It's been a month since the launch. More than 2,000 players have died that's roughly around 20% of our numbers gone. The worst part is no one has found the boss room in the dungeon. Players have been going out in parties looking for it but come back with nothing to report. I and Haruo have focusing on building up our skills and equipment rather than searching for the boss. He has been focused on his Dagger Skill. Haruo is aiming for a light build, fast and agile. I'm focusing on my timing and strike precision with my sword. Along with our combat skills we have been doing non-combat skills as well. While I'm doing something more useful like Purchase Negotiation he wants to do Musical Instrument. Thanks to my skill I was able to purchase some good clothes and weapons with the col we earned.
Now I had a dark red overcoat that had silver markings clinging down its sides and back. Haruo wanted something yellow so I bought him a yellow vest that had a fur collar. His vest complimented his short red hair but it made him stick out. Clearly he isn't doing stealth.
Our weapons had a slight increase, but for our level it should be fine. When we got to the village we did most of the quest. I received a long sword it was much better for my fighting stance. The length gave me a better reach. Haruo accepted a basic weapon upgrade, his dagger now +4. Our weapons and questing got us to a respectable level 10. Most players were in-between 5-8 now.
As me and Haruo approached the town a few players rushed by, bumping in to us.
"Sorry man! We got to make the meeting!"
Haruo looked at me and I looked to him. A meeting? I and Haruo dashed after the group. Maybe the players were finally gathering to hit the boss. That also means a party found the room. When I and Haruo came around the corner to an open plaza we were shocked to see a relatively big group there. We made it just in time since the players were funneling in to a court yard.
"Over there." Haruo said pointing to a seat.
The courtyard was set like a small and broken coliseum. Its entrance was surrounded by tall cracked pillars. Our seats were like rows of stone wrapping around in a half circle. They seemed to wrap around the middle section which also looked damaged.
A player walked out in to the middle. He had blue hair and an ageless face. His armor was blue like his hair and had plates of metal applied throughout it.
"Hello glad to see you all here. I'm Diavel and the job I rolled was knight!" he said throwing out his fist and smirking.
"There are no jobs!" a player yelled.
The crowd began to rumble a bit before Diavel calmed them down.
"My party has found the boss room!"
Again the crowd rumbled but this time it was more of a cheer. It was nice to know that they were ready to advance from this floor. That's what me a Haruo having been talking about doing for days now.
"Were gonna need to pair off in to parties of six. A typical party doesn't stand a chance, were ar gonna need to form a Raid party that has other inside it."
My eyes widened and I looked around. Everyone had their friends by them to team up with. Yeah I had Haruo but a party of two is no good. Looking round me and Haruo spotted another player talking to a cloak player. They seemed to be partying up.
"Let's ask to party with them." Haruo said.
I nodded and we slinked down to the block above them. The male looked up at us. His face was rather delicate and his hair was short and black. He could pass for a female but no one is that dumb to fall for it.
"Can we party up with you guys?" I asked.
The cloaked figure kept a straight position, looking forward.
"Sure thing." The male said "It's gonna take all of us to beat the boss."
Both I and Haruo got an invite. The prompt popped up and we accepted. Our new party member smiled. I looked up at our HP status, his name was Kirito and the other was Asuna. Female name most likely.
"I'm Haruo and this is Riku."
"Pleasure to meet you Kirito..," I said
He smiled again and turned back to Diavel. Diavel was about to started talking when a player interrupted him. The player jumped down the steps and landed next to Diavel. He stated that his name was Kibaou. He believes the beta tester should apologize for the death of 2,000 players. Kibaou we testers got up and took all the great loot from the new players. Haruo and I both did that, but I can have a heavy heart about since I saved a player and still helping him. But I noticed when he called out the beta tester Kirito flinched and panicked a bit. It could be possible that Kirito played the beta and that's how he got that sword on his back. Kibaou was still ranting about the beta testers when a player cut him off.
"Can I say something?" a deep voice called.
The player rose. He was huge. When the player got to Kibaou he towered over him. Not to mention he looked strong too. I heard him say that his name was Agil. Agil pulled out a book.
"The item store hands these out for free. It's guide book. You got one didn't you?"
"Sure I got one, so what about it?"
"You know who was handing these out? The Ex-beta testers."
The crowd looked shocked and they began to mumble, I assume about Kibaou's remarks.
Agil turned to face the crowed and explained that everybody had access to the information. Even with the guide book being free still lots of players died.
"I didn't come here to poke fingers at anyone. I'm here because I wanna learn from those players' deaths. I'm here because I wanna find out how were gonna beat the boss!" Agil finished.
"The boss is Illfang the Kobald Lord he guarded by three Ruin Kobald Sentinels. Illfang uses axe and shield till his HP drops to red on his last bar. At that point his uses a talwar. He can change his patterns of attack too. That's it for the briefing." Diavel said.
Once the meeting got adjured Asuna left. Kirito watched her leave. I stood and stretched.
"We'll see you at ten Kirito."
"Alright guys don't be late. I'm gonna catch up with Asuna."
Haruo and I nodded. Illfang. He was a tough boss in the beta. But in beta most of us rolled solo. Tomorrow is gonna be one tough day but I'm ready and I know Haruo is, he keeps talking about facing a boss all the time. I think after tomorrows fight his mind will be changed.