Chapter 2- Moving On

A week had already passed since Kayaba's speech, and so far a good handful of players had died either out in the field or committed suicide. Kaito and I decided to stay at the Town of Beginnings to grind levels and col. Since the boars and wolves didn't give that much exp, we both only made it to level 18. We did get some new sword skills from it though, and that was why Kaito and I spent our entire day in the field trying our new skills.

After killing another boar with my new skill Charge, I turned to Kaito who was standing next to me. "Listen Kaito. "I started, "I think we need to leave the Town of Beginnings. Even though we've taken refuge there, it won't help us get closer to leaving this cursed game. "

"I was thinking the same thing, "he said sheathing his blade, "If we can get to the next town and do some quest there, then we'll be ready to take on the boss soon. "

"Dude, "I said rolling my eyes, "Didn't you hear the news a few days ago? No one can find the Boss room. Not even the Ex Beta Testers can find its location. "

Kaito started walking back to town and I followed, "Lets head back to the inn and get ready to go. "

Together we ran back to the Town of Beginnings, which was still full of players from opening day. People were scared to death of Kayaba, and since he gave his death threat, people barely leave the town of Beginnings anymore to level up and get stronger. Kaito and I only stayed because we needed time to process what could possibly happen to us now that we are stuck here. I thought to myself, Wonder where Kayaba is? Is he watching us, or has he left us to die?

"Hey Psyto? "Kaito said snapping his fingers, "Why did you stop? "

I brought myself back to virtual reality, "Sorry I was just thinking. "I explained, "Come on. Let's get back to the inn. "

We ran back through the gate and someone bumped shoulders with me. I stopped to see a cloaked figure running out of the Safe zone towards the fields. Probably just leveling up like us, I thought to myself. Something about that player though was off, but I couldn't think about it at the moment since Kaito was leaving me in the dust. I turned around and ran to catch up to him.

I caught up to him as he stood at the market. He was looking at the stand where he bought his scarf and was in the store menu. As I waited to see what he was doing, a trade menu popped up in front of me, and it read…

TRADE

Red Horsemen Jacket

I looked up at Kaito who was smiling. He gestured me to equip it, so I accept the trade and opened my menu. I went to my equipment and touched the Jacket icon. Instantly, the jacket appeared on my body, it even went under the belt that keeps my sword on my back. The Jacket was solid red with two darker lines on the left shoulder. The collar of the jacket went around my neck except for the front, which was in the shape of a blocky V. "Thanks Kaito. "I said before holding up my fist.

"It suits you better than just the armor man. "Kaito said, bringing his fist in for collision. They both smiled at each other and returned to running to the inn.

THE NEXT DAY...

I stood at the gate waiting on Kaito to sell the items that would slow us down. We needed to travel light if we're to get to the next town. I examined my new article of clothing that Kaito gave me. The jacket gave me +15 armor and sent my speed skill up by 3. It was probably the only thing that made me looked cool.

Kaito came around the corner, "Hey Psyto, "he said as he stopped in front of me, "I'm done selling the items, but I bought some food for the road just in case we get hungry. "

"Alright then lets get going. "I said with a smile, and together we ran out of the Town of Beginnings to begin our game clearing adventure.

Within about four hours we were halfway there, so we stopped at part of the path with giant rocks on each side. We sat against the rocks and ate some bread while talking about stuff that we heard from people passing by.

"So their's been rumors of a mini boss in this part of floor one. "I said to Kaito while munching on my piece of bread.

"Plus news about a cloak figure running around floor one stealing kills and disappearing afterwards. "Kaito added to my sentence, "Should we investigate or should we keep going to the town? "

"We need to keep going. "I said after finishing my bread, "It should be nightfall by the time we get there so we should definently- "

My words were cut off by a scream echoing in the distance. Kaito and I jumped up and nodded at each other. We ran at full speed towards the player screaming, only to find something even more terrifying. The mini boss stood in front of a cloaked player whose HP was in the red zone. Kaito was shocked to see that the player was wielding a two handed crimson sword, but I was shocked to see that the mini boss was a giant wolve.

As it went to take a bite at the player, the player jumped out of the way to only get pulled back by the wolves teeth sinking into the cloak. The durability of the cloak hit zero and disentigrated into shards, revealing the player beneath it. Our eyes widened when we saw that it was a girl.

She wore Iron armor on her chest along with blue robes on top of her armor. She looked she knew what she was doing, but even from the distance we were at, I could see that her eyes were filled with fear. That was also considering the fact she was about to die.

"LETS GO! "Kaito yelled, and we charged the giant wolve with our weapons drawn.

The girl heard Kaito and jumped out of the way so we could take it on. I used my sword skill Charge and stabbed at the wolves head, causing it to stagger back. As the boss tried to regain balance, Kaito swung his sword and put a gash across its neck. The wolve's HP hit the red zone and was so close to dying, but then it got its footing back. It lunged out at Kaito and the wolves claws grazed his chest. He was shot back by the attack, and his HP went into the yellow zone.

"SWITCH! "Kaito yelled as he hit the ground. I ran at full speed towards the boss and activated my sword skill. As the wolve swung at me I jumped up and pointed my sword at its head...

The boss desintegrated into crystal shards, leaving nothing but exp and alot of col. I turned around and saw that the girl we saved was sitting next to Kaito drinking some health potions. I walked over to them and sat down to. "You okay miss- "

"Elma, "she said in a calm voice, "just call me Elma. Thanks for helping me out. "

"No problem. "Kaito said, finishing his health potion, "We can't just sit around while people are getting killed. We think that the more people that are alive, the quicker it should be to get out of here. "

"That is actually a good reason. "Elma said, "but why would you help me? "

As soon as she asked that question, I thought I saw Kaito get nervous. "We can't just leave you to die. "I told her, "You know how to fight, and that's a key to surviving. If you were to die, it would be a waste of your skills. "

"How do you know what to say to people? "Elma asked while opening her menu.

"Well' "Kaito started, "When we were close to becoming teenagers, we took kendo classes together. Our instructor taught us on how to speak to our enemies with a hint of truth and they will calm down. "

"You guys seem to be calm about all this, "she said, "and you fight well for kendo students- "

"Hey- "

"Mind if I party up with you guys? "

Kaito and I exchanged looks before he nodded at me. I looked at Elma opened my menu. I went to my party icon and sent an invite to her. She accepted it with a smile on her face, "So where are you heading? "she asked us.

"Were heading to the next town. "I told her, "We are planning to do some quest their to level up for the day the boss is found. "

"That was what my plan was until the mini boss got agroed on me, "she said as we all got up.

" Well lets get going, "Kaito said, and together we got on the path and went to the second town.

LATER THAT DAY...

We sat in our room at the inn thinking of what to do next. The first quest in this town was already taken, which dissapointed us. Now we wouldn't get the special quest item, and just get the less good ones.

As we sat their, Kaito made the suggestion to start back up our leveling schedule again, and we all agreed to it. Kaito and Elma took different beds while I took the couch. It didn't take me long to fall asleep after thinking what will happen now.