-Town of Beginnings-

The morning was quiet. Players talked in whispers about what they thought happened at the hostel. Even though Kirito was right there and had a first hand experience, he was still as clueless as everyone else. Klein was pretty casual about the whole thing, believing it to be caused by whoever trapped us in this game. Kirito mostly agreed with him, but the reason as to why they would do something like this baffles him.

Love also finally got around to giving The Black Swordsman his reward for beating him in their duel. The gear he gave Kirito was decent quality and raised everyone's stats by a good amount. Some of them even retained their old look from the original SAO. Agil and Klein received armor that was nearly identical to what they used to wear. After they spent a few minutes oogling over their new equipment, they hurried to bed, however no one really slept that night.

They begrudgingly awoke earlier than usual and went to a popular restaurant for breakfast. Players and NPC's alike filled the tables, the sound of clanking silverware and hushed mummers filled the air. The atmosphere was fairly tense, probably due to the events that transpired last night. At this point, everyone in town knew the general idea of what had happened, but the motive as top why it occurred, and who was behind it was still a mystery.

Asuna and Kirito arrived were late top the restaurant. Thankfully Agil had already ordered for the couple, meaning the food was already there when they arrived. Also upon arrival, they saw a far-more tipsy than usual Klein, who stood next to the table, a quirky smile on his face.

"Uh... Hey, guys." Kirito said as he and Asuna approached.

Klein spun around and gasped. "Kirito! Buddy!" He slapped his friends shoulder.

Kirito winced and looked over to the four others sitting at the table. Love was gone, which is probably why it was so quiet. "Who gave Klein the Bacchus Juice?"

Lisbeth raised her head from her arms, a frustrated expression on her face. "He's been like this for the last ten minutes. What kind of person drinks at seven in the morning?"

Suddenly, the door to the bathroom swung open, and Love hobbled out. "We dooooooo!" He howled. Thankfully, none of the other restaurant patrons seemed to take notice of the obnoxious madman. Kirito noticed a logo next to Love's health bar. It was the logo for a debuff called 'Intoxication'. Oh boy. This is gonna be interesting. The timer next to the debuff indicated that he would only be afflicted for the next minute and a half. That only led Kirito to believe that Love and Klein had been intoxicated for quite sometime before he and Asuna showed up.

"LOVE!" Klein exclaimed. "My favorite person in the..." BURP "...whole world!"

Love began cackling uncontrollably as he approached Kirito, getting very close to his face. "Kirito..."

"Uh..." The Swordsman shifted uncomfortably away from him and looked over to his other friends for some kind of way out of this situation.

"They're insufferable, aren't they?" Sinon sighed.

"I'll say." Asuna took her seat next to Silica and watched as Love chuckled and wheezed as he placed a hand on Kirito's shoulder.

"Kazshuto. Listen to me." His voice slurred and a scent of rye mixed with barley filled the air around him.

Kirito gulped. "Alright."

"Are you listening?"

"Mhm..."

"Are you shure?"

"I said yes."

Love began to chuckle again. "I love you man."

Kirito staggered back in shock. He knew it was just the Bacchus Juice talking, but the teen's words still caught him off guard. "W-What? Just yesterday you were talking about how much you hated me."

"No, no, no. Listen to me-"

"I've been listening this whole time!" Kirito yelled. This whole situation was getting out of control. Klein's debuff vanished, rendering him sober at last. The redhead held a hand to his head and moaned in pain.

"Kazuto." Love continued, "I think you and I should be best friends... Alright?" The drunken teen hugged his rivals arm and rubbed his face against his shoulder. "Let's grow old together, 'kay?"

Asuna quickly rose to her feet and pried the madman off of her boyfriends side. "Hands off, creep." She said with a scowl. "Aren't you a little young to be drinking?" Asuna pulled Kirito over to the table and motioned for him to sit. Love's debuff vanished, and the blissful smile on his face followed suit, leaving a cold, dead frown on his lips.

"Oh god." He gagged. "I... I don't feel so good."

Kirito pulled a chair in and draped his coat over its back. "Alright." He immediately demanded everyone's attention. "Let's get down to business. We need to decide exactly what we want to do from here on out."

"In what context?" Sinon asked as she tried to wring out the rain that soaked her hair. The thunder storm from last night never subsided, but luckily the sound of thunder was mostly drowned out by the ambiance of the restaurant.

Kirito continued, "This game isn't gonna clear itself, and right now all the players have no drive to move on. They're demoralized. We need to start thinking about forming a bigger party to take on the first floor boss. Maybe once we do that, we can breath confidence back into the player base and refocus them on clearing floors. We also need to address what happened last night at the hostel."

"Yeah." Klein nodded. "Didn't you guys say that there was a clone of me attacking you guys in your room last night?"

"Mhm." Kirito shuddered as he remembered his ominous encounter with the stranger. "Their eyes were green, and they talked mechanically - like those text to speech programs online."

"The stranger was talking about how he 'scanned' Kirito and Love." Sinon placed an inquiring finger on her chin as she thought. "Klein, do you remember anyone doing anything like that to you? Maybe that's how they make clones of people - by scanning their bodily features."

