Chapter 94 - Klein's Paradise

With eyes full of wonder, the Assault Team walked towards the main city of the 10th floor, a town so stereotypically Japanese you couldn't find one like it even in the real world. After crossing arched wooden bridges and stepping on a path covered in pink and white cherry blossom petals, they finally arrived at the entrance of the settlement.

Drifter stared up at the red gate you usually only found in temples or touristic sites nowadays. Two samurais were guarding it on the outside.

"Ah! Leader!"

Half of the Assault Team turned back to look at Klein, who had fallen over in a cold faint. Acceptable casualties.

"Whose turn to unlock the teleporter is it?"

"Ours."

Asuna raised her hand to answer Lind's question, and the DKB commander grumbled a little before leading his guild members into the town.

"Alright, go do it then. I'm sure everyone else is brimming with anticipation, so don't keep them waiting. Dragon Knights Brigade, split up to explore the city and find quests."

"Aincrad Liberation Squad, with me! Search for hidden quests!"

Kibaou was just half a beat behind Lind, and sparks flew when the two met eyes. Neither even bothered trying to hide their intention to compete, and Drifter just rolled his eyes, together with pretty much every other player.

"Sure. Should we also split up, Kirito?"

The swordsman stopped to think for a second, then realized it didn't actually matter.

"It will only take five minutes to activate the teleporter. We can all go together and then we decide what to do."

Drifter shrugged, showing it was fine with him. The moment he crossed the gate and received a notification saying he entered a safe zone, his tense muscles relaxed. The same happened with his friends, an almost audible sigh of relief escaping all of them.

It was only then, also, that they broke formation, and Drifter slowed down so Yuna could catch up to him from where she originally was, in the middle of the group.

None of that was conscious, but simply how they behaved after several months of living on the edge. As long as they weren't in a safe zone, no matter whether it was the 10th or 1st floor, they would instinctively enter the formation most appropriate for the situation. Out in the wilderness, that usually implied a circle with Yuna and Sinon in the center, Drifter, Silica, Asuna, Kirito, Ran, and Yuuki as the first layer, and the others on the outside.

Inside the cities, however, none of that mattered, as they wouldn't receive any damage even if they were attacked. But it was easy to differentiate frontliners and clearers from normal players even then, simply by looking at their weapons. Drifter's spear hadn't entered his inventory since the day they went to the hot spring, and for weeks before that. Even now, despite being in a safe zone, he had simply strapped it to his back, where he could pull it out at a moment's notice. When he slept, the weapon would rest next to his bed. Again, none of that was on purpose. Any frontliner would feel uneasy if they couldn't touch or see their weapons at any given moment, unlike lower-level players, who could constantly be seen strolling around empty-handed when inside a settlement.

Drifter never stopped to wonder who was happier, frontliners or normal players. One was risking their lives every day, while the other enjoyed the fruits of the former's labor while not doing much to further their advances in SAO.

Drifter didn't feel any resentment towards those players. Nobody had forced him to become a frontliner. Nobody could force any frontliner. They had all chosen this path themselves, whether it was Drifter and Yuna, Kibaou and Lind, or even Vallerk and Silica, who would be joining them on the next floor boss raid.

They might not be happy all the time, but it was their choice. And it wasn't like the other players were taking a vacation either. For every clearer who died, there were twenty normal players who lost their lives despite being on lower floors.

"Whoa. I can see why Klein is so fixated on katanas and samurais. I'm starting to feel the appeal. This place is beautiful."

Maybe if he had more alone time and darker thoughts, Drifter would ponder on all that philosophical stuff. But right now, he was occupied admiring the sights with Yuna.

The beautiful street, with carefully maintained trees spaced evenly on the roadside, and the ancient buildings, as well as the friendly NPCs wearing kimonos and yukatas, all of it contributed to a calm and peaceful scenery.

