Chapter 106: Chapter 106 - Titles
The day after the 11th floor raid, Drifter and the rest of Reaver's Requiem were having their breakfast on a balcony in the main town of the 12th floor. Argo, Fuurinkazan, and the Legend Braves were also there, and the three guilds split up into smaller groups to chat while eating.
The 12th floor was mountainous, and the city they were in, populated by humans and dwarves, was structured on various levels. They were in one of the highest, looking down at the edge of Aincrad while they ate. The sun had just risen.
Drifter was sitting with his back to a house's wall, with Yuna leaning on his side. Argo had her legs dangling over the edge of the floor, carelessly kicking her feet. Sinon was laying down with her arms underneath her head and eyes closed, just vibing.
Klein and Asuna were sitting cross-legged near them, the samurai trying to convince the fencer of the merits of a katana. It was an old discussion, that never went anywhere, and they both knew it.
"I'm telling you Asuna, you need to try it sometime! There's nothing like slicing something with a katana!"
"It's too heavy for me! I prefer light and fast weapons. Even if I were to change my rapier, it would be for a dagger."
"What?! No offense to Silica and everyone else, but swords are the best! Even if you wanted to..."
Drifter tuned them out, and turned to the last person in their circle. Liz had several sticks of kebab in her hands and was giving them to the others - she had been on breakfast duty today. Drifter gladly took his third serving. They were delicious.
"So, what are my options, Liz?"
Yesterday, after they arrived on the 12th floor, the blacksmith had promised to either forge or find a replacement for his broken spear. Of course, Drifter had several backup weapons, exactly for this kind of occasion, but none were as good as his Caldea Fana.
"I'm still looking for appropriate materials. I think I'll find them on this floor, but meanwhile you should use this."
While speaking, Liz manipulated her menu and pulled out a long purple weapon. The wide, curved metal head immediately identified the item as a halberd, not a spear as Drifter expected. Technically, spears, halberds, polearms, and lances were all inside the Two-Handed Spear skill.
That was all, however. Halberds and spears were only similar in the fact that they were both long weapons. Drifter extricated himself from Yuna to take the weapon, immediately feeling the differences. The balance was all off, heavily tipped to the head of the halberd. It weighed several times more than any spear the same size, the shaft being made entirely of a purple-ish metal. It was also completely rigid. Drifter tried to shake it as if he were using Snake Bite, and failed to bend it even a little. It was only when he activated the skill for real that it worked.
"Err... Are you sure, Liz?"
The blacksmith shrugged.
"I know it's not ideal, but it's all about the stats. I made this from Corrupted Ore back on the 10th floor, as training. I know you favor dexterity and speed over power, but... Well, it's the stats really. Just take a look."
Drifter did, and whistled. While heavily biased towards damaging power, there was really no arguing with those stats.
"I see what you mean. This is going to cleave straight through most mobs."
"Yup. Bear with it for a few days, please. This floor looks like it's gonna be heaven for blacksmithing mats. Gimme a few days to find the most suitable ones, and I'll forge you a spear that won't lose to that halberd."
Drifter pondered for a few seconds, then shrugged and nodded.
"Sure. Trying to use this will be a nice change of pace. Thanks a ton, Liz."
The pink-haired blacksmith grinned toothly. Whatever she might think about SAO's simplified crafting system, creating and caring for the equipment of several dozen players - the Reavers, Fuurinkazan, Legend Braves, and some other frontliners who came to her from time to time - wasn't easy. It was always nice having her efforts appreciated.
"Well, this is gonna throw some people out for a loop."
"What do you mean, Argo?"
The info-broker spun to look at Drifter's new weapon just before he put it away. Her back was now to the abyss, and he rolled his eyes before reaching over to grab his semi-adopted little sister. Argo stuck out her tongue but didn't complain when Drifter pulled her down.
"Well, someone became the focus of SAO since they performed that rather spectacular save yesterday, y'know? But I bet a lotta fans are gonna be disappointed when they see the mighty Broken Spear Drifter usin' a not-a-spear."
Drifter blinked. Next to him, Yuna sat up straight, and Asuna and Klein stopped their debate to listen. Liz tilted her head, and Sinon opened one eye and pulled herself up to a sitting position. The temporarily-not-a-spearman worked his mouth, trying to think of an answer.
