Chapter 64 - Plans In The Dark

Drifter was running like he had never run before. Any mob he came across was utterly demolished by the combined efforts of him and his guildmates, barely slowing them down.

There was no way 5th floor mobs should be this easy to kill, but desperation was pushing them to break their limits. Drifter had never felt like that before. It was like he could see better, move better, react better, fight better. Because he needed to. Because if he didn't, his friends might die.

Snarling, Drifter stabbed through the head of a << Vengeful Wraith >>, following up with two normal slashes before pushing the mob towards Yuuki, who decapitated it. Nearby, Kirito and Asuna worked together to dispatch a << Humid Mummy >>.

Drifter didn't even pause his steps after dealing with the pair of mobs. He simply chugged down a health potion and continued running. His map was open in his HUD, and he could see that they were getting closer to their guildmates.

A quick glance, however, showed that Ran, Merida, Liz, and Nautilus were all in the yellow. Even as he watched, another large chunk of the boy's HP vanished, leaving him dangerously close to the red zone.

'No! No, no, no, no, no...'

Turning a corner and barreling through cobwebs, Drifter finally saw his friends. He didn't even have the time to heave a sigh of relief when discovering they were all still alive - albeit barely. No, Drifter immediately threw himself into the fight.

Nautilus, Yuna, Sinon, Liz, Merida, and Ran were surrounded by over a dozen mobs. Drifter stabbed the one closest to him, a skeleton, in the back without hesitation.

The mob roared, which should have been impossible for a skeleton, but Drifter wasn't questioning it. Without stopping, he swept the monster away, smashing into two others in the process, and clearing a path for his party - and wasn't he surprised to see that Silica and Vallerk were still following them - to go through. They immediately created a circle, putting their guildmates in the middle so they could rest and recover.

With another quick glance to, once again, reassure himself that they were okay, Drifter's gaze was caught by Yuna. The songstress hadn't stopped playing her music even for a second, but her eyes conveyed her gratitude and relief. He smiled at her before turning back to the mobs.

Not a word was spoken between the two parties during this entire time. They were all alive, and that was enough. Asking needless - even if emphatic - questions wasn't as important as eliminating the threats.

A << Tidal Sequence >> saw two mobs blasted away from him, and a normal diagonal slash killed off one of their attackers. Drifter was focusing more on crowd control than damage, but he wouldn't say no to an easy kill.

Behind him and a little to the left, Vallerk had positioned himself in such a way that he could shield both Liz and Nautilus at the same time. The two players were the ones who suffered the most damage, due to their role as tanks.

Drifter was focused on the fight, so he didn't see the surprised faces of his guildmates at the two unknown additions to their group. He also didn't hear their soft exclamations, and even if he had, he couldn't turn around now.

Taking a big step forward, Drifter used both of his hands to hold the very edge of his spear, and spun his body a full three hundred and sixty degrees. If he had done that in real life, there was no doubt the weapon would have slipped his grip and been sent flying, but as it was part of a skill, << Tornado >>, he managed to retain his hold.

The three mobs he hit weren't so much cut as they were smashed away, as if struck by a giant baseball bat. Drifter pressed on the attack by immediately stabbing the downed monsters while they were defenseless. He would also have loved to continue to use a few << Martial Arts >> skills here and there, but this battle was too crucial for him to try something he wasn't yet proficient in.

"Ugh!"

To his left, Asuna groaned when a << Vengeful Wraith >> managed to get a hit in, but she didn't slow down as she pierced the mob with a flourish and shattered it.

During a temporary lull in the combat, Drifter took a look around. Over a dozen mobs had been too much for Sinon's party to defeat, but with their addition, plus the fact the archer and the others had managed to more or less injure all the monsters before they arrived, they were making quick work of the creatures. To his and everyone's relief, it seemed like they would make it through this more or less unscathed.

Immediately after he thought that, Drifter felt like slapping himself. By now, he should know better than to tempt fate like that.