"It really is. I would say it's perfect for a date - but later. Argo's probably already gonna complain our ears off for not activating the teleporter within 5 minutes of clearing the floor, somehow."

Yuna and the others who heard him giggled. That sounded like Argo indeed.

"But... The 10th floor, huh? It's been what, four months?"

"Four and a week."

"Doesn't feel real."

Liz sighed, and Drifter turned around to sling an arm over her shoulder, dragging the blacksmith between him and Yuna.

"Hey, we just beat the 9th floor. There's still a way to go, but a step closer is a step closer, ain't it? Cheer up. I bet you can learn how to forge katanas and throwing stars here. Klein and the ninjas will never leave you alone."

"Eww! Was that supposed to make me feel better?!"

Liz feigned being ill, but she laughed, and the sound was pleasing to the ears. Laughter, true laughter, was too rare in SAO. Yuna nodded gratefully to him from Liz's other side, one of her hands resting on the small of his back as they sandwiched the blacksmith between them until she begged to be let go.

"If you two are done bullying Liz, there's the teleporter."

Sinon's snarky remarks fell on deaf ears, as Drifter and Yuna were far too familiar with the grumpy archer not to know when she was joking. Releasing Liz, they looked at the item that connected different floors, allowing players to travel through them almost instantly and without having to go through a dangerous labyrinth.

As usual, the teleporter was in the middle of a plaza, with plenty of empty space around it. To fit in with the rest of the city, the circular structure was made of some kind of gray-white stone which felt soft to the touch. Kirito stroked it and looked at the others.

"Who wants to do the honors?"

The Reavers looked at each other. It didn't matter who unlocked the teleporter, since the entire guild would receive the bonus experience. But it was always fun the first time.

"How about you, Silica? You haven't had the chance yet."

"M-Me?"

The young girl jumped, her ponytails swinging from side to side. Drifter smiled fondly.

"Yup, you. Go on."

Soothed by his gentle tone, Silica stepped forward and gingerly touched the teleporter. When the option to unlock it popped up in front of her, she clicked yes. Immediately, the structure shone brightly with a white-ish light, and Drifter pulled Silica back just in time for her to avoid the stampede of players coming through.

"Yeah, that always happens. People were afraid at first, but after they realized there's no danger, they always rush over the moment the portal's unlocked."

A steady stream of players continues to flow through for the next minutes. Many stopped dead in their tracks after seeing the beautiful city, blocking those behind them and causing congestion. The Reavers watched all that while chuckling.

Quite a few of the players saw Reaver's Requiem standing there and went up to talk to them with stars in their eyes - and more than a few heartbroken gazes when one of them courageously asked out Asuna, only for the fencer to hug Kirito's arm and turn him down. The shade of red the swordsman turned had all of them breaking down with laughter.

Most of the players, however, veered away immediately when they noticed Reaver's Requiem. A lot of people were afraid to talk to the Assault Team, fearing that they would unwittingly provoke them. Their concerns were valid, as many of the frontliners had bad tempers, and treated the lower-level players with anger, arrogance, and disdain. They needn't worry about that with the Reavers, obviously - unless they caught Sinon on a bad day - but Drifter was almost glad, as the few players who did talk to them were already overwhelming him. Drifter decidedly disliked being a celebrity.

"There ya are! Nice fight, everythin' 'kay? How's the floor like? And where's Shivata?"

Argo appeared out of nowhere, the petite info-broker squeezing her way through the crowd towards them. A bag of cor was already exchanging hands as she fired questions. Drifter answered calmly.

"Yes, pretty, and no idea."

The DKB had been the ones leading today's raid, so Argo had lent him the Flag of Valor. She trusted the player enough that she didn't need to actually join the guild for the battle.

"Ya are truly useless, Dri-bou."

"Hey, I'm not the one supposed to be scurrying around writing guides and scamming people! That's your job!"

