SAO x Dark Souls Volume 1: Cinders of Aincrad

Aincrad Pt. 10: The Ashen One

(One week later)

I jolted awake in a sweat and banged my head against the wall.

"Fuck!" I said

The door swung open and Asuna ran in with a concerned look on her face.

Asuna: You're finally awake!

"How long was I out for?" I asked

Asuna: A week.

"A week?! What happened to Koharu? Is she safe? Is she alright?" I asked

Asuna: She's fine. Im not sure how she survived all that but she did. It's thanks to you and Kirito that she's alive today.

"Where is she?" I demanded

Asuna: She's asleep in her room.

Hearing that, I tried to get out of my bed only to be hit with an extreme wave of nausea and dizziness.

Asuna: Expending all your energy like that wiped you out. You need to rest.

"Not until I see her," I said

Asuna: She is fine. You should worry about yourself right now.

"But I-" I started

Asuna: Listen to me! You nearly died after going on a rampage and killing at least 50 members of Laughing Coffin. You need to rest.

"Fine," I said

Several hours passed before I was able to get out of bed without any side effects. The first thing I did was go see Koharu. Thanks to some high-level healing items, her lost limbs had grown back.

"I'm sorry" I whispered

I grasped her hand and squeezed it before walking out. I decided that I needed to get my mind off of all this by finishing the mission I'd accepted from the man in the town square. Bringing down a gang of criminals would serve as a way to lessen my bloodlust and distract me from Koharu's condition. Once I got everything I needed, I went to hunt down Titan's Hand.

(3rd pov)

In the middle of a dark forest, there was a party of five people. The leader was a tall woman with red hair named Rosalia. Currently, she was trying to get a young girl in the party by the name of Silica to hand over some healing items.

Rosalia: You've got that little dragon thing to heal you so tell me why we should let you keep your healing items.

Silica: You never fight on the front lines and always send me or one of the others to do it.

Rosalia: Oh come on. You can't expect me to rely on everyone all the time, can you? These boys are too busy looking out for themselves.

Silica was growing increasingly annoyed at Rosalia's actions so she decided to leave.

Silica: Fine, take my items, but I'm never going to party up with you again.

She turned and walked off into the forest without turning back despite the calls of the other party members. While walking through the forest alone, she became more upset after realizing that Rosalia and her team were just using her as both a mascot and an expendable support unit. Not paying attention to her surroundings, Silica was startled by her dragon's sharp cries of warning. She turned in time to barely dodge the barrel being swung by a "Drunken Ape".

Pulling out her dagger, she prepared to fight. Unleashing a combo of skills, she dealt significant damage to the first ape but it wasn't enough to kill it. Suddenly she was hit in the side by a wooden club by a second ape and thrown into a tree.