Thrax

"Jesus!" I jumped out-of-the-way of an arrow "are you trying to kill me!?" I yelled at my Master Durm who simply smirked. "This is training, dodging the arrows if monsters is much-needed skill."
"But what about parrying and actual sword fighting?"
"That comes later"
A few hours later we finished my training and headed to bed. I've recently been allowed to leave the hideout more often now and I've spent the time hanging with Mika.

"Oh and by the way, the rest of your training will continue on the second floor. Your current mission is to now look for the dungeon and consequently, the floor boss"
I blinked. "Seriously?"nobody has been able to reach a high enough level even to reach the next town, let alone the dungeon. If I'm to start looking now I'd be alone.
"Well yes. I'll be heading up to the second floor now, I'll see you once this floor's cleared." Master Durm then proceeded to pull a small pouch from out of his pocket. "But tha-" before I could even ask him however he threw the pouch to the ground causing a small smokescreen that perfectly hindered my eyesight. When the smoke dissipated the figure of master Durm had disappeared.
"Shit..."

1 week later...

It's been three weeks since this death game began and yet nobody has found the floor boss. Multiple parties head out into the dungeons every day with little to no casualties.
As per master Durms orders I've headed out into the field, the dungeon and mapping the labyrinth, the massive spire that connects this floor to the next where lying in wait is the boss of the floor. Even the beta testers haven't found it!
I was making my way to the labyrinth when I passed two players I recognised.
Ao and Reika. "Hey" i said, the duo looked at me and grinned "how was the grinding Or were you looking for the boss-room?"
"Nah, just grinding" Ao replied. Ao was wearing light metal armour along with a more advanced sword. Looking closely I recognised it. "Is that the Anneal-blade?" I was surprised. There aren't very many people who've been able to complete the quest simply because of the sheer number of players attempting to clear the quest, along with how low the drop-rate is for the quest item.

"Yeah, I just got it recently with he help of the Wolf-Tamer you heard of him?"
"Hmm... Can't saying have, what he look like?" This time it was Reika's turn to answer
"He's got black hair and odd eyes"
"O-odd eyes? Is that possible?"
"Yeah, he's got one scarlet, one black, I'm surprised you haven't heard of him, he's the only person who's managed to tame a unique wolf, hence the name "
"Unique?" That's odd... Is it possible to tame unique monster?
"Yeah, it was from some one-time quest. That's why he could tame it... Or so that's how the rumours go, Argo The-Rat charges a ton of Col for the info, what's worse, she's the only one he told" damn... This guy... I wonder who he is?

"You heading into the labyrinth?" Ao asked.
"Yeah, i haven't got much left to map so hopefully we'll be on floor two soon"
"Seriously! Holy Sh-" he was up he'd in the gut by Reika before he got a chance to finish his sentence. "Language!" Seeing these two like this reminds of how good their friendship is, I'd guessed they knew each other IRL as they're never apart, most players that knew each other before the game stay together. Similar to me and Ali- no Mika. "Well either way, good luck!" The duo waved to me and I continued on my way.

I reached the labyrinth in a matter of minutes, passing by the entrance brought back memories of the field boss. A large ogre. It didn't take long to defeat it but still. It was our first field-boss and a little taster as to what then floor-boss will be like.

Passing though the archway like entrance I were immediately greeted by a monster. A Ruin-Kobold Trooper a nasty bugger that wields a two handed axe. It's a humanoid type capable of Sword-Skills and had a bulky build, a tail and rabbit like ears.
"You're in my way!" I yelled, dashing forward and drawing my twin knives. "Dual-Fang strike!" I yelled the name of a 4-hit skill that's part of the Shadow Arts skill.
A skill that uses both knives two hits from each blade.
The knives began to glow a deep purple and my body began to move due to the system-assist.

First my an anti clock-wise spin slashing with my left blade and once I returned to my original position the momentum carried my right blade into a piercing stab. My body repeated the motion only in the opposite direction and all this happened within the span of a couple of seconds. The monster disappeared, shattering into tiny light reflecting crystals and scattering in the wind. "Isn't there anything more challenging?"
I muttered, advancing further into the labyrinth.

It took close to two hours to reach the unmapped area, from here on I wouldn't progress so fast and likely take up to four hours to finish mapping. My plan was to sell the Map-Data to any and all info-brokers making sure to spread it around however, I'd also need to find the highest level of players in the town and give them the data for free, and hopefully tell them the location of the boss-room.

