Author's Note:

Hello everyone! I am pleased to finally give you an official update!

Now before I give you all the next installment of my story, I would like those who haven't casted a vote, to go visit my poll on my profile, and submit a vote. The poll question is: Should Kirito make a Guild, Join a Guild, or Neither and stay Solo? I would appreciate it highly, and the poll will officially end when I post the next chapter.

So without further ado, I present you this long awaited chapter!

Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Sword Art Online franchise. I would have made the ALO Arc much better.

Previously...

Shortly after they both got to their feet, they set off once again.

This time, they were making small talk. They talked about some of their interests, likes, and dislikes as they walked. Kirito slowly started to understand her a lot better, and at the same time he rather enjoyed her company. Although, he was starting to regret the promise he made her.

Idiot! He thought. I already promised Asuna to keep HER alive... I can't be responsible for three lives rather than one! What if I can't save Alicia?

Kirito mentally scolded himself for promising her so impulsively.

More time passed while they talked, but when Kirito was in the middle of a sentence, he got a message notification. He looked at Alicia and said, "Give me a second." She nodded her head as he tapped the message button. He quickly checked who it was from, and was surprised to discover Asuna was the sender.

After opening it, his eyes widened in fear, as his hand started to shake.

"What's wrong?" Alicia said.

Kirito's mind snapped out of its trance, as his eyes shot to Alicia. "Something is wrong.

Something is wrong with Asuna!" Kirito yelled.

"What's wrong with her?" Alicia asked with concern present in her voice.

"I- I don't know," Kirito said as he shoved his hand into his coat, searching for a teleporting crystal. Kirito's fingers touched it, and he then proceeded to pull it out of his coat pocket. He looked up into Alicia's eyes, and muttered one word. "Sorry."

"Don't be! Just go!" Alicia exclaimed, as Kirito muttered 'Teleport! Grimsby!' Kirito appeared in Grimsby's town square. Looking around, he momentarily noticed there were more crowds of people than usual, but this didn't faze him. Kirito drew open his friends menu, as he continuously

read that message in his mind,

'Help me!

Kirito-kun!'

In-Game

Floor 2: Grimsby

Location: Town's Square

Time: Immediately after Asuna's message

A faint light appeared on the portal in the town's square, and out stepped a desperate Kirito. Kirito didn't waste a second as soon as the light died down. He stepped off the platform and bolted into the town, weaving his way through the crowd of people in his way.

Kirito ignored everyone around him as he made his way deeper into the town. He heard people continue to yell his name, but he paid them no attention as he desperately continued.

Nearing the outskirts of the town, Kirito drew his menu open and pressed the friends list tab, displaying his handful of friends. Kirito tagged Asuna's name and tapped trace, which tracked Asuna's position deep in the forest. Kirito winced, seeing that she was in a some sort of cave. Closing his menu, he dashed deeper into the forest, only hoping she would be okay.

Kirito pushed his way through the branches that block his path, but eventually stumbled into an open clearing, where Kirito spotted a small gang of Oxes. Not wasting a second Kirito, drew The Blood Venom Broadsword and attacked. He lunged his blade at one of the Ox's blind spot, and killing it on contact, and then he turned to next one. Within seconds, all seven of the monsters were now shattered. Looking around desperately, he reopened his menu to check on her location again. Sighing in relief, he closed the menu and set off once again in the direction of where Asuna was.

"Please be okay Asuna-san…" He mumbled to no one but himself. Kirito mentally scolded himself for letting something bad happen to Asuna. After promising to Asuna that, no matter what, she would survive this hell and live to see the outside world again, Kirito knew he would be completely and utterly crushed if Asuna died. Just thinking this, Kirito ran even faster.

A small notification popped up saying:

'Your Dash skill is now 200/1000!'

Kirito scoffed at that and dismissed it, and continued on his merry way. Ahead of him, Kirito saw a break in the trees, which cause the swordsman to slow to a stop. His eyes narrowed and spotted a small cave in the distance. Kirito hid behind a tree, and carefully watched the entrance of the cave. Kirito opened the tracker and noticed he was in the right place, so he dismissed the menu and continued to observe.

