A couple of weeks later. ALO.
Seth and Sinon had converted their GGO accounts to ALO a little after the whole death gun incident and were now in ALfheim Online. Sinon had picked out the Cait Sith and was using a bow that Lisbeth made. Seth had converted his account and chose the Imp fairy class. He didn't mind having purple hair and the red eyes were a touch. He decided to take up single handed swords. His current weapon was a rare item drop katana he got from finishing off a boss.
A little after converting his account, Seth was introduced to Kirito's other friends. The first person he was introduced was Asuna Yuuki. She was his in game wife and another survivor of the SAO incident. She was currently Kirito's real life girlfriend. Asuna avatar is a Undine, water fairy with blue hair, and she was known as the berserk healer do to her going to the front lines with a rapier even though a Undines role is usually a healer. The Next person Seth was introduced to was Suguha Kirigaya, Kirito's legal sister, but they were actually cousins. Her avatar is a member of the Sylph race which generally have blond hair and green eyes. Seth could tell that she had a thing for Kirito. She was not one of the 10,000 players that were trapped in SAO. Her in game name is Leafa.
The next person was a survivor of the SAO incident, his real name was Tsuboi Ryoutarou, but everyone called him by his in game name Klein. This red hair man is pretty laid back and easygoing. Seth was around his age so they got along well. His avatar was a member of the Salamander race which gave him red hair and he used a katana as his weapon of choice. The fourth person Seth met was Andrew Gilbert Mills otherwise known as Agil in the game. He was another survivor of SAO and was a pretty kind man. His avatar was a member of the Gnome race of ALO. He generally didn't fight, but just watches over his shop.
The next person Seth met was Ayano Keiko, otherwise known as Silica. She was the youngest member of the group and was only 12 years old when she was trapped in SAO. She was a Cait Sith Beast tamer with familiar Pina, a small feather dragon. Her hair was a dark blond. The last person of the group to be introduced to Seth was Shinozaki Rika or as she's known in ALO as Lisbeth. Lisbeth was a member of the Leprechaun race of ALO and her avatar has pink hair. She is the groups blacksmith. Lisbeth had forged a strong set of light armor for Seth, but for a price. She was also a survivor of SAO and Asuna's best friend. He was finally introduced to Yui, Kirito's and Asuna's in game daughter. She was an AI and she got along with Blaze and Flame who were now navigation pixies. Finally Blaze and Flame could touch Seth, but only in this virtual reality world.
Seth was surprised that these players that were trapped in the death game known as SAO were still playing VRMMORPG. Seth was messaged by Leafa to come and join her, Kirito and the others minus Agil, on a quest to secure the legendary holy sword Excalibur. He agreed and was now in Lisbeth's blacksmith shop along with Sinon, Kirito, Silica, Klein, Yui, Blaze, Flame and Lisbeth. They were waiting for Asuna and Leafa to come back with some health and mana potions they needed for the quest. Sure enough Leafa and Asuna arrived and divided the potions evenly among the players. As they were leaving, Seth received a message from a GM.
'Congratulations randomly select player you have been chosen to partake in a beta testing of a new weapons type and you will be rewarded with a special weapon should you accept.' Underneath the message there was two text bubbles that were 'Accept' and 'Decline'. Seth picked Accept and immediately a new messages appeared with a familiar sword appearing before Seth.
"[Kurikara]?" Seth thought as he saw his volt weapon appeared in the game and started reading the new text bubble that appeared.
'Thank you for partaking in the new beta testing of the dual katana class. All you will need to do for the testing period is to defeat as many enemies as possible. You have been given a special weapon that will be yours to keep even after the testing period and also two sword skills. Crimson sorrow and The Eclipse. Please fight as hard as you can and good luck.'
"Blaze, Flame, what did you do?" Seth asked mentally as he equipped [Kurikara]. He knew that they were behind this as it would be no Challenge to hack into ALO data network and encode a weapon and new skills into the game.
"Nothing much Seth. All we did was to to change your given weapon skin to match [Kurikara]." Blaze stated.
"Master you really were the one to be given the dual katana skill. There were three skills to be given out. The first was the dual dagger skill, the second was the dual sword skill and finally the dual katana skill. You were chosen for the dual katana skill. All we did was to change the weapon you got." Flame said as she and Blaze landed on Seth shoulders.
