Sword Art Online: Aincrad's Hollow Fragment

December 11, 2024

Floor 76: Arc Sophia

I couldn't sleep. No matter how I tried to brush the situation aside, I just couldn't. I sat up slowly from my bed as the sun started to rise, rubbing the bridge of my temple in thought.

If Laughing Coffin really has returned, we need to hunt them down again. I don't want to have a repeat of last time... especially since I...

Flashback

October 25, 2024

Laughing Coffin Headquarters

I thought back to my rage, my hatred, my anger towards the murder guild as they held both Ashtry and Kiyo hostage. The same rage that drove me to kill two of their members and douse my hands in their digital blood. The laughter and joy on PoH's face still mocking me to this day.

PoH- Simply splendid Kazzu! That's the aggression I've been craving from you. Pure, unbridled rage! The intention to kill your enemy without a second thought! Now that I've proven that your Dark Prince is just as much of a killer as I am, I have a new goal in mind. I will corrupt him to the point where he ends this game through mass genocide!

Present Day

I shook my head in disgust over his plan. I had no intention of killing anybody in this game except for my father, but in that situation, my hand was forced. I didn't enjoy killing them, I had only wished my family safe.

Is that justification for taking two lives?

I couldn't answer my own question as a message notification appeared on my menu. I opened it up, noticing that Philia sent it to me. Curious, I opened the message.

Philia- Meet me in the Administration Area as soon as possible. I may have found a lead on something.

Excitement filled my body as I jumped out of bed, equipped my gear, gave both Ashtry and Kiyo a kiss on their foreheads as they were still asleep, and left Agil's Shop.

Let's see what you have in store for me today, Philia.

December 11, 2024

Hollow Area: Forest Maze

"Philia, will you slow down? At this rate, we're going to get lost."

Philia- No we aren't Kazzu! I already told you that I discovered the route to something that might help us figure out what to do in this place. I spent the rest of yesterday exploring and planning out map data.

"By yourself? You could've told me, and I would've helped you."

Philia- I didn't want to bother you. You had already helped me with the treasure hunt yesterday and I didn't want to overwork you.

"It wouldn't have been a problem. However, if it's ok with you, since I'm now helping you with this mystery, I would like to have your map data."

Philia- I can arrange that, any reason why?

"An info broker of mine would be very intrigued to have data like this. She, like you, also worries about me doing too much."

Philia- Sounds like you're quite the charmer.

"Not really... so... map data?"

Philia- Of course, here you go.

She transferred the data over, giggling at me as I looked it over, interested at the areas around us.

"What's so funny?"

Philia- The way you act in this game... it shows that you are both a gamer and very passionate about this game. Not a surprise since you helped make it.

"If things had worked out different, I would be happier that this game came to fruition. My father, unfortunately, destroyed all of that."

Philia- Yea... say Kazzu?

"Hm?"

Philia- You always mention your father but never talk about your mother. Why is that?

I stayed quiet at the mention of my mother. No one had really asked me to say anything about her, so I hadn't put much thought to it. Philia looked at me apologetically when my gaze shifted to the ground.

Philia- I'm sorry if I brought up anything uncomfortable.

"No, it's ok. I just... don't really remember my mother or got the chance to know her."

Philia- What do you mean?

"My father, before we even started development on Sword Art Online, had told me that my mother... was a beautiful woman. Headstrong, smart, funny. She was happy to know that she would soon be the mother of a future genius. I, of course, never considered myself to be a genius but that's what my father said that she told him. On the day of my birth, my mother... wasn't lucky enough to live through the procedure."

Philia- Oh... Kazzu... I'm so sorry.

"Don't be, it's ok. I just... never had the chance to know my mother like my father did. The only thing he kept telling me is that I inherited her eyes."

Philia- Well... if it means anything... you have very pretty eyes...

I hid a small blush from the treasure hunter. I placed the map data in my inventory and kept walking forward. A smile appeared on Philia's face as she walked besides me. As we navigated the endless maze of trees and grass, we noticed that there was a group of people ahead of us.

Philia- Kazzu, look. There are people up ahead.

"Yea..."

I slowly placed my hand on my blade, observing closer to see if they were a threat. Philia spotted this and grabbed her dagger.

Philia- Are they the same people as last time? The player killers?

"No... their choice of clothes are different. They might just be normal players but keep your guard up. They could also be in disguise."

Philia gave me a small nod as we made our way towards the players ahead. As we approached, they seemed to pay us no mind, even going as far enough as to pass us by. I raised in eyebrow in confusion.

What the hell?

"Hey, you..."

The player turned around and gave us a questioning look. She looked to have basic starting gear and didn't look all that strong.

What is she doing here?

Female Adventurer- Yes?

"Hello, nice to meet you. Do you have time for a little chat?"

Female Adventurer- Sure.

