Hey! So I'm back, and I only have this chapter up so soon because I already had it written out. Also, I'd like some feedback. Should I have long chapters like this and update every couple weeks, or short chapters and update more frequently?
: Thank you for your review! The daggers that Krystor has obtained are only B-rank, but for first floor they'd be considered 'legendary.' He will, however, obtain real legendary equipment later on!
Wvdweegh: I will try my best to update as soon as possible, but I'm still deciding whether I want to do long chapters with longer update periods or shorter chapters with quicker update. Thank you for the review!
Chapter 2
Tolbana was a strange sight for those who had been traveling and living in the towns which provided wooden huts as a sleeping place and wooden buildings for other purposes. Some of the towns didn't even have a shop there; just a sign announcing the town's name and two or three NPCs guarding small shacks that players slept in. These towns usually had a quest or two to complete, so players frequented these 'towns' only to get the col and xp. Once the quest was complete, they'd get out of the town and immediately head to the next one to find quests to complete or monsters to fight.
I myself stayed in these villages or towns only to complete the quests or gain some extra col for helping the NPCs with some problem that they always seemed to have. Stopping only three times at a few medium-sized villages to rest up for the night, I reached Tolbana in 4 days. Since then my level had gone up to Lv. 17 and my mastery skill for One-handed sword and Auto-battle Regen had gone up to 280 and 300, respectively.
At 8:50 AM when I entered Tolbana, I could tell that it was a big town designed to hold many players, most likely for the players that were working on clearing the 1st floor. I first visited the NPC blacksmith to upgrade my sword and daggers all +3 before walking to the most comfortable-looking inn in town.
I walked past an inn called the 'Phoenix Lair' and immediately noticed the difference between this and the other inns in town. For one thing, this inn looked like it was furnished specially for those who had enough col to throw in the air and still have plenty left over.
The air here had a calming scent and there was a furnished carpet leading up to the steps of the inn. The glass doors revealed an exquisite interior of polished mahogany stairs leading up to a second floor that I couldn't see. A water fountain was placed at the side of the road, spilling out streams of water that flew out of the opening in jets of sparkling crystal-clear water. Polished vases and antiques were placed around the interior of the inn and NPC valets stood at attention near the staircase. There was even an NPC-run bar in the inn, and information NPCs walked around occasionally talking with each other.
At the sparkling glass doors two NPC guards stood at attention, reminding me of those high-end apartment suites in Tokyo that were always the mainstays of famous people from other countries visiting Japan.
I took a deep breath before walking to the doors of the inn. Before I could reach the handles, however, both of the guards walked towards me.
"Do you have a reservation here sir?" One of the guards asked.
A screen popped up in front of me and I read the contents. Basically, this was a very expensive inn that gave excellent quality service for those who stayed there and cost about 3,000 Col a night, which was about 50x more expensive than any other inn in Tolbana. I thought about it, and decided that I'd take a room in this place once I had earned more Col.
I left the inn and went around the city, activating all of the quests that were available there. After I made a complete circuit around the city, I looked at the number of quests that had accumulated in my quest page.
I had a total of 45 quests; 30 of the quests had to do with killing this amount of mobs and returning to collect the reward, 5 of them had to do with killing mobs and collecting a set amount of materials from the fallen mobs, 8 had to do with taking this item to that place in the city and delivering it, and finally, 2 quests had to do with completing certain dungeons.
The dungeon completion quests were normally for parties to complete, but they were not required. If a soul were brave enough to complete the quest solo, all of the Col and xp and extra items would be given to the solo player instead of being split between the party members. This was how I managed to get so far ahead of the rest of the players in the beta, and this was how I was going to get so far ahead of the other players here.
After completing 15 of the quests that I had, it was already 11:30 PM and I decided to call it a day. I had been alternating between finishing up quests and farming mobs all day, and by the end of the day I was 20% away from reaching Lv. 18. The very best of best except for me would probably be arriving in Tolbana tomorrow, and the rest of the good players would probably start trickling into the city in 2 or 3 more days. By then I was aiming to start mapping out the 1st floor labyrinth not far from Tolbana.
Accurate to my prediction, the players that seemed to have adapted to this game the quickest arrived in Tolbana at around noon the next day. By the time the second wave of players arrived, I had finished all 45 quests, leaving me at Lv. 22. By then I had found the 1st floor labyrinth and started daily grinding drills from morning till night, working on raising my levels and increasing my stash of Col.
One month had passed since the beginning of the game, and the first floor boss had yet to be found. I myself searched long and hard in the labyrinth for any signs of the doors that marked the entrance to the boss's lair, but for the past 25 days my searchings ended up fruitless and in vain. However, my levels and Col soared into the high heavens due to the intensive amount of grinding that I did.
Life for me was going good, until I had the decency to stop by a store to restock on some health potions in preparation for my next grind session. When I entered the shop, it was full of people talking with each other, trading items and having a good time, until a young boy ran in. I had just finished buying my usual batch of 20x health-high potions when he came stumbling in the shop, panting heavily and out of breath.
"Wow, boy, calm down before ya get the rest of us uneasy, eh?" A man reprimanded the boy harshly.
"A-ah! It's horrible, it's horrible, this game's going to be the end of us all!" The boy shouted.
He sounded terrified, and his hands shook as several people tried to get him calmed down so he could clarify what he just blurted out.
When he was visibly calmer, the boy revealed a piece of horrible news. "As of now, 2,000 players are dead. 2,000 people have been killed. I don't know what killed them, but it's a fact. You know how there's a list of all 10,000 players on the Monument of Life? Well, a new inscription was carved into the black marble a couple days ago. 'Those who have perished in this world will have their names crossed out, the cause of death inscribed, and the date that they died written here.' Then, two days ago a new inscription appeared. 'As of now, exactly 2,000 players have perished. Be careful on your journeys, players.' I can't help but think when we're ever gonna beat this dang death game. It's insane…"
The boy's voice faded away from my ears as I pushed my way through the throng of players in the shop and ran outside, heading towards the labyrinth.
Today. Today I'm going to find the boss's lair. To show everyone that this game CAN BE BEATEN!
Sryahhhh! Another Kobold Ruin Trooper fell to my blade, and a LEVEL UP! screen appeared in front of me. On a whim I opened my player menu and checked my stats.
Krystor: Lv. 26 HP: 25,500 Agility: 42 Strength: 18
Skills: One-handed Sword, Auto-Battle Regen, Daggers Col: 106,500
I sighed and closed my stat window. The leveling curve for the retail version was insane; in the beta if I trained as much as I did now my level would be at least Lv. 37, if not higher. Right now I would assume that the average player in Aincrad would be around Lv. 5 or Lv. 6; the average player actively clearing in the labyrinth would be around Lv. 15 or 16.