A few minutes passed with no activity. Kirito hefted a small sigh as he edged closer to the cave, but quickly jumped back behind a tree, seeing a small group of players exit the cave. Kirito stayed in the shadows as he carefully made his way behind the cave, staying behind the trees.

"She's the one," one of the players said proudly. The entire group wore the exact same gear, a set of metal armor which was almost knight-like.

"Yeah, no shit she's the one. Now we only have to wait until he gets here," another said quietly. "But how are we going to find the Beater? He's the one we really want."

"He'll come to us once he finds we have his girlfriend," another one said smugly. Kirito's eyes widened in rage. 'This is a recruitment?!' It took everything in Kirito to not bolt from his hiding spot and wipe the floor with their smug faces. He snuck closer to the side of the cave, and spotted a thin rapier propped against the side of the cave. He picked it up, and quickly threw the strap over his shoulder.

"That kid would be stupid to come here. I mean, it'll be 4 against 1!" the other players in the group laughed along as well. Kirito had enough of this. He broke out of the tree line, and walked to where he stood between the cave and the small group of players.

"Well," Kirito announced. "It looks like this kid, isn't as stupid as you think," Kirito smirked, crossing his hands over his chest "I mean, I found you in what? 20 minutes after you kidnapped her?" he gestured to the cave behind him. The group of players wiped around, swords drawn out in front of them. When they noticed who it was, they all took a step back.

Meanwhile...

Asuna's head pounded, making it hard for her to see straight. She pulled her arms into her body, and propped herself up on her left elbow. Blinking her eyes open, she noticed she was now alone in the cave. Water dripped from the ceiling to the floor, and Asuna's eyes strained as she looked out of the cave.

She felt around her pockets, and noticed they had taken all of her teleport crystals. Asuna sighed, realizing she was now stuck. Looking around more carefully, she noticed how small the cave was. Putting her hand to her hip, she didn't feel the Rapier that was usually strapped to her hip. Sighing again, Asuna pulled herself to her knees as she looked out of the cave. She noticed her four captives talking and laughing like nothing was wrong.

She watched them for a few minutes, before noticing a black figure appear from the left of the cave. After hearing the person's voice, she let out a quiet yelp.

'Kirito-kun'... She thought to herself. Deep down inside, she knew he would come to her rescue, but Asuna wanted nothing to do with the damsel in distress sort of thing. Over his shoulder, Asuna spotted her rapier. She stood up, but crouched immediately, and stalked over to the side of the cave. She picked up a rock and held it in her hands as she neared the entrance.

"Well it looks like this kid, isn't as stupid as you think," Asuna saw Kirito smirk, as he crossed his hands over his chest "I mean, I found you in what? 20 minutes after you kidnapped her?" he gestured to the cave behind him.

"Well, well, well," one of them taunted. "Looks like he came to us!" the player took a step forwards, getting over his surprise. He pointed his sword at Kirito and said, "Now that you are here, let's make a deal."

"What kind of deal?" Kirito scoffed.

"The kind where you get your girlfriend back, and we get something in return…" the soldier trailed off.

"What do you want from me?" Kirito asked, even though he already knew what was to come.

"With the new addition of Guilds, we would like to formally request you to join us! The Aincrad Liberation Force! Or ALF for short," the player smirked. "So we let your girlfriend go, and you join us," he summarized.

"If you knew anything about me, you would know I am a solo player, AND I have rejected all Guild requests," Kirito stated. "While I'm very flattered by your invitation, I'm not exactly sure that I'd be able to fit into such a high level organization, you know? A guild which thinks that the strategy of blackmailing high level players into joining won't backfire at all, must most certainly be filled with the most brilliant minds of Aincrad. In fact, I'm sure that the world would be utterly ecstatic to hear about your brilliant new marketing strategy." Kirito finished with a grin.

The soldier shifted his weight from one foot to another. They were given instructions when they set out for this mission. Either have the beater join, or if he rejects, kill him. The swords that the soldiers once lowered, were risen and were repointed at Kirito.

Kirito glared into each of their eyes, and grabbed the handle of his sword, and drew it. The blade shined in front of them, as he got in a battle ready stance. Before Kirito pounced, he heard a rock ping off of the caves wall.

