Hello everyone!

My mind was honestly blown up when I was about to upload this chapter and saw 100 follows and 60 favorites. I honestly didn't expect that, so thank you everyone for the support.

Sorry for the late chapter but with school starting I suddenly found myself with little time to write. Hopefully, it is worth the wait because this chapter proved to be much longer than I first anticipated.

Well enough about me, thanks for the reviews, I happily accept any opinion, critique, so don't hold back.

Level 3: The First boss

"Your attention, please."

The forty or so players quickly quieted down when the first boss strategy meeting began. They were sitting in an open auditorium, already forming small groups. Natsu and the others also were there, with Ken and Natsu sitting together, while Buzz and Agil were seated behind them.

The speaker was a blue-haired young man, wearing armor reminiscent of medieval knight armor, a shield strapped to his back. Thanks to his confident demeanor soon everyone was focused on him.

"Thank you. First, my name is Diabel. I consider my job to be a knight."

His words caused others to laugh since unlike other games of the genre there was no class or job system in Sword Art Online. Seeing the tense atmosphere breaking up, Diabel continued to speak.

"I called this meeting in preparation for the first floor's boss battle. Yesterday my party found it in the central dungeon, scouted it out, and marked the location in the map."

Everyone began to talk to each other about this info. Aside from fighting a boss, which was not an easy task according to former beta testers, especially with the new rules, even finding them was a task in and of itself. One month after the opening, the trapped people needed the hope that the defeat of the first-floor boss would bring.

Diabel began to talk about the strategy they would need to use against the boss, Ilfang the Kobold King. They already know that, thanks to the information released by former beta testers, but it was nice to know the information was accurate. As the blue-haired knight was about to continue a loud voice spoke up.

"Wait! I wanna say something!"

The speaker stood at the top of the auditorium, looking down on the other players. He was a man around 30 years old, his armor was a mix of light and dark brown, he had orange hair, its form reminded Natsu of a cactus.

He jumped down, probably in an attempt to look cool, but he wasn't able to get down by one leap, so he clumsily had to correct himself with a few small jumps. He landed on the podium, next to Diabel and turned his black eyes on the gathered players. Natsu felt himself stiffen. A boy, who was bullied for most of his childhood needed to be able to recognize a potential bully. And that man was one, he was sure.

Clearing his throat the man began to speak.

"I'm Kibaou and I want to say something to the beta testers that surely are among us."

The reaction was instant. Diabel's face tightened and everyone began to look warily at each other. Ken tenses his body, hand resting on his sword, Agil gained a grave look and Buzz simply grunted in annoyance.

The hate against beta testers was nothing new. Without Kayaba Akihiko there to blame, a lot of people needed someone to blame who was there to let it out. They were just the most convenient target. Luckily not many knew about Buzz, so they weren't really harassed, yet.

"After the first day, the beta testers simply left behind the others, hogging the best farming grounds, not sharing information with us. They are directly responsible for the two thousand players who already died. Those here should stand before us on their knees begging for forgiveness, giving their gear and money to us."

As Kibaou finished his speech, a lot of people began to talk to each other. Alarmingly a lot of people began to agree with the orange-haired man, calling for the beta testers to answer to their crimes.

Natsu incensed, couldn't take this anymore. Disregarding Ken who tried to calm him down, he stood up, gaming the attention of nearby players. Unknowingly his wíwa gained an orange shade, making him look a little more mature.

"That's not true at all. Many beta testers taught new players to survive, not all of them abandoned the others. This is pointless, they are just as trapped here as we are. We should focus on working together, instead of bickering."

Though there were a few players who seemed to agree with him, no one spoke up for his side. Kibaou only sneered at his words.

"What are you five? Go back to play with your dolls kid, we aren't playing around here? Or are you one of those beta testers that you defend so much?"

Natsu reeled back as if visibly stuck. Before he could fold into himself, a deep voice interrupted.

"If I may interject?"

