exit, everything was proceeding according to plan.
Plan foiled, Illfang charged up yet again another unique skill, 'Swallow Falls'. The two- hit skill would have carved an X into Naruto's torso if he hadn't prepared his shield in time.
Even with his incredible reaction time, the skill had been too fast. All the delay had been in the activation, the slashes had come at near hypersonic velocities. With a distinctive activation movement, however, Naruto knew he could counter it next time.
Rapidly drinking a health potion, Naruto followed that with 'Howl'. While it was most likely unnecessary, it wouldn't do to lose aggro now.
Warily facing the boss again, Naruto steadily stalked towards the recovered boss. Once again, Illfang lifted his blade to start a skill. This time, it was one Naruto knew the activation for, 'Floating Boat'. It was the first half of the two-part combo that killed Diavel. 'Floating Boat' knocked the target into the air where Illfang would kill them with 'Scarlet Fan'.
Unfortunately for Illfang, Naruto, unlike Diavel, was not stunned. Dodging the skill, Naruto called out, "one skill!"
Rushing in, Argo and Asuna used their fastest skills before rushing out. Illfang's final health bar was shortened.
Watching from afar, elation slowly filled the onlooking parties as they downed their respective elite troopers one by one. Face breaking into a smile, Agil wiped his eyes quickly before anyone could see. He had cried himself to sleep the night after the failed first raid. His hope of seeing his wife and his beloved café again had faded to zero. He knew a large portion of the raid blamed Naruto for that defeat, he didn't. The call was correct. No one there knew how to deal with the katana. Expecting a similar outcome, Agil was determined to bring the kobold down with him this time.
This, however, was a leader. Not even a man by society's standards, Naruto was leading the raid to victory. Signalling his group to head back to the main fight, a sound interrupted him. Looking back at the throne, Agil's face went blank as another three troopers spawned.
"Deal with them to the best of your abilities. If you need more people, just say the word." Naruto's voice rang out from the main fight. Calm and sure, the initially panicked parties settled down again. They could kill them before the next round spawned. Raising their weapons, they faced down the approaching kobolds.
"Tsk," Naruto complained upon taking more damage. The eighth skill had been too fast for Naruto to properly block. While the damage wasn't high, he was definitely inside kill range from a direct critical hit. Illfang was losing health, slowly.
If they surround him, he spams 'Whirling Wheel'. If they don't, then troopers continue to spawn at a regular interval as Naruto is steadily worn down. Something had to break. Gritting his teeth, Naruto looked for an opening, and found it.
Illfang started up another 'Swift Dissection'. Instead of trying to block the first blow, Naruto ducked under it. With a view of Illfang's unprotected side, Naruto hit it with a 'Horizontal'. Crying out, Illfang stumbled as he was knocked out his skill. Not giving the kobold a break, Naruto hammered it across the back with a 'Vertical'. "Hit it, all!"
Following his command, the seven members of his party hit Illfang with a skill. Falling to his knees, Illfang finally lost a large portion of health since switching weapons. With fire in his eyes, Illfang leapt into the air.
"Back out!" Naruto screamed at his party. Unfortunately, only Asuna, Argo, and Ducker were able to get out. The other four all had longer delay's due to their weapons. 'Whirling Wheel' came down, and like a repeat of last time, all four that took the blow were stunned.
While it wasn't a long stun, it was long enough for Illfang to combo it into 'Floating Boat' and 'Scarlet Fan'. Landing, Illfang seemed to lick his lips before selecting the target he wanted to annihilate. His eyes fell on Tetsuo. Ignoring Naruto, who held the most aggro, Illfang landed 'Floating Boat' on the helpless tank.
"Stay calm and use your shield!" Instructions given; Naruto could only hope Tetsuo would listen. Diavel had swung wildly, leaving himself open to 'Scarlet Fan'. If Tetsuo stayed calm and blocked the skill, he would be fine. Staying calm while flying through the air and knowing your life is on the line is easier said than done.
Putting his level head on display, Tetsuo made no attempt to activate a sword skill. Illfang's blade, covered in a bloody red glow, produced afterimages as it clashed into Tetsuo's flying form. Two metallic screeches later, Tetsuo crashed roughly unto the hard ground. Health stopping on the edge of green, Tetsuo boasted high health and defense and it showed. As one, the raid breathed a sigh of relief as the first death was narrowly avoided.
Illfang, meanwhile, took a 'Vertical' down its back from an unhappy Naruto. "How dare you ignore me, you bastard?" Continuing to throw insults at the floor boss, Naruto pushed Illfang away from the recovering members of his party.
