Chapter 3: One Floor Down
I slept like a baby, I don't think I've ever slept so well. I literally passed out but when I woke up, I didn't expect to see what I saw. I was taken by suprise, shock, confusion. All these emotions skattered around my mind. Questions such as, 'What do I do' and 'Did I do something last night' were also thrown into the mixture of utter confusion that was my mind at that point. What I woke up to was Izume in my bed. Her bed was left a mess and she was fast asleep laying next to me.
"Aww... She's adorable." I said to myself quietly, trying not to wake her. I slipped out of the bed and equipped my armor and weapon. Izume still slept for a around an hour before waking up.
"Aahh~" Izume yawned, rubbing her eyes.
"Good morning sleepy-head." I said with a smile.
"Morning..." Izume said quietly in a tired voice.
"Did you sleep well?" I asked, still keeping a smile on my face.
"Yeah..." She responded.
"You do know you slept in the same bed as me, right?" I asked her. I had no clue what her reaction was going to be.
"I-I d-did..?!" She said looking very embarresed. I felt bad but I couldn't help but laugh. "Why are you laughing..?!" She asked tearing up.
"Sorry, I just found it that you look cute when you sleep, and you're making a huge deal of this when you came to sleep with me." I explained to her.
"I-I did..?" She asked wiping the small tears away.
"Yeah. Well, I assume that, I woke up with you next to me and your bed looked a mess." I explained further.
"Oh... I must have had a nightmare and by instinct, came to sleep with you." She told me. "This would happen to me in the real world." She added.
Out of instinct, and care, I went over to Izume and hugged her. I'd only ever hugged my family before so it felt somewhat new to me.
"A-A-Aki-to..?!" Izume said shocked. She knew why I was hugging her. It was obvious. "Thanks..." She added.
"No worries. I was the same." I told her to comfort her even more. "Now, you should get dressed, I have a meal waiting for you and then it's more training and then off to fight Illfang." I explained our day to her.
"Illfang?" She questioned.
"Yeah. Illfang. The Kubold Lord. That's the boss' name." I answered.
"Oh, okay. I didn't know that." Izume said calming down.
"It's name isn't necessary. It what it'll do to you is important." I told Izume. "Diavel told us the basics. But I already knew all that. Thats why that orange haired kid started having a rant about beta testers and the fact that over 2000 players are already dead. Thank god Agil stopped him cause we tried helping the new players-" I stopped my sentence realising what I'd just said.
"Wait... You're a... Beta Tester..?!" Izume asked with shock to her voice.
I sighed. "Yes.. I am.." I sighed again. "I know many others who are Beta Testers." I also said.
"Then... That's why you've been helping me... Because I'm weak and you don't want to feel bad anymore for those who lost their lives." Izume said, looking into my eyes, I could see the tears forming and so I wiped them away.
"Your halfway there. I don't think your weak and neither should you. I can take the blame for the deaths of the 2000 already passed away. But when I saw you, I saw a spark of hope, someone that will become a hero to others. When I saw you, I saw a friend." I said becoming slightly teary myself as Izume wiped my eyes in exactly the same way as I did for her.
"You're such a fool." Izume said laughing. "But thank you." Izume added as I recieved a friend request from her. Of course, I accepted it without hesitation.
"Now, I'll let you change and eat. We do have a big day ahead of us." I told Izume.
"Okay." She responded.
Izume changed and ate. Now, I don't mean to brag, but I am an amazing cook whether it be in SAO or reality. I know how to make a perfect meal. We then spent around an hour in the fields training even more. Izume has definitely gained a lot more confidence than when I first met her. I know, it's been a month since Kayaba Akihiko trapped us but I already feel acustomed to this world. I guess being a Beta Tester helped. We then rendevoued with Diavel and the rest of the groups, including Kirito and this Asuna player. I decided to ask Kirito, being that I know him quite well in the space of the month we've been trapped, to join me and Izume. He asked Asuna and they accpeted the party invite.
"So, there's something you should know. Illfang will switch his battle style once his health reaches it's fourth stage. He will equip what is known as a Talwar, it's a strong blade and he will ajust his fighting technique, he will become much more aggresive. So watch out for that." Kirito explained.