Agil imposing frame straightened up behind the young swordsman. No matter how kind he was inside, the ax wielder could easily intimidate even grown men. With the glare in his eyes, the set of his shoulders, and the subtle tightening of his hands, Natsu could easily tell, the friendly giant was furious.

While Agil went down with heavy steps towards Kibaou who tried his best not to cower before the man, Natsu wordlessly sat down, eyes downcast. Feeling a hand on his shoulder, he looked up to Ken's reassuring smile. He gave back a weak one and watched as the teen turned in the direction of the cactus haired swordsman his smile gained a sharp edge. It reminded Natsu that despite his generally laid back attitude, the black haired teen could also be very scary if prompted.

Looking back to the plaza, he saw Agil standing before Kibaou, with a silent Diabel at the side watching. Staring at the unnerved player for a moment, the deep baritone of the two-handed ax user rang out.

"Let me get this straight. You condemn the beta testers for leaving behind the newer players resulting in their death. That they used the best hunting grounds and the most rewarding quests, excluding the new players. Is that right?"

"Ye-Yes."

Nodding to himself, Agil slowly, with deliberate motions pulled out a little brown book. From his seat, Natsu couldn't read it's cover, but he already knew which book it was. After all, Agil made sure that each of them had one of their own, and knew it's content by heart. The game guide was made by the beta testers who wanted to help the other nine thousand.

"You know this book? It's a strategy guild for new players explaining various game mechanics and tips to train up. It can be bought for free in every NPC shop."

"What about it?" asked back Kibaou with a little uncertainty.

"This guide was made by former beta testers and was made available for anyone who needs it."

Putting the book back into his inventory Agil looked around the gathered players with his stern gaze, silencing anyone who tried to spoke up.

"if you ask me, the only one who could be blamed for all these deaths is the one who imprisoned us here. I'm not here for pointing fingers at each other, I'm here to beat this game."

Some began clapping after hearing Agil's small speech, Natsu one of them and many began to nod in agreement. Seeing things calmed down, Diabel stepped forward, claiming the attention of the players.

"I agree. It's time to put aside our differences and concentrate on the enemy in front of us. The first boss."

He received another round of agreements. Agil nodded to the blue-haired knight before walking back to his group, patting the shoulder of Natsu reassuringly as he sat down. Kibaou also went and sat down next to a small group of players who seemed to know him.

Diabel waited a little to let everyone calm down, before a little manipulation of his menu he pulled out the very same manual that Agil was talking about.

"Illfang, the Kobold Lord. He has four health bars, frequently summons Kobold Sentinels to fight and when his last health bar hits red, his entire move set changes. First, since the group limit is 6 people, let's create those teams, then we can talk about which roles who's group would fill."

With that, the players began to move and converse among themselves. With a quick look towards his friends, Natsu was assured they would stay together. Looking around he saw most of the players came with friends, already forming their groups. Since they needed two more people, he began to look around for someone without a group.

He saw a black-haired boy who looked familiar for some reason sitting next to a cloaked individual a little bit away from the others. He started to get up, to ask them if they wanted to join, but two people walked up to the four friends.

One of them was even taller than Agil, if only with a little, and a lot more round than the ax wielder. He had short black hair, black eyes, and a completely ordinary face. He was wearing heavier armor than most players who showed up, with a shield strapped on his back and a one-handed sword at his side. He didn't look like the brightest guy around, but he also didn't look like a bully like Kibaou.

The other one was as if someone took the big guy, made him short, skinnier, and maybe a few years younger. His hair was a little longer, had a rapier on his side and he had a smile on his face as he approached them, unlike the somewhat blank expression on the larger man. They both looked like twenty-something.

For a morbid second, Natsu thought that someone took two generic NPCs and gave them a few characteristics to make them look different from the rest.

"Hey. My name's Wedge and that's my brother Biggs." said the short one, with a big guy giving a friendly nod."Wanna team up? My brother and I are just by ourself and most of these guys came here in a full group. But you look like you still a few members short."

The four of them looked at each other. Natsu thought they were friendly enough, so he had no problem with them joining. Ken only offered a shrug, he seemed to be alright with either way. Agil looked contemplative but didn't see against it. In the end, it was Buzz, who made the decision.

