Ch 17: A terrible man.

Hours later, the alarm Noah had set up woke him. He moved his hand to shut the alarm of, but the gesture woke up Asuna.

"Good morning, Asuna. Did you sleep well?"

Asuna tried to get some of her bed hair under control as she smiled.

"Good morning, Master. I slept better than I remember doing since being in this game."

Noah bent toward her and kissed her.

"I'll need to leave soon. I'm giving you a choice, Asuna. It's not an order. Do you want to participate in the boss raid? If you don't, I'll allow you out of the house after we reach the main city of the second floor."

"Yes, Master. I want to…" Then she thought about something and hesitated.

"… Will Mito participate in the raid?"

"It's likely, yes. She was present in the strategy meeting yesterday. But she's part of another team."

"I want to hide my face, if you would permit me, master."

"Sure. This is related to the way you separated?"

Asuna nodded, her face turning gloomy. After a while, she explained.

"I… almost died, that day. We were hunting those Nepenthes monsters, when she suddenly shouted something at me, but I didn't understand her words. And suddenly, many more monsters appeared. They cornered me. I tried to fight my way out of it, with my HP bar falling in the red. I was calling to Mito for help. But she had disappeared. She abandoned me."

"…How did you survive?"

"The nepenthes suddenly retreated, when an enormous monster appeared. I was paralyzed by fear when I saw it. I knew I was going to die… The monster was cruel. He very slowly opened its huge mouth full of fangs, making sure I got a good look while he was preparing to close his jaws on me. Its mouth was so big that it would cut my body in half. And someone saved me. A strong player, who pierced the right eye of the monster, then lured it away from me, and defeated it."

"You were lucky." Nodded Noah. Even if he hadn't seen the movie, he wouldn't have any difficulty guessing who that player was. The whole situation had plot armor written all over it.

But it didn't matter anymore. He had already gotten the prize, and Asuna was his. Noah actually has the start of a plan to use Kirito for his sinister purposes, and gain another prize from him. It would be totally unfair to Kirito, but Noah didn't really care.

Noah and Asuna quickly got ready. Asuna dressed in her adventurer's clothes. The leather harness still around her torso overlapped in her interface with the white top she had put on over it, but it was possible for players to put more than one equipment some of their slots. This peculiarity couldn't be abused, however, as only the stats of the item with the highest Def value were taken into account.

With a small smile, Noah removed the collar from Asuna's neck.

"It will go back around your neck, where it belongs, whenever we return to the house."

"Of course, Master. I got used to it. And it is the proof that I am yours. I'd like to wear it all the time, if possible… Well, except when others could see it." she added with reddening cheeks.

"That's not possible for now. You need to be able to access your item storage or social functions when we are out, and it would scare away the girls I have an interest in. And I don't want other people to pester us, thinking they might get into your pants if they free you from your slavery or something."

"Master, are you already targeting more girls?" Asuna's voice held slight disappointment. She knew he would get more slaves, but she wanted to have him all to herself for as long as possible.

Noah sighed and hugged her with a thin smile. "Asuna, remember what you have committed yourself to. I have been honest with you and made it clear that you would not be the only one. As my slave, your proper reaction should be to volunteer yourself to help me seduce or take any girl I might be interested in. From now on, serving me is what you live for. I will discipline you for this after we return."

Asuna took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Master. Please discipline your slave tonight."

Asuna felt regret over her reaction. Her first day as his slave had barely started, and she was already making mistakes. She was his slave, not his girlfriend. She had no right to want to monopolize him. Even if she still wanted to!

"Now, to answer your question, there are two girls. The first one is named Lisbeth. She was paralyzed by fear on the plaza back then, after Kayaba explained the rules of this death game. I helped her get her nerves under control, and taught her how to fight boars and wolves. I also cautioned her against trusting bad guys."

Noah noticed Asuna's mouth twitch and snorted. "Yeah, I know, I'm a bad guy myself. But by warning her, I become a good guy in her eyes. Anyway, we became friends, and I intend to make her my slave sometime later. She is cute, although not as much as you, and is very sociable and easy to get along with. She wants to be a blacksmith and open a store. I think you'll get along well with her, as long as you make the effort."

"I will. And the second one, Master?"

