In the Real World it was January 15, 2023 and it was snowing. On the third floor Aincrad, it was warm and the sun was shining.

Lyra supposed that was one good thing about being trapped in a video game; the forest themed floor was warm and she hated the cold. Lying on one of the roofs in this floor's town was soothing and the sunlight that poured down through the cloudless sky was slowly lulling her to sleep.

A three-note whistle rang through the air, shocking Lyra back awake. She knew that whistle, but it couldn't be… Slowly, she sat up, hand on her saber. Standing in one of the dirt paths of the town was another player of Aincrad. It was a boy about 16, her age, with long sandy-blonde hair and purple eyes.

"Alex?" Lyra rubbed one of her eyes.

"You going to come down or am I coming up?" The boy asked.

Lyra relaxing her grip on her saber.

"My username's still Jan," the boy promised.

She walked to the edge of the straw roof and jumped down to floor level.

"Do I get a kiss?" Jan asked cheekily.

"No," Lyra promised. "Where have you been? I haven't seen you since Kayaba's announcement that we can't log out. That was nearly two months ago."

Jan shrugged, "I've been busy."

Lyra narrowed her eyes. "Well whatever you were doing, you weren't doing any good. I haven't seen you helping fight the Floor Bosses. You were fighting them like crazy in the Beta test."

"Hey," Jan held up his hand. "I helped fight the First Floor Boss."

"And the second or the third?" Lyra challenged. "We've made it up to Floor Eleven and as soon as we find that Boss's Lair we're going up to Floor Twelve. The only way we're ever getting home is if we beat all 100 Floors."

"You've been doing fine without me," Jan shrugged.

Lyra glared at him. "During the Beta Test you were on the front lines, helping us get up to Level Ten. Now you're like all the other players, hiding behind on the lower levels hoping someone else will take care of the big bad boss and win the game for you."

"So what if I'm no Clearer like you?" Jan challenged. "In case you didn't notice, this isn't the Beta test. I'd rather not be risking my neck for a bunch of ingrates. You think the other 9000 or so players here care what you're doing?"

"You're right." Lyra snapped. "We have less than 9,000 players. We started out with 10,000. Over a thousand people, most of them our age or younger, are dead. I don't want to see anymore dead. An able body, front-line Beta like you should be helping, not hiding."

Jan bristled. "I should have kept my mouth shut and kept walking."

"Maybe you should have you coward." Lyra snapped back.

"Hey! You two are some of those Beaters aren't you?"

Lyra and Jan stopped bristling at each other and looked at the newcomer. It was a rather tall and muscular player with a longsword on his side. Surrounding him were four other players. They looked ready for a fight.

"I was part of the Beta Test," Lyra nodded. "Now, if you don't mind. I'm busy scolding my friend here."

"You Beta's. You lot abandoned all the new players to die and ran off to monopolize all the best quests. You refused to bother to help us," the first speaker sneered.

"My username is Lyra," Lyra told the man patiently, "Not Beta and my rank is Clearer."

"What's one of the Boss Clearers doing all the way down here?" The player asked. "More likely you're just hiding."

"That would be my friend here," Lyra promised. Jan glared at her as she continued. "You have not introduced yourself yet."

"Enzo," the first player introduced. "And you're lying." He grabbed the hilt of his sword. He was obviously used to players backing away then, but Lyra rolled her eyes.

"Let me see," Lyra hummed. "We're on Floor Three and judging from the lack of armor you lot haven't been close to the front line. My guess is your levels are between 5-10 correct?"

The looks of some of Enzo's gang confirmed her guess. Lyra sighed. "In order to journey out, it's a common rule that we have at least ten more levels the floor you're on. For Clearers that gap is almost twenty. My level is 25."

Jan looked at her. You didn't admit to being a Beta and you didn't say you're level. Lyra never was good at dealing calmly with bullies. 25 though, she had to be bluffing. Didn't she?

