Sword Art Online Episode 18

To the World Tree (世界樹へ) is the eighteenth episode of the Sword Art Online anime adaptation. It aired on November 3, 2012.

Plot
After logging out, Suguha started remembering why she had joined ALfheim Online in the first place. The next day she encountered Nagata Shinichi at her school, who interrogated her about what she was going to do. She told him that she was going to show Kirito the way to the city of Aarun under the World Tree and left.

After doing some potion shopping, she came to the Lily of the Valley Pavilion where Kirito was staying at about the time that they agreed to meet on. As soon as she entered the tavern, she noticed that Kirito was already logging in. After both agreeing that Kirito's equipment should be upgraded, they decided to visit the market before departing. At the market, Kirito bought a sword as tall as himself, much to Leafa's amusement. They later walked into the Tower of Wind in the center of the Sylvian Territory to gain altitude since they were going to embark on a long journey. Before they were able to take the elevator, they encountered Sigurd, the leader of Leafa's party. Sigurd expressed his desire of wanting Leafa to stay on the team since she was a valuable player, and also because it would tarnish his reputation if Leafa left without a good reason. Kirito interrupted and angered Sigurd by saying the people were not items that he could just "equip" whenever he wanted. Sigurd was about to attack the defenseless Kirito for his remark, but was stopped by one of his comrades since it would have been bad for their image to attack the defenseless Spriggan with many witnesses watching.

On the balcony of the tower, Recon appeared in front of the two and told them that he wanted to leave with them. However, he also told them that he needed to stay to investigate something and asked Kirito to take care of Leafa. Kirito and Leafa then departed, although Leafa still had doubts about leaving her own territory and becoming a renegade.

Meanwhile, Asuna was being caressed by Oberon against her will, but she could not do anything about it. He laughed and told Asuna about his encounter with Kazuto and Kazuto's reaction when he had been told of Asuna's marriage to him. Instead of having the intended effect of dampening her spirit, Asuna was invigorated by the knowledge that Kirito was still alive. However, Sugou tells her that because of the SAO incident, he thought that he would not come to her aid this time. As Sugou leaves the cage, Asuna watched the mirror, which was reflecting the image of the door, and successfully memorized the code as Sugou typed it in.

Leafa and Kirito defeated some monsters while flying as a team but eventually had to land to let their wings rest. Upon landing, they «rotated» - logged out one at a time so they could eat and have their bathroom break while the other guarded the their body. Leafa disconnected first and prepared a sandwich for Kazuto and then took a bath. Afterwards, Kirito took his turn to log out, and found a prepared sandwich on the table. Meanwhile, Leafa talked with Yui while Kirito was away. However, Kirito returned at that moment, greatly surprising Leafa. As they were about to depart, Kirito felt as if someone was watching them. Leafa guessed that it could have been a Tracer and explained about Tracer magic, which was used for following players, and that higher level tracers could last longer and were capable of spying on their targets from a longer range.

At the same time, a tracer in the form of a bat followed the duo as they took off. On the ground, a hidden group of Salamanders started moving.

New Characters

 * Sigurd
 * G-Takusu (cameo)

Named Monsters

 * Evil Glance

Locations

 * World Tree
 * Kirigaya residence
 * Sylvain - market area, Tower of Wind
 * Ancient Forest - neutral territory

Adaptation Notes

 * Adapted from Sword Art Online Light Novel Volume 3 Chapter 3,4


 * Leafa's explanation about homing magic is skipped.
 * Sigurd threatens Kirito with his sword in the anime, and his partners and many witnesses watch what he will do to him. In the novel, he does not draw his sword, nor are the other players with him.

Episodio 18