Chapter 5: December 1st

i luv niki4444

One Month Later

When Kagome woke up that morning, she knew exactly where she was. After a month, the time had long since passed when she would wake expecting to find the grey covers of her prison bed.

Instead, she was wrapped up in the ruddy brown sheets of a cheap inn, and peering out of the window at the soft blue sky as the sun peeked out from behind the clouds.

Even after she'd long since left that inn, she couldn't keep her eyes off of the sky. She walked down the town's dirt roads, and into the fields that surrounded it. The monsters here were much different than in the Town of Beginnings. She fought them calmly, slaying them for a ridiculously low amount of EXP.

After the initial rewards had passed, leveling wasn't nearly as easy as it had been at the start of things. Breadwinner, as it turned out, had been a blessing and a curse. The wolves in the quest had been modified to give out nearly twice the EXP as they had in the Beta, but that only lasted until the quest they guarded was completed.

Meanwhile the other betas had run off to the next towns to seek out the highest quest EXP rewards to complete and move onto others as quickly as possible. The newer players swarmed the mobs rather than quests, and their EXP value had dropped exponentially by the time Kagome had left the others and made it back out into the real world.

The bow that she'd received, while impressive, was impossible to use at her level. It didn't come with arrows, and they weren't sold in any shop that she had come across; it was only after she'd come into contact with a rugged NPC that she'd found answers. The man had been a random encounter, but it was worth it. "That wouldn't happen to be an Emerald Bow, would it?" he'd asked, "You have to craft your own arrows don't you? I heard that somewhere."

The man, who had looked half insane as he tried to reach her, then left as abruptly as he came.

After that, she had begun leveling her Blacksmith abilities like a mad woman, and was currently nearing level nine, while her overall character combat level was sixteen.

She'd always been off the mind that all the little things added up, and as she killed monsters for four EXP or the like, with over a thousand remaining before the next level, she tried to keep that in mind.

Kagome shifted in her seat; her shoulders were smoothed back and her cloak pinched to hide her face. She was sat in an old coliseum, waiting for things to escalate. Rumor had it that a popular member of the community had found the boss room, and that sparked the meeting that was about to take place.

Everything seemed so hopeless; in the month that they had been in SAO they were still on the first floor, and two thousand people had already died.

The very idea of beating the game had become a running joke around some of the members.

A familiar head of blue hair walked into the coliseum. He was laughing with Kimiko at his side. The sight was enough to make her relax a little more. She regularly checked the Black Castle –which stored the names of the players, dimming when they died- to make sure the brunette was still alive, but she still worried.

Kagome eyed Diavel with a faint smile on her lips, shaking her head. Of course he would be the 'popular member of the community' that figured out the boss room's location. He'd always been a busy body – like her. It's why they initially got on.

It was nice to see Kimiko fitting in so well with the party that he had brought along. They were sitting with a group of three others, and it seemed impossible for two people to look so included in a group yet so wrapped up in each other at the same time.

She froze when another familiar hairstyle settled down in the row in front of her, not two feet from her right. He'd obviously wanted to keep his distance, while also not being too far away from the action.

She eyed Kirito's back, unsure of why she was surprised to see him looking more or less the same. Maybe, it was because she felt like such a different person from who she had been the last time they met. It felt like longer than a month.

She shifted, and her foot began to silently tap the ground.

"Okay! Let's get started people!" called Diavel as he took center stage alone, "Thank you for coming today, my name is Diavel. I like to consider my "job" as Knight."

Most people laughed at his remark. "There's no job system in this game!"
"You should take this seriously!"
"Then, is the meeting a joke too?"

Diavel frowned, a stern edge to his gaze. "Today, our party found the boss room at the top of the tower." People began to whisper amongst themselves, but he held up a hand, and it ceased, "We need to defeat the boss, reach the second floor, and tell everyone waiting in the Town of Beginnings that it is possible to beat this game! Everyone present here shares this duty." He looked around at the group, which was a nice turnout but not as many as he would have liked, "Do you all agree?"

The crowd began to whisper again, sending each other uncertain glances and then they gradually started to clap and nod. One by one, they agreed to follow their hopes rather than give into despair.

