12I do not own Familiar of Zero, otherwise I would've replaced Saito with literally anyone with a personality.
I do not own Sword Art Online, otherwise I'd put less focus on the harem and more on the adventure!
Aincrad's 58th floor was infamous for two reasons. One, its complicated web of large tunnels that made up the majority of the floor's roads. Two, the oversized bugs that lived in said tunnels.
"Die!" Kirito yelled as he used Horizantal to cut through a Killer Bee. The black-clad spriggan made use of his momentum to spin out of danger as he waited for the post-motion animation to release.
"You know screaming it doesn't give you a damage bonus, right?" Klein teased Kirito through gritted teeth as the scruffy salamander swordsman blocked the mandibles of an oversized mantis.
"Yeah, but it makes me feel better," Kirito replied, not pausing in his assault as he sliced off the mantis's forelegs before they could skewer Klein. The grotesque insect's painful screech was cut off as the redhead salamander sliced at its exposed neck, severing its head and ending its life.
"If you kept your voice down in the first place, we would all be feeling a lot better," Lisbeth, the party's Leperchaun blacksmith hissed. She slammed her buckler into the face of a Rhino Beetle and used a Bash from her mace to stun it. "Switch!"
Silica, a petite Caith Sith, stabbed the beetle in the eye, one of the few weak points on its tough grey carapace. Unfortunately, the damage only sent its health into the yellow zone. With an enraged sound that couldn't be described as a roar or a screech, it threw its head into Silica. Caught in the post-motion animation of her dagger skill, she couldn't even attempt to dodge as she was thrown into a cavern wall.
"Silica!" Sinon, another Caith Sith cried out in alarm. To her relief, Pina, Silica's familiar, flew down and rested on her master's head. A soft blue glow indicated the use of the feathered little dragon's healing skill. With Silica's condition secured, Sinon drew her bow. Taking a deep breath in, she took aim. As a bash from Liz's mace drew the Rhino Beetle's attention, she fired. The shot pierced straight through the beetle's remaining eye, instantly wiping out its remaining health.
"Good shot!" Lisbeth cheered, giving the archer a thumbs up. A second arrow shot whistled past her short pink hair, impaling a Greater Mantis that had been preparing a Slash attack. The mantis screeched, its health deep in the red. A rapier thrust ended its life.
"Keep your eyes open," the rapier's wielder, Asuna, ordered. She was a member of the Undine race and the party's main healer. But she had two famous titles, Lighting Flash, for her incredible speed and precision, and Berserk Healer, for her tendency to abandon her healing post in the back line and execute every enemy in sight with brutal efficiency.
"Times like these make me wish we had another tank," Lisbeth complained. "Kirito, Klein, and I can't hold back this many monsters."
"Agil's got a wife and a real job," Kirito reminded her. "He can't take as much time off to play as we do. Besides, we've done fine even when he's not around."
"Is that really the excuse you're going to give when you're clowning around with Klein is what attracted all these monsters to us?" Leafa, a blond Sylph, deadpanned.
"How were we supposed to know that there was a monster nest in the wall?" Klein retorted.
"We wouldn't have had to know if you two didn't make a game of tossing pebbles at the holes in the wall!"
"Arguing isn't solving anything," Asuna interjected, cutting the argument and a Frenzy Ant short.
Kirito smiled. "Thank you, Asu—"
"Boys are stupid and should only be expected to act as such," Asuna finished. Kirito gave her a betrayed look, to which she responded with a satisfied smirk. "Isn't that right, Yui?"
"That's right, Mommy!" chimed a sweet voice from inside Kirito's breast pocket. Yui, currently in the form of Navigation Pixie, stuck her head out of Kirito's pocket. "Daddy should learn how to be more like Mommy."
"That's unfair," Kirito pouted. "And Yui, please keep your head down. Remember what we said about monster fights?"
"Yes!" Yui replied as she obediently ducked her head down. "Stay safe in Daddy's pocket so he's less likely to do something stupid and die!"
The rest of the party snickered as Kirito hung his head, partially out of shame and partially to dodge the stinger of a Killer Bee. "You're learning too much from Asuna," he complained.
"Actually, it was Auntie Leafa who taught me that," Yui commented.
