On the third floor, the night Kirito and Koharu encountered Morte...
"What could have compelled Kirito and Koharu to go out together in the middle of the night?" Though she says it to herself, Asuna hopes for an answer. The chestnut-haired swordswoman hides underneath her red hood, taking an unplanned midnight excursion through the forest of the third floor of Aincrad. She rather be sound asleep back at the elven camp, not rushing to aid the skilled swordsman beater known as Kirito, but there's no way she'll leave the only other girl she calls a friend in trouble. She's only known Koharu for a short while, just a couple of weeks now, but...Asuna doesn't want to be left alone again.
"We're close to the spawn point of the camp," Jaymes, the dark-skinned warrior clad in basic armor colored red and black, says as he checks his map once more while leading the group consisting of himself, Asuna, and their insanely beautiful NPC companion, Kizmel. He stops and looks at Asuna, masking whatever emotions he could be feeling right now. "You didn't have to come, Asuna. If it's just Morte as Ko says, then I'm sure Kirito has it handled. And Koharu...he wouldn't let anything happen to her."
"You don't sound certain," Asuna says, without the usual bite that she speaks to him with. Asuna may have mixed feelings about their current, self-taken quest, but Jaymes has only one objective: Koharu, his cute, kind, and steadily growing other half. As far as Asuna knows, they've been together since the game launched, which means they were together when Akihiko Kayaba told almost 10,000 players they were trapped in the world of Sword Art Online. That was more than a month and a week ago, and just thinking about it puts a slight pit in Asuna's stomach.
Jaymes shakes his head in response to her statement and looks at the moon, its light breaking through the treeline. "Of course not. But not because I believe I'm the only one who can protect her. I'm not that foolish. It's just... Don't take this the wrong way, but... I don't want to be without her. Ever."
Asuna purses her lips. "I understand. She's attractive, after all."
"I just said don't take it the wrong way. She means more to me than another pretty face. I might be a boy, and I have my moments, but I'm not that shameless."
Asuna manages a smile and looks at him. "Maybe one day you'll feel that way about me...Never mind, I feel disgusted thinking about it."
Jaymes grins. "Same here... Anyway, Asuna, maybe this is the veteran gamer in me speaking, but a straight-laced bookworm like you don't seem like the type who'd take time out of their day to play video games. What sparked your interest?"
"I thought you were against speaking..." Asuna pauses and glances behind them. Kizmel follows behind, quiet and attentive to their surroundings as Jaymes asked of her, so whether she's paying the humans any heed is anyone's guess. She figures it's okay to finish her sentence without tripping Kizmel's curiosity over the human language. "...about the real world?"
Jaymes shrugs. "Considering it makes Koharu happy to talk of the real world with you, it doesn't bother me as much as it would Kirito. Just a simple curiosity I had for a while."
"Well... In all honesty, I had no intentions of ever playing Sword Art Online. But there was...a friend of mine who convinced me. So I took my brother's NerveGear and copy of SAO on the day of release...and you know the rest."
"A friend, huh? You weren't alone at the beginning?"
"No. I guess, like you and Koharu, I had a partner at the beginning, but...as you are aware since you two and Argo saved me that day, I eventually was alone. My fault, actually. I accidentally hit a Little Nepenthes with the fruit on its head and caused a horde that nearly killed me had another passing party come to save me. Two days after, that would be the day I entered that cave we met at." Asuna swipes her right hand and presses buttons that lead to her friends' list. She scrolls just a bit, not that there are many names present on the list, and hovers her finger just above the name underneath Koharu's.
The boy walking beside her can't see what she's doing, but he can infer based on the conversation. "Feeling regretful about splitting from this person?"
"...No...well, maybe a little. But she's much stronger than I am, anyway. Back then, I was a hindrance. No better than I'm sure Koharu may be for you if you'd allow yourself to admit it."
"I never will admit that, but Ko believes it. If anything, that's what drives her, to be anything but a hindrance to me. But I am no better. My instinct is to protect her. Whoever this friend of yours was, I'm sure the role of veteran-rookie was similar to me and Ko, But even when she said I should leave her behind, I couldn't find myself doing it. That's where your friend failed, as the veteran." Jaymes stops and turns to Asuna, his brown eyes soft and bright in the moonlight. "Kirito and I... I know you and I have our issues with each other, maybe it's our personalities and Kirito is Kirito, but as long as the four of us are a party, us boys won't abandon you. I don't say that because of some sort of twisted fantasy born out of puberty. If anything, Kirito is a little too innocent and I have my limits, having grown up with a girl back in the other world. And I don't know if you and I can be considered friends. Yet... Something tells me I have to watch out for you as much as I do for Koharu and Kirito. I believe, in due time, you'll be the strongest player of the four of us."
Asuna scoffs and watches as Kizmel continues onward, passing them without saying a word. "Don't sell yourself short."
"I mean it...and I think Kirito thinks it too. And one day, I'm sure Koharu will be my equal, if not better. That's why I can't abandon either of you. As for Kirito, he's the first guy I can call a friend of sorts." He shrugs and turns back on his heel. "Just saying, we won't do to you what your friend did."
"Still, it's my fault I was alone."
"Oh, that's something we agree on, but that doesn't mean it should've happened. You know what, if we ever see this person, I'll give her a piece of my mind."
Asuna smiles at the thought of the red warrior lecturing on the values of leaving a newbie behind to another veteran player, but she doesn't get the chance to voice it as Kizmel calls out to them. "Jaymes, Asuna, it seems there's a gathering of humans nearby, on the path to the camp."
Jaymes sighs and jogs up to Kizmel. "Let me guess, blue armor and green armor?"
"Yes, Jaymes. Have you encountered these humans before?"
"Unfortunately, it is a necessary evil."
