FATAL ERROR: SYSTEM REBOOT

Chapter Four: Proposition

A/N:

Well, some say I didn't shine my best on the last chapter, so I'm going to try harder on this one! That's really all I have to say.

See ya at the bottom!

«Depth Impact»

Down, right, double up, thrust, SPIN!

Another mob successfully defeated. I eyed my health bar, noticing that I was just barely clinging onto the green.

I'm on the third floor of the boss dungeon, and there are always four floors, including the one with the boss room, so I might as well map out the rest before I go back to town. People will recognize me by my coat anyway, so I don't have much reason to go back any more than necessary.

Noting the clock in the corner of my vision, I realized that I still had plenty of time to complete the «Interrupt Mission» on this level before advancing to the boss level.

When I came up the stairs, the notice I got for the «Interrupt Mission» said I needed to defeat one mini-boss in order to get the prize. I have twenty minutes left to do so, and then if I do, I get the prize. Since it's a mini-boss, the prize will probably be a weapon. Still, I highly doubt that it'll be a one-handed sword like my «Anneal Blade». I guess I'll just have to give whatever I get to a player on my friend list who uses that kind of weapon.

While I walked through the dungeon, looking for a suspicious room, I noted a distinct increase in the number of treasure chests in the direction I was headed.

That's a sign that I'm getting closer to the mini-boss.

I began to reminisce about my beta days.

I always avoided the «Interrupt Missions» in the beta because of the high stakes. But now… anything that can make you stronger is worth the risk. No matter how powerful you are, you can still die if the conditions are against you. That's why… that's why I have to do this.

"Well, I think I see it," I murmured, looking at a sealed door directly in front of me.

There's probably a switch in the next room over that unseals it.

I went over to the next room and saw a blue diamond in the center.

"There we go. But that would be too easy, wouldn't it? There's probably some sort of trap. Wait a second…"

I checked my map data, and saw that the staircase was just behind the sealed door I had found.

If the stairs are behind the sealed door…

"Then that means that this room is the room with the mini-boss!"

I walked in, and the door behind me immediately shut and sealed itself.

Once I activate the switch, the mini-boss will probably appear.

I walked over to the blue crystal. When I touched it, the sides all separated, revealing a glowing white sphere in the center.

Suddenly, out of the floor came a cloaked figure without any legs, and a skeleton for a face. In its hand, it held a gigantic scythe. Three health bars appeared, and a name appeared above its head.

«SNM: Cronus the Reaper»

"Come on, gimme all you got! RAAAAAGH!"

I charged, my two swords already glowing blue with the activation of a skill.

«Shine Circular»

When I got to the beast, the low-damage fifteen-hit combo immediately kicked into action.

Left, right, left, right, cleave, tear, double up, double down, up, up, down, down, double up—

The last two hits of the combo, being two thrusts, made direct contact with its abdomen. Despite the minimal damage the skill caused, it still performed its intended purpose.

It inflicted level one «Blindness».

The reaper tried to swipe at me with its scythe, missing every time due to its inability to see. On one particular swing, I jumped onto the scythe, jumped off of it, and double-jabbed it in its weak spot: its eyes.

It roared in pain, thrashing around and forcing me to dislodge my swords and jump back. The tip of the scythe scratched my arm, making my HP drop by one-eighth.

Holy crap! It's that powerful?!

I began to activate a mid-level heavy-damage «Dual Wield» skill, my swords taking on a red hue.

«Crimson Splash»

Jab, jab, jab, up, jab, jab, jab, double diagonal down!

I jumped back, eyeing its first health bar.

Only an eighth of the way down?! This thing is insane!

I noticed that the «Blindness» condition had disappeared, being replaced with a «Bleeding» condition.

That's right! «Crimson Splash» inflicts «Bleeding»! Every three seconds, five percent of its health drains! It lasts fifteen seconds… so I'll have a quarter of its health drained by the end!

I jumped back to avoid another swing, this time successfully dodging the attack.

Man, this is one of those times that I wish I had a fast player with high EVA with me! If I had someone to draw the thing's attention, I could go from behind and spam «Crimson Splash»!

I jumped to avoid another swing, and then I noticed the tip of the scythe glowing.

Shitshitshit!

It swung its scythe until the tip was directly in front of it, and an aura appeared down beneath it. It was as if the next part was in slow motion.