Kirito turned to his sylph sister, who pointedly faced away from him as she engaged another monster. "I'm surrounded by people who poke fun at my expense," the black swordsman lamented.
"That's a sign you're surrounded by true friends, bro," Klein said with a wink.
Despite the complaints of the group, the monster swarm was eventually defeated. The party members were almost perfectly in sync, and each of them had plenty of game combat experience.
"That was fun," said Kirito, sheathing his sword once he confirmed with Search that there were no more monster lurking around.
"I think I've seen enough of this floor," Liz complained.
"Don't tell me you're scared of a few bugs," Klein teased.
"No, but I'm getting tired of being surrounded by noisy pests," she shot back.
"Alright, that's enough everyone," said Asuna. "Make sure your health and MP are restored. We'll break in about five minutes."
"Going deeper or back to the surface?" Leafa asked.
Asuna turned to Kirito, nonverbally asking for his opinion. The spriggan gave a contemplative hum before responding, "We're strong enough to push on a bit farther. We'll map the rest of this corridor and then head topside."
The group responded in the affirmative. Potions were taken out and consumed as needed, while Liz did emergency repairs on anyone's gear.
Despite carrying a high amount of agro for most of the fight, a minor health potion was all Kirito needed to top off his HP bar. With Asuna and Leafa as healers, and his own Battle Regeneration being incredibly high, he was almost as unkillable as he was deadly.
With nothing to do with his break time, Kirito pulled up his map. The way they had come was fully mapped, but the direction they were going was uncharted as far as the general public was considered. Mapping unexplored areas was a dangerous job, especially on the higher floors. But it was quite profitable, as map data could sold to info brokers for a sizable profit, especially if new quests or dungeons were discovered. Kirito personally didn't care much for the financial reward, and would do the work just for the thrill, but he knew that his female party members would kill him if he gave away the information for free.
"Let's hope we find something good," he thought aloud. As he put his map away, he noticed a shimmer of light appearing from the cave where the monsters came from. Curious, he jumped into the tunnel.
"Kirito?" Asuna asked.
Sticking his head into the tunnel, Kirito saw a glowing outline of a circle. "Take a look at this!" Kirito called out, keeping his eyes on the circle. A series of runes began to inlay themselves inside the ring, followed by a pentagon forming inside.
"Get back, Kirito!" Leafa urged after she took a look at the circle. "It could a trap!"
"Nah, it looks more like a special feature," said Klein. "Traps usually don't look so intricate, or eye-catching."
"But what is it?" Asuna asked as a line shot out from one of the inner corners of the pentagon, hit another corner, and bounced off. "I've never seen anything like it on this floor, or any of the others."
"Maybe the devs decided to add some bonus material?" Kirito suggested. The line had completed its path through every vertex of the pentagon, resulting in a five-pointed star. The lines faint glow intensified, with light flooding out and filling the entire shape.
"It's so bright," Liz complained, using her buckler as a visor.
When the brilliant flare died, Kirito blinked away the spots from his eyes as he took another look at the circle. Where there was once a complicated array, there was now a solid, green, luminescent circle floating in front of him.
"I wonder if it's a portal," said Kirito.
"A bonus quest area?" Klein said excitedly. "Awesome! Let's go!"
"Should we really explore a new area right now?" Leafa asked. "I've got a bad feeling about it."
"I'm with Leafa on this," said Asuna. "We were only planning to cover this cavern, if this place takes us to another area that more difficult, our potions and gear may not last long enough for a return trip."
"Don't worry," said Kirito. "We've already faced the worst this floor has to offer. Besides, what do we have to lose?"
"Our gear and loot?" Liz replied drily. "I get that you're all for adventure, but let's not get ahead of ourselves."
"But this could be a rare secret quest area," argued Sinon. "Do you really want to let this opportunity go?"
"No, I guess not," Liz said with a sigh.
"Well, are we going or not?" Klein asked. "We don't know if this has a countdown before it disappears."
"I don't see a timer on it," said Silica after checking her HUD.
"Neither do I," said Kirito. "And I'm the one who triggered it, so that means it probably has no time limit."
"But for all we know if we walk too far away it'll disappear again," said Asuna.
