"Alright people, listen up!"
Leonn leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and smirked. Argo could sure be commanding when she wanted to. The amphitheatre quickly calmed down now that the Rat was all but demanding everyone's attention. With all attention focused on her, Argo placed her hands on her hips and gave one of her signature toothy grins.
"Before we get started, everyone look under yer chairs. Seats. Whatever. Look under 'em." Argo said, gesturing at the crowd.
Leonn sweatdropped as he pulled a handbook out from under his seat. Did Argo seriously just pull an Oprah? He shook off his disbelief and opened the handbook, automatically skipping to the newest portion of the handy little booklet. Undoubtedly there was information here regarding the 10th floor boss.
"The 10th floor boss's name is ((Kagachi the Samurai Lord)) and he's a doozy." Argo explained, pacing across the length of the concrete stage, which Leonn noted looked very different compared to other floors.
Like every other amphitheatre thus far, its aesthetic followed the theme of the floor. The 10th floor's theme seemed to be centered around feudal Japan. At least, Leonn thought that's what this was. He didn't grow up in Japan so regrettably his knowledge of Japanese history was a little wanting. Nevertheless, the amphitheatre looked like something you'd see hundreds of years ago, with carefully crafted wood and stone work as well as frequent use of red and blue tones.
"Like the name suggests, good ol' Kagachi uses a big katana to slice and dice up his enemies." Argo continued, now having turned around and pacing the other direction. "He's also got a bit of armor, but I doubt he's gonna be slow. He uses standard curved sword based sword skills since, you know, katana."
Leonn glanced over at Klein, who was visibly shaking in his seat with excitement. Leonn couldn't help but give a soft chuckle. That man was such a dork for samurais, but that was part of the dude's charm. Now if only Klein could act normal around women, maybe that charm would actually get him a girlfriend.
"This is quite detailed." Kizmel whispered from behind Leonn. He turned around partially to see Kizmel reading through the handbook and listening intently to Argo's speech. "It is no wonder you all are quite skilled at defeating floor guardians with this amount of preparation and strategy. There's even an analysis of its individual attacks in here!"
Leonn nodded. "Yep. All of that information is from beta testers since no one's actually fought Kagachi yet. Not sure what we're going to do after this."
Kizmel looked up from her reading. "What do you mean?"
"None of the beta testers have knowledge of any of the floors past Floor 10." Leonn explained with a soft frown. "After we finish this floor, no one really knows what to expect."
"I see." Kizmel said thoughtfully, but offering up no input of her own. Leonn turned his attention back to the center stage, where Argo could now be seen walking off. Lind and Kibaou walked up on stage to replace her.
Leonn looked over to the side, unsure as to why Kirito wasn't up there with them. As one of the "big three" guild leaders, he should be up there coordinating leadership roles. Sure, the Renegades might not have been nearly as large as the ALS or DKB in size, but he'd like to think that they made up for it in skill. However, that train of thought came to a screeching halt when he saw one of the reasons - he assumed as much - for why Kirito wasn't up there. His fearless leader was busy sitting right next to Asuna. While the two weren't necessarily showing any overtly dramatic displays of affection, Leonn could still see them holding hands discreetly as they both kept their attention focused on the meeting.
God, it was adorable. He was happy for them. Even if that would never happen for him, he could still be happy for his friends. They deserved a little respite from the chaos that their lives had become.
"The ALS should be the ones to lead this raid!" A very disgruntled ALS player shouted, feeling the need to voice his opinion about raid leadership.
Leonn sighed. Not this again.
Lind and even Kibaou, to an extent, both looked exasperated as the players from both guilds erupted into a shouting match, either side adamant on claiming leadership of the 10th floor raid. Leonn looked over and saw Kirito hunched over, shaking his head in his hands as he, too, seemed to be reeling from the ridiculousness of it all. Asuna looked perturbed herself, but nonetheless started to subtly rub circles on Kirito's back in an attempt to console him.
"Idiots." Sinon grumbled off to Leonn's side.
"Preach, sister." Argo grumbled, walking up to sit behind them. She was joined by a girl dressed in ninja-like garb, who merely offered a nod in greeting. Leonn nodded back before turning his attention back to the Rat. "Look, even Lind and Kibaou hate this, and they're the leaders of the damn idiots."