It swung its scythe in my direction, starting a fatal spinning attack. My vision turned red, and when it came back to normal, the mini-boss was on the ground, its HP almost completely depleted.

What the hell just happened?!

I looked at the dungeon timer in the bottom of my vision, seeing that five minutes had passed since my vision went red.

I didn't have time to ponder that, however, as the mini-boss got up and its scythe burst into flames. It flew at me, moving twice as fast as before.

Now that its scythe is on fire, I can't jump off of it and do an aerial attack. The fire will probably spread onto my swords if they clash, so all I can do is dodge and strike. Wait! I have «Blade Bash»! That'll stun him for a good five seconds!

I dodged a blazing strike, sliding under it and using «Blade Bash».

I activated my best «Dual Wield» skill yet.

«Inferno Raid»

"AAAAAAAAGH!"

When the nine-hit combo finished, the mini-boss's health had completely depleted, and after a few seconds…

«Cronus the Reaper» shattered into hundreds of thousands of polygons, signifying my victory and ending the last «Interrupt Mission» for this floor's boss dungeon.

I looked at three windows side by side in front of me. The first:

Congratulation

You completed the «Interrupt Mission»!

Prize: «Heavenly Heart»

I looked at the weapon type, noting that it was a rapier. I guess I'll be seeing Asuna soon.

The second:

Congratulation

You defeated «Cronus the Reaper»!

EXP: 1000

Col: 1500

Item: «Cronus' Sword»

The third:

Congratulation

You leveled up to level twenty-four!

"Life is coming up Kirito!"

When I went up the final staircase, I found myself staring down a long hallway, with the boss room undoubtedly at the end.

"Well, this is it…" I said, walking through the hallway.

When I reached the boss door, I checked my map data. Yup. The entire dungeon is mapped out now.

I unequipped my second sword and got out a teleport crystal. "Teleport: «Urbus»!"

When I arrived at «Urbus» through the «Teleport Gate», I was greeted with a frightening scene.

Asuna and a player from the «Assault Team» were dueling, and Asuna was pummeling the man. Every time she was about to make a clean hit, she manipulated the blade's trajectory slightly so that it didn't hit him straight on. Instead, it would scratch him, earning him more and more pain because the pain filter had been removed when the game officially started. Every time his HP got close to the yellow, she backed off, waiting for his HP to replenish.

Whoa, what got her so pissed off?

I decided to walk over to the fight, saying, "Asuna! I think he's had enough! Finish it already!"

Without even looking over to me, she yelled, "Stay out of this! He insulted— wait, is that you, Kirito-kun?!"

"Yeah. After you finish this, would you mind telling me what's going on here?"

"Sure, give me a sec!"

After she successfully beat the man, we walked over to a bench and sat down.

"So, what did he do to get you so ticked? It looked like you were torturing the guy," I said, surprised at her brutality towards the man.

"He… he called you scum. You're my friend, so I felt like I should defend your honor, you know?"

"Uh, that was a little too harsh. It seemed like you were going to keep torturing him until your weapon's durability ran out."

She looked to the ground, sadness evident on her features.

Then, I remembered what I came back to the city for. "Oh, on the subject of weapons, I got something for you."

"What is it?"

"Here."

I opened up my menu, pulling up a gift window and sending her the rapier I got from the «Interrupt Mission», «Heavenly Heart».

"Wha…? Wait, this Rapier is so powerful!" she shouted after checking its stats.

"Yeah, I got it while mapping out the boss dungeon. It was the prize for beating the «Interrupt Mission» on the last level of the place."

"You mean that you mapped out the whole thing by yourself?!" Asuna shouted, drawing attention to us.

"Uh, yeah… could you be a little quieter about it?"

"Oh, right…"

"Well, on that subject, I wanted to give you that data to share with the «Assault Team». They wouldn't listen to me, and you're the second strongest player in the official game. They might listen to you."

"Oh, okay."

"I'll gift the map data to you now, and then— huh?" I began, stopping when I saw a familiar face in the crowd.

"On second thought, I'll do that later. Follow me!" I said, grabbing Asuna's hand.

"Wha—?!"

I ran through the crowd, and when I got to where the person was, she had completely disappeared. Damn it!

"What are you doing?!" Asuna shouted, causing me to let go of her hand in shock.

"I thought I saw someone… wait! There she is!" I shouted, pointing to a girl with long, lustrous black hair and emerald eyes.

