— VII —
Something is changing…
Things hadn't gotten better since the Guardian joined the battle. The steady control Neo had over the environment was diminishing, little by little.
And the reason…
*Swish* A slash almost clipped his equipment.
These damn things are adapting, Neo thought.
One of the things that distinguished SAO from other MMOs was the AI's ability to adjust gameplay based on the player's style. If you were the aggressive type, the mobs would start to retreat more to annoy you. If you played hit-and-run, they would try to overrun you aggressively. After a few minutes of exchange, the AI would make a decision based on that information and change the approach.
And that time—
One of the Troopers overextended. Neo capitalized by dodging, then hitting the temple with a roundhouse kick imbued with [Counter]. The next moment he was breaking away, and a horizontal slash came out of nowhere, threatening to cleave him in half from the torso.
—had come.
He repositioned himself, activating [Minimal Side Step Defense] to retreat faster. But the axe was imbued with green light, clearly representing a sword skill in course, which made it even faster than the usual swing.
He got hit in the chest, a red slash drawn on him.
"Neo—!!" Lisbeth cried from behind.
The Trooper that had eaten his foot went into sparkles and disappeared. The other one, responsible for the hit, maintained position and didn't pursue him.
"Just got a lucky hit!!" he responded.
But internally, he was re-evaluating.
Should I take Lisbeth and just run?
Truth be told, the other paths might lead toward their end: another trap, harder mobs, etc. His [Detection] skill wasn't reliable enough to map them out of danger. However, as the seconds passed, that line of thought gained ground: the better these things adapted to his style, the less sure he could assure victory.
What do I do–? His inner workings ran at full throttle to gain a proper answer.
«Redfang» roared back at the loss of one of its minions. A red aura coated him and the other two Troopers.
Shit. An aura skill?
Those were owned only by special mobs to buff in battle. Until now, no one had discovered that type of skill for players.
The Troopers surrounded him as they prepared their weapons for the next wave of attacks.
"Lisbeth!" The American called out. "We're getting out… circumvent the room, and I'll see ya–"
A heavy thud resounded from behind one of the Troopers. A growl followed. The creature, in an act of self-preservation, fell back beside «Redfang».
The mace wielder emerged from the Trooper's shadow. "I got you!" she said. "We're doing this together!"
Fool woman…
He wanted to berate her… and couldn't bring himself to do it. That would mean he was looking down upon her resolution… and courage.
"Thanks," he replied. "We should leave this place towards–"
"Wait!" she interrupted. "The others… Asuna and Mito-san have a plan."
She briefly explained what had happened a few moments ago.
As if on cue, the mobs stopped waiting and restarted their offensive.
"Stay with only one of them!" The American cut past one of the Troopers to gain ground between the Guardian and Trooper #2. "Play it safe. Use ONLY what we taught you!"
Effectively separated: a 2v1 and a 1v1 in the room.
"Nn!" Lisbeth raised her weapon, hitting the Kobold from the side before it could unite with its comrades.
We'll hold, then… The American ducked a passing club over his head. I really hope they can reach us fast…
...
[Pruner]!
The scythe wielder repeatedly swung her weapon over her head, cleaving every «Ruin Kobold» foolish enough to reach her kill zone with a vertical slash.
As they'd expected, the path wasn't clear anymore. Taking care of those pests would lead to a larger amount of time than when they'd been four instead of two.
His presence sure made a difference before, Mito thought.
Not that these mobs were strong, just numerous.
[Linear]
Asuna thrust her weapon without waiting to recuperate her ragged breath. She wasn't waiting to recover anymore. Her next thrust came as soon as the last one liberated itself from post-motion delay.
After getting rid of some more kobolds, they both reached the last room.
There they are. Mito confirmed the presence of those holes in the wall. Barely one person could fit through their dirty walls.
Asuna sheathed her rapier at her waist. "Let's go, we don't have much time!" She lifted herself into a hole, about to put her head in to start entering, when a hand was placed on her shoulder.
"Wait!" Mito stopped her at the last second. "W-we should discuss this more thoroughly…"
Asuna snapped back at her friend, confusion written over her face. "What? You got hit?" She turned worried, examining her partner and her health bar.
"No, no," the scythe user shook her head in denial. "I-I just thought we should go more slowly with this 'go into the mysterious hole and test our luck' stuff…"
"What do you mean?"
"Think clearly," Mito started her argument, pointing at the holes in the wall. "You think that may lead us toward them without any surprise? For me, it could pretty much be another trap to make us think there's another way in."
She let the argument sink in for a moment.
"If there's a dead end or worse, we might not be able to go back," the ponytailed girl remarked. "We could end up like them: trapped in a separate room, and…"
She didn't finish her argument. Her point had already been made.
"B-but Liz and Neo are in danger," the fencer shot back, her voice rising. "We have no other way to help them!"
"We might as well have no way to help at all…" she said, with gravity.
The truth was that all her wording was just fuss, a filler trying not to convey her direct message:
LET THEM BE.
"Please, Asuna." She made her argument more open. "They got trapped. We got lucky. They didn't." She wrapped Asuna in a hug.
"Sometimes… that's all that's needed to survive: luck," she murmured close to her classmate's ear. "And sometimes, the best thing we could do to honor the fallen is to make good use of that. Endure, and come back once we are stronger."
Asuna didn't answer. Her free hand had found the grip of her rapier and stayed there.
Since the sight of Asuna's near-death on the outskirts of «Horunka», Mito hadn't stopped thinking about what she could have done better. Fight harder? Retreat into the «Town of the Beginnings»? Just go through the vegetation, as her original plan had said?
Her mind was full of possibilities and counterarguments against Neo's approach by now. If she hadn't been so stressed and pushed towards immediate action, she wouldn't have allowed that course of action ever.
Because of all of that, she wasn't willing to let it happen for a second consecutive day.
THEY ARE DONE.
That was the final message: We are alive, so let's move forward. Let us go without them.