Don't own SAO in any way. Boo hoo.

Chapter Two

"You Gotta Look Cool Doing It Too!"

This was a bad idea.

The sentence repeated itself over and over again in Kazuto's head as he dived under the gnarly claws of the red-eyed, dark furred wolf assaulting him. It was what he'd been doing for the better part of five minutes, and while the monster's health was dipping into the yellow, so was his.

Why couldn't he have just stayed in the Town of Beginnings like all the other non-suicidal people? Now instead of panicking behind safe walls in the company of frazzled and despairing players, he was panicking in some forest somewhere in the company of things that were trying to kill him.

Getting a lucky stab at the Dire Wolf's side, Kazuto grimaced when the monster managed to nick him on the leg in return. Those first couple of Frenzy Boars he'd taken out on his way out of town were clearly not representative of all the monsters on the floor when it came to difficulty.

What the hell was he thinking when he decided to push further out?

Just pay me back later.

God damn it.

The Dire Wolf lunged, catching Kazuto by surprise and pinning him to the ground, its paws forcing him down by his shoulders. Frantically, the boy let go of his sword and reached up to hold the wolf's muzzle away, watching in terror as it bit and growled a hair's breath from his own nose, it's spittle covering his face.

Not five seconds in and Kazuto could already feel his arms starting to waver, the wolf's clamping teeth getting closer and closer.

Not like this…

Not on the first floor! Not a day into the game!

I'm fourteen! Shit!

That's when a sword flew out of nowhere and buried itself right between the Dire Wolf's eyes. The monster's head flew back, and as it did, a figure ran out from above Kazuto's view. The other player— for it was hard to believe that an NPC would do something so outrageous— then jumped over Kazuto, grabbed the sword's hilt, and whirled around.

In that brief instant, while the unnamed player twisted in midair, the blade, still stabbed into the monster's head, began emitting a soft blue hue.

"Horizontal!"

The player spun his way through the air like a sideways top of death, dragging the sword through the Dire Wolf and splitting the monster in two. Kazuto, mouth opened in a silent gasp, watched as the player landed some meters away, sheathing his sword on his hip after twirling it around in his hand.

The Dire Wolf vanished in a puff of sparkling pixels, and Kazuto heard the ping that came with gaining experience points. None of it really registered, though. For the life of him, Kazuto couldn't stop staring at the man in front of him, one who'd begun to stare back.

"Hey, you doing okay there?"

The first thing that came to Kazuto's mind was blue. Not just in relation to the other player's clothes, but to his hair as well. Blue, blue, blue.

A hand shoved itself into his line of sight.

"Let's get you up."

Kazuto took the hand, his own numb with either shock or fright, and found himself pulled up to his feet so fast that he almost fell over again. "Heh, had me worried for a sec," he heard the man say, feeling a few pats on his back. "That was a close one, wasn't it?"

A close one was right. The adrenaline now gone, Kazuto was able to look back and reflect on how close he'd come to biting it. It wasn't like near-death experiences happened to him very often. In fact, that had been his first.

Relief flooded into him, but when Kazuto brought his hand up to his face, he couldn't help but notice how much it was shaking. With a gulp, the boy closed his hand and squeezed bringing the trembling fist to rest against his gut.

A frazzled sigh leaving his mouth, Kazuto turned to look at the other player. "Th-Thanks a lot. Really. I'm, uh… Kirito."

The username came with some difficulty, this being the first time he actually introduced himself with it. It was just something else in the long list of things he'd have to get used to.

The man stepped back, a smirk growing on his lips. "Call me…" he raised a hand, sweeping it before him before having it rest on his hip, "…. Diavel! The Blue Knight! You don't know this yet, but I'm the hero of this story!"

At that last proclamation, Diavel jerked his other hand behind him, but as soon as he did, a scowl made its way to his face. "Damn," he muttered. Crossing his arms, the knight sent Kirito an apologetic look. "It'd be cooler with something billowing in the wind, huh?"

"I… I guess?"

"There's a quest somewhere around here," Diavel continued, looking around with narrowed eyes. "It has this awesome cape as a reward, and it's blue to top it all off. You seen any dead bodies around?"

Kirito really wanted to know what this guy's deal was, but he shook his head instead of asking.

"Well there's no point standing around here," the knight said, beginning to walk deeper into the forest. "Pick up your sword and come on! I wanna get that cape before nighttime!"

