Sword Art Online/ソードアート・オンライン 1. Interest Check

Welcome Readers, to yet another fanfic of SAO.

Now before we get started I will be accepting OC characters. Please send them to the review section and I will attempt to portray them as best as I possibly can. I will also be accepting applications for a beta as my grammar isn't the best. So obviously two pair of eyes would be better than one.

This will be an AU version of SAO with a complete focus on OC characters. The plot will be simple, the group of OC's will meet on the first day. Little did they know their lives were were going to end as they knew them to be. We'll be starting out with my OC's prologue shortly after this is posted. Once that is finished I wil be allowing a grace period for OC's to be accepted.

Each chapter for the first three will introduce 2 characters per. Allowing me to fill in everyone in on their life story and what drove them to SAO.

Please when submitting give me a decent backstory to go with.

This wasn't proofread for spelling or grammar issues or please ignore any that are present.


	2. Prologue: The Beginning

**AN: As this this just the prologue it won't be long. I expect each of my chapters to have at least a minimal of 5,000 words. There will be a reworked system within SAO, giving guilds a reason to actually come together other than just to beat the game. I will be adding more content for guilds, and PVP system will be changed. In the aspect of open pvp, it will still be there outside of towns. That however will be a surprise! Tune in for more, with your new favorite upcoming Author, Evyls! **

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Prologue: The 'Hero'

_It was a day like most, humid and horrible outside. The sun was out yet it gave no real comfort. The streets were packed and the sidelines equally crowded. Today fate was cruel on our hero, having been stuck in a traffic jam for the last hour. This is where we find our unlucky hero, head slung back against he leather chair itself. His eyes closed and on arm on the steering wheel. One would describe this man to be average looking, short black hair with brown eyes. The type of brown eyes that could either look dark or light depending on what angle the light was hitting. He had tanned skin and stood at just about 5'11". _

_Seconds ticked by, and then minutes. His mind had slipped into a rested state, which allowed him to sleep even with the loud noises around him. It was not the honking or the screaming that woke this man, oh no. It was the sound of his ring tone and the vibrating in his pants which caused him to jump. His eyes snapping wide open as he reached quickly to his pocket. Pulling out a Samsung galaxy sII he stared at the caller ID for what seemed to be an eternity before he groaned. Pressing the answer button before he began to utter words that you shouldn't to a mother._

**"Mother, what do you want?" **_It was quite obvious in the tone of his voice, this was the last person he wanted to talk to or even about. He cringed some as he heard her raspy screeching voice yell through the phone as if it were common place to yell. _**"Mom, what have I told you? Yelling will only make me deaf. I will be swinging by her copy of the game as soon as I can. Rig-" **_His voice cut off by his mother's loud screeching once more. He let out a sigh before he simply took the phone from his ear,and pressed his thumb against the red button on the touch screen. The call got disconnected but he didn't know she was attempting to warn him. He always paid little mind to her ramblings half the time any way. _

_It wouldn't take longer for him to pull into his drive way thus ending his torment with traffic today. __"I'll drop off her copy after rush hour ends, but first. Time for me to see how it is!" __he thought rather excitedly to himself, a grin curved upon his visage. He made his way up the drive way, and into his one bedroom house. It wasn't much, but for the sake of saving money he chose a small house. He kicked his feet against the porch steps out of habit, before he entered the house. It would take a matter of seconds before he was already in his front room. Opening the new game he had just bought and laid down on his couch. He propped his feet up on to the arm of the couch before he placed the nerve gear upon his head. _

_The sudden flash of pure white hit him, the process to log in happening quick. It wouldn't take much time at all for him to appear at the starter zone. He looked down at his hands and turned them. Excitement obvious upon his face as he experimented by doing a couple weird dances to himself. Though as it finally caught up to him, he realized he was now dancing with dozens of people staring at him. A faint hue of pink appeared upon his cheeks as he awkwardly stopped dancing. He gave a quick shake of his head and made his way through the streets of the town. He had never been here before and thus he was taking the exploring side of things first. It was amazing to him, how someone could forge such a game. Though he had wished for a game like this since he had been a kid. But, enough of that! He would make his way out of the town and into the fields. _

_He had chosen oddly, to start out with a glaive and no shield. He stretched both arms out into the air before he pulled the glaive off of his back. Spotting the first hog, he got into a low stance. He pictured himself rushing forward and striking the hog with a powered strike. However as he rushed forward, the glaive refused to glow. Still piercing through the side of the hog in a grazing strike however. It seemed to only irritate the hog as it now turned its attention to our hero, who we are thusly naming Kazuma. To his surprise he watched as the hog bolted towards him, faster than what the reviews had said. He barely managed to bring up his glaive, so that the central part of the pole blocked the tusks. Causing his entire body to be pushed backward. Getting over the initial shock he jumped forward this time he pictured his glaive in a different way this time. The glaive began to glow a teal color before he sliced downward cutting the virtual boar in half seconds after the first strike the boar broke into billions of little shards of color. _

_Kazuma frowned some and glanced at his Glaive. It didn't feel right to him the weight was understandable. He didn't understand why he didn't like the weapon. Kazuma placed the weapon upon his back before he began to make his way into the town. Kazuma froze in his spot as everyone around him began to disappear him a bright light, including himself. Appearing in what seemed to be a gathering area there were thousands of players now here. The voices of the crowd began to carry through the wind, most wondering what was going on. Kazuma himself however was looking around he laid his hand on the nearest shoulder. _**"Excuse me but do you know why we were summoned here?"**_ It was a rather legit question. _

_The woman in front of him would have answered if a giant being didn't seem to appear in the sky. Hushed whispered ensued even as the giant began to speak._

**"Players welcome to My world. I am Kayaba Akihiko as of this moment, I am the sole person who can control this world. I'm sure you've already noticed that the logout button is missing from the main menu. But this is not a defect in the game. I repeat this is not a defect in the game. It is a feature of Sword Art Online. You cannot log out of SAO yourselves. And no one on the outside can shut down or remove the NerveGear. Should this be attempted the transmitter inside the NerveGear will emit a powerful microwave, destroying your brain and thus ending your life. **

**Unfortunately, several players' friends and families have ignored this warning and attempted to remove the NerveGear. As a result, two hundred and thirteen players are gone forever, from both Aincrad and the real world."**

_Kayaba pauses long enough to pull up differen't news channels covering the stories._

**"As you can see, news organizations across the world are reporting all of this, including the deaths. Thus you can assume the danger of a NerveGear being removed is now minimal. I hope you will relax and attempt to clear the game. But I want you to remember this clearly. There is no longer any method to revive someone within the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be forever lost. And simultaneously, the NerveGear will destroy your brain. "**

_Kayaba pauses momentarily allowing this news to sink into the players. Kazuma grit his teeth only being able to think of one thing, his sister. Luckily he had chosen to deliver her copy later tonight. His thoughts being interrupted by Kayaba once more._

**"There is only one means of escape to complete the game. Your are presently on the lowest floor of Aincrad, Floor 1. If you make your way through the dungeon and defeat the floor Boss, you may advance to the next level. Defeat the final boss on Floor 100 and you will clear the game."**

