Chapter 3 The Hacker and The Beater
"It's been a month since the game happened, and Sora and Kirito teamed up to survive in the death game and 2000 people have died already. Ansem and his apprentices have been watching over their computer watching Sora and his friend as they continue through Sword Art Online and looking for a player who came from another world like Sora. "(Sighs) it's been at least a month and there hasn't been any trace of players who could be from another world." Ienzo said sounding a little frustrated for their lack of progress. "There have been a few traces of the heartless in the game but nothing too big and they still haven't made it to the next floor." Even said. "They need to find the bosses lair and defeat the boss, but no one can find it not even Kirito who was a beta tester for S.A.O." Ansem explained. "Well, according to one to some of the players their having a meeting on how to find and defeat the floor 1 boss." Ienzo said. "Well, if they beat it, they'll be one step closer to clearing the game." Even said. "Yes, but if the mysterious player is there the one that brought on the heartless is among that group, it's not going to be as simple as they think." Ansem said concerned about the players in
"Meanwhile, on Floor 1 in S.A.O in a town called Tolbana the players who were willing to fight met up in an Amphitheater. A player named Diabel with bronze armor set on his chest, shoulders, arms, and shins, with a large longsword on his left waist, and a kite shield on his back. He has blue hair with long bangs and blue eyes. His clothes under the armor were also blue. "Okay people now that everyone's here let's get this meeting started. So, anyway I want to thank everyone for coming good to see you. My name is Diabel, and in this game the job I rolled is knight" Diabel said. But everyone except Sora and Kirito laughed at that comment "Dude there's no job system in this game." the random player said. "You guys want to hear this or not." Diabel said finally managing to calm everyone down. "Right anyway, here's the deal our party found the boss room at the top of the tower today." Everyone was shocked to hear this they've looked for the boss's room for a while now and hadn't made any progress. "First, we need to defeat the boss and make it to floor 2 next we'll tell everyone in the town of beginnings that it is possible to beat this game. Fact is it's our duty as the most capable players here do you agree or not?" Diabel asked. After the players looked at each other they all clapped around at Diabel's speech including Sora he admires his loyalty to the players in the game and commitment to clearing the game. Kirito didn't clap but he did smile at Diabel for the same reasons Sora was clapping. "Okay glad hear you're with me on this. Now let's figure out how we're going to beat the boss. First off, we'll team up into parties of six. A typical party doesn't stand a chance against a floor boss. We need a raid group of multiple parties." Diabel explained. Then the players form several groups to form parties to take on the raid boss. "So, I'm guessing you and I are going to be a party?" Sora asked. "Well, we can't take on the boss alone so alright" Kirto said. So, Kirito went to his main menu clicked on friends/guild icon which showed 3 more icons Guild the flag with the plus in the middle icon, the party with three people icon and friend with a person with a plus sign on its right shoulder icon. Kirito then presses the party icon and then presses the button with three circles icon and an invite came in front of Sora asking, "Do you accept party invitation." So, Sora clicked the blue button on it meaning he accepts, and Sora's health bar with his name on the right side of the health bar appears below Kirito's. Then Sora and Kirito noticed a player all alone wearing a dark red cloak covering her face and most of her body. So, the two players moved to where the lone player was sitting "You got left out to huh?" Kirito asked. "Not even, I wasn't left out, it's just everyone here looks like their already friends." The robbed player said. "So, your solo to you want to form a party with us?" Kirito asked. The robbed player just turned her head at them not making any sound. "Well, we can't beat this boss on our own and it'll only be for this fight." Sora said trying to persuade the robbed player to join them. So, the robbed figure nodded her head, so Kirito unlocked his main menu, clicked the friends/guild icon, clicked on the party icon, and clicked on the icon with three circles and the invite came in front of the player asking, "Do you accept party invitation." So, she clicked the blue button accepting the party invitation, and another health bar went under Sora and its name on the right side of the health bar revealed, Asuna. "All right looks like everyone's teamed up. Now then- "Diabel said until he was interrupted by another player with a short yet solidly built man with sienna, spiky cactus-styled hair. He also has a small sienna goatee and brown eyes and scale mail armor with a rather large one-handed sword on his back. "Hold on a sec!" he shouted as he jumped down from the Amphitheater and in front of Diabel with an angry look on his face. "My names Kibaou got that? Before we take on the boss there's something I need to get off my chest. We all know about the 2,000 people who died so far yeah, well some of you need to apologize to them right now!" Kibaou exclaimed very upset about what happened to the 2000 players. The other players looked confused at what he was talking about, who's to blame for the players deaths? But Kirito looked at him with a worried look almost like he knew what he was talking about. "Kibaou, I think I know who you're referring to. You mean the ones who were ex – beta testers right?" Diabel asked. "Of course I do! The day this stupid game started, the beta-testers just up and vanished right?! They ditched all us beginners! They snagged all the good hunting spots and grabbed