Chapter 7: Outlier

"Want to go again?" I ask Sachi, reaching out my hand as she laid in a heap on the ground, having fallen from our spar. She let out a sigh as she accepted the hand and rose to her feet. Kirito chuckled a bit on the sidelines.

Turning to him with my hand on the hilt of my dagger, I asked, "What's so funny?"

He rubs the back of his head. "I just find it funny how you've said the exact same thing the entire day you've been sparring with Sachi."

I lightly grabbed the side of my other arm as I tried to think of a response to that. "Well…do I need to say something different?"

"Not at all." Sachi replies next to me. "It doesn't matter what you say. I don't think so, anyways."

I tugged lightly at my coat collar. It has been a while since I met Kirito and Sachi, along with the other members of the Moonlit Black Cats. At first, it was just us sharing a tea and coffee, but it wasn't long after that when we started talking. We saw each other every day for the next week at the cafe, and it finally got to the point where they asked if I would join them.

Admittedly, I really didn't want to. But they were people with good intentions for the good of all, and that was honestly kind of hard to find in Aincrad. I told them I'd join, but I secretly decided that once I determined they were strong and able enough, I would leave the guild.

However, since I've joined up with them, I felt…I dunno, in all honesty. It's been a feeling that I hadn't normally felt, I know that much.

I sent Sachi another duel invite, and the timer started counting down the second she pressed 'accept.'

I lightly as I readied my sword once again. Giving it a single swing, I held my sword with one hand as I guarded my self, my blade at a diagonal angle. Sachi on the other hand simply held her sword in both her hands in front of her, something of a more traditional sword stance.

When the timer reached zero, Sachi made the first move after a few seconds, trying a simple swing to try and hit me.

I saw the attack coming and was able to jump to the side, dodging it entirely. An opening was available to hit Sachi's side, and I didn't hesitate to take it.

Sachi improved however, and while she wasn't able to completely block the attack, she used the continued momentum from her previous attack to continue moving forward, earning a nick rather than the full brunt of the attack. That nick was still able to bring down a seventh of her HP.

"Better." I told her, as she spun around to face me. Her face wasn't one of complete confidence, but it was a bit more than the completely shy and terrified face that I had grown to know in training her in the past 2 months.

She followed up with a swing to my legs which I was able to jump over, but she surprised me by following up with a downward strike straight to the head. As good a technique that was, she was still too slow.

I was able to parry the blow to my side, then followed up with an upward swing, straight at the cross guard of her sword.

Sachi evidently didn't expect a move like that, and the force of the blow caused her to lose her grip, and the sword went flying to the side a good amount of feet.

I was preparing one last attack to finish it when I saw it: Her face carried an expression of shock and pure terror.

I let out a war cry as I unleashed one final swing to her neck.

Only to stop mere inches from her skin.

There was nothing but pure silence between the two of us. Ten seconds. Twenty seconds.

I let out a sigh and put my blade back in its sheath. "Sachi. You've gotten better. But you still aren't good."

She slowly clasped her hands together. "Wha…what do you mean?"

I sighed. Saphira DID tell me that sometimes I was too blunt for my own good. "What I mean is that you almost always give up when you think you lose. You freeze up, your eyes show nothing but terror. The single most important rule of any duel is to not let your guard down for any reason. Even if you think you will lose."

I noticed Kirito started walking over to us, but I ignored him and continued. "You need to learn to fight as if your life depends on it. Because one day it will." I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out a healing potion before tossing it lightly to Sachi.

"Well, I think that's enough for the day. It was a good spar, but I have somewhere I need to go." I give the two of them a wave as I start walking away.

"Wait! Keita said he wanted us all at a meeting tonight!" Kirito called after me. "You coming to that?"

I simply shrugged my shoulders and continued walking. "I already have an engagement I need to go to. If you could message me the gist of what he says, that would be great." When I made it to the teleport gate a short ways away, I spoke where I wanted to go, and I left in a flash of light.

