Authors Note: I'll cut to the case. I lost motivation of writing for a while but now I'm slowly getting back to writing again. I still might be slow when it comes to posting or updating chapters but anyway here's the latest chapter enjoy.

After the news from the game master, Ryu, Kirito, Yumi, and Leafea head straight to Horunka Village. It took about a few hours to get there. When they got there, the village was small and there were only ten buildings. They explore and see that there's an inn, weapon shop, and tool shop.

"This way you guys," said Kirito. They follow him to a two-story house.

"What about the weapons here," said Leafa.

"There's a quest we can take, it'll give us a weapon that lasts for three floors," said Kirito.

"Hold on," said Ryu. They stop by the door.

"How would a quest reward work with a party?" Ryu asked.

"Wouldn't we share the XP and the item right," said Leafea.

"Yeah, but this NPC gives only one sword," said Kirito.

"So that means only one of us gets the sword," said Yumi.

"Unless," said Ryu.

"Unless what?" said Leafa.

"Unless we split into two groups," said Ryu.

"That could work," said Kirito.

"Since we have curved blade swords, I'm with Ryu and Kirito is with Leafea," said Yumi.

"Agree," everyone said.

"We're going first," said Kirito.

They head inside while Ryu and Yumi wait outside. He looks up in the night sky, looking at the stars, wondering if his siblings are okay. She walks next to him.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, it's just …."

"You're worried about your siblings."

"Mitsuko I'm not too worried about, but Takeshi. He loves to play video games, especially a VRMMORPG."

"He's a fighter, he can take care of himself," she assured him.

"I know it's just I hope he's not here and he's with Mitsuko safe in the real world."

Kirito and Leafa come out, and now Ryu and Yumi go inside. Entering the house, they see a woman who offers them a cup of water. He uses searching to see if anything is suspicious, but nothing. He took the water, then heard coughing. "She's getting worse," said the woman.

"Who," said Yumi.

"My daughter Agatha."

"What's wrong with her?"

"She's very ill. I've gotten every medicine the market offers and nothing is working and she's getting worse by the day," the woman sobbed.

"There must be something that can treat her."

"There is one medicine that can cure her but…"

"But what," said Ryu.

"The medicine has to be procured," said the woman.

"Procured?"

Procured from the Little Nepenthes's ovules."

"What's a Little Nepenthes, some kind of flower."

"No, it's a predatory plant. They inhabit a forest far from here."

"We could get the ovules for you."

"You well."

"Anything to help this little girl."

"Thank you," she hugged him.

They check their quests and see that they accepted the quest, Secret Medicine of the Forest.

Before they left, the woman gave them directions to the forest.

"You guys ready," said Ryu.

"We're ready," said Kirito.

They head to the forest west side of the village.

"Since there level one, there might be little plants," said Leafa.

"What do you know about these Little Nepenthes Kirito," said Ryu.

"Despite having that name, they are not a little there, about a meter and a half tall," said Kirito.

"What do they look like," said Yumi.

"The lower part of their body comprises roots, has two vines as these arms, be careful their leaves are pointy and can do damage. The upper body is bigger than its roots and has big reddish lips. They are level three monsters. Luckily for us, we're the same level as they are."

"Anything else," said Ryu.

"There are three types of these plants. They are not so different besides a flower and a red fruit," said Kirito.

"So one has a flower, the second one has a red fruit, and the third has nothing on its head," said Leafea.

"Something tells me that either the fruit or the flower is what we need for the medicine," said Ryu.

"The flower is what we need, but if you see one with the fruit on its head, don't hit the fruit," said Kirito.

"Why?" said Yumi.

"If the fruit is damaged it will release an odor attracting more of them," said Kirito.

"So all we gotta do is find the one with the flower and avoid the fruit heads," said Leafa.

"We're going to have to fight them for the flower type to show up and they won't be easy," said Kirito.

"Then let's be careful," said Ryu.

