Showdown

Silica and I waited for the end of the trial.

After a long day, there are only 45 minutes left of this bonus trial. It might seem to the untrained eye that I've just been sitting in a cave all day, doing nothing, and that the quest was incredibly easy, but that's deceptive. Putting up with the pest was the most difficult challenge I've had so far, and if I succeed at this trial then it is more impressive than the Labours of Hercules.

A fitting tribute to the nobility of the Han.

If the Roman Empire had based itself on our culture, rather than the Greeks', and taken up Mao Zedong Thought as an official position instead of Christianity, then it would never have fallen. Forget having a man on the moon, the West would have put several men on Jupiter. In spite of it primarily being made of gas. If the Jewish Christ was able to walk on water, who's to say that a Chinaman couldn't discover how to walk on a gas giant?

But, sadly, the West decided to listen to the Greek paederasts, and that is why it has been overcome by degeneracy.

So far, there haven't been many people approaching this cave. A few people sometimes pass outside, near the river, including the children I met before. While they're loud, they don't come near the cave.

I occasionally keep a look-out over the cave entrance, but so far there hasn't been much sign of anyone entering. I guess it's a good thing I hid here instead of a warehouse in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Another testament to my genius.

I might as well prepare to leave. Silica is a bit tired, so maybe it would be easiest to just give her some dwale and drag her around like last time.

POV Switch - Kirito (1st)

The river! Finally... I was almost beginning to wonder if I was lost. This river should be on the way to the cave, from what I recall, so I think I'm nearly there.

As I walked up to it, two NPC kids ran up to me. The boy had a large jaw, and looked a bit like a caveman. He spoke loudly to the girl beside him, "Hei, toinen outo tuli tänne!"

Since I've gone on many quests before, I've heard NPCs use this language before and know a few words. I assumed that it was some made-up conlang, but Yuuki mentioned that it might be Finnish. I guess that could be it.

But most NPCs also speak English. Maybe these guys could help me figure out the directions to the cave?

"Hei, is there a cave here?" I asked.

"Puhu kunnolla!" the boy responded.

I think 'puhu' has something to do with speaking. Perhaps he can't speak English? This won't be that helpful, then.

Still, I could see a few cut trees in the distance, in the direction of the cave. Did someone beat me to it? But I got here as soon as possible. It must be a beta tester... Or, actually, it could be someone else.

"Do you know if anyone else has been here? Maybe Hegemaniac?" I asked.

"Hegemaniac on tuolla, luolassa!" the boy said, pointing into the distance.

"Ole varovainen, en luota häneen," the girl chimed in.

I see. So they've seen Hegemaniac? I guess this might be my chance, especially if he's rummaging around in the cave to complete the quest.

"Kiitos," I told the children, as I ran away towards the direction which the boy was pointing to.

My pronunciation was probably a bit off, but they smile anyway.

After a short time, I see the cave mouth in front of me. In case Hegemaniac is watching, I'll activate Hiding. This should make me difficult to see, especially once I enter the cave. The cave's grey stone is covered with moss on the outside, growing faintly green in the light, but it's dark inside. I can just about make out the silhouette of someone lying on the ground. Is that Hegemaniac?

No, wait. It's just some young girl. She looks to be asleep,, but there's some sort of rope tied around her, and some blood-stains near her upper legs. What has the monster Hegemaniac been doing to her? Poor girl...

What a pervert, preying on children. But of course Hegemaniac would enjoy doing that. I'll hunt him down!

POV Switch - 1st (MC)

There was one more skill awarded, which I had apparently qualified for before the other ones.

[Dear Hegemaniac, you have been awarded another skill that was held back by the bug. It was a reward for defeating 20 skeletons, before the trials. The skill will automatically adjust to your primary stat, Strength. We shall work on granting all skills previously denied.

Your reward is: Skull Hourglass (skill)]

It seems that they're looking backwards to find all of the skills that I had been denied. The skill was the following:

[Skull Hourglass: Allows you to sacrifice most of your Strength stat for a five second period, slowing down time around you by an amount that depends on how high your Strength is. During this time, your Strength will be temporarily low, and your appearance will change to that of a skeleton. While you may find it difficult to use physical attacks, you can position yourself for an attack. Can be used once every 12 hours. (Passive Skill.)]

