AC Online (An SAO fanfic)

8) Duel Wield

Chapter 8 - Duel Wield {Madero}

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The sounds of a fight reached me and I headed towards it. I thought I was the only one in this part of the dungeon. The fighter turned out to be Sparrow. It looked like she'd fallen into a ambush and her health was orange.

I jumped down off the cliff I was on and cut right through one of the monsters. Sparrow and I finished off the others and she looked at me. "Madero? I thought I was the only one in the area." She said.

"As did I. I'm glad I was here though, you looked like you were in a tough spot." I said as I sheathed my sword.

"Was not." She replied as she did the same. Then I noticed she had two swords, not one, on her back. They were katanas and right side up.

"Hold on, why do you have two swords?" I asked. Sparrow winced and sighed.

"I'll tell you, but you have to promise to keep it a secret." She said.

"You got it. I swear." I said. Sparrow leaned forward to whisper it to me.

"Madero!" Rusty interrupted us before she could say anything. I grabbed her arm and yanked her to the side, pinning her to the wall and hiding her with my body. "Madero! Oi, where are you?" Rusty's voice went away.

We stayed still for a moment then I realized how close we were. "Sparrow's completely covered by me... She's actually really small!" I thought. I quickly stepped back.

"What were you going to say?" I asked.

"Oh um..." Sparrow shifted her feet nervously. "It's a new skill." She said.

"Seriously? What skill?" I asked eagerly.

"Duel Wield." She answered slowly.

"Duel Wield? That's a one-of-a-kind specialty skill isn't it?" I asked.

"Ya. That's why I haven't spread it around." She said.

"How'd you get it?" I asked.

"I maxed out my speed skill a few days ago and it just happened." She shrugged.

"So you're here increasing it?" I asked.

"Ya, I've been using it pretty often. It's at 87%." She said.

"In only a couple days?" I asked, shocked.

"The chocolate coin from floor 15 is still in effect so I automatically get 25% on all new skills." She said.

"Wow, I want that chocolate now. So which skill did you take to 50%?" I asked.

"Ah, stealth." She said.

"Stealth? Not speed?" I asked surprised.

"No. My speed skill was at 85% at the time so it would have been a waste. My stealth however was at 30%, the lowest of the skills I wanted to increase." She explained.

"Oh I see." We fell silent for a moment. "Hey, care to show me?" I asked.

She smiled hesitantly before sighing. "Oh alright. Let's go find a monster." She said. She ran off, leading the way through the dungeon. We found a monster quickly and though I slowed Sparrow ran right at it.

She drew both swords without breaking a step and attacked the monster. She twisted and twirled like a dancer and finished off the monster in no time. It was gorgeous to watch and I felt just a little special that I was the first to see it.

"So?" She asked as she sheathed her swords.

"Gorgeous." I admitted. "It was absolutely gorgeous." I said.