Asuna returned to Granzam on the fifty-fifth floor for the first time since her husband's death. She couldn't bear to face it after the loss. It wasn't because of the depression, though that was unavoidable. It was the anger.
When she reached the guild hall it was devoid of any other members. The Knights of the Blood Oath had once boasted enough members to fill the monstrous structure had they wanted. Though its atmosphere had always been serious and grim it had also spoken of life and hope. Now it felt like a mausoleum.
Her footsteps echoed, and her anger grew as she reached the grand meeting hall. She could still picture Heathcliff sitting in his chair, smiling benignly as he issued orders like his own personal chess set. She'd been a fool. Depression is anger without direction, isn't that what she'd been told once? Well, it was being proven true that day as she felt her loathing begin to boil.
Violently she swiped her arm downwards to activate her player menu and stabbed at the guild settings. White did not fit these halls anymore! Going into the guild hall settings she changed the white marble walls to black, then did the same to the guild tabards and uniforms. She pulled up the preview pane and nodded her approval of the new design. Black and red were a classic combination.
Next she went to the name menu. Knights of the Blood Oath? What oath had they sworn? To escape the game? To protect the weak? The guild had fallen to ruin with SAO still their reality and the weak still preyed upon. And who had they sworn it too? A traitor. A sociopath with a god complex. Not someone worthy of their oaths, let alone their lives.
The hovering keyboard formed before her and she started to type in a much more appropriate name: The Knights of the Broken Oath. The knights had failed their oath, but they were still knights. They would come when called, and they would take up their swords again, just as Asuna was. She only had to prove to them that though broken their oaths were not forgotten. They would regain their honor, and through them she would regain her freedom.
One last set of commands and she sent a guild invite to Klein and Liz. Both were quickly accepted. A moment later Klein would have a surprise as he received his promotion to second-in-command. She wondered how long it would take her friends to come to her and find out what was going on.
As she had expected it wasn't long as first Klein and then Liz showed at the guild hall. Unexpectedly Silica had accompanied Liz. She was a welcome sight. It had been six months since the last time and she looked to have done well.
"Have you been leveling?" Asuna asked. Normally leveling wasn't an obvious thing. Aside from the gear you were able to wield and wear there was no physical change. The exception was beast tamers. Pina, once small enough to sit on Silica's head, now was as large as a winged mastiff.
Silica smiled brightly, proud of her accomplishment. "I just reached level ninety-eight thanks to Liz. You should see what she can make now!"
There was still an innocent joy to Silica that the game had not destroyed yet. The game had tried however. She recognized the signs of someone who had seen too much and lost too many. It had started before Asuna had ever known her. Kirito told her of how he and Silica had first met, and the sadness at the death of her only friend at the time, Pina.
Though resurrected, that death was still the starting point. Kirito's death had been the ending. Silica hadn't come often to see Asuna, who had isolated herself in the home she and Kirito had made. It wasn't that she didn't want to be there for Asuna. It was the pain of being reminded that even the best died in this world.
Smiling away the knowledge of the pain Silica hid, Asuna turned to Liz and asked, "About that, do you think you can make a good main-gauche for me? My strength is my speed. Trying to wield two heavy swords would slow me down too much but a parrying blade would suit me well, don't you think?" She avoided using Kirito's name, but the thought of Kirito's heavy blades inevitably brought images of his face along with it. So strong, so alive. So gone.
Liz instantly went into merchant mode, preparing for a sell. "I have two that I think you'd like. Both are designed for parrying. The first is a German trident. It’s a bit fanciful in real life, but effective. In-game it's stats for parrying and breaking an opponent's blade is impressive. The other is a sixteenth century French parrying dagger. Its stats are second only to a sai for blocking and trapping a blade." She paused for a second, thinking it over. "Yeah, both of them would do you good. I'd say go with the French dagger though. It's lighter and faster."
"I'll trust you on this. How much am I going to owe you?"
A wicked smile crossed her friend's face. "Make me the exclusive blacksmith for the guild."
"That's a bit steep, even if you're making me a legendary class blade," Asuna replied. "And I'm planning on making the Knights as large, if not larger, than they were before. That's more work than you can do by yourself."
"Well I am making you a legendary class blade," Liz said with sass. "And when it becomes too many I'll outsource, but the jobs go through me."
