Chapter 3: The Second Floor
Finally, some results, I thought, having found myself in an amphitheater for a boss meeting at last. It had taken us ages to find it, but apparently the party in charge of this meeting stumbled across the boss room a day and a half prior. We would have had the planning session earlier, but there were some discrepancies with finding an easily accessible city to meet at for all the interested clearers.
Kirito and I took one look at the notification signaling the event and grinned as one. We had gotten to know each other quite a bit in our travels, and we began to fight as a single entity as opposed to two separate players. The trust between us was ironclad, and we were excited to see the end of our stay on the first floor.
The meeting was to be held in Tolbana, a town central to the operations of most of the clearing parties. Lucky for my partner and me, we were already close to that location, and without further delay we set out in its direction. After only two hours' worth of sprinting, we made it to the outskirts of the Safe Zone surrounding the town. Quickly, we headed towards one of the inns to reserve a room for the night before the majority of the players reached the area.
"One room or two?" I asked cheekily. Kirito sighed and slugged my arm; I laughed. "Two it is, then, ya ruffian. How do you want to go about the rest of our afternoon till the meeting?"
"The usual. I'll head out for some hunting, you check out the wares of the locals and purchase whatever you think is useful. Argo is bound to be around here by now, maybe you can scout her out and get some more info on this so-called 'meeting'." I nodded and paid for my reservation. When the two of us exited the inn, we split in two, Kirito heading for the wilderness to power-level some more while I browsed the NPC/player-run shops and businesses for something to catch my eye.
Argo the Rat, as she was known, was an information dealer notorious for being able to find anything out about anyone. She was truly a tier above the others of her kind, and had firmly established herself as the go-to for pretty much anything. However, Argo made it a point to charge rather ridiculous prices for info, and if you didn't know how to haggle you'd find yourself shit out of money for just about nothing important info-wise.
Since we were as kitted equipment-wise as we could be under the circumstances of being on the first floor, I made my way towards the nearest general store to browse their crystals. Kirito and I had ground out thousands of Col from the monsters we killed to level and the quests that we completed, so I could afford just about anything.
Unfortunately, nothing really caught my eye, so I sighed and made my way to the location marked by Kirito on my map. The site doubled as both Argo's meeting place in the town and the place I would meet Kirito after he was done hunting. Once I reached the coordinates, I pulled up my menu and scribbled a message to my broker acquaintance.
"Ah, if it isn't Sarok. Your boyfriend around anywhere? Did he break up with you?" I chuckled at the greeting; Argo had always teased Kirito and me about being as close and trusting as we were for two guys.
"You know that'll cost you, Argo. Your rules are my rules when we meet. Maybe a kiss on the cheek this time?" Of course, we both knew that wasn't going to happen, just as we both knew I was a firm heterosexual. "Anyway, what you got for me on this meeting? I'll pay you the usual, plus a bonus for any extra juiciness you can bring to my attention."
"How about twice the fee for that topic since it's so hot right now? You've swindled me enough as it is." I frowned; double the fee weighed in around 3,000 Col, or around half my wallet. However, I was being a bit charitable this time since we were so close to real progress at last.
"One point five times the usual and a fixed bonus of 500 Col. I'll even throw in a kiss on your cheek from me, huh? How about it?" I threw in the last part to be cheeky; although the broker was cute under that hood of hers, we were only friends in the business, and I felt no attraction to the girl.
"Deal. What's first on your list? The guys behind it, the potential trouble-makers, or the tester status of anyone?" I grinned; if I were to pick one of them, she'd only charge me for the others since I considered the one mentioned to be more important.
"You know me better than that. Give it all to me straight, from what you've said that isn't even the juicy part. How about some info about the boss itself? It'd be nice to have a bit of an edge." I had made my bargain, and I knew full well she would be able to pull through on her end. She wouldn't be true to her reputation otherwise.
"Alright, alright. You got me, just the same as usual. Speaking of, where's that kiss?" I laughed again, bending down and laying a quick peck on the girl's right cheek. "Thanks, Rok. So, onto the important stuff as usual. Leader of this meeting's name is Diabel. He's a beta tester like Kirito and myself, didn't make much of a name for himself though. He's a good man and a better leader, no one to worry about. Assuming everything goes alright, you'll pull through this fight with minimum casualties."