"Either way, we got to make a choice," said Klein with a shrug.
"I think we should try it," Kirito said. "We don't even know if it's a combat area, and if we get in over our heads, we all have Teleport Crystals to get us out. In a worst-case scenario, it could be an anti-crystal zone, but I think it's worth the risk to explore."
Liz sighed. "Fine, let's go. It is a game after all, no point in not taking a few risks."
"I'm in," Sinon chimed in.
"You already know I'm game!" said Klein with a thumbs up.
"Might as well not pass up the opportunity," said Leafa.
"If everyone else wants to, Pina and I will come to," Silica offered.
"Asuna?" Kirito asked.
The fencing healer looked into the eyes of her friends, and then sighed. "Fine, we'll go," she decided. "But we have to be careful, we don't know what's on the other side."
"I'll take point," Kirito offered.
"And I'll be right behind you," said Asuna. "Leafa and Klein, watch our rear. Silica and Liz, take sides, and have Pina ready to scout above if we need to. Ready?"
It was times like these that reminded Kirito of why his girlfriend was so awesome. Her former position as the vice-commander of the Knights of Blood Oath was well earned. The party moved into formation with the discipline of a trained military team. In the lead, the black swordsman stood in front of the portal. "Let's do this," Kirito said as he stepped inside the portal.
Kirito was falling.
He didn't know who thought putting a long fall after a portal was fair or fun. To make matters worse, it was pitch black and he couldn't get his wings to work, a clear sign that he was still in an underground area.
"Asuna?" he called out. But he could hear nothing but the sound of rushing wind as he continued to fall. "Asuna? Asuna!" He continued echoing his lover's name until his voice grew hoarse, all the while he continued his descent. Then, he noticed a green dot below him. He spread out his limbs, trying in vain to increase air resistance so he wouldn't immediately die from the fall's impact. The dot grew in size as he approached, eventually reaching the size of a very familiar green circle.
After spending years fighting in Virtual Reality, Kirito was well accustomed to having difficult landings. However, his normally heightened reflexes failed him as he landed flat on his back. While Kirito questioned how he managed to reverse his belly flop position while landing in a cloud of smoke, he was more surprised that he didn't feel a hard impact from the fall. In fact, it felt like he only tripped over his feet instead of crashing from the height of the branches of the World Tree. His HUD didn't have indicate any damage either.
It was then that Kirito realized that his HUD didn't have information at all. Not his name, HP, MP, current status, or location. It didn't even have an error message. There were no icons or tidbits of information anywhere he could see.
This did not help him comprehend what he was seeing at all.
Sitting up as the smoke around him quickly dispersed, the black swordsman realized he was surrounded by several figures in dark robes. Kirito leapt to his feet and reached for his Elucidator. To his surprise, his hands found nothing. Reaching further, his hands felt around the top of his back, searching fort he sheathe he carried there.
"Where are my swords?" Kirito wondered aloud. Briefly, he took his eyes off the people surrounding him to look down and make sure he hadn't gotten a different sheath. He blinked as he took in the sight of the black jeans and grey sweater he was wearing. The clothes he was wearing were the ones he put on after he came home from school, right before he logged into SAO. And his gear was nowhere to be seen. But there was no way the game would know what he was wearing IRL. So how had he changed into his normal clothes?
The sounds of a foreign language brought his attention back to the people surrounding him. On a second glance, he realized that the people looked to be students around his age. The robes they wore were off-putting, but they seemed to be formal where rather than a way of hiding their identity. The black robes were partially open in front and were held at the neck by a golden circular clasp with a five-pointed star engraved into it. Underneath the robes the students wore white button-down shirts. The boys wore pants while the girls wore skirts that barely covered their upper thighs.
Oh, and each person seemed to have a creature on or nearby themselves. Some looked like animals, others were typical monsters, and…
Was that a dragon sitting next to a little girl?
A burst of sharp foreign words pulled his attention away to another girl who was looking in his direction with disappointment. Her pink hair fell in waves around her face and reached all the way down to her waist. She was short—about Silica's height—but given that she and the girl with the dragon were the only two that looked like children, she was probably just a midget. In her hand she loosely held a stick that was pointed in his direction. If this was Alfheim, Kirito would guess that she, and probably everyone else present, was a mage. But the graphics were to crisp, his senses were too clear, and his HUD was completely gone. Just to be certain, he swiped at the air with two fingers. First with his right hand, then with his left. No menu appeared. No sound effects or error messages either.