The level of mobs on this floor is somewhere around 6 whilst my level is about 8. And thanks to all the training and grinding I've done I'm in the safety zone for almost everything on this floor, other than the floor boss which we don't know the level of as of yet.
I stepped one foot into the un-mapped territory and immediately triggered a trap. "Shit..." Sections opened within the walls revealing thin slits that were just about big enough to... They're gonna fire arrows, aren't they. "Crap!" I yelled ducking to the ground as flaming arrows passed over head, this must have triggered something else as a ton of mobs started charging towards me. "This just isn't my day!" I un-sheathed my twin blades and charged at the oncoming horde, activating the Sword-Skill Dual-thrust a simple skill where I dashed ahead and stabbed my left blade into one of the mobs and used the momentum to carry my second blade into the mob like a jack-hammer. Jumping back after the delay ended I got into a more offensive. Just as I were about to kick of the ground the five remaining Kobolds shattered into polygons.

Standing In front of Me may as well have been my Guardian-angel. Mika stood, sword In-hand smiling. "What would you do without me?" She asked!
"Um... Die?"
"That was a rhetorical question... Baka" she muttered.

"I thought you were staying in town?"
"I was... Till I got bored with being stared at like some rare species"
"You know... Technically you are. You wouldn't really expect to find such a cute girl such as yourself in a world of swords, would you?" Her face turned as red as a cherry. a little habit I'd made since coming here, for some reason it's really fun to tease her.

"S-so... Do you want to continue mapping?" She asked changing the subject.
"Yeah, that sounds good to me, the sooner we Mao this place the sooner we can reach the next floor"
After that for the next five hours we wondered throughout the labyrinth, looking for traps, treasure and the boss room which we eventually found on the 20th floor. "Should we take a peek?" I asked looking towards my partner.
"L-let's not, it seems a little... Scary" I muttered a "fine fine" before we began to make our way home to the village of Tolbana.

As soon as we reached the town Mika and I parted way as I headed towards the inn Argo was staying in. On my way there I passed by a blue haired player wearing heavy metal-armour. "O-Oi, are you planning on fighting the boss?" I asked nervously. The guy turned to face me with a questioning look. "Yeah, why?"
"I've just found it, the boss room along with finished mapping the labyrinth"
The guy looked surprised "Seriously! Where is it!?" I opened. He menu and navigate to the trade option, sent the request which he instantly accepted and sent him the map-data "it's on the 20th floor, you can take credit for finding it, I'm not really bothered and it'll probably seem a lot more credible coming from you" the guy blinked, but then looked closer as my gear.
"You say that yet, your also a player aiming for the boss, right?" I nodded
" but I mainly keep to myself, you probably have a better rep than me" he nodded and turned to walk away. "Thanks, are,you going to fight with us?"
"Of course"
"Then I'll see you soon" the armour wearing swordsman walked off and I walked towards Argo's Inn. Passing by a cloaked figure I noticed something off about him... And slightly familiar, I could have sworn is aw his eyes but... They were odd, wait... So is he? The Wolf-Tamer? the figure continued to walk and following closely behind him were a wolf that was almost the same size as the entirety of his leg and eventually he was out of sight.

Tatsuki

I walked throughout the town with Viral in tow, nobody stares as much anymore as almost everyone had heard of me... Somehow or other. Apparently thanks to my partnership with Viral my hair had Scarlet-red highlights and my right eye had become the same colour as Viral's eyes, also Scarlet-red. apparently to show our bond or something or other.

I was walking towards what had now become the merchants district as it had become the most popular place for players to lay down their vendors carpets and sell their wares. The reason I'm heading there you may ask? Simply to find some new Bracers and possibly a spare weapon. At this point in time it's impossible to complete the quest for the Anneal-Blade which me and Kirito had completed ages ago. So then next best thing was often player made gear.

Making it to the merchant district took merely minutes, the problem was finding a good blacksmith... It had taken me an hour once before to simply find some materials so finding a blacksmith... Will hopefully be easier.

After what had felt like an hour my eyes drifted to a particular vendor-mat. It's was lathered with armour and weapons not to mention Bracers and shin-guards.
The player selling them was surprisingly a girl. You won't find many girls here so seeing a merchant-player who happened to be a girl was actually slightly surprising. She had brown hair and pink eyes coupled a somewhat baby faces as some may call it.