"Fans?"
That seemed to be what caught Yuna's interest the most, and she turned a speculative stare to her boyfriend. Drifter finally found his voice.
"Wait, rewind, little rat. What do you mean by Broken Spear Drifter? Is that a dig at me?"
"Don't ask me, I didn't come up with it. Yer fans did."
By now, some of the others had caught wind of the conversation and were gathering around. Argo was smirking, and seemed to be enjoying their confusion immensely.
"Broken Spear Drifter? Why do you say it like it's written with a capital B and S, Argo?"
Yuuki asked while plopping down on Sinon's lap, which would have normally raised a few eyebrows, but now everyone was focused on the info-broker. Even the archer didn't seem to notice, unconsciously wrapping one arm around the purple-haired girl's waist.
"'Cause it is, Yuuki-chan. Congratulations, Dri-bou, on becomin' one of SAO's twelve titled players."
"What?"
The spearman was simply dumbfounded, and stared at Argo, who was highly amused. Her head swiveled around, her gaze pausing on certain players. Her smirk only grew.
"Hm, like Kii-bou over there. The Black Swordsman Kirito. Ya were already famous before, now yer a celebrity, Dri-bou."
Catching on to what Argo was saying, several of the others got curious. Ignoring Drifter still trying to come to terms with it, much to Yuna's amusement as the Songstress poked him, Klein shouted.
"Wait, you said twelve, right, Argo?! If Kirito and Drifter are two, who are the other ten guys with titles?!"
"Well, yours truly, of course. Argo the Rat, at yer service. I think it was even Dri-bou who started it by callin' me 'little rat'."
With a flourish, Argo got up and bowed to everyone. Yuuki, Silica, Agil, Dynamm, Dale, and most of the Legend Braves clapped and whistled. Argo smiled wider and saluted them again.
"Well, who else? Me?"
Klein was starting to get impatient, and asked hopefully, but his expression clouded momentarily when Argo shook her head. He quickly got over it, however, his thirst for gossip being stronger. Argo gestured grandly.
"Ya also know all of the others. From the Aincrad Liberation Squad, Kibaou the Challenger and Aincrad's strongest shield, Liten the Fortress. On the DKB's side, we have Dragon Knight Lind."
Kirito, Klein, and a few others grimaced at the first name. Kibaou was already extremely entitled, they could only imagine the levels his arrogance would grow now. But not even they could deny he deserved the title. It fit him perfectly, with the way he only seemed to know how to confront everything and everyone head-on.
Liten's title, on the other hand, was well-received. The more jealous shield-bearers might contest it, but Nautilus, Vallerk, Shigio, and Enkidu thought it was well-deserved. There was nothing much to say about Lind's.
"That's six total. What of the other six?"
Nezha raised his hand and asked, his chakrams dangling from his arm. Ever since Argo took him in as a partner slash errand boy, he always behaved like a student in front of her.
"Why don't ya guess? I'll give y'all a clue: they are all here."
"Really?!"
"Oh?"
The game was on. The players all started glancing at the person next to them, as if seeing each other for the first time. The reality was, it wasn't that hard to guess. They all knew each other too well. Merida pointed two fingers.
"Two of them gotta be Yuna and Asuna."
"Me?"
"Us?"
The two girls' jaws dropped, as if they couldn't believe it. Drifter, now recovered from his shock, rolled his eyes and gestured to Kirito. In sync, both boys flicked their girlfriends on the forehead for being clueless.
"And you say I am the humble one. Or do I need to remind you of all those people wanting to hear Songstress Yuna play when we went down to the 5th floor the other day?"
"Right on the money, Dri-bou!"
Argo laughed, and Drifter twisted uselessly to try and escape from Yuna's cruel fingers as she pinched his side for mocking her. Asuna, meanwhile, pointed at herself.
"Wait, what about me? Why would I have a title?"
Kirito rolled his eyes again, and started counting on his fingers as he spoke.
"Let's see. One of SAO's top three beauties, gentle and kind to everyone, but fierce in battle. Can use a rapier like nobody else, and is consistently in the top 10 contributors during boss raids. Yeah, I also don't know why."