all the easy quests too. They were the only ones getting stronger here. This whole time they ignored us like we're nothing! Not only that, but there's one other thing we all know about the strange monsters that have popped up right?" Kibaou asked. "You mean the strange monsters called heartless?" Diabel asked. "Of course I do! No where in the game did it ever say anything about these creatures, and from what I've learned only one player knew what they are, probably because he brought those creatures here, and I bet he and some of the other beta-testers are here, well come out and show yourselves! We should make them apologize to us and make them give up all their money and items they've got. They can't expect the party to trust them if they don't trust us so why should we?!" Kibaou exclaimed. But Kirito and Sora had a worried look on their faces from one being an ex-beta-tester the other having knowledge of the heartless. But then another player spoke up and stood in front of Kibaou, he had a massive and bulky bald man with a brown goatee and brown eyes. He also has two silver earrings on his left ear. "Can I say something? Hey my names Agil Kibaou right? I want to make sure we're on the same page. You say the player with knowledge on the heartless and the ex-beta testers should be blamed for the rookie's deaths because they didn't help, and you also want to apologize and give up their money and items. I leave anything out?" Agil asked. "No, you didn't." Kibaou said. Then Agil pulled out two books from his pockets, one is a small brown book, the other is a small yellow book with the heartless symbol on it. "The item store hands these out for free their guidebooks. You have one to, don't you?" Agil asked. "Sure, I got them, so what about them?" Kibaou asked. "You know who was passing these out the ex-beta testers." Agil said. The players were all surprised to hear the fact the players who were called out for the rookie's deaths are the ones helping them with free information. "And what about the player with knowledge on those heartless?" Kibaou asked. "According to the ex-beta testers he's the one who made this guidebook. (He holds up the yellow book with the heartless symbol.) We don't know how these heartless got here, but blaming a player who's trying to help us isn't going to help anyone." Agil said. The players were all talking among themselves about that, and they all agreed that this mysterious player wanted to help by making the book on the information on the heartless. Sora was glad to hear that someone understood that he just wanted to help everyone, but he also wished he could do more, but he knew had to protect the world order. "Listen up, everyone had equal access to this information. Even so, lots of players still died. Now, I didn't come here to point fingers at anyone, I'm here because I want to learn from those players deaths. I'm here because I want to learn how we're going to clear the game" Agil explained. And with that Kibaou sat down satisfied but still angry, and Agil sat down afterwards. "Okay. Can we get back to the meeting now? For info on the boss, it's all here (Diabel holds up a small brown book) the latest issue of the guidebook you just heard about. According to the book, the boss's name is illfang the kobold lord. Also, he'll be surrounded by his minions, the Ruin Kobold sentinels. Illfang carries an ax and a buckler, he has four health bars and when the last one turns red, he switches to a curved sword type called a tulwar. He can change his patterns of attack too. That's it for the briefing, as for the distribution of loot, money will be divided equally among everyone. The party that defeats the boss gets the XP, and whoever gets an item gets to keep it. Any Objections? Good! We leave tomorrow at 10:00 in the morning. Meeting adjourned, people!" Diabel said. After the meeting the players in their party's all talked amongst themselves, and Asuna left the Amphitheater.
"Soon it's nighttime in Tolbana and the players meet in the center of town to celebrate the fact the boss's room has been found. Meanwhile in a small part of the town of Tolbana, Asuna is sitting all alone eating a small loaf of black bread until two familiar players show up. "Those are pretty tasty." Kirito said. "Mind if we sit down?" Sora asked. Asuna nodded her head, and they sat down beside her, but she scooted a few inches away from them. Then Sora and Kirito brought their own small loaf of black bread to eat. "You really think this taste good?" Asuna asked, not really liking the bread. "Uh huh since we came to this town, we eat at least once a day. But we have a trick to make it taste better." Kirito said. "What trick?" Asuna asked. So, Kirito brought out a small jar next to Asuna. "Try it with some of that." Kirito said. So, Asuna touched the jar and a bright light appeared on her fingers, then she rubbed the bright light against her loaf of black bread and something surprisingly tasty appeared on it. "Cream?" Asuna asked surprised what was in that jar. So, Sora and Kirito tapped on the jar as well and used the cream on their small black loaf of bread and began to eat it, but since the jar had a low durability, it disappeared in an instant. Asuna took a small bite of the bread with the cream on it, and she instantly devoured the whole thing. "We got it from the heifer strikes back. It's the quest in the village before you get to this one. We can tell you how we got it if you want." Sora said. "No thanks I appreciate the offer but, I didn't come here to eat good food. "Okay why are you here?" Kirito asked. "So, I don't lose sight of who I am. I don't want to lock myself in a room of the Town of Beginnings and slowly rot away. I'd rather stay the way I am till the last moment... Even if a monster beats me and I die I won't lose. To this game or this world, no matter what." Asuna said. "I wouldn't want a party member dying on me. So, try not to die tomorrow." Kirito said. "Yeah, we're in this together." Sora said.