When she saw me pointing, she began to run away. I immediately ran after her, Asuna following close behind. When I saw her turn a corner that I knew led to a dead end, I followed her around it and cornered her.

"Hah… there… you are…" I panted.

When she realized how winded I was, she tried to run past me, but I grabbed her arm just before she did.

"Nya!" she yelped, sounding very similar to a kitten.

I bit back a remark about how cute that was, saying, "Don't worry, it's me."

"K-Kiri-kun?" she guessed timidly.

"Yeah, that's me."

She immediately turned around, pulling me into a tight embrace. "Kiri-kun! You're alive! I'm so glad…" she said, her eyes getting teary.

"Hey, don't get back into mother mode on me," I said lightly, causing her to jump back in embarrassment.

"Sorry…"

I heard the sound of footsteps running in my direction.

"Kirito-kun… what… the… heck…" Asuna panted.

"Oh, Asuna. I have a friend I'd like you to meet," I said calmly. "Asuna, this is Kamiko, a friend of mine from the beta."

"Ah, I see," Asuna said, finally having regained her breath. "Well, I guess I'll leave you two be. I'm sure you have some catching up to do."

"Wait!" I said, pulling up my menu. "I still have to give you the map data."

"What map data?" Kamiko queried, a slight edge in her voice.

Shit!

"Oh, he mapped out the boss dungeon on his own, so he wanted to give the map data to someone whom the «Assault Team» would listen to," Asuna explained, not realizing the impact of her words.

"YOU DID WHAT?!"

Oh Kami-sama, please spare me!

I closed my eyes in fright. I felt the back of someone's hand make contact with my face, bringing me slight pain.

"You… I can't believe you would do something so stupid! You knew about the «Interrupt Mission» on the last level before the boss level… if you took it…"

"I did."

"Huh?"

"I did take it. I fought «Cronus the Reaper», got a one-handed sword out of it, and beat the «Interrupt Mission» on that floor and got its prize," I said, knowing I had just dug my own grave.

I felt her hand make contact with my face a second time, and when I looked back, I saw tear-filled eyes, accompanied by an enraged expression.

"Look… I admit that it wasn't the smartest move to take on that thing by myself, but at least I survived to see you again, right?" I said, trying to remedy the situation.

"Yeah… I guess. But you'd better not do that again, or I'll do things to you that are far worse than anything a mini-boss can do!"

"Yeah… I understand," I said softly.

I felt her wrap me into a hug, and I gladly accepted the embrace. Then, I realized that we had an audience, and I said, "Hey, Asuna is watching."

"O-oh, sorry!"

"You guys seem really close. Were you… together… in the beta?" Asuna queried, sounding slightly… off.

"No, we were just really close because we knew each other outside of the game. She's a lot like a mother or sister, and an overprotective one at that," I informed her.

"Well, you wanted to give me the map data?"

"Oh, right."

I pulled up a gift window, selected my map data, and sent the first floor data to Asuna.

"Wow, you mapped out every inch! How long were you in there?" Asuna inquired, dumbfounded.

"Well, I decided to complete all the «Interrupt Missions» for the dungeon to strengthen myself for the boss fight, and some of them were hard to complete. I had to look around for some of them, which led to me mapping out the entire dungeon," I explained.

"I see."

"Hey, I have an idea!" Kamiko said.

"What is it?" I asked with mild curiosity.

"Why don't the three of us party up for the boss fight?"

"No."

"Why not? Are we not strong enough?" Asuna queried sharply.

"No, that's not it. I just don't want you guys to be hated for teaming up with me. You two are strong players, and it'd be horrible if you got shunned because you partied with the «Beater»."

"Geez, you're a moron!" Kamiko shouted.

"What?!"

"You're so concerned for others that you don't see how much they're concerned for you!"

"Whatever, I'm going. Asuna, I'll send you the rest of the map data in a PM later tonight," I said with ire.

"Wha—"

"See ya."

And with that, I jumped to the rooftops, going to the house I won as a reward from a «Chain Quest».

When I got to the door, I found someone waiting for me. Wait, I know that shield! That's the «Midas Crest»!

"Yo, Kirito! How've you been?"

After talking with this man, I found out that he was a friend from the beta, known as Cirdan.

"So you're saying that you came to talk strategy for the next boss fight?" I queried.

"Yup! I heard how you and that Asuna chick beat that boss like it was nothing. And I'm guessing you mapped out some, if not all, of the boss dungeon, right? Why don't you just give out the map data to the «Assault Team»? That might fix some of your credibility issues."