I saw two more Ruin Kobold Troopers running towards me with their maces raised high above their heads and I readied myself for their attacks. One used a Horizontal while the other used a Vertical. Normally, any player would be in trouble. Dodging to the left or right would cause them to be hit with the Kobold executing the Horizontal, and jumping up would put the player in the path of the Vertical. However I did a backflip and landed just out of reach of both attacks.
I quickly took out my two daggers and slashed at both with two perfectly timed horizontals at once, severing both troopers' right hands. The maces clobbered uselessly to the ground and I decapitated them both with two more swift Horizontals. I walked a bit further before hearing the faint sounds of metal clashing against metal- the sure sign of a battle.
I ran towards the sound and came across a scene that confused me. A lithe figure covered by a maroon cloak jabbed at three Ruin Kobold Troopers with an iron rapier. The sounds of twinkling glass indicated the death of two troopers, but right as the second trooper burst apart in countless tiny polygons of light, the iron rapier broke and the blow of the last remaining trooper sent the figure flying across the hall. The figure crumpled against the wall of the labyrinth and his HP went down to the yellow mark.
Oh crap!
I ran swiftly towards the last trooper and destroyed it with a Vertical Arc. I crouched near the collapsed figure and deduced that he was either asleep or unconscious. I wasn't sure whether or not the figure was a guy or girl, but I stood over him protectively nonetheless.
When the figure came to, he let out a squeal of surprise. Well, now that I heard the voice I knew that it was a girl under that cloak.
"W-what w-were you doing to me while I was asleep, pervert?!"
I lazily looked over to her and gazed at her with an amused expression while she calmed down and analyzed me.
Hmph, smart girl. She knows to be wary of anyone and everyone. Whether or not that's a good thing for me or bad thing, I don't know yet. I'll just have to wait and see to find out.
I waved hesitantly at her judging gaze. "H-hey… what's up?"
My statement somehow got curved into a question when the girl quickly whipped out a rapier and pointed it at me threateningly. "Who are you and what are you doing here? You could have killed me while I was unconscious."
I rolled my eyes at her condescending tone. "Well, for starters, I'm Krystor. Second of all, I was here originally so that I could train and grind, but someone ended up getting knocked unconscious before she could finish off the last of her opponents. She also managed to get herself knocked out, so I thought that I would stand watch over her and waste my precious time to make sure that no one PKed her. Are we clear now?"
She nodded hesitantly.
"Now, would you please be kind enough to tell me what the hell you were doing out here in the labyrinth fighting three monsters alone with terrible gear?"
The girl seemed indignant about my jurisdiction about her, and she said, "Well, if I die out here against monsters then it's ok, right? Because we'll never clear this game, and if we just wait in the starting town for help then we're just letting Kayaba win, right? So I came out here to fight against the monsters, and when my luck ran out I'd be able to die knowing that I died fighting against the monstrosity that trapped us in here."
I glanced warily at the girl. She seemed to be a good fighter even without good gear. "Say, when's the last time you were in a safe zone?"
The girl thought about it for a moment and replied, "One week ago."
"A WEEK?! YOU'VE BEEN HERE IN THIS LABYRINTH FOR SO LONG AND YOU HAVEN'T DIED YET?!"
I sighed deeply, and bluntly asked, "What's your level?"
"Lv. 22"
I sighed again, mumbling into my hand. "Of course, if you've been doing nothing but fighting for a whole week without stopping, I think you would've gotten to at least that level by now…"
I looked at her again. "Well, I guess you're in luck today. I'll take you back to Tolbana and you can rest up a bit before heading out here and grinding again, ok? And don't try to suicide by fighting monsters again. You say that we'll never clear the game? Well… we will. Because I'm going to be the one to clear it. You have my word. Stay alive until the game ends or I die, because I am going to clear this game, and I see that you have great potential. You'll go far in this game, but only if you regain your will to live and push on. Got it?"
The girl looked at me warily again before hesitantly nodding her head.
"Good. Now, shall we go? I have a suite in the 'Phoenix Lair', though I just got it today and I haven't been in the suite myself. You coming with me?"
I held out my hand, and she grabbed it with shyness.
"Come on, let's go."
People stared at the cloaked girl and I as we walked towards the 'Dragon Lair'. Only a few people dared to rent such an outrageously expensive place to live for a few nights, and even those people only rented out a suite for a night or two before ditching it for a cheaper one.
I had no problems with money, so I planned to stay in the inn until the second floor was unlocked. The NPC guards recognized me as one with a suite automatically, but stopped the girl because she wasn't recognized. I turned to the guards. "She's with me."
The guards nodded and let us through and into the inn. NPC attendants came over to us and asked if there was anything that we needed or wanted, but we politely declined. We walked over to the NPC bartender in the inn and ordered some drinks to freshen ourselves up.
The drinks arrived and I noticed that they didn't cost any col at all.
Guess it comes with the rental of a suite…
We finished our drinks and walked up the stairs leading to the second floor and arrived at my room shortly after. I asked the girl if she needed any change of clothes or needed anything else, but she only said, "Just get me another maroon cloak. I'm fine other than that."
When we walked in however she noticed something peculiar about my bathroom in the suite. "I-is that a bath?"
I looked over to where she was pointing, and noticed the bathtub with a shower hose above it. "Eh? Yeah, there's a shower here. You want to use it?"
"Yes! Yes yes yes!"
The girl shrieked with delight and ran into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Then, she opened the door and stared darkly at me. "And NO peeking in on me, got that?"
I nodded lazily, yawning while saying, "Of course, yeah yeah. Now are you gonna take that shower, or are you just going to stare at me?"
The girl let out a surprised squeak and slammed the door shut. I let out a loud sigh. "Ah, darn it. Now I've screwed up my training schedule! I was planning to get my level to 30 before the first boss fight, but at this rate I'll be lucky if I make it to Lv. 28 by then."
I grumbled a bit about getting off of my grinding schedule but then reminded myself that this girl was currently more important. She had real potential to be one of the best in this game, and I just couldn't let her go with that suicidal mindset that she currently harbored.
Almost half an hour later she reappeared in the doorway of the bathroom with her maroon cloak on. I was so bored that I had begun nodding off, until she snapped her fingers impatiently in my face.
"Hey, hey! Where's that cloak I asked you to get?"
I lazily opened my player menu to access my inventory, then sent over the cloak in a trade.
The girl ran into the bathroom, equipped the new cloak, and stepped outside of the bathroom once more before admiring the spacious suite that I had.
"Wow~ such a marvelous living place!"
Her voice was melodic and soft- one that I was sure to hear many more times. For now though, I was too absorbed in my own thoughts to be thinking about her voice.