"Fine I trust you. Any way I should probably see these two new sword skills I got. Ah I found them. Now and then- holy shit!" Seth exclaimed as he saw the two sword skills he got. Crimson Sorrow was a 14-hit combo that unleashed a massive plume of fire in the attack that did an insane amount of damage. The second was The Eclipse, which was a 27-hit combo that did a gratuitous amount of damage. Seth was sure that his girls had something to do with this, but before he could ask them, Sinon grabbed his hand and took him to the others.
"Geez, why were you all the way back there?" Sinon asked.
"Sorry, I guess I was too lost in thought. I would be lying if I didn't say I was a little nervous."
"Nervous? What's got you worried?" Sinon asked.
"Well I'm not that good at RPG and I really don't want to mess up in front of these guys. I don't want to make a bad first impression." Seth said to Sinon who let out a small chuckle.
"To be honest Seth I'm a little nervous like you, but together with the others I'm sure we'll do great. Come we have to run to catch them." Sinon said as Seth and she started to run.
Towards Jötunheimr.
The group was now running down a massively long staircase that would lead them to Jötunheimr in five minutes, instead of the usual hour it takes for a person to reach it. As they were running down the stair Seth was constantly being smacked in the face by Sinon's tail so to show her a lesson, Seth grabbed the blue car tail in front of him which instantly caused Sinon to let out a loud 'Kyaa'.
"Seth! What the hell!" Sinon yelled as she tried to slash Seth with her claws, but he easily avoided the swipes. He jumped over Sinon and began running down the stairs.
"Get back here!" Sinon yelled as she chased after Seth. The two of them ran down the stairs and were quickly followed by the others. Their antics stopped once they reached the old tundra known as Jötunheimr. The weather was so cold that Klein couldn't stop shivering.
"It's so cold." Klein said as he was trying to keep warm. The group looked towards the sky of Jötunheimr and saw that appeared to be a upside down pyramid made of ice inside the roots of the world tree.
"Ous. Sharl. Rais. Wind. Hard. Halca. Storms." Asuna casted a cold resistance spell to help the group and also helped Klein stop shivering. After receiving the buff, Leafa put two fingers in her mouth and let out a loud whistle. Soon the group heard what sounded like a elephant cry. The group looked towards the source of the sound and saw a strange creature that was the odd fusion of an elephant and a jellyfish, that could also fly.
"The hell is this ugly thing?" Seth said as he saw the flying elephant jellyfish monster.
"Tonkii isn't ugly!" Leafa protested. Seth apologized to Leafa and Tonkii even though Seth thought that Tonkii was about as cute as a Rancor. After a little resistance from Klein, the group of eight got on Tonkii.
"Tonkii, please take us to the dungeon." Leafa said and Tonkii began to fly towards the ice Pyramid. As they were flying towards the pyramid the group of eight saw other players attacking other elephant jellyfish monster that couldn't fly. The odd part about it was that the players were receiving aid from a humanoid tyrant monster.
"Huh? What going on down there?" Asuna asked as she saw the players and tyrant working together. "Did someone take that humanoid tyrant?"
"That's impossible!" Silica said. "The success rate for taming a tyrant is zero percent even for a Cait Sith with full boost and special equipment!" Silica, a tamer herself, knew more about this!"
"So wait? Are they taking advantage of it? When the four armed thing is attacking the elephant jellyfish, they're hitting it too." Klein said.
"But is controlling a monster's aggro that easy?" The tyrant finished off the elephant jellyfish that it was fighting then continue to walk. The players began to follow it.
"Why aren't they starting combat with the tyrant?" Kirito asked. The group starting seeing more and more fireballs across Jötunheimr. Suddenly it started making sense what Asuna told the group earlier. She heard of a quest that involved killing a certain monster and you would be rewarded with excalibur. The elephant jellyfish were the target, but Excalibur was in the ice pyramid. Things were not making sense. Suddenly something was appearing behind the group. They saw some sort of light coming from behind them. They turned around and saw a very tall women behind them.
"She's huge..." Klein said in shock. The group stood in silence as they wait for the large woman to speak.
"My name is Urd, Queen of the lake. You fairies who have formed a bond with my servant... My two sisters younger sister and I have a request for you. Please save this land from the frost Giants." Urd said. Yui, Blaze, and Flame started scanning Urd and discovered that she was an NPC that was imbedded into the carinal system making her more of an AI. Blaze and Yui told Kirito and Seth who were now curious of what this AI was going to say.
