Warning: Minor Offensive language to be said towards the end of the chapter. Just a small heads up!
The next day, the duo was ready to dive into SAO. The gym was then filled again with the school wanting to see how they would do against the first boss. Over the recent month, people have seen the skill Xero and Raven has shown, mostly Xero. He's been able to get out of the worst situations with only a small pinch of health. He's dodged death so much that people called him the "Immortal Hero" which is much to his distaste.
Once they prepared for the boss raid, everyone was off to the boss room. Xero, Raven and Asuna went over their gameplan, "Alright, so we're on the front. We will do the majority of the damage towards the boss behind the tanks, and we must remember to switch out in case we need to regain stamina or hp."
"Wait, what's a 'switch'?" Asuna and Raven ask in unison.
"Well, it's when teammates switch in out with each other. Mostly done if the one doing the fighting is getting tired. I'll be in front, would one of you like to take the front with me?"
Raven stepped up, "I'll take that position. By the way, are you streaming right now Xero?" Xero nodded and waved his hand in front of his face, "Yeah, the stream automatically starts when I spawn in. How about you two, are you girls streaming?"
"Yeah, I set it up just before we got here. Right now, I have just about 1250 viewers so far. How about you Asuna? Are you streaming?"
Asuna nodded and put her thumb up, "Yeah, it's pretty cool, I think it's been fine so far, but I have to stop streaming from time to time because of the amount people in our household."
"Ah, well, let's get this show on the road!"
-In front of the boss room-
Diabel stuck his sword into the ground and began his speech, "Alright everyone, this is the moment we've all been waiting for! This is our chance to show everyone in the Town of Beginnings that this game can be beaten! Here we go, remember the plan, and this shall go without casualty!" He pumped his fist in the air, as well as everyone else.
He turned towards the door to open it, and everyone rushed inside. Everyone stopped once they approached the middle of the boss room. Everyone was on high alert for the boss, and wasn't letting their guard down. After about 5 seconds, the room grew bright, and on the other side of the room, was a large wombat like creature wielding an axe and a shield. It leaped from it's throne and in front of the players.
Diabel gave the order, "Charge!" Everyone charged towards the large beast, and began attacking it, "Squads B and C, flank from behind and catch it off guard. Squad A, attack while it's distracted from B and C!" Diabel ordered.
"We're on it!" Xero responded, "Asuna, Raven, let's go!" They both nodded as they started attacking the boss. Diabel turned behind him to order the rest of the groups.
"Xero, I'm getting pretty worn out!" Xero turned towards Raven and saw that she was indeed growing tired.
"Switch with Asuna! I'll keep you covered! Recover your stamina and health!"
Raven nodded as she turned to Asuna, "Asuna, switch!" Asuna switched positions with Raven, and with astounding speed, attacked the boss with god-like speed, "Whoa, she's really fast. How hard did she train with Erik?"
As Raven was daydreaming, one of the boss's minions was about to attack her, "Raven!" Xero ran over and killed the minion in one blow, "Keep your mind in the game! I don't want you dying on me!" Raven blushed as Xero said that. She nodded to his request and stood up with vigilance.
Everyone continued pounding the boss with fierce attacks and strategic placements. Eventually, they had managed to bring the boss down to the red on his last bar of health, "Great! I shall land the final blow!" Diabel ran ahead of everyone to attack the boss with one final hit, "Wait, I thought everyone was supposed to attack at the same time at this point." As Xero was thinking this, he saw the boss throw his weapons away.
As he did so, he pulled out another weapon. Xero's eyes widened and remembered something, "Wait! Don't attack, he just changed his weapon to a odachi!" Without listening to Xero's warning, Diabel charged in. As Diabel was about to deliver the final strike, the boss leaped to the ceiling and charged downward toward Diabel. Without the reaction time to dodge, Diabel was hit hard by the boss not once, but twice. Diabel flew far back and Xero caught him, "Diabel!" The monster landed in front of the group of players, and slashed in front of it.
"I tried to warn you that he would gain a boost of power and speed while he's low on health. The odachi would just add more power to this ability. Here take this, you need to heal up."
Xero was about to hand a hp potion to Diabel, but he pushed away, "No... I feel as if they don't need me anymore. I've already set the path to clearing this game, and it's up to the rest of you to continue that path. Besides, my life in the real world is already bad enough. This was my chance to feel like a hero. I have nothing to lose in the real world..."