"All right! Then let us begin our planning. First, divide into parties of six. An ordinary party has no chance against a floor boss. We'll need to form a raid group using multiple parties."

Kagome felt a cold flush down her spine, and eyed Kirito, who seemed panicked by the thought. He was looking around urgently and his breathing pattern had changed.

Diavel has invited you to party

Accept
Decline

"... thought we should party up, along with the other girl sitting up there. Just for this fight?" Kirito had slid down to another cloaked figure in the same row as him, who sat not far to her left.

She eyed the party invitation, which seemed to blink as though it was becoming annoyed by her neglectance of it. Kirito turned to her, a smile still on his face from his recent social conquest; she hit Decline. "Hey…"

"Party?" she asked, smiling softly from behind the safety of her cloak.

He blushed, probably realizing she had overheard, "Ah, yeah." She accepted his invitation, ducking her head.

"Um…" he paused, "your name doesn't appear?" The names of party members were supposed to appear above their health bars, but Kagome had come to realize that hers didn't show. Probably because she was supposed to have a name like "Kagome the Destroyer" or something like that.

"It's a special skill," she murmured instead of saying so, and quietly stood to sit next to Asuna, the cloaked girl who was also a member of their party. She barely saw Kirito shrug before he sat beside her.

"Have you formed your parties?" Diavel asked, clapping his hands, "Then-"

"Just a second!" called a whiny, deep voice. A rugged man with short brown hair stood at the top of the coliseum and he hopped down quickly to land in the arena. He was on the shorter side and bulky.

"The name's Kibaou." He told them in that self-important, cocky tone that had irritated her during her time with Inuyasha, "I wanna say something before we take on the boss."

"Of course he does." Kagome muttered, and Kirito faintly snorted beside her. She was further surprised when he hit her softly with his elbow. The action had been, dare she say, playful.

Huh.

"Some of you here need to apologize to the two thousand who have died so far." She went stock still, forgetting to breathe for a moment as she stared him down from her place in the stands. How does he know? She was pretty careful about keeping to herself, remembering that her name had been featured in a few articles about her father, and his wikia page.

Diavel frowned, "Kibaou," he replied lowly, "are you referring to the beta testers?"

The small man turned to him, "Of course I am! On the day this stupid game started the beta guys ditched us beginners. They all disappeared. They took all the good hunting spots and easy quests for themselves, so only they could get better. And then, they just ignored the rest of us."

His eyes flashed and he turned to wave his fist at the crowd, "I'm sure someone here was in the beta. They should get on their knees and apologize, and give up all the items and money that they've hoarded. Otherwise, we can't trust them to protect us as party members, and they shouldn't trust us!"

Kagome closed her eyes, breathing a sigh of relief. He was just one of those. He didn't actually know anything.

"That's not true!" cried a childish voice. Kibaou scoffed as a small, adorable boy slipped from the stands. Hidden behind three other members of Diavel's party, Kagome hadn't even seen Tobi. She swallowed hard, searching his body for injuries that she knew she wouldn't find. He was okay.

"The day this game started I was taken in by a beta tester. She got me to level two, and when we reached that level, we joined a group of beta testers and the new players that they too had taken in." he didn't look at Diavel once during his rant, though he must have wanted to. Kagome felt a surge of pride for the young boy, though she had always been proud of him.

"We completed a quest together, and they showed us everything we needed to know to pass onto our friends, and those friends continued to pass on that knowledge. You can't stand there and tell me that the beta testers never did anything for newer players!" There were tears in his eyes as he shouted the last sentence, and she wanted to run to his side. Oh Tobi, thank you. You sweet, sweet little boy.

But he wasn't such a little boy anymore; his eyes were older, and his stance more confident.

Kibaou seemed at a loss at the sight of his tears, but he was interrupted before he could comment, "May I speak?" asked a man of dark complexion, great height, and bulging muscles. He stood from his front row seat and walked to stand beside Tobi. He rested one giant hand on the boy's shoulder. "My name is Egil. Kibaou, tell me if I have this right.