Asuna catches up and sees the colored players up ahead along the path. Seems they're arguing with each other...and with others, based on how they're positioned. A hidden, third party and she can only think of who they are. "I bet Kirito and Koharu are somewhere in there. Kizmel, use your invisibility to hide until I give the signal to unveil yourself, but stick close."
"Will do."
"Jaymes."
He frowns as one of the players' voices carries into the air, as if the volume of it annoys him. Asuna just knows it isn't Kibaou. "Let's go."
Days later, on the same floor, a half-hour after Nerius the Evil Treant was defeated...
"Message received. Good work, ya four." Argo smiles and sends a congratulatory message back to the sender, then turns her eyes to the girl who just asked a question that requires a hefty sum to be paid. It'll be a while before the gate to the fourth floor opens, so she's in no rush to make a dash to the Celestial Tower and ascend from there. That gives her time to give her client all the information she wants...for the right price?
How much col is Asuna, the radiant princess of the front lines, worth? Which, in no case does Argo mean to offend Koharu, the other girl is equally as beautiful, but if they were royalty, Asuna's definitely the elder, regal, more mature princess while Koharu is the beloved, kindhearted younger princess. A shame, more or less, that the boys they accompany are less than a prince and...well, shouldn't be a prince at all.
The person sitting across from her stares at her intently with red irises, Iliac hair streams down her head, the back of it tied into a long ponytail. Like the majority of players, she's still equipped in the basic gear, purple in color, and accessorized with a white cape. But what draws her attention (and everyone else's, if Argo scans the room outside her peripheral vision) is not the girl's looks or even her demand, but the weapon on her back.
Just when Argo learned that there was a player who choose to wield the uncommon choice of the one-handed ax, a rumor of a girl pseudo-dual-wielding swords, and a 'silver witch' with a life-stealing sword found on this floor, here comes the cream of the crop of weird weaponry, a scythe.
Argo shakes that thought off and begins negotiations. "Ya know what you're asking is going to cost ya a lot. To answer your question requires me to divulge other pertinent information."
"Depending on how much you value your information, I am willing to pay a reasonable price for it."
"Hmm, usually I'd love to hear that, but ya want to know everything since I met her on the first floor? That's gonna be...hmm, at least 30,000 Col if I focused solely on the major-" Argo is interrupted by a prompt appearing before her, a transfer request of 60,000 Col that almost makes her jaw drop. She doesn't believe Kirito has paid her anywhere close to this sum of money for information, and Jaymes would probably kill her if she suggested such a price. This girl really wants to know all there is to know about Asuna. "Why?"
"...I know her." The sentence is vague, and it means nothing to Argo at face value. If someone like Lind or Kibaou or hell even Kirito gave her the same sentence, she wouldn't think otherwise. Looking beyond that, the girl's tone says it all. Sword Art Online is only forty-four days into its entrapment, so in some ways, saying "I know her" would be a lie of sorts. But the way Argo interprets it, this girl knows the real Asuna long before Akihiko Kayaba sprung his trap.
Argo sighs and accepts the excuse, but denies the payment. "10,000 Col, and I'll tell ya everything, only because ya must really know the real A-chan. I'll even throw in where to find her for a trade of information." The girl silently narrows her eyes, possibly wondering why Argo would give such a discount, but pays the price without argument. Once she receives it, Argo sits back and gets comfortable. "We have some time until the next floor opens, whether the guilds do it or the game automatically opens it in two hours. But if ya want to know everything I know, ya may miss out if the gate opens early. Ya look like someone who'd want to be there as quickly as possible."
She shrugs. "It can wait."
"Very well. First things first, Asuna's on the fourth floor right now. She's in a party of four. Her party consists of Kirito, the so-called Black Swordsman, or Beater if you plan to be disrespectful when you see him. There's Jaymes the Crimson Warrior, and his partner, Koharu the Kindred Assassin. I hear she has a nickname of her own after demonstrating her speed against Asterius the Taurus King... Lightning Flash."
"Kirito, Jaymes, and Koharu... I know all three. I'm surprised she's with them all. And from what I know of him and of those partners, she's in good hands...hopefully. Speaking of that, what's the additional information you want to know?"
"If ya plan to catch up to her or not." The girl hesitates, then nods slowly. Argo nods and rests her chin in her hands, looking at the client with a pleased smirk. "So, Mito the Reaper, let me indulge ya in the story of what I'm sure is SAO's best party...and the very four who may save us all..."
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Welcome to Progressive Factor 2: Lacrimosa of a Reaper. It's been seven months since the first story ended, but I've been working on this sequel. I'm a little hesitant to start uploading now because I haven't seen the Progressive movie yet, and as you can tell, Mito will join the party at some point. So, as usual, I'm doing my own thing lol. Of course, the original started long before I knew who Mito really was, so I had no chance to mention her back then, so this chapter takes care of that.
We're starting on Floor 4 and ending on Floor 6. 7-9 will be the finishing point for a future story.
Like the original, most of the material will come from the LNs, but the events of Integral Factor will pop in every now and then. Of course, it's hard to integrate the game's events when some storylines involved characters not originally in SAO, like Floor 4 has Leafa and Yuuki. Floor 5 will have no issue and Floor 6 shouldn't either, for we'll meet some SAOIF original characters and have more involvement with other side characters.
Updates are gonna be slow, for two reasons. One, unlike the first story, I only covered two volumes. Floors 1 and 2 were short. Currently, there are ten chapters for this story and still on Floor 4. Secondly, I want to focus on finishing War For Underworld and the first part of Unital Ring, so they're the priority for now. Once those two stories are completely written, which shouldn't be too long as they're almost done, my focus will be on Progressive Factor 2.
See you all in the next one, and pray the Floor 5 movie doesn't screw with me lmao.