"Who's they?" Lisbeth asked with a frustrated shrug.

To the question, everyone fell silent. It dawned on them how clueless they really were. Was it a good idea to start theorizing about stuff that they had absolutely no knowledge on? Would that perhaps give them a false notion of the conception of truth? Kirito remembered Jesse, the man who they had encountered on the beach near Shumir Bay. Right before he was about to tell Kirito why he and the rest of the players were trapped in the game, he mysteriously died seemingly out of nowhere. Ever since that happened, it was clear to Kirito that their entrapment was intentional, and there was a darker meaning behind it. Even still, he was unsure whether or not to bring this topic up to his friends. After all - not even he was sure as to what he saw.

"Um..." Klein peeked around at everyone, trying to get a feel for when a good time to chime back in would be. "To answer you question, Sinon. No, I don't remember anyone 'scanning' me. Though I have been exploring town and doing quests on my own sometimes. I think I would have remembered if someone did something like that to me."

Sinon shook her head as she nervously bit her lips. "Okay..."

"We need to stick together." Kirito said suddenly, voice loud with anger yet also determination. "I'll be dammed if I let any of you get hurt like I did last night." The swordsman pointed at Love, who's shoulder was still bandaged from the stab wound he had sustained in last nights attack. "We stay together, and we watch each others backs. The only time any of us should be alone is when we're in a safe zone like the one we are in now. This game is clearly out to get us, so we need to take precautions so we can minimalize damage as much as possible."

"Agreed." Lisbeth nodded, a small smile on her face.

"I second that. I feel like you all are the only people I can really trust." Sinon concurred.

"Me too." Silica said softly.

Asuna gave her boyfriend an approving grin and clasped both of her hands together formally. "Speaking of the game being different. Agil, you told us that the dungeon was altered in this version of the game, right?"

"Love." Agil spun his fork between his fingers and propped his chin up on his hand. "You were the one who told me. Care to explain?"

Love climbed onto his chair and held a hand over his head, no doubt to counteract the headache he was most likely experiencing. He glanced at everyone as they stared at him intently. They were all expecting a good answer. "Does anyone know any methods to get rid of a hangover?" He asked with a pained wince.

Everyone let out a collective groan.

"Lemon juice, then eat something spicy." Klein explained with a thumbs up.

"Love, take this seriously." Lisbeth pleaded.

Love bit his lower lip and shrugged. "Fine... Uh... The mobs are different, and the layout was all wrong. I didn't really spend much time on this floor during the original SAO, but I know for a fact it looked different than it does here."

"Well what does it look like?" Kirito asked.

"It's like... Randomized or something..." He shrugged.

"Wow..." Lisbeth nodded sarcastically. "So descriptive. You'd make a great salesman."

Love took a bite of his food and growled. "Well sorry! I can't just conjure up some perfect answer. I don't know if you've been able to tell, but I'm not exactly great with people, therefore it's safe to assume that I'm not too great when it comes to explaining things."

His anger seemed forced. Kirito knew he wasn't being genuine. His hangover was probably holding him back. "Love, can we please just get on with it. We've been in SAO for days now and still haven't made any progress on figuring why we're here, or how to escape. You're the only one, to our knowledge, that has even stepped foot in the dungeon. So please, oblige us..."

Love lowered himself back into his chair and gave everyone at the table a unsure look. "Well... in this version of the game, the dungeon is just a massive system of cave labyrinths that eventually lead to the boss room. It looked like it could've been pulled right from the real world. It seemed like it was a procedural generation."

"So what does that have to do with what's inside the dungeon?" Kirito asked, poking at the eggs on his plate. He preferred over-easy, and these were a little too overcooked for his liking. Nevertheless, he was hungry, so the teen would most definitely eat them regardless.

Love gave an exaggerated shrug. "You're guess is as good as mine. The mobs were just as easy to kill as they were during the original SAO but I didn't enter the boss room. Every section of the dungeon leading up to the boss was wide open and large, so it'll be easy for large groups or guilds to combat whatever's inside."

"Well if the whole dungeon is different, I imagine the boss has changed as well." Asuna inquired, to which everyone silently agreed. "Maybe the game isn't actually harder, but rather more random."

"Why, though?" Lisbeth squinted and she scratched at the wooden table impatiently. "Can we all agree that whoever sent us that letter asking us to test that 'new software' a few months back is probably who's behind this whole ordeal?"

"David Herara?" Agil confirmed.

"Yeah."

Kirito nodded, his lips pursed. "You're probably right. I never saw the guy once during my entire time at the facility. I guess he wants to keep his identity a secret. I bet 'David Herara' isn't even his real name. He's got to be the one who's doing all of this." Once the swordsman said this, everyone fell silent. He didn't blame them, there was too many unanswered questions in which they could only theorize about. One thing held consistent, however - the fact that they would most likely learn more as they progressed throughout the game.

Kirito leaned forward in his chair and placed both arms on the table. "Alright, listen up."