_At this point in time the players were in an uproar. Screaming up at the man in sky that he was lieing. However that was not the case unfortunately, and for Kazuma who just finished processing the situation. He glanced around before began to make his way to the back of the crowd running into a wall. Kazuma turned to look at the man hoping this speech would end shortly._

**"Finally, I've added a present from me to your item storage. Please see for yourselves."**

_With that many of the players began to look in their inventory and Kazuma was no exception. Kazuma blinked a couple of times before he tapped one the mirror. He watched it appear in his hands only for it to further confuse him. 'What's the point in the mir-' His own thoughts cut off as flashes of light began to happen again. Once his flash episode was finished he looked back into the mirror only to start freaking out a little. It was him the real him he wasn't much different from his original avatar. Aside from the eyes, his eyes were a shade of light blue. Like him many others began o freak out after all some women were now men and vice versa. _

**"Right now, you're probably wondering, "Why?" Why would Kayaba Akihiko, developer of Sword Art Online and the NerveGear, do all this? My goal has already been achieved. I created Sword Art Online for one reason... To create this world and intervene in it. And now, it is complete. This ends the tutorial for the official Sword Art Online launch. **

**Good luck, Players.**

Every single player in the area was currently speechless. Mostly unbelieving that something like this could happen to them. In the very back was Kazuma, gritting his teeth and clenching his fist determination in his eyes. 'I'm not going to die here.' He thought to himself before he spun around on his feet, darting out of the area. He like most others knew that there were limited amount of things to hunt in the area. Soon enough they would be picked clean leaving most to struggle by themselves. Kazuma spared no thought about anyone else currently, this was survival. A death game that he would survive for his sister. He made it to the gate, only for a woman to brush past him. Her long cascading hair that flowed down to her very waist stunned him.

Kazuma shook his head before he began running again, it seemed she and another had the same idea as him. The man not to far ahead of him had a large two-handed sword strapped to his back. While the woman had some type of polearm, beta testers maybe? Kazuma unstrapped his glaive the weight of the thing was just too much. So he did something that would surprise anyone watching. He discarded it, tossing it away and rid himself of the weight.

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Next time on, SAO.

Chapter 1: New friends, Abilities put to the test.


	3. Update

Update:::

My laptop crashed and I was forced to buy a new one with my income taxes. The story has not died, but I did lose the entire first chapter. So, I will be recreating it from scratch and I will update the story ASAP


	4. 1: It all goes down hill from here

**AN: Still accepting OC's and remember, they may end up dying. And always, Read and Review! We like that! Also note that we have enough teenagers, please submit 18+ now!**

**I apologize for the wait, life hit us hard. We had to move, I lost a computer etc however updates will be often now. **

**Some character ages will be upped to 18+ to fit our story correctly, if you don't want your characters age changed please inform us now.**

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A large black wolf yelped and fell back on its hind quarters. Kazuma smiled as he pulled his hand back, having punched the wolf in its nose. "Fucking sneeze on me.." He shook his hand out at his side as if to get the snot from the wolf off. The wolf snarled at Kazuma as he brought his hand up to check it out, making sure it was clean. He smirked and snickered back at the wolf as he charged after it. The wolf came at him and they clashed, teeth against fist, as Kazuma punched the wolf again. It didnt take long for the wolf to regain its composure and went for Kazuma in a black, snarling frenzy. Kazuma backed up to avoid its claw, pivoting slightly to his left. The wolf took noticed and snapped its jaw, making contact with Kazumas right thigh. Kazuma clenched his teeth and knocked the wolf from his flesh with a swift back hand, then turned to kick the wolf hard in the ribs with his left foot. The wolf whimpered and fell to its side. Not wasting any time, Kazuma closed the distance between himself and the wolf for the killing blow. Kazuma fell to his knees as he reached for the wolf's head and twisted it fiercely. A sharp pop would end the wolf's life. Kazuma stood up as he looked down at the shards, the remainder of the dead wolf.

A triumphant grin spread across his face as he advanced to the fourth level. He shuffled his feet as he walked the previously made path to the next town. He raised his arms to stretch, stopping in the middle of the path momentarily. Bursting from the wooded area to his left, a male in red was being chased by a lizard like man. Kazuma stood and watched a moment as the man had turned to face his opponent and used two hands to slash at the lizard with his sword. The man missed by a long shot and turned to run again, then spotted Kazuma. The man appeared to just run right past him, the lizard hot on his trail, till he pivoted straight at Kazuma. Watching as a random player and a lizard man ran straight for him, Kazuma braced himself for impact.

"Hit it and switch!" The man ran passed Kazuma, then around to the treeline.

Kazuma reared up and punched the lizard man in his gut, then ducked out. "Switch!"

Coming up behind the lizard, the stranger pulled his sword back and stabbed it into the Lizards hard scaly skin. The sword didn't go in far enough to cause real damage as it was too blunt. Still a starter weapon. Kazuma came back to the front, preparing for a high kick, his boot connected with the lizard mans jaw, forcing it to stumble back a great deal. The man took his sword from the lizards back and moved to stand at the side of Kazuma. The man looked at Kazuma and gave him a bright, toothy smile.

"Great kick. Names, Mithos." The smiling man looked back to the lizard man again. "Got a plan, or are we still winging it?"

Kazuma looked to Mithos. "Thanks. Kazuma. Charge him, and I will get his flank."

Kazuma stepped to the side as Mithos charged directly at the lizard man. The lizard prepared itself and charged back. Kazuma followed the line of the trees and as Mithos sword connected with the lizards, he flanked him on the left. Kazuma used his right arm to loop around the lizards arm and shoved him hard into the ground, pinning him down. Mithos used both hands and raised his sword to stab it down hard into the lizard mans spine. Both men smirked as the lizard turned into shards and disappeared.

Kazuma sighed as he stood up and dusted his hands off on his pants. He glanced at the man named Mithos, shooting him a quick glare. "Not one to mind EXP or money, but the next time you drag a mob stronger than us towards me, I'll beat you to a bloody pulp."

Mithos looked at Kazuma with a sly smile. "Sorry. Kazuma, was it?" he asked at first but didn't wait for an answer. "I got in over my head, I didn't expect it to follow me all the way back to the road."

Kazuma smirked as he turned his back to Mithos and started walking along the path once again. He shoved both hands into his pockets just before he looked over his shoulder. "Mithos, where are you headed?" He asked curiously. He had spent the better part of a day by himself already. He didn't feel like hunting alone anymore, the mobs were much stronger than in beta. He figured it was because of the increased amount of players than in beta. With a million copies sold at launch there was going to be some changes within the games structure to support that amount of players.

Mithos had begun to walk the opposite way until Kazuma spoke up. Mithos came to a stop before he turned around and began to walk towards Kazuma. "Well, I was headed back to town. Though, I suppose, I could use a partner to hunt with for a little while. We did take on that lizard man pretty easy." A grin spread across his lips.

Kazuma brought his right hand up before he extended two fingers doing the motions to open up his menu. He clicked on the buttons required to invite Mithos to his party "If you don't mind, I have to run to the next town to pick up a few armor pieces from the shops. Then, we can head to the Lizard men if you can find them again."