I walked over to her map and bent down. "How much for the bracers?" I asked. She looked up to me surprised. Then noticed my appearance and the Wolf standing beside me. "Aren't you the The Black-Wolf?"
"Great... Another name..." She tilted her head at my comment.
"What do you mean, another?"
"The name people call me keeps changing... At first it was The Tamer, a ridiculous name in my opinion" I muttered. "Then it became The Wolf's blade another ridiculous name, then The Wolf Tamer, a name that was t so bad and now... It's changed to The Black-wolf"
"Ah... Well their still pretty cool, I wonder if I'll ever get a Title.."
"Trust me, you don't want one!" I she giggled trying to hold back a laugh and somehow succeeded before smiling at, to be honest... She's kinda cute.

"Anyway, you said you wanted the bracers? About 700 Col."
She handed the bracers to me to look over "Huh... Pretty cheap for Bracers"
"Are you calling my stuff cheap!" Oh shit... I think I struck a nerve. Although, I didn't mean anything bad by it... "They are not cheaply made Even if they were, it's only because if the materials, do you know how hard it is to get good materials for a smith!" I smirked, perhaps this could work to my advantage...
"Oh... So if you had the materials, you would be able to make better gear?"
She crossed her arms before her chest "of course!"
"then I'll go get some for you, if I get enough would you make other pieces for me?" I asked as I opened a trade window and sent her some money.
"Pre-payment, you'll get the rest after I get the gear" she was standing there with her mouth making the perfect 'O' shape. "That money could go towards better equipment"
" w-what?" She asked stuttering "do you know what materials you will need?"
"Nope, that was what I hoped you would tell me" I grinned.
"W-well... You'll need-" she began to go through the required materials whilst I Mentally looked for what they drop from and as it turns out, they all drop from the Labyrinth monsters.

"I'll see you tomorrow" I began to walk off towards the dungeon, behind girl yelled. "T-tomorrow! All that stuff in one day" I waved back towards the smith, a sign basics, saying 'I'll do it!'.
I was just about to leave the town when I remembered I hadn't bought the latest Map-Data from Argo or any of the other info-brokers. So I turned my body and walked towards the Inn me and Kirito along with a few other including Argo were staying at.

Speaking of Kirito we've been splitting up a lot rather recently, this may be due to the two of us helping different players but still, it may be nice to fight together for a change. I reached the Inn and immediately headed towards Argo's room and knocked on the door. It opened rather quickly and figure swiftly walked out of the room not making eye contact or even looking at me, I only got a glance at him, and his gear. He wore leather-armour mixed with cloth and wore a hooded cloak. Something... Seemed familiar about him but I couldn't out my finger on it.

Inside the room was Argo sitting on her bed and beckoning for me to come in further. "What up Ta-Ki?" She asked.
"Who was that?" I asked. As I did Viral walked into the room,jumped up onto the bed near a freaked out Argo who quickly jumped away from him.
"O-One of my clients I guess you could say" looking at Viral anyone could tell he was disappointed... He's way to use to getting spoiled by Kirito.
"Right... Anyway, could I get the latest Map-Data?"
"Sure, it was just recently complete as well."
"Seriously!?"
" yep, I think I heard someone organising a meeting to take place soon for the Boss-Raid" Argo said as she opened up a trade menu. I Inputted a small amount of Col and completed the transaction.
"Heh, so we're finally moving up"
"Yeah... Hey.. Try not to die alright? If we lose you it'd be a massive blow"
"Don't worry, I ain't dying anytime soon"I signalled for Viral to come and once he had left the room I closed the door behind me and me and my furry partner headed off to the Labyrinth.

However, I had a surprising encounter. The same Blacksmith-Girl from earlier was standing at the exit of the town wielding a mace whilst some parts of her body were covered by armour."I'm gonna help" she said, I couldn't do anything but face-palm.
" you realise how dangerous the Labyrinth is right?" I asked.
"That doesn't matter, plus it'll be faster this way"
"Not really... It'll be a lot slower with you slowing me down"
"I won't slow you down!"
"Your really stubborn aren't you...""
"Yep"
"Fine... But try not to slow me down"
"Sure!" That smile again.
"Well then, let's go, Viral, you happy with patrolling?" I asked my partner as I added this girl to my party. He replied with an energetic woof and ran down the path beaten path surrounded by trees and bushes.