He broke his gaze from them, and unslung the rapier from his shoulder, and tossed it in the air behind him. He saw a small flash from the corner of his eye, and then Asuna stood at his side, with her rapier, The Retaliator, in her hand. Kirito gave Asuna a quick smile, but before he turned his attention back at the group of players in front of them.

"Now… Do you want to do this the easy way? Or, my personal favorite, the hard way?" Kirito said with a sly smile as he took a step forward. The soldiers took a step back, before all charging at Kirito and Asuna.

Kirito pounced to the right, and parried the oncoming blade that was aimed for his head. He quickly advanced the players' undefended torso, and slashed in a wide arc, causing the soldier to fall back, as he watched his health dip.

After regaining his footing, the soldier equipped a medium sized shield, and swiftly blocked Kirito's jab. Kirito jumped back, dodging a blow to the chest made by a different soldier. Kirito blocked then side stepped another jab, before being pushed back a few steps by the two soldiers. Kirito glanced over at Asuna quickly, seeing her health dip into the yellow zone.

Kirito's eyes shot daggers into the eyes of his two opponents. Without missing a beat, he dashed over to the two unexpecting soldiers, and hit the flat of his Broadsword against his leg, and he toppled over. Reeling his sword backwards, Kirito plunged his broadsword into the man's gut. Which slowly made the soldier 'bleed'. The pinned soldier tried to swing his blade at Kirito, but Kirito grabbed the hilt of the blade, disarmed him then swung the blade and severed his second opponent's wrist off, whom promptly fell to his knees and Kirito held the blade against his neck.

Kirito saw the other two soldiers start to overwhelm Asuna. Kirito pulled the sword back and threw it at the three. Asuna saw the sword coming towards them, and she rolled out of the way and then stood up, looking over at Kirito.

The two soldiers looked over at Kirito with terrified expressions.

"TAKE ANOTHER STEP!" Kirito dared. "And this one will lose a head," he gestured to the soldier on his knees with a new sword to his neck. "And this one's health will continue to deplete!"

The two soldiers nodded and lowered their weapons.

"Now drop them!" Kirito enforced, and the two of them obediently dropped their swords and shields. Kirito withdrew the sword from one's neck, and pulled his blade out of the other's gut.

"Now I think it is clear we won't join your Guild," Kirito walked over to Asuna as he pulled out a health potion and handed it to her. She drank it quickly, and nodded a small 'thanks' to Kirito. "The next time I hear that you all did something like this again, I will not hesitate to expose all of you."

Kirito took a teleport crystal out of his pocket and handed one to Asuna. He sheathed his blade, and they teleported to the 3rd Floor. Kirito stepped out of the portal, and stepped down off the platform, and without saying a word he began his trek back to their hotel.

Asuna fell in step behind Kirito, and stared at his feet as they walked through the streets.

The walk to their hotel was silent, and for Asuna it was awkward. Kirito trudged up the stairs and unlocked their room, and continued inside. He unequipped his equipment and walked to the kitchen.

Asuna stood in the middle of the room awkwardly. After a few seconds of watching Kirito walk around the room, she finally unequipped her equipment and sat down on the couch.

"Thank you," Asuna mumbled softly. Kirito only nodded his head softly. "We-well what hap-"

Asuna fell silent when Kirito raised a hand to stop her from talking. "If it's too hard for you to talk about what happened, you don't have to," Kirito said gently.

Asuna nodded but said, "But I want to," Asuna told him her what happened. From the lost little boy, to waking up in the dark cave, only to be saved by Kirito. He listened patiently, asking a few questions here and there, but mostly kept quiet.

"Did they, you know, hurt you or anything?" Kirito asked with concern ridden in his voice.

"No they didn't. If they did they wouldn't be breathing right now." Kirito only nodded his head, taking a bite out of his sandwich. He placed it down on the coffee table and placed a hand on Asuna's arm assuring her,

"Don't worry Asuna-san. You will never be alone. From now on, you are stuck with me," Kirito sucked in a deep breath, almost regretting what he had just said.

"Promise?" Asuna asked worriedly. Kirito could hear the strain in her voice, and he could tell she was holding back tears. Kirito did the only thing he knew he could do.