Luckily, it seemed like his error went unpunished. With each mob they killed, the pressure on the group lessened considerably, especially when Nautilus, Liz, and the others healed up and rejoined the fight.

Ten minutes later, it was all over. Apart from Nautilus, whose health had dropped to the red right before reinforcements arrived, everyone else had only gotten as low as yellow. Still, for many of them this was the first time coming so close to death.

Ran, Merida, Yuuki, Liz, and, to an extent, Sinon, Vallerk, and Silica were all somewhat shocked. They collapsed as soon as the last mummy was killed, trembling.

Drifter looked at his friends on the ground, and then glanced at those still standing. Yuna and Nautilus he understood. They had not only come close to it, but seen death before. Drifter himself had no less than three close calls in which he was a literal finger flick away from dying. And Kirito's disposition didn't surprise him. He had always known something had happened to the black-haired boy before they met. He just never pried, and never will. Drifter saw a kindred soul in him.

Asuna's calmness, however, was somewhat of a shock. She had been quiet and shy when they first met, but now she was a cheerful and outspoken girl. He really couldn't associate her with someone who showed only this level of reaction to close brushes with death. Drifter knew this wasn't something one was born with, but something that came from experiencing it.

Walking over to Yuna, Drifter squeezed her arm softly for a moment, and she smiled back at him. Tired, but safe. Another glance at Nautilus had the ash-haired boy nodding at him. His shoulders sagged with relief.

"How are you feeling?"

Kirito strode over to Ran and Merida, who were closest to him, and helped them up. The two girls nodded gratefully, still dry heaving.

"We'll be fine. You saved us. Thanks."

"I'm sure you would have managed just fine on your own."

Merida scoffed, and the others laughed. They knew better than anyone whether they would have made it or not. But this wasn't a subject anyone wanted to dwell on. Liz tilted her head towards Vallerk and Silica.

"And thanks to you too, strangers. Who are you, by the way?"

While Asuna and Yuuki launched in a quick introduction and explanation of who the duo was, Drifter and Kirito walked over to Sinon.

"Heyo, Sinon. How's your first time as party leader? Having fun?"

"..."

The archer ignored Drifter, and gave the two of them a morose eyebrow raise, which was, to them, the best assurance she was okay. Kirito smiled.

"Could you make some sense of the messages you sent us? It sounds like a lot has happened in a short time."

"You tell me. If I get my hands on the fucking bastards who..."

"Language!"

Everyone chuckled at the enraged Asuna, who was glaring at Sinon for the curse. Sinon just raised her hands above her head in mock-fear, which incited more laughter.

"Starting from the beginning, we were farming not far from here when a << Sly Shrewman >> took Merida's weapon..."

"<< Sly Shrewman >>?"

Sinon nodded tiredly.

"Yeah. Probably the most annoying mob I've ever seen, and will ever see in SAO. They have basically zero attack, defense, and HP, but they are fast, and if they touch you they can steal any item you are currently equipped with."

It wasn't just Drifter who cursed Kayaba after hearing that - quietly, of course, so Asuna wouldn't hear and scold them. A mob who stole people's equipment was every player's nightmare.

"We managed to hunt it down and kill it, and Merida got her sword back. Just as we were about to continue mapping, we heard people talking. We decided to take a look, see if it was anyone we knew."

"And it was. Just not someone we wanted to see."

Yuna cut in at this moment, her voice low and angry. Nautilus and Sinon both had dark expressions too.

"One of them was that player who tried to murder Kirito in the duel."

All those not in the know gasped when they heard the word 'murder'. Especially Silica. To her young mind, the thought that someone might want to kill another player was simply unbelievable. Drifter gestured that he would explain later, though, and told Sinon to carry on with her story.

"When we saw that it was him, we hid. Seeing as he was clearly a crazy psychopath last time, I thought we might want to know what he was planning. I've got no idea why he and his friend would be talking here instead of through messages, but I didn't want to pass up the chance."