Mithos gave Kazuma a nod as he closed the small distance between them to walk along side him. They didnt seem to have much to say to one another, so both kept quiet. It was only a couple days after they had all found out about this new life they were forced to adapt to, and some people even committed suicide to keep away from the danger.

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**Two Day Time Skip**

Kazuma lunged toward the lizard man, ducking low, then came up to grab the lizard's arm. Kazuma twisted the lizard mans arm then brought his right hand up to wrap around the back of the lizards neck and pull the lizard down towards his knee, shoving his knee into the lizards gut. He shoved the lizard down at the ground towards Mithos, "SWITCH!"

Mithos was ready and waiting, both hands clutching the hilt of his blackened, two handed lizard came stumbling toward him, using its hands to keep from hitting the ground. Mithos lifted his sword in an arch, triggering an ability; the sword began to glow blue. With one quick fluid motion he brought his sword down slicing clean through the lizardman. "These guys are starting to get too easy.. Probably time to move on"

Mithos looked to Kazuma, a small half smile played on his lips. Kazuma nodded to Mithos as he adjusted his new set of arm guard he picked up in town. Kazuma had picked up a set of steel arm guards to assist in his unarmed style of fighting, with them he was able to block sharp objects without taking any damage. He had also bought a couple of throwing knife,s he had yet to test out. Mithos, on the other hand, had bought an ungodly large, blackened two handed sword, which he was now leaning on. Kazuma shook his head. He was never going to understand the fascination that people held for those weapons. He preferred to be agile over weighted down, even so his strikes still carried weight in them. Albeit not as hard as a two handed sword would hit but with more time to develop his unarmed fighting style, he would be throwing down with the best of fighters.

Kazuma stood back up and stretched his arms out as far as he could above him. "How about we get out of here?"

Mithos' smile broadened as he straightened himself. He spun the sword on its tip against the ground then picked it up to mockingly dust it off. "Lets go!"

Kazuma and Mithos made their way from the lizard men in the forest to walk on the long path toward the second city where they had come from. They always seemed to walk in silence after a fight, neither one wanting to commend one another, but both knew they made a great team. Kazuma walked with his hands shoved in his pockets and Mithos with his hands resting on the back of his head. As the men neared the town a group of 5 people they had never met moved to block their path. Both men stopped as the group slowly closed the distance between them. The group consisted of two women with longswords, a man with an axe, and two men with a sword and shield as their weapon choice. They all seemed to wield their weapons at the ready and a smug look on their faces.

Kazuma and Mithos looked at each other then studied the group in front of them. "Red names" They both said this to each other, but to themselves as well. They looked at one another and gave a nod, Mithos' mouth twisted into a malicious grin. A reason to test another's strengths.

"So, you're going to pay a toll before you enter our town." The man in front smirked and raised his axe to rest on his shoulder. The four behind him smirking and keeping their weapons at the ready.

Kazuma and Mithos looked at one another, a resounding "no" coming from them both.

The man with the axe pulled it out to the ready and headed straight toward them. Kazuma automatically charged for him. The man brought his axe down and Kazuma lifted his left arm to block. The axe came down on his arm guard, causing a metallic screeching sound, and when the axe was deflected, Kazuma brought his fist up to connect hard with the mans jaw.

"Switch!" Kazuma said the word before he even took his hand from the mans face.

Mithos raced in after him, and as the man stumbled back, plunged his sword into the mans stomach. Kazuma had pivoted out and was already racing towards another. One of the men with the swords was quickly upon him, a female flanking him at his left. After Mithos took out the main man, he was quickly met by the other female, with the second male, flanking his right. The group had backed the men up to be pinned next to one another. Kazuma and Mithos looked at each other over their shoulders as the group circled them. The men watched the group carefully, gauging their actions, and anticipating their attacks.

The group charged them all at once, and as the swords came up, Kazuma and Mithos ducked and pivoted out of the way, forcing the group to stumble slightly with acceled strength and force pushed into their attack. The men smirked and headed in for their own attack. Both men charged together at a single opponent. Giving each other a smirk, Mithos lifted his sword high with both hands as Kazuma lowered his body to go in at the gut. Both men pivoted at the last second, leaving their original target in bewilderment. Mithos sliced high at the one of the women, resulting in a loud scream as she burst into pieces. Kazuma dodged around the second mans shield and grabbed for his sword arm, twisting it back. He forced the man hard into the ground, and reached down to snap his neck, causing another array of crystal like shards.

The last of the group stood with their backs against each other as the men gained their composure an watched the two. The woman was petrified, it was written all over her face. She hadnt thought this through, or she trusted her group way too much. The man against her had the fear of death written all over his face. They both raised their swords. Neither of them seemed ready to die, but neither wanted to plea for their life. Kazuma and Mithos moved around the couple in between them to stand shoulder to shoulder with each other. Mithos put the point of his sword to the ground and leaned on it, casually. Kazuma shoved his hands into his pocket and both men stared at the pair. The pair watched the men, fearful, keeping their swords up and out in front of them. It was clear they had no skill to wield their weapons.

Kazuma and Mithos looked at each other, their demeanor was relaxed. The pair felt they were too relaxed, which caused their paranoia to heighten. Kazuma smirked and shifted his weight as a broad smile curved Mithos' lips. To the pair, the men seemed to enjoy killing more than they should, but the men inwardly hated what had just happened. They weren't killers of people, but fictional creatures that never had a soul to start with.

Mithos lifted his sword to rest on his shoulder, and leaned to the side, putting all his weight on his left foot. "So.. You can run, or you can die"

"I would love to watch you turn into splinters." Kazuma licked his bottom lip and shrugged slightly.

The men looked at each other, shrugged and smirked, looking back to the pair in front of them. Kazuma still had his hands shoved deep into his pockets and he took a small step toward the pair. Mithos leaned to his other side with a small smile. The pair took a couple large steps backwards, their weapons still held up in front of them. As Mithos brought his sword down the pair ran the opposite direction, and up the path, leading away from the town. The men laughed as they watched the pair run from them and turned to go back into the town.

It wasn't until they reached the second town did reality strike home. They had both just murdered people, albeit red names, it was still the fact that they had even been forced to kill which kept both men silent. Their names still white due to the fact that the ones they killed were red. Maybe they should have warned them? Both Kazuma and Mithos were around the same level, which was at the moment 10th level. They couldn't have been more than 6th or 7th level, seeing as they dispatched them pretty easy.

Kazuma looked toward Mithos, the pain of taking a life evident in his eyes. "Isn't this suppose to be about clearing the game?" He asked to Mithos.

Mithos could only nod, but the fact remained they had attacked them. In a way it was self defense but at least they allowed two of them to live "Maybe the two we let go will change there ways?" He asked somewhat hopeful.

Kazuma nodded and quickly changed the subject. "So I heard there was changes in how guilds work. How about we locate a information broker. I'm curious as to what the changes were since beta." With that Mithos would nod and follow behind Kazuma in there search for information.

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**With the information broker.**

Kazuma entered what seemed to be a small building. A simple counter and some maps spread out ontop of the counter. "Hello?" He called out only to see the information broker appear from the back room. " I need information on the new guild system."