"Once Jötunheimr was like ALfheim. It enjoyed the blessings of the world tree, Yggdrasil and was covered in beautiful water and greenery. We the hill Giants and our servants, the animals, lived in peace. Below Jötunheimr is the land of frost Niflheim. The king of the frost Giants who rules that land, Thrym, snuck into this realm and cast Excalibur the sword which cuts all trees and iron, into Urd's lake, at the center of the world. The sword cut the deepest root of the world tree, and when it did Jötunheimr was cut off from Yggdrasil bounties." Urd said. She wasn't finished speaking.
"Thrym's frost giants attacked Jötunheimr from Niflheim en masse, building many fortresses and castles and increasing us, the hill Giants. They build a castle, Thrymheim,on the massive block of ice that used to be the lake of Urd, and now they ruled this land. My two sisters and I escaped to the bottom of frozen lake, but we lack the power we once had. The Frost Giants are not satisfied, however, and they are trying to kill all are servants, the animals that live in this land. If they succeed our power will vanish and they will be able to elevate Thrymheim to ALfheim's surface."
"What?! If they do that it will destroy the town of Arun!" Klein said.
"King Thyrm desires to cover ALfheim in snow, and rise to the top of the world tree Yggdrasil. He desires the Golden Apple said to grow there. Thrym and his generals have grown upset at their inability to slay my servants and have begun to ask for the help of you fairies. He offers Excalibur as a prize, and his goal is to have my servant annihilated. But King Thrym has no intention of giving that sword to anyone. When Excalibur vanishes from Thrymheim, Yggdrasil bounties will return to this land, and the castle will melt and fall." Urd said causing a great deal of confusion among the group.
"So the quest is a lie? Can this game have quest like that." Lisbeth asked the AI.
"Thrym probably plans to bestow the false sword, Caliburn, which looks identical to Excalibur." Urd answer.
"That's cheating. Is a King allowed to do that?" Leafa said.
"Cheating is Thrym's most potent weapon. But he has made one mistake. He sent most of his Giants down from Thrymheim, to assist the fairy warriors. The castle's defenses are weaker than they've ever been." Urd stated.
"So this is our only shot." Seth said. Urd raised her right hand up and a green stone pennant was materialized.
"When this pended turned completely black, it's signals that my servants all lie slain and my power gone. Fairies, infiltrate Thrymheim, and draw Excalibur the Keystone Dias. I am counting on you, fairies." Urd finished speaking an a text bubbled appeared in front of Kirito offering a quest to retrieve Excalibur.
Urd disappeared from the group leaving them to wonder if this was a normal quest. Yui explained that the game Engine used to run ALO was a full copy of SAO engine and the floating castle Aincrad was able to destroy itself, so ALO could do the same. The group was starting to get worried, but they couldn't let that get them down. There was too much at stake. The group opened the massive ice doors of Thrymheim and charred forward.
Thrymheim.
The group of eight were currently locked in battle with two large Minotaur type creatures. The one in front was a golden Minotaur with a high resistance to physical attacks, while the one in the back, the black Minotaur was resistant to magic attacks. The group was trying to deal with the golden, but when they were able to damage it a little the black Minotaur would heal the golden one.
"The golden one's resistance to physical attacks is too high!" Leafa said. Suddenly the golden Minotaur raised it massive battle axe up high.
"Incoming shock wave attack!" Yui warned the group.
"Two...one!" Blaze stated as the Minotaur unleashed it's attack. The giant brought down its axe and unleashed a shock wave. The group moved to avoid the attack, but hey still were caught up in the attack. Asuna noticed that the groups health bars was dangerous low. She had to heal them quickly.
"Su. Filah. Heiragul. Austl. Blot. Suparl. Bani." Asuna said and the groups HP bars began to recover.
"Onii-chan! The medallion is over seventy percent cover." Leafa said. The Minotaur slashed at the group, but Kirito was able to block the attack using both of his blades to catch the axe. The group wouldn't last much longer at this rate.
"Everyone use your magic sword skills! I know it will leave us vulnerable to any attacks, but we have to do it! Silica, time your bubble to my countdown." Kirito said s he let go of the golden Minotaur attack.