"What about the other player, the one he was talking with? Did you recognize them?"

"No, they were both using cloaks. Long story short, we were still spying on them when two skeletons spawned behind us, and we had to fight them. They discovered us, but instead of simply running away, the assholes lured in more mobs. The rest you know."

This time even Asuna couldn't chastise Sinon for her language, as she was too angry at the would-be murderers to care.

"What about what they were planning? Did you manage to hear what it was?"

"Yes... But it's frontline related."

The archer glanced at Vallerk and Silica. To be completely honest, she didn't trust them. Not that she thought they were in cohorts with the two players, but she didn't want what she now knew to spread. Kirito threw their two new friends an apologetic grimace, but didn't tell Sinon to talk.

"Sorry, Silica, Vallerk. I know you helped us a lot, and that you deserve just as much credit as us for saving them - more, even, considering you didn't have any reason to - but this is for guild members only. Sorry."

"No, no, don't be, Kirito. We understand completely. Maybe one day when we join the frontliners you can tell us, if it's still important."

Silica shook her head from one side to the other, while Vallerk just nodded silently. Kirito, Asuna, and Sinon all let out sighs of relief. While the first two didn't know what it was that had Sinon so worried, they were glad Silica and Vallerk didn't feel hurt by the fact they were excluding them.

"After seeing what I saw today, I'm sure it won't take too long, Silica. Though I don't like having to admit it since I still think you are too young for this, no one can deny you have the potential. Both of you do."

Silica beamed at him, and Drifter smiled back. He also patted her silent partner on the shoulder twice before turning to his guild leader.

"We should probably go back, Kirito. This was excitement enough for one day, I think."

"Agreed. Let's go."

"And we need to get Argo. She will be useful in this."

Kirito nodded to Sinon, and then smiled wryly.

"Better start emptying our pockets then. I have a feeling this won't be cheap."

...

Forty-five minutes later, the Reavers were back on the surface, and crowding Drifter's room - for no reason other than it being the first in the corridor. They all agreed it was better to hear Sinon's story behind the privacy of an inn's walls, since she was being too cautious about it.

Silica and Vallerk had bid them farewell after they returned to Karluin, and the Reavers had promised to grind with them again some other time.

"Hello! How are y'all... Oh! It really is y'all. Like, in all of ya."

Argo burst into the room shouting, before coming to a halt as she saw that, indeed, the entirety of Reaver's Requiem was bunched up in the room.

"Hey, Argo. We need you to be serious right now, please."

"Oookay?"

The info-broker saw all the long faces, and saw down on the spot that had been left vacant for her. Once she was comfortable, Kirito looked at their resident archer.

"Sinon, do you mind?"

The girl shook her head, and quickly recounted her entire tale, minus what the two players had actually discussed. By the end of it, Argo was sitting with her back straight, all business.

"I can see why that would've y'all spooked. But what's it that the two bastards said that requires all this secrecy?"

Sinon looked over to her guild leader. She had already told the rest of her guild what it was before Argo arrived, and they agreed to let Kirito be the one to tell the info-broker. The boy sighed.

"According to Sinon, they were discussing the last-attack bonus of this floor's boss. Do you remember it, Argo?"

"Yeah, of course... Shit! How did we forget 'bout that, Kii-bou?! How did I forget?!"

Argo jumped up from her seat and started pacing in the very crowded room, pulling at her hair. It was only when Drifter took her by the shoulders and forced her to sit back down that she stopped cursing and mumbling.

"We all have a lot on our plate, little rat. And Kayaba made so many changes to the beta that it's normal you two forgot about it. But this is something we can not leave up to chance, which is why you are here."

"Right, right. So the two of them were talkin' 'bout the flag. What 'bout it, specifically?"

Kirito took a deep breath, his expression grim.

"They want to use it to incite a war between the DKB and ALS."