"Asuna, you are up."
The disappointment in the burly KoB player's face was apparent. He didn't look down on Asuna, not even close. The Lightning Flash had a fearsome reputation in Sword Art Online that no one would dispute. But he had been hoping to fight someone who matched him in size and style, not the petite fencer.
Still, the big man didn't feel down for too long before excitement started to fill him again. He was about to duel Lightning Flash Asuna, one of SAO's foremost frontliners. That was a hard-to-come-by opportunity.
The crowd retreated a few steps further, leaving only Drifter, Asuna, and the KoB player in the middle. Drifter raised his hand.
"Before you start, one last thing. This..."
He gestured to the circle. His gaze flitted from one person to another, KoB and frontliners alike, before settling on Heathcliff.
"...isn't about who wins and who loses. We aren't going to decide if you can join the Assault Team based on how many victories you have. It's not a competition either, unless you try to make it into one. This is about seeing if you have what it takes to be frontliners - and there's a lot more to that term than just fighting skills. It's about seeing if you have what it takes to always be in the most dangerous place at the most dangerous time. About seeing if you can survive that."
He paused, to see if his words were making any impact. To see if they understood, really understood, what he meant.
Some did, some didn't. But Asuna's opponent suddenly looked a lot more serious, and Heathcliff's expression held a hint of steel that wasn't there before, so Drifter counted it as a victory.
"Remember being a frontliner isn't about pride or bragging rights. It's about beating SAO and escaping Aincrad. With everyone. Not just yourself, not just your guildmates, not just the Assault Team. Everyone."
It was a heavy burden. Unbearably heavy, especially to newbies who just moments ago were all hyped up about dueling frontliners. But it was a burden they would have to carry if they joined the Assault Team.
If they couldn't withstand it, then it was better they turned back here. Because someone who didn't fight for more than themselves died quickly in the frontlines.
"This is valid for everyone, no matter if you are frontliners or Knights of the Blood Oath. You don't need to show every trick you have if you don't want to. Everyone has secrets. But give it your all, got it? Remember the person opposite you might be an opponent now, but they also might your comrades-in-arms by the end of the day. And even if they aren't, we are all players. Giving your everything in this fight is the least amount of respect you need to show."
That was something that even some frontliners didn't understand until 2 floors ago. It was normal to grow arrogant and prideful when you were at their level.
The 25th floor had shattered their arrogance, and maybe that was for the best. Even if it was tragic that that was what it took.
But another thing the 25th Massacre had beaten down was their pride. Their pride on who they were, on what they did. Their beliefs. And that was also tragic on its own way. Because frontliners had every reason to take pride on who they were.
Heroes, Kayaba would call them. Even greater because after everything, after losing countless friends and witnessing more death than anyone had a right to, they got back up. They were still walking.
Drifter gave the people gathered around one last look, then nodded to Asuna and the KoB player whose's name he still didn't know.
"You can start."
Drifter turned around and walked back to the area Reaver's Requiem was occupying, while Asuna and the KoB player introduced themselves to each other and the audience. He planned to stand next to Yuna and Nautilus, but someone intercepted him before he got there. He smiled.
"I was wondering where you were, little rat. It doesn't seem like you to miss such a big thing."
------------------------
"Haa... Some of my excitement has been dampened. But I think I understand what I'm trying to achieve a little better, somehow. I'm Godfree, a team leader of the Knights of the Blood Oath. Like Broken Spear requested, I will give it my all, Lightning Flash."
The burly KoB player, Godfree, took out his broadsword and held it in front of him. Asuna also unsheathed her rapier, her pensive expression morphing into one of focus.
"Reaver's Requiem, Lightning Flash Asuna. Let's have a good fight."
Argo sneaked a peek at the two people standing in the middle of the circle of spectators, weapons drawn.
Whether the frontliners liked it or not - and she knew Drifter would be fuming internally - this had turned into a spectacle. And the info-broker was fairly certain she knew the man behind it.
Her gaze trailed from the first clash of Asuna and Godfree - she knew what the result of that battle would be long before it started - and flitted past Heathcliff, finally setting on the pudgy man standing half hidden in the middle of the KoB contingent - not the frontliners, but the clearers and normal players of the guild.
Daizen, head of finances of the Knights of the Blood Oath. A man with close to none combat ability, but an extremely shrewd mind, and the main reason why all the KoB frontliner candidates were decked out with top-class equipment that would bankrupt any other guild.
He was a dangerous man. Worse, he was a dangerous man who faithfully served Heathcliff.
Argo didn't like Heathcliff. Or rather, she was wary towards him. Not because of Drifter's dislike for the man - although that had been a trigger - but because when she investigated Heathcliff, she found nothing.
Argo could find out almost anything about almost everyone. And that was because of her wide information network, and her talent in connecting seemingly random and unimportant pieces of information.
As long as you were a player, you left a mark. Someone would know something about you. Whether it was from being in the same guild, being friends, or even just having been in the same party a long time ago. If not that, than someone would have seen you at some moment, even if you were one of those players still in denial, who only left their rooms when they ran out of cor.
But not Heathcliff. No one had heard of him before the 20th floor. No whispers, no 'I might have seen him', nothing. It was like he just appeared out of thin air one day. Even employing Fuumaningum for a full investigation hadn't turned up anything.
Which, to Argo, led to 2 conclusions, and she didn't know what was worse.
The first was that Heathcliff had deliberately hidden his tracks from the first day of SAO, and that he was an expert at it. And that train of thought connected directly with Laughing Coffin, the other group Argo was having major trouble investigating.