"Okay!" Silica answered.
"Two...One... Now!" Kirito yelled.
"Pina, bubble breath!" Silica yelled and the small blue feather dragon unleashed a barrage of bubble from its mouth, stunning the Minotaur. "GO!" Kirito yelled. Everyone charged up a sword skill and their weapons began to glow. They charged at the golden Minotaur.
The first the strike was Klein who unleashed a fire slash from his katana. The next was Leafa who unleashed a air slashed at the Minotaur. Lightning formed on Lizbeth mace as she struck the boss. Silica used a water type sword skill that struck the Minotaur in the back. Sinon used an ice arrow and shot the Minotaur in the face. The next person to strike was Kirito as he used a fire type sword skill. Kirito was about use skill connect to use a chain of sword skills, but before he could use the second skill Seth charged in with two katanas glowing blue.
The group watched in awe as they saw Seth's attack hit the Minotaur. Slash after slash after slash, it seemed like there was no end in sight for Seth's attack. The sword skill did end after Seth impaled the two kanatas into the Minotaur and caused an explosion of fire that engulfed the beast. The golden Minotaur's health reach zero and he disappeared into several polygon. The group now focus on the black Minotaur and quickly took care of him by unleashing a rapid barrage of slashes, hacks and arrows. With the two bosses taken care of, the group could finally get to the matter at hand.
"Seth, what on earth was that skill you just used. Was that a dual sword skill?" Kirito asked as he saw both of Seth's kanatas glowing that the same time when he used that sword skill so it wasn't skill connect.
"Sort of, it's called dual katana blades. I was randomly selected to test this skill." Seth then explained that there were three randomly selected people to take part in a beta testing for dual wielding skills. Needless to say the group was shocked that this fact, but they were running out of time. They only had about an hour before the green gem turned completely black. They had no time to waste.
About 30 minutes later.
The group had rushed through the rest of the dungeon floor, killing anything dumb enough to get between them and the sword Excalibur. They were well on their way to the next level when they started to hear what sounded like weeping. Naturally this peaked the group's interest and they soon saw the source of the weeping. It was a cute blond, green eyed girl who was trapped inside of a cage made of ice. Klein instantly fell in love with the girl.
"Please…let me out." The girl said. Klein was more than happy to let the girl out until Kirito stopped him.
"It's a trap." Kirito said.
"That's a trap." Lizbeth said.
"Definitely a trap." Sinon said.
"Y-Yeah, it's a trap, isn't it? Maybe…" Klein said if you wanted to reject the fact that this was clearly a trap.
"Well, Yui?" Kirito asked his virtual daughter.
"It's an NPC." Yui stated.
"However, she is integrated into the system like Urd." Flame stated.
"So she's an AI, but for some reason she has a health bar." Blaze said.
"We may have to fight her if we free her." Seth said.
"It's a trap." Asuna said.
"It's a trap, right?" Silica asked.
"I think it's a trap." Leafa said.
"There is the chance that it's not a trap." Kirito said, but before Klein could response, Seth walked up to the cage and but his hand on [Kurikara].
"Well if this is a trap, let's spring it." Seth said and he slashed the cage open freeing the girl. The group was ready for whatever was next. Luckily the girl was not hostile.
"Thank you fairy swordsman." The woman said to Seth. She tried to get up, but she fell into Seth's chest.
"Can you stand?" Set asked the AI.
"Yes. Give me a moment." After a few second the woman got up and began to speak.
"Fairy swordsman I need your help. King Thrym has stolen my family treasure and I alone do not have the strength to fight him. Please help me." Kirito received a message saying that an NPC wished to join his party.
"Hey we might as well do, it we're going the same way." Seth said.
"Fine." Kirito said as he pressed accept and Freyja joined their party.
"Wait! Her name is Freyja as in the Norse goddess of Love, Sex, Beauty, War, and Death?!" Seth said. The group now began to focus on their next task. The way the dungeon was laid out, the moment they got to the next level the boss fight would begin. Kirito wanted the group to be on the defensive until they learned Thrym's attack pattern then they would hit him as hard as they could.
The next floor.
The group arrived at a giant pair of ice doors at the bottom of the staircase they were on. The doors opened and a blast of cold air hit them.
"Sea. Phila. Skina. Hagl. Hoggu. Margel. Ilt!" Asuna said as she added the a buff to the group's stats. As the group was about to move Freyja began to speak.