"She is called Argo, and is an information trader. A trait that will be very useful to me later, when applied to the real world. Reliable information gathering might turn out to be the most important part for what I have in mind. She is also easy to befriend, and her personality is very independent, coming and going as she pleases. Very much like a cat. And we just agreed to be friend with benefits, as long as we are both single, or that we have the approval of our significant others. I will soon introduce Argo to bondage sex, and get her hooked to it. Do I have your permission, miss official girlfriend?"

"Yes, Master. I will keep my jealousy under control." Asuna nodded, secretly pleased that she would at least be the one with the official status, as far as the outside world was concerned.

She put on her gray hooded cape, hiding her face and hair under a layer of anonymity, and tied her sheathed rapier to her belt.

"Then we're ready. Give me your hand."

When she did, Noah used the teleportation crystal.

They appeared in a dead-end of the labyrinth's third floor.

Noah drew his sword and started advancing. When they faced their first Kobold, Noah stopped short.

"Asuna, let's form a party."

"Master?"

"It's Noah, Asuna. Not Master. We're in public now, and you never know who might by hiding nearby. Let me show you." Noah manipulated his interface to send a group invitation to Asuna. She accepted.

"We're now in a party, meaning that we share experience points, and we can check each other's status and remaining HP on the top left corner."

"Sorry, Noah." Asuna got slightly embarrassed. "I keep making mistakes this morning."

"And it's by making mistakes that we get better. Anyway, I'd like you to kill that kobold. I want to see if those three days without fighting have made you rusty."

"Yes!" Asuna nodded, and charged the kobold. Her swift movements and near constant flurry of attacks allowed her to kill the mob in about 15 seconds.

"That's great, Asuna. Your movements are significantly better than when I first saw you."

Asuna smiled thinly.

"I was exhausted back then, Noah. I had been fighting for three days. Still, it feels good to move my body like that."

Noah lowered his eyes to Asuna's weapon, and a thought struck him.

"Asuna, we'll hurry back to Tolbana Town. Once there, I'll try to craft a new rapier for you. I should have enough materials."

"Really? Thank you, m-Noah!" Asuna brightened.

They both took the shortest route to exit the labyrinth, killing any kobold on their way, and headed toward Tolbana.

"So, Asuna." Asked Noah as they walked. "What do you think about our respective fighting styles? I want your opinion on their strengths and weaknesses."

"… My way of fighting allows me to often interrupt the monsters' actions, keep them one the defensive, and make them stumble. The monsters also have difficulties blocking my attacks, because they are very fast. As for the flaws… I'm moving and attacking a lot, so I get tired faster. And since I'm using a rapier, my weapon loses durability each time I parry."

"Your own fighting style, Noah, is to refrain from using sword skills at first and injure the monster with normal attacks, until the monster exposes a gap in its defenses. Then you use one or two sword skills. You don't hit the monster nearly as much as I do, but your hits do more damage when you use sword skills. The advantage is that you don't expose as many gaps as I do. The flaws are that most of your strikes don't do too much damage on average, since you mix normal attacks and sword skills."

"Overall, I think we're about equal in terms of killing speed?"

Noah nodded.

"I mostly agree. I would add to the flaws of the rapier that you need to pay extra attention to the ground, as you move around so much. You do not want to stumble at the wrong time."

"Yes."

"As for the number of normal attacks I use, there's a reason for this."

Noah went on to explain to Asuna the same things he had told Lisbeth a month ago.

"In your case, Asuna, I think you should keep using a lot of Sword Skills. Your post-motion freeze is hard to exploit for most rapier-type sword skills, and you need all the help you can get to boost your damage. But if you had been, let's say, a two-handed sword user, I would have suggested you learn to fight with almost no Sword Skills."

"I understand. Thanks you for the advice."

"There's also something else that I found out recently, and I never heard other players mention it. It's about overlapping the damage lines."

Seeing her confused face, he pointed to a trio of wolves not far.

"Asuna, try to kill those monsters by hitting them several times on the same exact spot. You must hit them on the body, not the head or the throat or neck."

Asuna jogged to the wolves and tried to do as he ordered. The first wolf died before she could manage it. The second, too. But she managed with the third one.

"Eh?" she exclaimed.

"Noah, I did critical damage, where I should not have. Is it what you wanted to show me?"

"Yep. Not only that, but it was critical damage that ignored armor. You did not notice because the wolves have no armor to begin with, but I tested it on the kobolds."

