Drifter stared at the injury in his arm. It looked like any other he had received in Sword Art Online. Oddly-shaped red shards instead of flesh and blood.
But this time, the sensation that accompanied it wasn't just a slight numbness like it had always been. It was pain.
But it still wasn't quite right. Under the shocked eyes of the Assault Team, he raised his head to look at Kirito.
"Again. Deeper this time."
Kirito frowned.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. My HP is still normal, nothing else changed but the pain. But even that doesn't really feel how it should be."
The cut he had received was about a finger deep and stretching 6 or 7 centimeters over his biceps. In the outside world, he would be rushing to the hospital to get stitches. The pain, while not enough to send him into shock or anything, shouldn't be just the sting and light burning he was feeling.
"Okay."
Kirito looked at Drifter's extended arm, and, after a moment of hesitation, raised his sword tip-down over it. Then he plunged it down, piercing Drifter's forearm clean through.
"Agh!"
This time the spearmaster definitely felt the pain, and several Reavers rushed forward to catch him when he stumbled back, clenching the injury.
"Drifter! Are you okay!?"
Kirito, having been next to him, was the first to grab his shoulders to keep him standing up, at the same time canceling the duel.
But Drifter didn't need the help. After the initial flare up of pain and surprise, he had confirmed his suspicions.
"Yeah, I'm good, don't worry. My HP is almost recovered already."
He had lost less than 10% of his health to the two attacks. And, with the duel over and him out of a combat state, his natural regeneration had almost replenished it all already.
Along with his HP coming back, the pain had also mostly faded. When both cuts healed completely and closed, it was like it never happened, except for his memory of it.
Drifter's face was colder than ice when he pushed his guildmates away with assurances that he was okay, and looked at the Assault Team.
"No doubt about it. There's pain now. But it's not... It isn't right. It's too weak."
"Weak?"
Drifter nodded to Orlando.
"Yeah. I've never been stabbed in real life, but what Kirito did would have cut through flesh, tendons, bones, nerves. No way I would have only felt this much pain, and been able to recover so quickly from it. It was at most... I dunno. A fifth or a fourth of the real pain."
That wasn't the comforting thought you might think it would be. After years in SAO, all the frontliners understood Kayaba never did anything by half-measures.
"Cardinal's getting us used to it. If it's just a fifth now like you said, it will be 100% by the 55th floor."
Lind's face was covered by shadows, but his tone would have made lesser men shiver.
Heathcliff just watched it all quietly.
"We need more tests. Most important-- Klein, take Fuurinkazan down back to the boss room. Start a duel and test it. If it's something that only works from the 51st floor onwards, that's for the best. If it's Aincrad-wide..."
Drifter didn't need to complete the line of thought. If all the players who were out right now fighting mobs suddenly started feeling pain - hundreds would die just by being caught off guard.
"Got it."
The red-headed guild leader saluted and ran back down the steps to the 50th floor, followed by his guild. Drifter, meanwhile, turned to the rest of the Assault Team.
"Until they get back, let's assume it's limited to the 51st floor and up. We need more tests. But more than that, I'm placing this floor on lockdown. Everyone agrees?"
Heathcliff was the only one who hesitated before nodding, but he did too.
"Good. I want a party stationed here, to make sure nobody follows us up through the tower. Everyone else, we are moving to the safe zone. Do not unlock the teleporter, understood?"
More nods. Drifter already started walking.
"Limit communications too. I'll inform Argo and Akari, and have Fuumaningum escort them through the labyrinth, but I would prefer to keep a handle on this thing until we know more. We don't want wide-spread panic on the lower floors."
"People won't like that."
Ran raised the point just for the sake of it, since it was true. But Drifter was resolute.
"They can suck it up. If we have hundreds of players flooding in like it always happens when we open a new floor, how many will actually stop to listen before venturing out and getting killed because they aren't used to hurting anymore?"