"Back in the Radiant Garden castle Ansem and his Apprentices watched everything that happened. "That book... how exactly did Sora make that book?" Even asked. "After the heartless appeared the first time, I rounded up all the notes we had about the heartless. Transferred the notes we had to Sora in this small book." Ienzo said while picking up the same small yellow book with the heartless symbol. "I told Sora to bring it to the same ex-beta testers but to also conceal his identity, so that all the players don't come to him in case someone like Kibaou starts to point fingers at who's responsible for the heartless appearance." Ansem explained. "But why is Kibaou so quick to point fingers at the ex-beta testers and Sora at the situation they're in" Even asked. "He doesn't care about the truth; he just wants someone to be mad at." Ansem said sounding angry and ashamed. "How do you know?" Ienzo asked. "Because I've done the same thing when I was blinded by my thoughts for revenge. I wanted vengeance against Xehanort for stealing my name, banishing me to the Realm of Darkness. The only left inside was thoughts of revenge of Xehanort and all of you." As he said that part, Ienzo and Even felt guilty of betraying their master to side with Xehanort and do terrible things in their time in the original Organization XIII. "When I was repairing Sora's memory, I still had so much hatred for the Organization that I took it out on Roxas and Namine." Ansem said with complete remorse of what he did in the past being consumed by his thoughts of revenge. "I'm sorry master, even though I was just a boy when I was told you went mad and abandoned us, I still should have known you'd never do that. I went against everything you stood for when I was in the organization, and for that I'm truly sorry." Ienzo said deeply feeling guilty about what he did. "I must apologize to master, I was obsessed with my research and when Xehanort came up with an idea to go further develop my research, I went along with his coup to overthrow you. But when I was in the organization all I cared about was my research, I forgot what I wanted to use my research for. To help others in need and when I was recompleted the first thing I wanted to do was atone for my actions." Even said also sounding guilty on his actions in the past. "I think all that matters is that recognize our mistakes and made peace with it. But if Kibaou continues the way he is he's going to turn the players against one another." Ansem explained. "With all of that would be enough for the heartless to run wild all over the first floor of Sword Art Online." Ienzo said. "I just hope nothing else bad will happen in there." Even said. But right after he says that a very loud alarm goes off and the computer screen flashes red. "What's going on!" Even exclaimed. "I think a glitch has been discovered in the game but who could have placed it?" Ienzo asked. "Looks like the mysterious player is close by, I just hope Sora is okay." Ansem said worrying for the lives of Sora and the players.
"In the forest field of floor one the players are marching to the boss's room and Sora; Kirito and Asuna were walking in the back of the players. "Let's go over it again we're the backup, so our target's going to be the boss's minions, the ruin kobold sentinels." Kirito explained. "I know." Asuna said. "Me to." Sora said. "I'll use a sword skill to knock the weapons out of the way. When I do you guys will switch and jump in." Kirito said. "What's a switch?" Asuna asked. "Okay level with me, is this the first time you ever been in a party?" Kirito asked. "Uh huh" Asuna responded making Kirito groan knowing he's going to have a lot of explaining to do. But when everyone was about to get to the boss's room the entire floor started flashing red and a very loud alarm went off. The players were all wondering what's going on, is it an announcement, a new program that Kayaba installed? Before anyone could ask, they all looked around them and noticed that the trees in the forest were glitching in and out. "What's going on!?" Asuna exclaimed. "I don't know but I have a feeling that there might be a bug in the system and it's making this floor go all crazy." Kirito said. "A bug that can make an entire floor flash red and the trees glitching in and out?" Sora asked. But before Kirito could ask a swarm of heartless should up Infront of the players luckily Diabel knew what to do. "Stay calm everyone, according to the yellow guidebook these are heartless are called large bodies and their weak spot is their backs! Everyone stays in your groups spread out to separate the heartless. One player keeps the heartless distracted the others will deal the finishing blow!" Diabel ordered. Then the players charged in ready to take on the heartless, but Sora, Kirito and Asuna rushed in to help fight, Sora stopped when he looked on his right and saw a strange black cloaked figure. Sora wanted to help fight but he wasn't taking any chances, so he ran after the black cloaked figure. But as Sora ran off, Kibaou watched him run away from the others with a curious look on his face.