"No, if you die, the morale of our raid party will dwindle greatly. We can't lose you!"
Diabel chuckled as he grabbed Xero's hand, "Listen, you're the only one strong enough to kill this boss. You need to defeat this boss. I want you to bring courage to everyone in the Town of Beginnings and everyone watching the courage to stand up and help us through this endeavor. If you show them and unite them, this game can be conquered. You have to do it... for everyone here..." And with that, Diabel's body exploded into millions of pixels, and all Xero could do, was look on in shock.
Everyone paused as they saw their great leader die in the arms of another player. Asuna and Raven looked on in shock, as a player, no... a student was just killed in front of their very eyes. In the gym, everyone was speechless at what they had just saw. Some people began crying, others began reminiscing what had just happened.
"So, that's how this cruel world is going to be... hmph, it's not like I've seen this happen already. This is just another player added to the over 500 deaths, it's just another day. But why does this death feel different?" Xero stared at his hand, and proceed to ball it in a fist, "I know why... it's because Diabel was a special type of player. He was one who didn't fear anything, and that included death itself. He lead this group of blinded players to this boss room, and he passed that duty onto me. I shall fulfill your final wish Diabel..."
Xero stood up and unsheathed his sword. He turned towards the large group of players fighting off the boss, and dashed towards it. He dashed so fast, that no one saw him. The first blow stumbled the boss, and Xero gave out the order, "Everyone, attack the boss with all your might! Don't let up for an instant!" Everyone nodded, and charged head first at the boss. Asuna and Raven looked at each other and nodded, following the example of their friend.
Everyone attacked the ferocity of a tiger, and the swiftness of an eagle. Once the boss once on its last leg, it charged up its sword, and dashed towards the players. Knowing that the players weren't fast enough to dodge, Xero jumped in front to block.
What Xero didn't expect was that the boss was actually performing a 10-hit combo. Even of he blocked the first hit, he was still brutally attacked by the 2nd and 3rd, followed by an in-air juggle. He was thrown far into Asuna and Raven. His health bar gradually drained to where he was just barely alive.
The boss ran up to them, and begun to attack, but was blocked by one of the players. It was a rather large man with axe, "We'll keep you covered until your health is back up. Girls you keep him safe until he's good enough to fight," They both nodded in response, and the player went to fight the boss.
"You're an idiot Erik. It was obvious it was going to be a multi hit combo. Here heal up," Raven handed him a healing potion, and he took it. His health began to refill, but as he was drinking, he saw the creature had jumped high. It was the same move that had taken out Diabel.
Xero leaped up, and ran towards the boss, "Hey, watch out!" Xero jumped up from the ground, his sword now glowing a blue aura, and he slashed down the boss's abdomen. He landed and yelled back at his party, "Asuna, Raven, come on, one last barrage of attacks!" They both nodded and followed Xero into the fray.
Attack after attack, they penetrated the boss's defenses and was able to stumble the boss. Seeing this as an opportune moment, Xero dashed towards the boss, his sword glowing a new shade of blue, and he pierced the boss's stomach, and slid his sword up, slicing the boss in half. But to ensure a total victory, he proceeded to attack the boss with as many strikes as he can.
Blow after blow, the boss was just a mere pile of guts and pieces of what used to be its weapon. Xero landed on the ground gracefully, only to fall back down on one knee, for he had used to much energy in one go. The large "Congratulations" appeared in front of the players signaling that they had successfully completed the floor, thus bringing them one step closer to completing the game. Everyone in Xero and Raven's school cheered happily, knowing that their friends have now finally completed the first floor.
"Nice work Xero! That was amazing!" Asuna said as she helped him up.
"Yeah, a little reckless again if you ask me...," Raven said jokingly as she punched Xero's arm.
The same large player that saved him earlier approached him as well, "That was some fine swordsmanship young man. I never expected that from a student."
"Student? Aren't you a student as well?"
The player shook his head in response, "No, I'm one of the teachers at my high school. Since I'm a fan of gaming, and more importantly MMOs, I found it cool to try this out. Oh, the name's Agil by the way."