"Hey, Krystor? It's almost dinner. You hungry?"
I nodded absentmindedly and got up, stretching. "Ahhh… yeah. Let's go get something to eat before visiting a blacksmith for your new weapon. Come on. I'll pay for dinner tonight."
The girl nodded slightly before slipping out the front door right after me.
As we roamed down the streets searching for a food vendor or pub to eat at, I noticed that a certain place had players entering in a constant stream of people. I nudged the girl and pointed towards the popular pub.
"Want to go there to eat?"
She shrugged her shoulders, and I took that as a yes. I led her over to the pub and walked in. The pub itself was spacious, with enough accommodations for what seemed like at least 100-150 players. Players everywhere chatted, talked and mingled with each other while eating and drinking some sort of virtual food and drink. Soft background music filtered through the air, producing a sense of tranquility and mild peace, nothing like the continuous battle that I went through every day.
The girl and I sat at a table and ordered our food from a NPC waiter. Minutes later, our food arrived and we barely stopped to say thanks before the meal before digging in. The food here wasn't exactly 'good', but since I hadn't eaten since this morning and the girl hadn't eaten in a week, we quickly finished all of our food in record speed. I paid for the meal after we finished and we left, heading towards the local NPC blacksmith.
"Neh, Krystor," she asked.
"What?"
"Why are you doing all of this for me? I mean, you could've just left me out there in the labyrinth for dead, or kill me for my items, or try to take advantage of me and bend me to your will; you have done nothing but help me. Why?"
I scratched the back of my head awkwardly and replied, "I don't want any other players that I see die, nor do I want them to do anything for me. I can provide for myself, and I want to keep it that way. I always help those that I can, and those that I can't I think of ways that I could help them the next time I encounter them. I don't want to take advantage of others, because that just means that I'm not strong enough to get where I want to be on my own."
The girl was silent for a few minutes as we continued walking before she spoke up again.
"You're strange."
That comment completely confused me. "Eh?"
The girl grumbled, "You're strange, not thinking like some other players that I've met before. But I like it that you're strange. Like someone that I can finally trust."
I smiled. The things that I said to the girl before were my true thoughts, but in the real world I never would have been able to work them past my lips. For that reason I was constantly alone and doing things solo, without anyone's help or interference.
Suddenly, I heard a different girl shouting. She sounded like a player blacksmith. "Get your weapons made and upgraded here! Lizbeth's smith shop!"
We walked around before pinpointing the location of the blacksmith to be right next to the 'Dragon's Lair'. A girl with a frilly maid outfit and short curls of pink hair was yelling out to the players in the street, trying to sell her wares and advertise her business.
Perfect. Now, if she's a high enough level, she may be able to help me and the girl…
We walked over to her, and she beamed at us. "Welcome to Lizbeth's Smith Shop! What can I do for you two today?"
"Hm… Could I inquire your blacksmithing skill mastery level?"
The girl blinked in confusion before realizing what I was asking. "Oh! Yes, of course! My current blacksmithing level is…" Her face frowned. "Eh… it's only 390. Sorry, is that too low of a level?"
I smiled. That blacksmithing level so early into the game was a feat to be made. "No, actually it's not. I need three things to be upgraded, and I need the best rapier that you currently have."
Lizbeth frowned a bit before saying, "Hold on, please." She disappeared into the small shop that she had rented and the sounds of metal falling made me jump a bit. Then, she came out from the back of the shop and emerged with a shining silver rapier that had a fairly small hilt and a razor-sharp edge. Little decorations of yellow and orange were engraved onto the handle.
"Ah, this is currently the best that I have; I forged it from two B-Rank silver ingots that I got in a dungeon before. Its main attribute is speed, and the durability of it is amazing as well. It costs quite a bit, however…"
I was impressed by the blacksmith's ability. At this point in time, finding and successfully forging two B-Rank ingots together was a great accomplishment.
In Aincrad, there were 4 classes of ingots to be found. D-Rank was the most common, being the lowest grade of metal to be found. C-Rank was less common than D-Rank but still pretty common. B-Rank ingots were only obtainable on lower floors through large dungeons such as labyrinths and raid-sized dungeons. A-Rank ingots were virtually impossible to obtain on floors below 25, and when forged successfully the weapons created were pretty powerful. Finally, S-Rank ingots were only obtainable through massive dungeon raids and Boss drops only obtainable after floor 50. They produced the most powerful weapons in the game, and if forged successfully by a blacksmith with a very high mastery level, the resulting weapon or armour could be end-game level material.
My own Anneal Blade was a B-rank weapon, considered the most powerful sword found on the first floor. My new daggers, the Shadow's Wrath, were a B-Rank weapons as well. When I compared the specs between my two weapon types, I realized that both daggers together dealt more damage than my one sword. That kind of explained why the Kobold Sentinel Troopers fell to my Anneal Blade in two hits while the mobs fell to my daggers in one turn. Oh well.
"Well? How much does it cost?" I asked.
"U-um… 50,000 Col…"
I was about to say that I'd take it when Asuna said, "I'll buy it. This guy was going to get one for me anyways, but 50,000 col and a meal is a bit too much for someone to pay for a stranger. Anyways, 50,000 col, right? Here."
Asuna put in the required amount of col and sent it over in a trade to Lizbeth. When she received the money she sent over the rapier. "Thank you for your business!"
I rolled my eyes at the exchange, but turned back to Lizbeth. "Alright, now that she's got her rapier, I need you to do a little something for me. Is that alright?"
She nodded and I unstrapped my sword and daggers and handed them over to her. "I need my sword to be upgraded +6 with 3 on sharpness, 1 on durability and 2 on speed. Also, I would like my daggers to be upgraded +10 with 7 on speed and 3 on sharpness. I'll pay you any amount you wish for it, and I have all the necessary mats to upgrade all of my gear 100% success rate. I'd like my gear to be ready for pickup by tomorrow morning at around 8. Is that doable?"
Lizbeth nodded hesitantly and said, "I can do that."
I transferred the mats over and walked out of the shop with Asuna in tow.
I turned around and faced Asuna. "You have a place to sleep, right? Or a place to stay, at least?"
She shook her head sheepishly and said, "No, but I guess I could rent a room for the night at the 'Dragon's Lair'.
"It's really expensive," I warned her.
She smiled in response. "That's alright. I have enough money to spare for that." She started walking towards the 'Dragon's Lair'. Then she stopped and turned around. "Oh, I never gave you my name before. Sorry about that. My name is Asuna. Nice to meet you." She smiled again before walking towards the 'Dragon's Lair' again.
Asuna, eh? That's a nice name. It's got a good ring to it. Guess she was one of the few who chose their usernames to be their real names. Oh well…
I shook off my wandering thoughts and walked towards the 'Dragon's Lair', and prepared myself mentally for tomorrow's continued grinding.