"Sora raced after the black cloaked figure deeper and deeper in the forest, and away from the players. But Sora ended up losing the black cloaked figure and had completely no idea where he was. But then he heard the ringtone of his gummiphone and clicked on the icon that appeared in front of him with the picture of the gummiphone. "Guys! this entire floor is out of control!" Sora exclaimed. "We know, we can hear the loud alarm on our end and our computer screen is flashing red." Ienzo explained. "What's going on?!" Sora asked. "I'm picking up some kind of bug in the floor you're on, it's causing the floor to glitch out. That's probably the reason why the floor is flashing red and the alarms off, it's a warning there's something wrong with the floor." Ansem explained. "So, what can we do?" Sora asked. "Don't worry we're picking up a back door into the system sector for that floor." Even said. "What's a system sector?" Sora asked. "It's the entire program of the world itself, if the bugs cause enough damage to the program, it'll cause the entire world to crash." Ienzo said. Sora was shocked when he heard this, the bugs entering the program could prevent the players from clearing the game, in fact if the entire game crashes with everyone in it, no one will survive. "Then how can we fix it?" Sora asked. "In order to enter the system sector, you must unlock the back door to it's program first." Ienzo explained. "But how? I can't use magic in this world!" Sora exclaimed remembering the words Ansem and his apprentices said to him before he entered Sword Art Online. "You may not be able to use magic, but when I digitized your keyblades into S.A.O I made sure the keyblades original powers are still accessible." Ansem explained. "So, I can still lock and unlock things with my keyblade?" Sora asked. "Yes, along with a few other upgrades I put in for safety. Wave around your keyblade. "Ansem said. "But... Why?" Sora asked. "You'll see..." Ansem replied. So, Sora waved around his keyblade confused as to why he's doing it. But then he noticed his keyblade flashing slowly in a light blue aura. "Uh... what's going on?" Sora asked. "Something I placed in your keyblades when I digitized them. In case something like this were to happen, your keyblade can track down the source to the bugs, which will take you to the backdoor, which will lead to the system sector where the bugs are." Ansem explained. And with his keyblade in hand Sora moved in the same direction where his keyblade started flashing. But as Sora kept moving in that direction, his keyblade then started flashing yellow at a faster pace. "Hey guys the keyblade is now flashing yellow." Sora said. "That must mean your getting closer to the bug, keep moving." Ansem instructed. "On it." Sora replied. Sora kept moving in the same direction and then he noticed his keyblade rapidly flashing red. "Uh now it's flashing red." Sora said. "That means the backdoor is in the area you're in. Hold out your keyblade." Sora said. Sora did it and the rapid red flash on his keyblade went to the tip of the blade, then a bright red flash shot from the tip of the blade hitting one of the glitching trees, and a small hole with cracks and red data codes appeared. "Woah... is this the backdoor?" Sora asked. "Yes, through there is the system sector, that's where the bugs are hiding." Ansem said. "Yes Sora, now that you found the backdoor, hold out your keyblade through it and you'll be instantly teleported to the system sector." Ienzo explained. So, Sora did just that and then yellow bits of data codes surround him, and he disappears. Meanwhile in the Radiant Garden castle Ansem and his apprentices were discussing what was going on. "Looks like the mysterious player has made his move." Even said. "Yeah, and I have a good feeling it was that player dressed in black Sora was chasing." Ienzo said. "That's pretty obvious, but when I zoomed in on that player, the black coat was just like the organization's coat."Ansem said. "But who? Xehanort and the real Organization XIII have been defeated." Even stated. "It might be a coincidence that this player has the same coat. But it's obvious that there's something suspicious about that player." Even said. "We'd better keep an eye on that player." Ienzo said. "I agree, but first we have other problems to deal with." Ansem said.
"Back in Sword Art Online Sora appeared in the System Sector, the entire sector was red with red bits of data code across the walls. But he also saw strange blocks with red emblems on it, with all this strangeness happening, he unlocked his main menu, went to his items, pulled out his gummiphone and called for Ansem and his apprentices. "Hey guys, I have a feeling this is the system sector, right?" Sora asked. "Correct and that's where the bugs are doing the damage to the floor." Ansem said. "Got it, so where do I find the bugs?" Sora asked. "They're all around you, from the bugs in the sector, to the heartless in there. But if the entire sector turns yellow then that means the bugs have been cleared." Ienzo explained. "Got it. So, all I must do is get rid of these blocks and the heartless in here." Sora stated. "Yes but be careful. The heartless in the system sector are more powerful in there." Even warned. "Okay, I'll be careful." Sora said. So, Sora ended the call and put his gummiphone back in his item stock. Then Sora decided to move around in the system sector taking out the bug blocks in the sector, but he didn't see any heartless. But then, several shadow heartless with a blue code was surrounding them, but Sora easily took them out. "Huh that was easy." Said as he continued through the sector. But then he encountered a group of soldier heartless with a yellow code surrounding the heartless. These ones were attacking him and relentlessly, moving very very fast. Sora was having a hard time keeping up by with them, but with a few attacks he was able to get rid of them. "(Huff, huff, huff) these heartless are fast, but not able to go as fast as the speed of light. (Sigh) Even was right, these heartless are more powerful in here. Sora said. So, Sora moved on with caution, and it was a good thing he did because then a giant large body heartless appeared, but this one had red coding surrounding it. So, Sora ran towards it and jumped high over it, then landing a striking blow on it's back. But the heartless didn't even move. So, Sora attacked it more and more but the heartless wasn't affected by it, then the heartless turned around and rammed into Sora with its belly sending him flying into a wall. "(Groan) Man, since when can heartless not feel any pain…" Sora said. So, Sora had an idea on how to hit the heartless a little harder. So, he changed his clothes to a second form and his keyblade glowed in a golden aura as he uses a sword skill for the very first time, a skill he uses in the real-world Ars Arcanum. He jumps over the heartless and uses his sword skill to land 13 powerful blows on the giant large body heartless and it disappears, and a crystalline heart floated away, then the entire system sector turned yellow, and Sora knew what that meant. So, Sora went to his item storage to get his Gummiphone to tell Ansem and the others about the great news. "Good news the bugs in this sector are all cleared!" Sora said. "We know, we noticed the entire sector turn yellow, well-done Sora." Ansem complimented. "Thanks… But… how do I get out of here?" Sora asked. "Leave that to us, we can create a terminal that can take you from here back to the forest field on floor one." Ienzo said. With that Ansem and his apprentices got to work in creating that terminal for him to leave, and after a few minutes a bright white light shot up right in front of Sora. "I'm just going to guest that this is the terminal that'll get me out." Sora said. "Yes, just walk through that light and you'll be right back in the forest." Even said. "Right thanks." Sora said. So, Sora walked into the light and was teleported back to the forest on floor one.