Argo stuck out her tongue at him, traded a couple more barbs, then bid farewell to everyone and disappeared. This would be the first floor where her skills as an info-broker would be truly tested. She didn't have the beta to guide her search, so she would have to gather all the information from scratch. But if she proved to be up to the task - and Drifter had no doubt she would - Argo's spot as SAO's first info-broker would be secure for life.

"Anyone has anything they want to do in the city? Otherwise, let's get going."

"I want to check out the blacksmiths, see if there are any new designs I can get."

Liz raised her hand, and Kirito nodded. He looked around.

"Anyone else wanna stay back? Then, let's split up and explore the floor. Liz, we'll meet you back here at nightfall. Send a message if something happens."

Seeing that Liz was the only one intending to stay behind, Kirito bid her farewell and led the Reavers out of the city. Once there, they habitually split up, with Kirito leading one party and Drifter the other.

"I'll take the west side. Asuna, Sinon, Silica, Vallerk, and Kizmel, you are with me. Drifter, you take everyone else and explore towards the north, okay?"

"Got it."

It was the usual team division. They always tried to change things a little, to make sure everyone could work with everyone else, but it was a fact that some people simply had better teamwork. Drifter, Yuna, and Nautilus were one such case, as were Kirito and Asuna. The twins were often paired together too. Drifter was half-convinced they could read each other's thoughts.

"Right, should we see what this floor has to offer?"

"Aye aye, mighty party leader!"

Drifter pulled down one eyelid and stuck out his tongue at Merida's sassy response. Then he led the party towards the north side of the floor, and the bamboo forest that waited there.

They met their first obstacle before even arriving at the bamboo grove. A trio of old-style samurais were sitting in the middle of the path, seemingly waiting for them. All three had their backs turned to the party, so Drifter couldn't see their faces, but the blood-red cursor above their heads left no doubt they were mobs.

"Humanoid mobs, then? This is gonna be interesting. Watch out for sword skills."

As the players had painfully learned, humanoid monsters were several times more dangerous than normal mobs, mostly because they could use skills. Drifter could already feel the difficulty increase on the 10th floor if the basic mobs were humanoids and came in groups. He readied his spear for a Comet Break, then changed his mind and altered his posture for a Serpentcoil Impale. Despite having toiled so hard to acquire the throwing skill, he rarely used it. Now seemed like a good opportunity to change that.

"I'll attack first, you aggro them, Naut. Yuna, give us a Clear Breeze. Merida, get in position to assist Nautilus if it's needed. Ran, Yuuki, hang back, you are on support. Let's play it safe and take it slow. Figure out their attack patterns. We can sell it to Argo later."

His party members nodded, and Drifter pulled back his arm, twisting his spear with his fingers. The weapon started to glow, and he heaved and threw it towards the mob in the middle.

As soon as the attack was launched, the samurais detected it and got up. Drifter's target made to dodge the flying spear even with its back turned, but Serpentcoil Impale was faster, and punctured right through its back.

The mob didn't even falter. It eerily turned around as Drifter recalled his weapon, and the spearman discovered that underneath the armor of the Dishonorable Samurai was a decayed skeleton with glowing embers for eyes.

With a silent shout, all three undead samurais unsheathed their katanas and charged at the party. Their initial target was obviously Drifter, but Nautilus stepped forward and Taunted them, easily gaining their aggro.

But even Nautilus wasn't expecting the first attack from the mobs to be a sword skill. Furthermore, all three of them struck at the same time, their katanas glowing red, with even a hint of flames burning.

None of them recognized the skill, but the mobs' motions were telegraphed by the way they bent their knees and twisted their lower body, letting Nautilus know that the attack would be an upwards slash. Calmly, the ash-haired player adjusted his shield to catch all three cuts, deflecting them and causing the katanas to get entangled, effectively crippling the next hit of the skill.

The three slashes that followed were sloppy, and Nautilus easily blocked them. By then, Drifter and the others were already retaliating, their prime target being the first Dishonorable Samurai the spearman wounded.