"Where am I?" Kirito asked, half to himself and half to anyone who could hear him.
The pink-haired loli in front of him spoke a string of foreign words that sounded vaguely threatening. The point-and-swipe motions she made with her stick didn't help the impression either. When Kirito shook his head to signal that he didn't understand, she made a loud and admittedly cute huff. Crossing her arms, she turned to an older, blading man who was standing nearby. The man responded calmly, one hand adjusting his glasses while another held a staff with two red bands near its widened top.
"Excuse me," Kirito interjected, drawing the attention of the two. "I don't suppose anyone here speaks Japanese, right?"
The girl said something in a tone Kirito could immediately understand as scorn.
"I'll take that as a no," Kirito sighed. He rose to his feet. "In any case, I need to be sure I'm not going crazy. Access menu!" To his complete lack of surprise, nothing showed up. "I feel like I'm getting to used to these situations," he commented.
The girl barked something at him, pointing her stick threateningly in his direction. "Sorry, gotta run," he said. "I'd rather not deal with whatever is going on here." He immediately began to Sprint, but after taking only two steps, tripped and fell into a face-first slide.
The surrounding robed people began to laugh and point in his direction. Kirito gritted his teeth and planted one knee on the ground to lift himself up. "What was that?" he wondered. "My sprint skill shouldn't have let me trip over my own two feet."
The pink-haired girl walked around to face Kirito, once again waving her stick at his face. The raven-haired boy sighed. "Listen," he said. "I don't know what you're saying or where I am. If you can find anyone who speaks Japanese, that'd be great, but if not, I've got to go."
The girl glared at him. Kirito stared back. Huffing again—reminding Kirito of his sister back when she was little—she stowed her wand into a sleeve of her robes. She stepped towards him, looked up, and frowned. With one hand, she motioned for him to come closer.
Barely hiding a smile as he stood a full head over her, Kirito leaned down so their faces was only separated by a few inches. "What is it?" he asked.
Muttered words tumbled out of the girls mouth as she gently grabbed both sides of his face. Kirito's eyes widened in surprise, but they threatened to burst out of their sockets when the girl leaned forward and kissed him.
It was just a quick, only lasting a second or so, but it left Kirito shell-shocked. The girl pulled away, a scarlet blush covering her face. Kirito figured his face was equally flushed. "What was that?" he asked. As someone who was largely introverted, he hadn't been kissed by many girls before. Being kissed by someone he just met completely threw him in for a loop. And then there was Asuna to consider. If she heard that he was smooching another girl… Kirito shivered. Then he hissed as a pain flared on his left hand.
"And now what's this?" Kirito grunted through clenched teeth. The pain was intense, the feeling of his skin being burned was more vivid than anything he had experienced in game. The closest instance he could equate it to was the time he faced Oberon in ALO with the pain nullification removed. But even then, he knew it was mental pain being inflicted with realistic intensity. This wasn't the feeling of a virtual simulation of pain in an inflicted area. This was the sensation of pain that was accompanied by a real-world injury.
Kirito fell to his knees, letting his arms hang limp. The pain was already subsiding, but her finally realized that he was mentally and emotionally to tired to deal with anything right now. "A nap sounds really good right about now," he mumbled as he closed his eyes and fell forward.
Behold, the second installment of my "Louise Summons" collection. This time, our tsundere pinkette summons the lone wolf lady killer, Kirito. My objective is to write different stories of Louise summoning different familiars. I'm also trying to make every story I upload not to be a carbon copy with different characters thrown in. The first chapter is always the hardest.
Chapter uploads are going be based on viewer response and my inspiration. I want to upload what more people want, but I can only upload what I have the inspiration to write, since the story is less of a structured plot and more of a "what would happen" scenario that I'm letting play out.
Anyway, I'm gonna cut the rant here before it inflates my word count any further. If you liked this, please leave a review! If you didn't, leave a review anyway! I love constructive criticism, or any other feedback! Remember, reviews are food for a writer's soul!