I woke up at the normal time, 7:30 AM, and proceeded to walk around the city a bit before eating a measly breakfast of 2 eggs and 5 pieces of virtual bacon. As I finished my meal in my room I heard a knocking.
"Yes? Who is it?"
Normally in SAO, people could not hear anything through closed doors. But when a player inside granted permission for other players to speak through the door, conversations could be made through closed doors.
"It's Asuna. I just got back from Liz's place, and she told me to tell you that your gear is all upgraded and ready to pick up."
"Alright, thanks Asuna."
I heard her footsteps receding from the door and I collapsed lazily back onto my bed before putting on my equipment. I walked out of the inn and headed next door to Lizbeth's Smith Shop. I opened the door to see Lizbeth busy hammering away at a rapier- Asuna's rapier. Finally, after she finished whatever she was doing to Asuna's rapier she noticed me standing awkwardly in the doorway.
"Oh, hey Krystor. I have all of your gear finished up. Here."
She handed over the sword and daggers. I tapped on each one, and the +6, +10 and +10 signs showed up on each weapon.
I strapped on all of my gear again and nodded my thanks to her. "Thanks, Lizbeth. How much will this cost?"
Lizbeth thought about it and said, "First of all, call me Liz from now on. Secondly, hm… Since you did provide me with all of the proper mats to upgrade them with, I'll cut the price for you down to 25,000 col. Sound fair?"
I nodded, transferred the col over to her, walked out of the shop and ran towards the labyrinth.
Ahhhhh~ I groaned as a low yawn escaped my mouth. I wearily gazed out the window in my room and saw the sun steadily rising over the tops of the other buildings in Tolbana. 8:00 AM. That was the current time. For some reason today I felt extremely tired, so I decided to take half a day off and just take a tour of the town until lunch, then grind until 10 at night.
I ordered a bigger breakfast than usual at the bar in the 'Dragon's Lair' and sat down to leisurely eat my meal.
When I finished I walked out of the inn and started my tour. I walked at a somewhat slow pace as I took in the sights and internally memorized the layout of the town. What an intricately designed town…
A rather large crowd gathered around a certain shop caught my attention. Girls and boys of all ages were clustered around a sign that read: Customer Selection in 5 Minutes!
I asked the excited people around me, "Hey, what is all this? Why is everyone clustered around this shop?"
A young girl beside me turned to face me. "You don't know? Ashley, the legendary seamstress, is doing a specific customer selection! She's been known for making the most fancy and amazing outfits for people she deem worthy of wearing! They even have incredible stat boosts! I heard that the boosts on her most recent masterpiece has a higher defensive buff as good as a full C-Rank armour set, a weight lighter than even leather armour, speed buffs and hiding buffs! It's apparently the one thing that she's been working on since the first day of launch! Her most favored customer will have the chance to buy it!
"Hmmm? Is that so? That masterpiece would be the perfect thing for a floor clearer…" I turned to the girl. "So, how do you get to be one of her customers?"
I waited for a response, but I never got one. She was staring stock-still at me with a revered expression on her face. I wondered why she'd look at me that way… Come to think of it, the excited talk amongst other players had stopped too and they were all looking in my direction. That was when I realized that she wasn't looking at me, but someone behind me!
Before I could turn around and face the person I was pulled into a tight embrace and felt two things smushed up on my face. "Ho-ho-ho! We got a little cutie here! Hey, what's your name, honey?"
"Gah…. air… air!"
She released me from the embrace. "Oh, sorry for that, it's just that you were so cute! Anyways, what's your name?"
Standing in front of me was a woman of about 26 or 27 with a rather large chest and a multicolored outfit that radiated light.
"Uh… Krystor."
She smiled. "Ah, Krystor is it? Well, I'm Ashley! Nice to meet you! I guess I'll let you see my masterpiece and see if you want to buy it. Ok? Come on in!"
She gestured towards the shop that everyone was surrounding, and I felt the heated glares of many envious people on my back.
Ah… so she's the fabled Ashley, eh? Well… just my luck. I needed a new set of armour anyways. I followed Ashley into the shop and closed the door. Inside the shop stood racks upon racks of player-tailored clothing of all colors. Black, purple, silver, gold, blue, green, orange, red, indigo, maroon… almost every color that I knew was on some clothing in this store.
"Come here, Krystor. Let me show you my masterpiece. Since I noticed that you were wearing exactly the same colors as my armour set, I thought that I might as well see if you'd like it."
I walked into the room that Ashley was in, and gaped at the marvelous craftsmanship that hung before my eyes. A sleek and comfortable-looking black-and-violet coat hung on a hanger next to a pair of pants that were black and embroidered with intricate designs in a deep violet color. Next to that hung a pair of gloves that seemed to be reinforced with a luminous obsidian material. Red outlines could be seen faintly decorating the glove. Finally, a pair of black sleek boots with a metallic black metal tip sat on the floor, also embroidered in purple.
Are… are my eyes deceiving me?! Am I really seeing what I'm seeing?! This can't be possible! Such perfection in the perfect combination of colors…. Ashley truly is the master seamstress!
"So… do you like them?" Ashley asked in a teasing voice. She must have seem my reverent expression.
"Of course I like them! They look amazing! How much for all of this?"
"Hmmm…. since it took me nearly three whole weeks to gather all of the required materials and necessities for making this… and the amount of effort that I put into making it… I'd price it at about 300,000 col."
"300,000 col?!" I sighed in defeat. Even now all I had on me was 135,000 Col… "Erm… I can't afford that, sorry Ashley… However, if you'd put that set for me on hold I can pay you 400,000 later on. Every month I can pay you 100,000 Col so in four months everything'll be paid for. Also, I just need the coat for now. Everything else I can pick up later when the final payment has been made. How does that sound?"
Ashley thought about it for a moment, thing smiled, agreeing. "Alright! It's a deal! Oh, and also…" She pointed her finger at me. "In addition to all that allow me to become your personal seamstress! I'll tailor all of your clothes for you, and you pay me a less amount than others! In return, you never go to buy clothes from anywhere else! Is that fine?"
I smiled. "Fine by me, Ashley-san. I can accept that."
She beamed happily at me. "Great! Now take the coat and go! Shoo! I have some more work to get started on! Come back to see me once in a while."
She sent me a friend request. "Also, when the frontlines begin moving up floors, I may relocate my shop to a better location higher up. I'll make sure to message you the new location and you show up there, k?"
I accepted her friend request, received the jacket as an inventory item and equipped it. It immediately appeared over my black shirt and I smiled.
So light and comfortable…
However, I wanted to start wearing it after the first floor, since I felt that I'd be safe even without my armour on.