They get to the forest and see the Little Nepenthes. Only a few had the fruit. They draw their weapons and charge at them. Yumi slices the roots next to the vines, then plunges her sword in its mouth.

Kirito and Lefea were back-to-back, fighting the plants and defending each other.

Ryu uses his acrobatic skill climbing and jumping from tree to tree striking each Nepenthes he sees. After many battles, Kirito and Leafa achieve getting the ovule. Ryu sees that the Little Nepenthes attacked Yumi from behind.

"Kirito, give me a boost!" Ryu shouted.

Kirito went down on one knee, put his hands together. Ryu runs towards him and jumps one foot on Kirito's hands giving him the boost he needs. He uses the Horizontal skill to slice the Nepenthes. After it disappeared, it dropped the ovule.

"We did it," said Ryu.

"Yeah, we did hey Yumi you okay," said Kirito.

"Don't worry, I'm fine," said Yumi.

They were about to leave when suddenly…. "Hey you," screamed Kirito. They saw a boy pushing Leafa, taking the ovule, and running away.

"Stop right there," Ryu shouted.

The guy attacks the Nepenthe with the fruit, attracting more of them. Ryu and Yumi ran after the guy, but the monsters trapped Kirito and Leafa.

They caught up to the guy. "There's nowhere to run," said Ryu.

"Dammit, I thought, I can get away, but I shouldn't estimate a group of beta testers," said the guy.

"A group of beta testers? I see your beta tester too," said Ryu.

"That's right. I'm Coper. I'll want was the ovule you guys have one, so why does it matter," said Coper.

"You stole it and then you….oh no." He soon realized that his friends are in danger. "Yumi go back to Kirito and Lefea," Ryu shouted.

"What about you," said Yumi.

"Don't worry about me, they need help," he said.

Yumi heads back, leaving Ryu and Coper alone. "If you wanted the ovule so bad, why don't you just fight those monsters."

"I couldn't get the quest and why bother with the work when someone did the job for me."

"But what you did was stupid, did you know by attacking the fruit on their head…"

"Would attract more of them. I know, but why does it matter, this is life or death. It's every man for himself. Every beta tester will do the same thing, get ahead to get XPS, the quests, and loots. They won't care about anyone but themselves."

It shocked Ryu to hear that Coper didn't care if one of his friends died, which angered him. "You're wrong. There are beta testers that do and will care for others. You're wrong about us being a group of beta testers. There's only one beta tester in our group and he's helped us from the beginning so you're wrong. There are beta testers that do care for others and will help those in need," Ryu stated. "Now hand over the ovule."

"Now that I know your not a beta tester killing you will be easy," Coper smirked.

Coper pulls his sword and strikes Ryu, but he deflects the attack. The two fight each other. Ryu keeps deflecting the attacks only to have his health go down.

"Judging by your looks, your hp is low."

"He's right, my HP is only twenty-five percent while his sixty percent," Ryu thought to himself. There were no trees for him to climb to do jump attacks. He thought of using his magic from his world but knew that it would hurt him. Then Coper's sword glowed blue. He was going to do a Vertical. This gave Ryu an idea once Coper strikes, Ryu well dodge the attack and slices his legs causing him to be stunned. He waited for the right time when the sword was two meters from him. He dodges it and goes for the legs. Before he slices the legs, they both realize that a Little Nepenthen was in front of Coper and the sword hits its fruit. Ryu's sword stunned Coper as he went down on his knees.

Then seven more Nepenthens came and surrounded them, Coper then disappeared using hiding. Ryu took a drink of health potion, storing his HP to forty percent, then fought the monsters all on his own, or at least three of them. Coper was about to escape when the Nepenthen strikes him with its sharp leaves causing him to fall then the rest joined in finishing him. After finishing the third monster, Ryu saw that Coper's HP went down to zero. Then he shattered. The rest surrounded him. He knew he would have a tough time so he used some of his magic to defeat plant monsters. After defeating them he began to feel a little weak but luckily recovered quickly. He picks up the ovule, then he sees Yumi and Kirito carrying Leafa. He sees that Leafa was unconscious. "What happened?"