"Not seeing any reason to say no. We need a good tank anyway, to help out Agil. Welcome, I guess.

Name's Buzz. The big guy is Agil, the black-haired kid is Ken and the squirt is Natsu."

Natsu's indignant cry was ignored as they all greeted Biggs and Wedge. They were invited to their group and Biggs sat next to Agil, while Wedge sat on Natsu's unoccupied side. As they looked up they saw that almost everyone formed a group of their own, so Diabel once again stepped forward, to move things forward.

They talked for a while about strategies, but in truth, not much was accomplished. Even if they had the beta testers' information they had only found the boss room in the maze. In a situation where no one had seen the boss' face, a strategy could not be made. It was too risky to rely completely on the information from the beta.

At the end of the meeting, the knight Diabel raised his voice, and let out a huge roar to the participants. Natsu, Ken, and Wedge shouted with enthusiasm, even Agil and Biggs raised their arm for a show of unity, while Buzz simply sat there, deep in thought. After a short „Dismissed", people began to leave, talking among themselves or going for the NPC shops.

-0-

After the meeting, the newly named Team Natsu (Ken was to name it, Agil agreed with Biggs and Wedge and Buzz didn't care enough, much to Natsu's embarrassment) retreated to the town's inn accompanied by Biggs and Wedge. They spent dinner talking about strategies for the upcoming fight. Eventually, they retired for the night, sharing rooms in pairs. Natsu naturally bunked with Ken.

Yet despite his high spirits during the day, Natsu was unable to find sleep. Abandoning the notion of resting, the young teen walked out into the room's balcony, marveling at the nightlife of Tolbana.

He sat there contemplating until his thoughts were interrupted.

"Can't sleep?"

Ken walked out of their room in casual clothes much like Natsu. His face was set in a worried frown as he gazed at the restless teen.

In answer, Natsu let out a sigh.

"Something like that. Or more like the battle tomorrow has me restless."

"How so?"

Natsu placed his eyes on the night sky or rather the virtual rendition of the ceiling of the first floor. He thought of all the possible outcomes for tomorrow. The consequences for himself, for his friends, and the rest of the players.

"I'm scared. No matter how hard we prepared for this, there are too many variables. What if our information is wrong? What if our tactics won't work? What if something happens and we lose? If we lose even one player, this could be the last attempted raid of SAO. What happens then? What happens if we discover that SAO is impossible to clear?"

"We will fight on."

Natsu gave a shocked look to the black-haired teen. Ken stared where the sky should be, his face set in stone, his black eyes glinting with determination. This the most serious Natsu ever saw the usually laid-back boy.

Finally, Ken looked at him, letting out a small, sincere smile.

"You were the one who told me not to give up. To reunite with my father, to survive. I'll fight and not just for myself. For you, Agil, Buzz, everybody."

It may have been a trick of the light, but Ken's black eyes seemed to be blue. It only gave much more weight to his words.

"If you alone are not enough, it will be alright. I will be your sword. I will fight for you, I will fight at your side. I will follow you, because I believe in you, Tsuna."

The brown-haired boy tried to wipe away the tears that sprang on him, in vain. Finally getting his hiccups under control, he faced Ken.

"Then let's watch each other back. Deal, Takeshi?"

His answer came with a large smile and soon the two boys were sleeping, their hearts a lot lighter.

Then came the day of the raid.

-0-

Forty-four players were gathered at the Fountain Square in Tolbana. Being the youngest and the shortest Natsu felt a bit out of place, but a look in the direction of his friends helped calm him. Yes, they can do this. They have to do this.

The blue-haired knight Diabel stood in front of at the edge of the fountain, raising his voice, and said,

"Everyone, although it may be sudden, thank you all. I am really grateful that all forty-four of the party members have gathered, without a single missing person."

After talking, a loud cheer of „OH" shook up the entire square. It was followed by waterfall-like applause. Natsu cast away his doubts and raised his hands to clap.

After smiling at everyone, the knight pumped his right fist and continued shouting.

