Hey guys, it's the author. I would like to start off the story by giving you fair notice I've revised my stat equations, so their a little different. I've also edited the first chapter. Other than that, enjoy!

"So how big is this bull supposed to be?" Ezra asked Kirito as they walked along a dirt path. The second floor was made up by plateaus and grasslands, giving the place a very farm like quality.

"Well, it's more of a Ox than a bull." Kirito explained. "Didn't you follow me out of the boss room? You should know about this thing by now."

"Naw. I just sent my report to the rat before returning to the first floor for a bit more leveling before I came up here." Ezra twirled his halberd absentmindedly, carefully to keep the sharp end away from him and Kirito. "I intend to spend a week or so just farming here, set up a base of operations you know? This way I'm always within call distance and I can still level for my main quest."

"Mmm, good idea." He stopped as he came to a plateau and began to climb. Since they had left town they hadn't seen a single monster but Kirito promised they'd come across one soon. The black swordsman peaked his head over the edge. "Well? You coming?" Ezra began to climb.

"Why am I climbing this rock?" Ezra asked as he pulled his skinny body over the top of the ridge, out of breath. "We could have just found one by walking around this plateau."

"Knowing your luck? You would have been stepped on before you got a proper scale of one of these things." Ezra gave his friend a light punch on the shoulder at the remark and looked off onto the land before him. The second floor, unlike the first, had a set theme of pastures. Multiple plateaus surrounded the main town and were scattered across the floor, each covered in grassy planes. Dotting the land was massive bull like animals just wandering around, casting their massive shadows onto the ground below. There was a definite path that was set to the tower in the distance.

"Their massive." Ezra said, examining his prey. He was perched on the edge of the rock and was leaning forward, trying to get a closer read on the animals. "So that's a Trembling Ox" He leaned a bit farther and put a hand over his eyes to block out the sun.

"Woah there." Kirito called out, his hand shooting out to catch a hold of Ezra's shirt as he began to tip over. He pulled him back onto solid ground with a yank of the arm. "I'd rather not see you die from falling on your face."

"Thanks man." Ezra said, rubbing the back of his head with a stupid grin on his face. "So, how strong are they?"

"Before that, give me your stats." Kirito demanded. Ezra sighed.

"Fine, dad." He said exasperatedly, gaining pleasure from his silence in response. He opened up his window and showed it to his friend.

Ezra level 9

Hp: 1700

Str: 10

Agi: 15

Vit: 17

Kirito examined the page in silence before commenting. "That's some pretty high agility and vitality stats. If your aiming for a fast tank, it doesn't work to well if you are really week in strength."

"The high vitality is for when or where I get hit. I generally try not to give my prey a chance though." He pointed at his body. "Light armor doesn't inhibit my motions, even if it way weaker than everything else."

"Ezra, you know those are just normal clothes right?" Kirito asked.

"Yes, yes I do." Ezra replied.

Kirito shook his head. "You shouldn't be so reckless. Go buy some armor before you try to fight one of those things. I came to town to repair my equipment, so you can tag along with me."

"And give up testing myself?" Ezra replied, getting to his feet. "Just watch me if you're that worried. But don't intervene unless I'm about to killed." Before his friend could respond he jumped off the edge, firing off a sword skill as he neared the ground to slow himself down. His blade glowed and he jabbed it at the ground, rolling as he landed to dissipated the rest of the impact. He still took some fall damage but it wasn't significant. Ezra turned back to the cliff to see Kirito climbing down, not nearly as reckless as he was.

Ezra didn't wait and ran after the nearest Trembling Ox, which stood a good eight feet tall at the shoulder. The mob had its back turned to him, not noticing him until he got within thirty feet. The giant creature turned around to greet him, only for the teen to rush past and leave a long gash on its right flank. The Ox seemed pissed as it tried to kick him. Ezra jumped back to avoid the attack, shouldering his halberd when he landed. The blade started to glow bright blue and Ezra resumed his attack.

"Double crescent!" Ezra called out as he launched the sword skill. By now the Ox had turned to face him again, just in time for the first hit to cut into its right shoulder. It staggered as the leg gave out under it. Ezra spun his weapon with the attack over his shoulder and onto his other side and landed a similar cut on its left side. His two part attack finished, he gave the beast a regular cut to the head before he retreated to its left side and retreated a few yards to catch his breath.

By now he had knocked down the Ox's hp by about 35%. The mob had recovered from his onslaught and had started to paw the ground, signaling it was getting ready for a charge attack. At least that's what Ezra thought it meant.

Sure enough, the massive bulk of the Ox charged at him. Ezra wasn't sure if it would change directions if he tried to avoid it so he waited for the last moment before he dodged out of the way. The massive creature charged past before grinding to a stop, being forced to stand still due to a movement delay. Ezra took the advantage and unleashed his strongest sword skill, bisect. His weapon glowed purple and he jabbed it into the Ox's flank then pulled up, easily cutting another thirty percent out of its hp.

