Hello readers! I am The Burning Ruler and I am back with another chapter of SAO: A Beast's Tamer. Chapter 10 is here. Now, sad news. This will probably be the second to last chapter. Sad about that, but it's time for the reviews.
Eric: You know what. You're right. That's why I changed it.
AshuriIncarnate: Yeah, I noticed the same thing when I re-read the chapter. The chapter could've been so much more, but it's good to know you are still interested in the story.
Guest: Well, no kind. It was, technically, actually Heathcliff that sent Silica on the assault against Laughing Coffin. Not Fang.
Morphx: No problem at all. Thank her for me if you could.
Kamen rider w: Thank you!
Well, since those are out of the way, it's time to start the chapter.
Chapter 10: New relationship.
A few months later, Fang and everyone else were in ALO. Fang had joined in as a Salamander, much like Klein. When they all worked together, they were an unstoppable force. No bosses could beat them. They blew through many of the bosses of New Aincrad, many times being the only group that took out the boss. They were in an inn talking, when someone brought up The Absolute Sword.
"Who's that?" asked Fang, curious.
"No one knows their real name, but they have won sixty seven consecutive duels. They're offering an eleven hit original sword skill to the first person that beats them, but it seems like no one can beat them." Said Klein.
"Bet that Kirito could." Said Fang.
"Well then pay up. Kirito already lost to them." Said Liz.
"Really." Said Fang.
"You should try Asuna. You might be able to beat them." Said Sinon.
"I don't know…" said Asuna.
"Come on Lightning Flash. This is your chance to prove that you're better than Kirito." Said Fang, using Asuna's SAO title.
"Why don't you try Death's Apprentice?" asked Asuna, using Fang's title.
"I have no need for a sword skill. I use a scythe." Said Fang, spinning his scythe around.
"Point made." Said Asuna.
"Well, I heard that they will be accepting challenges soon. Let's go." Said Liz.
"I'm actually going to grind for a bit. See you later." Said Fang, leaving with Sinon following suit.
"I'm gonna tag along Fang. Good luck honey." Said Kirito, saying goodbye to everyone else.
Fang, Kirito and Sinon were all training hard and gaining levels quickly. After a few hours they decided to take a break. They went to town and stopped off at an inn.
They ended up at a bar and stated talking to some of the others there. While talking to someone, Fang felt like he was being watched. Looking around, he didn't see anyone looking at him, but when he turned to the door he saw someone leaving, but it was too fast to see who it was.
"What's up Fang?" asked Kirito.
"Hm. Oh, nothing. Just thought I was being watched." Said Fang.
Not long after that, they all decided to log off. Fang woke up and stretched. He went back downstairs to see his sister watching TV.
"Hey Crystal." Said Fang, sitting down on the couch with his sister.
"Hey Fang. Taking a break?" asked Crystal.
"Yeah. Rest up a bit after some grinding." Said Fang, stretching.
"You seem confused Fang. What's up?" asked Crystal.
"I'm not sure, but I felt like someone was watching me in ALO today, but I couldn't see anyone." Said Fang.
"Hm. Weird. I wouldn't think about it too much. Probably just your imagination." Said Crystal.
"Yeah. Probably. Anyways, it's getting late, I'm going to sleep. Night sis." Said Fang, heading to bed.
The next day
Fang and Klein are in ALO waiting for everyone else to show up.
"Look, all I'm saying is you have Mjolnir. I know you don't have any hammer skills, but you could get some. It wouldn't hurt to be able to use two different weapons." said Fang.
"Samurai don't use hammers though. They use swords." Said Klein.
"What's your point?" asked Fang.
"I am a samurai because I use a sword." Said Klein.
"By that logic I am death because I use a scythe." Said Fang.
"I don't want to use the hammer." Said Klein.
"Fine. I'm not forcing you to. I just think you should consider it." Said Fang.
Kirito then logged on.
"About time you got here." Said Fang.
"Sorry it took so long." Said Kirito.
"Alright. Why did it- Hm?" said Fang, stopping mid-sentence. He turned around to see light blue hair going around a corner.
"That Undine sure was moving fast. Must be late for something." Said Fang.
"Yeah. I know." Said Fang.
Not long after that, Sinon logged in and ran to Fang. She was panting and talking incoherently.
"Sinon, calm. Ok. Calm down. Deep breaths. What is it?" asked Fang, Sinon stopped talking and caught her breath.
"Alright. I was getting ready to log on and I looked out my window. I saw something moving. I didn't know what it was, so I went outside. I caught up with what I saw, and I couldn't see anything about them, but they said they knew you and asked where you lived. I didn't tell them, but I think they might be hunting you down or, or looking for you or something. Just be careful in the real world. I felt like I should warn you." said Sinon.