…

(Sachi)

Watching Phantom disappear through the Teleport Gate, I couldn't help but play what he told me in my mind over and over again.

Kirito let out a sigh next to me. "Say what you will about Phantom, but I feel that he sometimes doesn't care about doing actual guild work."

I lightly smiled at him. "It makes you wonder why he even joined us in the first place if that's the case." Kirito simply responded with a laugh, but My mind went back to my thoughts.

Phantom was right. I always did freeze up. I knew exactly why, and I wouldn't be surprised if Phantom knew why also. He was one of the most perceptive people I knew.

I was terrified.

…

(Phantom)

It was later that evening when I walked through the door to Café Zephyr. I looked around to see if Mataras or Saphira already made it here, and scanning the area, it wasn't long before I saw Saphira waving to me from our usual table, Mataras giving a small smile. Honestly that was probably the happiest I was ever going to see the guy.

Walking over and plopping down in the seat across from them, I gave each of them a warm smile. "How're you two doing?"

"Fine, thanks for asking!" Saphira responded with an equal smile. We decided to make it a habit to meet each other at this café once a week. "Any new finds, Mr. Treasure Hunter?"

I let out a sigh. "Not much, sadly. A spare item here and there, but I've been mainly helping my guild train up one of our members for the majority of the time I have."

Mataras nodded. "Sachi, right? How's that going for you?"

I put a hand on the side of my head as if I was having some kind of headache. "Well, it's…it's going, I can tell you that. Poor girl has gotten much better than when we first met, but she still has a long way to go."

Mataras let out a small chuckle. "You said that someone else was also helping to train her, Kirito was it? Why is it that both of you train her again?"

I simply shrugged. "Dunno myself. Keita apparently thinks that while Kirito can teach her in the strength department, he thinks I can teach her in the 'strategy and maneuver department,' his words, not mine."

"You make it sound like you two are the strongest in the group."

My hand moved from the side of my head to running through my hair, in and out. "Well…funny thing, they don't really know my real level."

The two across from me grew a surprised look on their faces. "…Why?" Saphira asked me. "I mean, what are their level averages?"

I sighed. "Around level 23 now, give or take."

"Phantom." Mataras starts. "Why haven't you told them that you're, what was it, in the mid 30s?"

Saphira nodded. "Yea, I mean it's not like they'll kick you from the group or something like that."

My hand starts running faster through my hair. "No-no. Of course not. It-it's…" I took a deep breath as I pulled my hand away from my head. "You know how in some games if you go against a tough monster or some other, you tend to send in your strongest of the team and the rest practically "bite the dust," so to speak?" They nodded. "Well, I feel that's the same scenario. I don't want them to rely heavily on me when something tough comes for them."

"So you're testing them." Mataras bluntly tells me. "Watching to see how they do to see if they can measure up. Observing them."

I shake my head at him. "I prefer to not think of it like that. They all are good when it comes to this game, I just don't want them to lose that if they rely on me. That's all." I leaned back in my seat. "Besides, I told you two that I don't like being so quote-un-quote 'observant.'"

She tilted her head. "You never tell us why that's the case, though."

I shrugged. "Maybe I just don't like it." Deciding to try and change the subject, I asked them a different question. "Out of curiosity, why don't you two go and join a guild?"

"We don't want to be in a guild with just anyone." Mataras flatly responded.

I gave a slow nod. "Oh, I see. Gotcha."

Saphira not-so-subtly elbowed Mataras in the side when he gave that response. "It's not what you think, Mataras just put it wrong. We don't really…what's the word…wanna be in a guild with a bunch of people that we don't even know. We'd rather be in a guild with a few close friends."

I smirk at them. "Isn't that the entire reason to play an MMO? To make friends online?"

Saphira returned the smirk. "You're not really one to talk, are you?"

I thought about that for a moment. "Fair enough."