Drifter halted, and turned to face his second-in-command.
"Actually, Kirito, have you messaged Argo yet?"
"I was typing the message now."
"Then don't. She will be at the Town of Beginnings now, with most of the players. Teleport down there, explain everything to her. And get ready for a press conference of sorts. Asuna, Kizmel, Shivata, Heathcliff, can you go with him?"
The named players exchanged glances before nodding firmly. Drifter resumed walking.
"Then go, and keep us in the loop about the mood down there. I'll join you as soon as we are done up here."
Kirito held Drifter's gaze for a long moment before nodding and pulling out a Teleport Crystal. In a flash, the five of them were gone.
They were halfway to the safe zone when Klein and his guildmates came back, panting heavily from the dead sprint they had set.
"No pain on the boss room or the labyrinth right outside of it, Drifter. But we tested again once we got topside - it's a 51st floor and up phenomenon."
The spearmaster let out a sigh of relief. That was the best outcome they could hope for.
"I would say it looks like Kayaba still has a heart, but we all know that's bullshit. Let's get to the safe zone and test it more. And thanks, Klein."
The idea of stabbing each other repeatedly and purposefully didn't appeal to any of the frontliners, but it needed to be done. If only so they could all remember what it was like to feel pain.
[ Kirito: I've got Argo. She isn't happy, but she already started moving. ]
Drifter read the message from his vice-leader and nodded thoughtfully.
[ Drifter: What about the players? ]
[ Kirito: Several hundred in the plaza. They are still waiting since it hasn't been that long, but who knows. What should we do? ]
[ Drifter: Get Argo to spread the word that the Assault Team will make an announcement in the plaza in the Town of Beginnings in 2 hours. ]
[ Kirito: You sure? ]
[ Drifter: No. But it has to be done. ]
Closing the system window, Drifter looked ahead to the quaint little town that was the main settlement of this floor. It looked vaguely Scandinavian, with long, thin wooden houses with hay roofs. NPCs happily went about their days on the streets.
Normally, the Assault Team would have already split up to investigate the town while a couple players went to unlock the teleporter. But this time around, they all went there as a group.
"Alright, let's get to testing. Form pairs, start a duel so you don't get an orange cursor, experiment. Everyone has to get used to the pain. If this is going to be the new normal from here on out - and it definitely is - then we can't have you freezing in the middle of a battle because you were surprised."
It was just outright cruel to request this of them. And not once had Drifter asked if anyone wanted to back out of the Assault Team now that the pain was real.
"Start with small cuts, work your way up in severity. For the love of all that's sacred, don't kill each other by mistake."
The two days of rest Drifter had proposed back at the boss room went out the window. Now, they would have to use every second they had to get used to feeling something they hadn't had to deal with in over two years.
Drifter had rarely wanted to kill Kayaba so much as he did now.
-----------------------
If the Assault Team was grim-faced and determined, the outside world was like someone had dropped a firecracker inside an anthill.
The outrage was global in scale. As if trapping thousands of people in a death game wasn't enough already, now they had to feel pain too!?
And SAO wasn't like the real world, where the vast majority of people never experienced more pain than a broken bone or twisted ankle.
No, in Aincrad, the players got bitten, cut, stabbed, and worse on a daily basis. Especially the frontliners. There was not a single day they weren't at the forefront, bearing all the danger so the SAO victims could escape.
Many people were worried if the frontliners would even be able to stay sane if they had to go through all that. Can you imagine, getting hurt again and again, and healing in a matter of seconds, so you don't even take the time to convalescence, just throw yourself back into the grinder?
The physical pain may fade fast, but the mental scars wouldn't heal that easily. It was a very real possibility that the frontliners would have to choose between giving up or going insane.
Kikouka Seijirou didn't doubt which one they would choose. Already, not 2 hours after arriving at the 51st floor and discovering the changes, the Assault Team was engaged in mock duels to get used to the sensation of pain again.