The information broker let a creepy grin curve upon his lips as he heard Kazuma. "That'll cost ya a pretty penny." The man said watching as Kazuma transferred some col to his account. He would give a simple nod of his head before he jumped up onto the counter and sat down. Staring at both Kazuma and Mithos "Now you two listen up and listen good. The new Guild system and PVP system go hand in hand. Guilds will be able to fight over territory that give benefits. All I've heard was that each territory is different aside from a revenue of taxes from the cities near by. Now, what do you think will happen once guilds start discovering the territory system?"

Kazuma was the first to speak up "War..." the word causing himself to cringe. "That explains the sudden increase in the amount of players. If there were only 10,000 players in the world, War wouldn't be possible. Not to an extent a person like Kayaba would want to witness." He said as he looked towards Mithos earning a nod. Kazuma looked back at the broker "Any idea on what possible benefits these territories will give?" Kazuma asked a valid question. There had to be a good reason for Kazuma to put his neck out there.

The broker paused momentarily, and scratched at his beard. " I heard profession benefits are possible, enabling, for example, Blacksmiths to craft Epic quality gear and weapons much easier." Now this would definitely be a reason for most guilds to go after territory. "Second possibility is weapon and armor sets, Special potions, or even combat familiar's. I've also heard that possible stat boosts or even attack boosts against floor bosses were a possibility." The broker shrugged his shoulder before he disappeared to the back of the room. Kazuma waited for what seemed to be a couple minutes before the broker came back out to the front of the room. The broker scratched his chin before he spoke up once more. "There was.. one other thing. Only one territory will hold the bonus. From what I hear, once every six months the territory will yield a single resurrection potion. Though, what the requirements of bringing someone back are, I do not know. It could be a 10 second after death situation after all. But that is all the information I hold on that subject. Good luck, Player."

Kazuma stopped for a second having taken note to being called Player. His eyes shot up and the broker was gone a frown curved upon Kazuma's lips. He shifted his weight onto his left leg before he gave a shake of his head. "Let's get out of here." he told Mithos and with that they both left the building.

Both of them were reaching the level limit of the floor, it wouldn't be too long before they would have to start scouting for the floor boss. Kazuma sighed as he took note of that fact. With the increased strength of mobs, he wasn't really wanting to think about how strong floor bosses were. In beta they had a handful of 30 people to take on Illfang the Kobold. But for some reason he figured they were going to need many more than that. Also it seemed that no one was catching on to the fact that monsters were much stronger and faster.

"Brother...?" A girls voice called out through the crowd the similar voice stunning Kazuma. Kazuma slowly turned to look at where the voice came from.

"No.. please.. no.." Kazuma said in a light voice, confusing Mithos momentarily. Mithos watched as Kazuma came face to face with an almost identical image of himself, aside from the fact she was far more feminine than himself. Her long black hair reaching to the middle of her back with tanned skin, her brown eyes stared directly at her older brother just before she bolted towards him. She wrapped both arms around her brother and squeezed him tight. Kazuma simply stood there, tears falling from his eyes. It was the last person he wanted stuck in this world, and then it hit him. He broke the hug from his sister and kept both arms on her shoulders. "Keiko.. How.. Why.. why on earth are you here?! I never gave you your copy!" He shouted, obvious that he was angry but concerned at the same time.

Keiko winced some as her brother yelled at her. Standing up at her full five foot, six inchs, she dreaded to tell her brother why she was here. She brought up both her hands fiddling with her fingers as she kept her eyes downcast towards the ground. "I... Well... when me and mom got to your house.. she almost tore off your nervegear until I stopped her.. She hadn't been aware of the warnings yet." She said in a soft voice almost wanting to cry. "I found the copy you bought me.. So i hid it from mom... and... here I am.. I missed you!" She shouted as she wrapped her arms around her brother once more.

Kazuma listened to her story trying hard not to slap her for her foolishness. Instead when she wrapped him into a hug once again he simply wrapped his arms around her. Tears falling from his eyes still as he remained quiet. Mithos, on the other hand, sat uncomfortably in the background at the family reunion. Mithos shuffled from side to side, looking around then back at the siblings. He hadnt had much of a family, so, no one here to worry about, except himself. He didnt understand Kazumas tears, but he understood how he could be so angry at his little sister coming here. This world was not fit for this sort of thing. Having to worry about someone you so deeply cared about would hinder your way of thinking and the things it would take to beat this game.

Ten minutes would pass before Kazuma stood straight up, looking at his sister as if he was inspecting her equipment. "Your an idiot." He said in a low tone before he turned to Mithos. "Either way, let's get out of here." He said as he brought up his right arm then waved it down to open his menu and invite his sister to the party. Turns out she was around level 7 already. There was no use in yelling at his sister now, she had plunged herself into the fray for him. So he now had his new motivation to do whatever he could to beat the game. He would keep her safe no matter what he had to do, resolving his motivation.

As the trio began walking, they were stopped short at the edge of the building. A firey, red haired woman slammed hard into Mithos, pushing her back into a sprawling heap on the concrete ground. The three looked down at her baffled, as she looked up at them.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" The woman was screaming in anger, her face red, but not from being mad, more embarrassment. "Dont you ever look where you're going! What the fuck!" She scrambled to stand and pushed her hair back from her face. She glared at Mithos as she dusted herself off.

Mithos stared at her, his face becoming angered at the way she spoke to him. "If Im not mistaking, honey, you're the one that ran into me, if you would notice, it was your ass on the ground. Not mine." He gave her a sort of, nonchalant look, which seemed to piss her off even more.

"My ass is on the ground because you put it there! Watch where the fuck you walk, asshole!" She began to walk passed, him only to be stopped by his shoulder.

As he shoved his shoulder into hers, she was forcefully moved back and slightly to the side. "You dont run your mouth to me, woman."

"Names, Shizunei, not Woman. You would do well to learn it." She glared at Mithos and stepped close to him. "And, 'honey'," She mocked his word back to him "I will run my mouth at who ever the fuck I want." Her voice was low, but full of ice as she glared into his eyes.

Mithos didnt come off as the type to hit a girl, but his fist was balled and he was ready to launch. Kazuma shifted slightly, seeing his hunting partner getting ready to hit a fairly small woman. She hardly looked like she could take care of herself. If Mithos punched her, she deserved it. She was running her mouth pretty hard, and if this girl ran her mouth to him, he would have already slapped her. Having thought about that, Kazuma stayed back and leaned on his sisters shoulder, watching these firey red heads go at it with words.

The two were in each other faces yelling about who hit who, and why the other should apologize. When Shizunei pushed Mithos, his hand came up to connect with her face. Kazuma knew he put hardly any of his force into it, but the woman held her mouth, staring at Mithos. Kazuma and Keiko stared at Mithos then at Shizunei. They couldnt decide on whether or not this was a good thing, or a bad thing. They wanted them to stop screaming in each others faces, but didnt want her to end up punched in the mouth, either.

Instantly feeling bad, Mithos moved to her and reached out to take her hand off her mouth. "I, uh.." He didnt want to apologize, but he didnt mean to hit her. He just couldnt handle anyone being in his face, though he wasnt backing down, either.