"We were fighting them, but there were so many of them they split us. I got distracted, then noticed Leafa getting overwhelmed. Her HP was only ten percent. If it weren't for Yumi showing up she would've been killed," said Kirito.

"Is her HP still low," said Ryu.

"I gave her a potion. She's just resting now," said Yumi.

They returned to the village. Ryu and Kirito went inside the house and gave the ovules to the woman. She thanks and gives them the sword. Both Ryu and Kirito saw that the quest was complete, and the sword was in their inventory. Ryu equipped the sword. The sword was heavier than the small sword, about five times heavy. It had a black handle and a silver blade. They both looked at Agatha's room, seeing the mother treating her. Kirito walked closer to the door and got a good look at Agatha.

She looked about eight years old. She was very pale, her lips showed no color. Agatha opened her eyes slowly, looked at Kirito and her mother. She gave a small faint smile to him. The mother gave her medicine and told her what happened. Agatha looked at Kirito and said, "Thank you onii-chan."

After hearing that, this triggered a memory of when he took care of his sister who caught a cold during elementary school. He was the only one taking care of her since their parents weren't home. She was very pale, just Agatha, but worse. She mostly slept during the day, barely opening her eyes and eating food. Couldn't get out of bed. He would have to clean her sweats since she barely could move. Luckily, she got better after two weeks.

After remembering that, he went down on his knees and began crying on Agatha's bed. He realized that his sister almost died in that forest, and he couldn't do anything to protect her. He blamed himself for what happened. Agatha places her hand on his head, slowly stroking him.

Ryu saw that Kirito was sobbing. He walked up to him and placed his hand on Kirito's right shoulder. "Are you alright?"

While still sobbing, Kirito tells him that this quest reminded him of when he took care of his sick sister. Ryu understood what he meant. He told him he also had to take care of his sick siblings when he was very young.

"Do you need some time alone," said Ryu. Kirito nodded his head. He leaves him and heads to an inn. He rents a room for the night next to Yumi and Leafa's room.

The next morning he wakes up and the bed two meters from him is empty. He wondered where Kirito went. "He probably slept at the NPC's house," he thought to himself. He gets out of the inn and heads to the house. He knocks on the door only to notice he got a message. He opens his menu and heads to messages it was from Kirito.

"Sorry I couldn't tell you this in person but after what happened last night I can't put you guys in danger anymore. I believe it's best I leave the group and continue on alone. Please take care of Leafa. She's important to me and also what happened last night. Let's keep that just between us."

Ryu understood Kirito's reason but at the same time, he didn't want him to leave. He tried to see him on the map but couldn't. He then realized that Kirito wasn't on his friend list which explains why he couldn't see him on the map. "Ryu."

He heard Yumi calling him.

"Do you know what happened to Kirito?"

"He didn't sleep at the inn so I came here but he wasn't here either."

"I'm sure he's fine," said Yumi.

"Yeah," said Leafa.

"We'll probably see him at the town if we stick to the dirt path," said Ryu.

The three continue ahead and Ryu sends Kirito a message. "Hey, Ryu."

He turned his head to Yumi. "What is it."

"Did something happen last night?"

"We gave the medicine, got the swords, and went to bed," said Ryu.

He decided not to tell the part about Kirito crying or the message he got. They were close to the town when Ryu heard something in the woods. The girls noticed and the three followed the sound and saw dire wolves surrounding a bush. The wolves noticed the three and growled at them. Since the three were level four it was an easy battle. After defeating the wolves they were wondering what they were surrounding. They looked inside the bush to see a small white creature. It had dark blue feathers, and instead of having a tail, it had a long feather. The creature hissed at them then Ryu offered it some food. He slowly picked up the creature and comforted it. "You poor little dragon. It's okay you're safe."

"A dragon?" said Yumi.

"I've never seen a dragon with feathers before," said Leafa.

"It's so cute," Yumi petted it.