"Thanks for the heads up Sinon. What were they wearing? Just so I know what to look out for." Said Fang.
"They only thing I noticed was their coat. Full length, black as night." Said Sinon.
"Alright. Thanks for the heads up." Said Fang.
"We heading out to grind?" asked Kirito.
"Yeah. Sure." Said Fang.
"We aren't going to wait for everyone else?" asked Klein.
"No. Asuna said she was busy with the Absolute Sword, Suguha is sick, and Liz is busy with family today. Just us today." Said Kirito.
"Alright. Wanna grind or try for the boss?" asked Fang.
"I vote grind. We need everyone for the boss." Said Sinon.
"Right. We should probably power level." Said Fang.
They all left for a field with high level monsters and started to power level. After a long while of grinding, they had all hit level forty.
"Hm." Said Fang, opening his menu and looking through his skills.
"What is it Fang?" asked Kirito.
"It's back. My Demons of Hell skill." Said Fang, smirking.
"Demons of Hell?" asked Sinon.
"It's a unique skill. The unique skill I used to defeat Heathcliff and end SAO." Said Fang.
"What's it do?" asked Sinon.
This was when a monster spawned.
"Watch and learn." Said Fang. "Demons of Hell!" yelled Fang, creating clones of himself and swarming the monster with them.
After the monster had been defeated, a door appeared where the monster died. Fang approached it and it swung open.
"Looks like a hidden dungeon." Said Fang.
"Let's go then." Said Klein.
"Wait, Klein. This seems suspicious. I don't like it." Said Kirito.
"Yeah. Let's be careful." Said Fang, leading the way inside.
Once they all got in, the door slammed shut, and the three were swarmed by mobs.
"Should've expected this. Let's go." Said Fang, slashing through as many as he could. Kirito and Klein quickly rushed to help, as Sinon stayed back and supported them with her bow.
IT was a long battle, but after a while, the four had taken out the mobs.
"That all of them?" asked Kirito.
"I think-" Fang was cut off by a large mob appearing. It held two swords.
"Huh. It's Kirito in mob form." Said Sinon.
"Let's kill it." Said Fang.
The three swarmed the boss and cut its hp down very quickly. After it hit its last health bar, it quickly switched its weapons to a large scythe.
"Alright. So it's a mob that combined the two strongest players of SAO into one boss." Said Fang.
The boss then created multiple clones of itself.
"It even has my Demons of Hell skill. Fine. Time to fight fire, with fire. Demons of Hell!" yelled Fang, creating clones. The clones fought it out. Fang's clones taking out the boss' clones and Fang taking on the actual boss. After a long battle, Fang and his clones got the upper hand and took out the boss.
After the boss had exploded Fang fell to one knee.
"Whew. That was tough." Said Fang, catching his breath.
"You pulled that off all by yourself. That shouldn't be possible." said Kirito.
"That thing fought just like me. I knew all its attacks." Said Fang.
"Well, I guess that makes sense." Said Sinon. Behind them, the door to the dungeon opened, and they left.
"I have to go. I'll be on tomorrow, bye sweetie." Said Sinon, kissing Fang.
"Bye honey." Said Fang after they broke apart.
"You seem very happy." Said Kirito.
"I am very happy." Said Fang.
"No you aren't. You're just content. You still miss Silica." Said Kirito.
Fang sighed, defeated once again. "Don't tell Shino that. Ok?" asked Fang.
"Of course not." Said Kirito.
"Thanks. You know, I don't think I'll be able to keep that promise I made to Silica. I just keep getting hung up on her. Over and over again. No matter what I try, she keeps finding her way back into my mind, and she can't find her way out of my heart." Said Fang.
"You know, I know you still love her, but you really should accept that she's gone. It's hard. I know that. It will be really hard to hear this, but you need to hear this. She's gone, and nothing can bring her back. The sooner you learn to accept that, the better. Otherwise, she won't stay out of your mind, and you'll never get over her." Said Kirito.
Fang hung his head down. "You're right. I know you're right. Thanks Kirito." Said Fang.
"No problem, can you hang out for a bit?" asked Kirito.
"No, I should probably get back to the real world. But I'll try to get on to see you tomorrow. Later." Said Fang, singing off.
He awoke in his room and left to go downstairs.
Seeing his sister wasn't watching TV, he assumed that she was already in bed. He then left the house to go to the florist.
He bought another bouquet of flowers before going back to the grotto behind his house. He placed the flowers on the grave, said a prayer and left. After he left the grotto, he felt like he was being watched, but looking around, he saw no one. He was about to continue looking, when he remembered what Sinon had said. He simply forgot about it and went back inside before going to sleep.