"You can let go of your sword," Lyra promised. "We are inside the boundaries of a town. No player can lose HP." She drew her saber. Its blade looked like it was made out of light. "This blade's name is The Aurora's Light. It's a Last Attack special drop that I got when I killed the Floor 10 Boss."

The group hesitated. Enzo scoffed, "unlikely Beater."

Lyra glanced at Enzo. "If you wish to push it then let us go outside where HP damage can be dealt. I have no intention of my cursor turning orange so you don't have to worry about dying. Then again, my attack power is high and you're HP is likely less than a thousand. Do stop calling me Beater."

"I'm not scared of some girl," Enzo snapped. "Not some Beater."

Lyra flicked the saber behind her ear, taking a step forward. The blade turned gold and the system assistance kicked in as her Sword Skill activated. She brought her blade in a crescent shaped strike, one that would have sliced Daizen from hip to shoulder had the town's protection not kicked in and intercepted it.

There was still a bang and a stupendous flash of light. Enzo went stumbling back and some of his gang caught him.

"Of course," Lyra smiled, "just because I can't deal damage doesn't make the lightshow any less spectacular."

"Hey, are you alright?" One of them asked.

"Am I alright?" Enzo demanded. He drew his longsword with a hiss of metal. "You're gonna pay for that. Both of you Beaters."

"Eh," Jan tensed. "I didn't do anything!"

"Good luck with that. You're too slow," Lyra promised them as she turned on her heel and ran.

Jan glanced at her, then at Enzo and followed her.

"Don't go too fast," Lyra told him as he drew even with her. "Let them follow us."

"Why?" Jan asked.

Lyra nodded up ahead. It was the gateway to outside of town. Jan grinned as he caught on. "Sounds like a plan."

Enzo slowed up as the two of the Beaters finally stopped and turned around. The girl drew her saber and the boy his longsword, leaving his shield on his back. They looked confident.

"Crescent Style?" Jan asked.

"Just like in the Beta test," Lyra nodded. She held her saber in front of her, blade pointing down, feeling the Sword Skill charge.

"At least Kayaba didn't mess with that," Jan raised his longsword over his shoulder.

Both their blades turned lavender. During the Beta Test, players had found out that there were certain skills that could be overlapped, allowing multiple players to do the same Skill even with different weapons. They dubbed these Sword Styles. Although it didn't increase the power it allowed the players to synchronize their attacks so they wouldn't have to worry about accidently getting in each other's way. One such one they called Crescent.

The two sprang at the group, not flinching despite the fact that all five had weapons out. This group clearly wasn't taking the game that seriously. Their blades were standard drops from monsters on Floor 1,2, and 3. They didn't stand a chance against Lyra's Level 10 saber.

Although Jan was merely throwing them back, Lyra's attack was destroying the bully's swords and sending them flying. Once they tore through the goons Lyra and Jan finished up the combo as both of them connected with Enzo. He was thrown clear back into town. Blue shards glittered as his goon's swords disintegrated.

"What was that?" Enzo watched in horror as his full HP bar dropped to yellow and then to red. They did damage. How?! In a safe zone?

"As you lot can hopefully tell, you weren't in the safe zone during our attack," Lyra said. "We were able to lure you outside of the town's boundaries. One combo nearly killed all of you."

Enzo looked. The boys Lyra had attacked had HP in the low yellow, and those that Jan had were in the low green.

"Still think I'm no clearer?" Lyra asked.

Enzo got to his feet. "Don't just stand there, attack her!"

"Says the coward whose hiding safe within the town's boundaries," Jan smirked.

The other members of Enzo's gang looked at him, furious at the truth.

"I said attack her!" Enzo shouted. "She's a Beta Tester, a Beater."

Lyra raised her saber warningly, activating a Sword Skill that made her blade shimmer dark blue.

Enzo's next shout choked up.

She glanced at Jan, ignoring the looks of the gang. "I'm heading back up to the Eleventh Floor. The monsters in the dungeons there will at least put up a fight. You coming?"

Jan glanced back at Enzo, but figured he'd pay the price for staying after his identity as a Beta Tester was found out. "Sure."