"So, did you get thrown in here from Aincrad as well?"

Female Adventurer- From Aincrad? What are you talking about? This is Aincrad.

So, this place is part of Aincrad as well? Would make the most sense since I discovered this area through a cave teleport system. But if this is Aincrad, where are the labyrinths? Why does the map data refer to this place as the Hollow Area?

"Sorry, what I'm trying to ask is where are you from? Like, originally?"

She seemed lost by the question. She held her head and started wondering where she originally came from.

Female Adventurer- Originally...? I wonder... I keep teleporting all over the place. I couldn't say where I came from originally...

I looked over at Philia to see if she had heard anything similar to that. She shook her head along with a shrug as I turned my attention back to the adventurer.

"So, why are you here? What is your purpose?"

Female Adventurer- What am I doing here? I'm carrying out raids and assaults, of course. Using weapons and skills to take out the enemy.

She sounds like an NPC, but she's a regular player... right?

"Well, what about a base? Do you have a base nearby or any good places around here? I'd be grateful for any information."

Philia- Think you're coming a bit strong there, Kazzu?

"It's a valid question. If there are other players stuck here, we can join forces with them and help them out."

Female Adventurer- A base...? I don't remember. Besides, I don't think you're supposed to talk about things like that with strangers...

Can't be an NPC if she's thinking about her base's safety.

Philia- I told you.

"Sorry for that miss. I guess you want to get out of here now, huh?"

Female Adventurer- No thank you. I'm busy.

"What I meant was if you wanted to come back to town. Your equipment looks to be under leveled for this area."

Female Adventurer- Maybe later, but thanks for the invite.

Before I could ask any more questions, she turned around and walked further into the forest, leaving me with more questions than answers.

"Well damn..."

Philia- Not the answers you wanted?

"Well, something caught my attention."

Philia- Enlighten me...

"Just that girl in general. First off, her equipment was what was given at the beginning of the game. Her armor and weapon were equivalent to a stick on this floor. If she is out here with gear like that, she would be eaten alive. Second was the way she spoke; she acted like an NPC despite the fact of being a player. Listening to her talk, I realized that she was a player when she refused to give me information. If she was an NPC, she would've given me any information I wanted with the right key phrase."

Philia- So what do you think is going on?

"Her responses were pretty normal, but I'm sure there was something unusual about her. There are too many unknowns about it, but I do believe it has something to do with the Hollow Area."

Philia- More mysteries. How exciting!

"Speaking of mysteries, why did you bring me out here?"

Philia- We are almost there, just follow me.

Seeing the end of the maze, Philia ran towards it, leaving me behind to chuckle at her childish behavior.

December 11, 2024

Hollow Area: Bridge to Bastia Gate

Philia- There it is!

She pointed over to a gate with a floating, thin, magic symbol in the center of a light blue bridge surrounded by smaller glowing symbols. I raised an eyebrow and walked towards it with Philia.

"Ashtry would have a field day painting these... I have to bring her here at some point..."

I wish I could bring everyone but... can't win them all.

Philia- So Kazzu, see anything similar on this gate?

Taking a closer look, I noticed a similar indentation.

"This looks like the same symbol as the one that appeared on my hand..."

Philia- Right!? And check this out!

She excitedly opened her inventory and pulled out a small charm that looked like a necklace. In the center was a dark blue gem, with the same engraving carved in the center of the gem.

Philia- I found this in a temple nearby and started to wonder if there were items with the same engraving that were important key items. Before I could answer my own question, I found this gate and realized I explored the whole area. I think this necklace is the key to discovering more of the Hollow Area.

"Whoa... nice job Philia! Well, what are we waiting for!? Use the necklace!

She happily pointed and presented it to the gate. After waiting for a few seconds, nothing happened.

Philia- Well that's a letdown... nothing is happening...

"Perhaps we need to do something first in order to grant us access? Any ideas?"

Philia- Well... there might be something... I wasn't sure about it at first, but it seems to be the only lead I have.

"Lay it on me."

Philia- There was a black door in a shrine that I explored before grabbing you. I tried to get close to it, but a horde of skeletons spawned in.

"Skeletons don't sound too bad..."

Philia- As well as weird looking black hole things that kept appearing on the ground. They drained my stamina and lowered my speed significantly.

"Now I see the problem. Slow the target down and unleash a horde. Classic tactic. Nothing the both of us can't handle."

Philia- My thought's exactly.

December 11, 2024

Hollow Area: Shrine of Offerings

Multiple shattering noises echoed throughout the entire shrine as me and Philia reached the room she had referred to.

Philia- For a forest area, this place sure does have a lot of undead things and reapers.

"Well to be fair, I've been seeing a lot of bugs and tree monsters as we've made our way to our destinations. Can't have one enemy type in one area. It would be too boring."

Philia- Well regardless, the undead are starting to annoy me.