"Back on the forest of floor one Sora is standing in front of the tree that had the back door, but when he looked behind him at the trees it wasn't glitching and the back door was gone. In fact, Sora looked all around him, and all the trees in the forest stopped glitching. Then Sora heard his Gummiphone ringtone and clicked on the icon that appeared in front of him. "Hey, good news the trees are back to normal here!" Sora exclaimed. "We know, the forest looks back to normal on our end to." Ansem said. "Oh… and I forgot to mention this but… (Sigh) I think I saw an organization XIII member here." Sora said sounding a little afraid, of someone as dangerous as an Organization XIII member in a death game and fearing for the lives of the players even more. "Yes, that's what we thought to. We zoomed in on the player and we recognized that black coat." Ienzo said. "But how? Each Organization member was defeated even Master Xehanort." Sora explained. "Who knows, there might be a possibility it could be someone new. But the fact that player has that specific coat is not to be taken lightly, the player might be an organization member or someone new, but it's starting to look like that player is responsible for the heartless in S.A.O. But don't worry Sora we'll keep an eye on him." Even assured. "Well… okay but..." before Sora could finish, he saw a group of bat like heartless with large wings, small yellow eyes, a parrot-like head, spiky fur around the neck, twisted antenna, a small round belly, tiny legs, and a crooked tail. "But I have to go bye!" Sora said as he rushed after the fluttering heartless. "Meanwhile with the other players, they were still fighting the large bodies and a few of the players have died and the rest was struggling to defeat them. But Kirito and Asuna rushed in and jumped behind the heartless and with one slash they were defeated. "Phew… that was close to close. You alright?" Kirito asked. "I'm fine, but where did Sora go?" Asuna asked. "I don't know, maybe one of those heartless things got him by surprise." Kirito said. But he looked around and noticed the trees weren't glitching in and out anymore. "Huh, looks like the glitching has finally stopped." Kirito said. But then a flock of fluttering heartless hovered over the players shooting dark fire balls at the players. "Squads B and C block out those dark fire ball attacks." Diabel ordered. And they did just that, the players in those squads protected the others from the heartless attacks. But it wasn't looking good a as the players were getting overwhelmed, so they all had to fall back to find cover. The players hid behind the trees, so the heartless couldn't find them, but Diabel thought of a new plan. "Alright everyone here's the plan. Squads A, B, C split up and round up those heartless and keep them distracted. Everyone else once the heartless is once the heartless focuses on them we'll take them out!" Diabel orders. And the plan went into action, Squads A, B and C rounded up the fluttering heartless, and distracted them, so everyone else could attack. But it was to late, by the time the rest of the players went for the ambush one of the heartless noticed them and alerted the rest of the fluttering heartless. Soon the fluttering heartless flew over them reading to blast them all with their dark fires. But out of nowhere, Sora rushed in and deflected all the dark fires from the rest of the players. The players watched in awe, as this one player was deflecting so many dark fire balls, but it took multiple players to guard them all. Kirito was amazed to, his level is the same as his and it's not that high, since they're on the first floor. "Sora, who are you really?" Kirito thought to himself. Then after the flutterings stoped firing their dark fires, Sora jumped up glowing his keyblade and made powerful blows on the flutterings, and they disappeared. "Phew is everyone alright?" Sora asked. "Yes, we lost a few players, but it looks like everyone is safe. But wait? Weren't you with one of the squads? How come you weren't around for most of the battle?" Diabel asked. The players looked at Sora with a bit of suspicion, where was this powerful player when they were under attack? Maybe he could have turned the tides for everyone, even the players who didn't make it. "I was planning on helping, but I got ambushed and separated from the rest of the group. Then when I handled the heartless, I got little lost. Sora said to cover up where he was. He didn't like lying to everyone, but he knew if he told everyone he was going to fix the glitches by enter the depths of S.A.O's data, the players would have even more questions on who and what he is, and it would be even harder to protect the world order. "I see, well it's good thing you found us, otherwise this fight could've been a lot worse. Alright everyone, well we wasted enough time out here, come on everyone the boss room is just further up ahead!" Diabel said. But as everyone walked off, Diabel watched Sora with a death glancing look on his face.