She shook her head at him as she lowered her hand from her lip and pulled it into her mouth, seemingly biting on her bottom lip. "dont apologize for something you absolutely meant to do. Even if it was something to be regretted. You wanted to hit me, so you did." She sucked her bottom lip back into her mouth as she stared at Mithos.

Mithos took a step back from her, and scratched the back of his head. So, it was wrong to hit her, but even more wrong to apologize for something he should not have done to begin with? Kazuma moved to stand by Mithos, and gave him a swift pat on his back and a hidden smile, meant only for Mithos to see. Keiko went to look at Shizunei's lip, there was no visible mark, but for some reason she could feel the pain of being hit.

"It hurts?" Keiko asked Shizunei. Shizunei nodded, not wanting to take her lip from her mouth. Keiko turned to the men, who seemed to be cheering at hitting the woman. "She can feel the pain of your punch, Mithos. Brother, I thought we couldnt feel pain."

The men stopped the cheering, and their smiles disappeared instantly. Keiko and Shizunei both stared at the men as they approached them. Mithos took a hold of Shizuneis jaw and forced it open, looking at her lip. There was no physical marks of any kind, though in the real world, there would be bleeding and swelling. Shizunei swatted his hand away and the men looked at each other. Kazuma couldnt recall any pain from anything, though the only thing that managed to hit him was a wolf. He could remember getting momentarily pissed off, and slapping the wolf, even cringing as it bit him, but it never really clicked as to why he had reacted that way. Now it did. He did feel something, just never could see it.

Kazuma and Mithos looked at one another and recalled slaughtering the players. This really hit hard. They could feel them killing them, every thing. It was no wonder the woman screamed the way she did. It wasnt from being turned into shards, but really feeling the pain of being sliced by Mithos' sword. Kazuma shoved his hands in his pockets. All three looked to him, as though he was supposed to have the answer to all of this. No, Kazuma was just like any of them, he just knew how to get certain information, and he was, of course, a beta tester. But the changes now were so drastic, he didnt know what was still true to the beta and not.

Kazuma waved his arm to pull up his menu and invited Shizunei to his group. Level 8. There were four of them now. This would increase their chances of survival. The last few hours have been nothing but learning and more complication for all of them. Pain could be felt, a sister joined the game and two of them had slaughtered three other players. The game got increasingly harder, and they all wondered if anything was still the same as it was in beta. The names of the mobs, maybe? Kazuma began walking, quickly followed by his sister, who cought up to link her arm with his. Shizunei and Mithos followed on the rear, then split to walk alongside the siblings, Mithos next to Kazuma, and Shizunei with Keiko.

Kazuma led the group to the other side of town, where they hadnt been. The mobs in this range, were too easy for them now, so it was time to do some searching to find the floor boss. The ladies of the group were a couple levels below, so they decided, that while they search, they would level the girls, so that by the time they found the boss, they could just go right through it.

Kazuma and Mithos sat back as the girls went at a lizardman. Shizunei ducked low with her dagger and came up under the lizard's arm to plunge her dagger into its neck. As she held the lizardman at her will, Keiko came from behind and shoved her sword into its back. Both girls watched as the lizard turned into shards and disappeared. This kill would gain them their tenth level, to put them even with the men. They girls cheered and jumped as they made their way back to the men. Kazuma cheered for his sister, and Mithos nodded and smiled at them both. Shizunei rolled her eyes at them, and they all made their way back to town for a bite to eat at the smallest diner on the corner.

* * *

**A week** **later**

A server wide announcement had been made for all 10th level or above players to attend a meeting. He and his team had spent a good week searching various dungeons for the floor boss, yet they had not even managed to find the location. All of them were 13th level from fighting in the dungeons below. They sat at the meeting as the highest level group, while a couple of other players stood in the center, talking. It seemed the announcement was meant to help in finding, and defeating, the floor boss. Someone had managed to find the entrance, but there was no way that only the few they had could take out the Kobold.

Kazuma had stood up and to speak, letting it be known that he was beta tester, and that as far as he could tell, these mobs were already a great deal harder than the rest. He had also told them of how pain could be felt, now, when it wasnt in the beta version. There were too many differences in this game, now that they were all stuck, and that they all needed to be sure they could fight this boss efficiently.

It seemed that a lot of them didn't believe him, or there were just too few that did believe him. Only a few were beta testers, and even they hadn't caught onto the difference. The others that weren't didn't know there was a difference, or just simply didn't care. Too many of them where kids with a big head, thinking they were better than others, but they would soon find out. If they didn't get on the right track now, their death was eminent in later levels.

Now that he had said what he had too, it was obvious that the forth coming battle was going to be brutal. Back in beta they didn't have to worry about pain, but it seemed Kayaba Akihiko was dealing them a cruel hand. The pain threshold was lowered so that they could feel every hit, even making Kazuma fear this upcoming battle. Let's be honest, who wouldn't fear a towering Kobold who could cut you in half in just mere seconds?

"If you refuse to listen to me about the boss, at least those of you that have experienced pain can at least prove half my point? The changes in the game are drastic and we should assume that nothing we already know about the boss is even true. Hell, lets just assume that its a completely different boss altogether."

Still more than half the group of them refused to believe him, maybe it was the prospect of things being much harder. Either way this battle was going to be a brutal smack in the face, if they survived. So Kazuma resigned himself allowing them to believe what they wanted, he had at least warned them ahead of time. With his hands placed together and his chin rested against them, his piercing brown eyes simply watched the rest of the meeting. Once the meeting was over he and his group had calmly left the meeting area, Shizunei already began to voice her rage.

"Why didn't you try harder to warn them?" Shizunei fumed toward Kazuma, with the belief that there could have been more to say.

"What did you expect me to do Shizunei? I warned them twice, received little to no response from barely half the group. Those who won't listen will die, those who do stand a chance. This is just how this world is going to be, if you can't deal with that go resign yourself to a tavern for the rest of the game." Shizunei was a valuable asset to his company, and an all around good hearted person, but she had an attitude, and Kazuma wasnt one to put up with it.

"I expected you to at least give a god damned example!"Shizunei's fists and teeth were clenched, but she wouldnt dare hit Kazuma. She growled and stomped off in the opposite direction, she needed to hit something.

Mithos and Keiko watched as she stomped off and then turned to Kazuma. "She has a point.." Mithos spoke up first with a shrug. "Give the non-believers a reason to believe and it changes a lot of things."

The men eyed each other for a short moment and Kazuma shrugged. "Theres nothing I can do about it now." Kazuma exhaled slowly and walked away in the direction of Shizunei, but instead of following her out of town, he would stop off at the guild registry. It was time he made a guild for the small group and proceed in recruiting. Kazuma was confident the lot of them would move on and if enough came out of this boss fight, there could be some potential members.

Kazuma spoke with a man about getting a guild, filled out the proper paperwork and handed over his coins. By the time it was done, Kazuma was carrying a maker next to his name and the guild title of Cestus Dei. He sent out his invite to the girls and Mithos and left from the broker to rejoin Mithos and his sister. A smirk curved the corner of his lips as Shizunei's invite had gone through, but she didn't show up with the others.