Feeling good about himself, Ezra tried to retreat but tripped instead. His arms pinwheel uselessly at his sides as he fell and landed on his back. He could see the swordsman in black moving to intervene out of the corner of his eye. "Don't touch that Ox! He's mine!" He picked himself up with his elbow and pulled himself to his feet, just in time to get hit by the Ox's horn. Ezra was sent flying about ten yards and landed hard, losing almost 40% of his hp in one hit. Ezra scrambled to his feet, ignoring the pain from the hit, and waited for the Ox. The pain dissipated quickly due to its programming, so Ezra wasn't slowed down as he charged to meet the Ox as it trot towards him. The Trembling Ox tried to hit him with its horn again and Ezra ducked bellow it, stabbing it in the chest. He then dodged to the right and pulled the weapon out by spinning his body away from the Ox, landing another cut on its shoulder. He kicked off the ground and launched himself past the mob, cutting upwards as he went. When he landed behind it he spun around and readied his weapon, it's blade glowing purple. He lunged forward and dug his weapon deep into the left flank of his prey before ripping the weapon skyward. The Ox trembled one more time before shattering like glass into hundreds of polygons.

"Not bad." Kirito commented as he approached, stopping with his hand on his waist. "But you should still wear some armor."

"Fine, fine." Ezra said, closing his exp window. "I'll find myself a breastplate when we get back to town. Or if you got anything light and strong, I could take it of your hands for some col."

"Nope, sorry. Got nothing on me." Kirito said, turning his empty pockets inside out.

"Ah well. Let's return before We do anything else then." Ezra said, beginning to walk back the way they came, this time around the rock.

"That's what I was telling you from the start." Kirito complained, following after him.

Ezra laid on a stone bench in town of Urbus, a bread in one hand and a jar of cream next to him. He had a sign sitting on the ground leaning against his bench labeling him as the messenger and underneath said free letters. The steady and rhythmic ring of metal lolled him into a drowsy state.

Across the square was the first player blacksmith in the game, a carpet that showed his wares laid out next to a portable furnace. Ezra had gone to the guy to repair his weapon and learned his name was Nezha. They exchanged their respective goods before Ezra left him to make room for the next customer.

Now Ezra lazily ate his dinner while watching the boy, rarely being interrupted by someone who wanted word from outside or to leave a message themselves. Each time they tried to get him to pass on a letter he would give them an odd look and denied their request. "Don't give me a final message to deliver to your family." Ezra would tell them. "Survive this game and give it to them yourself. It's better that way."

Ezra chomped down on the last of his food and sat up, picking up his sign and putting it away. He stretched his back and started his way toward the inn. A lot of people found these standard inns rather uncomfortable, but Ezra had a hidden skill unique to him. He could sleep anywhere. When the other players try to use the creaky bed, he closed the window grabbed the blanket and slept on the floor. He was probably the only person in the game who always slept well.

A chime sounded in his ear, telling him he had mail. He lazily tapped the icon to see who was contacting him. It was from Lizbeth.

Hey dumbass, get down here to the town of beginnings. I found a place that needs a childish fool like you to do your job.

"Now, why did I not like this girl right off the bat?" Ezra grumbled to himself, turning around and heading towards the teleport gate. "Can't even start with a simple hello, can she?" Deciding to have some fun before had to meet up with Liz, he nodded to a random bystander as he stood in the gate. "Beam me up, Scotty!" He announced in a loud voice before whispering under his breath "town of beginnings." The look on the guy's face was worth the gag.

A flash of light and sudden loss of direction later Ezra stood in the teleport gate a floor lower. He put a finger in his ear before talking to himself. "Enterprise, could you tell me what planet you put me on this time?"

"Aincrad, moron." An annoyed voice next to him said. "You sure took your time getting here."

"Ah, cut me some slack." Ezra complained. "I was on my way to find a place to sleep when you called me."

"Well sorry, but I haven't gotten to sleep in a real bed since I got stuck in here. Some of us would be rather jealous that you still have fresh memories of such bliss." Ezra moved out of the gate to look at the girl who called him down. Lizbeth stood with her hands on her waist, her displeasure clear as day.

"Why do you hate me?" Ezra asked.

"I don't hate you." Lizbeth replied. "You just haven't given me a reason to like me yet." She began to lead the way away from the gate and into the city and Ezra followed. "Maybe I would like you more if you weren't such a big jerk and idiot."

"I will stop being a jerk when you stop being a snob." Ezra replied. Liz just rolled her eyes.

The pink haired girl led the way through the streets and allies of the town of beginnings, Ezra following her quietly. The click of the staff end of his weapon on the stone pavement echoed off of the walls of the buildings. It seemed to annoy Lizbeth.

"Would you stop that!?" She demanded, whirling around to glare at him.

"But it is the song of my people." Ezra said in a fake accent to mimic a native of some kind. Lizbeth just growled and walked faster. Ezra stopped using his weapon as a walking staff and carried it on his shoulder.