That seems slightly strange. So I can slow down time, but not really attack during that period? I guess that it could be used to ambush people, or to move past NPC enemies, but in a fight it would be impractical. Well, I don't know how debilitating it would be, but maybe I'll try it when I'm out of here and fighting some wild creatures. Then I can test if it's useful, without any risk.

These Japanese are nearly as stingy as the miserly merchant race which controls the Western media and finance.

So far, I'm not sure about this skill and Iron Pyre. I really hope that not all of these skills are potentially useless. Maybe I'll get a good PvP skill for winning the first duel? One can only hope.

Wait...

Was there a sound from the cave entrance?

I doubt it's anything to worry about, though. It might just be some wild animal, or maybe a gypsy thief. In fact, the last time I heard anything here, it was just a falling leaf.

But it's best to make sure.

Hauling myself up again, I walked over to check. But there's no-one there.

Only a glint of white light in the corner of my eye.

Turning around, I saw a sword quickly approaching me, preparing to swing at my neck.

Scratch what I said earlier. This might not be Pine Bull, but I guess it's just as uncivilized, right? After all, Japs are an uncivilized race of degenerate anime freaks. So this kind of crass incivility stands to reason.

POV Switch - Kirito (1st)

I nearly got the drop on him, but he managed to deflect my sword slightly. It still took out a chunk of his left shoulder, though.

His level is higher than mine, at level 21. But now that I've found him, I'll give it my best shot.

After all, he's clearly not a beta tester.

His counter-attack was clumsy, swinging his sword widely at me from above his shoulder. I managed to parry it, and thrust straight towards his chest. It pierced through his skin, but got caught up on his ribs. Ugh. If it caught him in his heart, this fight could be over. I need to practice more.

But he's already tenaciously preparing to attack again, so I backstep away and use my sword to guide his blade away from me. He's stronger than me, so an open exchange of blows wouldn't be in my favour.

"Why did you sneak up on me like a coward?" he shouted.

I remained silent. To be honest, he's been playing long enough to know why it's useful to get the drop on people. If he's dumb enough not to know that, then maybe things will be easy for me.

He charged ahead, and swung at my head. How complacent. I quickly sidestepped and ducked down, slashing at his feet. As he fell against a cave wall, I managed a few nasty cuts to his back.

He eventually kicked me away, but not hard enough to do much damage.

"Who are you?" Hegemaniac said bluntly.

His back was slightly hunched.

"A better player than you, from what I see," I replied, curtly.

Maybe this conversation will distract him, while I plan my next move.

"Are you a Jap? I thought they had manners. You're just breaking in and assaulting me, does that make your ancestors proud?"

"How dare you call me a 'Jap'? It's a racial slur... Admittedly, I'm known as the Black Swordsman," I replied. "So it shouldn't surprise you that I'm breaking in."

Immediately after saying that, I began to lunge my sword forwards towards his chest again.

But it was a feint. As my sword rose to slice at his neck from the side, he just about managed to jostle it upwards until it scraped his chin. Blood flowed down his neck, and I managed to push my sword further up to cut part of his nose before he finally forced me away by smashing the hilt of his sword into my chest.

I took a few steps back and caught my breath.

POV Switch - 1st (MC)

This foolish Jap is trying to fight me here? He's a puny level 16, this should be easier than Daisuki.

Now that I have the time, I can see that his name is 'Kirito.' I've heard that name before, he's one of the stronger players here. Was he a beta tester? Maybe he's here to get revenge for Daisuki, come to think of it.

But how did he sneak in here so easily? I never saw him outside. Maybe I was getting tired.

If only Silica was someone actually useful, who could serve as a trustworthy look-out. Then I wouldn't have had to be keeping an eye out for danger for 24 hours straight.

This swordsman seems to favour thrusts, though he just caught me by surprise with a feint. He's quick on his feet and has a good reaction time, so he surprised me at first. But now, it'll be different.

Thinking back to the swordfighting book, I raised my sword above my shoulder. As he approached, I slashed forcefully from the right towards his head. However, his sword easily intercepted mine above his shoulder.

He's weaker than me, and his sword is pushed back as I attack him. But it seems that was his plan, because now his sword is pointing straight at my neck.