"Promise," Kirito confirmed, and suddenly Asuna sprung and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug.

Kirito was shocked.

He didn't know what to do, because it was all so sudden. His mind, being completely blank, just simply froze, not reacting to the sudden warmth on his body. Asuna noticed this and giggled saying,

"This is the part where you hug me back Kirito-kun," Asuna managed to hold in her laughter as he slowly wrapped his arms around her, coming out of his shock.

"Ri-right," Kirito blushed in embarrassment. Kirito mentally slapped himself for making yet another promise to someone, even if it was Asuna. His old promise, the one where he promised she would make it out of this hell, was hard enough to live up to. He gently rubbed her back, giving her the comfort that she needed.

"You alright now, Asuna-san?" Kirito carefully asked.

Asuna nodded softly, and pulled away from Kirito's warmth. "I am gonna go get some rest," Asuna yawned. Kirito nodded his head, and watched as she got up from the couch, and make her way into the bedroom.

Kirito checked the time, and involuntarily yawned, as he looked at the bedroom. He stood up, and slowly made his way to the bedrooms, where he collapsed onto his bed, letting out a heavy sigh.

Asuna lied in the bed, covers pulled over her chest, and she kept her gaze on the ceiling. After a few minutes of staring into oblivion, she heard a soft snore coming out of her companion. She gave him a sheepish smile, before her eyes rolled back into her head as her breathing slowly slowed down until she fell into a blissful slumber...

Real World

Location: Kazuto's Hospital Room

Time: After Asuna's Rescue

After seeing Kazuto wipe the floor with two players, and bring them to the brink of death, Suguha was shocked at the lengths her brother would go to, just to make sure someone he cared for was okay.

"He likes her," Midori cooed softly, which caused Suguha's immediate reaction.

"What did you say?" Suguha asked with a mixture of shock and disgust. Since they had made a habit of coming to visit Kazuto, they both had noticed something going on between 'Kirito' and Asuna.

"Come on Suguha," Midori rolled her eyes as she pointed at the screen. "It is as clear as day! He got that message, and then bolted like a bat out of hell to find her."

"That doesn't necessarily mean he likes her. It could mean that he doesn't want to lose her! They could have a brother and sister relationship!" Suguha cried, causing Midori to roll her eyes even harder as she returned her attention back on the screen, and on it showed Asuna lunge at 'Kirito', pulling him into a deep hug. Midori immediately made it 3rd person view.

They both watched in silence as Kazuto awkwardly sat on the couch, not even daring to put his hands around her.

"Is that a brother sister relationship?" Midori smirked, then 'Kirito' blushed, causing Midori to chuckle softly. "Yeah he likes her."

"Shut up," Sugu huffed in defeat as she pulled out a five and handed it to her mother. "You win this time."

Midori snatched the five, and chuckled once more. "Twenty dollars says she confesses first!" Midori said, making another bet. Suguha smiled brightly, and nodded.

"Deal! Kazuto isn't one to bundle up all his emotions!" Suguha declared as she extended out her hand for her mother to shake. Midori shook her hand, and laughed.

"Then you clearly don't know your brother very well, do you?" Midori mocked, earning a small gasp from Sugu, and proceeded to glare at her mother. They both refocused their attention on the monitor, watching 'Kirito' make his way for the bedroom.

"Well it looks like that is all for today," Midori stood up and stretched, then proceeded to look at her watch. "Come on sweety, let's go home. It's getting late. We can come back Friday," Suguha's mother said.

"But, that's two days away!" Suguha whined.

"We both know Kazuto will be more than fine. I mean, now he has someone to protected. She looked away from her daughter, and focused her gaze on the television. She smiled when she saw Asuna stand over Kirito's bed, before sliding in next to him. "Looks like I am winning," she mocked.

"Wow. Asuna is bold," Suguha admired.

"Yup she is," Midori said placing a hand on Suguha's shoulder. She reached down and grabbed the remote control, before clicking the monitor off. "Let's go." Suguha nodded and they left the hospital room.

