Chapter 31 - The Archer

AUTHOR'S NOTE

We are back, baby!!!!

First of all, I want to thank everyone for their messages and well-wishes! I'm back to peak health now, and I want all of you to know that I am very grateful for the support!

Since I'm sure all of you are anxious to read the chapter, I will just end this note by saying another thank you (can't give enough of them) and by promising that I will try to stockpile chapters, so even if something like this happens again - well, so it won't happen again, actually. Enjoy the chapter!

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When Kirito returned it was already past 4 AM, but no one was sleeping. Drifter and Nautilus were playing a game of stabscotch under Asuna's disapproving glares - she only allowed them to play after they convinced her that, since this was a safe zone, the knives would actually bounce off their skin and they wouldn't be hurt. When the fencer huffed and looked the other way, annoyed, the two boys exchanged smiles. Nearby, Yuna rolled her eyes.

It was obvious that of all of them, the one who was the most nervous about the trade was Asuna. Even more so than Sinon, and the other girl spent the last hour staring at the inn's door.

They were both anxious, but for different reasons. Sinon was more rational, and knew Kirito would be completely safe inside the city as long as he didn't agree to a duel - which the young swordsman had already assured them he wouldn't do. So, Sinon was more worried about whether or not she would get her bow.

As for Asuna, she had been very vocal against Kirito's insistence on going alone to meet Kibaou. Even if this was a safe zone, she was still worried about his well-being. But Kirito argued that Kibaou might refuse to trade if he felt pressured by the whole party, so she could only begrudgingly accept it. Drifter and Nautilus' sudden wish to play stab scotch was a very obvious move to distract her, but it worked.

Still, when Kirito pushed the door open, Asuna immediately forgot how angry she was with him. She leaped off of her seat, and was standing in front of him in a matter of seconds. The others weren't too far behind.

"Kirito! How did it go?! Are you all right?! Did Kibaou..."

"Woah, slow down Asuna. Let Kirito breathe."

Drifter put a hand on the fencer's shoulder to calm her down, but there was a very conspicuous smile hanging on his lips. Next to him, Yuna was even less discrete, and giggled. She gave Drifter a meaningful gaze, to which he could only roll his eyes.

A few days ago, when he first noticed Kirito's interest in Asuna, Drifter had made a bet with Yuna. He put money on the fencer taking another floor to reciprocate the feelings, while the songstress bet it would happen on the 2nd floor still. To both Drifter and Yuna, it was never a matter of 'if', but 'when' it would happen. And while Asuna hadn't exactly said that she liked Kirito out loud, neither had he, but it was clear to anyone with eyes that they cared about each other.

When she heard Yuna giggling, Asuna blushed so furiously that SAO animated steam flowing out of her ears. The fencer glared angrily at the girl who had quickly become one of her best friends, and didn't forget to stomp Drifter's foot, for being the one who started the teasing.

"Ehem... Err... I'm okay, Asuna. It was... Weird, but Kibaou didn't play any tricks. Speaking of which, this is yours, Sinon."

Kirito scratched his cheek in the manner he did when he was embarrassed. Catching a glimpse of Yuna's grin, he quickly changed the subject, and took out an item from his inventory.

Once it appeared, everyone's eyes were drawn to it. Not because it was impressive - no, it looked like a simple curved bow made of white bone, with a few lines and engravings. But it was a bow. In Sword Art Online.

Sinon picked it up in an almost reverential manner. It was clear this was the first time she ever touched this kind of weapon, and she pulled the string awkwardly a few times. She would have to ask Liz and Agil to make her arrows later.

"Oh. I just got << Bow >>. Talk about lazy naming."

"Eh, all the other base skills are like that. << One-handed Sword >>, << Dagger >>, << Two-handed Spear >>, etc... Just the fact that there is a basic skill for it is a good sign. It means this is probably not just a one-time thing or an abandoned project by Kayaba, but that there will be more bows dropping later in the game, and even combat skills for it."

A genuine smile of happiness graced Sinon's normally stony expression. The girl kept playing with the << Grafted Horn Bow >> in her hands as if it was a new toy. Drifter, meanwhile, turned back to Kirito.

"You said the meeting with Kibaou was weird? How so?"

"Well... He didn't scold me. Called me a beater, but that was all. I was sure he would yell and curse, but he was very serious. It looked like he really wanted an << Anneal Blade >>, to the point which he didn't even care much about me."