"So who's your friend?" Liz piped up, peeking her head past Leonn to see the new arrivals.
"You mind? They're friends o' mine." Argo asked the ninja. The masked girl merely nodded again. "This here is Kuroi. Friend-slash-business-associate of mine."
"Pleasure to meet you." Leonn greeted her with a nod. Based on the garb and how closed off she seemed, Kuroi probably wasn't outgoing enough to warrant a handshake.
"Likewise." The ninja replied before turning her attention to the argument below.
"Alright, that's enough!" A familiar deep voice boomed out, capturing the attention of everyone in the amphitheatre. Leonn looked down and saw Agil stride up to the stage. "I don't know about all of you, but this constant back and forth is getting real old. We need a system or something 'cause I can't take any more of this."
There was a murmur of agreements, mostly from the solo players and smaller guilds present.
"I think we should start a rotation system." Agil suggested.
"Rotation?" Lind asked. "Wouldn't alternation be the better word here?"
"Nope, I mean rotation. More than two." Agil countered. "The ALS and DKB are big guilds but we gotta let the smaller guilds get a chance to lead, too, or they're gonna get outcompeted by you guys."
"But the smaller guilds don't have any experience leading." Kibaou retorted, looking genuinely confused at the notion. "I'm not about to have my men be led by a newbie."
"Much as I hate to agree with him, he's got a point." Lind added, ignoring the cry of indignation that followed from the ALS leader. "You can't expect us to trust a green raid leader - no offense, Kibaou."
Kibaou grumbled at the accidental pun, but nodded along nevertheless. Agil, however, merely shrugged.
"I seem to remember the Renegades doing a good job at leading on the 5th floor, and they're a small guild." The man suggested. "Did just fine without you, actually."
Leonn winced. That little dig would not sit well with either leader, though Kibaou was going to be the most vocal in his opposition. He looked over at Kirito, who was still holding his head, but likely for a different reason than before given the stares he was getting from the rest of the amphitheatre.
"Yeah, you might wanna give Kii-bou a shot at leading once in a while." Argo said, backing up the merchant Clearer. "Or are ya too proud to admit he's good at what he does?"
"Argo, what are you doing?" Kirito whispered, though it was more of a very restrained yell at this point.
"Hush, Kii-bou. Let mama work her magic." Argo whispered back with a grin before turning back to the other guild leaders. "Don't believe me? Ask anybody who was there durin' the 5th floor boss. Damn thin' shot lasers out of its mouth and Kii-bou still kept everyone alive."
"Wait, seriously?" Lind asked, slack-jawed at that bit of information.
Argo nudged Kuroi, who merely glared at the information broker before sighing and resigning herself to her fate. The ninja crossed her arms before looking at Lind and Kibaou. "Indeed. I was a part of that battle and he was an effective leader. He led and adapted well."
"Better than us?" Kibaou asked with irritation.
"..." The ninja merely glared at the two before giving a curt nod of her head. Leonn had to bite back a smile. This girl was even edgier than Kirito, and that was saying something. No, that wasn't quite right. She was stoic and silent, just like a ninja.
Kibaou grumbled something under his breath while Lind looked around at the crowd. Those not a part of the ALS or DKB were slowly nodding their heads.
"Fine." Lind said with a sigh. "But if things start to go south…"
"Then I expect the almighty ALS and DKB to come in and save the day." Argo finished, sarcasm practically dripping off her words.
"What?!" Kibaou cried out, whipping around at Lind. "You're seriously on board with this?!"
Lind gave a half-hearted shrug. "He did lead them on the 5th floor with no casualties, so there's some truth to the statement. If he fails, then all the more reason for us to keep leading the Clearers ourselves."
Leonn's eye twitched in irritation. They were willing to gamble the safety of the front line just so they could satisfy their egos? Sure, he had absolute faith in Kirito, but if his leader was garbage at it, these two idiots were willing to let things go pear-shaped just to prove a point.
"Sounds like we've reached a consensus then." Agil said, standing back up from his seat. "All in favor?"
