Progressive Factor

The Duel of Black and Red

“Hey, Asuna, one time you spoke of a duel between Jaymes and Kirito that happened early on, then another around the ninth or tenth floor.”

“Oh, that’s right, they did have a duel on the third floor. You remember that, Koharu?”

“They tied, didn’t they?”

“No, Kirito won. That’s what we were told.”

“The system said Kirito won.”

“Yes, that I remember, but besides that, saying Kirito won, that’s not how I remember it… Kirito, since you fought the duel, what exactly happened?”

“Well… It started when he asked about Suguha...”

xxxxxxxxxx

Sunday, December 18th, Kirito

Jaymes chuckles as he waves his sword in the air. “Ah, so Kizmel intervened in your bath too, and Asuna almost caught you? No wonder she was a little weirded out before you came back, and that explains you as well, haha.”

Kirito sighs as he watches Jaymes practice. “That’s not my...area of comfort.”

“Hmm… I grew up with a girl, not a sister or anything, so maybe that’s why I’m comfortable. You must have a sister, which explains why it’s weird for you.”

Kirito scratches his head. “Well… If you can call her that…”

“Hehe. When we make it out of this game, I got to meet her. Is she cute? No, she must be a total knockout if she has a loser like you for a brother. Is she the older, mature, ‘Oh my’ type or the younger, cute ‘Big Brother’ type? It has to be the latter. That must be it.”

Kirito sighs, though he doesn’t know if it is at the annoyance of Jaymes mentally picturing Kirito’s little sister or the fantasy he has of them escaping the game. This isn’t the first time tonight it has been brought up. Asuna did so in their conversation while she bathed and Kirito played guardian again. 

He told her the myth behind Aincrad from the elves’ perspective, the Great Separation: Back before Aincrad floated in the sky, there were several kingdoms on the earth. Nine of them were kingdoms of men, known as the Alliance of the Nine; the elves split in two, Lyusula and the forest elf kingdom of Kales’Oh; a race of dwarves and other races held territories of their own, and while the world had its troubles, it was relatively at peace.

Then one day, the world was cut into one hundred circles, ranging from two to six miles across, stacked on top of each other in the sky. The castle's lands varied, with various villages, towns, castles, and environments taken above the clouds, never to return to the ground again. Aside from the elven kingdoms, the other great civilizations fell to ruin, and the hundred floors lost contact while managing themselves.

As far as Kirito knows, only the elves remember the myth. None of the humans have told such a tale so far in the game. That led to the topic of religion in the game, which Kirito had no answer for despite the presence of churches and priests in towns, and then the quest themselves they’re undertaking.

As far as the party of four knows, only the DKB is undertaking the quest. Kirito knows Agil’s group isn’t based on the lengthiness of the quest. Six floors is a mighty long time of commitment, and given the nature of their reality, there’s a chance at least one member of Kirito’s party might not see the end of the questline. He spoke of the ninth floor, the ending level of the campaign quest, and thought just much of a dream reaching that floor is. Never mind they have ninety-seven more floors in all. Asuna, however, is filled with anticipation instead of fear to advance to the upper levels, to see just what the other floors are like.