"Hmm... Truly strange."

"Does it really matter? That cactus-haired brute is probably putting on a show. To the other players, not Kirito, I mean."

"Hum? What are you talking about, Asuna?"

The fencer paused for a second to organize her thoughts. She pulled on her bottom lip with one finger, unaware of how that action had Kirito staring at her before Nautilus poked him in the ribs.

"Well, you see, Kibaou founded the ALS on the premise of protecting the low-level players and whatnot, right? But a large part of his... Recruitment propaganda was how he would stop beta-testers and cheaters and make them all give up all the equipment they supposedly stole. We all know that he meant Kirito by that."

"Right."

"Uhm. If there weren't live broadcasts, that might have worked. After all, if you believe his speech, Kirito is a cheater who hacked the Cardinal System and is controlling SAO to make players' lives hell. But that's a moot point, because of the broadcasts. Everyone watched the battle, so after they calmed down, anyone with half a brain can tell Kirito might be a beta-tester, but he is not a cheater."

Asuna showed a smile in the young swordsman's direction when she said that, and, for once, Kirito answered with a genuine smile of his own. He knew no one in the party considered him a beater, but hearing Asuna say it out loud was still reassuring.

"Anyway, I said Kibaou is probably putting up a show because he certainly understands that as well. But the ALS was partially built around hating Kirito. If he went back on that, he would lose the respect of his subordinates."

After Asuna finished speaking, there was silence. The fencer discovered that everyone was staring at her wide-eyed, and raised her hands embarrassed.

"S-Sorry, I didn't mean to ramble!"

"Don't be, Asuna. That was very well analyzed. I hadn't thought of any of it. You know, I'm starting to think that I can only be the third-in-command of this party. You are clearly much better suited to be Kirito's right hand than I am. Or maybe he should be your right hand? Ah, well, you can just lead together."

Drifter's words took a teasing edge towards the end, and Yuna made the situation even more embarrassing for the two teens when she started jeering, but Drifter was being completely honest. He always knew Asuna was an intelligent girl, but this was the first time she truly came out of her shell and said what she thought.

The party chatted for a few more minutes before Nautilus yawned, and they decided to turn in. It had been an exhausting night, but none of them thought of taking a break the next day.

Before Drifter could escape, Yuna grabbed his arm with a cheeky smile. The spearman grumbled, but took out a small bag of cor and passed it to her. The songstress grinned widely.

"Thank you for your patronage!"

"Just you wait..."

"Hihihi!"

"How about another bet then, Yun'?"

"Oh?"

Clearly interested, Yuna stopped in her tracks and looked at him. Drifter smiled defiantly.

"Which floor do you think we will be when they get together? Closest wins?"

"Deal! What's the wager?"

Drifter was about to say 'money', but stopped when he saw Yuna tilting her head sideways to look at him. He didn't know what came over him, but he changed his mind.

"How 'bout a secret? If I win, I will tell you something I've been hiding. If you win, you can choose whatever you want."

"That... If you win, you'll tell me a secret? Sounds like you lose even if you win."

Obviously, the bet didn't make much sense to Yuna. But to Drifter, it did. He would win a lot, indeed. Not trusting himself not to chicken out and take back his words, he didn't answer verbally, but just smiled meaningfully. Yuna saw that, and nodded.

"All right, you're on!"

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2nd floor labyrinth.

"Here it comes! Brace yourselves!"

The mob, a monstrosity half-human, half-bull, known as a << Lesser Tauros Striker >>, spawned in already swinging its damn gigantic hammer. Nautilus was the one who jumped forward to receive the attack, thrusting his shield at a very specific angle, so that, instead of withstanding the brute force of the hit, the hammer was deflected to the side. That not only saved the ash-haired player from losing a lot of HP, but also caused the mob to stumble forward, right in the path of Kirito and Asuna's combo.

<< Linear >> and << Vertical >> knocked back the monster, giving Drifter enough space to accumulate momentum and throw it in the air with a << Rage Spike >>.

"Sinon! Switch!"

He needn't have said that. While the << Lesser Taurus Striker >> was still falling, a shadow flew over Drifter's head, and buried deep into the mob's right eye. It was a critical hit, and the monster shattered, leaving behind only the arrow that killed it. Sinon casually walked over, picked it up, checked the durability, and stored it away on her quiver.

"Phew... I never thought we would have such an easy time killing labyrinth mobs one day."

