Sword Art Kitsune

ch. 3 A Mercenary's work is never done.

Sword Art Kitsune Ch 3: A mercenary’s work is never done.

April 8th 2023 The 9th floor

Naruto was working as hard as he had been since that day back when Kirito had drawn a large target on his back. He made a promise to Diabel and himself he’d keep the players of this game safe in his own way. While everything broke down because of that asshat Kiabo Naruto did get some interest in others working as guards/police to protect others in areas near towns and some even agreed that mercenaries were needed to occasionally hunt down red players that went on a killing spree. Naruto hadn’t seen Asuna in a while but she still kept in touch. She told him to visit her blacksmith friend to help him upgrade Rebellion but the blade needed specific pieces he knew others couldn’t acquire. Not that he used the blade anymore. The level was too low at the moment. Until Naruto acquired the devil sword Sparda he couldn’t upgrade Rebellion. The Boss for that quest was on the 30th floor and Naruto had other things to worry about at the moment than clearing floors. Naruto was following a green player known to sleep PK players and take their loot. He believed they belonged to the red guild Titan’s Hand. He knew they had several green players that went into town to find targets to kill and take their gear and Col. “It’s not too much farther dude. Thanks for helping me, by the way.” the guy said before they ended up in a clearing. They got to the center before Naruto was surrounded by a group of at least fifteen red players. Naruto put his hand to the sword on his belt and rubbed the white wolf head. “I apologize for what I'm about to do and I do hope you find whatever afterlife you believe in.” Naruto said in a soft voice as the guild members laughed at his comment. “Ha! This guy thinks he can kill us?! What a laugh.” Naruto took his cloak off and the Titan’s hand members gaped. “Holy shit it’s Kitsune the Merc!” Naruto wore leather pants and boots and chainmail under light sleeveless armor and leather gloves. He wore a mask of a fox he got for completing a quest for a shrine maiden on the 5th floor. “Now do you believe my sincerity?” Naruto asked as he unsheathed his blade and said. “You can surrender now, I have crystals that will send you to the prison. If you comply, you will remain there until the game is cleared, and then I will make sure you are tried in court for murder in the real world. The other option is death by my hand.” Four of the men dropped their weapons and got down on their knees, holding their hands above their heads. The others just snorted and laughed before charging the redhead. Naruto sighed and said. “Rest in peace then.” Before he slashed at the first two who came at him from the front before blocking an axe to his back with his sword. He grabbed the wrist of one attacker and used him as a shield, killing him as one of his comrades stabbed him directly in the chest. Naruto slammed his fist in the throat of another attacker before killing them. Once all the enemies were taken care of, he sheathed his blade. He then took the crystals from his inventory and tapped the four on the head with a crystal transporting them to their cells. After that, Naruto decided to check in on Kirito. He went to the eleventh floor and saw his friend at a table with a group of five dressed in colorful armor. Naruto removed his mask and said. “Hey Kirito. Glad to see you’ve finally decided to stop brooding and make friends.” Kirito gained a tick mark and said. “I don’t brood you jerk and I rescued these guys is all.” He then looked to his friend and said. “How’s work going? You take care of Titan’s hand yet?” Naruto shook his head and said. “Not yet. I did get rid of about 12 of them earlier today. Only four decided to go to prison. I had hoped they’d see reason but the last thing they saw was LongClaw.” The group Kirito was with listened and gasped when they heard their friend Kirito mention Titan’s hand a red guild. One of guilds that killed other players. The leader Keita said. “Well any friend of Kirito’s is a friend of ours. I'm Keita the leader of the Midnight Black cats guild. This is Sasumaru, Ducker, Tetsuo, and this little lady is Sachi.” The members waved to Naruto when introduced except for Sachi who blushed and looked away from the redhead who tilted his head which made Sachi squeak and look away. Naruto smiled and said. “I’m Kitsune but you can call me Naruto.” he gave them a bright smile which caused the shy Sachi to blush more and hide behind Keita. Keita then said. “We were about to ask Kirito if he’d like to join our guild, what’s your level if you don’t mind me asking?” Naruto responded. “Oh well I'm level 52 at the moment, and I'm going to have to decline. I have a clause in my stats that makes it impossible for me to join or create a guild until the last floor I cleared when I was in the beta.” the group looked at him wide eyed as Tetsuo asked. “Which stat has a clause like that?” Kirito chuckled and said. “Oh, it’s because Naruto has godlike luck stats. Naruto what’s your luck stat at currently?” Naruto scratched the back of his head embarrassed and said. “It’s a question mark now because the system can’t quantify it anymore.” The six people at the table just stared at him then five voices said. “WHAT!?!?” Naruto sighed and said. “Ya know you should really be quiet. So Kirito what level are you now?” Naruto knew the answer but they seemed really impressed with Naruto’s level so why wouldn’t they be impressed with Kirito’s he was only ten levels or so behind Naruto. “You know I'm level twenty.” Naruto raised an eyebrow and tetsuo asked. “Howd you get so strong Naruto? Last I heard you were a solo player.” Naruto scratched the back of his head and said. “I’m a mercenary, which means I’m either out hunting down red guilds or I'm helping lower-level players complete quests. Sometimes I