The second theory she had about Heathcliff's origin was, if you could believe it, even more worrying: he had only entered SAO after the 20th floor.
Which, if that was truly the case, begged the questions: why? What sane person would willingly jump into this hellish trap? What purposes did they have, and how nefarious?
Argo shook her head clear of those thoughts. Maybe she was just wrong. She hated not knowing something, and might be creating connections that weren't there because of it. But she would definitely keep an eye on Heathcliff.
Spotting Drifter making his way towards Yuna - obviously, those two were basically joined at the hip even before they got married - while Asuna and Godfree went at it, Argo darted through the gaps in the crowd, making her way towards him.
Used to it, the info-broker moved through the crowd with grace, almost unimpeded by the press of bodies.
The spearmaster saw her first, and changed his course. Argo didn't even complain much when he ruffled her hair, hood and all.
"I was wondering where you were, little rat. It doesn't seem like you to miss such a big thing."
"Hey-o, Dri-bou! Fancy seein' ya here!"
The spearmaster snorted. Sure, what a surprise it was, what, with he organizing everything.
"How you doing, little rat? It's been a while since we talked face to face."
"Not that long."
"Long enough. I miss my annoying little sis."
Argo blew a raspberry at him, while feeling glad that her hood hid the faint blush coloring her cheeks. This warm feeling of having someone care for her so much... It was nice.
"Oh! Asuna-chan is getting ready to end it."
Drifter didn't need to be told twice. His eyes had only momentarily left the duel when he greeted Argo before flicking right back to it. He was taking his duty as an examiner very seriously. After all, it would mean life and death to some people.
"She dragged it out."
"Ya know how Asuna-chan is. She probs wanted to give the man more time to show off."
Drifter grunted nonconcomitantly. Asuna was a kind soul, but she wasn't that gentle. If she thought Godfree didn't show potential, she would have ended the duel within 10 moves, to dissuade him from joining the frontlines.
Argo knew that, but she wasn't thinking as far as Drifter. She had obviously investigated the KoB, and she had a good idea of who would make it into the Assault Team, and who would be cut out, or, more likely, drop out.
Still, watching Asuna fight was a joy as always. The Lightining Flash, even when she toned it down to match Godfree's limits, looked like she was dancing around the burly man. While Godfree had cuts all over his body, Asuna's skin was still just as unblemished as when she started.
It took one more skill for Godfree's health to reach the yellow, and the duel was concluded. It had lasted 4 minutes, which was 3 and a half more than it would have if Asuna had gone all-out from the start, but the KoB players didn't need to know that. Yet.
As Drifter made his way back towards the pair, Argo noticed the downcast look on Godfree's face, and the dark expressions of the KoB players. Even Heathcliff was displeased, if his slight frown was any indication.
That was actually fair, Argo thought. Drifter had purposefully paired Godfree with Asuna, who was not just one of the best frontliners, but also a direct counter to his fighting style. There was no way he could have won.
Which was exactly the point, Argo knew. Despite what he said, Drifter would be very disappointed if any frontliner lost today. In no small part because it would hurt his pride after all the tough talk with Heathcliff, but mainly because any KoB member who won against a frontliner was likely to grow arrogant, and consequently die. Arrogance had no place in the frontlines.
Some people didn't seem to understand that, however. While Godfree kept his silence and retreated quietly, there was a lot of grumbling amongst the KoB ranks.
Their discontent only increased when the next four KoB players Drifter called forward were also paired with frontliners whose fighting style went in direct opposition to theirs. And none of the frontliners, be it Gilgamesh from the Legend Braves, or a swordsman from Ambros' guild, were as kind as Asuna, resulting in straightforward losses for their opponents.
"This is unfair!"
They lasted longer than Drifter thought they would. He honestly expected them to start complaining after Asuna defeated Godfree.
It was a no-brainer, really. The Knights of the Blood Oath had arrived full of themselves and with the belief that the Aincrad Liberation Squad's spot on the Assault Team was already theirs.
But regardless of how wronged the KoB players were feeling, Drifter's gaze was cold when it landed on the long-haired player who complained, an emaciated-looking man called Kuradeel.
"Deal with it."
"What--?"
That clearly wasn't the response Kuradeel, or any of the people around, were expecting. The KoB player sputtered for an answer as Heathcliff started to walk towards them, but Drifter cut both off before they could start.
"I said deal with it. You are right, it is unfair. We are putting you up against frontliners with 26 floors under their belt. Of course we are better. So what? We still die. You will only die faster if we went easy on you. So deal. With. It."
He swept his gaze from Kuradeel to Heathcliff to Godree and all the other players, and Argo felt a shiver crawl down her spine.
She knew why Drifter was being like this, but it was still so unusual that he was so abrasive that she couldn't help but wonder what was going through his mind. And then Argo saw the shadows behind his steely gaze, and realized Drifter was looking at the KoB, but it wasn't them he was seeing.
"Mobs don't fight fair, floor bosses even less so. They are in SAO for one reason, and one reason only: to kill us. They won't only attack you with a weapon you easily counter, and they won't come alone. So suck it up if you think it's unfair. I don't want to see more names scratched off that wall than I have to. And I'm sure you don't want to die because we took pity on your ego."
Shocked silence met Drifter's words, and Argo saw the most sour look he ever had in Heathcliff's face. Drifter just pointed to another KoB player and said:
"Your turn."