A/N: if your reading this then Thankyou for takimg an interest in my story, it really means a lot to me as if anything I know I'm not a great writer and that's something I'd like to change, however, I can't do that without your help. If you could spare just a little time to point out any mistakes or things I could improve then it would be gratefully appreciated.

Tatsuki

Ha!" I yelled as I slashed down on the Kobold trooper. We'd only come so little into the Labyrinth partially down to Liz and her skill-level, though so far it's been fun, the last time I partied with someone was a week-ago helping Ao get the Anneal-blade. I've kept Viral posted on Liz as we slowly progressed inwards. Having bought the map-data for this area we knew all the general routes and where to go but we still had to be careful of traps.

Another Ruined Kobold trooper appeared before us, I dashed towards it and fell into the Activation-Stance for Silver-light, a 3-hit combo that I'd recently learnt. The blade of my sword glowed a brilliant white and my body dashed towards the target, first a 360 Degree spin slashing at the Kobold's chest leaving a crimson red gash and a second slash flowing the momentum. The final slash was a full powered and over the head slash from top to bottom.

Sadly this skill didn't kill the monster and I decided to try out something new. I put a few paces between us and drew the knife from it's sheath resting bellow my armpit. The knife was surprisingly long, possibly two ruler lengths (30-60cm).

I flipped it in my hand making sure I held the short blade in a reverse-grip and kicked off the ground heading towards the Kobold.

It drew its Axe behind its body before bringing it down towards me. The Axe head came within inches. However, I used the short blade and paried it away. "Ha!" My legs buckled under the impact yet I recovered and dashed forward thrusting the blade of my Straight-sword into the monsters chest.

It's HP reached zero and the monster shattered into small reflective crystals,disintegrating

My breathing had become ragged due to the danger and I could feel my heart pounding against my rib-cage due to what I faced merely moments before. Though it wasn't really my heart I guessed there was a heartbeat sensor or something and it translated that rhythm to my avatar. So perhaps my body, that is currently lying in a bed had its heart-rate spike.

"I... Need to... Work on my... STR parameter... " if I did it should be possible to parry a monster's strike with the smaller knife. "You know..." I looked up towards the voice from my bent over position. "You're crazy... you know that?" Liz said and I stood up straightening my back. "You know,your the second person to say that." I chuckled "come on" we continued farming for all the materials needed and gathered them all in around 6 hours and by the time we left the dungeon it was close to 11 o'clock at night. "So, do you want to craft the gear tomorrow or when we get back?" I asked my companion, Liz had managed to gain quite a few levels though no where near high enough to constantly fight like I do. Looking at me from beside Liz was my partner Viral. His midnight fur made it close to impossible to discern him from the pitch-black surroundings and only his scarlet-eyes were visible.

Liz was ruffling his fur when I asked. "Hm... How about tomorrow, It's too late now and going out into that tower was tiring." Was her answer and I agreed, crafting at night was not a good idea, somehow there has never been a good weapon to be crafted at dark and only bad ones."thanks for today" she smiled before running off. "Strange girl..." I muttered.

Making my way back to my inn at night is always creepy though definitely not scary. There were barely any players in the streets compared to the day where almost everyone but those who stayed in the starter town.

Opening the front door to the inn I were greeted by two friendly faces, Argo and Kirito. The pair were siting siting at our usual table chatting away. "Hey" I said as I sat down in the third and empty seat.

My cousin and friend looked to me and grinned, there was a look to them that made me worry however I couldn't out my finger on it. "So, who's the girl you were with?" And there it is, that was the look in their eyes.

"W-W-What are you talking about?"I stuttered which only proved they were right. "Come on spit it out" Argo jabbed.

I sighed and explained my day from the moment I met Liz and until I retuned here. "Wait wait! Hold on, what was that about a sword?" Argo asked, Oh.. So that's what she picks up on... I sighed and pulled out my two blades that made up the Wolf-Fang. "Here" I passed them over to her and let her look over it for a few minutes until she returned it. "That's a 'Familiar-Blade'" I blinked, a familiar blade? "What's that, Was it in the Beta?" She shook her head.