They walked on for a few minutes before Liz stopped in front of what appeared to be a church. Ezra waited patiently as Liz knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" A female voice called from inside. The door opened to reveal a woman with white hair poking her head out. She seemed to recognize Liz because she opened the door and let them in.

"I brought the letter boy." Lizbeth said, pointing with her thumb over her shoulder at Ezra.

Ezra wasn't paying attention to the girls interaction. He was looking over a long table that sat what appeared to be two dozen children eating supper. "So this is where all of them where hiding." He whispered. He put his weapon against the wall, feeling it would be ill suited to walk up to a bunch of kids armed.

One of the kids noticed them and pointed him and Liz out to the kid next to him. Word spread quickly and soon everyone at the table knew of them, looking at the pair with curious eyes. Ezra raised a hand in greeting and walked towards them, already knowing his place in this scene.

"Hey, my name's Ezra." He said friendlily, taking a seat at the table in the middle of their group. "What's yours?"

The kids looked him over warily. Ezra would be sweating at the silence in the real world. Finally, one of the girls spoke up. "Tsubaki." She said. "Tsubaki Ono."

Ezra smiled kindly to the young girl who slightly hid behind an older boy. "Well Tsubaki, I have something for you." He opened up his window and quickly found her name. He had star'd every young child's name, marking them as important. "Do you remember your parents well?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I have some news you want to know." Ezra said, sending her her note. "They remember you. They still visit you every week. They still wait for you."

Tsubaki tapped the blinking icon on her screen and opened up her note. A small tear formed in the corner of her eye as she read the letter her parents had given to him. For the longest time she was at a loss for words, finally pushing out a quite "thank you."

"You don't have to thank me." Ezra said. "You have to live and thank them." Tsubaki nodded her head.

Ezra repeated the process with each of the kids, not all of them ending in tears. Some offered their food to him but he turned them down, claiming to be full. This failed when his stomach growled angrily. In the end he pulled out some bread and cream and shared his massive stock with them (he had grinded that quest all the way to level nine, so he had more than enough loot to go around.)

"You know, I guess you're not as much of a jerk as I thought." Lizbeth said an hour or so later as they left the church.

"I'm only a jerk with people I don't like." Ezra said.

"So you didn't like me right off the bat, huh?" Liz asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Well, not exactly." Ezra said, stretching one of his arms as he walked. "You were just being a pain in the ass and I was in a rush. You would have been the same way if the first person you met when you get to a new place looks and talks to you like dirt." He glanced over at her, her eyes still locked forward. "But I guess I got the wrong impression, didn't I?"

"And what do you mean by that?" Lizbeth asked, turning to meet his eye with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, for starters you brought me down here." Ezra said. "I would never have found them if it weren't for you."

"Just means you weren't doing your job." Lizbeth remarked, a little less sharply than usual. "And why are you still following me? Go back to your precious sleeping spot."

"Eh, I don't have one yet." Ezra said casually. "I was just going to rent a room at an inn, and I can do that down here."

"Really? You can actually sleep well in those run down tiny rooms?" Lizbeth asked skeptically.

"I have to admit their not the most comfortable, but I don't mind." Ezra said. A thought occurred to him, something Kirito had told him when they met last. "Actually, I know of a place well worth the col." He smiled mischievously. "It's really comfortable, all you can drink milk, and a bath."

"Well, since you're just going to sleep in an inn, you can tell me this place." Lizbeth said casually, but Ezra had no intention of giving up.

"Naw, I'll just stay there instead." Lizbeth's cheeks puffed out and he laughed. "Come on, follow me. You can have the bed."

"And why do I have to go with you?" Liz demanded. "Planning to feel me up in my sleep?"

"Yes." Ezra replied immediately. He held in a laugh as Liz tripped and fell on her face. "Of course I'm not going to molest you in your sleep. And you call me and idiot." He said as he helped her to her feet. "Just think of this as a thank you for helping me out."

"I honestly don't know if I can trust you." Lizbeth grumbled.

"Think of it this way, Rika." Ezra said, catching her attention with ease. "I wouldn't trust anyone in this world. But if you don't take risks, we would be stuck in here forever. Not that I'm complaining, though."

"Why?" Liz asked. "Don't you want to be free of this hell?"

"This isn't hell." Ezra said. They stopped as they came to the town square, neither sure if they were staying together or going their own ways. "A lot of people must think this place is evil, but their wrong. This is just a game. It's the circumstances put into place by its ruler that makes it evil. On the outside, I'm nothing more than trash. I hate that. That is my hell. But in here, it's literally a new world for me. So no, I don't want out. I'll help fight to get out, but I don't see this place as a prison like you. This is my home now."

Lizbeth was quite for a moment before speaking. "Your an idiot." She told him.

"I can roll with that." Ezra said. "So, are you coming with me or not Rika?"

"Fine. And don't call me that. I'm Lizbeth now."