Nearly every hand that wasn't attached to a DKB or an ALS player raised up. Some shot up, while others were more hesitant in their vote. Leonn smiled as he saw Liten and Shiva sneak their votes in as well, much to the dismay of their guildmates around them. He heard a sigh come from Kirito, who surprisingly hadn't said a word so far apart from his initial objection to Argo. The Clearers had decided he'd lead this floor boss fight without even asking his input.
"Fine." Kirito said, standing up and walking down to the stage.
"Here's what we're going to do."
A flash of light preceded the Renegades' arrival to the 3rd floor. As Leonn stepped off the central platform, he was greeted by the familiar sight of Zumfut, characterized by the three enormous trees that had been hollowed out and settled in.
He took a deep breath and smiled. This floor brought back memories. This was the floor where they started the Elf War campaign quest. This was the floor where they officially met Kizmel. This was the floor where they officially became the Resolute Renegades.
This was the floor he properly met Liz, actually. That brief encounter on the 2nd Floor didn't really count, since they didn't exchange names. That whole debacle with those two hecklers kind of soured their first meeting, anyway.
"So where are they meeting us, Argo?" Kirito asked, snapping Leonn out of his thoughts. The Renegade leader took a few steps forward to survey their surroundings.
Argo absent-mindedly walked forward, shooting past Kirito while she perused her menu. "They're just outside the front gates, actually. Probably excited to meet their heroes."
"Wait, heroes?" Kirito asked, earning an amused giggle from Asuna.
"Oh yeah, did I forget to mention?" Argo asked cheekily. "They practically idolize ya."
"You're kidding!" Liz cried out, clearly just as amused as Asuna was. "Hear that, Kirito? You're their hero."
"Ugh." Kirito groaned, tilting his head back in exasperation. "Should've mentioned that before, Argo."
"Actually, they're pretty impressed with all o' ya." Argo informed them, much to their shock. "Well, 'cept Lokuss and Kizmel. Yer both new, so they haven't had much time to watch ya on the big screen."
"The big screen…?" Kizmel asked warily. "What is that?"
"We'll show ya some time, Kiz-chan." Argo said, continuing forward towards the front gates. Kizmel looked taken aback by the sudden nickname, but everyone simply shook their heads at the confused Dark Elf. She gave a shrug of her shoulders and seemed to pay it no further mind.
A few minutes later, the Argo and the Renegades found themselves outside the front gates. Alone. Leonn looked around, confused, while Argo tapped her foot impatiently.
"Why is it whenever I try to set up a meetin' with you guys, nobody seems to show up on time?!" Argo huffed, crossing her arms. "First, Lokuss… now these newbies!"
"Oi!" The loremaster cried out indignantly.
"Hey Argo." Sinon said, tapping the info broker on the shoulder. She pointed off in the distance, where a group of five players were fighting a ((Treant Sapling)). Leonn squinted his eyes and frowned.
They weren't very good.
It was more of a chaotic melee than anything else. At first Leonn chalked his first impression up to the distance, but as they walked closer it was more and more apparent that these newbies were constantly improvising and lashing out with no sense of real coordination. The one with the quarterstaff, who was clearly the party leader, was trying to maintain some semblance of order but ultimately failing. The dagger user was all over the place, sometimes getting in the way of the flow of combat. The shielder was competent but was taking on too much responsibility during the fight. Lastly, the two spear users were too cautious in their approach and just weren't aggressive enough in their attack.
The Renegades waited patiently to the side as the group finished their fight. Once all was said and done, the group of five looked absolutely winded. Leonn glanced over at Kirito and Asuna, who both looked deep in thought. He smiled. Those two were probably picking apart their fighting styles even now.
"I see what you mean, Argo." Kirito finally spoke up. The one with the quarterstaff looked over in confusion, squinted his eyes, and froze. The three boys nearby him followed suit and similarly found themselves unable to move. Only the girl seemed to be able to function at all right now. She gave a friendly smile before she glanced over at her friends and rolled her eyes.
"Good to see you again, Argo." The girl said, smiling gently. She turned to the Renegades. "It's a pleasure to meet you all. Argo's told us so much about you. I'm Sachi. These dorks behind me are my friends. Keita, Sasamaru, Tetsuo, and Ducker."
The leader, Keita, finally snapped out of his stupor and offered a bow, which the other boys were quick to follow. "Nice to meet you, sirs and madams!"