"Next up, troublemakers. Heard some loudness from the Kibaou player. He's totally against beta testers and believes that they don't share much info with the 'common newcomers' like him and his friends. He's pretty charismatic, in a brutal sort of way, so chances are high he'll turn against Kirito pretty fast when he learns of his status. Be careful."
"Hmm, nothing else to really report there, so I'll move on to the boss. It's called Illfang the Kobold Lord. There are some secondary targets in the form of the Ruin Kobold Sentinels. On their own they aren't too bad but they come at the same time as Illfang, so things can be a pain from what I've heard."
"As far as the boss itself goes, he's easy to read pattern-wise, but when he gets cut down to around a bar of health he switches weapons. In the beta, he switched to a talwar, but there's no way of telling if that's changed or not. If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say that Kayaba would have changed the game so we couldn't rely as much on prior knowledge. Tell Kirito to be careful. You too, of course, but he's more likely to get cocky."
Argo finished her speech with the usual suggestions on where to armor up before leaving. Despite being kind of friends, we didn't talk much beyond our usual meetings in the towns, and even when we did it was only an exchange of information. It wasn't too rare to see a bit of lighthearted flirting in the start of whatever talk we were having, but all of it played into our little cat-and-mouse game of haggling.
Kirito found me soon after Argo left. I relayed the info our mutual broker had told me as we made our way to the inn we had rented at. He nodded along and asked me for my opinion on all of it.
"Diabel seems like an all-around good guy, so I'd trust him if Argo says not to worry. My biggest concern is this Kibaou character. Since I don't do much talking outside our circles, I get the feeling that I won't be able to destabilize the guy. Be careful about him, and don't give anything up. Got it? Good. Other than that, Illfang should be easy for the two of us to handle. I've gotten pretty good at reading patterns, and you've got some massive DPS."
Kirito laughed at my analysis. "Sounds good to me, Sarok. Think we'll see Klein?" I thought for a moment before nodding. There was no way he would miss this, and his guild Furinkazan was pretty damn strong. "Mmh. Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow, yeah? We'd better get our rest." I nodded again and we parted ways, having finally made it back to the inn.
*BZZT*! *BZZT*! The in-game alarm I had set for myself went off, waking me up without fail. After all, it was a bit hard to ignore the blaring of something as annoying as that when it was inside your head. I guess that was one of the perks to being trapped inside a virtual reality. Groggily, I sat up and glanced at the time; when I saw it was well before eight in the morning I groaned loudly.
Sighing, I re-equipped my armor and weapons and headed downstairs to meet Kirito. When he saw me, he grinned at my haggard appearance and I punched him, only serving to make him laugh before throwing an arm over my shoulder.
"Oi, let's go Kirito. Wouldn't want to miss this meeting that's not for another TWO HOURS! Remind me why we had to get there so damn early again?"
"It's only because this way we can scout out the players as they arrive and maybe get a word in with Diabel before the meeting, you know that! It was your idea, too, if you'd just get that through your thick skull!" I groaned, flipping my middle finger in his direction and earning me my own punch in the arm.
It was at this point that I ran myself right into the torso of another player, knocking me right down on my ass. Sighing, I grabbed the hand held out to help me up and prepared to apologize before I saw the face of my assistant. "Oh, hey, Agil, how you doing? You here for the meeting too?"
"What, you aren't going to apologize, Sarok?" Agil replied, chuckling deeply to soften the blow. "Nice to see you're still alive, though I'm not all that surprised considering you have Yuki on the other side to look forward to seeing again…" I blushed slightly and kicked him in the shin where I wasn't as protected by his casual armor.
"Shut up! We're only friends! And besides, I can't exactly do anything about when we're stuck in this damned game, can I?"
"So you admit you feel something for you, eh? Well, no matter I suppose, you do have a point. We are stuck here, after all. Referring to your previous question, yeah I'm here for the meeting and subsequent raid. It'll be nice to get off this measly first floor; there isn't anything good to sell." My friend frowned and I laughed good-naturedly.