"Soon everyone made it to where the boss room was held up and was standing in front of the the door to the boss room. "Listen up, everyone. I've only got one thing to say to you. Let's win!" Diabel said. Everyone there was determined to beat the boss and advance on to the next floor. So, with that, Diabel opened the door to the boss room, but it was dark in there. But in there was a throne, with a giant monster on it, with red eyes. Then the room became brighter, with lots of color patterns around the room. Then the monster jumped from the the throne, and Illfang was over two meters tall, muscular, covered in red fur and had bloodthirsty, copper-red eyes. Illfang used a large bone axe and a leather shield to attack. Behind its waist, it carried a weapon that's meter and half long, and the boss had four giant health bars. Then three other monsters appeared next to the boss, its minions the /spanRuin Kobold sentinels, and they all charged at the players. "Commence attack!" Diabel shouted, as all the players charged into battle. The battle was long and fierce, but the players were still holding up. "Squads A and C switch in!" Diabel commanded as the the squads rushed towards the boss and attacked it. "Here it comes Squad B block!" Diabel shouted as the other squad rushed in and used their sword skills to deflect the boss's attack. "Squad C keep guarding and prepare to switch., Everyone else you fall back, regroup and flank them. Squads D, E and F keep those minions off us" Diabel commanded. "Don't worry, we're on it." Sora responded as he faced one of the boss's minions. "Yeah, you got it!" Kirito responded as he took on another minion. "Switch!" Kirito shouted, as Asuna rushed in to fight off the minion. "I'm on it!" she shouted as she activated her sword skill, and rapidly attacked the minion. 'I thought she was a beginner, but she's got good skills I can't even see the tip of her sword.' Kirito said to himself as he watched her destroy the minion with one final hit. "Right on." Kirito said quietly. "Kirito watch out!" Sora shouted, as he destroyed another minion that was trying to attack Kirito. "Phew thanks." Kirito said. "You're welcome." Sora responded and they got back into battle. Soon the boss was on its final health bar and in the red too, then the boss threw away the weapons it was holding, meaning it was about to get the weapon behind its waist. "Looks like the guidebook was right!" Kibaou said, happy they were getting closer to ending the battle. "Stand back! I've got it!" Diabel shouted, as he charged with his sword skill to defeat the boss. But Kirito saw what he was about to do and was curious 'I thought the plan was for everyone in the group to surround it.' He thought to herself. But when the boss reached the weapon behind its back, Kirito noticed something quite surprising. '(Gasp!) that's not a Tulwar it's a nodachi! This isn't like the beta!' he thought to himself. "Wait stop! That's no good get out of there!" Kirito shouted but it was too late. The boss zig zagged across the room, then attacked Diabel with its nodachi, and attacked him again sending him flying. "Diabel no!" Kibaou shouted. But soon he and the other players came face to face with the boss again. Sora and Kirito ran up to Diabel and his healthbar went red. "Diabel! Are you alright!?" Sora asked. "What were you thinking!?" Kirito asked while getting a healing potion for Diabel, but he refused. "You know… you were a beta tester to… weren't you? Diabel asked looking at Kirito. "(Gasp) You were after the last attack bonus, the rare item. Your just like me a beta tester." Kirito said. Sora was surprised, who knew the player leading the other players to this battle was once a beta tester. "Please… you have to defeat the boss… for everyone here." Diabel said. Then he disappeared, even in his dying breath he still cared about the lives of the players over himself. 'Since this death game started, the only thing I thought was how to survive nothing else mattered. But you weren't like that Diabel, you never abandoned the other players. You brought them together, you led everyone, and you fought brilliantly. You tried to accomplish something I couldn't.' Kirito thought to himself. " Sora was sad about Diabel's death, but he knew he had to beat the boss for everyone else. "Come on Kirito, let's do this for Diabel and everyone else here." Sora said as they both got ready to face the boss. "I'll go to." Asuna said. And with that the three players charged towards the boss. "We'll hir them just like we did the minions" Kirito said. "You got it" Asuna responded. "Let's do it!" Sora responded. Then the boss's nodachi glowed bright white and charged at the three players. But Kirito's sword flashes a light blue, as he unleashed a sword skill and used it to defeat the boss's attack. "Switch" Kirito shouted as Sora's keyblade once again shined a golden aura as he unleashes another sword skill sonic blade on the boss. "Switch" Sora shouted as Asuna rushed in to attack the boss. "Asuna!" Kirito shouted warning Asuna of the boss's attack. She dodged the bosses attack, but her cloak is torn off revealing a young female player with long, orange-brownish chestnut hair and hazel eyes. She wore a dark red leather tunic with a lightweight copper breastplate and leather pants with boots up to the knees. Then Asuna charged in as her sword turned a light purple and used a sword skill to push the boss away. So, the three players bombarded the boss with their sword skills, until the boss slashed Kirito with its nodachi and he flew right into Sora and Asuna. Kirito's health went from green to red putting his life in