-330- 15 years old

Later, Sachi hurriedly left the bar, her face still flushed, sparking curious speculation from onlookers.

Inside the bar, Rozen and Kirito remained seated facing each other—Rozen with a composed expression and Kirito looking somewhat bitter.

"Alright, I said I'm reflecting, didn't I?" Rozen calmly addressed Kirito, "My bad, I shouldn't have interrupted your date."

"I.... I'm telling you, things aren't like that!" Kirito tried to explain earnestly, "Sachi was just curious about our guild's base, and since there shouldn't be any slackers here during the day, and the entire bar was empty, that's why I brought her here...!"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it. No need to explain," Rozen continued to maintain his calm demeanor, "I understand, you're a guy after all. Though having a guild base as a dating spot isn't the best idea, if there's no one around and no one gets stuffed full by your lovey-dovey scene, then I'll let it slide. In that regard, I'm quite reasonable."

"I..." Kirito wanted to explain, but seeing Rozen's teasing expression, he realized he was just being toyed with. No matter how much he said, it wouldn't change anything, so he deflated and lowered his head in frustration.

Isn't this a case of exaggeration making things seem worse?

Actually, it wasn't just Rozen. Almost all members of the Crimson Wing knew about Kirito's situation.

Ever since nearly a year ago when Kirito encountered the Moonlit Black Cats Guild on the 11th floor's training area, he had developed a close friendship with them.

Despite one being the strongest guild in the clearing group and the other a less notable mid-tier guild, Kirito still greatly appreciated the friendly atmosphere of the Moonlit Black Cats Guild. He often visited lower floors to meet with Keita and the others.

Within the Moonlit Black Cats Guild, Kirito shared the best relationship with Sachi.

Of course, this so-called relationship naturally had a touch of sweetness to its development. Rozen often reflected on this.

"Kirito, you're fifteen this year, right?"

Rozen looked at Kirito with a proud expression, much like a father watching his child grow up.

"…You're also just fifteen alright? Why do you act like you're older than me?" Kirito retorted weakly.

This version of Kirito couldn't possibly know that if they were really counting age, Rozen would be even older than both of their real-world dads. But Rozen's lazy and nonchalant demeanor, despite having lived so many years, showed how much of a homebody he was.

Ignoring Kirito's somewhat defeated expression, Rozen scrutinized his brother. At this moment, Kirito was wearing a black leather coat and didn't have any metallic armor on him, appearing quite lightweight. He still followed his usual agile approach.

But on Kirito's back, he carried a sword that looked quite heavy.

This Kirito might not realize it, but after almost a year, his strength had also increased significantly. In terms of level, Kirito had already reached level 78. In terms of skills, he had mastered two skills completely: "One-Handed Sword" and "Searching." It was said that the "Parry" skill proficiency was also nearing complete mastery, with a proficiency of over 800, and compared to Rozen, though his progress was slower, the gap wasn't too significant.

Currently, Kirito's strength was probably only surpassed by Rozen and Heathcliff within the entire clearing group. There was even a strong chance that if Rozen didn't use his familiars or the "Mind's Eye" skill, he might not be a match for Kirito.

Not to mention, in the past half year, Kirito had made two significant gains.

One was the weapon he was currently carrying on his back.

It was a single-handed sword with a completely black appearance, a smooth blade, and a deep hilt.

This single-handed sword was obtained by Kirito as the last hit reward from the 50th-floor boss raid.

At that time, Rozen was focused on commanding the clearing group, Heathcliff was staunchly defending against the boss's attacks, and both Saichou and Hanachou lacked direct combat abilities. They only managed to control the terrifying boss that had a significantly higher difficulty due to being on the 50th floor. This allowed Kirito to seize the opportunity and claim the last hit reward (LA).

Due to the formidable nature of the 50th-floor boss, the performance of this weapon was astonishingly high. Not to mention using it up to the 60th floor, with proper enhancement, it would remain effective even up to the 80th floor. After all, this sword had an unusually high number of enhancement slots—more than 50 times.

With this weapon, Kirito, who leaned towards a speed-focused style, actually had higher attack power than Rozen, who was strength-focused.

And the name of this sword was — "Elucidator."

This was one of Kirito's significant gains. As for the other one, if word got out, it would undoubtedly shock all SAO players. Even Rozen himself was stunned for a good while when he saw Kirito's acquisition.

If it weren't for Kirito's preference for staying low-key and his concerns about attracting the attention of malicious players, just based on this accomplishment, he could have gained a reputation second only to Rozen and Heathcliff.

Under such circumstances, if Kirito were truly pushed to his limits, once he unleashed all of his abilities, he might even stand a chance against both Rozen and Heathcliff in an exhilarating battle of offense and defense.

Of course, only Rozen knew this secret, and no one else was aware of it. Still, even without revealing this trump card, Kirito had managed to gain a considerable reputation as the "Black Swordsman" over the past year and a half. Rozen was naturally pleased with Kirito's growth.

But...

"Just thinking about how you stole the LA rewards from me back then, It's still annoying," Rozen muttered, causing Kirito to narrow his eyes in response.

"Over the past year and a half, in almost every boss raid, you practically always took the LA rewards. Now, it's only been taken from you a few times by me. Is it really necessary to be so serious about it?" Kirito sighed.

Due to Rozen's kill rate, which was equivalent to the number and quality of familiars he could include, over the past year and a half of boss raids, Rozen had naturally been contending for the LA rewards every time and successfully claimed dozens of boss familiars.

But even Rozen had encountered situations where he couldn't handle everything, ultimately resulting in someone else taking the LA rewards. That someone else was generally Kirito.

This guy was particularly skilled at calculating the remaining HP of monsters and delivering a fatal blow, so it was natural that he managed to claim the LA rewards from the boss familiars multiple times.

Rozen wasn't truly upset about those few familiars being taken.

However, this time, Rozen truly felt somewhat unwilling.

"Still, 'Elucidator' suits my taste quite well," Rozen sighed in the same manner.

Kirito could only scratch his head and suddenly became serious.

"Actually, when I came, I met with Argo. She asked me to tell you some news."

In a solemn tone, Kirito delivered those words.

"I heard that 'those guys' have become active again."

Upon hearing this, Rozen's eyebrows twitched, and he narrowed his eyes in response.