I was about to say something else when a message popped up in front of me. Quickly tapping the 'read' button, I saw that it was a message from Keita. I was about to brush it off as him telling me to come to the meeting, but as my eyes skimmed the message, I found it was something else entirely, along with something that I cared about."

Looking back to the pair across from me, I started to apologize. "Sorry guys, but something just came up and I have to go take care of this."

"What is it?" Mataras asked me. I stood up and straightened out my coat.

"Apparently the guild lost Sachi. Gotta go find her." Giving them each a fist bump, I quickly made my way out of the restaurant.

…

Checking my friends list, I saw that Sachi was hanging out somewhere on Floor 11, so I immediately began my search there. It was nightfall by this time, so the most I had to guide me was the light of the moon along with a few stray street candles.

A draft of wind that blew my way sent a chill down my spine, despite being dressed for the cold. In response to this, I lifted my scarf above my mouth and nose and held my coat closed with one hand while checking my menu and friends list with my other.

Most of the streets were empty, aside from the random player I occasionally bumped into, but we didn't interact.

Either way, my mind thought of Sachi as I followed my map to her location, my feet taking me to a walkway along one of the towns' rivers. The fact that she ran off wasn't particularly startling in my mind, but I was confused all the same. Sure, she wasn't the bravest person in the guild, but I didn't get why she would run off.

"I always asked myself that same question." A male voice behind me spoke.

My feet froze in place. Slowly turning around, I barely saw in the gleam of the moon a lone figure, their form completely obscured by a long black cloak, leaning against one of the walls.

It wasn't his being here that made me stop dead in my tracks though. a chill once again crept up my spine, though there wasn't any wind during this moment.

It was his voice.

"Who…who are you?" I asked, a hesitant tone in my voice.

Silence. I couldn't see the stranger's face underneath his black hood, but I felt as if he was staring daggers into me.

The sound of cloth in the wind and running footsteps behind me made me spin around. All I saw though was a simple glimpse of black turning around a corner a little bit ahead.

Curious, but also wanting to know the stranger's identity, I once again turned to face the black-cloaked man.

All I saw was an empty walkway.

Puzzled, I walked towards the space the stranger stood and looked around, perhaps see anywhere he might've hidden off to.

There was nowhere he could have gone. Not that quickly anyways.

There was something gnawing at the back of my mind about this, but my puzzled self brushed it off for now as I had more pressing issues to deal with, least of all a disappearing figure.

Deciding to once again follow my friend's list map, I made my way through the streets, slowly but steadily coming up on the blinking dot that signified Sachi's location until after what seemed like forever, I came to one of the bridges in town.

Looking at my map, I found that my own location almost perfectly overlapped with Sachi's.

It was here when I heard her voice.

"If I had the courage to die, I wouldn't hide within the safety of the town, would I?"

I stopped. That was Sachi's voice for sure. But…who was she talking to?

"Hey, why can't we leave this place? Why do we have to die, even though it's a game?" Her voice was starting to crack. I was considering jumping down and revealing myself to Her. Perhaps I could have gotten her to leave with me that night, heading back to the guild. I don't know. But something compelled me to lean against the bridge railing, simply listening to what Sachi was saying.

"Hey, it's going to be fine." I heard another voice speak out. Most likely who Sachi was actually telling this all to. I didn't see him, but I recognized his voice: Kirito. "You aren't going to die anytime soon. You'll get stronger. Phantom and I will make sure of it."

"…Phantom was right, you know." My body subconsciously tensed at that. "I freeze up when I feel like I'm about to die."

"Well…I think we might be able to work around that in-" Kirito started, but he was soon cut off by something that was burned into my mind for the rest of my time in SAO.

"You didn't see his face today, Kirito. That last spar, when he disarmed me and was preparing to strike…" Silence for a few seconds. "I thought…I thought he was going to kill me."

Silence. Nothing could be heard between all parties except the sound of the river flowing in the moonlight.