more danger. Then the boss raised its nodachi above him as it glows bright red, he brings it down to the three players to end their lives. But Agil rushed in with his axe shining bright green as he unleashed a sword skill to deflect the boss's attack that he ended up flying backwards. The other players rush in to help "We can hold it off until your health's back up" Agil said. "You got it." Kirito said. So, while Kirito drank his healing potion to get his health back up the players taught the boss. But then the boss jumped high in the sky, with its nodachi shining a bright purple as it went down to attack the players. But Kirito jumped high in the sky and attacked the boss in mid air. "You're going down!" Kirito shouted as he attacked the boss. "Sora! Asuna! Help me beat this sucker one last attack!" Kirito shouted. "Asuna responded. "I'm right behind you!" Sora responded. The three players once again bombarded the boss with their sword skills, and Kirito landed the finishing blow on the boss, and it disappeared. Then a giant congratulations icon appeared in the middle of the room meaning the boss is defeated and the first floor is cleared. The players all cheered that their hard work paid off and they were one step closer to clearing the entire game. Then the room went back to its dark color and Kirito got the last attack bonus, the coat of midnight. "Nice going Kirito!" Sora completed. "Well done." Asuna added on. "That was some fine swordsman ship congratulations, today's victory is all thanks to you." Agil said. "No… thanks to all of us." Kirito said. Then the players all clapped and cheered for Kirito for finishing off the boss, but Kibaou was the end of his rope. "Stop cheering!" he shouted, and everyone was looking at him. "Why'd you do it huh? Why did you let Diabel die?" Kibaou asked while on the verge of tears. "Let him die?" Kirito asked. "You heard me! Admit you knew the technique the boss was gonna use! You could have told us! Then Diabel would have stood a chance! He wouldn't have had to die!" Diabel exclaimed. The players all thought about how he knew the bosses attack patterns and why he told Diabel to not go for the attack. "I know why he knew he used to be a beta tester! Think about it he knew the bosses attack patterns! He knew but he kept it from us! And I bet he's not the only beta tester come on show yourselves!" a random player exclaimed. Everyone looked at each other with suspicion, who can they trust? Who's a beta tester? Sora knew this and finally had enough of him. "Alright that's enough! It's not Kirito's fault he's gone! Diabel was the one who went to attack the boss on his own!" Sora exclaimed. The players all thought, and he was right Diabel was the one who made the choice to attack the boss on his own and the boss was able to take advantage of that. "Of course you would say that. When you're the reason other players are dead to begin with." Kibaou said. "What are you talking about?" Sora asked. "You know what I mean, you abandoned when those heartless attacked us!" Kibaou said. The players all looked shocked thronging that the player who rescued them abandoned them. "I saw you run deeper in the forest when we were attacked. After you left there more players that died to those monsters!" Kibaou exclaimed. "Hey, wait a minute, you're the player who had information on the heartless. Think about it he's the only player who was able to take on those fluttering heartless. And he's the only one in the entire game with a sword shaped like a key." The random player said. "Yeah… I bet you hacked the game and brought those heartless with you!" Kibaou exclaimed. Sora was starting to sweat a little, the players started to have doubts about Sora, and they all had questions about him. What was he gonna do? If he explained everything, he'd be breaking the world order. But the players were turning against him and each other, soon the darkness in their hearts would cause the heartless to appear. Sora then had an idea on what to say but knew the other players would look at him differently. "Yes, I do have information on those heartless, but it's not something I tell right out in the open. But I tried my best to help even if I couldn't explain everything. I made the books and gave them to the beta testers to hand out to the players because I knew if I did, you'd all have multiple questions that I just couldn't answer" Sora answered as best he could while trying not to reveal too much to break the world order. "Mm hmm sure. If you're the only one with information, then you brought them here when you hacked it! And the fact that you were in league with those beta testers just proves it even more!" Kibaou said. "That's all I can tell you. If you don't trust me then fine, but don't bring the beta testers in this." Sora said sounding a little sad about the fact the players didn't believe him anymore. The players didn't know what to think anymore. The player's believed Sora was a hacker who brought dangerous monsters into a death game but do the beta testers know about the heartless. But then Kirito stepped in with an idea to take the heat off the beta testers. "(Evil laughter) So you guys used to think I'm a beta tester? It's not nice to put me in the same class with those noobs." Kirito said acting all cocky. "What'd you say?!" Kibaou asked. "You heard me. Most of the thousand who scored a slot in the beta were rookies. They were so green they didn't even know how to level up, even you guys are better than they were. But me I'm nothing like those beta testers. During the beta I made it to floors that were higher than any of the other testers, that's a fact. I