Kirito looked between us in confusion. Deciding to put him out of his misery, I introduced him to the barkeep. "Agil, I'd like you to meet Kirito, my boyfriend. Kirito, this is Agil, we know each other in real life." I threw an arm around Kirito's waist and groped his ass, making him recoil in shock and revulsion. Agil only laughed at Kirito's predicament, having experienced the same thing when I first brought Klein to his café.
"Oi, we're not dating! And you have this 'Yuki' from what I hear, huh Sarok? Would she approve of your cheating on her with me?" I blinked at the ridiculousness of the situation.
"Uh, Kirito, you never said you were against a relationship between us…" I was only acting worried, but he didn't need to know that since my entire goal was to fuck with him. I had precious little care for personal space and homosexuality never crossed my mind as something I would be interested in, so I made jokes about it. Everything would be so much better if society just accepted the damn thing already; people can't help what they're attracted to.
Kirito blushed heavily and stammered something about finding us a seat before scurrying off as far away from us as possible. I turned to Agil. "Say, Andy, if I were to kiss him in front of Argo, how much money you think we'd make off the rumor-mongers?"
"Probably at least a hundred thousand Col. Why do you ask? Thinking of doing it?" I shrugged; while it would be a good source of money, I don't think Kirito would appreciate his first kiss being from me. I sighed; alas, I might have to go for a simple kiss on the cheek.
"You are¸ aren't you? You're a weird one, Charlie. A weird one indeed." I shrugged again, my smile breaking out into its final form as an insane grin. I laughed madly, winking at Agil's form. "Damn you, just don't involve me, will you?" I nodded and rubbed my hands together in glee. This was going to be a marvelous ploy.
Agil and I talked for a while, but eventually I made my way over to where Kirito had found us spots, near the top with a good vantage point on any of the trouble makers Argo had mentioned. Soon enough, the rest of the amphitheater had filled up, bringing me to my current standings.
A man with shocking blue hair eventually stood at the front and cleared his throat, leading to silence all around. "Greetings," he said. "My name is Diabel, and a party has been said to have found the boss room in the Labyrinth." At this, furious whisperings broke out and I face-palmed. It was as if people hadn't heard that already.
"Be quiet, please! Unless, of course, you'd only like to socialize and stay on the first floor forever?" The sarcasm was evident in Diabel's voice, and I grinned at its effectiveness in shutting everyone up. "Thank you. Now, in this game, when we rolled the dice on the jobs we would each have, I ended up with the role of knight!" Diabel finished with a flourish. I sighed; that kind of quip didn't even deserve a chuckle.
After the laughter died down, he continued. "Anyways, on to the important information. Upon completing our scouting session of the boss room and consulting with some local information brokers, it has been determined that it would be impossible to have a single party go against the boss. Therefore, I have called this meeting to discuss our next steps."
"First things first: I need the lot of you to split into teams of three to six based on your STR-AGI spread. Before I continue any further, it's important that you do this. This way, the roles can be assigned early on without any added confusion. Understand? Good. Now go make friends."
Diabel finished speaking, so I beckoned Agil over to where Kirito and I were. "Agil, you're a loner, right? How about teaming up with us lover boys?" Kirito blushed again, causing the other two of us to laugh uncontrollably. Soon after we calmed down, Agil had to shake his head.
"Sorry man, no can do. I'm with Klein and that group of ruffians over there." He nodded to Furinkazan. "Why don't you try the player with the cloak on the other side of your bench? They look pretty lonely to me; could probably use a friend."
I turned my gaze to the aforementioned player, studying them for a moment. I noticed the downturned face, the hunched back, and the slight shaking of the shoulders and smiled softly. "Yeah, that sounds good to me. Come one, Kirito, let's go cheer up the girl over there." With that, I made a few long strides forward, pulling ahead of my friend. "Thanks for the tip, Agil."
"Wha- How do you know it's a girl?" Kirito asked, flustered. I shrugged, causing him to groan in annoyance, but we only continued to the player. I sat on one side of her and Kirito sat on the other. Once we were situated, I threw an arm over their shoulder and pulled them up gently.
"Yo. My name's Sarok, this is Kirito. Wanna group up with us?" I said softly. Cautiously, the player turned to look me in the eyes, and I saw I was correct in my assumption about gender. She looked startled, as if I had interrupted her train of thought, and I sighed before removing my arm. "It's alright, I'm not here to hurt you. I didn't mean to startle you, we just need a third for our party."
