Chapter 3 Kidnapping

"What did you buy?" Asuna asked.

"Something called Sharingan. Look at my eyes." His eyes turned red with one black dot in them.

"Your eyes changed."

"That's called the Sharingan. It's weak now, but I can get more points to upgrade it."

"What can you do with that eye?"

"I can predict attacks, and put my enemy into some sort of illusion called genjutsu. Though it is not that strong yet. But it's best known to help the user fight the enemy, and even copy their skill."

"Copying their skill? Can you try to copy this?" Asuna flashed forward and stabbed her rapier through a tree trunk.

Ian followed her movement and his sword stabbed through a tree as well.

Asuna's eyes widened. "Your movement is exactly like mine."

"But my speed cannot match yours."

"That's because I have been training in the game for years. And the system seems to bring my stats and power to this world as well."

"About that. Do you know a guy named Kirito?"

"Kirito? Never heard of him."

What? Judging by her clothes and skills, Asuna should have met the main character of SAO already. Did the system change her memory?

"What is it? Is Kirito someone important to you?"

Ian shook his head and decided to ignore it. "No. It's nothing. Come on, I think I heard the sound of a river from that direction."

Ian and Asuna walked through the forest, and the sound of water trickling got louder. Eventually, they found a river.

The stream wasn't that hard, and the water wasn't that deep. It was right above their knee. Ian and Asuna dip their palms under the water and drink a mouthful.

"Ahh, that's so refreshing." Asuna closed her eyes to savor the taste. "Water from nature tasted different from bottled water."

"It sure is," Ian said. "Asuna, What do you think of fish as lunch?"

"I can eat anything."

"Good." Ian stabbed the water with his sword. With his single-tomoe Sharingan, it wasn't hard to predict where the fish would move.

This eye was designed to kill ninjas. Hitting a fish was nothing.

He raised his sword and showed Asuna the fish he had caught. It moved around, trying to escape.

Asuna's eyes sparkled with stars. "I want to catch one too."

She activated her power and flashed around in the river. Water splashed and cut as she got six fish in her rapier.

"Asuna, slow down. You're making me wet."

Asuna glanced at him and noticed that his clothes were drenched with water. She giggled. "Sorry."

Ian blushed. She was so cute when she smiled and giggled like that. "Let's catch more fish. We will need the energy to kill more monsters."

"Un." She nodded.

Asuna raised her rapier and stabbed the water, but she stumbled on a rock and accidentally knocked onto Ian.

They both fell onto the water. Asuna was on top of him with her clothes completely drenched in water, slightly transparent.

Asuna blushed. "S—sorry." She quickly stood up.

"It's okay," Ian said.

They both continued hunting for some fish before Ian started a fire and stabbed the fish with a stick. He put the stick over the fire and rolled it slowly.

After the fish was done, Ian handed out a stick with three roasted fish to Asuna.

"Thank you." She smiled.

Ian smiled back. "This is fun."

"It is."

Suddenly, a net shot towards Asuna and wrapped her.

"Shit!" Ian pulled out his sword, about to free her, but a group of bandits leaped off the trees and fought him. There were 16 of them. Three were pulling the net, while the others were charging at him.

"Get that guy!"

Two men threw a large net at him, but Ian activated his Sharingan and predicted that. He cut the net into pieces before rushing forward.

His blade swept forward, cutting three necks at once. Ian looked at the head rolling on the ground and felt weird. It was as if the world was unreal, but his thumping heart and adrenaline in his blood did not let him to think much.

He moved forward, parrying a sword, and slashing at the man's waist. He ducked to the left. A blade almost hit his right ear. His Kusanagi went to the thigh, and the man screamed as he fell.

"This guy is a tough one! Surround him!"

Ian looked around. He detected 8 men surrounding him. They attacked from all directions with relatively good coordination.

But his Sharingan was not to be underestimated. He ducked, dodging all the swords that went for his head, then slashed forward.

Their hands fell, and Ian ran past them, charging towards who seemed to be their leader. The leader frowned and raised his sword, blocking his attack.

They battled for a few minutes, before the leader kicked the dirt, blinding his eyes. A net wrapped him from the back, and suddenly, his skin was pricked by tiny needles on the rope. These needles injected venoms that paralyzed his body.

The leader snorted. "You give me quite a hard time. Seems like we won't get any bonus today."

"I don't think so, sir." One of his subordinates said. "That one is a beauty. If we hand her to the leader, I am sure he will double our bonus."

The leader grinned. "Good idea. But we make sure to have fun with her first. Let's go and bring her back."

"Yes, sir."

Ian gritted his teeth and glanced at Asuna who was paralyzed just like him. They both wore an expression of fear.