A/N: Let's wrap Floor One up already, onward and upward. That bonus yesterday was meant to appear a few days earlier but work kept my mind elsewhere, whoops. And just saying, over 2000 Views already is pretty amazing, so thank you very much for taking the time to read... whatever the hell I'm doing with Misfits.
Anywho, Review Time:
To MeMyselfAndI82907: Artorias' reasons are pretty mundane but we'll see that later down the line, as for any issues, aside from his avatar being bugged to remain as it is, nothing serious should come of it. Plus, with such a 'lovely' personality as his, I'd find it funny to see what guy would dare try and hit on him.
Enjoy.
|Dec. 4th 12:35|
|Sword Art Online, Floor 1, Boss Room|
In Nagi's lifetime, he had only ever seen one person die. It was a strange feeling of hollowness he couldn't understand. For a long time, it felt like waves of emotion against a beach, causing him to feel pain rile up in his chest as memories of that passing overflowed without restraint. Grief drugged him to various hobbies to drown out the memories. All that did was make the pain worse until it drowned him.
He never wanted to feel like that again.
Screams reverberated around Nagi, panic, terror, discord flooded the players as more minions appeared than before. Kirito stood his ground out of pure desperation, fending off Illfang's attacks alone as it struck with greater speed than when its beta counterpart handled a talwar. The swordsman and Kobold went head to head, trading blows without a successful hit.
*Boosh!*
From below, a single, extended thrust of a rapier grazed across Illfang's underjaw, throwing it off balance as Kirito was saved by Asuna, the girl's expression dark too. "Don't try and hog all the glory, we're partners!" She snapped under her hood. "Nagi-"
Something bright suddenly slammed into Illfang's cheek, it was the face of a buckler belonging to Nagi. For the first time, both saw nothing but hatred spew from his eyes, teeth grit tightly as the skill shoved Illfang back long enough for two contrails to tear down his fur. Nagi turned on his knees, thrusting once to parry the downward stroke of the nodachi. "Asuna, get ready to flank the boss," Nagi asked, standing tall with his sword bleeding light blue. "We'll keep it distracted."
Kirito yelled back to Agil, "Squad B, escort C out of range!"
"G-got it!" He replied, dragging a player away.
Illfang swung down again only to be parried by Nagi's shield, tossing the weapon back for Kirito to carve into with a sword skill, leaving two gashes over its body as Illfang swept back with a series of strikes the pair countered together for Asuna to thrust down with 'Linear' again, throwing the boss off balance for Nagi to leap onto its stomach, sword rising molten blue. "Ultimate Skill-!"
Two upward strikes with a vertical chop leading into a thrust and a powerful spinning slash that doubled into a vertical slam that released another burst of slashes, knocking Illfang onto a knee. "-Phantom Rave!" The skill locked up his muscles momentarily, Kirito canceling a sudden 'Tsumujiguruma' that would've taken Nagi's head off, Asuna striking again with 'Linear', chipping away at the boss's health.
Illfang leapt away from Kirito, propelling itself from the ceiling for a slanted slash, forcing the three apart as it lunged for Nagi, striking across his shield as he ran with it sliding down the nodachi, bringing his straight sword high in two sudden slashes, "Vertical Arc!" "Kirito!"
"Right!" He canceled out the follow-up skill of the boss with a skill, finishing with a spinning horizontal. "Switch!"
Asuna's rapier slit across Illfang's throat again so quickly neither could see the tip of her sword. "Switch!" She leapt back as Nagi and Kirito came in close, skills activating as Illfang sucked in a lungful of air again. Neither had a chance to evade as the scarlet blade crashed into Nagi's sword, swatting him across the room with Kirito managing to avoid the deadly skill with his left thigh glowing red.
"Dammit!" Nagi winced, chugging a health potion to stop his health from depleting further. Asuna was fine too, Agil and his squad stepping in to soak up damage for her to rush and shove a health pot down Kirito's throat. "At this rate, we can't beat him, not with the Ads still spawning."
All around him, voices echoed that despair, "Idiots! They're only after the Last Attack Bonus! Git your asses outta here! We ain't gotta indulge their greed!" Kibaou barked.
"Yeah!" "If they were really worth trusting, Diavel wouldn't have died!" "If they wanna die, let 'em die!" "I'm not stickin' around long enough to get killed!" "I don't wanna die!" "Let's get outta here!"
Their voices rang with cowardness and excuses. Even so, Nagi stood up with his sword raised, he sucked in a breath, something he really wished he'd have done long ago. Then, a shadow of a cloak flung itself into the air. "ALL EYES UP HERE!" Asuna cried out, silencing the squabbles.
"I will now relay the final order of Diavel the Knight!" She shined like a shooting star. "He said, 'defeat the boss'! And one more thing," Her blade pointed down at the flabbergasted Black Swordsman. "'Our next leader... is him'!" She 'knighted' the baffled Kirito, and Nagi found his smile again.