"But do you really think they'd listen? Their blind hatred is really something to be scared of."

"Hmm, you have a point… still, it couldn't hurt to try, right? Just give them the data and see how they react!" he tried to reassure me.

"You know what? You're right. I'll give them the map data, regardless of how they treat me afterwards."

"That's the way! Anyway, I'll get the word out that a boss meeting is about to go down, and you prepare to speak in front of a large group of people, since I know you're bad at that."

"Right. Also, it might help to use Argo's contacts as a way of getting the information out. Just don't tell them who's hosting the meeting."

"Got it," Cirdan affirmed, walking towards the door. "Oh, and Kirito?"

"Yeah?"

"Survive to the end. I have a gut feeling that you're gonna be the one to beat this game. Now, I'm gonna go contact Argo. Mata ne!"

And with that, he left my house.

The next morning, I got a PM from Cirdan telling me where to go for the boss meeting.

The amphitheater of «Urbus», eh? What a fitting place to do this.

I met up with Cirdan at our promised spot, and we exchanged plans. After a while of talking, we decided to get the meeting under way.

With all the people gathered on the other side of the curtains, I found myself having a hard time thinking of what to say.

Come on, just say what you were going to!

And so, I walked towards the center of the stage, paying the gasps of surprise no mind.

"All right, I'm not gonna joke around like Diabel did, so I'll get straight to the point," I started, receiving glares for dissing Diabel.

"Yesterday, I finished mapping the boss dungeon. If you guys will PM me your names, I'll give you all a response with the map data attached."

I received gasps in response, as well as several PMs from players I assumed were at the meeting.

"All right, that's good. I still see that some people haven't sent me a PM, so I'll tell you why I'm giving you all the map data.

"Normally I would just lead you to the boss room, but the dungeon is filled with traps that reset themselves every time a player enters the room. I've marked the places I found traps in, so be sure to avoid those areas. Oh, and Kibaou?"

"What is it?" said cactus-haired man said angrily.

"Just thought I'd let you know that there's no point in arguing that I'm misleading you about the traps. You saw how powerful the last boss was. There's no way in hell I would let a single player die before the boss fight even began."

"Whatever," Kibaou said indignantly.

"All right, I can tell you the name of the boss, but that's pretty much it. Its attack patterns are anyone's guess, seeing as «Illfang's» attack patterns had changed since the beta. But I can tell you this much.

"Usually, the attack patterns are determined by a mob's or boss's weapon. If you know the general idea of what a certain weapon has in «Sword Skills», then you can predict all the skills that a mob wielding that weapon will use. Everyone ready to hear the boss's name?"

I received curious nods throughout the room.

"All right, the boss is called «Baran the General Taurus». Like the name suggests, he's a Taurus-type boss, or a Minotaur. In the beta, he wielded a «Warhammer», so if he's still using that, then he'll be slow and super strong, and will be prone to wrecking the ground with his «Warhammer».

"Now, has everyone sent me a PM?"

I received nods throughout the room.

"All right, here goes."

I attached a copy of the map data to a PM and hit Reply All, sending them all a PM containing the map.

"Everyone got it?"

I received a nod from every person in the amphitheater in response.

"Good! We'll meet at ten in the morning tomorrow, guys! See you then!"

And with that, I walked off the stage.

When I saw Asuna and Kamiko looking at me through the crowd, I nodded my head, signaling for them to come to me.

Once we reached a diner, I found myself ordering food for all of us. When both of them refused to talk, I said, "Look guys, I'm sorry about yesterday. I… I wasn't sure what I just did would work out. I wasn't even going to do it until an old friend gave me a little push."

"Was it Cirdan?" Kamiko assumed.

"Yeah. The guy really has a way of motivating people. And you guys…"

Silence.

"If you guys still want to, I guess I could party with you for the boss fight."

Their faces immediately brightened at the prospect, and I sent them both party invites, which they readily accepted.

"All right then, who wants to go to my house after we eat?"

Back at my house, I let them use the bath, simply because they forced me to.

I'll never understand girls and baths…

"Hey, we're out!"

"Kay, the bedrooms are downstairs! Since there are only two beds, I'll take the couch!" I called from my comfortable spot on… the couch.

Once all the lights went off, and I knew they were asleep, I decided to head off to sleep as well.

See you in the morning, guys.

With that thought in mind, I fell asleep.