Everyone perked up, seemingly happy that Kirito had broken the monotony of the silence. Maybe they just need someone to lead them right now. Swordsman did his best to mask his uncertainty with a confident voice, "We should go there."

His words seemed to generate a collective gasp among everyone at the table. "Whoa whoa whoa, hold on a second Kirito." Klein urged. "Half of us aren't even level seven yet, if we go now then something bad is sure to happen to one of us."

"I know that, Klein. Not all of us will go. Anyone who's level seven and up should create a small party and go to the dungeon so we can collect all the information we can get."

"What the hell?" Love squinted. "You really want to put everyone at risk just for information? Why not just take your time and level up more before making such a wild decision?"

Kirito sighed, knowing full well that Love was correct. He just wanted to make some progress on this damn game. To Kirito, it felt like he and his friends were just sitting around waiting for someone else to do it.

He shook his head in frustration and sighed. "Well..." his brain ran at a thousand miles a second, trying desperately to think of reason to get his friends on board with his idea of venturing to the dungeon.

"Leave your emotions out of this, Kirito." Agil said firmly. "I know what you're trying to do. You want answers, I get it. But we need to think about everyones safety. It would be very precocious if we were to commit to such a dangerous plan before we're even ready."

"Plus," Love added, "There's a guild preparing to make a run of the dungeon right now. I think they call themselves the Warriors of the... Blood Dragon?"

"Knights of the Blood Oath." Asuna corrected.

"Yeah, that one." Love nodded, "They're powerful. They have a new leader that goes by the name of 'Harrison'."

"How do you know this?" Agil inquired.

"They tried getting me to join."

Kirito did a double-take between Love and Asuna. "And you said no?"

"Do I seem like the kind of guy that wants to be in a guild?"

The Swordsman shrugged. "Fair point... But maybe we should ask if the Knights of the Blood Oath need any extra players to help fight the boss. If it really is different from the original SAO, then we should have as many able bodies as possible to ensure our victory."

"Only half of us are 'able bodies'." Lisbeth quoted with his fingers. "Me, you, and Asuna, are the only ones at level seven, and that's just barely scratching the bench mark to be considered strong enough to fight the boss. we'd be risking everything just so we can maybe do a minuscule amount of damage to the boss. Is that worth it to you?"

Kirito dipped his head and twiddled his fingers nervously. "...No."

"Then wait." Lisbeth urged, her face softening to a plead as she leaned forward in her chair, hands together on the table. "Trust me, I hate being in this game just as much as anyone else here, but rushing ahead and making decisions based on emotions will only serve to get one of us hurt. We don't know what's in the dungeon anymore, so best we prepare more before even thinking about going near it. Let's let the Knights of the Blood Oath handle it for now, and it they say they need backup and we are able to at our level, then we'll help."

Kirito gently gritted his teeth and sighed. "Fine... But only for a few days. If the Knights of the Blood Oath don't clear the floor, we'll have to do something about it ourselves."

"If that's the case, we'll need to be at least level ten." Lisbeth nodded.

"Well..." Agil clasped his hands and propped his elbows up on the table. "As much as I want to go out and level up, this storm would kick our butts. We're a higher level right now than most players, so maybe we should take a day off and let this storm blow through. After that, we can refocus on leveling up."

Kirito bit his lip. He really did not want to take a day off, especially now that they have a solid team. "...Alright. We can take the day off." He said whilst holing back his impatient compulsions.

Love began to laugh hysterically as he stood up. "Day off? You guys can, I got things to do."

"Like what?" Sinon asked with an unconvinced scowl.

"I dunno. Probably something more interesting than sitting around in some dusty old restaurant all day."

"Hmm..." Asuna smiled, the deviation well apparent on her face. "It's storming pretty hard out, Love. Are you sure you wanna go out in this weather?"

"A little rain never hurt anyone." The teen equipped his spear and made for the door, neglecting to provide a farewell. The door to the restaurant closed behind him, but not before Kirito could catch a glimpse of the monsoon-like weather raging outside.

"Well..." The Swordsman sighed. He hated not being able to do anything, especially when it came to something like this. He didn't want to wait for someone else to clear the game, he wanted to clear it himself just to be sure the job would get done quickly and efficiently. It's not that he have no trust in others, he just didn't want to be sitting around while someone else saves the day. "What do you guys think we should do?"

Klein was the first to speak up, "I say we wait. Sometimes it's not always a bad thing to allow someone else to take the reins for a while, Kirito. I know you wanna help clear the floor, and every floor for that matter. However right now, it would be best if we were to take the next few days to see how the guilds are doing in terms of progress."

"Yeah." Agil agreed heartily. "If they aren't finding any success, we'll step in. There's no shame in this, Kirito."

Kirito wanted to tell them that they were wrong, and that they shouldn't be content with playing the damsel, but the girl to his right, Asuna, was enough reason to make him put on a fake smile of contentment. "Alright."

"That's the spirit!" Klein patted his friends shoulder. "And hey! We can still get stuff done today. I'll go to the shop and see if I can find all of your old armor."

"You won't be able to." Lisbeth said abruptly. "Our armor was high level. There's no way it'll be on this floor."