Kirito placatingly waved his hands and Leonn could literally see him sweatdrop out of embarrassment. "No need to be so formal. Nice to meet you too, Keita."
"You seem to be quite popular, Kirito." Kizmel whispered from behind him. "Tales of our guild's heroism must be more widespread than I thought."
A rather lengthy round of introductions were made as all eleven Renegades introduced themselves to Keita's group, who referred to themselves as the Moonlit Black Cats. Leonn initially raised a curious brow upon hearing the name, but figured there had to have been a reason for it.
Argo cleared her throat, demanding everyone's attention. "Alright. I made a promise to you and yer crew, Keita, and now I'm keepin' it. The Renegades here are willin' to give ya some pointers. Consider us squared away… but feel free to come back to me if ya need more info, 'kay?"
Everyone stared at Argo, fully expecting her to walk away after a comment like that. Instead, she blinked and looked around at everyone with a confused look on her face. "...What? You think I'm gonna just bail? Nah, I wanna see how this goes! Go on. Pretend I'm not here."
After a fair bit of awkwardness, the Renegades decided to split the Cats up based on their roles, with at least one Renegade pairing up with a Cat to give them some combat experience and tips. Liz and Kizmel went with Tetsuo to work on his tanking. Leonn would have gone with him, but he wasn't a shielder like they were. Silica and Yuna went with Ducker to work on agility and dagger play. Kirito and Asuna went with Keita to work on strategy and leadership. Meanwhile, Leonn found himself paired with Sachi and Sasamaru for what Kirito called "unorthodox tanking strategies".
Basically, how to tank without a shield.
"Alright." Leonn said, wandering over to a trio of tree stumps in the ground. He took a seat and motioned for the two to sit as well. "I'm not gonna pretend to know the first thing about spears. Frankly, from what I've seen they're the complete opposite of mauls."
"Then why…?" Sasamaru trailed, a look of uncertainty plastered on his face.
"Why am I paired with you both?" Leonn finished for him. "Because out of all the Renegades, I'm the one that parries attacks the most. Since neither of you use a shield but have to off-tank at times, we're going to work on your parry work. Just fair warning, your local blacksmith will hate you for this. Trust me; I always get an earful from Liz every time I parry a boss attack."
Sachi let out a giggle while Sasamaru was biting back a chuckle of his own. That was good. Leonn always enjoyed teaching others anything, really, but he hated the traditional formal teaching environment. Too rigid and stuffy. A little humor, in his experience, went a long way in making sure lessons were retained and memorized.
"First things first." Leonn started, resting his maul on the ground on its head. He leaned forward and rested his hands on his knees. "I need to dispel some misconceptions you might have about this style of tanking."
Leonn then went on to explain, in no small amount of detail, the style of tanking that he exemplified. Unlike shielders, tanks like himself had to be more proactive. Where a shielder could merely raise their shield and block most any attack aimed their way, he - and by extension Sachi and Sasamaru - couldn't do that. Instead, if they saw an attack coming, they would have to meet it halfway with an attack of their own. Timing was crucial. If the attack wasn't met at the right moment, the parry wouldn't land right and they would get injured in the process.
He watched with some pride as Sachi and Sasamaru listened intently. Every so often, they would pull up their menus and jot down a few notes here and there, especially when a particularly complex topic was covered. Leonn smiled. Maybe once this was all over he'd go into teaching.
He frowned. If he got out in one piece.
Watching the two practice was… different. He could tell they were trying their hardest to apply his techniques but something felt off. Even squaring away against a ((Treant Sapling)) like this shouldn't have been so difficult for them to practice against. Every time they'd go to parry the attack, they would get knocked to the side.
What was wrong? Did he teach them wrong? No, that wasn't it. Hopefully not, in any case. If anything, they were executing the parrying techniques perfectly. Every time he parried with his maul…
Then it clicked. Of course that was the problem. They weren't using mauls. They were using spears. The two weapons weren't analogous at all, nor were the stats needed to really wield them properly. Mauls used STR and VIT, but spears were often a STR/DEX/AGI build due to how streamlined and nimble they were.