"That sucks because we still have to get through this room of yours."

Philia- I know, damn it. Let's get it over with.

As we took a step into the room, multiple skeletons spawned in as well as two of the black holes Philia mentioned. Thinking quickly, I pulled out my sword and charged at the skeletons, slashing two of them and shattering them.

Philia- Black hole, three o' clock!

I looked to my right and jumped out of the way of the incoming hole, regrouping with Philia.

Philia- Got a plan?

Assessing the situation, I saw the skeletons I killed respawn and slowly make their way towards us. I noticed as they stepped on top of a black hole, parts of them were disintegrated.

There it is!

"Philia, draw the attention of the black holes while I gather the skeletons. Once they are all together, bring them underneath the skeletons and get behind me!"

Philia- Got it!

She bolted towards the black holes, jumping over them both and drawing their attention while I taunted the skeletons to attack me. As they repeatedly attacked me with their spears and swords, Philia managed to leap over them all and stand closely behind me. Both black holes crawled their way underneath us all and started to slowly drain our speed and stamina. More and more attacks started to hack, slash and cut through my body. Philia gripped my armor tightly, worried that I would die in front of her. I only looked back at her and smiled. The black holes eventually breaking down the skeletons into mere dust and they both collapsed in on themselves.

Philia- Is it over? We won?

"Yea... we're good... ow..."

Philia- Are you ok? You were taking a beating.

"I've handled worse... besides, my health is still in the yellow."

I pulled out a healing potion and slowly chugged it down, raising my health back to full and feeling energized. I noticed the black door at the end of the room and walked towards it, Philia following close behind. I placed my hand on the door and inspected it further.

"The door... It has the same pattern written on it as that necklace..."

Philia- Then it must be connected. The necklace, this door and the bridge all have the same symbol. Maybe we can unlock the bridge by getting whatever is behind the door."

She pulled out the necklace again and held it up to the door. Almost immediately, the door swung open and revealed a hallway leading towards a giant cathedral like room.

"Philia... we might be heading into a boss room."

Philia- Are the two of us going to be enough for it?

"I'm not sure, but I want to unlock the secrets of the Hollow Area. A boss won't stop me from doing that."

I unequipped my sword and shield and summoned my gauntlets, bashing them together to hype myself up. Philia looking at my new weapons surprised.

Philia- Gauntlet type weapons?

"It's my unique skill. At the risk of defense, my attack speed and reaction time increase tremendously."

Philia- That's... so awesome!

In your face father. People seem to enjoy my skill.

"Let's go."

We both nodded at each other and walked deeper into the empty room. A dark, thunderous voice echoing throughout the halls.

?- Finally! The seal has been broken! My forest shall now know true darkness and terror once more! My name is Shadow Phantasm, and I shall reign supreme once again!

Black smoke started to surround the room and focused itself on the center, leading down into a never-ending abyssal hole. A smokey black claw forced its way out of the hole and pulls itself out as a giant beast emerges from the abyss and let out a nightmarish roar.

Philia- Holy shit! How are we supposed to fight that!?

"I'm not..."

I barely had time to finish my sentence as the beast charged towards me and Philia. We both jumped out of the way as its claws were buried deep in the ground.

"Philia, strike at its legs! Bring it down to our level so we can attack the head!"

Philia- On it!

Philia lunged forward and unleashed multiple sword skills on its legs, only to have her weapon phase through and do no damage.

So, the smoke isn't just for effect. We won't be able to hit it with normal attacks.

Philia- Nothing worked It just went right through it!

The beast swung its claw at Philia, catching her off guard as she is slammed against the wall and knocked down to her knees.

"Philia!"

Distracted by the safety of my comrade, the beast swiped at me and caused me to crash into the opposite wall. I stumbled back up to my feet and raised my hands up high and the beast prepared to swing again. Hoping to block the attack to get a better idea on how to proceed in this battle, its claw phased through my hand and clawed me across the chest, sending me flying backwards towards the end of the hallway and dropping my health to the red.

Philia- Kazzu!

She got up and tried to make her way towards me, but the beast jumped in front of her and tried swiping at her again. Prepared for its attacks, Philia swiftly ducked and dodged out of the way, the monster not giving her any room to advance towards me. I slowly pushed myself back off the ground and used a healing crystal, raising my health back to yellow.

How are we supposed to hurt it! At this rate, this thing will kill us in no time!

Taking a moment to observe the monster, I noticed the silver chains wrapped around its legs, each chain holding onto a crystal all leading up towards its skull where a giant crystal clump rested.

The crystals! That must be what's keeping the creature manifested!

I took a deep breath as I rushed back into the fight, noticing Philia on the ground about to be devoured by the beast. I jumped into action as I quickly picked Philia up and jumped away from the beast before it could bite down on us.

"You ok, Philia?"