Leafa joined the petting as well. She commented on how soft the feathers are. "To think the feathered dragon would shrink to size in the official release."

They turned their heads to see a hooded figure. "Say I know you two."

Ryu and Yumi noticed the whiskers and knew who it was. "Argo," said Yumi.

"You guys know her," said Leafa.

"Not quite. We only met once, her name is Argo and she's a beta tester," said Ryu.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Leafa."

"Likewise. Say what brings you all out here?" said Argo.

"We were heading to the closest town until I heard this little guy."

"Let me take a look."

She stepped closer to the dragon. "I see it's a boy."

"How can you tell?" said Leafa.

"Males have one feather while females have two feathers."

"I see."

"You mentioned something about the dragon shrinking?" said Ryu.

"In the beta the dragon was gigantic."

"Interesting."

"Why don't you join us," said Yumi.

"I was on my way to Tolbana so sure."

They returned to the dirt path and got to the town where they saw other players. "Do you guys see Kirito," said Leafa.

"No I don't see him anywhere," said Ryu.

"Wait, you guys know Kirito," said Argo.

"I'm his sister," said Leafa.

"Are you a friend from the beta," said Ryu.

"That is correct."

"Do you know where Kirito might be?" said Leafa.

"He probably went ahead to level up."

"That's what I was thinking," said Ryu.

Argo grew curious about Kirito being in a group. She remembered him mostly being a solo player but decided to say nothing instead she asked for help.

"What do you need help with?" Ryu asked.

"I'm giving out some books for NPC Shops to sell."

She hands them three books, one for each.

"What kind of book is this?" Leafa raised an eyebrow.

Ryu looked through the pages then noticed a page that had the feathered dragon on it. "This is a guidebook of SAO."

"That's right. My friends and I created this book to help newbie players."

"What's the price?"

"No need to worry. We're giving them for free."

"Should you sell them at the Town of Beginnings?" said Leafa.

"Already taken care of. You guys can keep those."

The three jumped from one store to another handing a stock of books to the NPCs. "Thanks for the assist. I wish I could stay but I have to see how my friend is doing. I see you'll be around," said Argo.

"Hold one," Leafea called her out before leaving.

"What."

"Can you tell me a little about Kirito?"

"What do you mean?"

"What was he like in the beta?"

"Why do you ask? Should you know you are his sister."

"We don't talk that much."

Argo grew curious about what she just said but didn't want to put her nose into something personal. She told her how he was mostly a solo player during the beta. Argo wished them luck and left but not without asking for payment.

The two saw Leafa with a worried look on her face. Ryu assured her that Kirito is going to be fine and he'll come back which cheered her up a little but deep down she knew he wasn't coming back.

Yumi suggested a location according to the book on where to rank up faster. The three traveled to get stronger with their new furry companion. Before leaving something caught Ryu's eye at a far distance, he saw Kirito watching them. When he fully turned his head he was gone. "Ryu come on," Yumi shouted. He catches up to them.

November 6, 2022

A girl named Asuna Yuuki returned home from school. She lived in a big house with her family. Her father Shouzou who was the CEO of RECT Inc. and her mother Kyouko was a professor in economics.

Shouzou was very kind to his daughter but Kyouko, on the other hand, wasn't kind. She was cold towards her. She wanted her daughter to have a better life and made her go to an all-private girl school to get the best education but Asuna wanted to go to a different school where her best friend was attending but that was the reason why Kyouko made her go to a different school. She believed Asuna's best friend was a distraction and was ruining Asuna's chance of a good life. Kouichirou didn't mind what his wife was doing because he too wanted his daughter to succeed.

It wasn't just the education, her parents had control of who she would marry. Her parents had control of what her life was going to be. Asuna knew her father was doing this for love, but the mother had more of a deeper reason. She believed it was due to her mother being born with farmers.

