Chapter 3: Warriors

The next morning Heruseus woke to the sound of a new message. He opened his menu and saw it was from another ex-beta tester, Argo the Rat. She was an info broker.

Argo: You need to come meet me in Tolbana by the Black Inn.

Heruseus: Ok. What's up?

Argo: I need some extra advice here.

Heruseus: On my way.

Heruseus left the room and went downstairs. He saw Dragonstar laughing with Gaia. He checked his clock, and it was 9:45 AM. Dragonstar looked up at him. "What're you doing up?"

"Well, unlike you and Gaia, I'm doing something important," Heruseus muttered.

"What do you think we're doing?" Gaia asked nervously.

"I know you two are making out down here. Later guys. Baiiiiiiii!" Heruseus yelled as he ran through the door with Dragonstar's angry shouts from behind. The frigid December air cut through his coat. He ran three blocks to the Black Inn. Outside was a petite girl with dark brown hair and paint on her cheeks that looked like whiskers. This gave her the name Argo the Rat. Heruseus once asked why she had the whiskers. She publically announced she tell anyone for 100,000 col. She was wearing a gille suit under a hood. "What's up?" Heruseus said casually.

"The boss fight is going to be going down soon, and I can help but feel like something is going to be different and someone's gonna die," Argo said quietly.

"I get that vibe too," Heruseus said thoughtfully. "That's why I don't want my team to fight,"

"So I'm not the only one then," Argo muttered. "So, how many of your friends have died?"

"So far, none. Unless someone finally kills you" Heruseus joked.

Argo laughed as well. "I have no enemies yet,"

"Yet," Heruseus laughed.

"Well, I'm glad someone shares my sense of humor," Argo hugged him. "By the way how are you?"

"Well, I'm not feeling crappy so I must be fine," Heruseus smiled.

"Heru-chan, you look like crap. Oh wait, that's just your face," Argo grinned.

Heruseus lunged at her, got her in a neck hold and gave her a big noogie. "Heh, take it back!"

Argo laughed uncontrollably few a couple minutes. Heruseus let her go only after she shrieked, "Sorry! Your face isn't that bad!"

"Hey, so are you busy now?" Heruseus asked casually.

"No, why?" Argo replied.

Heruseus smiled, "There's a nice restaurant down that way. I was wondering if you wanted breakfast or something,"

Argo got a devious grin, "Like a date? Well Heru-chan, you are lucky enough to have caught this rat and tame her. Let's go," She began to walk.

"Wait! A d-date?! I'm not ready!" wailed a blushing Heruseus.

"Just kidding!" Argo said.

Heruseus breathed a sigh of relief. As they walked they chatted. They got to the restaurant and ate. Argo and Heruseus left at about 10:30. Heruseus returned home and was greeted by "Where the hell did you go!?" from Dragonstar and a "What the hell?! You're my nerd! You tell me where you go every time. Also, why do you smell like food?" from Aris.

"Nice to see you guys too," Heruseus said sarcastically.

Gaia slammed an armored fist into Heruseus' face. "Dude! Don't freak us out! Where'd you go?"

"I had breakfast with my friend," Heruseus muttered.

"What friend? Which one of us?" Gaia demanded.

"You guys aren't my only friends," Heruseus muttered.

"Yeah right, I didn't allow you to have more friends!" Aris yelled.

"I don't need your permission. Besides I've known her since the beta," Heruseus muttered.

"A girl huh? Theo, have you been cheating on Stephanie?" Grimmjack teased.

"GRIMMJACK!" Dragonstar and Heruseus both yelled after blushing.

Heruseus chased Grimmjack while Gaia laughed it off. Grimmjack eventually tripped one the rug. Heruseus captured him and sat on him. "You don't get up until you apologize!"

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Gaia opened it and gaped. "Can I see Heruseus?" came a familiar voice. Heruseus face palmed.

Heruseus got up and went to the door. Gaia whispered, "She's a keeper!"

"Shut up," Heruseus muttered.

Heruseus stepped outside and shut the door. "Hey-" He began but was cut off.

"Heru-chan, we beat the boss, but at the cost of a beta tester," Argo said quietly.

"I don't know whether to celebrate or cry. How many dead beta testers at this point?" Heruseus muttered.

"At the moment 321," Argo grimaced.

"Dammit!" Heruseus cried.

"I know, but it's why we have to keep fighting," Argo pointed out.

"True, we need to survive to the end," Heruseus managed.

Argo leaned in and soon the two were in a warm embrace. "Don't die Argo, I'd hate to lose you," Heruseus said in a cracked voice.

"You neither. You're in more danger than I am," Argo muttered. She hugged harder.