"Alright! See you later!"
"Bye!"
2 more weeks after I met Asuna, Ashley and Liz for the first time, an announcement in the central part of Tolbana announced that the first floor boss room had been found. Personally, I was not even interested in the details- I gave up on finding the boss room and instead focused on increasing my levels by training against tough mobs. I was Lv. 28 now, and I was sure that the level would go up to Lv. 29 after the boss fight that was sure to take place the next day.
Anyways, according to the announcement the gathering for the boss raid would be at 2 PM this afternoon, and right now it was 1 PM. Oh well…
Suddenly, a lithe figure in a brown cloak approached me. Light brown hair stuck out of the hood in tufts and faint black whiskers could be seen on the cheek. "Message from anonymous sender. Want to hear it?"
I shrugged. "I don't care. Go on, Argo."
I heard a little "hmph," and then she spoke. "Got a guy who wants to buy your sword for 50,000 col. Want it?"
I answered immediately. "Nope. No deal. It's not worth it. It's a B-Ranked sword with 6 upgrades on it already. I'm not selling this for measly 50,000 col."
"Gotcha. I'll tell him that." Argo walked away and soon disappeared into the crowd of people.
I sighed and walked towards the merchant sector of the city to sell the unnecessary mats that I collected and make some extra col before the meeting time at 2.
When the appointed time came rolling around the block, I walked slowly towards the amphitheatre, where the meeting was supposedly being held.
A steady stream of people began filling in seats before people stopped entering. I myself just stood aloof at the top of the amphitheatre, spectating the event and looking at the podium on the ground below.
When the meeting finally started I counted a total of around 40-45 people sitting in the amphitheatre. Most were in clumps or parties of 5 or 6 people, with two exceptions lingering near the tops of the seating area.
A smile came to my lips as I saw Asuna's familiar cloak and a boy who was dressed in brown light armor and a blue shirt. I couldn't see Asuna's equipment, but the boy's sword looked like it was a close match to my own; perhaps a dungeon item or mini-boss drop.
He looks like a good player too. Looks like a solo as well.
I turned my attention back to the podium as a man with blue hair, a sword and a shield stepped forwards onto the stone podium.
"Thank you all for coming to my summons. My name is Diabel, and I like to consider it my duty as 'Knight' to-"
He was cut off as various players from the crowd jeered,
"There ain't no class system here!"
"Was that a joke?"
"Is this meeting a joke then too?"
Diabel silenced them all with a wave of his hand. His face turned serious, and we all leaned in to hear what he was about to say. "Yesterday evening my party found the door leading directly to the boss's lair."
Hushed whispers flew to and fro among the crowd of players but I paid it no heed. All I was focused on was what Diabel just said. The boss has been discovered. It's only a matter of time before the first floor falls to us.
Once everyone had calmed down a bit, Diabel continued. "We will launch our raid on the first floor's boss tomorrow morning. We will complete this raid successfully and show that this dreadful game can be beaten. In order for us to do this we will need to form multiple parties-"
An irritatingly loud voice suddenly erupted from the crowd, interrupting Diabel's sentence.
"Hold up!"
A particularly strange looking man was jumping down the stone stairs of the amphitheatre and making his way towards the podium at the bottom. When he reached the podium, he got on it and jabbed his stubby thumb into his chest.
"The name's Kibaou. I've got something to say, and I want everyone here to hear it!"
I snorted with amusement. The man must have been no taller than 5' 2", and he had orange hair spiked up on his head like a cactus bulb. He had a deep scowl on his acne covered face, and I averted my eyes briefly so as to not blind myself by his ugliness.
"There are some of you out there in the crowd who should apologize and atone for those 2,000 players that have died already!"
Off to the side, Diabel quietly asked, "Kibaou-san, are you referring to the ex-beta testers-"
Kibaou cut him off. "Of course I mean those dirty beta testers! Those assholes left us squandering in the Beginning City after that monster Kayaba announced this death game! They set off immediately, taking all of the easy quests and monster spawn points, leaving the rest of us newbies for dead! They never helped us newbies adapt to the game, and as a result ⅕ of our total player population has been lost! Those who are here today should get up here and beg for their lives before giving up all of the items that they've hoarded for all this time! Otherwise, they can't trust us in a party and we definitely can't trust them!"
The players present in the amphitheatre started looking at each other suspiciously and mutters filled the air as tensions began to rise.
I myself was feeling very uncomfortable about the entire situation when a large African-looking man stood up from his spot in the seating area and walked to the podium where Kibaou was standing, gloating in his success.
His smile evaporated from his face, however, when the man stood next to him. The man must have been at least 6 feet tall and had a bald head, giving me the impression of a civilized barbarian. He evidently unnerved Kibaou, who stuttered, "W-who are you?"
The man turned to face the players in the seats, whom had reverted their attention back to the podium.
"My name's Agil. Your claim is that the ex-beta testers never gave us new players a helping hand in adapting to this game, right? That they just left without a trace, and that's why so many players have died so far? Am I right?"
Kibaou nodded fervently. "Yeah, that's exactly it."
Agil pulled something out of his back pocket, and I only needed one glance before I smiled secretly to myself. I would recognize that book anywhere, especially since I had a special connection with it.
"This book was given out for free at any of the shops found in the Beginning City. It's called the 'Beginning Player's Tutorial.' You got one, didn't you?"
Kibaou nodded uncertainly. "Yeah, what about it?"
Agil continued. "This book entailed the specifics of the fighting system in SAO called sword skills. It listed detailed and precise notes about utilizing it to one's best ability, and even gives survival tips on what places are meant for a party, raid, or anything else. This book was written by none other than a beta tester called 'Krystor.' I'm sure that this book was a helpful guide to all players, experienced or not. You agree, don't you?"
Kibaou grumbled unhappily. "Well yeah, the book was kinda helpful…"
"In addition, if you'd look at the cause of death for many of the 2000 players, you'd notice that more than half of those deaths were because of suicide, and the rest were because they went beyond the limits of what they could actually handle and perished. There should be absolutely no blame for the beta testers, who probably also have a high rate of deaths, I guarantee it. Just because you were a beta tester doesn't mean that you're invincible."
Kibaou growled before stomping off of the stage and plunking himself down in a seat on the front row. The atmosphere around the amphitheatre more or less returned to what it was originally.
Heh… my book impacted that many people, eh? Oh well…
Diabel then stepped onto the podium again and continued his speech from before.
"Well… great. Now that that's settled… Listen up everyone! We will launch our raid on the first floor's boss tomorrow morning. We will complete this raid successfully and show that this dreadful game can be beaten. In order for us to do this we will need to form multiple parties of players. Challenging a boss without any backup is basically suicide, so form up those parties! Get moving people!"