Desperately, I tried to leap backwards, but he still thrusts forwards and catches me through the mouth like a fishhook. His sword was poking out of my cheek, and I could feel it shaking in frustration slightly as he realized that he didn't get the killing blow.

Blood is spilling everywhere... But I can deal with that after I'm done with this weak runt.

As he stepped forwards angrily, I finally get an opportunity, and slashed heavily across his flank. A deep wound grew, and he quickly retreated.

I'm much higher level than he is, and from the look of it each of my blows does a decent amount of damage... But I also have some new skills. I wonder if this guy wants to get burned alive?

Standing up, I walked slowly towards him again. He's doing this fancy footwork, like the pictures in the manual, but I didn't read up on that much. His feet barely rise from the ground as he scuttles across the cave.

I have always believed that Japanese people are jealous of crabs. Crabs get to scuttle around in IRL mechs.

What seems weird about his footwork is that he doesn't really focus on maximizing the strength behind his strikes. As a boxer, I tend to subconsciously set up to strike with more force and arm strength, but he seemingly has little issue with it.

This time, I activated the Iron Pyre skill before attacking. The sword started to heat up in my hands, and while I could vaguely feel a difference in it, my hands were numbed to the pain. But I'll need to strike him to power it up.

He moved to block my sword, but his sword got stuck on the cave wall. A loud scraping noise rang out, though apparently Silica remains asleep through it.

This is a good chance. I turned my wrist slightly and slasedh him across the side of his chest, opening a wound that seemed to glimmer bright red due to the heat.

"AUUGHH!" he screamed, like some anime character.

He keeled to the side, holding the wound. It seems to have been more painful than he was expecting. However, my sword's temperature was growing, and by this point it almost had a white glow from the heat. The next hit would be even more powerful.

But as soon as I approached, his sword snaked out towards my neck. As I blocked it, he switched his angle of attack to strike from the side, and then backstepped quickly away with his scurrying feet once that strike was blocked. He's looking at the sword, noticing the glow from the increased temperature.

I tried to surge forwards and get him involved in another exchange, but he continually parried and stepped away. He's seemingly reluctant to fight while the sword is heated up. His reactions were too quick, and he moved faster than me, so it was difficult for me to strike him.

Sadly, I can't drop items as much during battle, otherwise I could try to surprise him with my large inventory. But inventory drops are seemingly limited and not as immediate during PvP. Besides, if I looked through my inventory now, it would leave him a window of opportunity.

As my sword began to cool down again, he started to attack me. His sword flashed towards my left, then changed angles as soon as I blocked it. While I'm blocking him off, I'm not able to attack easily.

He finally tried to attack my right side, but I could see that his eyes were glaring angrily at the left of my neck. Probably a feint. I used this opportunity to slash across his chest wound, and he cried out and nearly lost grip of his sword, which cannoned into a cave wall and began to crack slightly as he lost control of it.

However, faster than I expected, he reacted to this by adjusting his sword into a reverse grip, and then stabbing it like a dagger through my wrist until I dropped Reginald's sword. He grabbed that nimbly. I tried to elbow his sword away, and in the process the crack widened and it seemed to break.

I tried to punch him, but he stepped quickly to my right as he pulled out the sword, dodging the blow. He now had both swords. However, his original sword looked to have broken, and was soon tossed aside.

Reginald's sword still pointed at me.

I tried to run out of the cave, but Kirito was faster than me and easily caught up. His sword tore a cut just a short way away from my spine.

Rushing, I nearly tripped over Silica on the way out.

That's it! Silica! I could use her to buy time.

I dragged Silica's body up, using it as a human shield between me and Kirito. The agitation perturbs her, and she seems half-awake. Ha, even if I die, at least she might die first.

"Don't you dare attack, or you'll hit her," I said.

I slowly walked towards the cave exit, holding Silica as a shield. Kirito was growing increasingly agitated, and his sword shook slightly.

As I prepared to make a break for it, he finally stepped to the side and swiftly slashed his sword towards my exposed flank.

Or, rather, slowly.

Because I used the Skull Hourglass skill, and repositioned Silica in front of Kirito's sword. It's a bit difficult to hold her up, as a skeleton, but since she's small it's not impossible for just five seconds. I did have to lean against the cave wall slightly to do it, though.