Leonn stepped in and quickly finished off the ((Treant Sapling)) his two students were engaged with. Their heads whipped over in confusion, clearly not expecting his intervention. "Hold on a second. I think we're going about this the wrong way. I don't think parrying is going to work for you both."
"Damn." Sasamaru grumbled, visibly displeased. "Guess we suck that much, huh?"
"No, no." Leonn was quick to dissuade that line of thinking. "No, you both are fine. I think we need to stop parrying and start deflecting."
"What do you mean?" Sachi asked, resting the butt of her spear on the ground as she listened. "What's the difference? Aren't parrying and deflecting kind of the same?"
Leonn shook his head. "Not exactly. Parrying is about striking your opponent's weapon with your own, halting the attack entirely. Deflecting is all about diverting the momentum of your opponent's strike away from you. Yes, your weapon makes contact with their attack, but you're not stopping it. Instead, you're steering the attack away from you."
"Makes sense, I guess." Sasamaru pondered. "But why do you think that will work for us?"
"Because the two of you are fast enough to pull it off. I'm not." Leonn explained, gesturing towards their spears. "Not to mention spears just don't have the bulk and weight behind them to pull off a parry like that. That's on me for not realizing that sooner. Let's try it again, but this time don't block the attack with your weapon. Angle your spears so that you're only partially blocking. Let the attack slide off your weapon and away from you."
For the remainder of the training session, Leonn watched with pride as Sachi and Sasamaru started tanking, properly this time due to their new fighting style. Sachi was noticeably faster and more elegant with her deflections, using the movement of redirecting the strikes to spin and land successful attacks on her foes. It reminded him of a style of tanking he'd seen in other games called "evasion tanking", where the tank in question kept aggro but was quick enough to just avoid getting damaged entirely. Sasamaru was on the other end of the spectrum, being much more precise in his deflections. While he wasn't quick to capitalize on his own momentum like Sachi was, he was much more sturdy in his deflects. His style was more akin to a shielder in that he rarely moved from his spot. They complemented each other nicely when they both teamed up on an opponent. Between the two of them, the ((Treant Saplings)) weren't able to land many hits.
"Looks good." He heard Sinon say, coming up from behind. She came up along his side and nonchalantly put her hands in her pockets as she watched his students train. "Definitely an improvement compared to before."
"Thanks." Leonn replied with a content sigh. "They picked up on it pretty quickly, actually. All I did was suggest a new tactic and they took it from there. How's everyone else doing?"
Sinon shrugged. "Not bad. They're learning pretty well, but Silica and Yuna are having a little trouble with Ducker."
Leonn arched an eyebrow. "How so?"
"He's a bit impulsive." Sinon went on to explain. "He's picking up on their tricks and tips, but he's too eager. Leaps before he looks."
"That's a little concerning." Leonn admitted, crossing his arms. "Hopefully he breaks out of that, or Keita's gonna have trouble keeping the group working together as a unit."
"Yep." Sinon curtly agreed before drawing her bow. She closed one eye and narrowed her sights before letting the arrow loose. Leonn watched it slam into a ((Treant Sapling)) that was wandering too close to where Sachi and Sasamaru were engaged with one of their own. Her target immediately shattered.
"Nice." Leonn said with a grin. He cupped his hands around his mouth. "Keep aware of your surroundings! If something else gets too close, drag your current target away to a safer location! As tanks, you control the flow of battle and you decide what targets your group fights!"
"Got it!" Sachi replied back as she deflected a strike, spun, and used her momentum to swing her spear in a wide arc. The spear made contact and carved a long thin line across the treant's bark.
"Not bad." Sinon commented, looking mildly impressed.
Leonn nodded and smiled. "They just needed a little direction, that's all. I think Sachi's liking this new style of fighting; she seems much more comfortable striking at a distance. She's really making use of the reach of that spear."
"Let's wrap things up!" Kirito shouted. Leonn glanced over and saw his guild leader waving everyone over. Seeing that his trainees were still fighting a treant, Leonn sauntered over and swung his maul, parrying the next strike and shattering the monster from the impact. He looked back and forth between Sachi and Sasamaru. "That's probably good for today. Tired yet?"
"Yeah…!" Sasamaru huffed out, hunching over and resting his hands on his knees. "You could say that. I think we're getting better though."