She had the best grades that could get her to any college and with the salary from her parent's jobs she could do anything she wanted and have any husband but she didn't want any of that. She wants a simpler life with the person she could love for who he is and that person to love her for who she is. She wishes for her parents to accept that, especially her mother. Whenever she talks to her mother about what she wanted, the two would argue most of the time and Asuna would go back to her room after the argument.

The only person who understood her was her brother, Kouichirou. When he was Asuna's age he had his life controlled by his parents, going to a private school, couldn't see his friends, and couldn't have fun either. After graduation, he moved out and got a job at his dad's company.

Ever since he saw Asuna crying that she couldn't see her best friend anymore. He hated how they treated her. While he was still living with them, he would spend time with his little sister. They would play outside and watch TV together. She one time saw him playing video games and grew interested. He offered her the controller and taught her how to play. The two grew closer after that. Besides teaching her how to play video games like MMOs, he even helped her in school with some of her math problems or gave her some study tips. She became an excellent student at her school.

Even though he moved out, he would still spend time with Asuna after work and on his days off. One day Kouichirou came over and showed her the Nervegear and told her about the game. She wanted to try it but couldn't since the beta ended that day. But he assures her he'll buy her a set when the official game comes out.

"Welcome home Asuna."

"Hi, Sada. Is anybody here?"

Sada was the housekeeper. She's in her early forties. She's been working for the Yuuki family for about ten years. "I'm afraid everyone is still at work." The housekeeper was finishing cleaning than was about to leave until Asuna stopped her.

Asuna thanked her for helping around the house. Sada gave her a smile, saying it was nothing. Before leaving, she told her that her brother came by and left something in Asuna's room. She heads up to her room to see a box that had the Nervegear, a copy of SAO, and a note.

"Sorry I couldn't join. I had to work overseas. You can get started without me and remember the tips I gave you. From your best bro, Kouichirou."

She gave a small giggle. She set up the equipment, next placed the headgear on her head, then lied down, and finally said, "Link Start."

Asuna customizes her character to look like her; she was then curious about why there are no classes but moved on to selecting a weapon which she chose a rapier and lastly named her avatar Asuna.

After customizing her character, she appeared at the starting point. She heads straight for the fields to get exp to level up. She gets to the field and sees boars wandering around. One boar saw her and charged at her. She draws her weapon, blocks the attack, throws a few strikes, slaying the beast, then out of the corner of her eye she notices another boar charging towards her. When she placed her rapier in front of the body, she saw the blade had a silver color. She wondered why it was glowing until she remembered her brother's tips of the game, one of them being about sword skills. The chestnut hair girl took her weapon and thrust it straight to the boar's head. Its health reached down to zero and shattered into pieces. "That was outstanding skill, girl."

Asuna turned her back to see three girls. Two of them were twins. Both had short brown hair and brown eyes. The eldest had less hair covering the forehead and wore a white tunic while the young twin had more hair covering their forehead and wore a blue tunic. The third girl had a long bright green ponytail, her eyes were the same color as her hair, and wore a grey tunic. "Thanks," said Asuna.

"I'm Yuuki. This is my sister Ran, and our friend Merida."

"Nice to meet you guys. I'm Asuna."

"You fought those boars pretty well. I take it you're a beta tester," said Merida.

"This is my first time playing but my brother played the beta and gave me some tips."

"Is your brother here?"

"No, he's at work right now."

"You want to join us?"

"Sure."

Asuna joins the girls as they continue fighting more boars. After many hours of playing, they left the field and took a stroll around town. Asuna felt happy to have fun and make new friends and started remembering the times she played with her childhood friend. She then noticed it was getting late and knew if her mother saw her playing video games, it would be the end.

"What should we do?" said Ran.

"We should go fighting some more boars, then head to the next town. I want to get strong so that I can fight the floor boss," Yuuki raised her arm in the air. She then turned her head to Asuna and asked, "What about you, Asuna?"

"I'm sorry, but I have to go," the chestnut-haired girl said in an upset tone.

"Hey, it's fine. We only got ten more minutes of playing before mom gets home, so it's cool. We can continue playing tomorrow," Yuuki assured her.