"S-Sure," the girl replied shakily. I smiled reassuringly, and she continued after a moment's hesitation. "M-My name is Asuna. Nice to meet you, Sarok. You too, Kirito." My grin grew wider and I held out my hand for a shake while opening my menu and shooting our new friend a party invite. Asuna and I shook and I leaned to the side to smirk at Kirito.
"This is why you should leave the talking to me, boyfriend. It's obvious you just don't know how to handle a girl as beautiful as this one." Kirito blushed, but he couldn't hit me for fear of getting Asuna caught in the crossfire. "Oh, Asuna, don't worry, I'm het all the way, though I'm not too sure about pretty boy over there." My smirk grew wider when Asuna giggled softly at my prodding.
"Good to see you've cheered up. Now, shall we pay attention? It looks as though Diabel is preparing to continue," Kirito finally spoke up, useful for once and without a noticeable stutter. I caught his eye and winked before we faced forward, tilting my head towards Asuna slightly. He blushed harder and shook his own head unconvincingly, but I only laughed silently as Asuna looked on confused.
Diabel raised a hand for silence, and unsurprisingly the scattered groups of players listened to him. However, I was rather surprised when one stood and made his way to the front, shooing Diabel out of the way with little ceremony. My eyes narrowed and I crossed my arms under my chin to observe what was to come.
"Yo! My name's Kibaou, and before we go any further, some of you have to apologize!" I snorted softly; no doubt he was speaking of the beta testers, and I was looking forward to the storm that would follow his words. I snuck a glance over to Kirito to see a look of anxious tension on his face; it seemed he had reached the same conclusion as me.
"Surely you mean the ex-beta testers, Kibaou?" Diabel chimed in, and my eyes narrowed further, scrutinizing the man's character. He seemed like a nice enough guy, but even he had to see the shit storm coming from Kibaou's next words.
"Of course I do! A whole 2,000 of us have up and died since entering this hell, and all of those deaths were preventable! Right from the start of the game, the beta testers rushed out from the Starting City to take all the best spawns and all the most profitable quests, without a care in the world to us helpless players! They only care for themselves, and I've seen friends die before my eyes thanks to their meddling! So if any of you fucks are out there, come up and drop all that gear you've squandered from the weak players! That should be apology enough!"
Kibaou finished his rant, and I snarled in his direction, about to get up and tell him where he could put it, especially since Kirito had shrunk so far into his seat at the foul man's words. However, Agil beat me to it, and descended to Kibaou's level with a severe look on his face.
"Kibaou, was it?" Uncertain, the man nodded, and Agil pulled a book from his inventory. "My name is Agil, and you received a copy of this book before you left the Town of Beginnings, yes?" Kibaou paled slightly at Agil's imposing figure before nodding again. "Then surely you know that this was written by the beta testers you hold in such contempt. It contains the knowledge of all the 'best spawns and most profitable quests' and copies were distributed to the players as best as possible before the left the Town of Beginnings. Since you've received one, you knew this, right?"
Kibaou cowered and opened his mouth to retort before closing it just as quickly at Agil's glare. My snarl turned into a vengeful smirk at his reaction, and I nodded slightly to my friend on the floor, not caring if he noticed me or not. I turned to Kirito and found he had relaxed accordingly, so I eased my expression into a reassuring one when I met his eyes, calming him enough to release his remaining tension into the air.
"Thank you, Agil," Diabel spoke up again, somehow calm and friendly again despite what had happened. I ignored his description of the boss as I had already heard it, taking the time instead to let my gaze wander among the other participants of the raid. I picked out Kibaou's faction easily, studying the way their postures leaned slightly towards the coward's. That could be a problem later if I wasn't careful.
My studies of the other players came to a halt when the meeting adjourned. I hadn't noticed Diabel had stopped speaking before I felt the tap on my shoulder from Kirito; I stood and thanked him with a murmur, still half-focused on what little info I had gleaned and the ramifications of any plan of attack against the boss.
While I was still in thought, I found myself led back to the main square in Tolbana. I had thankfully regained enough sense to casually converse with the other players, and I bid Kirito and Asuna adieu for a little while to go search for information and get opinions. I stopped next to Klein first. "Hey, Ryō," I said, alerting him to my identity. "How's it going? Looking forward to some progress for once?"