"Hear, hear. Remember how hard we had to fight against the << Ruin Kobolds >>?"

"It won't be that easy always, Yuna. To start with, we now have a complete party, not to mention that our tactics and gear have improved by leaps and bounds."

"Hm, there's also the fact that this floor's mobs are mostly solitary. And the << Lesser Taurus Striker >> has high attack, but low defense and health. As long as we don't let it start its rampage, it's not that hard to kill."

Yuna snorted and blew a raspberry as Drifter and Kirito went on what she called 'lecture mode'. The boy scratched his cheek and flushed a little, but Drifter, in all of his maturity, stuck his tongue out at Yuna. Ignoring the giggles from all around, he gave Sinon a thumbs-up.

"You've really gotten used to the bow, haven't you, Sinon? That was a masterful shot."

"Yeah, it's like it was made for me."

Sinon had taken to the bow like a bird to its wings. Drifter and Nautilus caught a few unlucky shots to the back of their heads at the start, but not even ten tries in, Sinon was already able to aim properly. By the end of the first day after she got the << Grafted Horn Bow >>, Sinon could already accurately hit most of the time. Now, she had completely integrated the bow into her play style.

The only downside of all that was that, once again, there were some idiots spouting rubbish, saying that Drifter's party had used Kirito's beater knowledge to cheat and gain another unfair advantage. Asuna was incensed when she heard that, but Kirito just told her to forget it, and Drifter was of the same opinion.

"What they think and say doesn't matter, Asuna. We indeed have a beta-tester in our party, and it is also true that we are using Kirito's knowledge of the beta. We would be stupid not to. But we know we are not cheaters, and that's enough."

"B-But! This is so unfair! It's not even Kirito who is using the bow and they are blaming him! No offense, Sinon."

The girl waved Asuna's apology off. She also felt somewhat guilty that Kirito was, once again, getting scolded, but like the boy, she didn't care much about what unrelated people thought of her. In the end, it was Argo who put forth an argument even Asuna had to agree with.

"Let 'em cry, Aa-chan. That's all they can do while they're hidin' in the safe zones. Just remember, they complain and bitch 'bout, but ya are the ones they watch when the broadcasts come."

"Argo! Language!"

Though Asuna answered that almost as a reflex, she stopped insisting after that. And Argo, after having gotten her point across, turned to Kirito.

"But ya see, I never expected our Kii-bou to be so cunnin'! Tradin' Kibaou a +5 << Anneal Blade >> while makin' him think that was your main weapon. And all that to get Sin-chan her bow! How romantic!"

"Argo!"

"Argo!"

The info broker, ever-happy to cause chaos, gleefully ignored the blushing teens. Her chocolate-brown eyes hadn't lost the familiar teasing glint yet.

"Still, your party's accumulatin' lotta titles now, ain't it? The Beater, Kirito. The Songstress Yuna. And now, Sinon the Archer. Dri-bou, Nau-bou, Aa-chan, ya need to hurry up or people are gonna forget 'bout ya!"

Drifter wasn't anywhere near as offended by the thought as Argo thought he would be, and that upset the info broker, who pouted. If this was just a normal game, Drifter might relish the chance to become famous. But this was SAO. There were enough expectations laid on him as it was.

"Changing the subject, what's the deal with the Braves, little rat? They didn't seem too happy with you when we passed by them yesterday."

"800 cor."

It spoke loads about their familiarity with the info broker that Drifter didn't even blink before tossing her a money bag. While 800 cor wasn't exactly a lot, it wasn't little either. If Argo was asking for that much, it meant the intel was worth it.

"Can't tell ya the whole story 'cause I made a promise, but the Legend Braves had a sixth member none of yous met, and he was doin' some bad things. I convinced - threatened - him to stop, but I haven't been able to find a solution to their problems."

She didn't say anything else, and the party didn't pry. If it was intel she could sell, Argo would've put a price on it. The fact that she didn't meant she wouldn't open her mouth no matter how much they offered. And they weren't that interested either. The Legend Braves were a cheerful and easy-to-get-along group, not to mention good fighters, but they only had one battle together. Drifter's curiosity was only so much.

"Hey, Drifter! Look over there!"

The spearman was snapped out of his memories by Kirito. They had just turned a corner, and, in front of them, was a sight that filled Drifter with both trepidation and fear in equal measures. A set of engraved steel doors, flanked by two pairs of ominous torches.

"You think that is..."

"Hm. We found it. The boss room."