"Okay, but the guild gets a discount. Forty percent." She was high balling it, but her friend would lowball. It's the nature of haggling, and being friends it never got heated. At the end it was agreed upon a twenty percent discount with limited access to the guild's vault for materials. It would save the guild money in the long run while guaranteeing Liz a constant source of income. Having her divide up the work would save the guild the headache of doing it themselves. It was, in reality, a good deal for all.
"So, do you still think you got it?" Klein asked.
That was one thing about living in a game; her skills would never get rusty. She had tried on a training dummy and the skill assist picked up on her attacks automatically, her reflexes remaining perfectly intact. All she lacked is the second blade that would help end Kayaba's life.
Returning to the serious reason for reforming the guild Asuna nodded with a grim expression. "I am."
Klein nodded his agreement, seeing the certainty in her eyes. "So, where do we start?"
Walking around the table, she took her spot at the seat of command. "We clear floor ninety-seven."
Letting out a whistle that didn't hide his pain, her new second-in-command said, "After the last wipe it's safe to say we'll need an army to beat that monster."
"We have a guild." With a swipe of her arm and a couple of taps she sent out the summons to the remainder.
"And how many do you think are going to show up?" Liz asked with hardened sarcasm. "In case you haven't noticed, the Knights aren't exactly sticking together anymore."
"Enough," a member said, walking into the hall in the new black and red colors of the knight's uniform. Asuna didn't recognize him on sight. That wasn't surprising. Though the core group of high leveled members was only sixty-eight, there were a couple of hundred lower level members who were being groomed by the guild to level and join them on the front lines.
That she didn't know him didn't matter. Of the remaining members most wouldn't show, but he proved there were those who would.
Pausing before the table their unknown comrade went to attention and saluted Asuna just as many a soldier had done for Heathcliff. "Justyn Lancelot, reporting for duty commander!"
Unsurprisingly Klein couldn't stop himself from laughing. "Lancelot?"
The five-foot two-inch Asian man with the green Mohawk certainly didn't fit the mental image of the legendary knight. "My avatar looked much better when I first made it!" He said defensively.
"Okay, that's bad enough, but come on, the game doesn't allow for last names, so unless you're saying your last name is Lancelot I.R.L..."
"Enough," Asuna asserted, bringing silence. "Excuse the second in command's rudeness, and we welcome your return to the Knights of the Broken Oath. I'll brief everyone tomorrow. If you don't have one already pick a room and claim it as your own."
Once Justin had left the room Liz let out a low whistle while Silica looked nervous as her friend's outburst. "No matter how ridiculous a person seems Klein, we can't afford to alienate them. We're short on members already."
"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry and all, but... I mean... Lancelot! Kirito would be laughing alongside me."
If it was meant to be funny the humor was lost on Asuna. "Maybe. We aren't going to know though, are we?"
That sobered his sense of humor quickly.
"I don't know how it was done in your guild," Asuna continued, "But here we've always been very strict military, and it’s worked for us. Please try to show that when other members are around, okay?"
Any sense of humor that might have remained in Klein instantly left. "Yes, and the Knights survived much better than mine did," he pointed out, sounding sullen. The reminder of his dead friends, his real life friends who had been the core members of his guild Fuurinkazan, wasn't being appreciated any more than his reminder of Kirito's death.
Silica and Liz both jumped in before an actual argument could erupt as the two prepared to cut into each other’s wounds. Silica turned to Klein while Liz came to Asuna.
"Come on Asuna that was a bit harsh. You know Klein didn't mean anything by it," Liz started. "He's a joker and he always will be and that's how he deals with his pain."
It didn't take much to calm her. She had snapped, but she didn't really mean it. She knew he hadn't meant it that way. Looking over at Klein, who wasn't being nearly as quick to let go, she said, "This is going to be a lot harder than I thought."
Did she mean pulling the guild together, defeating Kayaba, or keeping her own emotions in check? Asuna wasn't sure herself.
Klein's temper seemed to be getting further out of control. She couldn't blame him. Asuna had purposely aimed towards the most sensitive spot on her friend's psyche. It was a dick move, as her husband would have put it. Her apology couldn't be big enough when he was ready to hear it.
After I get him to accept my apology we should concentrate on the next boss, Asuna decided. Once we beat him the rest will go smoother. It has too.
ns 18.68.41.179da2
