Sword Art Online: X

Caves and Cliffs - Leafa

It's been a while since we set off for the world tree. X was insufferable as always, but at least he wasn't charging anything to tag along.

Then again, it is his personal quest. So I guess I'm the mercenary this time, not him.

We came across a small cave, which we had no choice but go through if we wanted to get to the World Tree.

"We have to go underground now, so that's no more flying for you two." X commented, "This is why I chose to be an Imp."

X spread his wings and scouted ahead whilst Kirito and I walked.

We walked in silence for a while, and then I decided to ask him about a few things, "So, your girlfriend, what is she like?"

Kirito stayed quiet for a while, but eventually answered me, "She's... strong. She can handle herself. It's what I love about her."

Wow. This guy really loves her.

"What about X? How is he in the real world?"

Kirito chuckled, "He enjoys mocking people, and never passes up a chance to mock someone when he sees one. He does care for people in his own way, though, so he's not all insufferable."

Suddenly, X returned, cutting our conversation short, "Alright, the path ahead is free of monsters, let's go."

We moved further into the cave, coming across a small city on water.

"Undines would be great here." X commented.

Suddenly, his ears perked up, and he turned around, "Players incoming."

Kirito immediately drew his great sword.

I was about to draw my weapon, but X put a hand on my shoulder, "Don't bother, just heal us when we need it."

X went into his menu and equipped a weapon that is different to his usual lifesteal dagger.

A bow?

But he always preferred knives and polearms.

There was something weird about this bow, though. Its bow arms are flat, like blades, and it had no bowstring. But when he nocked an arrow, the bowstring appeared like a laser in a lightshow.

He aimed the arrow at the entrance of the bridge, "Who's there?"

Oh no.

Salamanders.

X immediately let loose an arrow without a moment's hesitation, but no matter how powerful a bow is, it can't fire an arrow strong enough to pierce through three shields.

There were ten Salamanders in all. One commander, three tanks, three healers, and three mages.

"Mages, fire!"

As the mages unleashed a volley of explosive fireballs, I hastily threw up a barrier that protected us from majority of the damage.

X raised his bow arm a fraction of a degree and released an arrow into the air above the Salamanders whilst chanting a spell.

When he was done, the arrow turned black and exploded, morphing into a myriad of shadow tendrils, raining down hell upon the Salamanders.

It didn't actually deal any damage except for inflicting debuffs on the Salamanders, but it was a sufficient distraction.

Kirito took the opportunity and charged in with his greatsword, somehow swinging it quicker than I could swing my own katana.

The Salamanders didn't let up. They were surprisingly organized for a bunch of meatheads.

I could see X's eyes flick across the scene, and then they glinted.

He held his bow with both hands, one on either side of the handle, and pulled it apart.

It was a bow that doubled as dual swords.

Now I understand why he decided to equip it.

X's avatar seemingly disappeared as he reappeared behind the Salamanders, slashing the mages across their backs as he depleted their HP.

The commanded drew his sword and engaged X in one-on-one combat whilst Kirito kept the tanks and the healers distracted.

What can I do?

I don't know. 

I got distracted as Kirito's guide pixie caught my attention, "Use your spells to help them, even a simple distraction is good enough.

I could see X jumping back and forth as he acrobatically avoided the strikes of the commander in the squad, then I turned to Kirito, who was quickly cutting down the HP of the tanks, but not fast enough to deal significant, permanent damage.

I held my hand out and fired off twenty or so wind needles at the healers as the tanks scrambled to get in front of them, but in doing so, they had divided their attention from Kirito, and he quickly finished off the healers behind the tanks.

I could see the commander panicking, "Retreat! Retreat!"

I was about to fire another needle at him, but X beat me to it. He had reassembled his bow and nailed him with an arrow to the back of the head.

I'm genuinely impressed with his accurate shots. I genuinely expected him to be more of a close-range combatant.

As the Salamanders retreated, Kirito and X returned to my side.

"Jesus Christ, these Salamanders really want us dead, huh?" X commented, "To think they'd have a tracker tracking us down."

He jutted his chin out towards the nearby bat, and then proceeded to shoot it right between its eyes.

"Alright, let's rest here, regain our strength. We have a long road ahead of us, still. I should really consider getting you some kind of payment, Leafa. You really are my favorite Sylph after all." X laughed as he put his bow away.

Kirito then asked him the same question I had on my mind: "X, what is that weapon? I've never seen a game incorporate a long range weapon that also doubles as a melee weapon."

I nodded, "Yeah, where did you get that?"

X raised an eyebrow, "Oh, that? Yeah, I got it a few days ago, today was the first time I used it. It's called Nigen-Sei, which literally means Duality."

He drew the weapon again, "It's an enchanted weapon that has a magical bowstring which allows you to cast spells upon arrows as you draw the string. It can also be separated down the middle to form two short blades, once again, due to enchantments. I'm glad it's a shortbow, because if it was a longbow, I would not have even considered picking it up."

He put it away once again, "Alright, let's get some food and rest in this town over here. We ride at dawn, bitches."

A/N: There we go. X essentially has Pit's weapon from Kid Icarus.

I decided to give it a Japanese name that fits its nature. It is a double weapon, after all.

I could've called it a portmanteau of 'sword' and 'bow', but it would've sounded retarded, so I didn't do that.

Anyway, if you enjoyed this chapter, consider voting and following for more. Peace out, everybody. Goodbye.

Timeless_95, signing out.