"Ord. Naza. Fyol. Legin. Tinaga. Vilindol. Yottsun." Freyja said as she added her own buff to the team. They didn't expect Freyja buff to increase their health bars.
"I didn't know there were spells that increases your max HP!" Silica said. As the group was now ready they entered the room where the boss Thrym would surely be. As they walked a thick white mist surrounded their path. In the hall the group saw that there were weapons and treasures all made of pure gold worth a ton of ALO currency Yuld.
"How much Yuld do you think this is worth?" Lizbeth asked. As the Group took a moment to admire all the treasure in the room of voice began to speak.
"A fly is buzzing about." The voice said. The group quickly turn towards the source of the voice and to the shadows they could see your figure approaching.
"I can hear it irritating buzz. Let me see." The ground began to shake as the figure got closer. "I'll crush it before it causes any trouble." The group finally saw the boss and he was huge. The man easily towered above the group.
"So Urd has sent the little flies of ALfheim all the way down here? I'll make you an offer, tiny ones. Tell me where she is, and you can have as much gold from this room as you can carry." Thrym offered to the group, but Klein had a different offer for him.
"A samurai doesn't eat. He just laughs! I won't take a up you up on a cheap offer like that." Klein finished his sentence by drawing his katana. The group followed Klein and drew their weapons. Thrym chuckled at their small show of courage. His eyes gazed at the group and notice someone special was upon them.
"If it isn't lady Freyja. If you've left your cage, does that mean you've decided to become my wife?" This information was shocking to Klein who had taken an interest to Freyja even though she was just an AI.
"Did he say wife?" Klein yelled in shock.
"That is correct. She came here to Marry me. But the night before the feast, she was sneaking around my treasure vaults. To punish her, I locked her in a cage of ice." Thrym ended his sentence with a chuckle.
"Hey Onii-chan…I think I read about this in a book. Thrym and Freyja a stolen treasure…it was, um…I think…" Leafa was unable to finish her sentence as Freyja began to speak.
"I refuse to become your wife! These swordsmen and I shall defeat you, and take back what was stolen!" Freyja said.
"Such brave words. One can see why the legends of Lady Freyja's beauty and bravery are known to the ends of this world. But the flower, the more fun it is to pluck it. After I've crushed these flies, I will give you all the attention you desire." Thrym began to chuckle. Klein was becoming furious.
"You bastard. I won't let you! I won't let you lay a single finger on Freyja."
"I hear the sound of buzzing wings. To celebrate all of Jötunheimr becoming mine, I will start by crushing you." Light lit up the room and Thrym gained a HP bar.
"This is where the fun begins." Seth said.
Vs. Thrym.
Thrym began the battle by cocking his fist back and unleashing a powerful punch using his giant hands. The group moved away from the king of frost giants and began their attack. The first to strike was Sinon. She fired a fire arrow dead center into Thrym face. The frost giant King was knocked back and staggered. Seth, Kirito, Leafa, and Klein were the attack unit.
The four of them attacked Thrym while he was stunned. Kirito launched a couple of slashes at Thrym. The next to follow were Leafa and Klein who used sword skills to attack the frost giant King. The next one to cover their attack was Seth. He had both of his katanas out and attacked Thrym. Seth used Crimson sorrow and the 16 hit attack did its work, it was able to nearly deplete the first of four health bar Thrym the frost giant King had, but it was just a little short. Seth was unable to move to the cool down time. Thrym saw this as the perfect chance to attack the immobilized fairy. He was going to stomp on Seth, but as the frost giant King brought down his foot, Sinon shot it with a another fire arrow and was able to force the leg off of its trajectory, missing Seth.
"Don't worry! I got your back!" Sinon said cheerfully. Seth was finally able to move and the group was able to launch it second wave of attack, but all the changed when they witness Thrym jump up into the air.
"His cool down time for his ice breath is over!" Yui yelled to warn the other was what was to come.
"Leafa! Move! He's targeting you!" Blaze yelled to warn the girl. The blond avatar took blaze's warning and was able to move in time to avoid the ice breath attack. Freyja decided to add her hand into the battle and unleashed a powerful lightning spell that depleted caused Thrym's second health bar to be only half full.
Thrym retaliated by unleashing another powerful ice breath attack causing the attack groups HP to drop significantly. The group had to take moment to recover the lot HP.