"Yeah, I know. So we should make sure we stick to taking out the Ruin Kubold Sentinels first, then we can focus all our sword skills on the Illfang to take him out." I added.
"Sounds like a plan." responded Asuna. For some reason, Asuna kept her hood on at all times, It made her more mysterious.
"Everyone! Listen up. We are off to fight Illfang now. Sort out your equipment and your potions. Always keep a teleport crystal close by as well." Diavel ordered us. It was less ordering and more helping.
We approached the boss room doors, clearing out the odd enemy that had spawned.
"Here we are." Izume spoke whith a little tremble to her voice. I looked at her with a smile to ease the pressure off of her.
"Everyone get ready. Kirito. Asuna. You two take out the Ruin Kubold Sentinels on the left side. Akito and Izume take out the ones on the right side. This will allow the rest of us to attack Illfang." Diavel instructed.
"Got it." We repied at once, as the giant wooden door was opened by the front line squad we had accompanying us for the fight.
We charged in, sticking to our roles, Kirito and Asuna took to the left Sentinels as me and Izume took to the right Sentinels.
"Light's Ruin!" I shouted, activating my sword skill where I slice in a 'x' pattern before jumping and spinning toward the enemy cutting through them. I then sliced through two more Ruin Sentinels, sending all three of them into shards. I had no time to celibrate as more had spawned. Izume was holding up perfectly fine as she cut through two Sentinels at once. I couldn't help but smile as I continued to focus on the task at hand. Kirito and Asuna were holding up fine but something I had noticed was how fast Asuna could attack. I thought that this was breaking the speed parametres. I tried not to focus on that but that's when I noticed the boss reach the third stage. And didn't equip a Talwar.
"Wha-!" I thought. I knew Kirito was thinking the same thing by the expression on his face. "Kirito! That's not a Talwar!" I shouted to him.
"I know! It's a Nodachi!" He responded, but by the time we had realised this, it was too late. Diavel had been hit with a deadly combo from the Nodachi that Illfang had equipped, his health reaching zero.
"Ugh..." Diavel grunted.
"Here! Use this!" Kirito offered urgently holding Diavel who intently refused.
"No... I don't need it. I failed as a Beta Tester. It's up to you guys now... Beat Illfang for me..." Diavel said, as he began to glow. It didn't take a genius to know he was after the boss drop. Diavel then scattered into thousands of shards to never be seen again.
I nodded over to Kirito and readyied my sword. As did Izume. Asuna. And of course Kirito. We all attacked Illfang at once, his health dropping rapidly. Illfang put up a fight by slicing my left arm and swinging at Asuna, destroying her cloak. We all charged our sword skills and stuck Illfang. Illfang's health was almost depleted and this was when Kirito delivered the final blow. Illfang shattered into thousands of shards and we were greeted by a 'Congratulations' message as we all recieved loot and of course, Kirito earning the boss drop. The 'Coat of Midnight'. That was when Kibaou started attacking Kirito for not saving Diavel, he then started blaming the beta testers again and Kirito just accepted all responsibility, bringing up his menu and equipping the 'Coat of Midnight' and walked to the second floor.
"Hey!" Asuna called to Kirito. "I never caught your name." She added.
"It's Kirito. You could have seen it from the party tab." Kirito responded.
"Oh. Yeah." Asuna said feeling dumb.
"This is where I'm leaving you all. You should start a guild Asuna. You're very strong and fast." Kirito told her as he walked off.
"Well, how was your first boss fight Izume?" I asked kindly.
"Well, it was amazing! I've never felt this feeling before." She replied. "It was so much fun." She added.
"Well, next time, watch your health bar, you got a little too reckless." I told her.
"Oh, Sorry." She apologised.
"Don't apologise, it's a learning experience." I said laughing.
We had defeated Illfang the Kubold Lord. But we lost a fellow friend. And us Beta Testers are getting attacked now. This situation is blowing up but I have to move on. I know there is that blade out there for me, and I need to clear all 100 floors of Aincrad. So I can return all the surviving players. But I had grown somewhat attached to Izume. She had become a close friend and that's what the world of Sword Art needed. People to become friends and help each other. Not to hide their pain inside themselves and keep away becasue doing that will end up getting someone killed or even themselves killed. If more people worked together instead of trying to go it alone then there could be less deaths...