"Now I will say, I was thinking of aborting this mission if a single person didn't turn up! But this kind of worry is an insult to everyone. I'm very happy that we got the very best raid party, even if the numbers are not enough for a full one.

A few people laughed and whistled, and some people pumped their right hands mimicking him. Natsu looked around, gauging the other players' reactions. Most were swept up with the knight's charisma, in high spirits and smiling. Others like Agil and Buzz looked stern, arms folded in front of their chest. Others like Ken and Wedge only had an easy-going smile on their face but remained calm.

As everyone yelled about, Diabel raised both hands to suppress the cheering.

"Everyone. What I want to say now is this!"

His right hand moved to his left hip, and he pulled out his silvery sword with a loud sound-

"...Let's win!"

A loud cry rang out, reminiscent of the day about four weeks ago, in the central square of the Starting City when ten thousand players screamed. But with a completely different feel to it.

-0-

It took the raid party about two hours to reach the labyrinth and make it to the top floor, where the boss room resided. As much as the players would have liked otherwise, it was not a pleasant trip. They were ambushed around three times and luckily they suffered no casualties. It was thanks to the leadership of Diabel, and that no one freaked out, which Buzz said after the second ambush that mainly targeted their group, is a miracle in and of itself since most of the players here never experienced a raid in SAO or anything like it.

When they reached the doors, Natsu let out a slight sigh of relief. Now comes the hard part, he thought, but at least they are here. On the surface of the grey stone, was a relief of a terrifying beast headed monster.

As he gazed at the picture of the boss they would face, Natsu thought of the small lecture that Buzz gave out, shortly before they headed out.

"in most other MMO games these mobs were usually the weakest of the weak, but in SAO Beta this Demi-Human class of humanoid beings were formidable foes." said Buzz, ignoring the curious faces of Biggs and Wedge." It had the ability to wield weapons such as swords and axes, and could even use sword skills. Compared to a normal attack, it had much higher speed, power, and even more powerful combos. If a player was caught in a defenseless position, even its elementary skill could cause a critical hit, and reduce the HP gauge drastically. Just be careful, don't do anything stupid and everything will be alright."

It was a tense silence as they waited to form a proper line-up. The group was designated from A to H. E, F, G, and the two-person H group's responsibility was to hold back and defeat the Ruin Kobold Sentinels that the boss periodically summoned. Natsu and their group, group B purpose to attack the boss mostly from the left flank. With Agil, Biggs, and Buzz in front, they had to tank any attacks that come toward them, while Ken, Wedge, and Natsu were naturally on DPS duty.

When everyone found their place, Diabel lifted his silver long sword high and gave a large nod. The forty-three raid members also raised their weapons and nodded in reply.

With a short cry, he pushed the doors open with all his might. The battle had begun.

-0-

Later, when he thought back Natsu couldn't tell very much about the battle. In his mind, the room, the boss's appearance remained very clear, but the battle itself? Save for the last part it was a blur to the brown-haired boy.

The room was in one word large. Its width from the left to the right wall was about twenty meters. Plus it was quite rectangular. There was a distance of about one hundred meters from the entrance to the back. The stone floor and walls were filled with cracks. Large and small skulls were variously placed to decorate the place. In the deepest part of the room stood a huge throne, and a rough silhouette of something large sat on it.

Natsu had to stifle a cry when he saw the figure, and he was not the only one. Quite a few of the, up until now, confident players suddenly looked not so sure if they were meant to be here. At his side, he saw Wedge grip his sword anxiously.

The demi-human boss, Illfang the Kobold Lord, looked exactly as Buzz described. Its muscular body over two meters tall, covered in blue-gray fur. Its bloodthirsty eyes flashed a golden red. Its right hand wielded an ax made of bone, while its left had a Leather Buckler equipped. Behind its waist, a meter and half long Talwar stuck out. Next to his head appeared four full health bars.