I yawned. That was definitely not the most charismatic speech that I heard before; even I could've given a better one than that. But Diabel's purpose had already been achieved. He wanted to be the de facto leader of this raid, and now he was.
I particularly didn't care about being in a party; I could survive this raid on my own, but when I saw Asuna and the boy approaching me, I could tell that I'd be forced into joining their party even if I didn't feel like it.
"Hey, Krystor. Long time no see." Asuna said cryptically. I merely nodded my head a bit to show that I acknowledged her. The boy's reaction, however was more of surprise than acknowledgement.
"E-eh? K-krystor?! That's you?!"
I looked at the boy. His tone of voice somehow made me think that he knew me. "Yeah, that's me. And you are…?"
"Kirito! It's me, Kirito!"
Now that got a reaction out of me. "Woah, Kirito… I didn't think that I'd be seeing you in an attire other than black!"
Kirito rolled his eyes at me. "Yeah, yeah, and here you are already in your old clothes scheme. Just can't stay away from black and purple, can you?"
I made a face at him. "It's black and violet, thank you very much. And besides, don't ignore the fact that later on in the game, you're gonna be in a full-black attire. Boots, pants, coat and all. Don't deny it, Black Swordsman-sama."
My voice made it clear that I was taunting him, but Kirito ignored it. "Well… this gives me another chance to prove myself. I'll never lose to you again!"
I smirked. "Oh, really now? What's your current level?"
Kirito thought about it. "Um… I think I just reached Lv. 24 yesterday. Why, what's yours?"
"Lv. 28."
"WHAT?!" Kirito sighed in annoyance and grumbled out, "I lost to you in the beta, and now I lose again to you here? That's just not fair…"
Asuna brought us back out of our bickering as she pulled on my ear. "Ow, ow, ow! That hurts, Asuna!"
She huffed impatiently at me. "Well who's to blame? Anyways, so you and this guy over here know each other?"
Kirito huffed indignantly 'This guy over here' has a name, ya know. It's Kirito. Got it? 'Ki-ri-to'. Anyways, Krystor and I knew each other from the beta version of this game. Always one step ahead of me, too…"
I ignored that last part and turned to Asuna. "So yeah, that's our relationship. Really, we didn't even know each other until the 10th floor had been beaten. When it had, some guy with lots of col hosted a tournament to find out the strongest player in the beta, and Kirito and I ended up facing each other in the final round. Long story short, Kirito lost and he's been bitter about it ever since."
"Iam not bitter about losing! Just you wait! I'll be stronger than you, then you'll be the bitter one chasing after me!"
I rolled my eyes. "Dream on, blacky."
"Hey!"
"Anyways," Asuna said, "We'll meet back here tomorrow at 8 for the raid. Is that fine with everyone?"
I raised my hand like I was in class and said, "I don't care."
That earned me a smack on the head from Asuna and a scolding that detailed something about not being in school or whatever.
Kirito nodded his assent and the three of us parted ways.
"Krystor?"
I halted when Asuna called my name out hesitantly. I turned around to face her. "Yes, Asuna?"
"Do… do you have any free time right now?"
I scratched my head awkwardly. "Um… no, not as of now, why?"
Asuna looked to the side quickly before speaking in a rushed voice, "IwantsomehelpfightingandyouretheonlyoneItrustrightnow."
I blinked slowly. "Huh?'
She sighed and tried to speak more comprehensively. "I want some help and tips on fighting and you're the only one that I kinda trust right now. Also, that man Agil mentioned that you were the one who wrote the book about the fighting system in this game. Is that true?"
"Yeah, every bit of it. I wanted to help the players, but indirectly, so I wrote this book between the end of beta and beginning of the retail version so that the new players wouldn't have to go through countless efforts of trial-and-error about fighting in this game. Of course, I didn't know that it was a death game, but when I realized that it was, I knew that my book would help some players and prevent them from dying, so just before I left the Beginning City I uploaded the book for free to all players in the merchant sector of town."
Asuna smiled gratefully. "Your book was amazingly thorough, and I learned a great deal about fighting with my rapier after I read that section. Did you use all of the different weapons during the beta?"
"Yeah, but I mostly stuck with the one-handed sword and daggers. That's why those two sections are a bit longer than the rest."
She nodded in understanding. "So… about that help. Will you? Please?"
I shrugged nonchalantly. "Sure, I don't that that much stuff to do except fight anyways. Wanna head to the labyrinth to do that training?"
She nodded mutely and we headed to the labyrinth not far away.
Yahh! A silver rapier flashed once, twice, thrice before the mob burst into millions of shards. A white rewards screen popped in front of Asuna, and she yelled out in triumph as her level increased from 21 to 22.
I was impressed. For someone who claimed to be a complete noob to video games at all, she was a complete natural at fighting. Her rapier strikes were clean, precise and accurate, and the speed at which she dished out her attacks was amazing.
I quickly averted my attention from her to another mob in front of me, and I quickly dispatched it with a quick Horizontal. The sound of breaking glass resonated throughout the halls of the labyrinth as both of our opponents shattered apart.
I sheathed my daggers to watch Asuna engage more mobs. This time there were three Ruin Kobold Troopers surrounding her. Using what I had taught her earlier during our excursion, she quickly took one out before backflipping onto the second one, stabbing out one of its eyes. She then somersaulted over the head of the third one and charged up a powerful piercing attack, punching her rapier straight through the armour of the mob and reducing it to shards of light. She dodged under the swing of the last remaining Trooper and took it out as quickly as the first and second.
I clapped loudly and the sound reverberated around the corridor. "Amazing, Asuna. If I hadn't met you when you were in dire trouble I would have mistaken you for a veteran of the beta as well. Your movements are fluid and constantly move around to avoid getting hit. Great performance. Let's head back, I'll buy you dinner again tonight to celebrate."
Asuna smiled. "Alright!"
Later, just as the sun was about to set below the horizon, Asuna and I sat at a table that apparently served the 'best food' on the first floor. When our meals arrived, Asuna and I dug into our meals with fervor.
"Ah~ This was a good meal. Although… I'm pretty sure that if you level up the cooking skill high enough, you could make some food that would make the best NPC foods taste like trash. I have an extra skill slot open, and I have Rapier and Acrobatics already. I guess I'll just take that cooking skill.
She opened her menu promptly and messed around with it, probably selecting the Cooking skill in her skill palette.
"Done!" I looked up at Asuna smiling triumphantly. "Oh, by the way, thanks for giving me all this help, Krystor. You've done so much to help me succeed in this game. Thank you very much!"