Philia- Yea... just need to heal a bit is all.

"You take as much time as you need to heal. I'll deal with the monster."

Philia- But we can't hit it...

"Because we don't need to hit it directly. The crystals around its body could be the key to victory."

She took a second to think about it and nodded as she hopped out of my arms and used a healing crystal.

Philia- What do you need me to do?

"Distract it for a bit longer while I charge up a skill. Once I shatter one of the crystals on its legs, go after the other until all legs are gone. Then, we can both attack the crystal mass on its skull and finish it off."

Philia- Sounds good to me. Let's kill this freak!

Philia sprinted ahead and made her way underneath the beast, slashing at the black fog that was his belly. This garnered the beast's attention as it tried to grab her with its claws, missing every chance it had as she nimbly dodged every attack. Charging forward at one of the crystals on its legs, I leapt up in the air and activated my sword skill.

"Smashing Knuckles!"

My body leapt forward, my fist slamming against one of the crystals, destroying it instantly. At the same time, the leg that the crystal was attached to started phasing through the floor, cutting itself off and giving the beast a disadvantage to its movement.

"Knew it! Philia, go for the other crystals! Once they're all destroyed, the monster will sink and dissipate into the floor!"

Philia- Leave it to me!

We continued our assault on each crystal as little by little, the monster slowly sank deeper into the floor, leaving only its skull and torso above ground. Me and Philia charged up our skills to be able to destroy the last crystal, but as we rushed in, the beast gave out a roar and let out one last attack from its mouth, sending a black smoke like laser towards us. In a split second, I shoved Philia out of the way as I took the full force of the blast, dust surrounding the area as Philia got back up in terror.

Philia- KAZZU!

As the dust settled, both friend and foe spotted me. My armor slightly shattered and my health inches away from hitting zero. My arms were held up, crossing over each other in front of my face in an x. Looking at my hands, they were glowing a bright purple hue. Lowering my hands back into a fighting stance, I felt energy surge from throughout my body, mainly focusing on my fists. Using the last bit of strength I had left, I rushed towards the beast and jumped in the air, cocking my fist back for one final punch. I closed my eyes tight and allowed all the energy to exit my fist as a new skill presented itself in my menu.

"Surging Terror Fists!"

The energy stored in my gauntlets exploded as multiple astral projections of my fists attacked the beast head on, hitting its body unlike the attacks we've hit it with. The beasts body started squirming and cringing in pain, allowing me and Philia to focus on the last crystal on top of its head.

"Smashing Knuckles!"

Philia- Rapid Bite!

We both simultaneously smashed our weapons against the crystal mass, slowly cracking and destroying it, causing the beast to fall through the floor, where we heard a final pained echo ring throughout the room with the faint sound of shattering. We had won the battle.

Philia- Did we do it?

"Yea... I think... we did..."

I fell to my knees as my gauntlets went back into my inventory. Philia sheathed her dagger and rushed over to me, holding me steady as I gathered my strength.

Philia- Don't worry Kazzu... I got you...

"Thank you Philia... couldn't have done it... without you..."

Philia- Don't flatter me... you and that awesome skill of yours won the day. How did you even do that?

"I'm not entirely sure. I just wanted you out of the way of the blast. I placed my arms in front of me and, even though I took most of the damage from the attack, my gauntlets sort of absorbed some if the energy, allowing me to redirect it."

Philia- That's incredible...

I pulled out my final healing crystal and used it to bring my health back up into yellow.

Philia- That was really tough... but we managed it somehow...

"I'm honestly shocked... I didn't think a party of two could take down a boss."

A small glow made itself known in Philia's pockets. As she reached in and pulled out the necklace, we both noticed that the gem of the necklace was now storing energy.

"Think we can open that gate now?"

Philia- We can look at it another day. We should go back to the Administration Area and rest.

"Aw, that's no fun."

Philia- You almost died trying to save me, you are getting rest.

"Fine..."

Before we could get up, another notification appeared in front of both of us. It read: "Implementation Complete! Mission: Beast Living in Shadow. Reward Granted: Original Sword Skill Combos Unlocked".

Philia- Original Sword Skill?

"Must be a very powerful passive skill or something... we can figure that out later. Let's get out of here."

December 11, 2024

Hollow Area: Administration Area

Philia- If it'll make you feel any better, I'll only activate the gate and wait for you to come back so we can both explore together. Sound fair?

"Fair enough to me. Don't go back on it and be branded a liar."

Philia- I swear on my name as a treasure hunter.

We both shared a laugh as we both said our goodbyes. I teleported back to Arc Sophia to get my equipment repaired, my health restored, and some much-needed rest. Philia let out a small sigh as she walked over to the Administration Area console and rested her hands on top of it, blushing only slightly as she turned back to the teleport gate.

Philia- He put himself in harm's way... just to protect me...