Futuristic Swordsman Ch.7

The lead group was around a hollow cave where they were planning. "Lure it to the village. That's how we get the Boss." Asuna told them. "Wait! You can't be serious! If we do, the Boss will go after the villagers." Silica protested. Silica now donned a red armor and had Pina perched on her shoulder. "Yes, that's the idea. And while the Boss is busy killing NPCs, we can attack it, and kill it." Asuna explained to her. "But they're not just objects. NPCs are different than rocks and , they're.." Silica protested but was cut off by Asuna. "Do you think they're alive? Really? In this game, they are just objects. And unlike us, if they are killed, they can always respawn." Asuna told her.

"Sorry, but I'm not cool with that plan." Silica said crossing her arms. "I'm running this operation, okay? In case you forgot, I'm still second-in-command of the Knights of the Blood Oath. You'll obey my orders, like it or not." Asuna told her. "You better watch it Asuna. You asked the Terran Enforcers for their assistance. Not for their admission. If you don't be careful we will draw our support out of this operation. Clear?" Sachi spoke up coldly. Asuna looked like she was slapped and nodded. The Terran Enforcers had grown over the past few weeks and were the top guild in the lead group despite only having three people. They had nearly limitless amount of money and resources which Kirito made.

They can make their own potions and gather their own ingredients as well. Their guild was like the police force as they captured red and orange players before sending them to Black Iron Palace Jail. The system recognized them as such and gave them a benefit bonus when capturing red players. For every player a red player kills, a number appears next to their marker indicating how many people they killed. When they capture red players those numbers can be stacked up on any skill they wanted. If the red player had 1 kill then it was plus 1 to any skill they wanted such as damage, speed, agility, endurance, or luck. Kirito had gone and captured several red players with high numbers and added them to his speed and damage.

"Calm down Sachi. She just had a taste of power" Kirito whispered to Sachi who then relaxed. Kirito, Sachi, and Silica walked outside of the cave formation and was greeted by Agil. "Hey! What's with you guys?" Agil asked them. "Huh?" Was the response from all three. "You two and the second in command. You always get into it and not in a good way." Agil told Sachi and Silica. "I guess we just don't click, Agil." Silica told him. Kirito had a flashback right then.

"You can become powerful here on your own. But if the day comes when someone you trust invites you to join a guild, don't turn it down." Kirito on floor 1 told Asuna.

'Well, she took my advice, but who knew she'd join the top guild, and be a floor-clearing badass.' Kirito thought to himself.

Scene Change- Shady Tree

"What are you three doing?" Came the voice of Asuna looming over them. Kirito merely looked up and saw Asuna standing next to the tree with her hands on her hips. "Huh? Oh, hey. What's up?" Kirito stumbled over words. "Everyone in the Assault Team's working their butts off to clear the dungeon. And where do I find you? Out here, taking a nap. Even if you're a solo player, you should take this more seri…" Asuna was saying before she was cut off by Kirito. "But you didn't know this is Aincrad's nicest season. Today's weather is at its optimal setting." Kirito told her calmly as he layed on the grass. "Huh?" Asuna said confused. "It'd be a waste to have to go to work on a day like this." Kirito told her.

"Whatever... I can't believe you. Do you even understand what's going on? Every day here is another one lost in the real world." Asuna stated furiously. "Yeah, but right now, we're not in the real world, are we? We're alive in Aincrad." Kirito says as a breeze comes through. "See? Doesn't that breeze feel good? And the sun?" Kirito tells her. "If you lay down on the grass for a little bit, you'd understand." Kirito tells her before goes to sleep.

An hour later

Kirito woke up and saw several guys walking by. "Oh damn, would you look at that?! Taking a nap in the middle of a day." One of them exclaims. "Some people's sure got it easy." Another one tells the other. "Couple of lazy losers, man" The last one stated as Kirito watched them walk away. Kirito turned his head toward Silica and found Asuna sleeping soundly. "I can't believe she fell asleep." Kirito muttered.

Evening

*Achoo*

Kirito turned his head and found Asuna waking. Slowly Sachi and Silica woke up. "Wha?!" Asuna trailed off. "Good morning! You slept like a rock!" Kirito said cheerfully and Silica and Sachi were awake. Suddenly Silica started to draw her rapier but stopped halfway. "You get... one meal." Asuna muttered. "Huh?" Kirito asked confused. "One meal! Oh, you can eat my treat. Then we'll be even. Deal?" Asuna asked him as Silica and Sachi watched her. "That's fine. No need to pay me for you sleeping. Besides we have a good meal awaiting for us at our HQ. Right you two?" Kirito asked her.