As the raid party neared him, Illfang jumped down from his throne and let out a wolf-like cry. As if that sound was a signal, out of various holes located high up on the sidewalls, three heavily armed monsters jumped down. These were the guards, Ruin Kobold Sentinel. Group E led by Kibaou, and the supporting Group G, quickly moved towards the three, locking onto their targets.

With the sentinels held back, the four main groups attacked the boss. Group A attacked front, from left their group and on the right Diabel lead the attack, while group D waited in reserve. The tanks and attackers traded places according to the discussed tactic and fortunately, they held their lines.

Of course, there were some close calls. During the depletion of the second health bar, due to a misstep Ken was left exposed to one of the Kobold King's swiping attacks and was hurled to the wall, his hp down to the yellow zone. Natsu was almost caught in the same attack if not for a fast save thanks to Biggs. As he ran to his friend to make sure he is alright and defend him if some of the Sentinels tried to attack the dizzy swordsman, group D filled the holes they left behind. He quickly made Ken drink a health potion and as soon as he was healed up, they rejoined the battle against the boss who was already losing rapidly his third health bar.

As they began to get closer to the boss's fourth health bar, groups F and G joined the main force, relieving some of the tiring players, despite how much a good time they were making. With a few words from Buzz, their team readied themselves, so they would not be taken by surprise by the change in the flow of battle that would happen when they reach the last bar.

Finally, the third bar was removed by the pole weapons of Group F and G before they retreated. Instead of waiting for their full recovery, Group C rushed in to press the attack.

Illfang gave out a roar. At the same time, the final wave of three Sentinels jumped out of holes in the walls. The Kobold Lord, threw his weapons, the ax, and the shield, down onto the ground simultaneously, gave another roar, brought its hand to the back of its waist, grasped the rag bound handle, and pulled out the Talwar.

Natsu didn't know much about swords before starting the game and even now, his knowledge was nothing to talk about, so when the boss raised his right hand, he couldn't tell that something was wrong with the weapon. But he could feel it. The same warmth that saved his life in this world more than once, urging him to do something, flared up once again. He could hear someone shouting something from the back, but it was drowned out, he could see Buzz face pale, mouth opening to shout something. Then his body began to move.

Illfang's huge body shook the floor, as it jumped up high. It turned its body in mid-air while accumulating power to its weapon. As it fell down, it used the accumulated power, releasing a crimson beam of light.

After a long, silent moment six bright red light effects erupted, like pillars of blood. Yellow lights rotated around the heads of six people that had collapsed on the floor in the aftermath of the skill. They were stunned.

As he ran towards the immobilized players, he saw in the corner of his eyes as Agil and Ken began to run after him, but there was too much distance between them.

The demi-human roared, and his weapon in both its hands was lifted off the cut floor and raised high. His movements were much more different than what they prepared for. It was aimed at the player that had fallen right in front of it, Diabel. As if pulled by a red arc of light, the knight in silver armor was sent flying up high. The damage didn't seem very high. However, the Kobold Lord's movement didn't stop there.

Using its large wolf-like mouth, it grinned and laughed ferociously.

Its blade was once again wrapped in a red light effect. As the knight, once again stunned, fell with a thud, Illfang's weapon began to descend at a rapid space. It looked like a butcher about to slice apart a piece of meat and with the power that attack was coming, there was no doubt it would take away the rest of Diabel's HP. If it connected.

Even Diabel closed his eyes, accepting his fate. When he didn't feel anything for a few seconds, he opened his eyes and immediately widened them. In front of the fallen knight stood Natsu, blocking the boss's attack. He felt as if sweat was dropping down on his brows, despite his virtual body, as he held onto his sword with two hands, trying to keep his stance stable.

For a moment or two, it seemed to work, but then with a horrible sound, his trusty sword broke to pieces. Not having anything else in its way, the attack finally connected with the boy who was sent flying. When he finally dropped down, he couldn't help but groan in pain. Thankfully his HP was almost full, so he survived, but even that attack sent him straight to the red zone.

Illfang stood still for a few seconds, affected by the cooldown. Diabel, finally able to move, risen to a knee, sword steadily held in front of him. By the time the Kobold King tried to attack once again, it was blindsided when Agil reached him and with an almost bestial roar attacked, Biggs hot on his heels. They were soon joined by the black-haired swordsman and his cloaked partner.