"It was Diavel's final words to us!" Nagi reinforced.
"I heard it too!" Agil surprisingly joined in. "Plus, he recognizes the boss's skills! If you trust Diavel, follow this guy's orders!" He gave them a wink, even as his battle-ax held back Illfang's nodachi.
As the raiding party regrouped, Nagi felt his vocal cords tense, recalling something he overheard waiting on Argo to come out of a church in the Town of Beginnings, something about 'keeping an ear to the floor'.
He sat at the doorway's shadow, and while he never intruded on Argo's deals he couldn't help but overhear what was said down the hall. "-in tomorrow's boss fight if any of the boss's stats or equipment is different from the beta information... and if they're late to recognize that, and react to that, if one person dies... the mistrust of Beta Testers will be irreversible,"
"If that happens lead their suspicions towards mE," Hearing Argo say that made Nagi choke on his breath, almost wanting to object. If that happened she'd be torn apart by everyone, and that terrified him. "It'll be the birth of Argo the Beta Tester, a cowardly cheatin' intel broker who combines truth and fiction in devious ways, interested in nothin' but her own gaiN,"
"No, I can't put you or your friend through that, if anyone can bridge the gap between Beta Testers and players, one with intel and the other through kindness, it's you two," The person reasoned. "Check my payment to see if it adds up," The doors to a confession booth swung open, revealing the person that Argo spoke with. Diavel.
"Hm, looks gooD," Argo agreed.
"By the way... has anyone asked about the same info as I have?" Diavel inquired.
"Aside from you know who, only onE," Argo kept it vague while Nagi hid in the shadows, still surprised to see him here.
"I see, good, that means there's still one person who can take over my role shall I fail," He seemed relieved to hear that.
Argo smiled sadly, "Hate to break it to you but he ain't the kind to take charge and lead the frontline playerS," She answered honestly, hearing him chuckle once.
"A leader...?" His hand grazed a booth seat. "No, the role he would play..."
"Is a Scapegoat."
"You always thought of everything, Leader..." Nagi remembered now, Diavel hadn't changed this Floor 10. "HYRRRRRRRRRAAAHH!" Bellowing an animalistic cry, a blood-red aura covered his equipment, giving his pupils a red contrail in the process. "Katana Skill: Battle Spirit!" Now, his attack strength had doubled. "Kirito can give the orders, I'll handle the skill cancelations!"
With a rush of red wind, Nagi joined the frontlines as Kirito warned the tanks to clear from the powerful Tsumujiguruma strike. The red whirlwind subsided in time for Nagi to leap in and parry its continuation attack, striking the blade's face while spinning into a twin arc himself, striking against the nodachi and hand. "Horizontal-" He kept the flow from crumbling, kicking off Illfang to spin downward, grazing the floor. "-Square!"
Since its health was in the red, the frequency of its skill activations had increased, forcing Nagi away as the tanks stood their ground, taking a few normal strikes. "Ya idiots! Don't stand around, he's gonna use it again!" It was too late, Illfang's posture craned back, swiping in an omnidirectional motion, flinging their tanks across the room under the intense heat of its blade.
"Crap!" Nagi had managed to leap over the perilous attack in time, taking only damage from the wind but he fought the boss alone. "I can't get a skill off in time!" Sweat trickled down his face, but he didn't let his fear grip him, seeing Argo's worried expression etched into his mind. "No... I still..."
Illfang swung wide again, striking Nagi's sword as he block the nodachi with an inverted grip, arms trembling. "...have to tell her something!" His sense of smell was worthless, the sheer potency from those powerful sword skills left his nose feeling numb, he couldn't use it to predict Illfang. It struck in a series of vicious strikes, all of which Nagi parried, sliding back as his own posture shook. "!"
It craned its arm over its shoulders, drowning the background in scarlet again. Diavel's torn head flashed to mind, and Nagi quickly spotted Kirito and Asuna behind him, approaching fast. "Kirito, Asuna!" He called out, using the last of his 'Battle Cry' to raise his shield into both hands, lunging to slam its face into the descending nodachi as it shattered into pieces, causing a significant amount of damage to his health.
It worked.
The boss's attack motion had been delayed. Both flew by Nagi, his finger pointed toward Illfang's head. "Switch..." He whispered, tumbling to the floor, stunned.
Together, the pair pierced the boss's arm, canceling the last possible instance for its skill to be unblockable, throwing Illfang back on its left leg. It drooled in agony, health slithering down to a mere paper-thin line of red. Its bloodlust honed in on Asuna who flew back from the recoil.
"What are you looking at!?" Kirito growled, sword swirling with blue light as he ducked under its right arm's grab. "Don't be making bedroom eyes - AT OUR PRINCESS!"
