Sword Art Online: The Crystal Swordsman

Sheathed Vengeance

I carried Sinon back home in my arms. It didn't take long to get home. Once I had, Kirito opened the door and I set Sinon down on the couch. Just as I did, Kirito, Asuna and everyone else came through the door behind me.

"Is she okay?" Kirito asked.

"She's fine. She just needs to rest." I told him.

"What if he comes back?" Asuna was concerned.

"Hey." I put one hand on Kirito's shoulder and the other on Asuna's.

"Everything is fine. This is a game remember? We're supposed to relax." I gave them both a smile.

Asuna and Kirito looked at each other confused at first. After a second, they began to laugh together.

"You're right! It is only a game!" Asuna laughed happily some more.

"Man, I guess we don't take a second to realize that do we?" Kirito smiled and put his hand behind his head.

"Not really. This is like real life for us." Asuna smiled too.

"Me too sometimes. Here, I have something to show you two. Come sit." I gestured to the many seats in their own living room.

The both sat and waited. I opened my menu, created a screen and enlarged it to make it seem like a big screen on the wall in front of the fire place. Just before I put it on, I realized that Asuna and Kirito were sitting in separate spots.

"Oh no, no, no. You two have to be sitting together for this." I instructed.

They both gave me an embarrassed look as I sat down in the empty space next to a sleeping Sinon.

"Do you two seriously not cuddle?" I asked.

"Uhmm..." Kirito tried to speak.

"Well..." Asuna blushed and looked up at the ceiling.

"You two sleep in the same bed, do you not?" I was confused.

There was a silence in the room.

"Kirito too embarrassed to get close to Asuna? Who would've thought." I said with a smirk.

Kirito gave Asuna a look from across the room.

"God, you two are amateurs. Asuna? Go sit on Kirito's lap." I snapped with my fingers and pointed.

"What? But..." Asuna tried to think of an excuse.

"Don't but, get over there." I pointed again.

Asuna slowly got up and waddled towards Kirito. She then hesitated to sit on his lap but eventually turned and joined him. They both had blush all over their faces.

"Good. Now we can start." I gave a smile.

I put on some chill and relaxing 80's style Lo-Fi music. The picture, showed a neon grid outlining flatland and mountains. Behind the peak of the mountains is a sun with lines through it. Everything was in a VHS filter to really express the 80's tone.

"What kind of music is this?" Kirito asked, now not caring that Asuna was on his lap.

"Our Generation calls it Lo-Fi but, to me its just chill synthwave." I answered.

"I like it." Asuna said happily.

After awhile, Asuna started to lean back into Kirito. He then proceeded to put his his hands around her and as I expected, they were cuddling now. In that moment, Sinon wrapped her arms around my waist in her sleep suddenly. I looked down at her and she was smiling as she rested. It's like she knew I was there.

I was going about my business when I suddenly received a message from a username I had never seen before. I looked at it for a moment before opening the full message. Once it was open, I read it.

"GGO Street race. 3:33 AM. The Racing Hour Event." I said and thought.

The Racing Hour Event was a play on the idea that supernatural and demonic entities become more active at the time of 3:33 AM. Although that had nothing to do with in-game street racing, I was still intrigued. I stopped for a moment and realized that I received this invite from a random user. I looked it over but didn't come across anything unusual. Perhaps it was just sent to anyone who might be interested. I remembered that I had just finished off Tanzibal in ALO so I had a window to relax. I shook off the paranoia and decided to let loose. I accepted the invitation and confirmed that I'd be going. If I was to race however, I couldn't use my Mustang. No, those things don't drift naturally. I needed something else. It was time to let the old Wolf out of it's cave.

"K? Did you dose off again?" Sinon asked me through an in-game call.

"Hmm? No, I'm fixing up an old... Well, A legend actually." I told her while I was underneath a car I used to drive.

"I see. Are you getting back into ALO anytime soon?" She asked.

"I just saved you from the clutches of a villain and you want me to come back already? I think I deserve a bit of a break." I chuckled.

"Yeah, I guess that's true. I saw you kill Tanzibal. What happened with your sword?" Sinon asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well it talked and became a galaxy blade, didn't it?" She confirmed.

"Yeah. But that was only a temporary form." I said.

"Does that mean you can use it again?" Sinon was curious.

"Sure. I'll figure out how some other time." I focused on my car.

"And how many kills do you have exactly?" She tried to gauge my level.

"Exactly? I don't know, but you've heard the stories. I've killed a lot of players." I told her.

"Right, I almost forgot. You're a merciless killer of players." Sinon smiled sarcastically.

"What can I say? I got bored of my competition. Hey, I gotta go. That Racing Hour event happens in a bit." I finished my work and rolled out.

"Alright. I'll see you soon, K." She said her goodbyes.

"See you soon." I responded and ended the call.

I got in my car and started it up. The refined power of my Scion FRS combined with the craziest parts I could find in this game sounded like a creature from something worse than hell. I drove the car out of the garage and got used to the old setup I used to have. I put on some midnight tunes and made my way to the set event destination. Once I got close, I started to spot tons of good and bad street racer cars. It was a different group of players that I familiarised with. There was no bullshit here, just racing. Once my car was in view of the crowds, people started to cheer and clap. An announcer even came onto some speakers that I didn't even know the location of.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Give it up for the myth, the legend, The Wolf!" The announcer yelled.

The crowd cheered loudly and I rev bombed hard enough to send a gunshot sound of throughout the entire area.

"The Wolf has torn the flesh of many prominent super cars. He smoked a Lamborghini Aventador, Murcielago, and even a Huracan! The Wolf remains undefeated but maybe someone can end his reign of terror!" The announcer continues.

I revved up again as I made my way thru the lot of customized cars. There's a part of me that has always belonged to the racer scene of video games. There's a certain extra freedom that comes from getting personal with your car and the roads you drive on. 

"Everybody ready for the race of the century? Watch The Alpha! He's about to deal some serious smoke!" The announcer finished.

Using me as advertisement? I should have figured they'd do that. I rev bombed the crowd following behind me and they cheered loudly with excitement. I drove my car up to the start line. I was in the front of the pack where we were lined up. Eventually, others started to line up behind me. Now we had a race. A black Skyline GTR with red lights pulled up beside me. I looked over to the driver and saw a familiar red glowing mask staring back at me. Is that...?