"So, whats it mean?" Mithos looked over his guild title and back at Kazuma.

Kazuma looked over at Mithos with a small smile. "It means "The brass knuckles of God". I thought it was fitting nice our God of this world is an overpowered asshole. And like the Cestus back in the gladiator days, they wore spiked knuckles and beat the hell out of each other." He looked down at his fists with a smile. "I think I may pick up on that."

Mithos laughed and nodded. "Seems pretty fitting. I like it."

Both men smiled to each other, and Kazuma sighed. "Lets go find Shizunei. We need to rest up to be ready for this fight tomorrow. I got a feeling its not going to be an easy win."

Kazuma waved his hand to pull up his map to locate Shizunei. She was playing with lizardmen who couldnt touch her. Kazuma smirked and pointed out to Mithos and Keiko where she was and the new guild set off to get their last member. Kazuma signaled Mithos and Keiko to stand down as he moved to Shizuneis side. She was light on her feet and seemed to be moving faster and more fluid with her dagger. He was hoping that she would pick up duel, or get a shield, but Shizunei always talked about how much they burdened her. He watched her stab a lizard in the throat and as she smirked to him when it was done, her smiled to her and beckoned her to join him.

"Still think you should have hit someone." Her voice was light, seemingly happy. Shizunei couldnt hold a grudge against Kazuma, and he knew that as well as she did.

Kazuma smiled. "So does Mithos." He shrugged and passed it off. "Come on. We need to sleep. We dont need any of us tired or lacking for tomorrows fight."

Shizunei nodded to him and put her dagger in her sheath and followed close next to Kazuma. The group made their way back to town and got a nice warm bed for the night at Kazuma's request. It was said that sleep in a bed was better than camping out in the woods or in a meadow. Sleep was sleep, but to gain the most out of it, you needed a bed. Shizunei wasnt particular to this, but it seemed that there were 2 beds per room, and if they split their money, they could all save.

* * *

**The next morning**

Kazuma woke the next morning with his sister still sleeping in the bed on the other side of the room. He let her sleep and made his way to Mithos and Shizuneis room, who had thrown a huge fit about even sleeping in the same room with Mithos. Kazuma had some odd feeling they were good for each other, but Mithos sort of needed to be more of a man if he was going to tame that woman. When Kazuma lifted his hand to knock, Shizunei was already opening the door.

"Never again! I will sleep with your sister next time!" Shizunei stormed from the room and out into the foyer to pay her part.

Kazuma turned from the woman and walked into the room to find Mithos still getting dressed. "Whats her problem?"

"She didnt like that I sleep naked, and she doesnt like my snoring." Mithos laughed and shook his head as he continued to dress.

"You know, I think maybe I shoudnt have left you two together." Kazuma was laughing with Mithos for the moment and then turned serious. It was one more hour before the boss fight. He was just hoping that Shiz had gotten enough sleep.

"Trust me, she slept." Mithos looked at Kazuma when he finished putting on his shoes and moved to his side. "Shes peaceful when shes sleeping." Mithos smiled "I think I like her better that way." He cocked an eyebrow as he spoke and followed Kazuma out of the room.

Both men met Shizunei out in the foyer to pay their room fee and talk about the fight. Kazuma wanted his sister to stay out of it, and Shizunei said they needed her. Mithos agreed with Shizunei on the fact that Keiko had a shield and sword. Their argument went on for about 20 mins before Kazuma huffed and stomped off to get his sister from bed.

"We need every valuable player we have, and Keiko isnt bad with her sword." Shizunei cocked her hip out and crossed her arms as Kazuma ignored her sentence. She rolled her eyes when he disappeared and looked over to Mithos.

"Hey, I agree with you." The man put his hands up in a defensive manner and took a step back from the woman. "Hes just worried about her. He doesnt want her to get hurt, or potentially die." Mithos leaned against the wall, propping his foot up against it under his own butt.

"I wont let her die if I can help it."

"None of us are going to willingly let her die, Shiz, but some things are just unpreventable." She sighed and looked to the ground.

The two remained silent until Kazuma and Keiko came back into the foyer. They had wasted a half an hour and needed to get to the meeting place. The newly formed guild walked out, the girls in back and men taking the lead. It seemed to be the way they always walked when going to the next fighting place, or somewhere of importance, or potential danger. Of course, Keiko followed her brother, forcing Shizunei behind Mithos.

When they arrived, it was clear who was attempting to take over this fight. Some halfwit who knew nothing of what was to come. He was big, a barbaric type of man, younger, it would appear, and swing a giant battle axe. As the group had fully come together, Kazuma kept his small guild back, away from the ones who had decided to run into the fight first. Kazuma did all the talking, and the small group that had decided to listen to him stuck to his side like glue. Others kept to theirselves of circled around the axe wielding barbarian.

They all lined up to go in and, of course, let the barbarian open the door. He charged in screaming, clearly letting the kobold know he was there, and Kazuma was slow to follow. Others followed the man on his toes, while some had followed hesitantly. The new guild saw different things as they looked just barely inside the door, but they all felt the same way. Caution, hesitation, and pure fear from over half of the group that was heading in. It was their turn to enter the door, the small group following Kazuma, who lead them all with determination.


	5. 2: Heavy Losses

**April 15th, What a grand day seeing as its my 23rd birthday =]. I would have had the chapter out earlier in the day today but you know, I was doing birthdayish stuff. That included watching the children while my wife slaved away at her job, and once she got home it was spent together writing and proof reading. SOOOO Now that this is done, It's time to really enjoy my night with the wife while the kids are asleep. **

**The boss fight is a little long, and I also tried NOT to allow it to seem as if hes overpowered. But again it went from 10k Players in the game to just about a Million solid. Of course the bosses and the mobs are going to be 10x stronger, I am no longer accepting OC's as I have a multitude of people submitting via inbox. Thanks for the support, as always Read and review! We like that, enjoy! **

* * *

**Boss Fight Floor One**

Kazuma and and his new guild were at the front of the group of those who decided to pay heed to his warnings. Those who didn't keep to themselves continued on ahead of them, expecting to become the heroes of this boss fight. Once most of them were in the middle of the room the near pitch black room lit up, to reveal the fierce looking Kobold King. Instead of having the normal beta weapon, it immediately had a weapon that wasn't suppose to be on the level; the No-Dachi, a fierce alternative to what most would assume to be a Katana. The weapon allowed for ease of movement, fluid strokes and lethal consequences for anyone to fall victim to. None of the raid members would be allowed room to breathe as ten smaller Kobolds bolted out from behind the boss, fully clad in steel armor with shields and swords raised to attack.

Illfang, the Kobold Lord, immediately went to work, picking his first group before he leaped up into the air. The large body began to spin just before touching off with it's scaled green feet against the ceiling, which sent it hurling in a spiral toward the first group of five. The ground shook as the sheer weight of Illfang smashed into the first two, resulting in instant fatalities. Even though the boss looked like it would be slowed with it's weight, it immediately sliced it's No-Dachi outward and used the momentum to twist back onto its feet. The No-Dachi struck the last three members, decimating an entire squad within seconds. The surprise, awe and fear began to show in the faces of the raid members.