knew about the boss because I fought tons of monsters with way more sword skills on higher floors. I know a lot of other things too, more than you can imagine, more than any info broker. Why I was the only one other than Sora who knew about the heartless existence here." Kirito said. "Wha what the heck… If that's true than your worst than a beta tester, your one big cheater that's what you are!" Diabel exclaimed. Soon all the players started screaming hating the "big cheater." "He's a beta tester and a cheater he's a beater!" a random player exclaimed. "A beater… yeah, I like that. Alright you can call me a beater as long as you don't confuse me with those beta testers." Kirito said as he opened his main menu, went to his item storage and put on the coat of midnight and walked away. The players were still in shock over everything they just heard but Sora and Asuna ran after Kirito. "Wait! When we were fighting the boss, you called me by my name." Asuna said. "I wasn't trying to be rude. Did I mess up the pronunciation?" Kirito asked. "How'd you even know it?" Asuna asked. "If you look right about here, you'll see two HP gauges under yours. There a name written right next to it." Kirito explained, pointing his left hand up. Asuna looked where he was pointing and saw two HP gauges under hers. "Kirito… Sora… is your name Kirito?" Asuna asked. "Mm hmm." Kirito responded. "And my name is Sora." he said introducing herself. "(Giggles) I'm so dumb. It there the whole time and I never knew." Asuna said. "You can become powerful here all on your own. But if the day comes when someone you trust invites you to join a guild don't turn it down, because there are limits to what a solo player can do." Kirito said. "But your solo." Asuna pointed out. But then Kirito opened his main menu, disbanded his party, opened the door to second floor and walked off.
But Sora ran after him not wanting his new friend to be alone. "Hey where are you going?" Sora asked. "To the second floor why?" Kirito asked. "I'll go with you." Sora said. "Thanks, but I'm solo player and a beater." Kirito said. "Well, you said there are limits to what a solo player can't do right? So, imagine how much we can do together. Besides I know your not some cruel selfish player everyone thinks you are, you're a good person." Sora said knowing the real reason Kirito said those things was for everyone to put the hate on him than the other beta testers. "Maybe so, but I am the reason Diabel's gone if I had told him to stop earlier, he would still be here." Kirito said sounding guilty. "No, he was eager to get the last attack bonus, but if you hadn't stood up to protect the players they wouldn't be here. But if I didn't run off in the forest like I did then maybe we would have had more players to face the boss, then Diabel would still be alive." Sora said sounding a little sad and guilty in the end. "Why did you run off?" Kirito asked. "Well, I can't say much but, I saw someone suspicious in the forest. So, I chased after him, but I lost him." Sora said not explaining the full story but trying to explain the best he can. "If that's true, why didn't you just say that to everyone?" Kirito asked. "Because I knew I couldn't prove it. So, if they want to think I'm a hacker then let them." Sora said sounding sad that they think he brought the heartless here. "I know you didn't hack into this game bring the heartless, even though you had a lot of knowledge on them. You look just as surprised as I was when we encountered a heartless when we left the Town of Beginnings." Kirito said. "Thanks, and I know you're not a beater. When we first met you told me and Klein you only got to floor eight in the beta." Sora said. They laughed a little at this, knowing they knew each other was innocent of not being what everyone else thought they were. "So, what do you say? I can't tell you more about the heartless" Sora said. "Well, that'll help, so come on." Kirito said. Even though he wasn't showing it Sora knew Kirito was happy to have him along. "Back in Radiant Garden Ansem and his apprentices were shocked at what happened. "I can't believe that just happened" Ienzo said. "I knew Kibaou would place the blame on someone, but his way of thinking would cause distrust among the other players." Ansem said. "Looks like the players are moving their hate towards Sora and Kirito, believing one to have brought the heartless and the other to be hiding all the information to the death game to himself." Even said. "I just hope the hate the players have for them so far cools off before it gets out of hand." Ienzo said. "But let's see if we can find that player in the black coat and see what this player is up to." Ansem said. So, they went through their computer to look through Sword Art online to find the player. Meanwhile in the forest on floor two the player with the black coat was looking at the dungeon that had the boss inside. "Hmph, it played just like I thought, luring Sora away with the bug I planted for the other players to deal with the heartless. I knew that Kibaou would place the blame on him for the heartless showing up here pretending my cover being blown. Just like I've seen centuries ago watching people losing trust with each other even darkness being closed off in a data world. I got big plans for this world; I just hope my partner in the real world can do what she's supposed to order for the plan to come to full circle." the mysterious player said.
There you have it a new chapter and Sora is moving on to higher floors. I decided to add a few things from Kh recoded and union cross on the bugs and the data world the dandelions were in.