"Phantom would never kill you. You know that right?"

"I...I know. But I feel the fact that I believed that during a training match of all things...Maybe I'm just not ready."

"Sachi. Please, I want you to trust me. You aren't going to die in here. I promise you."

"...Kirito. Thank you."

"Yea. Don't mention it."

I didn't hear anything else as I started to walk away from the bridge.

Walking through the empty town with the wind in my hair, I didn't have any specific destination in my mind, just wandering through the streets. Sachi's words still rang in my ears.

Was I...truly like that? Was I too much?

I didn't do anything else for much of that evening except drift. Drifting through shadows of the night as echoes from the depths of my mind returned, triggered by Sachi's words. I couldn't do anything to block them out. I didn't want to be like this.

I didn't want to be the person who was feared or the person who was the outcast. I tried to reassure myself. If I was the outcast that I painted myself to be, I wouldn't be in this guild. Right?

The pit of my mind told me one thing though that I felt shattered my spirit: Sachi's words...They're so similar. So similar to the ones that were echoing in my brain as I drifted to the inn the guild stayed.

"Stop it! Just stop it, you...you freak!"

…

(Kirito)

"Kirito, I was wondering if we could chat."

It was the end of one of the days we were both training Sachi, and I was about to hit the hay when I heard a knock on my door. Opening it up, there stood Phantom in his usual coat and scarf, but he seemed to be...tense, for some reason. Well, maybe not as tense in the normal use of the word, but it was the only way I could describe it for Phantom. He seemed to always have either a persona of collected calm, or nervous around strangers. Today seemed to be somewhere in-between the two.

"Oh. Um...of course. Come in."

Inviting him in, he seemed to look around the little inn room, as if he was searching for something. I could never tell what he was thinking at times. After a few seconds he took a seat at one of the spare chairs, and I sat on the bed facing him. "So, what was it you needed to chat about?" I asked him. He took a deep breath before outright surprising me.

"You're a beater, ye?"

I was caught off guard by his almost-total bluntness, but even more so that he knew that fact. I didn't indicate anything though (At least, I THINK I didn't indicate it). "O-oh? What exactly makes you say that?"

"I was curious about you a little bit after we met, honestly. You're strong, but you never seemed to take any of the leads in any raid or dungeon-clearing we've done; mainly staying in the back. Curious, at least to me." He started. "...I-I also apologize for-for this, but I was able to-to see your stat screen over your shoulder on one of our past outings with the guilds."

The surprise must have been plain on my face, because Phantom started bouncing his knee after we made direct eye contact. "Er...how to put this...I knew you were strong and you had your reasons for keeping it secret, but after I mentioned this to a friend of mine, he knew who you were. Not personally mind you, although he mentioned there being a player exactly like you on the First Floor boss. Someone who claimed to be a beater. Probably the ONLY beater."

So that was it. I let out a small sight. I was found out. "Phantom, I can explain-"

"Your secret is safe." He told me. I blinked once. Then twice.

"...What?"

"While I'm not a beater, I haven't been squeaky clean honest either." He told me, opening his menu and flipping it over to me. Peering at it, I saw something that made my eyes widen.

"You're...level 35?" I asked. He was 10 levels below me, but still. His level was much higher than the other Moonlit Black Cat's average.

He nodded to me. "Ye. Though I kept my own level secret for reasons different from your own, I thought I might as well tell you since you're like me in this way." His knee started to bounce some more. "Along with the fact that I really wanted confirmation on my theory."

...

(Phantom)

I must have slept in too late, because when I woke up and went to find my guildmates, I didn't find them in any of the rooms or in the main tavern. Confused as to where they were, I shot Keita a message asking where he and the others were. The response I got made him seem like he was ticked at first, but in a good mood all the same.