"No, apparently it's recently been added in the release. When a player tames a familiar a random-event is generated, if the Tamer completes it then they get a weapon corresponding to their Familiar, apparently Viral's weapon is a set. one Sword and one knife" huh, I finished sheathing the two blades and looked back up. "That set has to be stronger than the Anneal-Blade in terms of strength, have you gotten it appraised yet?"

I scratched the back of my head "nah... I haven't found anyone who's bothered to actually get it" Argo placed her chin on top of her hand...

"Well... If I come across anyone who has one i'll direct them to you" she stood up from her seat and proceeded to climb the stairs "night Ki-bou, Ta-ki" Kirito and I both returned a goodnight and decided to go off to our own rooms. "By the way, you've been considerably quite recently, what's up?" I asked. He wasn't talking mug earlier and he's been disappearing an awful lot recently.

"Oh... Uh, I've been helping this girl..."

"Huh... So, you both took the mick out of me yet... You've been doing something similar!" I playfully punched him on the shoulder and he returned a grin.

"Couldn't help it, sorry" we finally reached our room a and wished each other goodnight.

The next morning I awoke from my slumber, my head resting upon my fluffy pillow, Viral. Yawning I clambered out of the bed waking Viral in the process and equipped my gear. "I wonder if anything interesting'll happen today?..." I muttered to no one in particular. Viral made a couple of lighthearted growls and grinned... I think? Having been fully equipped I motioned for Viral onto my lap and he gladly complied. Something I'd gotten into the Habit of every morning.

Swiping my hand down thus opening my menu I pulled out a comb and began to stroke it through my fury partner's hair. Not what you'd expect I'd do huh? Back home I was always in-charge of looking after our pets. We once had a dog who was loyal, and I mean really loyal. He'd always sleep with me at night, walk me to school then head home and come back just in Time for when I normally came out, If I didn't come out he'd sit at the gate waging his tail. Thinking back he looked almost exactly like Viral... Perhaps that's why I decided to Tame him... Or.. Perhaps the game looked through my memories? Is that even possible?

I sighed, there's no reason why I should get so fixed on this. Finishing combing Viral's hair the two of us left our room and headed for Liz's little store. Once we stepped outside the Inn a couple of familiar faces entered my vision. I grinned and called out to them. "Ao! Reika!" The duo instantly looked at me, grinning in the process. "Oi! How did that date with Liz's go?" Eh... Wait what!

"It wasn't a date! No... More Importantly where did you hear that!" The pair tilted they're heads simultaneously "Argo, where else?" They replied, Of course...

I should never have told Argo any of that last night, I must of been too tired to even think straight. Sigh "well whatever, so how's the Anneal-blade holding up?"

I helped Ao just the other day and although it took from dusk till dawn we finally got the quest-drop. "Hm? Oh it's awesome! Thanks for the help. " that's good, though that's the kind of answer I was expecting... "That's good" i relied.. There was something I wanted to tell them... Uh... oh! I know! "By the way, are you two going to take part in the boss-raid?" The pair turned to each other then returned a blank stare at me "of course we are!" They yelled simultaneously.

"Ok ok you don't have to yell" they both grinned, holding in their laughter though failing miserably.

We caught up and made our separate ways, well, after Reika petting Viral anyway.

I made my way through town and eventually found myself standing before Liz' small shop. Surprisingly the merchant district was empty though I guessed it was due to the time... It was around 5 in the morning. It was now when most support class players set up their shops.

"Yo" I spoke casually raising my hand whilst viral made a friendly bark or howl... Whatever the noise a wolf makes as currently I can't think of what's it's called.

The smith girl looked up at me and smiled, or was that annoyance, well whatever.

"Did you bring the materials?" Liz asked sternly, ok that was definitely annoyance

Either way I sighed and pulled out a bag of all our drops from the day before. "Here it is" dropping the bag just before her I sat down and watched her open the sack, pulling out all the mob-drops that would be useful for crafting. "I'm still amazed we gathered all this in one day..." I heard her mutter, well, it would have been quicker without you though it though it best to hold that comment back.