"Sinon! Give us 30 seconds!" Seth asked the Cait Sith. The blue haired Cait Sith responded by firing another barrage of fire arrow at the frost giant King.
As the battle continued Frayia realized that the swordsmen would not be able to finish off Thrym. He was just too powerful, but there was a way for them to win, but for that they needed her family heirloom.
"Swordsmen, you cannot defeat Thrym this way. You have but one hope. My families treasure, which is in somewhere in this room." Freyja said to Kirito.
"Got it. What kind of treasure is it?"
"It's a Golden Hammer, about this large." Freyja said as she held out her hand.
"A hammer?"
"Kirito, I'll hold off Thrym with Sinon. You have to find the hammer quickly." Seth said as he recovered enough HP to fight. He joined Sinon who was dodging the frost giant king's attack. Seth decided to use the fact the Thrym was too busy focus on Sinon to notice him to his advantage. He used the eclipse. The group didn't have the luxury to stare at set as he was unleashing this powerful sword skill.
Kirito and Leafa were searching frantically through the piles of gold trying to find the family heirloom but they were having little luck. That was when Leafa thought of an idea.
"Onii-chan, use a lightning sword skill."
"Lightning?" Kirito wasted no time in charging up the sword skill. The black sword he had began to glow purple as lightning sparks began to come out of the sword. The lightning coursed through the large piles of gold and eventually something reacted to the lightning. It began shine. Kirito rushed towards the source of the light and found a golden hammer. He extended his hand to pick up the hammer but he soon find out that the hammer was incredibly heavy.
"Freyja, take it!" Kirito yelled as he found the strength to toss the hammer. Freyja Took a hammer in her hand and immediately she felt power coursing through her body.
"It's flowing...Overflowing." Freyja body began to glow, getting the intention of the entire party, who were wondering what was happening.
"It's overflowing. It's overflowing…" Freyja yelled out a roar before she transformed. Her clothing ripped off and she grew massive in size. Seth just finished using the eclipse and turned to Freyja just in time to see her transform.
"What on earth?!" Seth said as Freyja finished her transformation and now appeared as a very muscular blond man with a large blond beard on his face. He was also equally as tall as the frost giant king.
"It's a G-Guy?!" Klein, Kirito, and Seth yelled in shock as the cute elf girl was replaced by this humongous man. Seth looked at his HUD and saw the Freyja was no longer a member of their party and was replaced by Thor.
"Thor of Asgard? Son of Odin? God of lightning?!" Seth though as he looked at the tall man. Thor yelled out as he approached Thrym.
"Cowardly giant did you steal my treasure, Mjölnir?" Thor said to Thrym. "For that you will suffer!" Thor swung down his hammer, but Thrym brought out an single handed axe and blocked Thor's attack. But Thor countered it, by punching Thrym in the face, and the frost giant King returned the favor.
"Filthy God…you'll pay for tricking me. I'll rip off that bearded face of yours and send you back to Asgard!"
"Hey! Attack Thrym while Thor is holding him off!" Flame yelled as she noticed that the group was doing nothing.
"She's right! Everyone attack as hard as you can! Use all your sword skills!" Kirito yelled as he charged to attack. Asuna brought out her rapier and join the assault. Everyone started to unleashed everything that they had. Thrym fell to the floor and the group launched their final assault. Thrym health bar were nearly depleted and he was on his knees. Thor approached the ice giant King and brought down his hammer.
"Return to the depths of the earth, king of Giants!" Thor smashed Thrym head with his hammer and destroyed his crown. Ice started to form around Thrym body, but before he disappeared he had a few words to say.
"Be proud of your victory for now, insects. But if you or your card around the gods of Asgard –." He was unable to finish his sentence as Thor struck him again with Mjölnir causing him to explode. With Thrym gone Thor began to speak.
"I thank you, fairy swordsmen. Now I have avenge the theft of my treasure. I must reward you." A small golden hammer fell and Klein caught it. "The lightning hammer, Mjölnir! Use it in righteous battles. Then, farewell." Thor said as he disappeared into light. The group was rewarded with some Yuld and Klein got a legendary weapon but he had no hammer skills so it was useless to him.