Natsu saw none of that. He laid on the ground, trying to get up without success. He was hurt a few times in the past month, but never this much. And he was still unused to this virtual pain that he felt anytime he suffered damage. He had trouble breathing properly and for a moment Natsu began to panic. Was he going to die? Was he going to leave everyone behind? Leave Ken? Agil? Buzz? Mom?

Before he could panic anymore, he felt someone grab his shoulder, holding him in place, and stuck something in his mouth. He began to gulp down the sour liquid, remembering the not so nice taste of the healing potion instantly. Opening his eyes, he found his eyesight blurry, still, he could make out the worried face of Ken kneeling beside him.

"Come on Natsu. Don't give up." he murmured worriedly, in his eyes the same fear reflecting that he felt.

Vision clearing, he turned his head a little, finding Ken kneeling before him and Wedge, rapier drawn facing the direction of the fight. In the corner of his eyes, he saw his HP bar slowly replenishing.

In the distance, he could hear Buzz's shouts over the fighting.

"Don't just stand there! Forward! Push back the boss! Protect the injured! HOLD YOUR LINE!"

It took a little time, but the potion worked and Natsu finally felt like he was able to get up. Ken assisted him to stand up, while his right hand opened up his menu. Scrolling through his inventory, he equipped another sword, sadly no match for his previous one, but it would have to do. He noted that Wedge left them, helping out Group E while another wave of Sentinels hit them.

But by the time he finally gets up and was ready to fight, the battle ended. Aided by Agil and the others, the black-haired swordsman and his partner, who turned out to be a brown-haired girl, was able to reduce the HP of the boss to finally zero.

The Kobold Lord's gigantic frame, suddenly lost its strength, staggering backward. Aincrad's first floor's boss, Illfang the Kobold Lord's body shattered into millions of fragments and scattered in all directions.

There was barely any who dared to break the silence. Most players were just standing there exhausted, not believing that the battle finally ended. Agil, Biggs, and the few others who ran forward to help end the boss once for all sat by the wall, a little dazed, trying to catch their breath. The duo who dealt the last attack stood a little farther.

Natsu walked up to Agil, Ken worriedly at his side, and sent a questioning look to the ax wielder. He only looked over Natsu, relieved to see him fine, his weapon still gripped in his hands. Everyone waited in anticipation, not knowing what would happen next.

Suddenly before Natsu, a window popped up, showing the experience, gold, and items gained from the boss fight. A quick look around confirmed that similar windows appeared around all players of the raid party. After a brief look, he dismissed the window, a smile overtaking his face. Soon a loud cheer rang out, followed by many more.

Some people threw both hands up in the air. Some embraced their comrades. Some danced nonsensically. Natsu felt Ken give him a one-armed hug, a wide grin on his face.

"We did it!" he said in wonder.

Agil let out a hearty laugh and patted the two boys on the head. Like them, he was also smiling like there was no tomorrow. After a soft „Be careful next time" he went to congratulate other players.

Natsu suddenly felt someone grab his collar and giving him a not so painful wedgie. He still let out a yelp and pouted up at the perpetrator. It was Buzz, who despite the general cheer was scowling down at him.

"Of all the idiotic things you could do, you decide to jump in the way of a floor boss's combo attack?! Have you lost your mind? Never try something this foolish again, you hear me?"

As the man ranted Natsu bowed his head. He knew what he did was reckless, but he felt like he had to do it. To save Diabel, to save a comrade. He looked up when he felt a hand pat his shoulder. Buzz was no longer scowling, he looked more tired than anything else.

"Good job, kid," he said softly, before turning away.

Natsu let out a small smile at that. The celebration of the victorious raid group would have gone for a while, but everyone was interrupted by an angry shout.

"You!"

The shouter was a man in light armor, a scimitar user of the C group, one of Diabel's friends. He discarded his helmet showing a bald head and little, angry, black eyes. Two of his comrades stayed with the recovering knight, but two of them stood behind him.