"So what gear do you want?" The Smithgirl asked.

"I'll take a Chest-plate, Bracers and shinguards, anything more and it'll do me more bad than good."

"You sure about that? Knights are normally slow and covered in armour?" ...

"To begin with I'm not a knight but a Swordsman, there's a pretty big difference" I stuck my tongue out at her and in reply she struck her anvil with head of her hammer. A few minutes later and it was done.

I equipped my new gear trading it out for the old and It certainly made an improvement. The metal of the armour was a Raven-black decorated by a scarlet trim. The five pieces fit nicely beneath my cloak and what's more they were as light as a feather.

"Heh, thanks Liz" a slight blush surfaced yet subsided quickly "do you think you could enhance my new blade?" Her reply was a quick one.

"O-of course" I grinned in thanks and pulled off the sheaths tied to my body that held my two blades that made up the Wolf-Fang.

Laying them over her mat she looked back towards me. "What are we going to use as the materials?" I thought for a second until remembering the other drops from yesterday. "We got a ton yesterday just give me a minute to get them together" swiping my hand down and opening my my menu I noticed in the corner of my eye Viral slowly prowling towards Liz' lap and laying there. I smiled and got back to focusing on my inventory. Organising all the needed items and placing them in a bag I materialised it and dropped it on the mat. "That's all we should need, it's more than Enough for a plus-4 enhancement"

"R-right, how would you like it enhanced?"

"Strength and speed will do " it took a few minutes but the clang of metal reverberating was worth it. "Here" she returned my blade and I slung the sheaths over my body. The knife was sheathed beneath my armpit whilst the main blade was sheathed across my back. "Thanks Liz" standing up and once again opening my menu I sent a trade request other to Liz and Inputted some more Col. However she waved her hands. "T-too much! I'll only take half... B-" she stuttered. "But in return... Your not allowed to use any other Smith" she blush had serviced once more. "S-sure..." Not to sure how to reply to that I slowly inched away. I was about to head off to the Labyrinth when I heard her yell. "Don't you dare die!" Waving my hand I looked over my shoulder letting off a smug grin.

6 days later...

It's reached one month now.. Tomorrow is the day a mass suicide will take place, but only if we can't help it. If we reach the next floor today then we can stop it, and in the process prove that this game can be beaten. I was sitting In the roman amphitheatre, the place where the boss meeting will begin and awaiting my cousin Kirito. Most of the players had already arrived including Argo who was hiding at the top by the massive pillars. Viral was sat beside me curled up asleep.

A familiar face came Into view along with a hooded-player, heh, perhaps this is the girl he'd been hanging around with. Waving my hand and calling them over I noticed another pair of faces, Ao and Reika. The four of them came ups the steps and sat beside me. Kiritos the the other player sat on the other side of Viral whilst Ao and Reika sat beneath us on the steps below. I playfully punched him on the shoulder grinning. "Your still alive huh?" He turned around returning the gesture "same goes to you" we engaged in meaningless chatter, apparently he'd enhanced his Anneal-blade to plus-4 as well. You may be wondering why neither of us had enhanced it more but there's a simple explanation, the material needed is only dropped on the second floor.

Around the time we finished our little chat almost all of the high-level players nicknamed the 'frontliners' which included us had arrived. Two players were standing at the bottom of the Amphitheatre, the closest and most outgoing of the two who I guessed was the one who's going to be the speaker had light blue hair , he wore silver plate armour covering most of his body. Leaning against the wall was the other player, he wore leather Armour and a hood obscured his features. I recognised his armour... I think I'd passed him a few times in town.

Whilst I tried to recall why he was familiar he looked up to me, tho it was impossible to see my features from that distance when I have my hood up my right eye was definitely defined. I grinned inwardly, seeing a player wearing a hood and one Scarlet eye had to be creepy. The Hooded player looked away focusing on the blue haired player he was conversing with who had by then moved to stand in the centre of the Amphitheatre.