"Hey are you two done yet?" Flare's voice came from the second floor.

The two beta testers pushed away from each other and blushed. They waved goodbye and Argo rushed off. "Sorry to ruin your fun Heru-chan!" Flare laughed.

Heruseus ran up the wall, grabbed Flare by the neck and slammed him down. "Nobody, except Argo, gets to call me Heru-chan, are we clear?"

"Clearer than glass!" Flare shuddered.

"Good," Heruseus muttered.

The two walked into the inn and Dragonstar was blushing. She had been looking out the window. "I told you he doesn't like me!" She whispered to Diana.

"No, he doesn't like that other girl that way. He wants you to see he cares," Diana whispered back.

Heruseus and the others heard nothing. Gaia slapped him on the back. "Nice work! You finally gave up on Steph! And you got a real foxy girl too!"

"Shut up, you have no idea what you're saying Gaia," Heruseus growled.

"Woah, chill man," Gaia backed away.

"I'm going solo hunting," Heruseus went for the door.

"Dude you aren't a high enough level," Gaia mocked.

"Really? Tell me, what level you think I am?" Heruseus growled.

"At best, 9," Gaia smirked.

"Wrong," Heruseus opened his menu and set it to visible.

"Holy crap! Heruseus is level 13!" Gaia screamed.

Heruseus left while the others talked amongst themselves. He went to the teleport gate at the center of the town. "Teleport: Urbus!"

Heruseus' gut began to feel like there was extra gravity and he was enveloped by a blue light. After a few seconds the light and feeling disappeared. He looked around to see the familiar town of Urbus. He was on the 2nd floor now.

He got a new message on the group chat.

Gaia: Heruseus, where'd you go?

Dragonstar: Yeah, come back!

Grimmjack: Or did you leave us behind?

Dragonstar: Shut up Grimmjack!

Heruseus: Shut up. I just need some fighting to clear my head. And a new sword. I'm on floor 2.

Heruseus left the chat

Heruseus walked through the familiar town and saw a boy with dark hair and a yellow and blue bandanna. He reminded Heruseus of some kind of Ukrainian Samurai or a Swedish Samurai. Heruseus chuckled quietly. He walked over to a store that had a new one-handed longsword, Balanced Steel. He swung it a few times. He smirked with knowing it was a good sword and he bought it. He checked its upgrade attempts. 8. In SAO you could have a blacksmith upgrade your weapon to have one of the five different parameters; Quickness, Sharpness, Heaviness, Durability and Accuracy. Sharpness increased speed and damage but lowered durability. Durability increased durability but lowered speed. Heaviness increased attack, but lowered accuracy. Accuracy increased critical strike chance, but lowered durability. Quickness increased speed, but lowered critical strike chance. Heruseus went over to the NPC blacksmith. "Hi, I'd like to upgrade my sword,"

The NPC grunted and stuck his hand out. "Materials," he said gruffly.

Heruseus had been fighting monsters since day one of the game, and he never upgraded his Bloody Justice, so he had plenty of materials. He got out 20 materials for quickness and 20 for sharpness. The blacksmith grunted and put them in the flame behind him. Heruseus held out his new sword and the blacksmith went to work. Heruseus decided to upgrade his sword to a Balanced Steel +2S2Q (+2 Sharpness +2 Quickness). He gave the blacksmith his money and left.

Heruseus went out into the lush fields of floor 2. Each floor had a theme. Floor 1 was an anything goes floor. Floor 2 was more themed for fields and pastures. There were lots of cow themed monsters, so the beta-testers renamed the floor The Cow Floor. Heruseus saw a Trembling Oxen, a large cow monster, spawn in and he drew his sword. He charged a sword skill.

3 hours later Heruseus had gained 3 levels and a ton of col and items. He walked back into the town. Right before he teleported back to the inn in Tolbana he heard a voice call out to him. "Heru-chan!"

Heruseus turned and saw Argo. She smirked when she saw him. "So, ya wanna hear what people are calling the high level beta-testers?"

"Why not?"

"That'll cost ya Heru-chan," Argo clicked her tongue.

Heruseus flipped her a 100-col coin. Argo cackled, "People call ya 'beaters'. It's a mix between beta-tester and a cheater,"

"That makes sense. Wasn't there a group out there who's mission was to find and kill all beta-testers high than level 10?" Heruseus asked.

"Yeah. Hey, Heru-chan, what's your level now?" Argo pondered.

"I just hit 16 an hour ago," Heruseus replied.

"Damn, whelp, see ya Heru-chan," Argo cackled as she walked away, flipping her new 100-col coin.

