{DISCONTINUED} Aliczation Rebooting: Sword Art Online

Distance - One Shot

25/6/380 HEC

It's been three months since she graduated from the Swordcraft Academy, and a month since the Integrity Knight Bercouli Synthesis One informed them of the incoming invasion. As opposed to the majority who felt nothing but fear, Sortiliena Serlut felt excitement instead, for this was the chance for her to prove herself, and to partake in great, honourable fights against the forces of the Dark Territory.

As one of the leaders of the Imperial Guard, she knew she had to set a good example for her subordinates. So she trained hard. Under the supervision of Deusolbert Synthesis Seven, she practised every day, never taking a break unless its absolutely necessary, honing her Serlut style swordsmanship to its best for the looming invasion.

At first, she was thrilled, but as each day passed, she started to feel suspicious. Deusolbert started growing anxious with every passing day, yet she never knew what made him feel like that. All she knew that there was something the Integrity Knights were hiding from them. However, she knew it was not in her place to ask these questions, as she also knew that Deusolbert would never disclose any information to her. With that, her suspicions gradually faded away and she eventually forgot about them.

When Eldrie Woolsburg, or Eldrie Synthesis Thirty-One as he now called himself came to visit the camp, these suspicions immediately resurfaced. They met two months ago in the Four Empires Unity tournament, where Eldrie was her very first opponent. She remembered him to be an excellent swordsman. Despite utilizing the High Norkia style, his sword swings still retained a degree of fluency and had power that not even Volo Laevanteinn could match.

Even with her combination of the Serlut and Aincrad styles, she was still defeated by him, though she believed that she left a lasting impression on him, judging by the words they exchanged after the fight.

Which was why she immediately knew something wrong was going on. She expected the new Integrity Knight to greet her when he arrived, yet he didn't even bat an eye when he saw her. She was certain that she left a good impression on Eldrie during the tournament, but he didn't seem to recognize her when they met again. If it weren't for the invasion, she would've walked right up to him and asked him what was going on, but she knew that this wasn't a good time for it.

After exchanging a few words with Deusolbert, Eldrie flew away on his dragon. This was one week ago, but this time she couldn't shake her doubts away. She knew something was going on, and she was determined to find out what it was.

Liena shook her thoughts away. She couldn't afford to be distracted by them, so she continued to practice her Serlut style swordsmanship.

"You're still thinking about Eldrie, right?" She jumped, not expecting anyone to approach her. Recognizing his voice, she gave a reluctant nod.

Golgorosso Baltio was the only person she confessed to regarding her concerns, as he was the one she trusted the most, being a friend of hers since joining the Swordcraft Academy. The fact that his valet when he was an Elite Disciple, Eugeo was best friends with her own.

This train of thought allowed her to think back to her last year in the academy. Her valet, despite being a commoner, had shown excellent sword skills since the beginning. When she first saw him, she saw herself in him. Both of them used unknown sword styles that seemed more practical instead of the typical High Norkia style.

However, after sparring with him, Liena started doubting herself. He seemed a lot stronger, not only in terms of technique but mentally as well. Despite the others' jeers, he managed to move on, improving at an extremely fast rate.

'Just what does he have that I don't?'

Liena would've denied in the past, but she was ashamed to admit that thoughts like these were always on her mind. How could a simple commoner like him be so strong? She never understood that. Until she saw him manage to draw with Volo in a duel at the end of the school year, that is.