"You're saying that because the beta testers didn't take care of them, many beginners died, and that they should take full responsibility, apologize, and provide compensation. Is that correct?"

A bead of sweat rolled down Kibaou's face, and had he not been such an arse Kagome might have felt sorry for him. Egil, whoever he was, seemed a force to be reckoned with, and he'd already lost the crowd's heart with Tobi's display. "Y-Yeah."

Egil smoothly took out a brown book, "You received this guide-book didn't you? It was provided for free at the item store."
"Sure I did… why?"
"It was compiled from information given by the beta testers."

Those who had remained riled after Tobi's speech gasped, "Seriously?"

Egil turned to face them, "Listen. Quite a few beginners were taken under the wings of beta testers, and that knowledge was used to spread to even more players – but I understand that that was a thing of chance. However, everyone had equal access to this information, and even still, many players died. I thought the topic of discussion here was what we could learn from their deaths, and how that can help us defeat the Boss."

Kibaou glared, relenting, and they both sat down in the front row as Tobi shuffled back to Kimiko's side. She pulled him into a gentle hug; Diavel took center stage once more.

"Alright then, can we resume? The latest edition of the guide-book has been issued, and it contains information on the boss. According to it, the Boss's name is Illfang the Kobold Lord. He is guarded by assistants known as Ruin Kobold Sentinels. He is armed with an axe and a buckler. He has four health bars, and when the last one enters red he switches to a curved sword-type weapon called a Talwar. His attack pattern changes as well.

"This concludes the briefing. Lastly, items will be automatically distributed. EXP goes to the party that defeats the monster, and whoever receives an item keeps it. Any objections?"

No one objected, but Kagome did lean forward in her seat a little. Diavel, as always was up to something. It was obvious from that satisfied smile, and the little glint in his eye.

"Okay, we leave tomorrow at ten in the morning. See you there!"

After the speech ended, everyone was gathering around Diavel, and she felt a small lump gathering in her throat. He knew she was there – he'd invited her to join his party after all. That probably meant if Kimiko and Tobi didn't already know, they would soon.

Kirito took her hand, tugging on it to catch her attention. She focused on him, and he quickly drew back his hand, "Asuna's leaving." He said hesitantly, 'are you ready to go?' his face asked.

"Then we should probably get a move on." She took his hand again, startling the blushing boy, and pulled him from his seat.

Asuna was gone. She'd disappeared to go off on her own as soon as possible, the other girl didn't seem rude, she just wanted space. Kagome could respect that.

A month ago she had done the same.

She didn't blame the girl for needing to collect her thoughts, but doing so had left her alone with Kirito.

He was different than she remembered him being. He made teasing comments, tried to coerce the hood from her head, and made no move to take his hand back from hers. She wasn't sure why she continued to hold it so tightly, but she was never-the-less thankful that he didn't mind.

And yet he was still that quiet kid that she remembered. The type that didn't have a lot to say until something really piqued their interest, and didn't seem to relax for a good portion of time after that. It was a good kind of silence.

"So what's your name?" Kirito asked finally. It surprised her how long it had taken to get to that. She didn't say anything as she decided how to approach the subject, but was at a loss. Would he be upset that she hadn't told him her name sooner – it was inevitable that he'd find out.

He took her silence for anger, and hurriedly replied, "Sorry, I didn't mean to sound rude!"

She laughed, "It's not a rude question Kirito… I'm just trying to decide how to answer it." She added hesitantly. He tilted his head.
"Why are you hiding?"

She had her reasons, but only one pertained to him. She took a deep breath and slowly pulled down her hood.

Kirito, for his part, was having a difficult time understanding the girl at his side. She shifted from being comfortable to having her walls up in an instant.

Yet, she held his hand like it was an anchor keeping her at his side. Just like she had a month ago. He'd always been perceptive; he recognized her sweet voice, though it sounded more mature than he remembered.

He wasn't dense. He knew who was sitting beside him, he had known before he'd taken her hand at the coliseum. He just wanted to know why she was hiding her face.

He wasn't surprised at all when she pulled down the hood cloaking her face. The high cheekbones, big blue eyes, a thin, button nose. She looked away from him and her inky black hair shielded that face from sight. She was just as beautiful as he remembered.