He was pointing at the surprised looking black haired swordsman who was in the middle of talking to Agil. After everyone turned towards them to see what's going on, the man continued to speak.

"Because you, we almost died!"

The swordsman in question and almost everyone else murmured to themselves, not understanding what was he talking about.

"Because of me?" murmured the swordsman in confusion.

"That's right! Because... Because you knew the skills the boss used, didn't you? If you gave us that information from the start, all of us and especially Diabel wouldn't have come so close to dying!"

Most disturbingly, his words awaked something in the raiders. They soon began to murmur amongst each other. "Now that you mention it..." "How? It wasn't even written in the strategy guide..." Such voices were born and gradually spread across the room. Natsu uncomfortably looked at Ken, whose smile considerably dimmed as he surveyed the room.

The orange-haired man, Kibaou stepped front, eying the swordsman and those who stood near him.

"He must be a beta tester! He knew the boss's attack pattern, good hunting spots, everything. And he híd it from us. He went for the last attack bonus, to get ahead of us."

Strangely the members of Diabel's and Kibaou's group didn't seem to be surprised. It was as if they were already aware that the boy was a former beta tester. But how, thought Natsu, when the identities of the betas were carefully protected by the testers themselves?

The tenseness of the room was almost palpable. The previously joyful atmosphere was no more, the united raid party slowly began to fall apart.

Natsu felt like something needed to be done, or the hate towards the beta testers would only make going forward that much harder. He tried to placate the angry, hateful players.

"Think about it for a second. The strategy guide was written with information gained by the beta period, right? That means his knowledge is the same as the guide, the same as our own. He only came forward to help the collapsing front of our group. He is here to help up, nobody died and we won. What does anything else matter right now?"

Several players remained silent, looking unsure in the face of logical facts. The black-haired swordsman remained silent, staring at the players who started this whole debate.

Kibaou spluttered, trying to come up with a response that didn't sound dumb. Instead, the member from Diabel's band of friends, who first spoke up, answered.

"That strategy guide was a lie. Argo's information shop was selling lies. That person was a beta tester, after all, there's no way she would have given us the truth for free."

Things were spiraling out of control. These guys couldn't be reasoned with, Natsu thought, but if they don't stop now, the victory over the first boss will mean nothing. They wouldn't be united enough to move forward.

"These idiots," grumbled Buzz next to Natsu, spear in hand and subtly readying himself for the possible fight."Of all the times, why do they need to do this now? Nobody died, we won. Why ruin our victory with this?"

Unfortunately, Buzz was not the only one in their circle of friends to think that there would be a fight. Ken's posture was tense as he slowly angled his body in a way that he stood before Natsu and the larger group of players. Even Wedge gripped his sword's handle nervously at the boy's other side, giving him a questioning look.

"What's the plan little boss?" he asked at last.

Natsu was shocked. Usually, people would look at Agil, or Buzz to tell them what to do, not him. He was a little kid, nobody took him seriously as shown at the strategy meeting. Someone asking him what to do was definitely new.

Before he could answer, all eyes moved towards the accused swordsman. He stepped away from his partner and Agil, he looked emotionless, as if he found this whole thing meaningless. He eyed the scimitar user with apathy, who suddenly looked a little nervous, before carelessly shrugging.

"Beta tester, was it? Don't lump me together with those amateurs." a shocked silence overcome the players gathered in the boss room. "Listen here and remember this. SAO's Closed Beta Test had a ridiculously low pass rate for the lottery draw. Out of the one thousand people, how many real MMO gamers do you think got selected? Most of them were at most hobby players who didn't even know methods of leveling properly. You guys here are much better than that lot. But, I'm not like those guys" he ended his tirade with a sneer.

No one could say a word. Natsu searched the black haired teen's face, feeling as if there was something wrong with what he said. Buzz's eyes widened slightly as if he figured out something. Diabel still sitting looked on without expression and Kibaou and a few others looked angrier and angrier.