"Oh, hey, Charles! Yeah, it's about time too. Say, have you seen Kirito? I wanted to tell him not to worry about leaving me a month ago." I shook my head; I knew that Kirito wouldn't believe Klein until the bitter end that it was alright he had left. "A shame. Anyways, I'm pretty angry about the Kibaou guy, singling out all the beta testers like that."
"Yeah, he's going to be a pain. I have to make the rounds after I finish here, so I'll keep this brief, Ryō. After the boss, be prepared for a second fight. I'm anticipating some trouble from his faction." My friend and roommate nodded solemnly, and I departed from his presence, heading for Agil.
Once I had reached the large man, I found him conversing with my final errand of the night, Diabel. Glad I had caught the two together, I waited for them to finish their talk before stepping in politely. "Diabel, Agil," I greeted cordially. "Diabel," I pointed my gaze at the abnormally blue-haired man. "You were a beta tester, weren't you?" Though my statement was worded as a question, I was careful to make sure it sounded more like a statement of fact than anything else.
Diabel sighed in resignation. "How did you figure it out?" he asked curiously. I shrugged and pointed out his gait and seeming overconfidence. "Fair enough. What of it?"
"I get the feeling Kibaou is going to make a move after the boss fight. I trust that you know what kind of fire you're playing with, but do be careful. It'd be a damned shame to lose a fighter like you." The man thanked me for my advice and departed, leaving me to speak with my barkeep acquaintance. "Andy. I need to know if you're on my side if the situation with Kibaou develops further."
"You know I am, Charles. There's no need to worry about me, I'll support you and Kirito no matter where we are or what convoluted situation you cook up for us." I smirked and tipped my proverbial hat to him before saying my goodbyes and heading back to the corner of the square where Kirito and Asuna were seated.
"Kirito. Asuna." I stated by way of another greeting. "How are you two doing?" Asuna had her face turned to the ground, and I caught the glint of a virtual tear falling from her eye. My eyes softened imperceptibly and I walked up to her, pulling her into a hug brazenly. "Hey, it's alright. We'll be back in the real world before you know it. For now, you have to remember that this is reality for the time being. I'm sure Kirito's told you already, but you can't forget to live, in place of merely surviving."
An indeterminate amount of time passed before Asuna pushed me away lightly. "Thanks, Sarok, Kirito. I was about to give up, but you two saved me again. I'll be sure to give it my all tomorrow." I nodded with a bright smile on my face, meeting her eyes, which were still obscured slightly by the cloth hood she wore.
"Alright then, I'm off to bed. I'm just about wiped. Kirito, I trust you can lead this one back to her room for the night?" My friend nodded in reply with a determined look and I saluted with my class three finger wave, making an about face and breaking into a light jog towards the inn where I had rented my room, eventually making my way to bed after setting the usual alarms and fading into the realms of virtual sleep.
*BZZT!* This time, I shot awake instantly, out of breath for whatever reason and slamming my hand down on empty air to try and turn off the alarm I kept on my side desk. Unfortunately, since I was in a game, the alarm had rung in my head only, and the act unbalanced me enough to make me fall off the bed.
I groaned from my position on the floor, cursing my stupid dreams of reality while fighting to hold back the tears from the seeming hopelessness of my situation. It didn't work, and I found myself sobbing silently at lost opportunities before long. I cursed Kayaba, I cursed my gaming addiction, but most of all I cursed the fact that I wouldn't be able to see Yuki for some ridiculous amount of time.
Belatedly, I realized I had developed feelings beyond those of a friend or sibling for the girl, and I cried at the feeling that I wouldn't get to express them to her. As it was, her very visage was fading from my mind, though her voice remained, my last string of remembrance to attach to the girl who had so captivated me.
After a few minutes, I calmed myself down enough to get up, not for the first time glad that no one could tell I had been crying. Since we lived in such a world as this now, where death was around every corner, some despair in one's eyes was to be expected. Solemnly, I exited my room and closed the door, checking out with the NPC innkeeper and meeting Kirito at the entrance to the inn.