help get people to higher floors where houses are better. Plus since I was a beta player and I got pretty high up I know a few places to grind most didn’t. Of course most of what I know is in the guide book by now.” Naruto said with a smile. He then tapped his trade menu and sent each of them an item. To Tetsuo he sent a powerful mace he got from a curse reversal quest. “That’s the mace of Molag Baul. You should be able to use it. I got it on curse reversal quest. Ducker this is for you. It's called Mehrune’s razor.” he then said softly as he gave them a smile. “Clayman’s spear for Sasamaru and Keita this is called the Sage’s staff. I'm sure you’ll get a better use out of these.” he then turned to Sachi and said. “What sort of weapon do you use Sachi-chan?” he smiled at her which cause the timid girl to blush. “Umm I use a spear Naruto-kun but they want me to use a sword and shield.” Naruto shook his head and said. “You shouldn’t try to make her do something she’s uncomfortable with. It would ruin your dynamic too much.” he transferred two items to the girl and said. “This is the Naginata of Kenpo. It's a very powerful thrusting weapon. The other is an amulet that increases all of your stats and armor rating by ten. I made it myself by accident a few weeks ago. I was trying to make an amulet that increased my cooking skill.....” Kirito laughed and said. “You still can’t make ramen yet can you? Asuna won’t make it for you either will she?” Naruto shook his head twice before he pouted. “It’s not fair. Why can’t I make ramen and she can?” the moonlit black cats just laughed at the sillyness that was Kitsune the mercenary and Sachi giggled at the cute redhead.
A few weeks later Naruto just finished helping Klein and his guild finish off a group of hellhounds for a quest when he got messages from both Kirito and Keita that they were going on a dungeon raid but Sachi went missing. Naruto went to the floor where their headquarters was and activated his tracking skill. He walked around the city following Sachi’s footprints until he found her underneath a bridge. He walked up to her and sat down. “Hello Sachi-chan. Kirito and Keita told me you were missing so I came looking for you.” The short girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and said. “I don’t want ot die Naruto. Every time I leave the village there’s a risk that I'll die. I can’t stand it. I can’t even sleep anymore because of it. I just want to run away.” Naruto pulled the girl to him and said. “Running away won’t solve anything. Even if you mean what I think you do.” he knew she referred to suicide as a form of running away. “I promise Sachi I'm going to get all of us out of this game. You don’t have to be scared. I'll be there for you okay?” Sachi nodded her head and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you Naruto-kun.” she said softly as he helped her stand and they went back to the moonlit black cat’s inn. Naruto got himself a room for the night and took off all of his armor and was just about to go to sleep when he heard a knock on his door. “Come in.” Naruto said as Sachi opened the door holding a pillow to her chest. Naruto smiled and said. “Can’t sleep?” She nodded and said. “Can I please sleep with you?” Naruto smiled and pulled back the covers and let her in bed.  as she drifted off to sleep Naruto felt her cling onto his arm and snuggle into him. He smiled and said. “I promise you’ll be safe Sachi-chan.”
A few days later Naruto was adventuring in a dungeon of floor 27 looking for a rare drop for Agil who said he’d pay top Col for it. He then came upon the moonlit black cats minus Keita when he saw them open a door and narrowed his eyes. ‘Wait that looks like a mimic seal.” he thought before his eyes widened. He dashed forward and shouted. “Damn it! Don't go in there!” he got in just as the door shut and was trapped as Ducker had opened the chest which disappeared as dwarves and golems appeared surrounded them. “Kirito, and Tetsuo you’re with me. Keep a defensive perimeter and don’t let them in. Sachi-chan and Sasamaru you two stab anything that tries to get through their defense. Ducker there’s not much you can do with your dagger to the golems so keep an eye on our health and help heal us.” the others nodded their heads and said. “Right!” Naruto and Kirito worked in tandem to keep the monsters from attacking the severely underleveled party members and were doing well until disaster hit. Tetsuo was smashing a golem and finished it off until he got a pick in his back and his health began to deteriorate. Ducker saw this and ran to his friend dagger in hand and stabbed the dwarf before getting crushed into the ground by a golem and turning into blue pixels just after Tetsuo. “No!” Sasamaru shouted as he thrust his spear and was killed as well. “Kirito use your sword skills and keep Sachi safe!” Naruto shouted as he hefted Longclaw up and it began to glow red. “Wolf fang slash!” He shouted, slicing right into several golems. He kept using the same move until he and Kirito switched. Once all of the monsters were gone all that was left was a crying Sachi and two worn out swordsmen. Naruto picked her up and they left the room once the door opened, not noticing the words that congratulated them. When they reached the city again Naruto told Kirito to meet up with Keita to tell him the news while he stayed with Sachi. When Kirito returned he saw the look in his eyes and frowned. “He jumped and called me a beater.” Kirito said with a frown. “He thought that Sachi was dead too but didn’t listen when I told him she was okay and with you. Then he jumped off the edge of the city....” Naruto patted Sachi who began to cry even worse. Naruto said. “Sachi we need to make you stronger. I promise we’ll get out of here, you just need to follow everything I say.” she nodded her head before saying. “Okay Naruto-kun.” she then fell asleep and curled herself against him.