The next day, Fang was about to log into ALO, when there was a knock on his door. He went downstairs to answer it, and it was Shino.
"Oh. Hey. I was just about to log into ALO, but I get the feeling that isn't what you are here for." Said Fang.
"No it isn't. So, I was just talking with Kirito, and Silica came up." Said Shino.
"Oh really? Do you have a question about her or what?" asked Fang, hoping Kirito had kept his promise.
"I think you know what happened. He didn't keep your promise." Said Shino.
"Of course he didn't. Why should I have expected him to?" Fang asked himself.
"It's Ok Fang. I get it. In your position, I wouldn't be over her either. I mean, she died in front of you, and as if that wasn't enough, she died in your arms. But the worst part was, there was nothing that you could do. Hell, you're doing better than I would be." Said Shino.
"No. I'm not. People say they understand what I'm going through, but they don't." said Fang.
"Ok. You make a good point. You're right. No one knows what you're going through right now. How could they? They didn't see their loved one die in front of them, much less in their arms, and even if they did, they would have been able to do something. You weren't." said Shino.
"Yeah. Well, thanks for understanding Shino. If you could, could you let everyone know that I won't be in ALO today. I'm going to take the day off." Said Fang.
"Of course. See you tomorrow, I'm gonna stop by again, but I'll bring my Amusphere with me." Said Shino.
"OK. I'll see you tomorrow." Said Fang as Shino left.
"Not going into ALO today?" asked Crystal.
"No. I'm taking today off to relax a bit." Said Fang.
"By the way Fang. I saw you out back yesterday. It was really late. What was that?" asked Crystal.
"I'm surprised you haven't figured it out yet. Wanna see?" asked Fang.
"Sure." Said Crystal.
Fang led her out of the house and to the grotto, showing her the gravestone.
"When did you set this up?" asked Crystal.
"The day after I got out of SAO." Said Fang.
"Really? How did it take me this long to notice it?" asked Crystal.
Fang just shrugged.
The rest of the day, Fang and his sister walked around town and watched TV until they went to bed.
The next day, Fang woke up to a knocking on the door. He got dressed and answered the door seeing Shino was there, Amusphere in hand.
"Ready?" asked Shino.
"Of course." Said Fang.
Shino set up on the couch as Fang set up in his bedroom.
They both logged on at the same time. They meet up with everyone, other than Leafa who was noticeably absent.
"Sugu still sick?" asked Fang.
"Yeah. She should be good tomorrow though." Said Kirito.
"Alright, ready to power level guys?" asked Fang.
"Alright." Said Klein.
"Actually, Asuna asked me to give her a hand. Some guilds trying to take the boss that The Absolute Sword is trying to beat. Need someone to hold them off." Said Kirito, taking off.
"Alright, just us then." Said Fang.
Fang and everyone else went out to power level. They fought so many mobs they hadn't noticed that Kirito was back with them.
"How long have you been here?" asked Fang.
"Half hour maybe." Said Kirito.
"We were way too into this." Said Fang. As he was about to leave to find some more mobs, Leafa showed up.
"FANG! Fang, I finally found you." Said Leafa, panting.
"What's up Sugu? Feeling better?" asked Fang.
"Oh, right. It's actually Crystal. I'm using Sugu's Amusphere. You and Shino need to get off now!" said Leafa.
"Why?" asked Fang.
"I, I can't say right now. But you need to, now. Trust me." Said Crystal
"Alright." Said Fang, logging off with his sister and Sinon.
When he got out, Crystal ran into his room and practically dragged him out.
She sat him down on the couch with Shino.
"Alright. Shino, wait here. Fang, follow me." Said Crystal.
Fang got up and followed Crystal. She led him to the front door.
"Ok. It's just outside." Said Crystal.
"What is?" asked Fang.
"I can't say." Said Crystal.
"Well, why-" Fang was cut off.
"Just open the damn door." Said Crystal, losing her patience.
"Ok Crystal. I'm opening it see." Said Fang, opening the door and looking outside. When he saw what was outside, he froze.
It was at least a full minute before Fang started speaking. "This… this isn't possible. I have actually lost my mind." Said Fang.
"No Fang. This is as real as it gets." Said Crystal, smiling.
"Is… i-is that really you? Are you really here… Silica?" asked Fang, stumbling over his words.
CLIFFHANGER! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Now you know why I didn't change the pairing until now. Honestly though, I actually deserve the death penalty for this cliffhanger. So, question, did this chapter cheer you up? Let me know with a review, tell me how I did and I hope to see you in the next and probably last chapter of SAO: A Beast's Tamer. Goodbye!