"I can find something similar. A lot of the armor in this game are just re-skins of other models. I can find the same models that everyone used to wear, but the stats will be lower since they aren't the same level. It's kind of like how old MMORPG's re-skinned certain weapons and armors and gave them different attributes, you know?" Klein explained.

"So you can find my gear set?" Silica beamed.

"Probably." Klein a placed a finger to his chin. "The only stuff I won't be able to find is Asuna's since it was custom made for her guild."

"No worries." Asuna shrugged. "I'll find something else later."

"Alrighty then... It should only cost me a few hundred cor... If anything happens, message me." He exited, leaving only six of the friends left at the table.

"Yeah..." Agil slid his chair out from under him and stretched his shoulders. "Even though I'd hate to get my cloths drenched with rain, I still have some junk in my inventory that I might as well sell."

"Still?" Sinon quipped.

"Yeah." Agil said defensively.

Kirito chuckled. "Your inventory management is awful, Agil."

The tall man just hummed in embarrassment and headed for the front doors. "Yeah, whatever..." He grumbled.

"ARG!" Lisbeth groaned suddenly, causing everyone to flinch in shock. She shot to her feet. "I'm going with him. I have like, no free inventory slots, either."

Kirito smirked, ready to say something witty, but the pink haired girl flicked the side of his head before he could even speak. "OW! What the hell, Lisbeth. I didn't even say anything!"

"Yeah but you were about to. I know that look." She said as she left the restaurant.

The Black Swordsman let out a pout and crossed his arms, to which Asuna chuckled and hugged his side. "She knows you well, Kirito."

"I know." Her boyfriend grumbled in defeat.

Sinon hummed idly as she sifted through her user interface. "I have eight hundred cor." She said nonchalantly.

Kirito nearly choked on his tea as he sipped it slowly, trying not to get burned by the piping drink. His absent mind had almost forgotten that the party of friends had pooled all of their cor to Sinon since it would be easier for one person to have it instead of requiring everyone to do a eight step addition problem whenever they wanted to know their grand total. "Oh... I suppose that's not terrible."

"Right. But it's not good either." Sinon replied.

"Will it be enough to get us through the night?" Silica poked at her food with her fork, her chin resting on her free hand.

"Yeah." Kirito smiled reassuringly. "We can get rooms for everyone, but they won't be lavish."

Silica yawned in response, her eyes looking a bit heavy from exhaustion. She probably didn't sleep well last night either. "I miss having my own room, even if it was a dingy hotel."

"Hmph." Asuna let out a breathy giggle and patted the girls head. "For now we'll just have to make dew. One day, when we get out of this game, what do you say we all go on a big vacation, just you, me, Kirito, Agil, Sinon, Klein and Lisbeth?"

Even though the question wasn't directed at him, Kirito still couldn't help but cock his head in confusion. Why was Asuna filling Silica's head with promises such as this. Given, it wasn't an actual promise, but she still implied it nonetheless. Right now, the only thing that they should be focused on is clearing the game. There was no time to talk about the real world. The only thing that mattered was what was going on right here, right now. Regardless of his feelings, Kirito chose to keep his mouth shut. Asuna's words seemed to make Silica and even Sinon smile. The Swordsman supposed for now they should find a place to stay until this storm blows over... whenever it decides to do that.

-Agil and Lisbeth-

-Town square-

Lisbeth let out a sigh of frustration as she sat slumped against a market stand that specialized in selling fruits and vegetables. The storm devolved into a light drizzle, so players and NPC's alike were now roaming the streets in light numbers. Something about a high density of people always gave her the gitters. Maybe it was their lack of hygiene, or the fact that some of them smelled so wretchedly. Regardless, Lisbeth stood by and watched Agil inspect an apple. "Agil." The girl finally groaned after what felt like forever. "You've been staring at the same damn fruit for the past three minutes. Can we get a move on?"

Agil dismissively glanced over to me and blinked. "Gotta make sure it's good enough to eat."

"Ugh! What do you mean? We have plenty of food."

"I know that, Lis. But if we really are gonna be fighting the first floor boss, I wanna have a good stockpile." Agil placed the apple down with a disapproving huff. "Not good enough."

The pink haired girl exhaled in relief. "Finally. Can we go now. I was thinking we could-"

"Oh!" Agil cut her off mid sentence and quickly picked up another fruit. "This one looks amazing!"

Lisbeth stared at her friend in disbelief. "U-Uh... Are you serious?"

"Hm? Oh.. Sorry, just a few more minutes."

With a puff and a roll of her eyes, Lisbeth turned away from her friend and began aimlessly wandering the towns square, being sure to avoid as much social interaction as possible. The bad weather made her tired. Sleeping in the rain always felt amazing, however here she was, trudging around a half empty marketplace with nothing else better to do than to window shop at things she didn't even want or need.