(Line Break)

In-Game

Floor 3: Valkedor

Location: Hotel Room

Time: 8:25 the following morning

As Kirito started to wake up, he felt a warm presence in his bed. He slowly opened his eyes, to find his vision completely obscured by brown hair. Highly confused, Kirito carefully brushed the hair out of his eyes, only to find the head of a sleeping Asuna on his chest. He felt her slow breath against his chest, and noticed her hair was sprawled all over his body.

Kirito had no idea of what to do.

'Should I pretend I am sleeping? Or should I wake her up?' Kirito let out a small sigh, and went to move her off of him, but found that his arms wouldn't move. He realized that he kind of enjoyed this sight.

Kirito smiled slightly, and kept his arm by his side.

A few minutes passed, before Asuna started to stir. Kirito smirked, already knowing the reaction she would give. Asuna let out a small sigh, as she started to lift her body up, only then noticing someone's arm was around her shoulder, holding her in place.

Asuna, let out a small squeal and opened her eyes, only to find that her head was lying on Kirito's chest. Her eyes widened in horror, as she looked up to see his face, sighing in relief, thinking that he was still asleep. Smiling softly, she placed her head back down on his chest.

"Sleep well?" Kirito asked, eyes opened and trained on her.

"Eep!" Asuna let out a faint squeal and jumped up into a sitting position. Asuna, sitting right beside Kirito, avoided eye contact while maintaining a deep blush. "I- I am -s-"

Kirito chuckled a bit as he said, "It's fine Asuna. This isn't the first time," Kirito smirked causing Asuna to blush even deeper. "Now, I should check with Agil. I heard they were gonna raid the field boss today."

"Alright, I'll get ready," Asuna got up and moved over towards the door.

"No, you are staying here. You had an eventful day yesterday," Kirito argued. "Plus, I think we should tell everyone we will not be joining Guilds. So neither of us are approached again."

"Fine," she sighed in defeat, knowing he is right. "But Kirito-kun. You aren't going either. If you go, I go."

Much to her surprise, Kirito nodded his head saying, "Fair enough." He got out of his bed and walked passed Asuna, placing his hand on her head for a brief second before removing it and walking to the kitchen. Asuna froze for a couple of seconds, before snapping out of it, and followed Kirito into the kitchen.

After a quick breakfast, Kirito messaged Agil telling him that him and Asuna weren't going to help with the Field Boss. Kirito hesitated pressing 'Send'. He glanced at Asuna, whom gave him a cold glare, saying 'Send it or else'. Kirito chuckled as he pressed send. He stood up, put any his dirty dishes while Asuna followed suit.

"So do you want to go out and train? Or do you want to go into town and sh-" Kirito clasped his hand over his mouth, eyes widened in realization of what he had just said.

"Did Kirito-kun just offer to go shopping with me?" Asuna mocked, as Kirito facepalmed himself. Asuna only laughed, figuring she owes him for helping her yesterday. "We can go training. Then maybe later we can find a way to announce to everyone that we are solo players."

Asuna made her way to the door, after catching Kirito sigh in relief.

Kirito drew open his menu, and after several taps, he sent Asuna a party invite, shortly after disbanding his current party with Alicia. Asuna accepted, and they continued their way towards the teleporting platform.

"So what floor do you want to train on?" Kirito asked, as he dismissed his menu screen.

"Uhh, Floor 3? If we go to Floor 4, they would expect us to help out, ya know?" Asuna reasoned, as they both stepped onto the teleporting platform. After saying their location, they swiftly teleported to Floor 3…

Floor 3: Valkedor

They both stepped off the makeshift platform, and stepped down on the stone floor. They both looked around, and found a vacant town, but they ignored it. Everyone that had access to his floor was most likely preparing for the field boss. Kirito pointed to the small clearing to their right, and Kirito led the way, as Asuna followed in step.

"How's Alicia?" Asuna said bitterly.

"She's good," Kirito absent mindedly said. "She's just as scared as the rest of us, if that's what you are asking."

"I wasn't, but whatever," Asuna muttered.

"What?" Kirito turned his head, to focus his attention on Asuna. She looked away from him, and stared blankly at the trees and vines that were ahead of them. Kirito shrugged and sighed his head, muttering, "Girls…" to himself.