I widened my eyes in horror, watching her health deplete into the yellow, into the red, until finally, it disappeared altogether.

"Gomen ne…"

I gasped in fright.

"Sayonara."

"AAAAAAH!" I screamed, bolting up off of the couch.

I panted, my heart beating furiously. I tried to remember the dream, but all I could remember was the sound of someone dying in this world.

Calm down, it was just a dream…

"Kiri-kun!"

"Kirito-kun!"

I heard my friends running up the stairs from their bedrooms, rushing to see if I was all right.

"Don't worry guys, I'm fine… just a nightmare, that's all."

"Oh, that's good…" they sighed in unison.

I looked at the time on the clock on the west wall. "Girls, it's nine-thirty. We'd better get going."

"Right. Let's go!" they shouted at the same time.

Wow, these girls are in perfect sync today. That'll be good for the battle.

While we walked to the meeting place, I talked to Kamiko and Asuna about strategy.

"So, before we get there, I have a question for you, Kamiko."

"Yeah?"

"Did you already get your extra skill for your favorite build?"

"Yeah. «Shadow Play» is good to go. I've actually got a few good combinations up my sleeve for it."

"Sweet. Asuna, how far have you leveled your «Rapier Skill»?"

"Six hundred. Enough to use «Over Radiation»."

"Good. That skill is crazy strong, but slow, so I wouldn't recommend using it until I hit the boss with a «Blade Bash» to stun it."

"«Blade Bash»?"

I sighed, remembering that she was still somewhat of a newbie to this game. "It's a «Battle Skill», meaning that it has no cooldown. It only has one hit, but it does extra damage and stuns the opponent."

"Oh."

When I looked up, I noticed that we were already at the meeting place, and that all the other players were already there.

"Everybody ready?" I said with an impassive stare.

I received nods of affirmation.

"All right, remember what Diabel had you do? Team up into parties of six! It'd be best to use the parties you had last time, if only to conserve time."

Everyone began to party up, and I saw someone walk out from behind a tree towards me. Once the figure got out of the shadows, she was revealed to be Argo, clad in lightweight armor to raise her speed.

"Hey! I assume that these two are in your party, but one more couldn't hurt, could it?"

I sighed in resignation. "Fine. We'll each form two separate sub-groups. I'll team with Asuna, since we've teamed up before, and you team with Kamiko, since you're both speed-type players."

"You're forgetting someone," a masculine voice said from behind me.

"I suppose you want in, too, Cirdan?"

"Yeah. For good measure, I'll take the role of watching and directing you guys so that you aren't just swinging and hoping to hit a weak spot. I know you know how to fight that thing," Cirdan said, pointing to me. "But Kamiko didn't join the «Assault Team» in the beta until the third floor, and Asuna hadn't even heard of the boss up until yesterday."

"Right," I replied.

I sent a party invite to Cirdan and Argo, which they readily accepted.

Well, I guess we're ready.

"All right, everyone partied up?" I asked the group.

I received nods from everyone in the «Assault Team».

"Good! Let's move out!"

When we got to the boss door, I turned to address the «Assault Team».

"All right, Asuna and I will lead the offensive forces, being squads A through D, and Kamiko and Argo, two other players in my party, will lead the defensive forces, being squads E through H. The last person in my party, Cirdan, will take on the role of director, so he'll tell you where to go and when. Everyone got it?"

Everyone gave some form of confirmation, knowing that anyone in my party had to be crazy strong, and were good leaders.

"All right, I only have one thing left to say," I started. "Everyone, do your best to survive! If you're low on health, tell someone in your party to cover for you while you heal yourself! I don't want a single person dead, got it?"

I received smiles and nods in confirmation.

"All right, let's go!"

And with that, I pushed open the door, and we all charged.

"Squads C and D! Back off and heal while squads A and B attack from the rear! Squad E! Block the boss's attacks, and squad F, you keep the boss from setting its attention on squads A and B!"

Damn, Cirdan is even better than Diabel!

I ran toward the boss, beckoning Asuna to follow. "Come on, team strike!"

As if she understood perfectly, she fell into step beside me, and we ran around it to prepare for a double attack. Noticing our unusual speed, the boss turned its attention to us.

Perfect.

The boss slammed its «Warhammer» into the ground, creating a shockwave that sent us flying into the air. While I used a «Blade Bash» in midair to stun it, Asuna landed on the rod part of the boss's weapon and ran up it, jumping and delivering a series of «Linears». When we landed on the ground, I used another «Blade Bash» to stun it again while Asuna activated «Over Radiation».