"Let's go!" Liz shouted from in the distance. The rest of the Renegades and Cats were already assembled and not-so-patiently waiting for the stragglers. She sassily placed her hands on her hips and tapped her foot. "Stop talking their ears off already, Leonn!"
"Alright, alright!" Leonn shouted back, shaking his head in amusement. He glanced at his trainees. "Let's go grab some food, yeah?"
Sachi giggled. "Sounds good to me!"
"So." Keita started, pausing to chew his food before continuing. He casually pointed his fork at Kizmel. "You joined the Renegades after they helped save your people?"
"That's correct." Kizmel stated plainly before a gentle smile crossed her face. "I owe them a great debt, but I also consider them great friends."
Leonn had to bite back a laugh at the incredulous expressions on the face of the Cats. Even he was still in some disbelief at Kizmel's addition, but by now he had decided not to dwell on it anymore. He gave Sasamaru a hearty pat on the back, snapping the spear-wielder out of his trance. "You're drooling, man."
"What?!" Sasamaru cried out in a panic, hurriedly wiping his mouth with his hand. "Really?"
Leonn laughed. "No, not really. Still though, if you'd kept that mouth open any longer I'm sure something would have flown in."
Sasamaru frowned, but ultimately relented with a grin of his own. "Still can't believe you guys recruited an NPC. That's beyond awesome."
Leonn paused, his cup halfway up to his lips. "Yup. We're glad to have her, alright."
"So you all are fighting the 10th floor boss tomorrow, right?" Ducker asked, his voice cutting through the side conversations. Everyone's attention shifted over to the dirty blonde, who was now all-too-aware of the focus he was receiving.
"Yup." Asuna confirmed, nodding her head. She nudged Kirito's shoulder with her own. "And this one here's leading the raid."
"Ugh." Kirito groaned, rolling his head back in exasperation. "Don't remind me."
"Hey." Asuna half-chided him, grabbing hold of his free hand with her own. "You'll do fine. You've done it before, haven't you? You'll do it again, and maybe then Kibaou and Lind will actually shut up and start respecting you. Not that you need their respect, but you know what I mean."
Leonn snickered at the crestfallen faces of Sasamaru and some of the other male Cats. Looks like Kirito wasn't the only one with fans, and it looked like some of them were holding out hope that the fencer was single. "Were" being the operative term. Good thing Kirito snatched her up when he did, not that Asuna was the type to latch onto the first male who gave her attention anyway.
They never would have stood a chance. Not against her black swordsman.
"That's really cool." Keita said, yet he looked contemplative. "Didn't you lead during the 5th floor boss though? Shouldn't that be enough?"
"Yeah…" Nautilus trailed, feigning a look of guilt. "... we did kind of go behind their backs on that one, so they're not counting that."
"That'll do it." Ducker said with a chuckle, earning him some pointed glares from his fellow Cats. "... What? I know Kirito was right in doing that, but I'd be salty too if I were them."
"Still rude." Sachi said under her breath as she elbowed Ducker's side sharply. The thief recoiled slightly at the sudden attack, but had the sense to look guilty afterwards.
"So are you ready?" Keita followed up, his eyes lingering on Ducker for a moment before he turned his attention to Kirito. "I imagine this might be more difficult, given that it's the 10th floor boss and all. That's kind of a milestone."
"That's what I'm worried about." Kirito said grimly. All eyes were on the Renegade leader as he voiced his concerns. "Not the 10th floor boss itself, really. We know enough about it that, even if Kayaba changed it a little, we should be okay regardless. No, I'm worried about what comes next."
Leonn grimaced. While he never got that far in the beta compared to people like Kirito and Argo, he knew exactly what the swordsman was talking about. After all, he'd already told Kizmel about their troubling predicament.
"No one got past the 10th floor in the beta." Kirito explained, his gaze still aimed at the table top. "No one. Going forward, we won't know what to expect. We'll be going in blind, effectively."
"That's rough, buddy." Ducker said, looking just as grim, but Leonn could see a faint tug at the edge of his mouth. Leonn rolled his eyes at the poorly timed joke, but refrained from walking over and giving the thief a piece of his mind. Normally he would have complimented Ducker on the reference, but not now.