"Good morning," he said, taking in my haggard appearance with a practiced eye. "Rough night?" I snorted, forcing a slight smile onto my face, though it didn't quite reach my eyes.
"Understatement of the century, right there. Remembering Yuki, and wondering if I'll ever see her again. Let's get out of here fast, eh, Kirito?"
"Yeah, let's. Ready to go beat Illfang?" I steeled my gaze and nodded, and the pair of us headed to the predetermined rendezvous for the boss raid. Once we arrived, we met up with Asuna, who seemed more cheerful than she had been the previous night.
About half an hour passed before the entire group had assembled, and once we had, Diabel gave the usual pep talk and led us into the wilderness towards the Labyrinth. It was a long walk, but since we had so many capable fighters the mobs around the area were a piece of cake to kill if they dared agro to us.
At long last, the raiding party reached the entrance to the Labyrinth, and Diabel shared the map data with the group, marking the boss room with a waypoint before leading us in. Kirito, Asuna, and I were in the back of the group, a slightly awkward air between us for some reason.
"S-Sarok?" Asuna finally asked, her voice soft and questioning. I raised my eyes and glanced over to left where she was walking.
"What's up, Asuna? Something the matter?" she nodded uncertainly before continuing.
"I don't mean to be rude, but what are the veins on and around your face? If you weren't so friendly, they'd be a bit off-putting, and I'm pretty sure they aren't painted that way. Do you really look like that in real life?" I sighed and felt along the marks subconsciously.
"Yeah, I understand. I was born with some obscure out-of-the-blue medical condition that gave me these. It's been a real pain in the ass making friends all my life, but I've managed well enough. I met people like Klein and Agil, Kirito, and even you. You don't care for my appearance because of how I act. Some people can't get over my face, though, no matter how friendly I am." And Yuki, I appended silently.
"That sounds awful!" Asuna exclaimed quietly in response to my explanation. I smiled at her muted enthusiasm for my situation, and touched her palm in thanks.
Unfortunately for our conversation, the group reached the entrance to the boss room at that point. We already knew our responsibilities, so I didn't bother listening to Diabel's pep talks, deciding instead to examine the doors to the room. They were massive, and etched upon them was a vast design of rough lines and shapes that had no seeming elegance or pattern. Idly I wondered if the entrances would get more intricate as the floors grew in number.
Before I knew it, the party had rushed into the boss room and the doors shut themselves behind us. We found ourselves in a long cathedral-like hall with tinted glass windows and torch lighting. All things considered, the room was quite beautiful. At the other end of the hall, a towering figure stood. When the clang sounded behind us, signaling the close of the doors, the figure roared as four health bars came into being next to its head and the Ruin Kobold Sentinels spawned around it.
Illfang the Kobold Lord, I thought grimly, though with some measure of excitement. Time for the first battle. Without realizing, a mad grin crept onto my face, and I chuckled as the group of enemies charged at our party. Kirito, Asuna, and I separated from the main group with six others, acting as interference against the Sentinels while the majority of the players charged Illfang.
Kirito and I took the first move against our three opponents, Kirito taking on two of the Sentinels with his high STR stat while I took one. He tore through their health in relative ease while I dodged and weaved around the creature, taking potshots at the weak spots with a flash of my dagger, switching holds every so often to take a better swing.
Slash, slash, stab. Dodge. Slide around the back, stab, slash. My movements adopted a pattern, and when I saw my health eventually dip into the yellow I called "Switch!" and Asuna took my place. Stepping back, I applied a healing crystal, waiting with bated breath as my HP climbed back into the green, stopping halfway between yellow and full. When Kirito tapped out, I took his place, changing tactics as if to use the Kobolds' own weapons against them.
Suddenly, I found my dagger swishing through the open air. Blinking, I looked around to find that all the Sentinels were dead, and I shrugged. The blood lust hadn't left yet, but lucky for me there was still a bigger fish to gut. I turned around to see Kirito and Asuna already facing Illfang, and we watched as the boss's health dropped to the last bar.
As expected, all fighting ceased when the massive mob roared, sheathing its weapon and pulling another from its hip. Kirito's and my eyes widened when we saw the shape; that was not what had been described in the book. Although I was expecting a change in the pattern, the rest of the party, including Diabel, still looked ready to charge. "NO! DON'T!" The two of us called in unison, shouting to the players.
