The Black Swordsman

Chapter 28: The Duelist Fairy, Kenshi Pt. 1

It took slightly longer than expected but, eventually, both Klein and Suguha woke up from their nightmares. They were both in shock that Lisbeth and I were able to beat the boss by ourselves which I didn't consider to be the case. Lisbeth did the majority of the work, herself, so she deserved to take most of the credit. I just came in at the last minute to help...it reminded me of one of the things that used to piss Asuna off the most about me. To be fair, it pissed off a lot of players in SAO. I used to always get the last attack bonus during boss fights or, in other words, that last strike on the boss, that would result in bonus experience points gained and bonus gear related rewards as well. The thing was, though, in this world that Sugou had created, neither of those things existed. There was no last attack bonus...it was just one of the many differences between this VR world and the one Kayaba created. Arguing from Lisbeth and Klein caused me to return to what was happening around me.

"Damn it, Klein, stop being so stubborn and take the potion this time!" yelled Lisbeth, shoving one of the dropped potions in his face. "You literally have 1% health still!"

Klein pushed the potion out of his face and returned with, "Nope, you did all of the work during that fight so you should get the last potion. You've earned it, Lisbeth."

The first player, who had taken a potion was Suguha and I took the second potion after some convincing from the others. The third and final potion that was dropped was the one currently in question. Personally, it was tough for me to decide on who's side to take during this argument. They both made very solid points. Klein had been sitting at 1% health for what seemed like forever due to his reluctance to ever take one of the potions for himself, a trend that he seemed to be continuing, now. On the other hand, Lisbeth's health was also, insanely low from the last boss fight and she did put in the most work. I sighed, knowing that no matter how long the dispute lasted, Klein wouldn't take the damn potion which helped me reach my decision on the matter.

"Lisbeth, I'm actually with Klein on this one," I chimed in, making my way towards the both of them.

They both shot me separate looks, one being relief and the other annoyance.

"But—"

"Lisbeth, let's be honest with ourselves, no matter how much you argue with Klein, his persistent ass isn't going to take the potion," I interrupted.

"Plus, the longer we stand around...well, I'm pretty sure you know the rest," added Suguha.

Lisbeth frowned at Klein one more time before, reluctantly, downing the potion which raised her health by a large margin.

"Alright, now that that's out of the way, there's no point in wasting any more time," I concluded. "We only have two more bosses left and there's still four of us in our party. I like those odds. Although, as usual, we have to tread carefully since we don't have any idea what the next floor holds in store for us."

*

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*

The layout of the fourth floor was much different than what I imagined it would look like. The floor looked eerily similar to the dojo that Suguha and I used to do our Kendo training in with our grandfather when we were kids.

As if she could read my mind, Suguha asked, "This looks familiar, doesn't it, Kazuto? Just like grandad's dojo. Ya know, I never told you this but...ever since he passed away, every time I set foot inside of the dojo...I just feel...weird. I know he was harsh on us, me especially, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss him."

"I can't believe you actually miss that bitter old, asshole", I responded, harshly. "Then again, I guess you already know my feelings on him...I'm...sorry for leaving you with him. When I quit the Kendo training because I hated it, I feel like he just doubled down on forcing you to be his Kendo star."