Every store that Lisbeth found was fairly dull and boring - nothing caught her attention. She eventually wandered out of the square and down a well lit street. Surely she could stray a block or two and still be back in time before Agil noticed. In her trans, Lisbeth heard a small commotion occurring in one of the alleyways along her path. She turned and saw three children. One of them was a young boy, probably around thirteen. He was cowering in fear in front of two other boys, both of whom looked far older and larger. One of them had a funny jagged tooth that hung from his top lip, while the other was fairly over weight, and wore ragged clothing.

"P-Please." The boy on the ground pleaded. "Just tell me how to get out of this game."

Lisbeth face scrunched up as she watched the scene unfold. He was a player? Why else would he be talking about escaping the game?

The jagged toothed bully cackled. "There he goes again talking about some 'game'. We don't know what you're talking about, freak."

The boy on the ground continued, "Please... I know you're just NPC's... But surely there's some kind of information you have about the game... Maybe something that'll help me escape."

So the two bullies were NPC's? Lisbeth didn't know AI had the intelligence to actively harass people. Sometimes she thinks this game is too detailed for its own good. Even still, the NPC's in this game weren't aware that they were in a game - they weren't sentient. This boy would get nowhere by asking them questions.

"W-Why?" The player asked with a wince. Apparently, the bullies had been attacking him judging by the bruises on his face. "At least tell me why we're trapped here."

The two teenagers looked at each other and shrugged. "You ain't trapped no where." The overweight one said sternly. "We'll let you leave for... let's say... thirty col."

The players face lit up in joy. "R-Really? That's all? You'll let me out of the game?"

"Of course." The two said in sync.

"A-Alright." The player reached into his pocket and pulled out the agreed upon amount of cor and dropped it into his bullies hands. "T-There. Now L-L-Let me out." He stuttered.

Lisbeth noticed that the victim had been actually stuttering alot. Perhaps he gets very flustered in these types of situations.

The bullies inspected the coins and chuckled. "Thanks, freak. You can go now." The toothy bully cackled as he and his friend ran off deeper into the alley and rounded a corner onto another street.

The player sat there in disbelief. Did he actually think they meant that he could leave Aincrad?

"Hey." Lisbeth said softly. She didn't really care for people as much as she knew she should have, but this kid seemed so... frail. It was as if his very aura pleaded for help. Nevertheless, she put on a caring tone and gave him a worried look. "Are you okay?"

The boy nodded and placed both hands on his head as he leaned his back against the brick wall of the building lining the alleyway. "I'm fine."

Lisbeth took another step closer, an eyebrow raised. "You're so young. Did your parents really let you come to that testing facility in Tokyo by yourself?"

He shook his head and took a deep breath. "M-My parents." He cried softly into his arms.

"Ah jeez..." Lisbeth sighed and plopped down a few feet away from him. The two of them just sat there as she listened to him sob and wheeze. The young girl didn't really care to hear his reasoning, however she knew that if she was going through an emotion crisis, she'd want someone next to her, too, even if it was just to listen.

Before the original SAO was cleared, Lisbeth always did her best to be as friendly as possible towards everyone she met, however once the game was over the dust settled, everything just seemed kind of... pointless. That's not to say that she found no more enjoyment in anything, though. She still loved to do all the things she used to in the real world, however after fighting for her life for so long and adapting to a lifestyle where everyday was a risk, the real world seemed like a walk in the park littered with meaningless obstacles and redundant roadblocks. It was simple. Almost boring. She went from fighting dragons and discovering new lands to being bed ridden in her room in the real world and staring at her ceiling most days while her body recovered from not being active for two years.

"What's your name?" The girl asked quietly. The rain began to intensify, however it came down at such an angle that it wasn't entering through the narrow alleyway thanks to an overhanging roof.

"My real n-n-name's Arakan."

Lisbeth let out a chuckle. "Arakan." She echoed. "That's a cool name."

Arakan glanced over at her before returning his gaze back to concrete beneath him. "Thanks. What's your name?"

Lisbeth lowered her eyebrows and bit her lip. She wasn't sure whether or not to tell him her in-game name or real name. Which one mattered more now a days? "My name's Rika." The girl finally answered.

The boy smiled slightly. "Is that your real name?"

"Yeah."

"So... Y-Y-You think we'll get out of here some day, then?"

Lisbeth cocked her head to the side in curiosity. "What? I never said that specifically."

"Right, but you told my your real name instead of your in-game name." The boy wiped his cheek, his smile growing larger. "Doesn't that mean you're still holding out some hope?"

Her gut told her to put on a fake smile and say 'yes', but her mouth just wouldn't move. Instead, Lisbeth just sat there with a bewildered look plastered across her face. She knew that this boy just needed some encouragement to get him through the day, but for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to form any words, especially ones that would string together a lie. "I um... I don't think s-"

"Lisbeth!" A familiar voice called.

The pink haired girl turned and saw Agil jogging over to her, a straw basket full of fruit in his hands. "Agil!" She said firmly. "Took you long enough."

"W-What?" The tall man caught his breath. "You ran off. I was done like, five minutes ago."

"Well then good! We can go meet the others at the inn." Lisbeth rose to her feet and brushed herself off. Before she could exit the alleyway and back onto the street, she peaked over her shoulder and made eye contact with Arakan. She mouthed the words 'Come on' and motioned for him to follow. His face lit up and he jogged to the girls side.