In an uncharacteristic display of public affection, Kirito leaned over and pecked Asuna's pouting lips. Both the teens blushed bright red immediately after, especially with the catcalls from their friends, but Kirito didn't retract his statement
"Right again, Kii-bou. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to ya Lightnin' Flash Asuna!"
Asuna blushed even harder, if that was possible. To change the focus from her, she showed them another target.
"What about Sinon, then? I've heard lots of people talking about her."
Heads turned towards the silent archer. Yuuki was still sitting on her lap, and didn't show any intentions of moving anytime soon. Ran slapped her forehead, but both her sister and the archer behaved as if there was nothing out of the ordinary there. Sinon even raised a finger to her lips in thought.
"Me? What would it be? Something like Archer Sinon?"
"Nothing as normal as that, Sin-chan. Ya are the Aero Huntress Sinon. Peril of the skies, despite yer feet being planted on the ground all the time."
"Ohh, I like that, Sinon!"
Yuuki twisted around on her seat - Sinon - and, emboldened by Kirito's action, kissed the archer on the side of her head. This time, Sinon did flush, and tried to hide behind the other girl, muttering something.
Everyone laughed, but didn't poke fun at the pair at this time. They continued to guess, various names being thrown around, together with possible titles. Argo shot down all of them, however, until they arrived at Orlando.
"Ah, his is a good one! Care to guess, Orlan-nii?"
"Uhmm... How about the Legendary Brave Orlando? No, that's too similar to my guild's name. Maybe Orlando the Mighty? Orlando the Incomparably Valiant?"
The boisterous guild leader shamelessly gave himself over-the-top and narcissistic nicknames. Drifter guessed about half of it were jokes, and the other half just Orlando being Orlando. Eventually, Argo had enough.
"Nah, nah, stop! It's Hero Orlando. But maybe I should try to change it to Zero Shame Orlando! I'm sure I can do it if I had Fuumaningum spread it 'round."
The Brave paled at the threat, because he knew Argo had both the means and was vindictive enough to accomplish it. He hurriedly waved his hands.
"No, there's no need, Argo! There are two left, right? Let's see, let's see... How 'bout you, Agil?"
"Me? I just have a huge axe and buy and sell stuff."
Drifter had to cut in at that. He gave his tall friend a sly look.
"I think Orlando is onto something, Agil. How about Pyramid Schemer Agil? Or just Scammer, short and straight to the point?"
"Looks like somebody's getting ballsy just because they are my vice-guild leader now."
Agil sparked back, but without any bite. The exchange, and the whole conversation since Argo brought the topic up, in fact, had everyone laughing without stop. No doubt what she intended.
"It's slightly more impressive than that, Dri-bou, although I think yer suggestions are more accurate. Agil-nii, ya are Warrior Merchant Agil."
The big man seemed quite pleased with his title, and shot a smug look at Drifter.
"Right, so with Agil, that's eleven. Who's the last one, little rat?"
"That would be our very own Indomitable Knight Nautilus."
"Me?"
Nautilus' reaction was the same as most of the others. He turned a finger onto himself, disbelief coloring his expression. In his mind, he hadn't done anything worthy of a title - nothing all the others here hadn't done too, at least.
Yuna and Drifter wouldn't have any of that. They hugged their friend and congratulated him. Nautilus had broken through the restrictions of his FNC to protect them. Indomitable indeed.
"Wait a minute, I almost forgot! Why does everyone get to have a cool title and I'm sick with Broken Spear? It isn't positive at all!"
Suddenly, Drifter stopped, just remembering what he wanted to ask right at the start of this conversation. He pointed an accusing finger, but Argo just shrugged.
"Yer spear broke when ya killed the boss, Dri-bou. The name stuck, but there's nothin' negative 'bout it. Ya should've seen the players down in the Town of Beginnings, they talked 'bout ya like ya were Superman or somethin' like that."
"Ugh..."
Drifter groaned. He already had enough on his plate without adding all of this to that mess. It was easier to just accept it.
"Alright. Broken Spear Drifter it is."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Reis123
Reis123 Drifter will go back to using a spear, I just thought it would be fun to have him try something different for a while, and, considering he had to break his Caldea Fana for plot development, this seemed like a good chance. So, halberd for maybe 1 or 2 chapters.
Also, a bit of a filler chapter, with all of the Reavers and their friends just sitting down and chatting about their titles, but everyone needs a bit of downtime.
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