Progressive Factor II: Lacrimosa Of A Reaper

A Sudden Change of Plans

Asuna was exhausted beyond compare. Once she was inside the suite, she chose one of the bedroom doors, said goodnight, and headed inside. Kirito heard her take off her equipment and checked on her after a moment of silence. She had her clothes on still and was sound asleep. He tucked her in and left her alone.

As he settles in the living room again, he hears a knock at the door. Kirito doesn't go to answer it - only three other people can get inside - but as the door cracks open, he welcomes them inside. It is only one person, Jaymes. He wears his armor, but his weapons are off. Kirito nods to him, sits on one of the sofas in the middle of the room, and then picks up a red fruit from the bowl on a table. Jaymes does the same thing, and the boys sit silently across from each other.

It probably would have remained that way, but then Jaymes spoke up. "Asuna and Koharu are amazing. Two months ago, Koharu couldn't handle one of those hogs on the first floor without trouble. Asuna didn't know she could see her party's status bar despite being around Mito, then us. Now here they are, holding their own against other players without fear of it."

"Yeah. I'll admit, I felt like an idiot for exposing Asuna to danger tonight. But now that you say it, she and Koharu have made great progress. They take in information about the game and are improving in fighting. Asuna put all she learned in practice this morning in the duels. Heck, I might have to step up my game if I want to beat her at a duel."

Jaymes chuckles as he sits back on the couch, eyeing the ceiling. "Yeah. Koharu won a duel against a dual wielder earlier today. Somehow, now that I remember, she executed sword skills despite dual wielding. Annihilator couldn't do so without ridding himself of his pick... I wonder how she did it. Guess I'll find out tomorrow. But that aside, I feel a sense of pride...but I can't get over what happened."

"Mhm." Kirito opens his inventory, scrolling down the items in order of being obtained until he spots the Namnepenth's Poison Jar. That is the jar that possessed the paralytic poison, empty after the girls blew it open to counter Morte. He fixes it to the top of the item list via a submenu to serve as a reminder of what happened tonight, "Never again," he whispers, but it carries over to Jaymes.

"Yeah... But I fear we will have more trouble. We knew there were more of them, but I never thought I'd see a woman in their ranks. Not as a willing participant... And the more we fight them, the more we'll be tempted to..."

Jaymes didn't have to finish his statement for Kirito to understand. Both boys have come close to crossing the line. Kirito accidentally struck Morte in the heart - or, more conveniently, the upgrades to Accuracy kicked in and took the sword to the critical point - and considered not removing the blade when it seemed Morte would escape. Jaymes, who upgraded his sword's strength stat, had unintentionally cleaved throught the midclavicular line of Annihilator's chest, his heart in the path. Incapacitated, Annihilator would further goad Jaymes into almost killing him.

Kirito reaches for the sheath from his back, then removes the Sword of Eventide. In the lamplight, it shines as brilliantly as ever. Twice tonight, the sword has hit an enemy's weak point, the other being an Annoying Wraith in Pithagras' second home, but it wasn't Kirito who aimed for those spots. He might be delusional, but it was like the sword had its own will.

"Hopefully, we'd never be pushed to those lengths. But Morte did learn to fear a one-hit kill. All of them did."

"...Mmm... So Cylon is dead. I wonder what comes next. We haven't gotten a notification that we failed the quest, which...bothers me." Jaymes opens his menu and navigates to the quest tab. "Like a standard MMO, Cylon as an NPC isn't gone from the game; but for us five, he is. Our Cylon is gone for good. I feel like I just answered Asuna's question for later. Yet I wonder what comes next..." Jaymes seizes there as if something is taking hold of his throat. He recovers a second later, looking pale for someone of African descent. "Look at the quest log."