Most of them paused, but Diabel turned to us and smiled softly, nodding ever so slightly. I cursed; he was going to sacrifice himself and hope Kirito would take control, but I knew that Kibaou would only take advantage of the situation to turn my friend and me into social pariahs for our yells.
Diabel charged to meet Illfang with a yell, only to get cut down brutally. His limp body was knocked back to Kirito, Asuna, and I, and my friend knelt down at once, finally realizing that Diabel was a tester. I let them have their moment as Diabel burst into crystals, an ugly snarl coming onto my face as I twirled my dagger.
Meeting Asuna's eyes, I shared a meaningful exchange with her before rushing forward with a growl, switching the dagger to a reverse grip tight to my body for speed as I rushed towards the boss. Asuna trailed behind me slightly, her rapier drawn and in position for contact with the boss's skin, and when we reached Illfang we moved as one, slicing our way up the monster. When we reached the top of our respective shoulders, we kicked off and flipped out of the way of Kirito, who charged in to finish the monstrosity.
Kirito screamed as he tore through the rest of Illfang's health, though it didn't seem as though he realized he was doing so. It was a sound of defiance and rage against the situation we had all found ourselves in, and a sound of sorrow for those poor souls who have already fallen prey to the world. I sighed wearily as Asuna and I rested from our lunges; only a month, and I was already tired of this existence and the stresses it wrought.
Suddenly, it was over. Kirito had fallen to the ground after striking the final blow against the boss, and the room was silent as the congratulations message filled the empty space before every player. A moment passed, and the raiding party broke into cheers and jubilations. Kirito turned to Asuna and me with a grim look, one we shared. This measly win wasn't without cost.
Agil made his own way over to our little group. "Nice job, Kirito," he said, arms on his hips. "That was splendid swordsmanship." The group quieted down to listen as my friend tried to deny the victory. Sure, I understood why he did so; he probably couldn't get the startling death of the previous raid leader out of his head, but even I knew that would only cause trouble for all of us.
As I predicted, it didn't take long for the other shoe to drop. Even as the other players started clapping for Kirito's victory, a shout was heard above the rest of the crowd, a cry of anguish, confusion, and rage. "Why?!" The crowd turned to look back behind it, and I saw that the disturbance was caused by none other than Kibaou. "Why… Why did you let Diabel die?" I winced.
"Let him die?" Kirito nearly murmured, slightly puzzled. I grimaced; this was not going to go well, and in such an emotionally charged atmosphere there was little I could do in the way of damage control.
"Of course!" Kibaou cried from his position, cross-legged on the floor. "You knew what technique the boss would use! If you'd given us that information up front, he wouldn't have died!" I sighed deeply in a futile attempt to quell the rising rage within me at the foul man's words.
Mutinous mutterings filled the rest of the party. Kirito had his head half-turned to the man while the rest of us – Klein included, as he had just reached us from the crowd – simply faced Kibaou, forming a wall of sorts in case things got too out of hand.
"He must be an ex-beta tester!" a voice cried, starting up the rest of the mob. "That's how he knew about the boss's attack patterns. He knew, but he kept it from us! There's got to be others here too, right? Those beta testers! Come out!"
"I'm not…"
"Are you one?"
Muttered question and answers filled the hall. Agil and Asuna glanced about, tense, before pushing through to Kibaou. Kirito gulped as if finally realizing the weight of the situation, and I crouched next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Whatever happens, whatever they call you, I'm on your side. Remember that, Kirito," I whispered into his ear, waiting for him to nod before standing again.
I made my way over to my other friends, almost there when a dangerous laugh was heard behind me. It was sickening, a terribly hopeless sound, but I knew at an instant it came from Kirito. I whirled around and caught his eye, holding a silent conversation before frowning severely and pulling myself back. As loathe as I was to admit it, my friend knew what he was doing, and he was fully prepared to become a pariah for the sake of the other beta testers.
"An ex-beta tester, did you say?" Kirito's voice rang out in the silence, tinted with dark amusement. "I wish you wouldn't compare me to those newbies."
"W-What?" Kibaou stuttered.