His eyes widened in shock as he cut through her weak flesh, and she fell limp. She was dead. At least there's some benefit to this, then.

I made a break for it while Kirito's sword was still stuck in Silica. Looking back quickly, Kirito was staring in shock at this unexpected murder, and he was barely moving.

Pity that nobody else was here to see him, with his sword stuck in Silica. Maybe then they'd have another 'murderer' to target.

A messy avalanche of messages flashed in front of me.

[Bonus quest failed.]

[You have failed the trials, because your partner has died. Your rewards will be deducted.]

[Tallying your rewards will take fifteen minutes. They will be checked multiple times, in order to make sure that they are given correctly.]

[You have failed the next four stages of the trials.]

I ignored them, and continued to hurtle forwards even though the messages made it difficult to see where I was going.

POV Switch - Kirito (1st)

...This is horrifying.

I almost had Hegemaniac killed, but now the tables have turned.

Now, I'm no better than he is.

In fact, maybe worse. After all, I killed a young, defenceless girl. Daisuki at least had the chance at a fair fight...

But I shouldn't think about this. The other players are on their way towards this cave, and I need to hide Silica's body quickly before they suspect anything. They'd guess that I was the first person here. They'd think that I was a vile murderer!

And they'd be right...

But I can't just give up, and let Hegemaniac run free. In fact, I know where he'd be going next. He'd be trying to get a weapon... Tell you what, Yuuki might know where the closest towns or villages with weapon stores are. If we could narrow that down, then maybe her Guild could help to block off his access to weapons nearby?

I guess he could still pick one up from a quest, but doing quests at a high enough level to get a good sword would be difficult without a sword.

But to do that, I'll need to hide Silica somehow. Maybe the river? Well, the blood flowing through it would be a bit of a giveaway. But otherwise, it's a bit promising. In fact, there's a small boat tied to one side of the river, in the direction of the village which the young kids came from. Maybe I can dump her in there quietly, and then run off?

Well, there's no-one around, so I guess I'll do that. It's a pity... Who was this girl? Did Hegemaniac really abuse her?

She's young, but has wispy brown hair floating around her face. Maybe she'd grow up to look like Asuna? Ugh, I'm still crying right now, I can't believe that after finally getting what I wanted - a win against Hegemaniac - it's come to this. If anyone asks, I'll just say I'm sad about Daisuki.

Now, which way is Hegemaniac running? I can see him in the distance, trying to find a crossing over the river. Wait, maybe I could catch up with him, while he's stuck on this side?

I tried to run towards him, but instead a couple of English-looking skinheads intercept me with swords out. They refuse to let me pass to their side.

"Why are you doing this?" I shouted at the skinheads.

They both stared at me blankly.

"Oi, ya skinhead louts, what ya tryna do, eh?" I tried.

"We were valiantly defending Hegemaniac. He is incredibly powerful, and will help our Guild, sKinhead Kampf Kartel, to defeat the rest of you," one skinhead replied, in strangely fluent English.

I heard a few Knights of the Blood members cheering me on from the distance, but I couldn't hear what they were saying. I ignored them for now.

"Why would he... Ahem. Why's he joining you lot, guv'nor?"

"Well, he isn't Japanese. That means that he must be full of racial hatred towards your kind. It follows, then, that he would only join a Guild that supports these sentiments, and, given that he seems to be in dire straits, I'm sure that he would appreciate what a Guild like ours could offer."

"Look, I just outfought him and sent him running. You think I'll spare you?" I growled.

At this, one of the skinheads charged angrily towards me. His sword was stretched out towards the right. I stepped towards the right, then angled in my sword until it slashed a deep wound in his forehead, just above the eyebrows.

His sword swung hard down towards me, but deflected off mine. It fell to the ground heavily, along with the rest of his body. He had lost balance, since blood poured into his eyes and he couldn't see where he was going.

Kicking the sword into the river, I turned to the remaining skinhead.

"You up next, mate?"

He ran away, and soon his companion did as well, following him erratically.

But it was too late to catch Hegemaniac. He was running freely into the distance, though I don't think he knows where he's going. It should still be possible to starve him out of good weapons, and if we do that then perhaps he will either die or his progression will slow down.