Even Kazuma, momentarily rooted by fear, knew he should have listened to Shizunei and tried harder. A new look of determination spread across his face, his resolve final.

"Mithos, on me! Shizunei and Keiko Sentinel's!" His voice boomed over the crowd of shouting, most of them now looked toward him for directions. "Everyone, Pair up switch out and take out these sentinels! Five forward groups, switch and bait Illfang into launching a leaping attack! Once he smashes into the ground, Shields up front, wait for the Talwar! Afterward, everyone Power attack!"

Most of the groups followed without hesitation to the booming orders, after all, half of them just wanted direction at this point in time. There were no retorts to his orders, or even agreement. Only battle cries, men and women fighting for their very lives. Kazuma began speeding toward Illfang with Mithos following close behind. A sentinel jumped in front of the men and forced Kazuma to slide to a stop. Kazuma reached out with his left hand, gripped the tip of it's shield and pulled it toward him to expose the chest of the sentinel. Mithos was quickly upon the Sentinel, his Two handed sword already being forced in a downward arc through the sentinel, but not enough to kill it. Instead, Mithos and Kazuma veered around it and continued their path toward Illfang, leaving Keiko and Shizunei to complete their work and take out the sentinel.

Mithos glanced at Kazuma "Whats the plan Kazuma?" His voice held a bit of fear, but fear is what kept you alive. One without fear would be the first to die in this cruel world.

Kazuma couldn't say much aside from the obvious "Stay alive, stay quick and use the switch like we have been. He's just another monster, we'll survive this."

Kazuma approached Illfang first, getting under Illfangs radar as it swung its No-Dachi toward a different group, shields met the No-Dachi head on causing sparks to fly. Kazuma brought back his right arm, and formed a fist then waited for it to glow a bright teal color. When it reached its bright teal, he slammed his fist into Illfang's ribcage, barely even budging the hitpoint bar. Following orders, after the No-Dachi had been swung, the rest of them followed suit and began to power their attacks and hit the Kobold, still barely budging it's hit point bar.

The invading voice of the barbarian from earlier now boomed over the cries of battle, barking orders to everyone that would listen. "Break shield lines! Everyone focus on attacking! Groups A, B, C an-"

"Negate that! Hold your shield lines! Breaking the shield lines will only cause more deaths! HOLD YOUR GROUND!" Kazuma shouted, though it would seem only half of the men stood their ground. Four shieldman broke their ranks and began to run, sentinel's quickly targeted them as stragglers and Kazuma was only able to watch as the four were turned into colored shards.

Shizunei and Keiko quickly took up their post at the sentinels and as Keiko lost her footing in a downward slash, a sentinel went in for a killing blow. Shizunei jabbed her blade into the chest of one of the sentinels, and using her dagger as a crutch, lifted her leg to kick the other sentinel. Kazuma approved of the women for the time being, and went on to continue his attacks and defenses on Illfang.

Illfang was now beginning to focus on Kazuma, its wild movements were only serving to make it difficult to block. Illfang roared and sliced in a downward arc toward Kazuma. Kazuma brought both arms up to crisscross in front of him, his steel armguards took the brute force of the attack, but caused one of them to break. The attack had caused over half of his health bar to disappear within mere seconds. The sheer force of the attack Kazuma was launched backward, and into Mithos, causing both of them to land in a heap on the ground. Kazuma's health was falling into the red zone fast, his right arm had a gash that spanned from his lower arm all the way up was left in its place. Kazuma was dead weight on top of Mithos, his eyes were closed tightly, in pain, as he gripped onto his arm. If he had enough time to scream out in pain, he probably would have however, the boss was ontop of them. Illfang raised his arm, his No-dachi clutched in hand, and with as much speed as he could muster, lunged in for the kill, attempting to impale both Kazuma and Mithos at the same time.

As the No-dachi neared the two men, a loud scream from Kazuma's sister could be heard. Her voice frantic, desperate for anyone to help her brother. The sound of metal against metal erupted through the battlefield, the sword evidently reaching its mark, and Keiko's eyes tightly shut afraid to see what had transpired. Though, as her eyes slowly opened, a man stood hard pressed against the bosses sword. His sword had blocked the No-Dachi with the flat side, while his free arm braced against the opposite side to support his blocking stance. The mans teeth were clenched, his arms barely able to sustain the block as more party members rushed in to distract the boss, relieving the new man.

After Illfangs attack on Kazuma, hearing the scream of Keiko forced his gaze on her. The man quickly turned around to help both Kazuma and Mithos to their feet, Kazuma could only nod his head in thanks as he pulled a healing potion from the pouch on his hip. He downed the potion quickly, the gash healed but left a visible scar in its place. Kazuma looked to his sister in horror as Illfang attacked her.

Illfang brought his massive no-dachi down on Keiko, and when she brought her shield up to block it, Shizunei jumped in the way with her dagger. The sound of metal scraping metal was heard as the no-dachi met with the dagger before it broke it. Shizunei was pushed out of the way of the no-dachi as it crashed down onto the shield that Keiko held, the force of his strike sent her sliding across the ground and into the nearest wall. A scream was heard, as the no-dachi had managed to sever Shizunei's lower leg.

Shizunei, now without a weapon, was targeted by the large kobold. A woman with a spear ran to Shizunei's aid, offering her a minor healing potion. Shizunei took the potion and downed it, getting her leg back and ran to Keiko. The woman with the spear was surrounded by another group, and together they took an attack from the kobold lord. Kazuma was staring at his sister, whose shield had just burst into splinters of color.

Shizunei nodded to Kazuma and pointed at the kobold, which focused him again. His worry for his sister was evident, but would give him the drive to kill this monster. As Shizunei looked around, she could see the dwindling raid; some hiding along the wall at the door, others fighting with everything they had. She clenched her teeth at those that were hiding, and helped Kazumas sister to her feet, her own leg still damaged.

Kazuma, finally regaining his focus, gave the new man an approving nod, a debt he was going to have to pay, eventually. "Thank you for helping me" Kazuma's voice held a respectful tone to it as he offered a half cracked smile.

The nameless man had just started to speak but it would seem that Illfang had other plans for the three men in front of them. Illfang was now barreling toward all three, planning on using its full body against the men. Illfang drew back his no-dachi and launched his sword toward the three men, and used his spare arm as momentum to turn his body into a spin. The momentum gave the No-Dachi enough power to chop all three men in half, but due to the speed and reaction time of Illfang all they could do was ready their blocks.

Mithos moved in front of the two and brought his massive two handed sword up to the center of his body and placed his forearm against the flat of the blade. He turned his head and clinched his eyes shut to ready for the attack. The nameless swordsman moved beside Mithos and readied his own block similar to Mithos', but in such close proximity it was going to serve as a double block.

Unfortunately, due to his one arm now being out of commission all he could do was attack while the others blocked. Kazuma waited just behind the two as the steel of the No-Dachi met the steel of the large two handed sword before Kazuma darted out from behind the two men. Kazuma was just low enough to fly under the bosses raider to the point he was in point blank nameless swordsman after the block used his own sword skill to disrupt the boss, sending the bosses sword rearing upward and causing the boss to lose balance quickly.