Despite it being a ten-hit combo, it has a low DPS, and yet she's dealing massive damage! She must be leveling like crazy!

When Asuna's skill finished, we backed off to let the other teams have a chance to attack the boss. I eyed the boss's three health bars, noting our progress.

We've just barely gone past the first bar. Good, we're beating it faster than I expected.

Unfortunately, we didn't lose the boss's attention as easily as I'd hoped, and it came charging at Asuna.

"No you don't!" I shouted, running towards it with all my speed.

I activated a «Sonic Leap», sailing towards the boss's chest and making it stumble backwards upon impact.

"Thanks," Asuna said quietly

"S'what friends are for!" I replied.

"He's coming back! Squads A and B, fall back! Squads E and F, get its attention while squads C and D flank it!"

"I'm gonna go team up with Kamiko for an attack, so you team up with Argo!" I shouted at Asuna.

"You got it!"

I ran over to Kamiko, who was in charge of the squad getting the boss's attention. "Hey! What kind of combos do you have in store that could work in a team attack?"

We locked eyes, and an unspoken message passed between us. "Got it!" I shouted, and we began to charge the boss.

I used a «Rage Spike» to shoot past the boss, then drew its attention to me with a combination of «Slants», «Horizontals» and «Verticals». While I kept its attention, Kamiko charged up for a powerful «Shadow Play» (claw and dagger) skill.

«Critical Slayer»

She flew towards the boss with her dagger pointing forward, then pierced him and slashed upwards while repeatedly jabbing it with her claws. After five jabs, she jumped up and stabbed the boss in the eye with her dagger, then dragged the dagger downwards while slashing down with her claws.

Damn, that's amazing!

"Kiri-kun!"

"Right!"

I sprang into action, jumping into the air and activating another skill.

«Star Squint Prominence»

Diagonal up, right, diagonal down, right, up, JAB!

When the skill finished, I immediately started to slash constantly with overwhelming speed, keeping its attention and giving the other squads a chance to attack from the sides and rear.

I looked at the boss's health bar for the slightest of moments, noting that its HP had drained to the final bar…

Big mistake.

As soon as I looked back to the boss, I found its «Warhammer» hitting my chest, putting me in the yellow and sending me flying backwards, right into an unsuspecting Argo.

"Watch where you're flying, Ki-Bou!"

"Shut it, it's not like I could help it!"

"Whatever."

She went to attack the boss while I healed, and as I watched her, I couldn't help but notice how different she was in battle.

Wow, it's like she's a completely different person! She's insanely fast!

The boss switched its attention to Cirdan, who had no idea that the boss was charging him. I thought of Diabel, the first leader of the «Assault Team» who died at the hands of the first floor boss not so long ago.

No… NO!

I activated a «Rage Spike», and when it failed to get close enough, I immediately started [[Skill Chain]] and activated «Sonic Leap» to hit the boss in the head, and when it made contact, it immediately turned around to face me.

I followed up with a series of «Verticals», «Slants» and «Horizontals», slowly but surely draining the boss's HP down until its last health bar reached the one quarter mark.

After activating the last skill in my chain, «Star Squint Prominence», I was struck with a ridiculously long cooldown, so I called on Asuna and Kamiko for help.

"Asuna! Kamiko! I'm under a long cooldown, so I need you two to take over!"

"Right!" they shouted in unison, charging at the beast.

As I watched the two of them battle the boss, I couldn't help but notice their teamwork.

Wow, they work amazingly well together! Wait, the boss is in rage mode now! That means it can use—

Once I recovered from the long cooldown, I found that the boss had blasted back everyone around it, and was preparing for an AOE skill known as «Numbing Impact».

Shit! I have to go help them!

I got up and began running towards the boss, already charging up my best «One-handed Sword Skill».

"NO YOU DON'T!"

Once I reached the boss, the skill immediately kicked into action, causing me to jump up into the air to hit my target head on.

"RAAAAGH!"

«Phantom Rave»

Diagonal up, diagonal up, right, left, down, DOWN!

Despite the fact that it only hat six hits, it inflicted massive damage and gave debuffs to all of its opponents' stats. In short, it was one of the best skills in the game thus far… and anyone could get it this early. You just had to know how.