Looking at my party I found this girl's name Lizbet huh...
"Are all tamed animals as smart as him?" Lizbet asked
"Not entirely sure myself. But before I tamed him he was definitely smarter than others." I said. "Oh and by the way.. Could I just call you Liz?"
" h-how.. Did"
"Look at the top right, there a name besides your own right?"
I noticed her eyes looking upwards. "Tatsuki.. That your name?"
"Yep" just then my right eye slightly glowed.
" w-what's going on?"
"Shhh!" I closed my left eye and the scenery changed to the area up-ahead. The sight that Viral was currently seeing. A large Ruin-Kobold-Trooper was guarding the entrance to the Labyrinth. "Shit!"
"W-what?"
"One of the massive Kobolds from the Labyrinth must have somehow glitch'd outside. It's now guarding the entrance."
"Is that a problem?"
"Not really, it's just a pain in the ass, I'd normally avoid the massive ones whoever now... I can't"
"Then what are you going to do.. Wait no, more importantly how do you even know!" I pointed to my right eye.
"I can see what Viral see's, thanks to this skill of mine, but enough if that!" I grabbed Liz' arm and dragged her closer however once the thing was insight I threw her into on of the bushes. "Stay there! I don't want you getting in the way!"
I expect she wanted to complain however I couldn't give her the chance to do so as I dashed towards the monster.

"Viral!" I yelled and my partner jumped put if it's hiding spot a few metres from Liz. "Bloody-Claw" I yelled. A skill that Viral knew and responded to, he dashing at the Kobold as his nails glowed a Scarlet-red. He rolled forward into the creature and cut at its legs for a total of 5-hits. "Switch!" I yelled, a technique normally employed in parties with multiple player however I've found that It works just as well with Viral.

I dashed at the creature just as Viral jumped backwards and fell into the activation stance for Savage-Fulcrum. First a performed a slash from right to left ,before turning the blade by about 90 degree and did a vertical slash from bottom to top and then proceeded to do a full powered vertical-slash from top to bottom. A skill that traces lines that make up the figure number 4, a 3-hit combo. This had done a considerable a out of damage and brought it down to a quarter of its health which is still surprising considering its size.

I tried to move my body however because of the delay from using a sword skill I were unable to move. I heard a growl coming from behind that I've grown to associate with 'Switch' Viral dashed in between me and the Kobold with his Fangs
Glowing a deep crimson-red, these fangs snapped shut on the leg of the Kobold like a bare trap. Viral had used a skill called Bloody-Fang the sister skill of Bloody-Claw. This skill slowly brings down the Heath of whatever is between Viral's jaw and so far it's been brought done to Half.

The massive Kobold brought its axe up over its head and was planning to smash hit into Viral however. "Switch!" I once again yelled. Performed a few minor slashes and then fell into the stance for Vertical-Arc. My blade began to glow blue and I slashed from top-left to bottom middle then tilted my blade slightly and performed a full powered vertical slash going to top-right, finally cutting the monster up and leaving a V shaped mark.

The Kobold shattered into transparent polygons and disappeared. I shattered, using multiple sword skills like that in such a short span of time was terribly
tiring.
A small window appeared before me. 'Congratulations, you've just defeated the randomly spawning field boss, you have earned an item!'
"Randomly...spawning? That new... So it wasn't a glitch'd monster... Huh... I wonder what I got..." I opened my inventory and found out. "Wolf-blade...huh.. Strangely fitting..." I tuned back to Liz who u had almost forgotten about. "Do you have an appraising skill?" I noticed she was sat their in shock.
"Is something the matter?" She shook her head.
"No.. Its just... You, how, did you use switch.. With a beast.. I know he's tamed and all but, normally their only for support. Not dealing damage"
"Ah.. About that... Let's just say... He's unique" I grinned.
I decided to equip my new blade. And when I did some thing surprised me. There was a knife that was equipped with it. Both had the same hilt design and they were really damn reminiscent of my two Shinai. Back in the real world I practised Nito kendo with a friend of mine and even when he left I continued to practise.
The sheaths were arranged so that the knife was hidden beneath my armpit whilst the main straight sword was sheathed on my back.

"This will make things even easier!" I grinned. "You ready to get those materials?"
"Yeah" Liz relied smiling.

A/N: I know I said I wouldn't be uploading much at the moment but this is what happens when I'm stuck in discovery for 4 lessons straight... (Basically the biggest I.T room in our school, it's where we can go at lunch and it's also where classes are held if there aren't any teachers available to teach a certain class.) it's so god damn boring! The first two lessons were English so I was technically doing work... last lesson was Science and now Art... So I can't really do anything...

welp, I may upload more chapters but I may not, it all depends on how much I right and how far my boredom stretches XD

Anyway. I got the idea for Tatsu's new weapon from the SAO wiki and how Heathclifs weapons are a set. Also, I'm sorry if Liz was a little OOC... I'll try to work on that for later chapters.

see you Next time!