"Kagome." He felt a twinge of relief, despite having had a solid idea of who she was. Seeing her again eased the worry that had been eating at him since he abandoned her – and he wouldn't forgive himself for that easily.

After he'd realized she wasn't following him he thought about going back, but Klein promised him that he'd find her. And he had been too panicked to see the mistake he was making in walking away.

He saw it every day after though. The girl he had left behind wasn't built for this world; it was too harsh. She was too sweet.

He could see that girl reflected in the eyes of this one, but she wasn't the same as he remembered. It was in the set of her jaw and the glow in her eyes as she waited for a proper response.

So he pulled her into a tight hug.

"You don't seem surprised." She mumbled against his neck.
"I had an idea."

She released his hand to wrap her other arm around his shoulders. "How?" He knew she was searching for a response that made sense, but he couldn't think of one that didn't sound as corny as, 'Because I missed you.'

Yeah right. Something about her caught his attention, but he had to keep in mind that she was the girl he left behind. She didn't want to hear any of that.

And she didn't.

Kagome wasn't sure how he'd known it was her, but as the silence carried on, she decided she didn't care. Maybe she would ask again tomorrow. "Do you know Asuna too?" she teased, releasing him to nudge his shoulder.

Kirito frowned, seemingly lost in his thoughts, "No. Do you?"
"Nope."

He released her, she stood, "Why don't we practice in the fields? We can grab Asuna and go."

"We won't have to go far. She's right there." Kirito looked past her and nodded, "but she doesn't look in the mood to join us."

They walked to the bench Asuna was sitting on, and the girl, who was focused on staring the fountain in front of her into the ground, didn't notice them. "Can we sit down?" Kirito asked her.

Asuna glanced at them, nodded, and slid to the side to make room. From there he gifted each a jar of cream from a quest he'd done called "The Heifer Strikes Back" and offered to help them complete it.

Kagome shook her head, "I've already completed it, but thanks Kirito. I'll make it up to you." By compensating him either a jar of cream or some honeycomb – she did have a nice strawberry that had to be made into jelly before it spoiled. Maybe she could give him the product of that.

Meanwhile Asuna ignored the new jar in her inventory, "I didn't come here for good food."

"So why are you here then? If not for good food?"

Asuna hesitated, "So I can still be me. I'd rather stay myself until the very end than sit and rot away in an inn back in the first town. Even if I get killed by a monster. I don't want to lose to this game… to this world, no matter what."

Kirito frowned, eating the rest of his bread and cream. "I wouldn't want a party member dying on me… so at the least don't die tomorrow. Either of you." His tone turned stern and he focused a heavy gaze on Kagome.

She rolled her eyes, "I'm more than safe. I'm more worried about the two of you." She huffed, and with that said stood to leave. The exit was probably interpreted as angry, but she was more interested in sitting closer to the fountain than where they were. The sky had darkened and she knew that it would look gorgeous up close.

"Kagome!" she stopped abruptly as Diavel appeared out of seemingly nowhere and picked her up off the ground to swing her in a hug. "I'm so glad you're alive."

She hugged Diavel back tightly, and he set her down. "I told you I'd be fine on my own. I've always been a solo player."

He pulled back, "I know, I know… but the way you ran off – what the hell happened in that dungeon? You had everyone worried sick."
"I'm fine D."

She took a step back, and he sighed while running his fingers through his long bangs, "Well at least tell me why you refused my party invitation? You didn't run off because of me did you?" Partly, but she wouldn't tell him that.

"Of course not you narcissist," she teased, poking his shoulder to let him know she didn't mean it, "I just thought those two could use more help; everyone else is in parties of six."
"Well they certainly got it. They don't need six with you on their side."

"Are you being sarcastic?" she narrowed her eyes with a goofy grin as he fought to remain deadpan.
"Of course not. You're a badass bi-"

"Shhhh, the children could hear you." She replied, looking over his shoulder. She was still smiling, but less so now that Tobi was cautiously making his way toward them. She felt a stab of guilt when he avoided her eyes. I didn't even say goodbye to him. She regretted, and a second later, Didn't he say he was in a big group? Why's he with Diavel?