"Oh. Hey little buddy." Agil said to Arakan.

"H-H-Hi." The boy said nervously.

"Agil, this is Arakan. He's a player." Lisbeth introduced.

Agil snapped his gaze over to his, then over to the child on her right. "He's a player?"

"Yeah." Lisbeth confirmed, patting Arakan on the shoulder.

Agil continued, "Buddy, did your parents let you come here all by yourself."

Lisbeth tried to cut her friend off from mentioning the boys parents, as when she did it, it generated an emotion response. However this time, Arakan nodded slowly and began to speak, "My mom got an E-Mail from s-s-some guy who was in charge of this whole testing thing. They sent messages back and forth, and my mom seemed to think he was p-p-pretty trustworthy and thought his idea of using VR as a tool was clever... S-S-She was never too bright."

"I see... Well, are you all alone here?" Agil asked.

Arakan shook his head. "My friend is around here somewhere. He and I just met a few days ago. I told him I'd meet him here after I got done turning in a quest. But on my way back, I got jumped by those two NPC's."

"W-What?" Agil squinted. "NPC's attacked you unprovoked?"

"Mhm. I didn't know they were able to do that."

"Neither did I." Lisbeth agreed. "But hey... if you want. we'll wait with you until your friend finds you, alright?"

Arakan held his head low and nodded. "Okay."

The three of them found a dry bench outside of a brothel. It certainly wasn't an ideal place to be, the patrons of said business looked... shady to say the least. Agil, Araken and Lisbeth talked and laughed about random nonsense for the next fifteen minutes. Sure, it was raining and they were certainly getting drenched, but they didn't care. Hell, for a few minutes there they totally forgot they were in a game. They could've just as well been back home talking with some school mates. After a while, Arakan's friend showed up, and the two rejoined each others party. His friend seemed nice from what Lisbeth could tell. Arakan was just happy to be with a familiar face again. He quickly sent Agil and Lisbeth a friend request and went on his way.

Though the two friends left the towns square with nothing more than a basket full of low-tier fruit, Lisbeth still felt satisfied. After all that has happened in the past few years since the original SAO was cleared, it felt good to be that caring, loving person she always was. Now that she was thinking about it, Lisbeth hoped she didn't push anyone in her real life away from her ever since she got out of Aincrad for the first time. There was no doubt that she was definitely a different person. After all, the girl was two years older and had just been through hell. Most of her friends from school had moved on and forgotten about her, but at least she had her... parents.

Her parents.

As Agil and Lisbeth walked, the girl felt a void growing in her chest. Her mom and dad were so excited when she woke up from that game. They kept asking her if she wanted to go on some sort of vacation or spend time together. They were so enthusiastic. But... Lisbeth never said yes... She never gave them the time of day. She was so caught up on reminiscing about what she had lost over the last two years to even realize that they just wanted their daughter back.

Lisbeth held a hand up to her heart as she bit her lip.

She remembers the excitement of her awakening only lasted a few weeks. After that, her parents realized that she was... different. Their daughter was quieter, more reserved - nothing like the bubbly, outgoing girl she was when she logged into Aincrad on that faithful day. After about a month, they stopped asking if she wanted to spend time with them... They knew her answer would always be, 'I'm tired', or 'Sorry, I'm busy'. After a while, they started asking me if she instead needed to talk to a professional - a therapist. This, of course, made Lisbeth even more distant towards them. She didn't realize until now that they just wanted what was best for their daughter, and she turned them away every chance she got.

Lisbeth's eyes began to well up and she let out a quiet sob.

Agil noticed and looked over at her, stopping in his tracks. "Whoa... Lisbeth, are you alright?"

Instead of sobbing even louder, or running away, or even hugging her friend, Lisbeth let out a chuckle. The confusion in her heart was enough for her mind to subconsciously tell her that she was having a unique meltdown. Though She let out laugh after hysterical laugh, her pain still lingered in her heart. This feeling was hatred - hatred that she neglected the people who cared about her most when all they wanted was what was best for her. It was hatred towards herself. She wiped away her tears as they mixed with the rain on her cheeks.

"Agil..." She sobbed, her hysteria finally fading along with the laughter. "Why am I so naive? Why do I have to get hung up on stupid things?"

Agil grabbed his friends sleeve and pulled her under a overhanging roof that connected to the a theater. Through the doors Lisbeth could hear the faint sound of slow, calming music. "Lisbeth. Where's all this coming from?"

The young girl slumped her shoulders and scratched her head gently with both hands. "I... I don't know. Something about that kid just reminded me of..."

"Yourself?" Agil finished.

Lisbeth looked up with tearful eyes. "Yeah... He was scared, desperate, kind of like how I was before I met my first guild."

Agil let out an entertained hum and continued, "Lisbeth, you and I aren't especially close to one another since we don't talk too often, but the way you just took that boy under your wing and did everything you could just to help him out... That was awesome. You might think that you're scared and desperate, and you're probably right to think that way."