Like a blue comet, Kirito carved a great fissure through its stomach and out the scalp, descending with his sword drawn behind him as it tore down the shoulder and through the right thigh with a might 'crash'! The spirit of the Lord howled in grief as its body warped and turned a transparent blue and white behind Kirito.
*KRRRAK!*
As it fell to its knees, Illfang the Kobold Lord turned to millions of fragments, the remaining mobs following suit.
Several dozen notices went off, alongside golden auras as a white banner appeared in the sky above.
/-\CONGRADULATIONS!/-\
"WE DID IIIIIT! WE ACTUALLY WON!" A moment of disbelief erupted into a choir of cheers and applause over the overwhelming victory against the First Floor Boss.
"Hey, you okay down there?" Nagi blinked, staring at the hand from Agil waiting for him.
"Just... enjoying the moment," He took Agil's hand, hopping to his feet.
"Well, let's enjoy it on our feet for now, and thanks for stepping in back there," He and his squad soon surrounded the dark-haired boy, praising him as he blushed sheepishly. Agil even gave Kirito a good slap on the back.
Asuna approached, Nagi, giving her a kind wave as Kirito held up his hand for a high-five. She hesitated before reaching ou- "WHY!?" Someone shattered that jubilation, a man with long brown hair, Lind. "Our leader, the one who should be receiving all the praise... is Diavel, not this guy!" He pointed to Kirito scornfully.
"Why did it have to be this guy!? He's the one who abandoned Diavel to die!" He accused as people started to murmur due to the fact Kirito knew of the boss's moves, rather, his experience as a Beta Tester meant it wasn't a no-brainer how to react faster to combat skills.
"The last attack bonus," One person added coldly. "You didn't want Diavel to beat you to score the last attack on the boss so you hid the truth of the boss's sword skills to ensure that Diavel would die, do I have that about right? Beta Tester!"
In the background of the group, Nagi's glare shot through and found the person who said that with a snake-like tongue, he wore a hood so he couldn't make out who they were, nor their name. He just gave the boy a little pleasant wave as he slipped from view behind someone. "That scent... bloodlust,"
"Is that true? Are you... a Beta Tester?" Lind asked hollowly, almost every expression darkened or became overwhelmed with shock and spite toward Kirito, he made a downward motion with his hand subtly, keeping Nagi from saying anything as he had his mouth open.
"Why?" He stared at Kirito but his face and scent were unreadable.
"And you let Diavel die because you wanted the L.A Bonus? Why didn't you tell him!?" Lind yelled, his voice cracking slightly.
"Wait! We all had the same information from the strategy guide!" Asuna spoke up in defense of the silent Kirito who studied the crowd. "We knew exactly what the Beta Testers knew about the boss!" She crossed her arms in a dismissive fashion. "But when we fell into a trap believing the boss would be the same as before... he used the knowledge he learned from past that point to our advantage,"
"It does make sense," Nagi shrugged, "It's like applying tutorials you watch online prior to fighting a boss or level in a game, you're given knowledge from those who've gone beyond that point, using it to act within the moment of uncertainty," Nagi wasn't good with sounding as tactful as Asuna but he thinks it was a good comparison.
"No, that can't be true, he must've been working with that informant," That voice again mentioned Argo, causing Asuna and even Nagi to scowl. "They're both Beta Testers, conspiring to fool all of us. They're spreading misinformation, trying to look friendly but secretly leaving out all the juicy stuff," He hummed. "Terrifying if you ask me."
Nagi drew his sword toward the voice's direction, startling a few under his dark stare. "Says the coward hiding behind others, go on, come out..." People swore hell burned in his irises. "...say that about her to my face."
"Sh-she's not like that at all! Whoever said that, show yourself!" Asuna backed Nagi up, no one daring to speak out other than the person weaving amongst the crowd, rubbing his chin under his poncho.
"Sounds to me... like you're both on the testers' side, maybe you're in on the take too... I expect as much from her guard dog," He tact on, the pair's fury increasing.
"Hahahaha... you're kidding, right?" Kirito broke into a small chuckle, his expression dark and mocking with a slick smile. "She's a complete newbie, not to mention that guy's too dense to think anyone's got a knife to his back," The two swiveled to Kirito's gaze. "You can't do this, guys. Stick up for me and people might believe we're a team,"
"This is the problem with you ignorant goody-little two-shoes types, it never even occurs to you that someone might be using you," Kirito ridiculed, "And shame on the rest of you. Beta Tester? Informant?" He knocked on someone's chestplate in passing with a condescending expression. "Don't treat me like those amateurs,"
"Out of the thousand Beta Testers, how many do you think were veteran MMO players? They were all noobs who barely knew how to level," Kirito let it all brew into a black storm surrounding his ego, flooding to focus on him alone atop his grand stage. "I'm the real deal, I've gotten to a floor no one else has reached, I know things no one else knows,"
"What the hell... he's a cheater!" Some growled. Their black, tall shadows embodiments of hatred, scorn, resentment, it grew to encircle Kirito who looked at his L.A Bonus, hitting 'Equip'.