The knight didn't slow down, pushing tree branches aside and climbing over roots. After a few seconds of just staring at Diavel's back, Kirito bent down, picked his sword off the ground, sheathed it on his back, and went after the man in a hurry.

Kirito watched as his rescuer looted the corpse of what looked to be a soldier. The body was leaned up against the trunk of a tree, complete with dirty, broken armor and missing limbs. There were also several holes in the body's chest, one of them even going all the way through and revealing the bloodied wood beyond it.

"Man, whatever killed this guy must've been pretty brutal, huh?" Diavel asked, smiling as he pulled out a piece of paper from the corpse's pocket. "Aha! Here we go!" Standing up, the knight unfolded the parchment, smoothening its wrinkles, and got down to reading. "Blah blah blah monstrosity, blah blah blah meanest thing I've ever seen, blah blah blah camp in danger… There!" Diavel threw the note over his shoulder, turned away from the body, and strolled away. "C'mon, Kirito!"

Giving the body one last look, Kirito speed walked to catch up to Diavel, coming up to the knight's right. "Uh… What was all that about?" he asked, stepping over a root protruding out of the grass.

"Say that again?" Diavel asked, digging out his ear with his pinkie.

Kirito coughed into his hand, then spoke up. "What was in the note?"

"Oh, that? I dunno, something about his hunting party getting wrecked by a super strong monster." Diavel shrugged, bringing his hand up to scroll through his menus as he walked. "I just needed to read enough of it to update the quest. You should've gotten a notification too since we're partied."

The younger of the two did in fact get that notification. It came up right under his health bar, reminding him that he was still at level three. "Diavel-san, is this really what we should be doing right now?"

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"I mean, well…" Kirito didn't know how to put it without making it sound insulting, so he was just going to cut himself off there, but Diavel's inquiring glance made him feel like he needed to say something. "… This quest rewards you with a cape, right?"

"A blue cape, yeah."

"Isn't it kind of… a waste of time? I-I mean," Kirito brought his hands up in defense, almost tripping on a rock, "I just want to know why you want it so badly. It's just a cape."

Diavel closed his eyes and hummed, avoiding a few low-hanging branches in the process. "Kirito," he said, his voice much deeper than it usually was, "you're young, so you might not understand, but this cape is extremely important."

"Um… It is?"

His hand on his chin and his eyes still closed, Diavel nodded. "It is. You see, while the vendors on this floor sell cloaks and capes in a variety of colors, this is the only one here that reaches past your thighs for maximum wind billow potential."

"..."

"It also happens to be blue, which makes it perfect for me. This is my dream cape, Kirito."

"I… I don't know what to say." Kirito scratched the side of his head, trying to wrap his head around all of the information he'd just been given. "So you want it because it… looks cool?"

"Yes."

"And that's it?"

"Yes."

"Okay, but why's that so important?"

Finally, Diavel opened his eyes, presenting Kirito with the toothiest grin he could manage. "Because being a hero isn't just about saving people and beating the bad guys. You gotta look cool doing it too!"

Kirito couldn't argue against that. Not because he didn't want to, and not because there were no arguments against it, but because he didn't think he could say anything that would change Diavel's mind. So he mumbled out an 'oh' and left it at that.

The two eventually happened upon a wide clearing, one with a cave entrance right at its border across from them. Kirito stopped, standing just within the safety of the tree line, but Diavel continued unimpeded.

Seeing the young player's hesitance, Diavel turned his head back, still walking out into the clearing, and flashed Kirito a smile. "Smart idea, Kirito! I'll draw it out, and you catch it by surprise!"

Opening his mouth, Kirito was about to point out that the smart idea was to run in the other direction, but it caught in his throat. In the blinding darkness of the cave, two glowing red eyes appeared, so intense that they captured Kirito's attention from the other side of the clearing.

Diavel was quick to notice too, and with a wicked grin, he grabbed the handle of his sword. "You probably don't remember me, but I've already beaten your ass before," he said, drawing his blade with a slash, not slowing his saunter towards the cave in any way.

The red eyes became brighter and brighter, until the beast itself emerged from the darkness and walked out of its lair. It stood as tall as a horse, each of its paws with claws more akin to daggers, with thick canine legs. Shaggy indigo fur covered its long body, with splotches of black running along its swaying tail and hind legs. What stood out most of all, however, were the curved tusks sprouting out of its growling muzzle.

Each step gave away more and more of the controlled tension rippling through the monster's body. Its beady red eyes locked onto Diavel, who didn't look worried in any capacity, and as soon as the beast was well and truly out of its cavernous home, a single health bar appeared on top of its head, along with a name.

