A/N: Thank you to Harukawa Ayame for both fallowing and favoring this story, hop you like the rest of the story!

Just a head's up, I'm gonna keep doing these shout outs for every new person who favorites, fallows or leave a review.

So anyways, on with the story!

Rotsen sighed as he rested his back agents a mossy trunk, slipping onto the ground and sitting lazily. He was exhausted from sweeping through the third floor dungeon, Forest of Weaving Mist. It was known to be hard for players with low agility, reflexes, and detection skills to pass. This was the floor known for ambushes and taps. The Beater however was skilled on speed, agility, reflex, detection, sneak and evasion.

It had been over two weeks and Rotsen had already upgraded everything in his arsenal. He kept the same cloak and gloves but he traded in his boots for another pair that increased his speed, black leather pants that increased his armor and agility, a new blue linen shirt that increased his evasion. And finally he sold his sword to buy two knifes that increased his one handed attacks and speed. He had a special player ability, thanks to his Leather Working, that allowed him to have more attack power with knifes and another natural ability called Shadow Sneak, allowing him to get the drop on mobs and players.

The American had to haul ass in both the second and third floor villages. There were more players than he thought that were on the hunt for Bata Testers. If it wasn't thanks for his abilities than he would have been spotted and killed. There was also the fact that a player by the name of Kirito was rumored to be planning on sweeping all floors solo. Rotsen had to get to certain floor bosses before Kirito, just for the drops he knew he was going to need. And this boss is one that he needed.

Rotsen quickly pulled out a map he had been making for the past hour. It was dangerous for solo players to be making maps because it causes them to be vulnerable to attacks and it takes up to two seconds to close it. He'd been risking it and came face to face with close calls. Luckily he'd been doing okay. He quickly scanned the map, seeing there was a little bit of space he hadn't mapped out yet, meaning it was the final boss. To the Bata Testers it was nicknamed Venus, for obvious reasons.

The Beater stood up, putting the map away and walked down the dirt path, keeping his eyes open. It was a simple straight away until it forked into paths. One was so misty that you can only see a few feet in front of you. The other led to wall of roots with thorns that looked to be unbreakable. Rotsen idly and cautiously walked towards the roots, stepping through it. The image broke like the surface of water, revealing an overhang of roots and trees, making it look like an entrance to a cave.

The American drew out both his steel knifes, getting into a defensive stance. Mist started to surround the battle area, decreasing Rotsen's field of vision. He closed his eyes, putting all his energy to hearing now. He heard nothing but silence and the faint sound of slithering. Once he heard the slithering get closer his eyes shot open. He leaped ahead, looking behind him when he heard a roar of anger.

The mist started to clear and behind him stood a Venus flytrap with sharp fangs and goo dripping out of its mouth. It roared again, causing the mist to clear and reveal two more Venus fly trap heads, only difference was one had purple ooze and the other had orange ooze. Their roots were tangled together, making a dinosaur like body made of thorn covered roots. It raised its deadly spiked tail, swinging it threateningly behind itself. Two green health bars appeared at each head and the name Dino-Muscipula appeared over the heads, signifying this to be the floor boss.

Rotsen tighten his grip on his blades and ran towards nature's abomination, letting out a battle cry. The boss roared as it smashed its spike tail foreword, missing the American. He jumped onto the tail, running up and getting onto its back. He knew its weakness and he was planning on getting the secret drop. All three heads turned and look at him, hissing as they dived at his one at a time.

Rotsen kept dodging; nipping them with his knifes just to agitate them. Once Venus was scratched up enough with all three heads missing one eighth of each of their health bars they all hissed. The arched their heads back and all three shot their respective ooze at him. The Beater stood in placed as he let all three ooze hit him. He didn't lose any health as he was covered in a blue like ooze. The three ooze mixed together isn't lethal to players, but it toxic to plants.

Rotsen grinned as Venus roared and hiss in pain as their health bars started to go down. He then interacted with the blue ooze, coating his blade with them. He ran up Venus' back, leaping up towards its orange and green heads, slicing its necks/roots. When he landed on the ground he lost some health from fall damage but he ignored it since it was just five points. He looked back as the heads withered and break, the two health bars going down to zero.

The last purple ooze Venus roared, diving its razor sharp mouth at Rotsen. He stood his ground as he readied his blue oozed blades. Once it was close enough Rotsen jumped, meeting it at halfway and stabbing his knifes rapidly into its fleshy mouth. It hissed in pain as its health bar went into the red, slowly ticking down from poison damage. Once it was down to zero the whole rooted body withered into brown roots, then disintegrating into code and disappearing.

The words "Congratulations!" appeared over where Dino-Muscipula once stood. A small window appeared next to Rotsen, showing him his loot and Exp. Another small window appeared next to him with the words "Congratulations!" telling him he was now on level twenty.

He closed it and saw he gained a few gold pieces and twenty silver, along with the drop he wanted; a dagger made of Iron Wood, with poison damage, named Nature's Dagger. Rotsen lowly chuckled, laughing at the creativity before closing both windows and getting into a stance when he heard the sound of slow clapping.