The quest to save the Jötunheimr was still going. The room began to shake violently and the group rushed out of the room into a new staircase that formed behind Thrym's throne. The followed the stairs and found themselves in a room with a golden sword in it. Kirito pulled the sword out of the ice keystone and once he did the roots of Yggdrasil connect restoring Jötunheimr to the life tree. But once Kirito pulled the sword, the ice dungeon began to break apart. As the dungeon was falling to the ground, Tonkii came back to the group. The group of eight quickly got on Tonkii with the prizes sword Excalibur in hand.
As the dungeon of ice fell to the floor the area around them began to change. The harsh cold land transformed into a lush green valley full of love. It looked as though the land was freed from an eternal winter. As the group looked in awe that the events occurring someone appeared in front of the group.
"You've done a wonderful job. The sword that cuts through all trees in iron, Excalibur, has been removed from its dais, and Jötunheimr has returned to it's proper form. This is all thanks to you. My sisters wish to thank you, as well." Urd said as she appeared to the group. Suddenly someone appeared next to Urd.
"My name is Verdandi. Thank you, fairy swordsmen. I never thought I'd see a green Jötunheimr again. It's like a dream." The shorter long hair younger sibling said. Now to Urd's other side another person appeared.
"My name is Skuld. I thank you, warriors." The two little sisters created a sphere of light in there hands and blew it towards the party of eight. The party received a notice that they were awarded a lot of Yuld.
"I offer you that blade." Urd said as Excalibur began to glow. The sword disappear and Kirito received a text bubble that said 'Quest bonus: Excalibur'.
"All right!" Kirito cheered as he got the blade that he was after for months.
"Thank you, fairies. Let us meet again." All three of the ladies said before they flew off. And with that the quest to retrieve Excalibur was over. The group made their way back to town before they all logged off.
Back in Seth'sapartment.
Seth removed his Amusphere from his head and got up from his bed. He needed to start making his meal for the night. He opened his refrigerator and got out some ingredients. As he was choking up vegetables for some curry he was planning, he sensed that someone was standing outside of his door. It was Sinon. Seth grabbed a couple of more vegetables and began to cut them. It was a couple of minutes until he heard a knocking on his door. Seth opened the door and was greeted by the black hair school girl holding a couple of school supplies.
"Shino? What's up?" Seth asked the girl.
"Um...I was wondering if you would helpme with my English homework." Instantly Seth knew something was up. Shino was pretty good at English and she even was able to hold a conversation, but he knew that she was standing out there of a while, so he let her in. She took off her shoes and sat down at the kotatsu table he had out. Seth sat down next to her and began to help her with her winter break homework.
Micah through their study session, Seth offered Shino some of the curry he made. Naturally she tried to refuse it, but Shino's stomach betrayed her. She accepted the food and put the first spoonful into her mouth. She dropped her spoon.
"Eh? Shino? What's wrong?!" Seth asked as Shino wasn't moving.
"This is so delicious! How on earth did you make it so good?!" Seth sighed in relief.
"You scared me for a moment Shino. I thought you didn't like it." Seth and Shino continued to eat their meal. While they were eating, Shino noticed the pictures Seth had set up. She decided to asked him on who the people were. Seth told her who the people in the photos were and when it came to Akikaze, Shino nearly choked on her food. He told her that his mother in America was watching after his son for him, which was somewhat true. Chiharu was at the moon base and was most likely taking care of Akikaze along with the other girls. After that little shocked, Seth decided to confront Shino on why she was here.
"Shino, I know that something is on yourmind, so why don't you tell me what it is. I'll try to help you as best as I can." Seth said and Shino pulled out something from her bag. It was a pair of movie tickets.
"I was wondering if you would like to go to a movie this Saturday with me." Shino said. It took Seth a moment to process what was happening. Shino was asking him out.
"W-w-what?! Are you asking me out?!" Seth said.
"Well yea, um is this not how you ask someone out? I've never done this before." Shino stated.
"Well this is one way of asking someone out, but I'm eight years older than you and I have a son? Doesn't that bother you."
"Well it certainly shocking, but don't really mind it. Actually I think it's kind of attractive that your a single dad. And I don't really mind you being eight years older than me, I enjoy being with you."
"Well, when you put it like that, I have no reason to reject you. And I also enjoy spending time with you. So if you're really alright with me, then I'll be more than happy to go out with you."
"So it's a date?" Shino asked.
"It's a date." Seth said.