Chapter 3

Beater

"Let's go!" Said Diabel, opening the door to the boss room. He lead the way inside, the raid party following him. Robyn armed with his sword breaker, Kirito a plain sword, and the women a rapier. The boss room was long and dark, with the outline of the boss sitting on a throne at the end of the room. As the raid party approached the halfway point, the whole room lit up, and the boss leapt across the room toward them, roaring loudly.

"Really Kayaba?" Thought Robyn. "A demon kangeroo?

The boss was around twenty feet tall, bright red, with glowing red eyes and a long tail, and armed with the reported axe and buckler. The name "Illfang the Kobold Lord appeared over its head, and three health bars near its head. Three Ruin Kobold Sentinels spawned around the boss, and they all charged the players, Illfang not far behind.

"Commence attack!" Diabel ordered.

Everyone charged into battle, some attacking the sentinels while others attacked the boss. Robyn, Kirito and their partner attacked the sentinels, Kirito knocking up the pole axes while Robyn and the woman finished it off.

Diabel continued to shout orders to the raid party. All was going well. "Squad A! Squad C! Switch! Here it comes! Squad B, Block! Squad C! Keep guarding and prepare to switch! Now! Switch, withdraw and prepare to attack!" Diabel addressed Kirito and Robyn's squad along with two others; E, D and F, keep sentinels off us."

"Roger!" Said Kirito, while Robyn knodded and grunted. Kirito knocked a sentinels pole axe up and said "switch!"

"Number 3!" Cried the women as she attacked the sentinel, shattering it into shards of blue light.

"Oh dang…" Robyn thought, and by the way Kirito's face looked he was thinking the same thing. "She's no beginner. I can't even see her rapier move!"

"Good job," exclaimed Kirito, turning his attention toward the boss, which had just changed.

The boss had just hit red on it's last health bar and roared, throwing away it's axe and buckler.

"Looks like the information was correct," proclaimed Kibau.

"Stand back!"

Diabel ran forward with his longsword ready, clearly about to take on the boss alone.

"Why is he… Wait….no…" thought Robyn. "We were going to surround it with the entire group."

Diabel readied his sword skill as Illfang pulled out his weapon,

Pulling a long, straight sword out of a scabbard on its back.

Robyn's face turned to shock. "Crap," he thought. "That's no talwar, that's an No-Dachi!"

"No!" Cried Kirito as Illfang began to leap off the walls and ceiling, building up an attack. "Jump back as fast as you can!"

Illfang struck, sending Diabel flying.

"Diabel!" Cried Kibau, only to turn straight into Illfang's snarling face.

Kirito dashed at Diabel, who was lying unmoving on the ground, health decreasing. Robyn followed suite.

"Why'd you try to do it alone?" Kirito asked, pulling out a potion only to have Diabel stop his hand.

"Because he's a Beta tester," Robyn said quietly.

"WHAT?" Exclaimed Kirito.

"He's right," Diabel said weakly. "You were too, weren't you? You know what I was doing."

"The last attack bonus," Robyn whispered. "YOU SELFISH IDIOT! WHY? WHY? YOU UNIFY THE PLAYERS JUST SO YOU CAN THROW IT ALL AWAY?!"

Diabels eyes were filled with sadness. "Please… Defeat… Defeat the boss… For everyone."

Diabel's health hit zero with a pinging sound, and he shattered into shards of light.

"Diabel… You unified the players even though you were a beta tester… but you gave into selfishness and threw all this away. You could have led this group through all one-hundred floors, all the way to the top and got everyone out of the game faster than anyone else could… You idiot…" Robyn stood up and looked at Kirito. "Let's go."

"Right."

"I'll go too," their partner said, appearing at their side.

"We'll take Illfang just like the sentinels. LET'S GO!" Robyn rallied. Then charged.

"Alright," his partners said, charging after him.

The three charged the boss, blocking and striking in perfect synch as if they had been working together their whole life. Kirito blocking while Robyn and the women struck. Kirito blocked the sword and yelled "Switch!"

The women switched in, striking, but slipped up a little, not noticing the boss's talwar closing in toward her.

"Asuna!" Kirito cried.