«Leonel, King of the Forest»

Kirito watched it all in a mixture of awe and apprehension. "A miniboss…."

Diavel wanted to fight this thing? Alone? For a damn cape?

Every nerve inside Kirito told him to leave. He wasn't getting anything out of this apart from EXP and maybe some money, but that wasn't exactly worth the risk, not at his level. SAO might've been new to him, but he'd been playing games his whole life, and he knew for a fact that when a newbie player came across situations like these, the best thing to do was to get the hell out as soon as possible.

Not to mention the kind of game he was playing here. A death game where real life was at risk wasn't the place to throw everything away for the sake of a purely cosmetic item!

But….

Diavel had saved his life. The man may be an idiot, but he was an idiot Kirito owed his life to. But what could he even do to help? Wouldn't it be just as bad if he went in there and got himself killed right along with Diavel? What was he supposed to do?

The miniboss jumped at the knight, its tusks set to skewer him. Scoffing, Diavel brought his sword up to parry the attack, his blade sliding along the side of the tusk and slicing into the beast's side. With a howl of pain, Leonel jumped back, just out of the player's reach.

"That didn't do much, huh?" Diavel said, his smirk not dwindling one bit even as he saw the miniscule chip his hit had made on the miniboss' HP.

The two circled each other, Diavel not bothering to set his sword between them as defense, instead having it rest at his side. Slowly, the knight was facing Kirito once more, with the monster's back turned toward the younger player.

Bringing his hand up, Diavel gestured for Kirito to go and join him. Instinctively, Kirito took a step forward, but froze on his tracks a second after.

Diavel was unperturbed. Seeing as Kirito wasn't planning to come over anytime soon, the knight took a moment to strategize.

Leonel pounced once more, this time getting on its hind legs and swiping with its claws. Diavel ducked, his torso almost parallel to the ground, and dashed under the attack.

….. And he didn't stop running.

It took Kirito a bit of time to realize that Diavel was sprinting towards him, with Leonel right on the knight's tail. It was such a shock that his body locked up, and before Kirito knew, Diavel was in front of him.

Right before running into Kirito, the knight twisted on the spot and faced the advancing monster, his sword glowing blue. "I'm trusting you, Kirito! Horizontal!"

His blade sliced into the monster, impeding its forward movement with a trail of red and blue pixels. Using the movement of his horizontal swing, Diavel sidestepped out of the way, leaving Kirito to come face-to-face against the beast.

As Kirito's eyes met the red of his imminent killer, everything froze.

SAO had been getting a lot of coverage pre-release, being the first game of its kind and all, and when the beta testers had gotten their hands on it, the flood of information had become nearly astronomical. Everything from customization options to glitches to random quest objectives to combat tips and tricks was available for the public to see.

Kirito saw it all, of course. He couldn't get the game, but the internet was free for everyone.

There were several things he had learned during this time, but out of all that information, one specific detail came to mind right then. That being, sword skills usually caused plenty of stagger on top of their dealt damage.

His hand coming up to grab the sword strapped to his back, Kirito did the only thing he could think to do. Just before Leonel got over the stagger caused by Diavel's attack, he activated his «Slant» skill, slashing diagonally from his shoulder down.

The monster stepped back, staggered once more.

Unfortunately, a key piece of information had failed to be remembered by Kirito until that instant. Every sword skill also had a cooldown time attached, leaving the user practically defenseless. And it didn't look like the stagger he'd induced on Leonel was going to last as long as his cooldown.

"Vertical!"

Cutting the beast upwards, Diavel took a step forward, forcing Leonel back towards the clearing, staggered once again. Kirito watched it happen, almost stupefied, until Diavel caught his eyes.

"Keep it up!"

Those three words injected Kirito's veins with adrenaline. His cooldown now complete, Kirito dashed forward, cutting into the monster with a «Horizontal».

Diavel stepped in immediately after with a «Slant». "That's it!"

Kirito, eyes wide, advanced with a «Vertical».

Almost floating on the ground, Diavel came in and out of the miniboss' range with a «Horizontal». "Two people, spirits synched in perfect harmony!"

With a heave, Kirito thrust his blade forward in a «Linear».

«Slant». "No room for error! An unstoppable barrage!"

«Horizontal»

«Horizontal»

«Vertical»

«Linear»

«Slant»

«Slant»

«Vertical»

"It's….. a Switching Stream!"