"Ohhh. That's good to know. If I manage to increase my accuracy…"

"But wait, there's more!" He grinned.

"Asuna, what do you think happens if you manage to overlap more than two of these damage lines? three? Four of them?"

Her eyes widened as she understood.

"It all adds up?"

"Yes! But it also works against us, Asuna. Make sure no monster ever hits you in a spot where you have taken a hit recently. Or it will hurt."

"Should we tell the other players?" asked Asuna.

"…No. I'm sure some have figured it out already. There's no way I can be the only one. And there are some players among those we're about to join that I wouldn't trust with that information."

As they were about to reach Tolbana, Noah told her about what had happened during the strategy meeting.

They directly headed for the local forge, and Noah crafted a rapier for Asuna.

"Steel Rapier. ATK: +8."

That weapon had the same basic ATK value than the anneal blade. However, as a rapier-type weapon, the damage calculation included only twice the strength stat of the player, instead or thrice for slower and heavier one-handed weapons.

Using some material Asuna possessed, he then enhanced the rapier to +4 (S2D2).

"Thank you, Noah!" smiled Asuna as she received the item.

"You're welcome, Asuna. It's only a minor thing. I'll help you with anything that improves your chances of survival. Now, let's go to the meeting spot."

It didn't take long for them to reach the fountain, where most of the players who had participated in the strategy meeting had already gathered.

"Ah!" exclaimed Asuna.

"Something wrong?"

"That player, the one dressed in black… He's the one who saved me that day."

"He's Kirito, and part of our team. And the girl near him is Argo. Spiky hairs over there is that jerk Kibaou."

Argo waved at them when Noah and Asuna got closer.

"Hi, Noah! Ready to kill some big prey?"

"Hi, Argo, Kirito. I found us a new party member. This is Asuna.”

Asuna bowed lightly.

"Hello. I'm Asuna. It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too. I'm Argo, and this is Kirito. You seem to be standing pretty close to Noah. Are you perhaps his girlfriend?"

"Actually, yes. We became a couple last night. That being said, she agreed." Said Noah proudly.

Asuna nodded to confirm.

Kirito looked in slight confusion, thinking that Noah meant that Asuna had accepted his confession, but that it was a weird way to put it. Argo understood the real meaning, and looked at Noah with slightly hurt eyes.

"Hum… Asuna-san, do you mind if we talk a bit in private?"

"I don't mind." Asuna followed Argo to the side, where they wouldn't be heard. Argo looked awkward.

"Asuna-san… Just to be sure, what did Noah tell you, about our… agreement? Did you really agree to that?"

"He told me you were… friends with benefits, that's the term, right? Yes, I'm allowing it. Even in the real world. Because I'm confident that I'll always be his number one, and that he will never leave me."

Argo was taken aback.

"That's… very open-minded of you, Asuna-san. Though I'm not sure if I want to continue that relationship with him, if he's already chosen someone."

Asuna smiled sweetly. "Please call me Asuna. I'd like us to become friends, if possible. And you should. Noah is… not a man that you can just replace. You will never find anyone as good as him. I also know I don't have the stamina to keep up with him."

"Is that why you are so accepting? And sure, I'd like to be friend with you too."

"Yes. He's irreplaceable to me. And if I have to share him to be with him, so be it. I know he's going to have several mistresses before very long. If you are one of them, or another girl is, makes little difference to me. I'm the official one, and if you want to try to take that position from me, I welcome the challenge."

Argo stood in silence for a while, her eyes unfocused. Finally, she sighed. "I'll… think about it… We both fell for a terrible man."

Asuna readily agreed. "We did! But I don't regret anything."

"Everyone, thank you for coming. It's time to go beat that boss!" Shouted Diavel, as he walked toward the labyrinth. The players started following.

Asuna and Argo nodded at each other and joined Noah and Kiroto. On the way, Asuna thanked the later for having saved her in the forest back then. The fiction's protagonist suddenly remembered her and looked awkwardly to the side.

They chatted idly as they entered the labyrinth and stated climbing the twenty floors to reach the boss. The ascension took a few hours, and the mood among the players was gradually subdued.

Eventually, the reached huge stone doors, easily five meters wide, and engraved with a bas-relief.

Diavel turned and faced them.

"Are you all ready? The strategy is clear to everyone?" Seeing only people nodding their heads, he walked to the large doors. He didn't really have to push, as they opened as soon as he made contact with them.