He drew out his standard knifes, watching cautiously as he saw three figures walk out of the mist. One was tall and lanky with an oval crazy look. He had beginner gear under a black sleeveless cloak and black gloves. The other was a blonde busty woman with the same sleeveless cloak and gloves. Between the two was a muscular man with brown hair in a ponytail. He also had beginner gear, sleeveless cloak and gloves.

He stooped his clapping once he knew they were seen. He had a raspy voice but had confidence and authority. "That was mighty impressive, kid. How did you know that was the thing's weakness?"

Rotsen stayed silent as he kept his knifes up, ignoring the blue ooze that was still dripping off him. He knew something was off about them and he really didn't want to stick around and find out.

"Oh, the silent type." The blonde spoke with admiration in her voice. "What level are you?"

"Twenty." Rotsen lowly answered, keeping his expression solid as he saw the lanky guy eyes widen.

"No way," he said, hunching over to the obvious boss of the three. He whispered just loud enough for Rotsen to hear. "He's got to be a Beater. If we turn him in we could get that gold we need."

The leader stayed silent for a moment. He waved off the lankly guy before stepping forward a few steps. "I am Oshoku, my tall associate is Kitub and this vicious reptile is Medusa. We're creating a guild called Laughing Coffin. Our goal is, well… 'help out' the weaker players of SAO. We're looking for new members and we think you make the cut, good sir."

"Is there dental?" Rotsen joked, lightening his tone but kept his harden face.

"No, but there is benefits to both loot and resources. What'd you say?" He stretched out his right hand out to the American. Rotsen now saw the symbol on the back of his glove. It showed a coffin with a skeleton arm and hand by the side with a blade, eyes and a pair of smiling lips.

Rotsen eyed the design on the hand and back at Oshoku. He wanted to stay as a solo player and not get anyone in danger. He also didn't want to get slowed down, but he did need the help if he was going to get pass harder floors. He sighed quietly before looking up.

"I'm going to have to think about it."

Oshoku smiled, retracting his hand before waving for the other two to get beside him. "Understood. If you do decide to join us, use this on the teleport," he handed the Beater a black card with the same logo he had on his gloves.

Oshoku walked past Rotsen, waving for the other two to fallow him. Kitub fallowed, not giving Rotsen a second thought. Medusa however lingered a little, waving back to Rotsen as they all exited the dungeon. The entrance to the next floor was secretly revealed as an opening forming at the back of the hangover of roots.

Once the American knew he they were gone he sighed, letting himself sit on the dirt. He quickly equipped Nature's Dagger and stared at the card. He had a sinking feeling it wouldn't be best for him to join but he needed the resources. Rotsen sighed before closing his inventory, getting up and headed to the exit. He had a long day of grinding and questing ahead of him now.

Rotsen sighed as he twirled the card in his hand, walking through the dark streets of Lorbria. He knew he was going to be safe at night since most players were asleep at this time. It was a week after the last boss battle and he needed to clear his head. He was torn to either get rid of the card or join the guild.

The American kept walking until he was in a good grinding area in the outskirts of the town. He's ears twitched, getting a mental alert that some people were near. His eyes darted around him, seeing no one but heard distance battle cries coming from the forest. Rotsen quickly ran into the forest, using his agility to jump into the trees and leaped to the source. He stopped at a clearing, seeing five players being circled by Killer Mantises. It wouldn't be so bad if the mantis weren't over six feet. They were known to spawn on the tenth floor and rarely spawn on both levels three and four.

One of the players was big, had a long face and had heavy knight armor with a lance drew out. Another was small and was in beginner armor with an axe that was bigger than him held out in front of him. Beside him was a tall and lanky boy also in beginner blue armor, clutching onto a spear for dear life. The fourth one was a girl with blonde pigtails. She was in linen red clothing with armor pads covering every essential part of her with a mace pointed at the Mantises. Lastly there was a guy with brown hair also with beginner red armor. The only things that differ from the rest were the noticeable additional armor pads, purple gloves and black cowl latched on him.

He started to shout at the other four. "Okay guys, take notes. This is one reason why a DPS shouldn't agro anything." He shot the lanky guy a dirty look.

He squirmed uneasily, pointing his spear at him. "Hey, not my fault you guys were being too slow."

"Guys, I really don't want our last actions to be arguing over this." The girl said loudly, making the two stop.

"Kaya's right," he admitted, sighing as he opened his inventory, equipping a curved katana onto his hands. He went into a defensive stance, gripping hard on the hilt. "Defensive maneuvers guys, watch each other's backs!"

Rotsen sighed, knowing he'd have to help them. He could tell if he let them be there wouldn't be survivors. Even if there was only one or two of them would have made it. He pulled his hood on, causing a large shadow to cast over his upper face. He drew out Nature's Dagger and his iron knife, leaping out of the tree and attacking.

He quickly backstabbed one, killing it with one hit. He quickly darted to the one beside him, getting it square in the chest. He dodged a swipe from the third one, side stepping out of the way. He jumped at it, swiping it to pieces and kicked off its fading code body before getting the last two with down swipes, landing onto the ground with ease as the last two disintegrated into code.

