Okay to start this chapter off, I would like to clear up a few things.

First let's address the issue of how he got into Sao. Being a closed server, it's impossible for anyone to get in. This I've already thought about and hence his task as the messenger. The people on the outside expect him to stay in the safe zones and just deliver mail but alas, no gamer would agree wholeheartedly to that. So in exchange, they log him in and allow him to play if he brought messages from any family that was willing to give them.

Second, the issue of how he got the letters in to begin with. I also planned for this one. In the anime, Kirtio saves his daughter by turning her into an item and saving her to his nerve gear. The way I did it was a similar process, except that he saved it to the system via wire to computer.

third, his attitude. As I mentioned earlier, his parents think of him as just another way to make money. His home life is basically slave master relationship with his parents, so he's grown a great hatred of those who look down on others since that's how his parents talk to him. He's a bit lenient with others, but he can't stand bossy people.

I know there may be more questions, but I'm not going to reveal everything yet. Questions such as what kind of guy is he? A hero or an asshole? How is the author going to mutilate the storyline past recognition? When is he going to paired up with the main girl? Why did I give Lizbeth a shorter appearance than Argo? Why the hell did I give him such an amazing weapon? Why do all the fanfic characters always start over powered? To any of my followers who've read my other fics, is he going to end up with the same kind of ending as the others? (You know who you are, and I swear he will have a happy ending. Hopefully, since I have absolutely no plan whatsoever.)

I am now going to shut up and let the story start talking, so I will begin to adlib everything again. Enjoy.

Ezra stood in the crowd of the people resting outside the boss room, glad that Argo had talked him into coming. Just the trip up through the labyrinth had raised him four levels, that in itself had made becoming the info dealers eyes and ears well worth it.

"How you holding up Ezra?" The voice of the player next to him asked. "The labyrinth not too harsh for you?"

"Yeah. Thanks for asking Kirito." The swordsman in black nodded his head before he returned to stand off to the side with his hooded companion. Kirito had not been to pleased when he found out that Ezra had came into the game, but he accepted that he had no control over what Ezra could or could not do.

Earlier when they gathered for the raid in the town and Erza had been handing out his letters to the raiding party, Kirito had approached him with the fencer in the hood.

"How did you get in here?" He had asked, his voice lacking any hostility or disappointment. Ezra was glad that he wasn't taking things south. "It's a damn foolish move, even for you." Okay, there's the reaction he had expected.

"Well, I learned from the best." Ezra joked. Kirito's blank face cracked a smile at the shot and he clasped his friends shoulder.

"Well, I can't deny that." He said. "So how did you actually get in here?"

"I volunteered." Ezra replied. "Argus industries is under a lot of pressure. I ran away from home soon after the game had launched and saw a golden opportunity to go where they can't get to me. I came to their main office and asked for a meeting, telling them I had a plan to help them. They didn't believe me until I started talking."

Kirito cocked his head to the side, thinking. "So you gave them an idea and they let you in? I don't really see how that would work."

"Yeah, that much wouldn't get me in." Ezra agreed. "So I gave them a public hero with the plan. I would go around with their blessings and collected my letters and then I was sent into the game. I have to tell you, that was probably the hardest point. The amount of people who cried, who begged me to do my job, it felt like I was carrying broken hearts with me. Others, were worse. Some people were angry, even close to physical attack against their trapped family members. I preferred the grieving ones then."

"So you originally just wanted to play the game, but ended up turning into a saint?" A soft voice came out from under the hood of the person. Ezra realized that it was a girl, a rare creature in sword art online.

At least she's not another superiority complex. Ezra thought to himself. "No, it just made me somber. I know how important my job is, and I don't dare fail it." He clenched his hands for a moment, feeling the weight as he remembered how little he had actually done so far. "But let's not think of that. I may not trust people to much, but even I will break if I think about how many people won't make it out of here." The three of them fell silent, each of them filled with despair of the future they had. Ezra snapped out quickly, going into the state of emptiness that he used when interacting with his family. "So anyway, ladies first. What's your name so I'll give you your letter."