Well, if you actually went to the meeting last night, you would know! Suppose that's what you get. Anyways, TL;DR, we got enough money to actually buy our guild a base! I'm out looking for one now, but the rest of the guild should be in Taft Square. I'll tell them to wait for you, but you have to promise me to actually be a more active part of this guild. Wouldn't do good to slack off while everyone is doing the work!

Side note, thanks again for training Sachi yesterday. She seemed a bit more enthused than her usual.

-Keita

I was legitimately surprised by that last statement. If anything, Sachi seemed to be even more down when I found her last night. I didn't expect her to be "a bit more enthused."

Simply closing out the letter, I exited the tavern and went to Taft Square, looking around for any indication of my other guildmates. Soon enough, I was able to spot them by being able to see Ducker's bright yellow cloak. I've no idea why it's always him that I pick out from the rest, except maybe Sachi.

"Hey, Phantom!" Ducker exclaims, putting his arm around my shoulder. "Slept in, huh?"

"Yea. I did I suppose." I told him. "So...Keita's getting a house for us?" I asked.

Ducker slapped my back (which packed some punch, getting a small "Oof!" out of me) while replying, "Yea, we just saw the guy off! We were actually talking about going to some higher floors to grab some extra cash for furniture!"

"I actually think that we're better off sticking with our usual floors." Kirito chimed in.

Tetsuo laughed it off saying, "I think we'll be fine. We've been working really hard, and I think that our levels are good enough so that we won't be easily killed.

"Yea!" Sasamaru added. "Come on, Kirito? What're you afraid of? You're with us, right Phantom?"

"I...er…" I didn't like being put on the spot like that, and I saw Kirito's look. I knew why he didn't really want to go to the higher floors, but…

I looked around at the other guild members, and I saw the expectant looks on their faces. They were really intent on going. I suppose they WERE rather experienced by now to face a challenge...and I remembered the last time we all did something like this. It was actually really fun.

In most of my time here, I didn't really try all that much to connect with them. I mostly said "How're you doing?" or the like. If I was being honest, this was partly the reason I skipped half of the guild meetings. I didn't really feel comfortable around them.

Maybe they saw me the same way Sachi saw me though...In that case, I wanted to show them all that I could be something more than another guildmate. They were all close friends already, and I still felt like an intruder in this sense. Perhaps I could use this chance to try and strengthen our friendships.

Besides, it'd be a shame to ruin their expectations.

"...Yea sure, I don't see why not myself." I told them. Kirito simply sighed at this.

"...Alright, fine. Let's just make sure to be extra careful."

…

We were up on Floor 27, one of the more recent floors cleared by the assault team, and I had to say that everything was going better than expected. Between Ducker and I, we were able to find a good amount of treasure in the area. Everyone was able to fight well, even Sachi who was lucky enough to level up after defeating what was left of a monster after Tetsuo and Kirito took out the bulk of its HP.

We laughed, we talked while searching, it was all in all a good time.

It was honestly one of the few times since entering this world where I felt like I had an actual family, except maybe with Mataras and Saphira.

"Man, this is going great so far!" Sasamaru said out loud as we walked down a dungeon corridor.

Ducker let out a small chuckle. "I have to agree. At the pace we're going, We'll be able to join the assault team in no time!"

I laughed. "First we're going to have to get home with all this loot, Ducker. I personally think we've gotten enough for the day."

The others all agreed (Kirito arguably most of all), and we started making our way back. Looking around, I saw Sachi was a little bit behind us, and I made a decision in my mind that I had been thinking about for a while.

Slowing down to let Sachi catch up with me, we were soon walking side by side. A few moments passed.

I took a deep breath. "Um...Sachi?" I started hesitantly.

"Hm? Yes Phantom?" She asked, looking to me with a questioning look on her face.

I was about to tell her when Ducker noticed something ahead of us and jogged to one of the walls a good feet away. "What have we here?" He said out loud.

Watching him and where he ended up, I could tell exactly what it was that he was doing; A hidden door that my own treasure-hunting skill picked up when I noticed him.

