The Black Swordsman and the Integrity Knight (Season 1).

Beater and Departure.

Floor 1: Town of Beginnings

Kirito POV

Two months have passed and the game has 200 less players then before. During those two months, I have been constantly grinding with Alice, and our friendship bloomed to the best friend stage according to her, even though I'm her only friend. She will often times get jealous at me for always being five or more levels higher than her since we get the same amount training, so she would always pick fights with me. Unfortunately, she hasn't beaten me yet, however I am quite terrified of her strength. She wields a two-handed sword with incredible power, and during our first sparring match, she sent me flying backwards quite a bit just by the touch of our blades. Despite that, we always make it our special rule of one duel per day when off duty or not raiding dungeons.

There have been rumors that the Boss Room has been found, and a meeting will be held in just two days time. Because of this, me and Alice decided to attend, but we had two days to prepare. So what does she do?

"Hey Kirito, lets go steal loot from other players." She called from down the hall.

"Huh!? Why would we do that?" I questioned her.

"Relax, I mean from all the bullies, we can keep half and give the rest to those that they stole from."

"Ehehe, your evil you know... Let's do it." I smirked.

So we got quite a decent hall of stolen goods that we either sold or kept as accessories, and later we handed out some of the loot to low level players for free. We had quite a blast until Alice decided to steal from a shady character that wasn't me, and we had to run to a whole new town and back to fool them. After wearing ourselves out, we decided to get some sleep, but not before another playful arguement about her wanting to lay down with me. As soon as the sun rose the next morning, I dreaded it because as usual, we have our annual sparring duels. We decided to head out to a secluded mini dungeon so we can go wild.

"Ready for this Kirito? Just because I'm your best friend don't mean I won't hurt you." She teased.

"Hm.. Bring it on, I will defeat you once again." I responded with a smirk.

The timer started to count down as we got into our fighting stances, and as soon as it hit zero we charged at each other with great speed and locked swords. Her sword strength felt a little too broken, but I hung on and parried her first attack to which I followed up with a vertical slash to her back. After she caught herself, I ran toward her to take advantage of the fight, until she avoided my strike and pierced my ribs with her sword. Soon afterwards she punched me in the face.

Alice POV

Kirito was always skilled, but this time I was ready for him, and after piercing his ribs, I laughed playfully as I punched him in the face which sent him flying. I always had a rather arrogant side to myself, and because of that I tend to be a little hard on Kirito, to which he doesn't mind. However, after he recovered, his face was more focused, and his eyes razor sharp.

"We always had our fun, but I think we should get serious, and I mean dead serious. No need to hold back anymore." His voice was full of pride.

"Hahahaha.. Your just as proud as me. Lets go!" I replied, and the true duel began.

We moved at incredible speed with our swords. The whole thing looked like a light show as we poured our sword skills into each attack. The pacing of our swords clashing was sending massive shockwaves all around us, and our blades may as well be air. Every slice and every block, cut after cut we connected. It felt amazing to go all out against a skilled warrior, and he enjoyed it to. Jumping off walls and using kendo tricks, Kirito kept the advance despite my own. We clashed over and over until the timer ran out and I was declared the winner for the first time ever, so I ran up to Kirito and gave him a massive kiss on the cheek to which he blushed furiously. We decided to celebrate my victory with a meal, so we went to our usual place.