After another five minutes in an awkward silence, Kirito and Asuna came upon their first monster. Kirito turned to Asuna saying, "How do you-" he was cut off by a flash of silver.

Asuna bolted forwards, drawing her Retaliator, and attacking the Bloodthirsty Orc alone. Catching the monster off guard, Asuna her Shooting Star skill, knocking the monster off its feet. As soon as it hit the ground, Asuna stood over it and stabbed it through the head, causing it to shatter on the spot. Asuna stared at her weapon for a second, before sheathing it at her hip. She turned and looked over at Kirito, who was leaning against a tree, playing with a vine that hung from the tree. He noticed Asuna approach him, and he let the vine swing back to its original position.

"You done?" Kirito joked, being rewarded with a little huff in annoyance, and Asuna turned on her heels and continued further into the swamp. Kirito quickly caught up to her, and for roughly thirty minutes, they took turns slaughtering monsters that they came across.

Kirito killed the orc, and then reeled his weapon backwards. He looked around, and found Asuna staring at her award window. Kirito opened his menu, and did a quick inventory check. 'Level 32, 23,097 Col, Hm. Not bad.'' He dismissed the menu, and looked over at Asuna.

He sheathed his sword, and look behind Asuna, and spotted a small cave about 40 feet away from them.

Asuna dismissed her menu, and checked her inventory. She noticed her level was 29, and she almost had 20 thousand Col. She thought about what she could do with it, as she dismissed her menu, and looked over at Kirito, who was staring off into the distance, with a empty expression. She looked behind her at where he was staring at, and saw a small cave. She refocused her attention back at Kirito, and walked over to him.

"You wanna go check out that cave," Asuna stated. Normally it would be a question, but she knew Kirito well enough to know what he thought.

"Yup," He said, as he took of in the direction of the cave. Kirito led the way, and when they neared the cave, Kirito activated his Night Vision skill, and looked in the cave. A he did that, he drew his sword, and carefully stalked towards the cave. The cave was very small. Its walls were laced in spider webs, and they were pretty damp. Asuna muttered something like, "Waste of time."

Kirito walked over to the back wall and examined the wall, using both his skill, and the faint glow his vlade gave off. After a few minutes of examining the wall, Asuna came back into the cave saying, "What are you still doing in here Kirito-kun? There is nothing in here but spider webs." Asuna tried to reason with Kirito, but he just ignored her, and spotted a faint glow on the wall. Pulling out one of his throwing knives, he cut away the spider webs that surrounded the faint glow.

Kirito looked at the symbol that seemed to be etched into the caves walls.

Δ

The symbol, which resembled the greek letter Delta, glowed a faint green color. He looked over at Asuna, and saw her eyes widen at what Kirito had just found.

"Asuna step out of the cave," Kirito ordered. He saw her start to protest, but he spoke again before she could say anything. "You don't have to leave the area. But if this opens something, I don't want you to fall into a bottomless pit," Kirito reasoned. Asuna shrugged, and walked over to the entrance, and stood in the large opening. Once she was out of the cave entirely, Kirito nodded his head at her, and looked back at the symbol. He eyed it cautiously, before he gently placed his palm over it. He felt the pattern underneath his hand, and then he gently pushed his hand against the symbol.

At first nothing happened. Kirito back away from the wall. He turned around to look at Asuna, who just shrugged at him. Looking back at the wall, Kirito was somewhat disappointed. He huffed in defeat, but when he turned away from the wall, he felt small vibrations underneath his feet, and then a small slab gave way underneath his feet, and he plummeted down into a sinkhole.

In-Game

Floor 4: Icelandis

Location: Icy Cavern

Time: 12:34; Post Field Boss

The cave shook violently as the Alpha Alpaca was slammed into the wall, courtesy of Agil. Upon impact, the entire raid attacked, while it was disorientated. After a few moments or relentless attacking, the Alpha shattered, and a congratulations notification was displayed in front of all of them.

Agil stood back, and watched as everyone looked at their drops. Agil smiled, but his smile quickly fell, when he pondered the raid as a whole.