"Yeah, you're right."

"It's a promise, then."

Yuuki extends her hand to Asuna, giving her a smile. The chestnut-haired girl smiles back and the two shake hands. They noticed the bells ringing, were suddenly transported, and learned something that was devastating and changed their lives.

After learning about SAO, Asuna secluded herself in a rented room for two weeks. After spending time in the room she decided to take fate into her own hands. She picked her weapon up and left the room. She then gets a message from Yuuki. "I know you're scared but if you can please come to the center of the town. I'm giving a speech."

Asuna was planning to check on her new friend so she heads to the location to see a big crowd of people and sees Yuuki and Merida standing in front. The chestnut girl squeezes through to a better view.

"Hey everyone my name is Yuuki and I have a question for you all. How many of you want to leave this game?" she said with a smile. Many were confused. It was obvious that everyone raised their hands, including Asuna. "I thought so then let's fight together."

If what she first said didn't confuse anyone then what she just said left everyone speechless. Someone from the crowd spoke out asking if she's crazy. "I understand all of you are scared. I feel the same way but sometimes you have to fight in order to get what you want."

Asuna looked around the crowd to see many people scared. Some agreed with what she said but didn't have the voice to speak up. Yuuki was a little worried that she wasn't getting through to them until…. "She's right!"

Everyone turned their heads to the chestnut girl, who had a serious look. She walked out of the crowd and joined Yuuki.

"In order to beat this game, we have to fight. That's our only way out. I too was afraid, but now I took fate into my own hands. I'm going to fight to get stronger and beat this game and I advise you all to do the same."

"Of course we're not telling you guys to go out there with no information," Merida comes forth and pulls out a book.

"What is that?" Asuna asked

"This is a guidebook of SAO."

The crowd was whispering. "I know what you all are thinking, but let me explain. My friends and I created this book for the new players."

"So that means…"

"Yes, I am a beta tester and just to clarify, these two are not beta testers. I and a few friends from the beta created this book to help players like you to survive."

"We're giving this book for free so that everyone has knowledge of the game and has a better chance to survive. I hope this speech can give you the courage and hope." Yuuki placed her hand on her chest with her eyes shut.

"Asuna's right. We need to get stronger. This game won't beat us. We will beat this game." She opened her eyes with a smile.

Everyone was quiet until someone from the crowd slowly began clapping. One by one, everyone joined in, some even cheered and a few whistled as well. The brown hair girl saw her two friends clapping with smiles on their faces. Seeing not only their faces but everyone's made her feel happy. Not only she gave people hope but gave herself hope as well.

The green ponytail girl tells everyone she gave all the store NPCs the guidebook and she even set up a small shop of her own. Everyone went to get their hands on the guidebook. The only people left were Asuna and Yuuki.

"I'm glad you came." Yuuki placed her hand on Asuna's shoulder. The chestnut-haired girl wrapped her arms around Yuuki, pulling her into a hug. "Me too." The two hugged each other for a while.

"So what's your plan?"

"I'm heading to the next town to get stronger."

"Take this then," Yuuki pulls the book out of her pocket and hands it to Asuna.

"You're not coming?" The chestnut girl seemed confused.

"I wish I could, but Merida is busy and Ran well…" the brown-haired girl's smile faded away. She hoped her sister would come out and see her speech, but she refused to leave. Asuna understood Ran's reason, so she assures Yuuki it's okay and that she should help her friend and keep her sister safe.

"Thanks, Asuna, I appreciate that. I'm glad I met you," Yuuki smiled.

"Me too." The two hugged one last time and said their goodbyes.

The chestnut-haired girl left the city and ran through the field. Then a dire wolf appeared. She pulled her rapier and charged at the wolf. The blade glowed pink and with that; she slew the beast. 'I won't let this game beat me.'