"Most of the 1,000 people who won SAO beta test slots were beginners who didn't even know how to level up," my companion continued, walking through the throng of players confidently. "Even you guys are better than them. But I'm not like those guys. During the beta test, I made it to higher levels than anyone else was able to reach. The reason I knew about the boss's sword skills was because I fought tons of monsters with those skills on floors far above us."
"I know lots of other things too," Kirito looked down, a cruel smirk on his face as he glared – no, sneered at Kibaou. "Way more than any information broker."
"W-What?" Kibaou asked haltingly, sounding almost afraid of my long-time partner. "That's… That's way worse than a beta tester! That's cheating! You're a cheater. That's what you are! Yeah, a cheater!"
The mutiny that was behind all of us worked its magic, and a new term was coined. "He's a beta tester and a cheater… He's a beater!" Kirito smiled evilly and nodded to himself.
"A beater… that's a good name. That's right. I am a beater." Kibaou recoiled in disbelief as my friend unveiled what appeared to be his true colors, and I restrained myself from following him up to the stands. This was Kirito's show. "From now on, don't confuse me with the other players." At this, the last attack bonus that Kirito won was equipped, the Coat of Midnight. It was jet black, as expected, with an extended collar.
Once the Coat settled on Kirito, he harrumphed in Kibaou's direction and turned to the stairs to the second floor. I followed behind him and to his left after I snarled at the poor excuse for a man we left behind. It only took a moment, but Asuna began to run after the pair of us. "Wait!" she called, halting our ascension to the second floor. Kirito made no move to turn back, so I did for him. "You called my name when we were fighting."
"Sorry for being rude," Kirito apologized, and I saw at once he was attempting to cut off all ties with other players. "Or did I mess up the pronunciation?"
"Where did you learn it?" Asuna asked, and I almost laughed at the ridiculousness of the subject matter. However, before I knew it, my friend had finished speaking and moved to the top of the stairs without me. I sighed sadly, knowing that all ties meant all ties. I was included in his disappearance, and reluctantly, I accepted this. I knew I'd still be able to PM him without much trouble.
"You can become powerful," Kirito said, startling me out of my reverie. "You too, Sarok. So if anyone you trust ever invites you to join a guild, don't turn them down. Because there's an absolute limit to what you can do as a solo player."
"Then what about you?" Asuna asked softly, but her question was only met with silence as Kirito dissolved the party and moved forward, leaving the floor without once turning back. A tear fell from her eye, and I descended to her level, placing my hand on her shoulder comfortingly.
"He'll be back," I murmured. "Just give it some time, and it'll all blow over. I know him." She nodded sadly, and we watched him go. After the heavy stone doors shut behind him, I sneered and turned back to Kibaou, letting my rage flow into my personality.
"Now," I started, my voice raising to a threatening volume. "Kibaou, you son of a bitch. It's time you and I had words." Fearfully, the man in question stepped back, and I grinned in a dark pleasure, striding up to him with purpose and lifting him off the ground with one hand. "While that you've turned the man who could be the most powerful player in this godforsaken game against you lot, you've forgotten one thing."
"W-What's that?" he asked, seemingly terrified of the glint in my eye. Justly so, I thought vindictively.
"Kirito. Wasn't. The. Only. One. Who. Noticed." I punctuated each word with a shake of the fist that held the man aloft. "In case you had forgotten, I yelled with him in warning. And guess what? I'm not even a beta tester. No, I've just played enough games in my life and HAD ENOUGH THOUGHT THAT I COULD NOTICE THE CHANGING PATTERNS! BEYOND THAT, I CHECKED WITH A FEW INFO BROKERS PRIOR TO THE FIGHT TO DOUBLE-CHECK!" My virtual spittle flew into the terrified man's face, dissolving an instant after.
I snarled and threw him away, stalking up the stairs and into the next floor without another word. Idly, I sent Asuna a party request in order to stay in contact and explain what I had done, but by and large I had no desire to stagnate in that stuffy chamber any longer. I needed to kill something, and that something needed to be angry at me back.
A/N: Now, several of you might be very angry at me for the delay. As a result, this is a bit longer. Also, please allay your concerns. I simply had a massive wall of writer's block. Oh, and my dad had a heart attack. So yeah. Forgive me for not uploading.