"Cheating Bastard." "You're worse than a Beta Tester!" "What could be worse than a cheater from the Beta Test...?" "Beater...!"
Kirito smiled, his Midnight Coat flapping down across his torso, smile present as he walked away. "Heh, a Beater! I like the sound of that!" He spun around, sword rested against his shoulder like a king of demons. "I'll be claiming that title for myself now! Along with the Last Attack Bonus! I'm a Beater, don't ever insult my skill by calling me a Former Tester."
"I'll go ahead and activate the teleport gate for the second floor for you, go back to town, and stay put," He sheathed his sword, glaring back to make them pale. "I saw plenty of folks like you in the beta, you go through the trouble of defeating the boss then get waxed by the first mobs you run across up there, Hahahaha!"
"How dare you... apologize! Apologize, damn you!" Tears fell from Lind's face as Kirito's laugh dug deeper. "Apologize to Diavel! BEATERRRR!"
Once out of range, Agil, Asuna, and Nagi agreed it wasn't Kirito's real feelings, he was going through with what Diavel had hoped in the end, a man to take all the blame. Nagi smiled sadly at that, "Kirito, you really are a good person..." He silently thanked him before Kibaou approached, rubbing his head awkwardly.
"Hang on a sec, I got... ahh... I got..." He looked up at them with a stubborn glare. "A message... of my own."
"Let's hear it," Nagi motioned as he took a breath, yelling at the top of his lungs.
"Ya saved my ass this time but I still can't get along with ya! I'm gonna do things my own way to beat this game, y'hear!" He panted afterward, the three smiling slightly. "Send it along, alright!?" He grumbled, turning away.
"That was... colorful?" Nagi's brow rose as Asuna snickered.
"I don't think we'd receive it any other way."
"Agreed." Agil nodded.
"You sure kept me watiN'," Hopping down from the tree facing the northwest exit of the Town of Beginnings was the Rat herself, arms crossed. "I heard from A-Chan, guess I missed aloT,"
"Yeah, a lot to digest," Nagi sighed, falling to the grass to sit and face the sun with Argo standing behind him. "Diavel... his gamble worked,"
"Yeah..." She sighed as her whiskers twitched, seeing Nagi pat the spot beside him for her to sit down. She did, back against his arm with her knees up. "You okay, HerO?"
"...why were you worried for me?" He felt her flinch against his arm. "When you told me about the weapon I had, how high its stats are that it was the second-best next to the sword everyone was after, you even gave me the materials to upgrade my equipment, why?" He wasn't ungrateful, but for Argo, it was so abnormal.
She didn't say anything, staring off at the sky with her eyes hidden by her bangs. "Ya know that quest you and that other guy beaT?"
"Klein."
"Yeah-yeah, well, if you both can find the end to that, I'll tell you personally, no chargE," She grinned over her shoulder, fingers in an 'OK' symbol. "Informant's honoR,"
"Is that a thing?"
"Nyahaha, how much would you pay to knoW?" She cooed until he turned toward the sky, cheeks pink.
...
...
"...Kaito," He murmured, forcing Argo to lean around curiously to see him glance back at her. "It's what I wanted to share between us... my name, it's Kaito Konno,"
Argo turned around for a second, mouthing the name to get a feel for it. Then her neutral face turned to a small smile, nudging him with her shoulder to see her face radiate from the sunlight, enrapturing Nagi's eyes. "Tomo Carina HosakA," She held up her hand to him, "Well played, KaitO,"
It seemed like an odd thing to make a trade secret between them but Nagi had wanted to know her name for a long time, maybe not a first-name basis but just so he had a real name to his best friend, his only friend before he met Kirito and Klein.
Putting his hand up, he reciprocated the kind smile, "Learning from the best, Tomo," Their hands high-fived, then so did the backs of their palms. "Guess now we can't die, we have a secret to keep together."
"Nyahaha, guess sO," She agreed, relaxing against his side for a while longer, once Kirito activated the teleport gate, then she'll move from her favorite spot. "Kaito Konno... guess that's a good reward."
Next Arc - Rise of the Shinobi
Thus I've completed the first-floor arc, lots more to come as we'll see. New characters, battles, quests, and more between Nagi and Argo. The surprising amount of views and positive feedback so far has been really great to see. I'm sorry if the hiatus lasts nearly a month I've got other commitments but I'll be sure to continue Misfits in due time!
I hope you enjoyed, I appreciate the support as always; seeya in the next arc, Players!
011 - The Sword of a Shinobi
A mystery quest awaits Nagi after completing the Martial Arts Quest, his new sword awaits...