December 2, 2022

"How long has it been?" Asuna said while leaning towards the wall. The chestnut hair girl had spent a few hours in the labyrinth fighting monsters. Before entering, she purchased five iron rapiers and planned to return after its last one had half durability. She fought very well thanks to her brother's tips but was getting weak due to hunger. She checked the time to see it was 4:00, and she was on her second last rapier but kept pushing forward. On the 18th floor of the labyrinth, she encountered two Ruin Kobold Troopers.

Level six humanoid creatures with bulky bodies, large tails, and rabbit-like ears. They don't wear any armor or clothes on their tops. The only clothing they have is a pair of pants and their weapon of choice is a barbaric hand axe. She defeated one using Linear three times and was about to strike the trooper but the monster parried her rapier, causing it to break, then it struck her out. She couldn't get up. Her body was very weak. She was losing consciousness. The humanoid creature's axe glowed. 'Is this the end?'

Before the creature can finish her out of nowhere, a sword slices the creature's head off. She couldn't get a good look at the person who saved her life but could tell he was male. "Hey, are you alright?" Those were the last words she heard before passing out.

The chestnut girl slowly opened her eyes to see a tree. She then felt the grass on the ground. She wondered how to get out of the labyrinth but didn't look further since her answer was sitting by the tree, looking at his menu. The boy had short black hair and wore a dark blue tunic. "Oh good, you're awake."

The chestnut-haired girl was about to ask the black hair boy what happened, then remembered the labyrinth, the two monsters, and the boy that saved her before passing out. Suddenly, her stomach rumbled.

"Hungry?" The boy gave a small smile, which made the girl turn her head away from embarrassment. "Here, have some black beard. It's good," he offered.

She wasn't a fan of the bread but accepted it and took a bite. "You really think this soft tastes good."

"Mmmm. Since I came to Tolbana I've been eating at least one a day. I also got a trick to make it taste good."

"A trick?"

He pulls a container out placed on the ground between them. "Try some with this."

She taps the jar with two fingers and creates a small sphere, then she drifts her fingers down on the bread and sees something coming out of the sphere.

"Cream." She finished spreading the cream all around the bread. She takes another bite than another, eventually devouring it. "Thanks for the food."

The boy couldn't help but smile. "Don't mention it." He was about to tell her how he got the cream but asked her a question instead. "If you don't mind me asking, what were you doing at the labyrinth and why were you all alone?"

She took some time to answer the question but finally had an answer. "I was fighting by being myself. Like most people, when SAO was declared a death game I locked myself in an inn too afraid to do anything. Until one day I couldn't stay there anymore and was about to leave the town until I saw someone giving a speech which not only shows there are people who are risking their lives but it motivates me to get stronger and never lose sight of who I am." She had a serious tone to her voice but it soon changed more into a quiet, sad tone when she answered the second part to the black hair boy's question. "As for why I was alone, well, I've been alone for the past month."

She tells him the story of how she met a small group, became good friends with a girl named Yuuki, and how they parted ways. The boy can understand how she feels since he, too, shared the same experience. Not only he left one person all on his own, but he left a group that included his sister. When he first left the group, he did it to protect them from the higher monster he faced and the conflict between beta testers and normal players. There have been times he thought of returning to the group but kept convincing himself not to.

"What about you?"

"Uuh?"

"Why are you alone?"

"I'm a solo player. I've been on my own."

"Really." she raised an eyebrow. She can tell there was more to what he was saying but she can tell he didn't want to talk about it so she just leaves it at that.

"Anyway, I saw your rapier broke if you want I can show you a place where they drop a weapon that's stronger than an iron rapier."

She thought of it at first but took his offer and the two head off. "I'm Asuna by the way," she introduced herself.

"Kirito," he responds.

"Well Krito thanks for saving my life," she gave a small smile.

"No problem, Asuna," he smiled back.

Authors Note: Just to let everyone know I've never read the progressive novels but I did read the manga version. I've only watched the anime and read the first volume of SAO but that was a long time. I took some of the source material of the progressive series and change some things and add more into this chapter. Let me know what you guys think of this chapter. I'll see you guys next chapter.