Monsters. That's what frontliners were. But they were monsters fighting for the right cause.
Seijirou wasn't sure if they would like the comparison, but he knew at least a few wouldn't deny it.
One of those was Broken Spear Drifter. Having watched the spearmaster for over two years now, witnessing him rise from a simple member of a no-name party to the de-facto leader of the Assault Team, Seijirou thought Drifter embodied the essence of a frontliner better than anyone.
The man never stopped. He faltered, he stumbled, sometimes he hesitated. But he never stopped.
Now was just another example. Where most would have broken down at the prospect of climbing half of Aincrad while experiencing pain again, he had immediately risen to the challenge, and pulled the rest of the Assault Team up with him.
And now, he was getting ready to teleport to the Town of Beginnings, to address the thousands of players who had gathered there, either to use the teleporter for the new floor, or in answer to Argo the Rat's summon.
Were it a year ago, Seijirou didn't think Drifter could have done it. Even to politicians, going up on stage to tell thousands of people something you knew they wouldn't like to hear was daunting.
But now, he didn't see a shred of hesitation in the frontliner's grim face. It was just another mission.
Shaking his head, Seijirou turned away from the screen momentarily, to call one of his aides.
"Sir?"
"Go down to the hospital. I want reports on the players' bodies now that another variable has been added. The pain may be inflicted directly to their nervous system by the NerveGear, but it will have adverse reactions on their physical bodies. Give me reports as soon as anything changes. Make sure all the frontliners are monitored."
"Yes, sir."
"Ah, and another thing. The seven who died during today's raid - find their address for me. I would like to visit their families once this is over."
That was always the hardest part. His subordinate stayed silent for a second before saluting.
"Yes, sir."
That done, Seijirou turned back to the screen. He was intrigued. How did Broken Spear plan on breaking the news to the players?
-----------------------
When the teleportation was over, Drifter found himself surrounded by agitated players on all sides. The Town of Beginnings was packed to the brim.
It took a minute for the surrounding players to realize who it was who had just teleported amidst them. But, as Yuna, Nautilus, Lind, Liten, Orlando, Klein, and other frontliners appeared too, a space opened around them.
Drifter kept a blank expression in face of their whispers. Spear on his back, he marched forward, leading the other frontliners, and the crowd opened a corridor for them.
After all, they had just watched the 50th floor raid. Their impatience towards the 51st floor not being opened yet was set aside for the respect they held for the frontliners - and a healthy dose of apprehension over what mood they were in after losing 7 people.
Uninterrupted, Drifter made his way to the center of the plaza, where Kirito, Asuna, Kizmel, Heathcliff, and Shivata were waiting with Argo. No doubt Akari was somewhere around too, watching.
Drifter nodded to the info-broker, but didn't halt as he made his way toward the fountain that stood in the middle of the plaza. Without hesitation, he climbed up the monument until he could be seen by everyone.
There were thousands of players, filling every square meter of the plaza and the alleyways beyond, looking down at him from the windows of inns and the balconies of restaurants.
He wouldn't be surprised if every single player in Sword Art Online was there. Or it was very close to that.
One hell of a mob to piss off. But he was far from the best of moods too, so maybe they should be the ones to watch out.
"The 51st floor is closed for the next 3 days."
Just one simple sentence, and the crowd was stunned into silence for exactly 4 seconds before blowing up.
Drifter crossed his arms and let them throw their tantrum, while the rest of the frontliners watched impassive from below.
"You can't do that!"
He wasn't sure who yelled it. But the accusation, no, the demand, made his eye twitch. With a deep breath, he drew his spear from his back, and let the power of the skill fill him.
"Serpentcoil Impale!"
A silver streak cut through the air above the heads of the players, before impacting onto the side of a building with a big purple [ Immortal Object ] message.
He would get fined for that. He didn't care.
Drifter's cold gaze swept over the crowd, who had gone mute again.
"Be quiet."