There was silence for all of five seconds, and then…

The boss shattered into hundreds of thousands of polygons, signifying our victory. A congratulations window appeared, reinforcing that fact.

I fell to the ground, gasping for virtual air.

"Wow…" one of the players whispered. "That was amazing!"

And just like that, all of the players in the room, save for Kibaou, started cheering.

A window appeared in front of me.

Congratulation

You got the Last Attacking Bonus!

The sub-window popped up, showing my bonus item.

Bonus item

«Moonlit Ring»

"As much as I hate to admit it… today's victory was all thanks to you."

What the hell?! Did I just hear Kibaou say that?!

"No, it was a team effort. I couldn't have done this myself… that's why all of you should be proud of yourselves. Don't rely on me. What would you guys do if I were to die in battle?"

Silence and shocked expressions filled the room.

"Despite the fact that I party up for boss fights, that doesn't change the fact that I go solo most of the time. Even so, I push myself past what even most parties would be capable of. There's a good chance I'll die in battle one day, and most likely, no one will know about it… because I go solo.

"That's why you guys shouldn't rely on a single player. I hate to pull this card, but you guys were completely reliant on Diabel for most of the last boss fight. When he died, you were all lost… until Asuna and I stepped in. And even then, when Egil led you while I was recovering, you were all dependent on him for the few minutes that he led you.

"That isn't to say that you guys aren't strong. You're all really strong and brave. You have to be, just to be here. But you guys are hindering yourselves by relying on just a few players to get your back instead of everyone here."

I smiled drily. "Well, I've said my piece. You can expect to see me at the next boss meeting, like it or not. Until then, all of you… stay alive."

I walked to the stairs leading to the next floor, almost sad to leave.

Just as she did in the last boss fight, Asuna came running up to me.

"What is it?"

She hesitated for a second before saying, "No… never mind."

"All right… I'll be seeing you. Take care, Asuna."

And with that, I walked up the stairs, opening the door and walking through.

The third floor was styled to look like an ancient European kingdom, with castles for cities and all kinds of terrain around each castle. On the southwest side of the floor, where I had walked out from the previous floor, the landscape was filled with willow trees and tall grass that flowed with the wind.

Ah… this is the first floor I got to with the «Assault Team» in the beta. It's good to see that it hasn't changed much.

A few hours later, I found myself about to reach the main city of the third floor, when I heard rushing footsteps coming from behind me.

"Whoever's there, just know I can hear you running. If you're planning on attacking, I suggest you find another target."

"You know I don't normally fight, right?"

I turned around in shock, coming face-to-face with Argo.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, my voice betraying no emotion.

"Finding you, obviously!"

"And why would you want to do that?"

She looked at me with a serious expression, which was quite rare for her.

"You said yourself how dangerous it is to go it alone in this game. This is the third floor, so…"

Please don't tell me this is going where I think it's going…

"Once we complete the quest on this floor, you, me, Kamiko, Cirdan and Asuna can form a guild! Of course we'll pick up members on the way, but still."

I heard everyone else running towards us. "Dammit Argo, why are you so fast?" Cirdan queried, out of breath.

"You know you're the only one that's tired, right, Cirdan?" Kamiko said, an amused look on her face.

"Yeah, but everyone here has a speed build besides me and Kirito, who is just unnaturally fast."

"So you all want to form a guild? This isn't just Argo's idea?"

What the hell am I saying?! If I join a guild, it'll be almost impossible to level [[Dual Wield]] without telling them about it!

"Well, it started out as her idea, but all of us want it," Cirdan confirmed.

"Well…" why the hell am I even considering this?! "… Give me a week to think about it. I was virtually always solo in the beta, so it'll take time to get used to the idea. I'll tell you guys my decision in a week. In the meantime, you can try to complete the quest that allows guilds to be made for everyone. That all right?"

"Yeah, that's fine. We'll go activate the teleport gate while you level," Argo assured me.

"All right… take care, guys."

And with that, we parted ways.

If I do accept, I need to level my «Dual Wield» skill as much as possible before I meet up with them again. And the best way to do that is to push past my limits, and I can map out the boss dungeon in the process.

Once I was sure nobody was around, I equipped my second sword, «Cronus' Sword», and sprinted towards the dungeon.

A/N:

Well, that was awesome to write! I always have a blast writing boss fights, and this one turned out to be the longest yet!

I don't really have much to say here, so I'll finish with this:

I don't own the Sword Art Online light novel series or any of its adaptations!

See ya!