Sure they beat the field boss, but the entire battle was sloppy. When they first arrived, the Alpha Alpaca wasn't there. Instead there was a gang of 20 Ice Alpaca's. Everyone split up into their parties, and held their own against them all, but once there was only 10 left, The Alpha entered the stage, followed by another 10 Alpacas.

Alicia hoped Kirito would show up, but alas he was taking care of Asuna, after that whole fiasco yesterday. Alicia was sure everyone hoped Kirito would have appeared out of nowhere and helped out. But they held their own, and suffered only minor wounds. No 'Bleeding Effect', which everyone was pleased about. Alicia walked over to Agil, and stood at his side.

Agil gave her a small smile, then turned to face the group or players. Some players looked around at the walls nervously like they heard something, but Agil didn't notice.

"Good job everyone," Agil praised them. "That was one tough battle, but on the bright side it is now over. Kirito messaged me before the battle, and told me what he thought was best. He said spend the rest of today relaxing, then tomorrow train. He said that this next boss won't be the easiest. But I am confident-" Agil was cut off when a large chunk of the ceiling fell down and exploded, sending shards of ice everywhere. Players who were hit by the stray ice, lose health.

"EVERYONE! EVACUATE!" Alicia screamed as everyone started to bolt of the caves entrance. Agil stood at the entrance, and ushered people out. He made sure he was the last one to exit the cave, making sure no one was left in the cave.

Once everyone was out of the cave, a few moments passed in silence as everyone watched the cave slowly collapse. Everyone looked around at each other, and sighed in relief that everyone made it out of the cave in time.

"That was unexpected…" Someone chided, causing a few players to laugh.

"Okay, let's all just go and rest up. Train tomorrow, then we will have a Boss Raid meeting tomorrow night. Then hopefully raid the following morning. Any questions?" Agil summed up. Once no one spoke up, Agil nodded and walked away, with Alicia in tow.

"Have you heard from our favorite swordsman?" Alicia asked.

"No, just that he and Asuna wouldn't be participating in this field boss raid," Agil said dismissively. Alicia pulled up her friend menu, and looked for Kirito's position. Agil noticed this, and questioned, "What are you doing?"

"Yesterday, he got a message from Asuna saying that she needed help, and then he took off," Alicia said as she tagged Kirito's name. "So I was making sure the- what?"

"What is it?" Agil asked worriedly.

"It says Kirito's location is Unknown… Let me check Asuna's…" She pulled up Asuna's location, and grew worried. "Well they are both aren't dead, but Asuna is in the middle of the swamp on floor 3…"

"Don't worry about them. As long as they both are alive, they will be fine," Agil nonchalantly stated as he waved his hand in a dismissive way. Alicia nodded her head as she said,

"You are are right. But you can't help but worry…"

In-Game

Floor 3: Valkedor

Location: The Cave

Time: 12:30

Asuna's head snapped around, when she heard the sound of the cave partially collapsing. She saw Kirito's panicked face, then not even a second later, he fell through the cavern's floor. Asuna sprinted, trying to catch him, but ended in failure. She looked down, and saw a faint glow down in the newly formed hole.

"KIRITO-KUN!" Asuna yelled, in the hope he would hear her. She looked to her health bar, and saw Kirito's health dip slightly. It now rested halfway between the Green Zone, and the Yellow Zone.

Asuna sighed in relief, but quickly turned her attention back over to the hole that took Kirito. Looking around, Asuna saw nothing that would be able to help her get Kirito out of the hole.

Kirito landed in a small body of water, that somewhat broke his fall. Kirito groaned loudly, as he fell into the water. He half dragged half swam his way to the shore. Climbing onto the shore, he rolled onto his back. He stared blankly at the ceiling. Looking at where he fell from, he spotted a small ladder that led up the gaping hole. He heard his name being called in the distance, and tried to yell back, but couldn't muster up enough strength to do so. He opened his menu, and tagged Asuna's name and sent her a message saying:

Asuna-san, I am fine.

I landed in a small body of water, and

It broke my fall. I see a way out, but I going

to explore this cave a little. See ya in a bit.

