The Black Swordsman and The Scarlet Bolt (On Hold)

~10~

Floor 74: Dungeon

In front of the teens stood the floor 74 boss, The Gleam Eyes. Reina steps closer to Kirito and places a hand on his arm. Gleam Eyes raised his weapon and roared at the teens causing them to run away screaming for their lives. Now out of the room, Kirito and Reina sat against a wall breathing heavily. Reina suddenly starts laughing causing Kirito to look at her, confused. "Have you gone mad?" He asks only to get smacked across the head. "No! That's gonna be one tough boss to beat." She tells him. "You're right. I saw he only had that one big sword and I'm pretty sure it's got special attacks, too." Kirito shares. "We're gonna have to put tanks in the front row and keep switching out just to wear it down." Reina notes. "Yeah, and it wouldn't hurt to have about 10 shield users." Kirito adds. "Shield users, huh?" Reina asks. "What? What's wrong?" Kirito asks, sitting upright.

"You." Reina wraps her arms underneath her thighs and pulls her knees up to her chest. "You're hiding something, aren't you?" She asks, shocking the boy. "What are you talking about?" Kirito asks. "I realized something. The biggest advantage of using a one-handed sword is you can also use a shield, but as long as I've known you, I've never seen you using one. Asuna and I don't use shields cause it will slow down our rapiers. Others don't because they think it looks dumb." Reina explains, looking at him and he looks away crossing his arms. "By the way, where's that sword Liz made you? That's suspicious if you ask me." Reina tells him. "Hmm." Reina hums, staring at him but he continues looking away. "Whatever!" Reina leans her head back on the wall. "I shouldn't doubt you and your skill, after all, I did ditch my guard for you." She shares and Kirito sighs. Reina tucks her feet under her and opens her menu.

"Since it's late. Why don't we have lunch here?" Reina suggests, equipping a picnic basket. "Really? Did you make it yourself?" Kirito asks. "I did, but before we eat you should take your gloves off." Reina suggests, placing the basket beside her and taking off her gloves. Kirito takes his gloves off and Reina hands him a sandwich. "Enjoy!" She tells him. Kirito takes a bite from the sandwich and turns to Reina. "This is good!" He tells her. "I never asked this before but how'd you get your food to taste so amazing?" Kirito asks. "By studying and trying out different stuff for a whole year." Reina tells him, showing him the different tabs. "Aincrad has everything you need. There's about a hundred different seasonings. I made everything just by calculating all the parameters used by the flavor recreation engine. This was made with grogua seed, shugra leaf, and calim water." Reina takes a bottle of green sauce and pours a drop on Kirito's hand.

"It's mayonnaise..." Kirito points out after tasting it. "This was made with abilba seed, sag leaves, and ulafish bones." She pours the purple sauce into his hand. "Th-this nostalgic taste... It's soy sauce!" Kirito says. Reina stares at him with wide eyes before laughing. "Correct. I made the sauce for the sandwich out of that." She says. "Amazing. It's perfect. Have you thought about selling this because you'd make a fortune?" Kirito asks her. "You think it's that good?" Reina blushes and looks down. "Wait, you can't sell it." Kirito changes his mind and crosses his arms. "Why?" Reina asks. "Cause there wouldn't be any left for me." Kirito replies. Reina sighs and shakes her head. "You're still greedy." She tells him. "If you like it that much, I could always make more." She suggests, looking away. They sat in silence until some players entered the area causing the two to get up and be on guard.

Reina gasped and put her hands over her mouth when she saw who it was. Klein and his guild walk in mumbling to each other. When he looks up he spots Kirito and Reina and pauses causing his guild to do the same. "Hey, Kirito! How're you doing, buddy?" Klein greets them, walking up to them. Kirito looks away. "Hey, Klein. Still alive, huh?" He greets back. "Jeez, you're the same as ever." Klein replies and then he spots Reina. "Wait. Whoa! You're a solo player. What the heck are you doing with... Reina?" Klein questions. "Klein!" Reina walks over to him and hugs him. "How have you been, it's been a while." Klein tells her patting her head. "I saw you in March on floor 5 it wasn't that long ago." Reina reminds him. "Oh, yeah. What are you two doing together, don't you have other stuff to do?" Klein asks. "No, not really." Reina replies, taking a few steps back when Klein looks her up and down. "Well, since you're not busy maybe you and I could--" Klein's cut off by Kirito punching him in the stomach.