Heruseus was invited to the chat by Optic Flare

Optic Flare: M8, where are you?

Azerath: No! M8 is my line!

Optic Flare: Shut up!

Heruseus: Guys, come up to floor 2, we need to start getting stronger.

Gaia: How long until we join the front lines?

Heruseus: If we do well here, by the 3rd floor.

Gaia: Hell yeah!

Dragonstar: I've been meaning to ask, Heruseus, how do we get from one floor to another?

Heruseus: Go to the center of town and go to the teleport gate. It's the one with the blue lights. Next say Teleport: Urbus while on the platform and then you're all set.

Dragonstar: How do say thanks in Japanese?

Heruseus: Arigato.

Dragonstar: Arigato Heruseus.

Heruseus: Mondainai.

Dragonstar: ?

Heruseus: No problem.

Dragonstar: Oh. Nerd.

Heruseus: Yay! I like being a nerd! \(^.^)/

Titanus: Weirdo.

Heruseus laughed and went over to the teleport gate. Moments later, a group of 8 came through. "Hey guys,"

"Good news!" Dragonstar squealed.

"What?" Heruseus asked.

"We found more friends!" Dragonstar squealed in delight.

The teleport gate glowed once more and this time 5 more players came out. There were two boys and three girls. The first boy had light hair in a buzz cut and the other had dark hair that reached to his eyes. The first girl had long, light blue hair that reached past her waist. Since hair dye wasn't sold at shops yet, she must have gotten it from a monster drop. The next girl had brown hair and brown skin. The last girl had long dark hair that went down her back. On the blonde boy's back was a one-handed spear. The dark haired boy had kunai, Japanese throwing knives, on his thighs. The girl with blue hair and rapier on her waist. The girl with brown hair and brown skin had a single axe on her back. The last girl had a sword at her side and shield on her back. "Yo," said the girl with dark hair.

It was Jamie-Lynn "Terriblelizard" Rogers. At her side were Alice "Ezdeath" Jones, with her blue hair and Gracie "Firestone" Terry, the girl with dark skin, Cesar "Roy" Covarrubias, the kunai boy, and Jerrod "Algernon" Jones. Dragonstar ran over to Terriblelizard. "OMG! I missed you! How are you guys?"

"Not doing too hot. First, Amber, A.K.A The Sacred Panda, has left this world," Terriblelizard grieved.

"And Beth went missing," Algernon nodded.

"Shit!" Heruseus yelled.

"Dude calm down, I'm here now!" Roy laughed.

"Shut up, prick!" Flare retorted.

"That's my line!" Roy yelled.

"To make matters worse, Theo," Ezdeath walked over to Heruseus, "Osra… I mean Josh… is dead,"

Heruseus froze. Tears began to well up. I can't let them see me cry.

Is that all you care about?! You're big brother just died!

But, he could be alive, right?

NO THEO! We need to understand the dead don't come back.

But…

Not buts! I can't accept it either.

"Just cry… Let it all out Little Brother," a voice whispered in Heruseus' ear.

Heruseus turned faster than humanly possible. He could have sworn he saw a spectral image of a buff Asian boy with a buzz cut. This was Josh "Osra" Tran, the first person Heruseus knew from when they were kids. They were so close they called each other brothers. The image flashed. "I will always be right here…" Osra pointed at Heruseus' heart.

The image disappeared. And that's when the floodgates broke, and all the water in the dam broke lose. Heruseus could stop the flow of hot, wet tears covering his face. No one had noticed the ghostly Osra, but they saw Heruseus break down.

Heruseus drew his sword and with shaky hands brought it up to his chest. Suddenly there was a pale flash. There was a sharp sting on Heruseus cheek. Dragonstar's hand had slapped Heruseus. At this point, Dragonstar began to cry. "Don't you die on me now! Don't you kill yourself! I can't handle anymore losses!"

Heruseus sheathed his sword. He shuffled his feet to a nearby bench. "Come on man, we're warriors, we can't let anyone else die," Azerath smiled and sat next to him.

"…"

"You know, I know what it's like to lose someone important. My baby cousin died when I was young. Or rather she disappeared. But, we had been so close; it left a scar that nothing could heal. Until I met you and Josh. Everyone else hated me. I was the one kid, who no one liked, but you two reached out, and suddenly, people began to like me. I went from a nobody to a somebody, just because of you and your brother. I know that's off topic, but point is, I understand how you feel," Azerath felt the tears begin to fall. "I can't let you die, especially after what you've done for me. I promise Theo, you'll get through this,"

Theo wiped his eyes. He clenched his fists. I'll make it to the end. For you, Onee-san