"My name?" The girl asked hesitantly. Somewhere in that hood her head shifted, glancing at the dark haired teen next to her. Kirito didn't seem to notice but he still pushed her forward. Ezra brought up his list and showed it to her, offering to let her look for herself if she didn't want to tell him. She hesitantly reached out to the list before she paused. Much to Ezra's surprise she closed the window. "I already know what they would say." She said. Ezra could have swore he say a glimpse of a grin on her face that was hidden in the hood.

"To each their own, I guess." Ezra said, turning his attention to Kirito. "Time for your letter than. I remembered yours by heart, so I can speak for your family without looking at my notes."

"Oh, uh, that's okay." Kirito said, raising his hands. "I'll just take the note."

"No, I promised to deliver it just how your sister told me to. She insists."

Kirito sighed. "Fine, go ahead."

Ezra wasn't going to lie, he enjoyed delivering Suguha's message, partly because he agreed with some of what she had told him. Like he deserved a punch in the face.

The solid hit in the face caught the guy of guard, sending him sprawling onto the ground. "You fucking idiot! What the hell were you thinking? You could have at least waited for later to log on! I won't forgive you if you die!" Ezra bowed as if he had just performed a play. "From the mouth of Sugu."

Kirito groaned and sat up. "Did she really tell you to punch me?" He asked, rubbing his cheek.

"Yeah, she also told me to kick you in the balls. But as another male, I don't want to do that to you." Ezra reached out and grabbed Kirito's hand and pulled him to his feet. "No hard feelings, kay?"

"Yeah." They fist bumped. The wrath of a woman put off until they returned to the real world, they were about to go off on their own tasks again when the hooded lady walked up and finished the last of Suguha's request, causing both boys to bend over. One was in pain, the other was laughing too hard.

"Men should finish their promises to girls." She told Ezra, a cold shiver running down his spine and stopping his laughter.

"Yes ma'am." Ezra said, straightening up and backing away. The cold went away, meaning she was no longer glaring at him. First time my body legitimately wets itself out of fear is not to a monster, but to a human girl. Scary.

Ezra smiled, the memory of his first meeting in game with his friend still as humorous as when it had happened.

The blue haired knight took a position in front of the boss door, calling everyone's attention. Diavel had gone over the plan with all of them earlier in the town, so there was no need to repeat himself. He raised his long sword into the air before he shouted. "Let's go!"

Short and simple. He turned and opened the door, the players flooding in after him. The boss room was simply massive, more of a massive hall than a room. At the end they could see a massive red figure sitting on its throne. Diavel lowered his sword at the figure and forty four people branding weapons let out a roar and charged.

The boss fight was going really well and everyone's spirit was high. The plan was working flawlessly, the boss reacting just as they had expected. Ezra had been assigned to the role of damage dealer, so he fought amongst other people in light and medium armor after the tanks took the hit. Being a good level or two below the rest he was generally weaker, but he filled in his disadvantage with his spectacular weapon.

The bosses minions that spawned for each of its four health bars were being well taken care of by another party and a pair of extraordinary swordsmen. He felt pride to see his friend fighting so well.

"Pay attention, dumbass!" A rough voice shouted. Ezra couldn't see what was coming but he managed to jump to the side as the bone axe the boss used came down where he had been standing.

"Thanks Kibaou! I owe you one." Ezra shouted, launching off a sword skill before the boss could recharge for another attack. The blade of his weapon glowed purple and he spun it over his head, bringing it down in a vertical slash. He switched out, making room on the line for a hammer user.

All sense of time disappeared as the battle wore on. Only when his team got called back for a pot rotation did time seem to resume at a normal rate. Ezra watched as the players fought, a thought coming to his mind. Those weren't people out there. They were the heroes. In a game where if you lose you die, they were the ones pushing ahead as hard as they could.

"The outside world has the wrong impression." Ezra said to himself. A sword and shield user on his team heard him and gave him an odd look. "Out there they think your all hiding out in town or taking it slow and cautious. I think most of them have lost faith. But here I see people fighting, refusing to just lie down and die. These are warriors, not civilians."

"You sound surprised." The guy said. "You started fighting as soon as you could. We have our own reasons of fighting, but most of us just want out."

Ezra shrugged. "It's still an inspiring moment." He took a drink from his health potion, almost gagging. "This stuffs disgusting though. Why did they make them taste so horrible?"

"Motivation not to get hit?" The sword user offered.