"During the beta test, I reached floors that no other player could dream to reach. I know everything about the Katana Skills the boss used since I was used to fighting mobs that used katanas from a floor way higher. I learned about the game even more than Argo could ever hope so."

There were shocked gasps from the players. Even after a month, the information provided by the rat was worth its price. The idea that he could know the game better than the infamous broker…

"That's no longer on the level of a beta tester. That's cheating, you are just a cheater! A beater!" came the hoarse voice of Kibaou who looked with hatred at the black-haired teen.

Soon others began to test out this new name, the mix of beta tester and cheater. As the universal hatred began to overcame most of the raid party, the teen let out a quiet laugh.

"Beater…that has a good ring to it." he looked around and said with a clear voice. "Exactly, I am a Beater. From now on, please do not lump me together with those former testers."

Natsu watched in silence with the others as he equipped a long, black leather coat and with a flourish turned around and began to leave.

"I'll go on and activate the second floor's transfer gate. From the exit up there it will be a short walk to the district town."

As the swordsman walked away, Natsu suddenly felt as if his picture of him began to clear. This player placed on himself a target so large, that everyone will focus on him, instead of other testers. By naming himself as a beater, Buzz and other testers would face a lot less discrimination for their status. Natsu didn't think he could ever do something so brave, so selfless. He sent a silent thank you towards him.

Their group slowly eased their tense bodies. Buzz let out a silent sigh of relief and Wedge let out a light chuckle. Agil and Biggs walked closer to them, the brothers slowly began talking with each other. The ax user was deep in thought but still, he gave Natsu a small smile and said with a voice full of relief.

"It's finally over. We won."

-0-

As the group walked away no one was aware that Diabel was eying them, with a strange light in his eyes.

"I found you,' he murmured, a creepy smile on his face as he stared intently at Natsu."Let's play a game, Little Vongola."

-0-

"You're leaving?"

Natsu blinked in shock looking at the pair before him.

After the battle, their group walked up to the second floor a little after the black swordsman, Kirito, Natsu learned his name from Agil, left. They went to the city and were met with all the curious players who teleported there after the gate was activated. They soon booked rooms in the inn not far from the gate and went to sleep.

Refreshed and with high spirits, the,y sat down to eat the next morning, only for Wedge to tell them that he was leaving with Biggs.

They sat around a table, with the pair in question sitting in front of Natsu. Biggs had his usual, stoic face on, while Wedge scratched his head with a sheepish smile on his face.

"Yeah." he said at last „You guys are cool, but me and my bro are used to working with just the two of us. And you are also a close bunch, so we thought it's time we go our way." At the worried look Natsu still wore, he was sure to add this. „Of course, come the next boss fight, we will be happily standing at your side. But till then we will walk our own path."

They remained silent for a little while before Ken let out a light chuckle. When everyone looked at him, he gave a wide smile.

"No worries. You do your thing and when we team up again, Team Natsu will be undefeatable with the illustrious duo of Biggs and Wedge."

Everyone let out smiles at that, ignoring the indignant squeak of Natsu who still didn't like the team name before Agil spoke up.

"Well, Ken said what was needed to be said. Stay safe, both of you."

The brothers nodded at this before after a short goodbye they stood up to leave. For the last time, Wedge ruffled Natsu's hair.

"See you later, little boss," he said before he began to leave with Biggs.

Biggs, who up until now was silent spoke up with a surprisingly soft voice.

"It was a pleasure," he said with a small smile on his face.

Before they could leave, Buzz spoke up.

"If you in trouble, you can where you can reach us," he said, to the outside observer without a care in the world.

The duo gave a nod back in answer, then they left. Natsu looked after them for a little while, deep in thought. He was a little surprised when he felt Agil's hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, they will be fine," he said with a smile, and after a nod from the boy, he continued. „We should get going too. No sense in letting such a fine day waste away."

With that Team, Natsu also left the inn and began their trek to the fields next to the town. As they walked and joked with each other, Natsu briefly eyed the sky or rather the ceiling of the floor.

'One down, ninety-nine to go. There's still hope. We will get out.'