December 25th 2023
Floor 49.
Naruto was sitting on a bench in a town as a girl with whiskers on her cheeks and a hood over her head said. “yeah so the event boss is new and its supposed to happen at a fir tree somewhere. That's all I know Naruto-koi. Maybe ask that rapier wielding bitch. I'm sure her guild is looking for it too.” Naruto sighed and said. “Argo I wish you and Asuna would get along. You would be the best of friends if you just tried.” Argo snorted and said. “I doubt it.” The reason was because Argo had a thing for the redheaded swordsman and wasn’t gonna share with Asuna because she had a chance for years to get Naruto to date her. “Chances are if I win this event the item I'm looking for will drop.” Naruto said as he stood up. “Wait Naru-koi I want my payment.” Naruto sighed and said. “You said I didn’t have to give you any Col for this, and I don’t have any items right now you’d want.” Argo grinned and jumped onto the bench and kissed him square on the lips before running off with a bit of a skip. He sighed before wiping his mouth as he headed off to the inn where Sachi was waiting. Sachi looked up from her food as Naruto came in and said. “What did rat girl say?” Naruto responded. “Nicholas the Red is the name of the event boss. I think I know where it is too. She said something about a Fir tree and theres only one I know of on this floor and it’s in a forest. Did you hear that Kirito?” Kirito opened the door and nodded as he changed into his winter coat and a different sword. “Yeah, winter is coming so let’s do this.” Naruto rolled his eyes and said. “You know nothing Jon Snow.” Before they headed off to find the revival item. The three ended up in the forest on the 49th floor and Naruto and company headed out before stopping and getting into fighting positions as a group appeared. Klein and his guild stepped forward and said. “Ya know Naruto when I heard you were doing this, I thought you’d go it alone. You know this quest is suicide. Figure you could use the help though.” Naruto smiled and said. “Much abliged Klein. But remember Sachi has to get the last kill to get the item.” Klein nodded and they started to march forward when a bunch of figures started to appear. “Shit it’s the holy dragon alliance. They'll do anything for a rare item even if it’s shady. Naruto you and Sachi get out of here! We'll take care of them right Kirito?” Klein said as he and his guild got into battle positions. Kirito grinned as he drew his sword. “Yeah of course. Bring them back guys.” Kirito said as Naruto and Sachi ran off to find Nicholas the Red. They found the tree just as the bells chimed. Then a figure dropped to the ground and snow flew towards them. “Get ready.” Naruto said as he drew his new blade from his back, the devil sword Dante. Nicholas the red rolled his eyes and roared out as his four health bars appeared. Naruto ran in from the front and slashed at the boss as Sachi went from the side letting Naruto take the agro from the boss while she weakened it. Naruto charged a sword skill and shouted as he thrust forward. “Devil’s Dance!” he then jumped into the air and slammed the blade down slicing into the boss as Nicholas thrust his axe towards Sachi. “No...” Naruto shouted as the boss died and Sachi got hit by the axe and her health went down. Naruto tapped his screen quickly as he slid to his knees beside the girl who had become one of his best friends. He opened his inventory and said. “I know you wanted to use this for them, but I can’t lose you.” he said as he looked at the item info before using it on her. Her health hit zero, but she didn’t disappear. Naruto then gave her potions which increased her HP. He breathed a sigh of relief as he hugged her and she gave him a sad smile. “I’m sorry Sachi, I couldn’t lose you.” Sachi nodded her head and said. “All of that effort for nothing though.” Naruto shook his head and said. “No, the item would only work within thirty seconds of death.” he looked down and said. “Let’s go home Sachi.” she shook her head and said. “I’m gonna go off on my own for a while. Maybe join another guild.” Naruto patted her head as she said. “When you can please join me.” Naruto smiled and kissed her forehead before she grabbed him and pulled him into a kiss before she teleported away. Naruto knelt there in the snow frozen before he heard laughter. Kirito and Klein were laughing at him along with the members of Fuurinkazan. “You look so dumb just kneeling there after ANOTHER girl kisses you.” Kirito shouted as Klein gaped. “What the hell man? First Asuna then Argo now this Sachi chick?! What the hell? How are you the lady’s man?” Klein said very upset as he bopped Naruto on the head as everybody laughed at the scene.