~K

He pressed send, and took out a health potion, and sucked it back. He groaned as he rolled back onto his stomach and pushed himself to his feet. He looked around, and noticed he was in a large open area, where the body of was in the dead center of the room. He did another once over of the room, and saw torches fill the room. On the other side of the water, Kirito saw a small alcove, where a small door was.

Kirito shrugged to himself, and made his way over to the alcove. Once he was inside the room, he was temporarily blinded by the light that filled the room. He covered his eyes with his arm, and waited for a few seconds, until the light died down. When the light finally calm down, Kirito looked over to where it came from.

On the wall on the opposite wall, a fragment of a sword hung from the wall.

The sword fragment was a shiny silver, that was outlined in a golden trim. Etched on the blade, were symbols that Kirito wasn't familiar with. He slowly made his way into the room, but once he was halfway in the room, he was thrown backwards a few feet, almost as if he had hit a force field of some kind.

Getting back on his feet, he wiped off his ass off, and a notification popped up saying:

'Kings Legacy Quest Needed to Access Area'.

Kirito dismissed the notification after reading it a few times through. Sighing in defeat, he started to leave the area, but before he pulled up the map of the area, and he was met with another message, saying: 'Map Unknown'. Kirito's eyes widened, and he then checked the floor, and it said 'Floor 0'.

Dismissing the menu entirely, Kirito walked away with a confused expression. He took out a teleporting crystal, and tried teleporting out of the cavern, but he was unable to. Kirito sighed loudly, recalling the ladder, he made his way back into the large room, and walked into the body of water. Then he started to make his way to the ladder. He pulled himself up, and continued to ascend the ladder to its top.

Halfway up the cavern, the ladder ended, and all that remained were edges from the rocks. Kirito grasped onto on the rocks, and pulled himself free of the ladder's rungs. Not even a second later, Kirito's hand slipped and he fell back down, and did a back flop into the water. He cursed loudly, and heard it echo throughout the cavern. He pushed himself back to his feet and tried again.

As he climbed, his foot only slipped once, but after what felt like forever, he put his hand on a smooth ledge, and pulled himself up. He collapsed onto the floor, and stared at the ceiling. A gasp was heard, and not even a second later, Asuna was standing over his head.

"Hey," Kirito said as he closed his eyes. Both his mind and his body were tired.

"Hey? That's all I get Kirito-kun?! You have been gone for hours!" Kirito's eyes widened, and he opened his menu, and saw it was '2:51'. Jumping to his feet, he looked over at Asuna.

"I am sorry! I guess time passes differently done there!" Kirito clasped his hands together, in an attempt to apologize. "At least you knew I was alive, and not dead!" He heard Asuna huhh in annoyance, and hearing that gave Kirito hope that he would survive this afterall.

"Alright Kirito-kun. But don't scare me like that!" Asuna smacked him, with worry etched in his voice. Nodding one, Kirito focused his attention back at the gaping hole. "So what did you see down there?"

Kirito stood up, and walked over to the hole. He walked around the hole, and made his way over to the wall. He pressed the symbol that hung over the gaping hole. Then a new slab appeared out of nowhere, and filled the hole which made it look like new.

"Nothing… Nothing much," Kirito said as he turned away from the wall. And brought out a teleporting crystal. "Let's go get some rest." Asuna only nodded her head, and they both teleported back to floor 2…

Author's Note:

And with that, I am officially back in action!

I am sorry I have been MIA lately, but I have been with good reason. I am going to say this again: I would like everyone out there who read this to check out my Poll that I have had up and running for awhile now. The poll will OFFICIALLY close when the next chapter is put up, so cast your votes if you haven't already!

If you like the Percy Jackson series, check out my other fanficiton: The Promised Future. I promise you its worth the read

Now, I would like to clear something up: I never intended to have Asuna be a damsel in distress. She is a bad ass, and I want to do her character justice! I am portraying her as physically strong, but not mentally strong.

Also from here on out: I can not feature every single floor. If I were to, this would take me years to complete. But do not worry, this story is nowhere close to be finished.

If you would like this story to go on for awhile, PLEASE send in ideas! I will credit those who send in ideas! So PM me your ideas!

Things to review:

How are the fight scenes?

How is the story so far?

Which arcs in the anime do you want me to include in this?

Should we save Sachi and the Black Cats?