The timing became almost muscle memory. At some point, the attacks began blending together, becoming more of a multicolored lightshow than two swordsmen taking turns backing a monster back into its cave. Its growls and whimpers bled into the continuous roar of their attacks. The forest around them faded further and further into the background. All Kirito knew in that brief span of time was the enemy, and his own wicked grin.

That is until they brought Leonel'sHP down to red. When Diavel next attacked, the monster tanked the hit and slammed its tusk against the knight's side.

Kirito gaped, watching as the other player was thrown over to the ground, health half gone. No stagger!? By pure reflex alone, Kirito was able to block the monster's pointy tusk with the flat of his blade, though some damage still went through.

Jumping back, Kirito checked his health gauge. Already in the yellow!? That wasn't even a direct hit!

The miniboss didn't give him much more time to think, charging straight at the player. Kirito brought up his sword, though to be honest he didn't know what he was going to do with it.

I'm way too under leveled for this! The only reason it's anywhere near dead is because we've been cheesing it the entire time!

"Saving Your Ass Again Tackle!"

Before the monster could skewer Kirito once and for all, Diavel slammed himself against its side, tackling Leonel out of its course. The monster ran right by Kirito, going too fast to stop on a dime.

"D-Diavel?"

The knight flashed him a smile, a healing crystal appearing in his free hand. "Heh, you really thought I'd lose to that thing?" He crushed the stone, refilling his HP as the item disappeared in an explosion of pixels. "Don't make me laugh!"

Leonel finally managed to stop its momentum and turn around to face the two players. It stomped once, twice, and began charging at them again.

Kirito took a step back. "We need to get out of the way!"

Scoffing, Diavel bent his knees and held his hand out at the approaching monster, his sword becoming imbued with blue light. "If I run from something like this, what kind of hero does that make me?"

Are you nuts!? Seeing the monster getting closer and closer, Kirito took another step back. "Diavel, you idiot!"

"Listen up! I'm gonna be the one to beat this game and save everyone! No doubt about it!"

Kirito dived out of the way, hitting the ground just as Leonel crashed into the blue-haired player.

Except there was no crash. Diavel had jumped just as the monster reached him, high enough to just barely get off the ground. Avoiding the protruding tusks, Diavel's hand landed right on Leonel's forehead, and the knight let himself get pushed along by the monster's charge.

Placing his feet on top of Leonel's tusks, Diavel brought his sword arm back, the tip of his blade pointed right between the miniboss' eyes.

"It's been fun! But!"

Lying on the ground, Kirito watched transfixed as Diavel used his «Linear» skill.

"Game over! One Hit Kill… BLUE ROCKET SPEEEEEEAAAAARRRRR!"

The sword dived into the monster's head like a cerulean jet, impaling itself hilt-deep. The world froze, and as Kirito looked at the shining knight, eyes alight in reckless abandon, a part of him couldn't help but believe every single word that had been coming out from the man's tongue.

The miniboss' HP went down to zero percent, and a moment later, it exploded into blue pixels, dropping Diavel lightly on his feet. A screen appeared in front of Kirito, and he dully noted that he'd gone up two levels.

As for Diavel… Well, he had already taken the pleasure of equipping his Last Attack Bonus.

"Ah… That's more like it," Diavel said, turning to face Kirito, his cape waving behind him. "So? Pretty sweet, huh?"

Kirito nodded. He could do nothing else.

Sheathing his sword, the blue knight began walking away. "Alright, onto the next order of business." Noticing that the younger player was still kneeling on the ground behind him, Diavel glanced at Kirito from the corner of his eye. "Oi, Kirito! You coming or what?"

So Kirito did the only thing he could think to do.

He followed.

AN:

Now you kinda see where I'm going with this, right?

As a side note, screaming out your attacks doesn't actually do anything practical. Diavel just does it because it's cool. That basically describes his entire character here.

Anyway, I decided to skip the whole "Giant robed Kayaba expositioning for like half an hour" scene and get right to the action. You wouldn't be here if you didn't at least know the premise of SAO. You die in the game, you die in real life, no logout, etc. Simple stuff that I don't need to waste my time with.

Diavel's gonna be an important character, so get ready for that. Shouldn't be too surprising, I mean, it's on the summary and everything. He's OOC as hell, but the truth is that most of these characters are gonna have to be at least a little OOC for them to be actually interesting and… well, good.

Asuna next chapter, everyone.

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