I shook my head. "No, Asuna. Do not thank me for your progress. Thank yourself. Without your mindset to do well and excel, as hard as I would push you you would never go farther than what you believe your limit would be. That is the trick to staying at the top in this world. Trust in your skills and push yourself to the limit, and the rewards will be great and plentiful. Remember that, alright?" I got up to leave. "I must go now to rest up for the fight tomorrow, and you should too. I'll meet you and Kirito at the 8 at the appointed spot. Goodnight, Asuna."
Asuna nodded and smiled. "Goodnight, Krystor. See you tomorrow."
The next morning I was again woken up by that annoying alarm, and drowsily dressed myself for battle. I ate a quick breakfast before heading over to Liz's to get my gear fully fixed up in preparation for the boss fight. After that I went to the amphitheatre to meet Asuna and Kirito.
"Hey guys! Sorry to keep you waiting!"
Kirito and Asuna turned at my voice. "Oh, hey Krystor. Got a good night's sleep? This fight will be the hardest of the floor." Kirito warned.
I rolled my eyes. "Says the one who died with 26 others during the beta version of this floor, Blacky-sensei."
"Hey! You could stop it with those names, ya know. And it was the very first boss everyone had faced. Of course so many died then!"
"Yeah, but at least I wasn't the one who died. In fact, I was the one to get the LA bonus. A nifty coat called the Coat of Midnight. It's got hiding bonuses and agility buffs as well. Great coat, if you ask me."
"Well, I wasn't!"
I waved my hand. "Whatever."
"Hey! I take offense to that!"
I smirked. "Yeah, yeah, sure you do, Mr. Second Place."
"I'm not gonna be second for long! You watch out, Krystor!"
"Oh, I'm watchin, alright. I'm watching. But you'll never surpass me, ever. Now hurry up. Everyone's leaving."
Kirito grumbled and followed after me, muttering some things that I couldn't quite discern.
Asuna caught up to me, and I spoke in a low voice to her. "Keep an eye on Kirito for me. I saw how he fought in the beta, and it's too reckless. If he ever needs help, go to him immediately, even if it means leaving me alone to handle the boss. Understood?"
She nodded mutely. "Understood."
I nodded back, and felt a weight lift off of my shoulders. We fell back to where Kirito was walking. "Remember the formation, guys. We're going to face off against the boss's guards the Sentinels before taking on the boss itself. Also, while fighting, Kirito will first block the mob's attack, Asuna will follow up with a quick attack and I'll finish it off before moving onto the next one. Is everyone clear?"
Both of them nodded. "Alright then. We are officially ready for battle. Brace yourselves, and try your hardest to not die. Thanks."
Kirito rolled his eyes. "What a charismatic speech right there. For a minute I thought you were Diabel."
I glared at Kirito. "Wow, thanks Kirito."
He shrugged. "No probl-"
I interrupted his sarcastic remark with an outstretched arm. "We're here guys. Prepare yourselves."
In front of us loomed the massive double doors of the boss room, intricately carved with scenes of death and destruction.
"Happy place…" Kirito muttered.
Before I could make a witty comeback Diabel spoke to us one last time before entering the boss room.
"Players! Do not doubt your abilities during this fight! Do the best you can and no one will die in this raid! Let's go!"
Everyone roared in agreement and rushed through the massive doors that Diabel pushed open. As I ran with the raid group one last thought crossed my mind before the battle adrenaline entered my veins.
Well… Once we finish off this boss it'll be the first step out of a hundred. Little steps, yes, but we will clear this damn castle sooner or later. I'll win this game. For both me and the other players trapped in here.
As we rushed into the room, fluorescent lights lit up the interior of the room, revealing the boss, Illfang the Kobold Lord. Beside him were four guards called the Ruin Kobold Sentinels. As far as I could tell the only difference between the sentinels and the troopers was that the sentinels had higher levels and stronger attacks. Other than that, they were easy fry. Illfang, however, was a different story. Judging from the bosses from the beta, he would change his attack patterns and weapon choice once he lost the first out of the two that he had.
"Commence attack!" Diabel yelled. "A, B and C teams, engage the Kobold Lord! D, E and F teams fend off the guards!"
"Understood!"
My team and I quickly veered off towards the right to engage two of the four sentinels, leaving the other two groups with the other two sentinels.
Yahh! As with accordance to our plan, Kirito blocked the incoming attacks of the sentinels with his sword, and Asuna leapt in to do heavy damage to both mobs. When she got out of the way I quickly activated a new skill that I recently got, Horizontal Square. A total of four consecutive hits landed squarely on both sentinels, reducing them to shards of fragmented light in an instant.
Nooooo!
A high-pitched scream filled with rage and despair pierced through the massive room near us as the sound of shattering glass filled my ears. I quickly turned towards the source, and paled when I saw the remains of a killed player disappear without a trace. The 3 other party members were crouched on the ground, quivering in fear before the victorious Ruin Kobold Sentinel with its massive mace in hand.
A burst of rage filled my veins as I hurtled towards the sentinel at a breakneck speed. Just as the sentinel's mace was about to hit the group of three, I intercepted it with my two daggers crossed over each other. My health dipped 2% as the mace pressed against my daggers.
With a roar, I pushed back with all my strength and managed to push the mace away from me before beheading the sentinel with two Horizontals at the neck. With a cry of utter despair it shattered apart.
I leaned down and checked to make sure that all three of the players on the ground were alright. Their HP was in the yellow zone, so they weren't in any real danger, but I advised them to teleport out of the fight anyways, since they didn't seem to be fit enough to continue fighting. It must have been a great shock to see someone die in front of them like that.
ARGGGG! This time the cry was from the boss, the Kobold Lord. I watched iys first HP bar disappear, and as it stumbled around in pain it dropped its buckler and sword.
"Everyone pull back! I've got this!"
Diabel ran forwards with his sword shining with an intense light. I stared perplexed as he ran past me.
That… that wasn't the plan though… we were supposed to surround it and slowly whittle down its HP… so why are yo-
I realized what he was attempting to do. "No! Diabel! You can't get it like that! Even if you try your best, it still has a full bar left!"
Diabel, however, ignored me and continued charging at Illfang. I was worried for him, but when I saw the new weapon that the boss pulled out, I froze.
That's not the beta version of Illfang's new weapon! That's a No-dachi, not a Talwar!
Right as that thought crossed my mind Illfang launched its attack on Diabel. It leapt up in the air and bounced off the various pillars around the room like a pinball before landing on Diabel and slashing him cleanly on the chest.
A sharp cry of surprise erupted from Diabel's mouth as his HP dropped drastically from high green to yellow in an instant. When the boss followed up his initial attack with two more powerful slashes, I knew that he was a goner.
Still, I ran towards the spot where he had collapsed and handed him a health potion. As I eyed the raid leader, small tears formed at the corner of my eyes.
"Why… why did you have to go in like that? You knew the risks! You knew them! So why?!"