He held out his hand, and Xero shook, "Xero, it's nice to meet. Well, I don't think you should really be thanking just me. All of you did your part as well. Without all of you, we wouldn't have been able to beat the boss today."
"Nonsense, most of our troubles were solved thanks to you. I mean, no one would've taken up the reigns Diabel left, and here you are, leading as if you were a natural born leader. It takes skill to do that."
"N-No, I...," Before he could continue speaking, he saw how all the players in the room starting cheering and chanting his name. Xero was never used to this type of standing ovation, he was somewhat flustered.
All good things had to come to an end when a voice within the crowd yelled out, "Stop cheering!" Everyone paused to look behind them, and they saw an orange haired player sitting, willowing in his hands, "Why'd you do it, huh? Why'd you let Diabel die?"
Xero was confused, he didn't know what the player meant, "L-Let him... die? What the hell are you on about?"
The player jumped up in anger and stormed towards Xero, "You heard me loud and clear you self-righteous bastard!"
"Hey, calm down man," Agil tried to detest the situation, but it continued on.
"You knew what the boss was going to do, but you kept that information from him, just to get the rare item drop!" The man was somewhat right. Though he had no intention of allowing Diabel to perish, he did earn a rare item called: The Coat of Midnight.
It was a coat that increased the wearer's speed by 50 and their evasion by 75. It was a perfect coat for lightweight players, or players who liked the extra speed in their gameplay. He equipped it, and the long black jacket appeared on his body, "Wow, this looks amazing."
"Quit gawking over the jacket! Your just another item hoarder, and bastards like you don't deserve to be among us," The player held out a sword to Xero's throat. Xero only budged slightly at the sudden action, but kept his cool.
Raven and Asuna stood in front of the player to prevent him from doing any more harm, "Hey, all this is uncalled for! He tried to warn Diabel, and even tried to heal him. So maybe you should get you facts straight!"
The orange haired player grew annoyed at Raven's banter, and pointed the sword towards her, "Listen up you bitch, I don't intend on hearing a pathetic player like yourself tell me what to do and what not to do! So get the hell out of my way! I'll kill every single one of you to survive!"
Everyone in their gym grew extremely upset at the young man's insult towards Raven, and this caused Xero to grow extremely angry. Xero proceeded to take the arm of the player, and pinned him on the floor. Everyone was astonished at the speed Xero had done that, "You can insult me all you want, it won't affect one bit..., but if I catch you insult any of my friends, especially them two, I'll see you burn in hell. Do you understand?"
Without waiting for a response, he let go of the player. The player held his arm, and scooted back. Xero looked around the room, and began to speak, "If you really think that hoarding items in this game is a bad thing, then change how you think. In this world, it's all about survival of the fittest. Those who are strong enough to claim these rare items are the ones that took effort to obtain these items. Those of you that hoard them for your own selfish needs are the ones that are the true 'bastards' of this game. In this game, knowledge and skill is everything. Without knowledge, you can't build your underdeveloped skills. Without skills, you won't be able to increase your knowledge of this game. Remember these words, and it will help you survive in this god forsaken game..."
And with that, Xero began to walk off. He yelled back to the speechless players, "I'll activate the warp gate. Tell everyone in the Town of Beginnings that the first floor has been cleared, this will be great news to them!" Asuna and Raven looked at each other, and proceeded to run after Xero.
Once they caught up with him, they called out to him, "Xero!"
He paused slightly, and continued walking, "Hey wait! We need to ask..."
"If I wanted to stick together with the both of you, correct?" Slightly shocked at his guess, they nodded in agreement. With a long pause of silence, he answered, "I'm afraid not. This is the part where the three of us part ways with each other. Although, the two of you may stay together as you like," Looking towards the warp gate, he remembered something, "I was told by an info broker that you can create a guild once you reach floor 3. Perhaps the two of you can create a guild and become the top guild in the game. You're both skilled enough, so why not give it a shot... there's only so much a solo player can do..."
This cause them to ask at the same time, "But... aren't you solo?" Without answering, he opened his menu, and disbanded the party. This may not be the last time they meet, but this will be their only meeting in a long, long time. And so, they parted ways, Xero went to train on his own, and the two girls went onto the other floors with their guild: Flames of the Serene. These three friends would not meet in game until they approached floor 10, where a most interesting quest will join them together for another adventure.