Lisbeth puffed out her cheeks and crossed her arms. She knew he was just restating what she had already said, but hearing those words come out of his mouth embarrassed her. Before she could come back with a dismissive remark, he kept going.

"But... I think that may be why you're so relate able. I'm sure your time after SAO was difficult, and you probably don't even like to think about it. I mean, getting out of Aincrad was something that we all wanted, but once we achieved that goal, we all just felt... empty."

"Y-You felt the same way?" Lisbeth asked, wiping her eyes one last time.

Agil nodded. "Of course... But... No matter what happens in life or even in the virtual world, we as people should always find a reason to fight for our goals, you know?"

Images of her parents flashed in Lisbeth's head. A fire sparked beneath her gut, and she felt determination well up inside of her. The girls jaw stiffened and she pursed her lips angrily. "Right." she said affirmatively.

The tall man in front of her smiled and patted her head, causing some of the water lodged inside her hair to drip down the back of her neck. Lisbeth tensed up from the cold sensation and tried desperately to wipe it away.

"Heh. Sorry." Agil chuckled.

Lisbeth growled, trying to sound as angry as possible, however she knew it probably wasn't very intimidating, especially to a guy like Agil.

The two eventually braved the subsiding storm once again, jogging their way to Kirito's maker on the map. Hopefully he found a nice place to stay.

-9 PM, Starting Town-

-Kirito and Asuna-

The night was quiet and still, however that didn't stop the hustle and bustle of town to roar through the inn walls where Kirito and Asuna sat, glaring at the fireplace in the lounge as the couple spoke about sweet and pointless nothings. Their friends had begun returning one by one as the night continued. Klein was the first to arrive, though he turned in immediately for sleep after buying a room with the col he earned from spending the afternoon at the market.

Agil and Lisbeth returned about fifteen minutes later with inventories filled with fruits and vegetables, to which Agil gloated about how great of a price he was able to purchase them at. Lisbeth on the other hand seemed totally exhausted and just like Klein, went straight to bed after exchanging a brief 'goodnight' with her friends.

Silica was last to return, however she was also the last to leave the inn this afternoon. She had earned an extra one hundred col by doing fetch quests all afternoon that didn't require her to battle any enemies or venture into any caves. All that walking made her tired, so she joined Lisbeth in her room and settled in for the night.

"Then there were two." Kirito leaned back in the couch and wrapped an arm around Asuna.

His girlfriend squinted at the fire as it crackled and sparked against the red brick mantle. "I feel very counterproductive. All our friends were out today doing things to benefit the party while we just sat here and did nothing.

Kirito knew that Asuna was right, however in his mind, being lazy was worthwhile if it meant he got to spend time with her. "Yeah, but... You and I haven't really had a chance to talk to one another since we got trapped in this game again. We've been so busy trying to establish ourselves that we have had no time to ourselves."

Asuna shrugged and leaned her head on her boyfriends shoulder. "I suppose it was a refreshing day. Still, I feel guilty though."

The Swordsman let out a chuckle and rose to his feet and extended a hand to Asuna. "Come on." He said with a smirk.

Asuna cocked her head in confusion, but took his hand nonetheless. "Uh... What're we doing?"

"Something productive." Kirito teased and led her towards the front door.

The night life in town was bright and vibrant which was a stark contrast to the general mood of the player base currently. Even still, players and NPC's alike seemed to be having a good time as they took part in festivities, shopping, and even some street games.

Kirito wasn't exactly sure what he intended to do with Asuna out here, but she was right - the two had been lazy all day. It was time for a change of pace.

"Maybe we can find a few easy quests. A little extra col would be nice!" Asuna nearly yelled to combat the droning noise of music flooding through the street.

"Maybe!" Kirito agreed. He scanned his eyes over the large crowd of people before he eventually landed on a small group of people sitting around the mouth of an alley way separated from all the buzz happening just a block away. "Let's go see what they're doing!" Kirito pointed.

"What? No way!" The girl protested. "I don't wanna talk to a bunch of creepy people standing around an alley!"

"Oh come on. We're in a safe zone and they're probably just NPC's. Maybe they'll have an easy quest we can do."

The couple approached the admittedly shady looking individuals. Kirito gave a small wave once the strangers glanced up at him. "Hey. Are you guys players?"

One of the younger looking men nodded and tugged at his shirt collar as if he was uncomfortable. "Yeah we are."

"What are you all doing sitting over here?" Asuna pried.

"Well..." Another one of the strangers said, this time an older looking, rougher man grumbled. "We've only been trapped in this game for a few days and already there's rumors of a legendary player."

Kirito cocked his head in intrigue. "Legendary player?"

"Yeah." The same man shrugged. "Apparently he goes by the name of Desmond."

Asuna placed a hand on her hip. "What makes him so legendary?"

"Depends on who you ask. Desmond is the leader of a small guild called the 'Afterlifers'. Apparently he has such a vast knowledge of the game itself that some people are questioning whether or not he somehow has access to the games files."

"So?" Kirito squinted. "Just because he's good at the game doesn't make him legendary."

"I agree." The old man said. "But... There's more. Desmond has predicted things about the game that didn't even exist in the original SAO like certain items, and areas of the map that weren't there before."