Diabel cringed slightly at my voice. "Y-you were a beta tester too, weren't you? You knew what I was going for."
I nodded sadly. "You were going in for the last attack bonus, weren't you?" He smiled slightly and nodded.
"Why, though?!"
"You know the answer to that as well. To gain powerful items and survive. You're the same way too, aren't you?"
I looked at Diabel's HP bar. It was gone. My eyes widened as Diabel's form began to shimmer.
"Please, I ask of you… beat this boss, and see to it that as many people as possible escape this game. Please."
And he was gone.
I fought back the tears that threatened to spill from my face, and stood up emotionlessly. I slowly turned to face the boss which was currently hacking away at other players. The sounds of shattering glass filled my ears once again as player after player fell to the boss's relentless attacks.
I started walking towards the boss before breaking into a full-out sprint. At the corner of my eyes I saw Kirito and Asuna running alongside me.
They smiled when I turned to look at them. "We'll do this together, then. Follow the same plan as before."
They nodded and we rushed forwards towards the boss. Right before we reached him, Illfang noticed us and swung his massive sword at us.
Kirito blocked the sword and got smashed out of the way, but it left the boss open to Asuna and I.
We both launched our attacks at its torso and jumped away quickly when our cooldown recovery time was over.
We ran towards Illfang again in the same formation. Illfang must have learned, however, because when he swung his sword at Kirito, it used that same three-hit combo technique that killed Diabel on us.
Kirito's HP was knocked down to a dangerous amount of 45%, but Asuna just got her cloak destroyed, revealing her true form underneath. I got hit too, but my attention was on Asuna at the moment, so I barely registered the fact that I got hit as I caught sight of Asuna's true image.
She's like a goddess…
Locks of chestnut hair flitted around her face as she fell, and waist-length hair floated around her slim body, a red-and-white shirt rippling in the wind. I was brought back to reality when my faced smashed into the ground, bringing my HP down a bit more.
Shit… I eyed my HP, which was currently at around 55%. I quickly downed a health potion and backed up alongside Kirito and Asuna, whom had also downed their own health potions.
I glanced up as Illfang roared and brought its sword down on us, only to be stopped by Agil's axe.
He glanced over his shoulder at us as he struggled to keep Illfang at bay. 'We'll hold off the boss until the three of you recover!"
"Thanks!"
The three of us waited until our HP was back to full 100%, and charged back into the fight, and not too soon either.
Right as my HP reached full, the boss let out an earth-shaking roar and leapt up into the air, charging a powerful sword skill as it fell.
Oh no you don't! I shouted loudly and shot forwards towards the falling boss. Right as the boss was about to slash at the players below with its No-dachi, I intercepted it in midair. The boss's sword skill was canceled and the two of us crashed onto the ground hard. My HP dropped 2% from the impact.
Then, Kirito and Asuna were at my side and I turned to nod at them. "We'll finish this together, alright? Same plan as before, just be more careful this time." The two of them nodded grimly.
With a roar of defiance, an unknown energy rushed through our bodies as we charged at the boss in front of us. Illfang swung his sword but Kirito countered it, allowing Asuna and I the ability to deal crippling attacks at the massive monster. When I finished my four-part attack I noticed that the boss's health was in the red.
"Kirito! I'll give you a break this time and let you have the LA! Go finish him for us!"
Kirito looked stunned at what I was saying, but I faintly had an idea of how my status was going to be tainted after the boss fight was over. I had literally proclaimed myself a beta tester in front of everyone in the room, and I knew that the one group of people that many players hated were the beta testers.
When I shook myself out of my dark thoughts a loud cheering could be heard echoing throughout the crowd. Shouts of congratulations to Kirito for his victory could be heard, and I smiled to myself slightly. Good job, Kirito. Keep at it, and perhaps you may be the one to lead us all out of here…
Suddenly a hand pushed me roughly to the ground.
"You were a beta tester, weren't you?!" I slowly looked up and saw Kibaou's face twisted with rage.
Just as I thought…
The cheering died down and Kibaou growled at me. "You let Diabel die! You knew all of the boss's attack patterns and STILL let Diabel go running to his death! You caused it! YOU!"
I just sat through Kibaou's raging rant. Kirito and Asuna came running over. "What do you mean, he let Diabel die? You all saw Diabel run in on his own accord! No one could have sto-"
"Enough."
I interrupted Kirito's sentence. As much as I hated to do this, I needed for all of the hate to not spread to all of the beta testers, but onto me. I could survive this hatred and this world, but no other tester could. Not even Kirito. They'd be grinded down in seconds. But I was not like the rest I could survive and win this game.
I started laughing maniacally, and got up from my previous sitting position on the ground. "Beta tester, you say?" My voice was dripped with venom and malice. "True, I was a beta tester, yes. But I was not like those newbies who didn't even know how to level up! You all here are much , much better than them!" My voice rose to a shout before quieting down again. "But I was different. Among all of the 1,000 testers in the beta, I was the top player amongst them. I was THE STRONGEST IN THE GAME! I have more knowledge on this game than any info broker, and the survival tips to stay alive in this living hell."
Kibaou was momentarily shocked silent. "Wha-what?! Then you're worse than a beta tester! You're a cheater! You're a… you're a beater!"
I smiled darkly. "Beater, eh? I like it!"
Everyone in the room gasped in shock and surprise. "Yes… I'm a beater. Remember that from now on, fools. I am no ordinary beta tester. I AM A BEATER!"
I equipped on my special coat that I got from Ashley and smiled with malice. The coat floated around my crouched body as the coat materialized onto me, creating a dramatic waving motion. My voice lowered to a whisper.
"Try to keep up, my fellow players!"
I laughed again and started up the stairs leading up to the 2nd floor.
"Wait!"
I paused for a moment as Asuna and Kirito came running up to me.
"Krystor, don't do this man!"
I smiled at Kirito. "Kirito, you were a great friend during the beta. Lead those people down there and the rest of the clearers through the floors. You too, Asuna. Both of you have great potential and power. I can feel it. If either of you find a guild trustworthy enough, then join them. There's only so much that a soloer can do."
"W-what about you, then?" Asuna's voice quivered a bit.
I smiled slightly. "Kirito should be able to understand my current situation. I now have the hatred of some of the most powerful players currently in Aincrad. I'll just live life like I have before- alone. Kirito, Asuna," I Iooked at both of them in the eye. "It was nice meeting both of you. Hopefully as the game progresses we will see each other more often. I will be there at all of the boss fights, all you need to do is message me the time and place. I'll find my way there and participate then leave. You both have me on your friends list. If you need help on anything at any time message me and I'll be there to help you. Other than that…"
I paused before continuing my way up the stone steps. "Farewell."