He stopped beside said man and fiddled with his menu, then,

Tobi has invited you to Party
Accept
Decline

She stared at the invitation, at him, then back.

"I want to join you."

Diavel sighed, "Tobi we've talked about this."

"Kagome wouldn't let anything happen to me." Tobi shot back, looking stormier than she remembered him. They'd obviously talked about whatever Diavel claimed they had 'talked about' a few times – and the kid looked sick of it.
"She doesn't have time to keep an eye on you. She's already short on party members, and who knows if they're capable-"

"I'm capable." He countered.

She accepted the invitation, "He'll be fine D," she said calmly. Tobi grinned smugly and Diavel turned angry eyes onto her, "He's a tough kid, and I know one of the members of my party. He's more than capable. Besides, Tobi's been a good fighter from level two." She clapped a hand on his shoulder and once again assured, "He'll be fine."

Diavel relaxed, albeit slowly. "Alright, alright. I don't need both of you mad at me – I guess. You guys want to grab some food before we go down for the night?"

"I was actually just about to head out for some last minute EXP." Kagome confessed, Tobi beamed.
"Can I came with?"

She grinned, and he returned it. "Is that even a question? Come on, I'll introduce you to the party." Diavel's face fell and she pulled him into a fierce hug; his response was almost bone crushing, "Oh come on D. We'll grab something after the victory tomorrow."
"We better; how's sundown?"

"Okay." She laughed, patting his back and stepping away. "It'll be like old times."

They said their goodbyes and she ruffled Tobi's hair. He seemed to have relaxed, "You ready to meet our partners in crime kid?"
"Yeah."

With that said, she took his hand and turned around. She hadn't gotten far before Diavel stopped her, and her party members hadn't moved while she was gone. She waved sheepishly when she realized that at least one of them was staring at her.

"Hey guys, this is Tobi. It's alright if he joins our party right?" Tobi ducked a little into her side adorably.

If they originally had protests, his nervous smile made it more difficult to voice them. Kirito smiled, "What level are you?" it was the first time anyone had been asked, but for a good reason.
"Twelve."

"I'm thirteen." Kirito told him, obviously impressed, "Those beta testers really did help you out."

Kagome cleared her throat before anyone else could have their level questioned, "Right, well, who wants to get in some late night training?"

Tobi's eyes positively shined.

"Let's do it over again. Our leftovers are supposed to target the Boss's helpers; the Ruin Kobold Sentinels."

"I know," Asuna murmured.

"I'll use a sword skill to knock their pole axes up. The second I do, you three switch in."

Asuna frowned, "Switch?"

Kirito's eyes widened, "Is this the first time you've ever been in a party?"

"Yes."

Diavel stood in front of the door and faced everyone. "Listen up guys, I have only one thing to say." He looked into each and every face before smiling, "Let's win!" That being said, he pushed open the door.

The room, though massive, was dark to the people creeping in. It wasn't until every person had made it into the room that the light flowed in and the door slammed shut.

The room was a kaleidoscope of: greens, pinks, blues, yellows, and more. It was a startling, near blinding shift. The boss monster leapt down from his throne to land heavily on the forever-changing floor. His weight caused mini quakes that left the players on unsteady feet.

He roared, and a red diamond appeared above his head – as well as his name and health bars.

Lastly, the minions jumped out from behind long columns and excitedly lurched from one foot to the other in preparation for their attack on the players. There were only six.

"Commence attack!" Diavel shouted, and drew his sword. The players that surrounded him leapt forward, screaming out battle cries as they did.

As the attack went on, Diavel called out orders.

Kagome's party was in charge of keeping the Sentinels off of him, and the others, while they went in to attack the boss.

She bounced in place in preparation, and when Kirito yelled for a switch she shot forward like lightning.

It was one of the most stunning things that Kirito had ever seen. The Sentinel broke into pieces, tearing off Asuna's cloak in the process.

He stared for a moment, taking in the two girls whom he'd thought were beginners. They're so fast; I didn't even see them move until the Sentinel was dead. And Asuna… Well, Asuna was just gorgeous.