Sachi and Silica nodded excited about the dinner. "Just accept it. You three can get anything you want" Asuna told them. Silica remembers what food this town had and thought about it's cheesecake. "No th-" Kirito started but was cut off by Silica. "WE Accept" Silica said bouncing. Kirito was confused until he remembered what this town had. 'Never get between Silica and Cheesecake' Kirito thought wisely. "Very well. Sachi you agree? Lets have a snack before getting dinner at home." Kirito told her as she nodded mutely. 'Good. Those Cinnamon Rolls are mine' Sachi thought evilly as she made an unconscious body laugh noted by Kirito. 'And Cinnamon Rolls and Sachi' Kirito thought sighing.

"Alright let's go to a cafe" Kirito told her. They walked into town and got into the famous cafe. Sachi and Silica got 4 Large Cinnamon rolls and 1 whole cheesecake respectively while Kirito ordered three burgers. All three of them had grown exponentially so they required a lot of food. They donned their helmets once they got their orders and placed it on their laps. Asuna started blushing once she saw Kirito's face and hid it by looking down.

"That's Asuna from the Knights of the Blood Oath." A bystander exclaimed. "Really?" Another asked in disbelief. "Yeah, they call her the Lightning Flash" The first replied. "Who are the other three?" The second asked. "Oh God. Its the Terran Enforcers. The Top Guild in the lead group despite only having 3 people" The first one exclaimed.

"Well, anyway... Thank you for today." Asuna told him. "Why?" Kirito asked her after he stopped eating confused at the thanks. "For keeping an eye on me." Asuna told them. "Oh, Sure" Kirito told her. "The towns are supposed to be safe zones, and unless you've agreed to a duel, a player can't attack or kill you. But when you're asleep, you're vulnerable." Asuna told him.

Yeah. Now we've got player killers who can cheat the duel system. Duels are normally supposed to be tests of strength, not a fight to the death. But even if you duel in a safe zone, your HP is still gonna go down based on the damage you take." Silica chimed in. "All a sleep PKer has to do with is manipulate a sleeping player's finger to click the okay button. The duel begins like normal, but the sleep PKer's doing all the attacking." Sachi put her 2 cents in. "God knows how many times it's happened. So, anyway... Thank you…" Asuna told Kirito who nodded to her.

Asuna drank her tea and nearly spilt once they heard a girl scream outside. In an instant the other three placed their helmets back on. They ran outside and found a women screaming horrified by a guy hanging off a clock tower with a red blade plunged into his chest. Sachi and Asuna ran inside to find out the attacker while Kirito and Sachi jumped onto the wall and ran up to him. Kirito got there first and jumped off the building while pulling the red blade out. The blade must have had a special effect since it was still affecting his HP.

Silica tried to cut the rope but it denied her slash stating it as an immortal object before she jumped down. The HP bar reached 0 and the guy shattered in blue pixels. Kirito and SIlica looked around to see a Duel win notification among the crowd but didn't find any. "There's no one here, the room's empty!" He heard Asuna tell him once she came down. Kirito's brow raised in question. "So, any idea how this could've happened?" Kirito asked them. "Well, there's always the obvious. There was a duel, and the other guy impaled the victim with that spear. Then, he put a noose around his neck and push him out the window. Wouldn't you say that's about right?" Asuna told him. "Yeah, but… we couldn't see the winner icon on anyone." Silica exclaimed.

"It had to be a duel. It's a safe zone and a player died. A duel is the only thing it could've been. Or, maybe not…" Asuna told them. "Either way, we can't ignore this." Sachi told them. "I know" Kirito told her. "As it is, a player takes huge risks going outside the safe zone. But if someone's found a way to PK inside, no one's going to be safe in the towns either." Asuna stated grimly. "Yeah, you're right." Kirito answered. "I guess we won't be going back to the front lines anytime soon. Listen! You're going to work with me until we've solved this thing. Until we do, there won't be any time for napping, okay?" Asuna told them who looked strangely at her. "You were the one napping. Me and Silica were sleeping." Sachi told her causing Asuna to blush.