Rotsen sheath his daggers, quickly scanning the little window that popped up next to him. He closed it when nothing seemed important. He was about ready to run off again stopped when he heard the brunette leader.

"Hey, where did you learn to fight like that?" He asked as he got close to Rotsen, sheathing his katana. The other four crowded behind him, curious driving them to.

"Just know how to." The American deadpanned. He didn't want to stick around, and apparently they weren't getting the clue.

"Listen, you're not a part of a party or a guild, are you?"

Rotsen took a moment to think over what he was going to say. He wasn't a part of Laughing Coffin, he just got an invite. Not to mention there's Lisbeth. They were never even in a party, except when they first grinded for levels.

"No, I'm a solo player."

"Well do you want to stop it? We could use all the help we could get and it'd be safer if you weren't out on your own."

The Beater bit the corner of his mouth, taking in what he just said. He was going to need some help on future floors, but that wasn't going to be until a long while. Not to mention there's too many of them. There'd be too many casualties. But then there's the fact he could keep them safe. He was technically over powered for the first handful of floors.

Before Rotsen could say anything the leader cut him off. "I know what you're thinking, and let me just make you a proposition. Come on one mission with us. Not as a guild but a small party. When were done then you can tell me if you want to stay or not. How's that?"

"Depends on the job."

"We got word about a small dungeon north of here. Inside is rumored to be a rare item. Don't know what it is but,"

"It's the Cloak of Echo." Rotsen deadpanned, quickly realizing he just cornered himself. He knew he had to think of something, and fast. "It's to double your evasion. I heard of it from a couple of NPC's. They didn't flat out say it but I could tell they were hiding something."

"That sounds awesome!" The skinny teen shouted, getting excited.

"It does, we'll decide, on a group vote, on who gets it." He specifically said the voting part towards the skinny player, as if they had a problem with him before. "So are you in or not?" He stretched out his hand; a small simple could be seen on the back of his gloves as well, showing a tribal wolf's head under a crescent moon.

Rotsen stared at it for a moment, thinking of Laughing Coffin's logo. He shook it off before shaking hands with the leader, reminding himself it was just for one job.

"Welcome aboard… uh…"

"Rotsen, my names Rotsen."

"Right, Rotsen! I'm Vulgar by the way, leader of the guild Night Wolves. These are my teammates." As if on cue they all stood taller, wanting to make a good impression. "The big oaf here is Noah."

The player in the knight's armor waved, going back into a salute and spoke in an England accent. "Hello Sir Rotsen. It is a pleasure to have you along for the eve."

"He's a massive role player," Vulgar whispered to Rotsen. "Please don't crush his fun. The obnoxious one is my brother, Hinata."

"Sup," he plainly said, giving his brother a dirty look

"This is Kaya," he motioned his hand towards the girl with blonde pigtails, swinging her mace around, trying to act coolly.

"Nice to meet you Rotsen." She said coolly, giving him a soft look. Rotsen returned it, making her lightly blush and letting the mace go. It went flying and made contact to Hinata's cheek.

"Ah, damn!"

She awkwardly mumbled sorry as she clipped the mace back to her side, couching several times to get rid of her blush from embarrassment and signaling Vulgar to continue.

Vulgar chuckled, coughing it away to finish. He rested his hand atop of the small player, agitating him. "And this little pipsqueak is Danny."

"Hey, stop that!" He shouted at his guild leader. By the sound of his voice Rotsen was saddened. Danny was could be no older than ten. To think he was trap along with them, and possibly even smaller children, just started to tore him apart.

"Anyways, we should be going, we don't have much time till its dawn. Noah, if you will."

"Of course General Vulgar!" Noah pulled out his lance, pointing it forwards and shouted even louder. "On word, to The Cavern of Sounds!"

Danny laughed to himself, gladly fallowing Noah as he marched out deeper into the forest. Hinata sighed as he rolled his eyes, getting pushed along by Kaya when he would start fallowing. Vulgar started to fallow the four, lowly chuckling. Rotsen watched them leave, still thinking everything over.

True they could be able to handle themselves, even better with him along. If he left he would be done with them and just keep going with his plans. On the other hand he could be able to get the cloak, replacing the one he has.

A small window popped in front him, getting him out of his thoughts. He looked at, seeing what it said. "Player Vulgar has invited you to join a group party. Accept? Decline?"

Rotsen looked up and saw Vulgar standing in front of him. He raised an eyebrow at the American, waiting for him to respond. Rotsen half smiled, selecting the accept button. It closed and he could see smaller health bars pop right under his with their names. Their health bars were purple and so were their names. Rotsen looked back to see Vulgar running ahead, trying to catch up with the others. He kept the half smile before running after them, jumping into the trees to get ahead of them. He had a sinking feeling about it all but he ignored it. He had lives to protect now.

A/N: What'd you think of his chapter? Love it? Hate it so much you'd pay me to stop? Leave a review for me to know if you like it or hated it.

Also, remember if you do like it and want it to continue then leave a review, fallow, or a favorite. I'm not a mind reader so please let me know.

Till next time!