"Thank you all for coming here today" the Blue haired guy began "my name is Diavel and my job, is knight!" A ripple of laughter erupted from all the attendees and a few even yelled. "Dude! There is no Job system in this game!" Diavel seemed to take it as a joke himself and went long with them for a few moments until becoming serious once more. "Yesterday- no, a few days ago my party discovered the boss room" everyone had calmed down and gave their un-divided attention. "Is what I'd like to say however, it wasn't is that discovered it but him" he pointed behind him at the hooded player who instantly lowered his Hood even further.

"Before we go any further I'd like everyone to form up Parties, we'll then create a raid-group made up of each of your individual parties" before he even finished his sentence I sent a party invite to the four players around me, each of them accreted instantly... Well, everyone apart from the player Kirito came here with who accepted after a slight hesitation. Four bars had appeared bellow my own displaying the status of each member. I looked at Kirito's friend 'Asuna huh' I guess she's a girl then... either that or a guy who wanted to be a girl at release ,and chose to have a girly name.

Just as Diavel was about to continue a voice boomed from behind. "WAIT!" a tiny man jumped down from the back and into the centre of the Amphitheatre. "The names Kibaou and before we go any further a gotta say som'ing to say" he turned. Facing everyone and yelled once more. "You lot have got to pay!" My brows furrowed at this, who had to pay? "I don't suppose your talking about the Beta- Testers?".

Diavel interjected. "Of course! Those bastards left us for dead! They went up and disappeared, took all the good quests and hunting quests for themselves!" I clenched my fist whilst Kirito looked down with his bangs covering his eyes.

"I bet there are some here!" He continued. "You should drop your head and give up all your money! Beg for forgiveness!" That's it! I stood from my spot and so did another player. A massive man with brown skin, an Axe hung on his axe and he easily gave off an intimidating aura. "Hang on a moment" he pulled out a small leather book, the guide that Argo had put together along with a few other Testers. "My name is Agil and I'd just like to make sure of something, you have a copy of this right? It's on sell in each town." He motioned for the book and realising his intention I returned to sitting.

"Of course" Kibaou muttered. The massive man Agil began to explain.

"So, you're trying to say that all those people died because there was no one around to teach them?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"This guide book here" he hit the small leather cover "was compiled by the beta testers and sold for free" y-your kidding! me and Kirito stood simultaneously and yelled "BUT THIS GUY SOLD IT TO US FOR 200 COL!" Pointing towards Argo, however when we looked towards her we noticed she had conveniently disappeared. The spectators all laughed and we returned our attention to the centre.

Agil continued on, he wasn't going to let up on the subject and I was glad, I knew there were a few Tester haters and it's only going to get worse. But, if there are people like him, then I'm sure it won't get to bad. "Look, this info was available and still is to everyone eye people still died! I thought we were here to make good on their deaths and learn from them!" Everyone was clapping, this guy, he's definitely gonna be well known late on. Kibaou sat down in a huff right next to Agil and Diavel continued on with our Meeting.

"Right then, in truth a new version of the guide book had been published, it says that the boss is called 'Ilfang the Kobold lord' and his minions the 'ruin Kobold sentinels'... " I zoned out for the rest as I've already read the guide already. The boss switches to a different weapon sometime around then last health bar.

"Right then, we'll meet back here tomorrow at 10:00 AM" all the Players began to disperse and so did I and the rest of my party.

Thrax

So the wolf is gonna take part huh? I was just about to leave when Diavel approached me. "Your still gonna take part right?" I lowered my hood a bit more

"Well yeah, I'm not exactly going to skip something so important am I?" There was a look in his eye that I couldn't quite understand however, as quick as it appeared it disappeared. "That's good to here though your going to need a party, why don't you join that Wolf fella?"

"Sure..." I made my out of the Amphitheatre and back to my Inn, I didn't really have anything left to do and I can always join their party tommoro.

A/N: what'cha think?

before I say anything else I'd just like to say something, this chapter was influened by both the anime and Progressive manga so there will definitly be some differences from what some of you may know.

I finnaly decided when the two MC's will meet, in the next chapter. oh and I'm sorry if you prefer Thrax' POV but don't worry, the ext chapter will likely be from his POV for the most if it.