He glanced back over at Kagome. She was just as beautiful, but the two were complete opposites.

Kirito shook off his reverie and switched in to fight off an enemy that got a little too close to Asuna for his liking.

"Kagome, move!" Diavel suddenly yelled, and both Kirito and Asuna whirled around to check on their party member. Tobi, who had been left forgotten, rushed forward to help.

Kagome moved to the side in a flash and had her long, black sword embedded deeply in the Sentinel's flesh before anyone could react properly. Its life ended in an explosion of red sparks.

Tobi was at her side in an instant, "Kagome what was that?" he asked fearfully.

"I'm fine guys. I was just distracted," she shook her head in shame, "Diavel you have to get back to the boss."

Diavel stopped him approach hesitantly and backtracked, throwing out worried glances over his shoulder as he did.

He issued another attack, and someone landed a blow that brought it down to its fourth and final health bar to red. All the players retreated while the boss threw down its weapons.

"Looks like that guidebook was right." Kibaou grinned smugly.

"Stand back!" Diavel called, rushing forward, "I'll go!"

Kagome frowned, What is he thinking? We were supposed to surround it with the entire group… her eyes widened with realization, and then horror when the boss took out its final weapon.

It wasn't a Talwar. It was a No-Dachi.

"Diavel! Get back; it's changed!" she screamed, running as fast as she could to reach him in time.

The Boss jumped into the air and landed behind Diavel; its landing caused the earth to shake once again and Diavel fought to stay on his feet.

He stared death in the face as the No-Dachi came neared his chest, too quickly to dodge… but then he didn't have to.

He closed his eyes in time for a light breeze, and for the ring of swords connecting to reach his ears. And he opened his eyes to find Kagome in front of him, with her feet noticeably slipping backwards. Her sword was barely holding under the pressure from the Boss's attack.

"Kagome," he whispered, barely able to over the dryness of his throat, "Thanks."
"I'd say shit hit the fan. We're screwed."

"We should probably just give up." He told her, the ghost of a smile scathed across his lips. Her sword cracked.

And then she was saved, just like she had saved him. Kirito appeared from their left and slashed the monster's side. "Switch!"

Kagome released a war cry, and charged in. She dodged its attack and follow up slash, then leaped onto its arm and achieved a critical slash across its chest before calling out, "Switch!"

Kirito was on it again, and slashed its arm fiercely. He retreated to dodge a strike.

Kagome saw Diavel move and turned in the last second to tackle him to the ground. He'd picked up her nearly broken sword. Kagome didn't have to see the Boss to know it was behind her raising its weapon, but she couldn't move. Diavel couldn't die.

How lucky was she, when Egil stepped in to defend them along with the rest of his party. Kirito helped her from the floor. She ignored him, and shoved Diavel backward when he stood. "What the hell were you thinking? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

He avoided her eyes, "I wanted the special reward."
"Why? To hang it on your wall of accomplishments?" she pushed him again before he could protest, "No item is worth your life, you stupid asshole." Didn't he know how much he meant to people? How much he meant to Kimiko, and Tobi, and his guild, and her?

She didn't notice the tears until Diavel was gently scrapping them away, "I'm sorry. I won't go in again, I promise Kagome."
"I don't trust you right now." She mumbled, gripping her sword tightly. "Tobi watch him."

Tobi, who had come to scold the man as well, uncertainly blocked him from the battle. He was tiny, but she knew he'd pull his weight.

She charged in, just in time to save Kirito –who had been trying to save Egil- and he smiled gratefully, "One more strike. Asuna, Kagome! We do this together."

The girl's nodded and ran in with this stabbing and chopping until finally Kirito got in a slash that was beyond the point of fatality.

It shattered into a rainbow of colors and everyone erupted into cheers.

Everyone but the party who had defeated it.

Congratulations! Appeared from the flurry of red sparks brought on by the boss's death, and Kagome already vulnerable from the near loss of her best friend stared at it, feeling ill. Will that appear when they kill me? Will the sparks just keep coming from my corpse until they can bring themselves to leave the room?

"We did it!"