Kirito turned to the crowd and cleared his throat. "Listen up! Did anyone see what happened before that player died? If someone did, please speak up!" Kirito called out as Asuna went to the girl who screamed. "Sorry, I can imagine how frightened you are. Could you tell us your name?" Asuna asked kindly. "Sure. My name's Yolko." Yolko told her. "Was that you? I mean, were you the one who screamed?" Kirito asked her. "Uh-huh. I-I knew him. His name was Kains, and the two of us used to belong to the same guild. Anyway, we came here together today. We were going to have dinner somewhere in town. But we got separated in the plaza. I looked around for him, then I saw him hanging from that balcony and…" Yolko trailed off.

"Was there anyone else up there?" Asuna pryed. "For a second there... I'm not sure… But I think I did see someone standing behind Kains." Yolko told her. "And this person, had you seen him before?" Asuna asked her. "Uh-uh." Yolko said shaking her head. "Um, I know this is hard for you but... think back and try to remember. Could there be someone, anyone, with the reason to kill him?" Kirito asked her. "Uh-uh." Yolko said shaking her head again.

A few minutes later

"Thank you for walking me back. Sorry if it's out of your way." Yolko apologized to the four people that escorted her to the inn she was staying at. "No worries. But we'd like to talk to you again tomorrow, if you're feeling up to it." Asuna told her smiling. "Okay" Yolko replied before entering the inn. "So, what'll we do?" Silica asked them. "Simple. We follow the only solid clue we have. If we can find out where that spear came from, it might lead us straight to the killer." Asuna told her. "We'll need find someone with an appraisal skill. I mean, it's pretty obvious you don't have one." Sachi told Asuna.

"No, I don't. And neither do you. Oh, and by the way, try not to be so rude when you're speaking to me?" Asuna told Sachi. "Oh, okay. Should I call you Ms. next time? Second-in-command? Lightning Flash?" Sachi listed mocking. "Oh, never mind. Call me Asuna." Asuna said with a tick mark on her head. "Okay, sure. Back to the appraisal skill though. Do you know anyone who has it?" Sachi asked her. "Hmm... I've got a friend who does. She's a weapon's merchant.

But she's really busy these days, so I don't think she'll have time to help us." Asuna muttered.

"No worries. I happen to know an item merchant who might be able to help us out." Kirito told them.

Scene Change

"Thanks, my man! Come back anytime!" Agil called out to a leaving customer. "Yeah, whatever…" the guy replied before leaving. "Looks like you're still running all the suckers down with those hard deals of yours." Kirito told him. "No way. Kirito! Buy cheap and sell cheap. That's my motto. I'm a businessman, you know that." Agil defended himself. "That 'selling cheap' part's a lie though." Kirito rebutted. "Don't go slandering my good name, brother. What the hell's gotten into you?! You're supposed to be a solo player, man! What are you doing hanging out with Asuna and the other 2?! I thought you guys hate each other's guts, straight up! What's the deal?!" Agil spurted out a wave of questions. Then Agil got serious.

"His HP dropped to zero in a safe zone? You sure it wasn't a duel?" Agil asked him. "Well, no one saw a winner icon" Kirito told him. "We can also rule out the murder being a sleep PK.

He was walking with Yolko before it happened." Asuna stated. "And besides, his death was too elaborate to be some random duel. The PKer who did this had it planned out. We're pretty sure of that" Sachi told them. "And here's this" Kirito said as he handed the red sword to Agil. "Hmm... A player made this." Agil muttered. "Really?" Kirito asked. "Who was it? Can you tell?" Silica asked excitedly.

"Grimlock. Never heard of that name before. It's not worth the top blacksmith. That's for damn sure. As far as I can tell, there is nothing special about this." Agil told them. "Yeah but, it's something to go on, right?" Asuna told him. "Mmhmm. Is there like an item name listed?" Kirito asked. "You'll love it. Guilty Thorn. There's a name for you. It kind of fits though, don't you think?" Agil asked Kirito. "Seriously? Guilty Thorn? Here let me check it's abilities" Kirito said as his polarised visor glowed and shot a beam of light at the spear picking it up in the air. Suddenly the spear fell from the air and Kirito caught it. "Looks like we got a little mouse here." Kirito told them crushing the sword with his armored hands causing it to shatter.