Asuna's eyes widened. "Wait, what?"

"Yeah. He knows about things that weren't even in the version of the game that we were trapped in before. Weird right?"

Kirito tapped a finger on his chin and shrugged. "Maybe. After Kayaba released us from the first game, many other versions of the game popped up, allowing coders and game developers to alter the preexisting files. Maybe this 'Desmond' guy just recognizes this version of the game and is using his knowledge of it to gain followers for his guild."

The old man nodded. "I suppose. But I'm still curious."

Kirito sighed. "Yeah I get that."

To the swordsman right, he heard Asuna let out a yawn. Wasn't she the one that wanted to go out and find something to do? Jeez. He thought with a smile. The two exchanged farewells with the group of strangers before taking their leave. As Kirito and his girlfriend made their way back to the inn where their friends were, the boy turned to the group of strangers one last time out of intrigue. Coming down the alleyway in which the group sat walked a shadowy figure wearing a long coat and baggy pants. His whole body was darkened, so Kirito didn't get a chance to see.

The swordsman figured that the figure was Desmond coming to greet those who bought into the silly idea that he had unlimited knowledge of the game. That whole situation was probably just a scam made up by Desmond in order to get more people to join his guild. After all, guilds were very profitable, especially once the leader manages to get many people into it. Surely that's all there was to that Desmond guy... Right?

Kirito didn't dwell on it, instead he looked forward to a peaceful night with his girlfriend.

-Town of Beginnings Outskirts-

The nighttime breeze was gentle, the skies were clear, and Mother Nature quieted to a hush as two figures stood at the edge of a steep incline overlooking the starting town. One of them sported a red headband and dark armor laced with crimson cloth. His eyes were a bright, wicked green and seemed to glow against the dark. The other wore a white jacket and dark pants. He too had identical eyes as the person next to him.

"Subject Eight." The man wearing the crimson laced armor demanded.

The other man - Subject Eight - turned his attention to the beckoning figure. "What?"

"I've been advised to transmit the targets data to your database." Both of the figures voices were mechanic, almost robotic. It was as if they were being forced to read from some kind of script. The man in red cloths pressed his head against Subject Eight's, causing both of their eyes to shine a bright white before quickly reverting back to their usual neon green.

Subject Eight took a few moments to process the information he just received. "Kazuto Kirigaya?"

"Yes. Kazuto Kirigaya. He has been designated by the programmers as a threat."

"Threat." Subject Eight repeated, an angry scowl on his face.

"Correct. He was a beta tester in the original Sword Art Online project and is single handedly responsible for shutting down the game prematurely and ending Kayaba's experiment. He and his party are already higher ranks then nearly all of the player base. If he becomes to powerful, we'd be at risk of being shut down early like Kayaba was."

"I have to kill him." Eight said nonchalantly.

"No." Klein's double shrugged. "That's not what the programmers want. Remember, this project is most effective the more players we have trapped here in this game. Offer Kazuto Kirigaya an ultimatum. We need him alive. Kidnapping him is out of the question - he has too many friends that would thwart that effort. You need to meet with him face to face and tell him that he is to come with you to floor one hundred, and in return, none of his friends will be hurt. We can hold him prisoner on floor one hundred for as long as we like. As long as we keep him away from his friends, the player base will slow down."

"Surely he doesn't hold that much influence, right? How would removing one player from the game have that much of an impact?"

"You forget who we are talking about. He had more knowledge of SAO then anyone else currently in the game. He knows the loopholes and the exploits. The programmers tried to randomize the game and make it more confusing specifically so players like him couldn't use their advantages."

"They've only been stuck in the game for a few days. Perhaps it's too early to forcibly remove such a prominent player from the population."

"This particular player is different."

"What if he doesn't come willingly?"

"Hmm" Two's eyes began to glow white once again, an action that happened whenever he or any of the other AI's were communicating with the programmers of the game through text. After a few minutes, Two's eyes returned to their ominous green hue. "If he does not come willingly, don't engage. The programmers have another idea if he refuses."

"What kind of idea?" Eight pried with a wicked smile.

"One to break his spirit and force him to agree to our terms. Remember, we don't want to hurt anyone unless we have to. Your goal is simply to convince him to agree to our terms and take him to floor one hundred."

"My goal is to remove Kazuto Kirigaya." Subject Eight's body began to glow a bright blue and its shape began to morph into that of a skinny, teenage boy - Love. Once the transformation was complete, Subject Eight muttered, "But... Why is this my goal, Subject Two?""

Subject Two, Klein's body double that had destroyed the towns inns in attempts to kidnap Kirito one night ago, grabbed Eight's hair and squeezed hard. "You're an AI, Eight! You are not to question the programmers demands. Unless, of course... you want to be wiped of all your data. I've humored this conversation long enough!"

Eight gasped and tried to shake his head against the grip of Klein's double. "N-No! I'll go! I'll go!"

Two dropped the young AI and nodded. "I've implemented Love's coordinates into your database. You know what to do."

"...Infiltrate."

-END-