Kagome pushed herself off of her knee and offered a hand to Kirito, whom had been in a similar position. He took it with a nod.

Congratulations! Each player in your party receives:
*500 EXP

"Good work." Asuna said, and they both turned around to find her smiling with Egil, who nodded to Kirito.
"That was splendid swordsmanship. Congratulations. This victory belongs to you."

"No…" Kirito shook his head as the room's contents cheered him on.

"Why?" Kibaou suddenly yelled, getting the attention of everyone. "Why didn't you say anything? You nearly got Diavel killed!"

"It looked to me like they were trying to save him?" Someone muttered. "And it worked, so what's the big deal?"

"Didn't you see?" he sneered, "Those two knew that technique the boss used. If either of you had said something up front, he wouldn't have been in danger in the first place. You're lucky he's alive."

There were whispers amongst the gathered players and they now eyed the two players in question distrustfully.
"They must be beta testers. That's how they knew all the boss's attack patterns!"
"They knew, but they didn't tell us." Someone else said bitterly.
"Other beta testers are here too right? Come out!"

Kirito frowned, This is bad. At this rate… he gulped.

That's when terrible laughter filled up the room, every occupant turned, including a stunned Kirito.

Kagome got up with a flourish. "Beta tester? I wish you wouldn't compare us to those newbies."

"What?"

"Most of the thousand beta testers were beginners." Kirito said, getting onto what she was doing and standing himself. "They didn't even know how to level up. You guys are better than they are!"

"But we're not like them." Kagome finished and they began walking toward where they knew they could enter the next level. "I made it higher than anyone else during the beta test and he was right behind me."

"The reason we knew the boss's skills, is because we fought monsters with katana skills on floors far above us."

Kagome smiled darkly, "We know a lot more. Way more than any information broker."

Kibaou took a step back. "W-What? That's way worse than a beta tester. You're cheating! You're cheaters!"

"Cheaters and beta testers! They're beaters!"

Kirito grinned sinisterly, "Beaters. I like it, don't you Kagome?"
"That's right… we are beaters. The only two in existence. From now one, don't confuse us with the other testers."

Kirito, who had been messing with his items, selected his new Cloak of Midnight. Then, the two headed up the stairs for the next level.

"Wait!" Asuna called running to get to where they were. "You called my name when we were fighting."

"Sorry for using just your first name. Or did I mess up the pronunciation?" Kirito asked.

"Where did you learn it?"

"You can see another HP Gauge under yours right? Isn't something written next to it?"

"Ki...ri..to... Kirito? Is that your name?"

"Yeah."

She paused a moment before blushing with a small laugh. "Oh, it's been there all this time!"

Kirito looked down at her solemnly. "You'll be really strong. So if someone you trust ever invites you to join a guild, don't turn them down. There's a big limit to what you can do as a solo player."

"Then, what about you?"

Kirito moved forward another step before disbanding the party.

Kagome moved a little closer and put her hand on his arm before turning back to the other girl. Diavel was standing in front of the angry players; yelling for them to calm down. Tobi looked at her sadly. "Bye, Asuna, Diavel, Tobi."

With that they both walked into the door that opened for them.

i luv niki4444

I'M SORRY HE'LL DIE LATER. HE NEEDS TO BE PROPERLY DEVELOPED FI- *is shot*

Written before Diavel's outcome: Guys I can't tell you how hard this choice is. I've read over my outline, the original Tainted Light, and this story three times just trying to decide whether or not Diavel will die here. I don't think I can do it just yet; I think it needs to happen later on in the story if at all. The main reason being that he's become very close to my heart, and to Kagome. I'm trying to create a good amount of bonds between her and other characters so that the 100th floor is even more of a party (and yes, the 100th floor is completely designed, as are the monsters. I'm so excited xD)

Thank you guys for all the reviews! I love reading and responding to them so THANK YOU SO MUCH! :D It's great to hear that everyone's liking it so far ^^

I hope you guys liked this chapter (Its 24 pages, look :DD Looookkk) and if you did, let me know! I'd love to hear what you thought! Do you think I should have killed off Diavel this early on, or do you agree that there's a lot more he could be used for?

Xx Niki