When the door opened itself, revealing the secret to the others, it revealed a single chest in a giant spacious room.

Obviously it had some type of trap.

"Um, maybe I should-" Before I could finish my sentence, the others ran in, and Ducker was on his knees in excitement, preparing to open the chest.

I was told that I sometimes overreact when something I don't plan on happens, like dropping something heavy or the like, but I felt my pulse practically spike when he opened that chest. "NO WAIT!" I tried to tell him, running into the room with Kirito right behind, but it was too late. He opened the chest.

At that moment, the room was filled with red light and an alarm went off and the door slammed shut behind us. My blood ran cold as the room started to fill with spawning golems and goblins.

"Teleport crystals! Hurry!" Kirito practically shouted.

"Teleport: Taft!" Ducker said in a panicked voice. Nothing happened. He tried again.

"Our crystals aren't working." I breathed to myself.

Tetsuo let out a nervous laugh. "I mean, C'mon guys." He told us. He laughed again with more confidence. "All we have to do is fight our way out!" He lunged at one of the golems. "Attack!" He let out a battle cry as he slashed at the golem.

The 'attack' he performed lowered the golem's health by a seventh at best, and the monster turned to him and threw his rocky arms down on Tetsuo, which caused him to fall to the ground with a cry of pain, before he shattered into pieces.

My eyes widened. "No…" Taking my own sword, I started swinging at all the enemies I could see. Turning to my other guildmates, I watched in horror as Ducker was quickly mobbed by several goblins who all repeatedly stabbed him to death with their pickaxes. Adrenaline spiked my system as I tried to keep ahold of myself.

"Stop!" I shouted as I fought and slashed my way through the golems and the goblins. I couldn't see Sasamaru anywhere, but I saw Kirito and Sachi a short distance away fighting the enemies to the best of their abilities, Kirito moreso.

"Guys!" I shouted over the chaos happening. "We can get through this! Just keep fighting!"

"O-Okay!" Sachi responded in a terrified and desperate voice. "I'm scared, but-but I trust-"

"Sachi!" Kirito screamed, hand outreached towards her, a look of panic on his face. I looked to exactly where he was looking, and the color drained from my face. There was a golem right behind her about to strike.

No...

Kirito was trying to make it to her, but they were too far apart. He was too slow.

Time seemed to slow down for me though in those few moments.

NO!

As fast as the very wind itself, my avatar glowed silver as I sped over to where Sachi was in what could only be the blink of an eye and brought my sword up to block the attack. I was too slow though as the attack went directly to me instead of Sachi, ripping my scarf in half making it shatter.

Turning around and locking eyes with Sachi, I told her, "Stay behind me."

…

I don't know how much longer passed. All I remember is dropping my sword, falling to my knees. All the enemies were gone. All of them.

But…

I didn't look to Kirito OR to Sachi. I could only think. So many different thoughts ran through my head: I was too slow. I was too weak-willed. I was was a failure. I brought them here. I should have known better. I was a failure. I was an outsider. I was an outlier. I was a failure.

FREAK.

I wanted to scream. I wanted something to come out of my mouth. Anything. I wanted to cry, but my mind wouldn't let me.

FREAK.

I wanted to rip my brain from my skull, just so I could stop thinking. Stop having thoughts run through my head. I wanted…

"Phantom-" I don't know who it was who spoke and it didn't matter to me. I saw the door we originally came through was open. I shot up from the ground and ran. The second I was out of the room, I summoned a teleport crystal in my trembling hands as my legs ran faster and faster, as if they had a mind of their own.

"Te-teleport, Town of-of Begin-Beginnings." I said hastily. I was engulfed in a bright flash, and I ran straight out of the teleport gate.

I skidded to a stop. My mind was still reeling from everything, but one thought dominated all the others.

No more.

If Kirito, Keita, or Sachi noticed their guild status, then they would have seen my name disappear from their roster.