"What do you mean? How did you crush that sword by the way?" Sachi asked curiously. "... I captured someone with 300 kills…" Kirito muttered causing the other two Terrans and Agil to go wide eyed. "What do you mean by that? What does have to do with your Strength points being high?" Asuna asked Kirito. "Asuna… did you not read the benefits of being the Police Force of Aincrad?" Agil asked her with a raised eye. "No I did not. Why, what is the benefit?" Asuna asked him. "Every red player has killed a certain amount of players. The Terran Enforcers can take those numbers and add them to their skill set if they capture them and send them to Black Iron Palace Prison. You cannot split the points so Kirito here has +300 points from one red player." Agil explained to her.

Asuna went wide eyed at this. "Wow!" Asuna mouthed out. "Any way back to the topic. It looks like this weapon was specifically made to attack the armor. It will not attack a person's HP while a person's armor is on." Kirito told them. "So if he shattered with the armor then…" Silica struggled to make sense of until Kirito finished it for her. "the person had to teleport in order create a shatter effect which looks like someone died." Kirito told them. "But why would he do that?" Asuna asked them confused. They thought about it for a second before Agil spoke up. "Maybe he is trying to find out something." Agil told them.

"Perhaps. But what is he trying to find out?" Kirito mused to himself. "Don't know… Maybe we'll find out from his teammate tomorrow." Sachi told him. "Agreed. I think we should call it a night?" Kirito told them. He heard all of them agree so they got up and headed for the door. "Hey Kirito-san" He heard Agil call him as he started exiting. "What is it?" Kirito asked him as he turned his head toward him. "Are you still accepting people into your Guild?" Agil asked him. "Yes. Why? You want to join?" Kirito asked him getting a nod in return.

Kirito thought about the pros and cons.

Pros:

Better Marketing

Faster Marketing

Cheaper Marketing

Appraisal

Strong Axe User

High Connections with players

Cons:

Vehicle Training- 6 hours

Training- 18 hours with information implant and augmentation included

Spartan Armor Creation- 16 hours

Axe Heavy Upgrade- 8 hours

Salary- 4500 Col per day starting

Extreme Danger- 1 life

Kirito then looked back outside where the girls were chatting with Asuna to whom they seem to be friendly with based on their friendly postures. He looked at Agil and nodded. "But there is only one life and a lot of danger. If you are ready to push your luck then you can join us." Kirito told him. Agil seemed to be in deep thought before Kirito told him again. "I'll give you until midnight tomorrow to decide okay Agil" Kirito told Agil who nodded. Kirito got outside and found them still talking. "Okay girls time to go" Kirito told them. As if on queue all three of them yawned with the two Terran girls putting their hand on their helmet before blushing much to their embarrassment went they found Kirito silently chuckling at them.

Kirito then turned to Asuna who stopped yawning and told her "Should we accompany you to an inn?" Kirito asked her. Asuna's eyes went wide then her mouth formed a grin before she hid her face which had a blush that was caught by Sachi and Silica. 'Not her too. I still have to deal with Sachi/SIlica' Silica and Sachi thought a bit angrily. "Yes please" Asuna said softly with a smile. "Alright guys stand next to me?" Kirito told them causing Sachi and Silica to stand next to his arms.

Asuna just stood in front of Kirito closely causing Sachi and Silica internally yell at themselves. 'Why didn't I think of that' Sachi and Silica thought angrily to themselves as Asuna ducked her head to hide her blush causing him to tilt his head to the side. "Are you okay?" Kirito asked her not knowing what she was doing. Asuna calmed herself down before looking up at his polarised visor. "Yes I am fine" Asuna told him before the were engulfed in a yellow flash. When Asuna looked around she found herself in the inn where Yolko was staying. "Okay here is your stop." Kirito told her.

Asuna blinked as a yellow flash appeared behind her before she turned back to Kirito only to find him, Sachi, and Silica gone from where they just were. 'How did he do that?' Asuna thought curiously before she went to check in a room. Once she checked in and got into a room she received a notification from Kirito. Once she read it she jumped onto the bed falling asleep with the message still hovering in front of her face.

We'll be there in the Morning for Breakfast. Good Night Asuna

Kirito, Leader of the Terran Enforcers