Asuna turned and blocked the sword strike barley before it hit her face, but it knocked her back into Kirito. Illfang bore down on them, about to strike. Right before it hit, Egil quickly moved in front of them with his axe and blocked the attack. Robyn landed a critical hit on the monster and turned toward Kirito and Asuna, yelling at them to get up.

"Thanks," gasped Kirito. "One last hit guys. We'll do it together!"

"Roger," said Robyn and Asuna.

They all charged at Illfang, slashing in hacking one at a time, until Illfang began bounding off the walls again.

"I'll get you first!" Cried Kirito, bounding up toward Illfang, making a long cut through Illfang and effectively cutting him in half, shattering the boss into shards of light.

"Kirito landed on the ground as giant letters saying "Congratulations" appeared. The entire party broke into cheers as the lights went out inside the room.

"Good work," Egil congratulated Kirito. That was a splendid swordsmanship. Congratulations, this victory belongs to you."

"No…" Kirito responded quietly.

Robyn sunk down and lay on the ground with a sigh.

"Why?" Kibau yelled. Everyone parted and looked at him, who was kneeling on the ground, clearly distraught. "Why did you let Diabel die?

"Let him die?"

"Of course! You knew the technique the boss used! If you'd told us about that up front he wouldn't have died!

The crowd murmmured to each other until someone yelled out "He must be a beta tester!"

"That's how he knew all the boss's attack patterns, he knew, but didn't tell us!"

"Other beta testers are here too right? Come out!"

"This isn't going to end well, this is exactly what Diabel was trying to prevent… And what I tried to prevent as well," thought Robyn.

"Hey, come on-" started Egil when maniacal laughter interrupted him.

Robyn looked over at Kirito sharply, his eyes narrowed.

Kirito stood up, still laughing. "A beta tester? I wish you wouldn't compare me to those newbies."

"W-what?" Stuttered Kibau.

"Most of the thousand beta testers were beginners who didn't even know how to level up."

Kirito began walking through the crowd toward the entrance to the next floor. "You guys are better than they are. But I'm not like them."

Robyn watched Kirito indifferently, the look on his face suggesting he knew exactly what Kirito was doing.

Kirito stopped and turned toward the gathered crowd. "I made it higher than anyone else during the beta test. The reason I knew all the boss's skills is because I fought monsters with Katana skills on floors far above us. I know a lot more. Way more than any information broker."

"W-what?" Kibau said, sounding shocked."That's worse than being a beta tester! You're cheating! A cheater!"

The crowd began shouting at Kirito all at once.

"You're a beta tester and a cheater!"

"A beater!"

"A beater," Kibau shouted angrily. " I should kill you where you stand!" Kibau pulled out his sword and took a step in Kirito's direction. There was a flash of metal as Kibau's sword was knocked out of his hand by Robyn's swordbreaker.

"Don't make me finish what we started Kibau," growled Robyn, as his cold, blue eyes bore into Kibau's, who froze, but became even more angry.

"So you're a beater to, then huh?!"

"No… But you may as well call me one… I'm an advanced player. And I'm sticking with this guy." Robyn sheathed his sword.

"A beater... I like it," Kirito said darkly to the crowds shock. "That's right, I am a beater. From now on don't confuse me with the other testers."

Kirito entered into his menu and equipped the black "coat of midnight" and walked toward the boss room exit, followed by Robyn.

"Wait."

Asuna had followed them. "You called my name when we were fighting. "

"What, did he mess it up or something?" Said Robyn sarcastically.

"Where did you learn it?" Continued Asuna, ignoring Robyn's comment.

"Move your eyes," said Robyn. "Up, then left. Behold, what do you find there?"

"Ki-Kirito? Robyn?"

"Yeah," answered Kirito.

"Oh… it's been there all this time!" Laughed Asuna.

"Noooooo…" Said Robyn. "But in all seriousness, distance yourself from us, or you'll be hated too."

"Oh…" Said Asuna disappointedly.

"You'll be really strong," said Kirito. So if someone you trust ever asks you to join a guild, don't turn them down. There's a limit to what one can do as a solo player."

"Then what about you?

Kirito didn't answer, but walked out of the room. Robyn followed.

"Oh, Asuna?" Robyn imparted. "Don't ever forget your resolve."