"Maybe." They got back to their feet as Diavel called them back in. "Now then. Victory, or Soverngarde!"

"Fus-Ro-Da!" The swords man shouted. Together the skyrim Nords joined the fray.

The battle continued without a single player dropping into the yellow. The boss had been pushed down to the end of his third HP bar with only a few pixels. When those were gone the raid party let out a roar. Ezra spared a glance backwards to check on Kirito to find him and his partner dispatching a cobalt sentinel with great proficiency. He let out a low whistle at how fast little miss cape was. Realizing he was wasting time, he got back to fighting before Kibaou could yell at him again.

The raid part fell back when the bosses Final HP bar finally dropped to a third, sending him into a rage mode. Now he was supposed to drop his axe and switch to a Talwar.

Ezra watched as the boss changed, patiently waiting to rejoin the fight as he caught his breath. As the boss drew his sword, the plan apparently changed. Diavel charged the boss alone and someone shouted. The bosses weapon began to glow and it fired off an unknown sword skill catch the knight off guard. He flew back and hit the ground as the follow up struck him. Kirito ran to him with a potion in hand. Some words were exchanged and the knight pushed away the potion before shattering. Ezra processed all this stuff numbly, all the sound in the world disappearing. People began to break rank, clutching their weapons as the doubt from losing their leader weighing down on them.

The boss had no sympathy for them, resuming his attack. A lone swordsman rushed in and countered his attack. Kirito himself was fighting the boss while everyone else watched. A red bullet shot across the room and joined the fight, her rapier gleaming with a sword skill. The boss swung at her, narrowly missing and tearing her hooded cape out of existence. The sight of her long hazel hair captivated everyone on the room as if a goddess had descended to fight for them. Together the unusual beauty and the black swordsman fought the boss, Kirito finishing it with a spectacular mid air attack.

Silence came over the raiding party, the players still on guard. Then the notification came up congratulating them for beating the boss and a great roar filled the room. Everyone began to celebrate, rejoicing about their win. Ezra was no exception, shaking hands with his new friend, Sora the swordsman.

"Why!?" The piercing cry broke through the joyous atmosphere. "Why did you let Diavel die!?"

Silence fell once more, everyone's attention on the teen who still stood where the boss had last been. Whispers started up and someone accused him of being a beta tester. It sickened Ezra on how quickly these people de-evolved to human beings. They were no different from those who he had to deal with everyday. Someone was even going at Argo and she wasn't even present.

Kirito started to laugh coldly, silencing those who were speaking. "A former beta tester? Please... Don't treat me like those amateurs."

The guy who had spoken, a skimitar user, was taken aback. "Um... What?"

"Think back. The odds were stacked against anyone trying to get into the Sao closed beta. How many of the thousand who made it in do you think were true MMO fans? They were all noobs who barely knew how to level. You guys are way smarter about this game than they ever were."

The air grew chilly as forty one players stared in disbelief and disgust at Kirito as he continued. "I'm nothing like them." He grinned snidely. "I made it to floors higher than anyone else in the beta did. I knew the bosses attacks because I've fought monsters way stronger than that on higher floors. I know plenty about this game, more than any info dealer. Even Argo.

"What... do you mean?" Said someone in the crowd. "You're worse than a beta tester... you're a cheater! A cheater!" The crowd began throwing around the words beta tester and cheater, giving birth to the strange new title of beater.

"Beater." Kirito proclaimed loudly. "I like the sound of that. That's right, I'm a beater. Don't you ever insult my skill by calling me a former beta tester." He turned his back on the raiding party and walked towards the door to the next floor. He equipped a new cloak, one that was as dark as night, before he called over his shoulder. "I'll go activate the teleport gate on the second floor. I'd recommend you stay on the first floor for a bit, I saw a lot of new people during the beta who got wiped out by the first unfamiliar mob they ran across." He haughtily stalked away, full villain persona on full display. Ezra wasn't effected by it since he knew Kirito since he was a kid, but he wished his friend luck and prayed he would come out safe.

"What an asshole." Sora said, staring at the beater's back as he disappeared through the door that led the way to the stairs to the second floor.

"No." Ezra said. "Not even close." He spun his weapon and started towards the door, the fencer already way ahead of him. It appeared as if they were the only ones going up. "Not even close at all." Ezra said quietly to himself.