"Party A out, B in." Asuna supplied since Naruto seemed to have forgotten to.
Moving in, Klein signalled his party to wait a respectful distance away. No one was keen to take Tetsuo's spot in trying to survive Illfang's full combo.
"Now!" Naruto told them, seeming to have regained his head. Stopping 'Swallow Falls' on his shield, both were vulnerable. Only one of them had teammates, however. Taking the skills from Klein's party, Illfang's last health bar finally reached the halfway point.
Bellowing at the unmovable swordsman in front of him, Illfang raged. Sword skill after sword skill. Not noticing the return damage, Illfang was focused on removing the person who had not dropped aggro since the fight began.
Regardless of the skill chosen, or the combination he used them, it was pointless. Naruto had solved his katana skills. Now that he had matched up activation stances to skills, Naruto was invincible. Dodging the low hit number skills, cancelling the high hit numbers, his strategy was flawless. No matter what Illfang's AI came up with it couldn't get over one unchangeable fact, the nodachi was too light. It couldn't get through the shield Naruto had spend a vast sum of money on improving.
"B out, A in." Naruto called once their health had finished recovering. "B go kill troopers."
"Yes sir!" Klein agreed and ran to help the others. As Illfang's health fell, so did the timer of trooper spawns. Right now, there were six built up with another three due to spawn.
"Sachi, Sasamaru, when I block 'Swallow Falls', attempt to hit his armpits."
"Uh, alright?" the two hesitantly agreed. The order seemed… strange to the others. While enemies had weak spots that had lower defense or higher critical chance, this still seemed odd.
"Just trust me." Naruto shouted quickly, as Illfang cued up the mentioned skill. Lifting his shield, Naruto stood there and absorbed the descending slashes.
Arms paused extended, Illfang's armpits remained exposed to the spear users. Using the accurate, 'Thrusting Strike', both spear users successfully impaled the boss.
"Keita, 'Decisive Strike'!" Naruto ordered as the kobold lord stumbled. The slowing skill landing heavily on its unarmored stomach, Illfang fell to one knee. Waiting for this moment, Naruto already had 'Rage Spike' cued for this moment.
Launching his body into the air, Naruto brought his blade down hard upon Illfang's head. The critical hit took a chunk out of the boss's health and induced a stun.
The rest of the party jumped on this chance, firing off their strongest skill. Health bar dropping precipitously, Illfang hovered on the verge of death.
Roaring his defiance, Illfang fell back on his tried and true, 'Whirling Wheel'. Watching the boss jump into the air, Naruto donned a nasty smile. He'd seen it twice now. Prepping 'Slant', Naruto met the boss's near invisible blade with his own.
Rearing back in surprise, Illfang was confused. This skill never failed, it couldn't. Illfang continued to believe this up until the moment Naruto's 'Anneal Blade' cleaved his head apart to end his life.
Sheathing his sword, Naruto stumbled slightly as his exhaustion caught up with him. Sweating profusely, Naruto was panting from mental fatigue.
"Congratulations," Agil told him in perfect English. "You've single-handedly restored faith to the people waiting."
"No," Naruto disagreed, "Thank you, thanks to all of you for coming. You had no reason to put your trust in me, yet you all did. We have done what we set out to do. Let us go to the second floor and give the good news."
"In the beta," one of Agil's friends spoke, "the victorious raid, would activate the teleport gate and meet the people coming in from the lower floors."
"Then let's do that!" Sachi nodded excited. Giddy to have survived another day. Jumping at Naruto, Sachi pulled him in for a long kiss.
Breaking apart, the couple was greeted to appreciative cheers from the surrounding raid group. Sneaking in unnoticed, Argo snuck a quick peck on Naruto's lips as well before dashing off. This event, however, stunned the raid into silence.
Sighing at Argo's theatrics, Naruto turned his attention to the item his work had won him, 'The Coat of Midnight'. Deciding it couldn't hurt, Naruto equipped the item.
The reactions Naruto received were polar opposites. While the majority of the raid murmured their appreciation of the slick black coat, Sachi and Asuna burst into giggles. Glancing at Argo, Naruto was relieved to see she was just as confused about this sequence of events as he was.
"Black swordsman indeed."
Shaking his head at the overheard whisper, Naruto decided not to comment on it. Walking to the stairs, Naruto led the 40-man raid to the second of Aincrad. His new coat flapping behind him all but sealed a nickname he hadn't asked for.
Author's Note:
Hey All!
Sorry about the delay after part 1. Only four months late, fat better than George R. R. Martin :P
Anyway, hope you enjoyed the death of Illfang.
See Ya!