Time and a place, dude.
Either no one else noticed the joke or no one decided to comment on it, since silence reigned for a good minute or so following it. Leonn himself was caught up in thought as well, trying to wrap his head around just how uncertain the future of the Clearers was about to become. Was this how regular players felt like? He certainly didn't place himself above them, necessarily, but it was hard to ignore the inherent advantage of being a beta tester in a death game like this. Very soon, the playing field was about to level. Contrary to popular belief, in this case that was the absolute worst thing you wanted to happen. When death is on the line, one is wise and justified in taking every advantage they can get.
"Hey Kirito." Sachi addressed the Renegade leader meekly. His attention shifted over to her. "This is probably a stupid question, but can you leave a boss battle?"
"What do you mean?" Kirito asked, looking surprisingly befuddled by the question. "Like in the middle of a fight?"
"Yeah." Sachi said with a nod. "Can you leave the room at all?"
"Well, yeah." Kirito confirmed, looking caught off guard by the question. "Opening and closing the gate was even a main mechanic of the 4th floor boss fight. Why do you…?"
Kirito trailed off, and Leonn could see the gears turning. The swordsman's brow furrowed in concentration - or thought - as he seemed to be piecing something together in his head. A moment later, Asuna seemed to catch on, if her expression was anything to go off of. Leonn looked over at Sachi, who was trying and failing to conceal a prideful smile. It was quite the change to see the normally quiet and reserved girl - outside of her scolding and chiding of her male friends, that is - looking confident.
A moment later, it clicked for Leonn. He slowly smiled.
Oh, she was clever.
"What?" Lokuss asked, looking a little confused. "Am I missing something?"
"We don't need beta testers." Kirito finally said. "Not really. Think about it. The boss doors can be opened from inside, which means people can leave the room before the boss dies, right?"
"Okay, following so far…" The loremaster trailed.
"Good. Now the problem we're going to face is we won't know what we're facing." Kirito continued. "Appearance, size, attack patterns. All of it will be completely new. A raid team won't know what to expect."
"Nothing new so far." Lokuss said with a nod. "Go on."
"What if we did know what to expect?" Kirito asked with a sly grin on his face.
Lokuss crossed his arms, as did a number of others at the table. The only ones who'd seem to have caught on at this point were Sachi, Asuna, Leonn, Sinon, and Kirito himself.
"But how would we know?" Lokuss retorted, his face twisted into a scowl. "You'd have to be able to see it firsthand to know… oh… oh, I get it now. Shit, that's clever."
"What?" Silica asked, still obviously not connecting the dots. "What do you get? Don't just stop there!"
"The boss broadcasts." Sinon said, a light smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth.
As a cacophony of "oh's" and "of course's" echoed around the table, Leonn leaned forward to inform those who still hadn't caught up just yet. "We send a small scouting team to engage the boss while the rest of the Clearer force watches the broadcast. Together, watching the scouting team testing the boss, we pick apart its attacks and patterns so that when we do attack it for real, we're ready for most everything it throws at us."
"Most?" Ducker asked, his face scrunching mildly in confusion.
"Everything except the last health bar phase change." Kirito concluded. "The scouting party isn't going to be able to bring the boss that far down to witness that change, or they'd be able to take on the boss by themselves anyway."
"We're getting ahead of ourselves here." Asuna reminded them all.
Instantly, the relatively excited and jovial mood dissipated as the grim reality of the current situation settled in. She was right. Leonn leaned back in his chair as he thought it over. They couldn't afford to take victory for granted, especially with the milestone fight that was to come. If they defeated the upcoming boss, they'd have officially climbed a tenth of Aincrad. At face value, it wouldn't seem that significant, but it was. A tenth of the way to the top. A tenth of the way to facing whatever monstrosity Kayaba had waiting at the top.
A tenth of the way to freedom.
He locked eyes with Kirito, who was undoubtedly having similar thoughts. The two warriors gave a nod, silently agreeing with Asuna's point. Tonight, they would enjoy their time with their new friends, maybe give them some more tips and pointers. Perhaps they'd visit with them again in the future and help them grow as a guild until they could join the main Clearer force themselves.
First things first, though.
Tomorrow they had a samurai lord to kill.