Kazuma took advantage of the boss losing his balance, his right hand reared back as his fist started to glow a bright teal. Kazuma connected his fist with Illfang's steel clad chest, one after another Kazuma began to furiously punch Illfang with all his might. His attacks seemed wild, but held discipline at the same time. His attacks began to increase in speed, each fist glowing in a fierce teal light.

Mithos recovered from Illfang's brutal attack before he looked over at the man "Lets help him!" and so Mithos followed after his friend Kazuma, slicing as fast and as strong as he could against Illfang.

Our Nameless swordsman rushed in beside Mithos but took up the rear side of Illfang, targeting his legs in an attempt to disable to creatures fast mobility. His speed was faster than the average swordsman, almost up to par with how quick Kazuma was beating his fists against Illfang's chest. The woman with the spear, and a few others had joined in the beating of the kobold. For a short while, it was only the six of them, attacking without a pause. Glowing arrows were seen sticking out of the kobolds head, as the attacks continued.

As if inspired by the furious attempts to beat the boss backward, the rest of the raid group seemed to join in. While Illfang was focused on recovering from the onslaught of the players, it wouldn't take long before Illfang's health bar dropped into the last red zone. Immediately Illfang jumped backwards toward his throne, and let loose a feral roar. Upon completion of the roar Illfang tossed his No-dachi aside, its eyes were a piercing red as it pulled a massive two handed axe from behind its throne. Both clawed hands gripped the axe with might before bolting toward the group.

Of course, like the massive nimrod Kazuma figured the Barbarian to be, he rushed to meet the boss head on. Letting out his own roar which in terms of comparison to Illfang's, was a squeak from a mouse. As the two neared each other their steel rang through the air, the bosses axe being sent upward into the air similar to how Mithos had. However, Illfang was now attuned to this strategy, he brought his left leg back and begun to throw his opposite foot around. Using the momentum of his leg he began to spin like a whirlwind. Illfang brought his large axe down and began cutting into the barbarian repeatedly.

Our local Barbarian menace didn't stand much of a chance as his HP dropped to zero in an instant. The man screamed as his body broke into thousands of little teal-green crystals. Illfangs momentum continued toward another group, like a raging tornado that tore away at the very foundation of what it passed. Both men and women alike began to fade one by one, the torrents of the storm unyielding.

It took Kazuma a few seconds before he finally composed himself. Even if the barbarian was mouthy he didn't deserve to die, no one did. "Everyone with shields up front! We must stop his momentum or we're all dead!" His voice bellowed out above the shouts and screams only serving to stir a few straggling souls to muster up their courage and race to the path of Illfang. All fifteen of the shieldman braced their shields into the ground as spearmen and swordsmen lined up behind them ready to strike once the raging torrents subsided. The archers remained at the back, still firing at the massive kobold.

"Mithos, on me!" Kazuma called out to what most people would assume to be his right hand man. Kazuma looked over at the man that had saved his life but before he could speak the man spoke first.

"Alexon" Alexon spoke out, and nodded before he himself fell into line with Kazuma and Mithos. The three of them charged toward the back of Illfang as Illfang's axe crashed brutally into the shield line, the shieldmen barely being able to subdue the beast, their health bars dropped quickly and a few shields were broken. The spearmen and swordsman began to target Illfang's arms desperately in an attempt to slow the beast down, little effect was shown.

Shizunei had made her way to the stragglers posted on the wall and taken their weapons and shields. If they werent going to use them, she was. She gave a shield to Keiko and raised a sword and shield of her own to join back into the fight. The girls joined forces with the spear using woman and together the three used power attacks on the kobold. Arrows were still being shot at the kobolds head. One landed in its eye, which for the moment, distracted it.

Mithos was the first to be within striking range with his two-handed sword, drawing back both arms to the right he sliced toward the back of Illfang's knee, connecting with enough force from his powered swing to knock Illfang off balance. Both Kazuma and Alexon followed suit, Kazuma jumped up and smashed his fist into Illfang's cheek, hurling the large monster toward Alexon. Alexon slid his footback and waited for when illfang got closer. At the very last second Alexon sliced his entire blade through Illfang. The kobold stopped all his movements, howled one last time and burst into colored crystals.

* * *

Each of the remaining raid members received their various experience points and equipment drops, but Alexon had the killing blow thus, earning him the attack bonus that would normally be gained here, along with a rare sword drop which had yet to be identified by someone skilled enough. Kazuma himself had gained a rare armor drop, also unidentified and a decent amount of Col. Mithos managed to somehow get a hold of a set of rings, each with their own special stats. Keiko had received a rare shield, and Shizunei, with no surprise, had somehow managed to get lucky and get a unique dagger.

Shizunei stood back as Kazuma and Keiko seemed to be trying to help those that couldnt walk. She had already given her healing potion to another and nearly got herself killed trying to save Keiko's life. After Kazuma and Keiko were finished helping a few of them, they joined Shizunei where she stood, Mithos seemed to be busying himself with another.

Only 46 had survived the raid out of 150 people. What was worse, was that all of them could actually feel their death. Keiko and Shizunei posted against the wall just inside the door while Kazuma went to help out Mithos, and when they rejoined the girls. Shizunei, herself had a slight limp, but it was nothing to be worried about, and Kazuma had a nice gash across his forearm. This battle had not been kind to any of them, and only proved what Kazuma had said from the beginning. This wasnt a game, anymore, and everything was harder and would need a lot more skill, strength, and knowledge to get through it alive.

Alexon met up with the small group they had and Kazuma greeted the man with a smile. "Thanks for that, back there. And congrats."

Alexon smiled and rubbed the back of his neck. "Not a problem. And thanks."

The small group stood around as others were filing out of the tower. Each of the members had pulled out the items they acquired from the boss fight. Each of them nearly drooled over their new items, and decided to get some food at the small diner the four usually ate at. Kazuma extended a hand and offered Alexon to join them, and pay for his meal.

Alexon, with his black hair, was stuck in the middle of the two red heads, Shizunei and Mithos. The two red heads bickered back and forth across Alexon about who was better, and agreed, eventually, that Alexon was better, as he was the one that had killed the boss. Kazuma had fallen to the back with his sister.

"You arent going back into battle." Kazuma's voice was stern, and he didnt take his eyes off of the path ahead of him. "You could have been killed. If Shiz wasnt there, you would have been. You are too reckless." At this he looked to his little sister, putting his hand on her arm to stop her. Turning to her, sadness was written in his eyes. He had almost lost his baby sister, and he wouldnt let her put her life at risk again.

"I just need more traini-"

"No." Kazuma stopped her short of her words, shaking his head. "You wont go back out. At all. You arent skilled enough, and even if you had been, you never would have gotten away from that strike alive. I wont allow it."

Keiko knew better than to beg or try to get her way with her brother, so she stayed quiet and nodded to him. her face had dropped, as she knew she wasnt useless, and didnt want to be shoved to the sidelines, but she also knew that she never would have survived that attack if Shzunei wasnt there. The two of them cought up with Shizunei, Alexon and Mithos, and they all walked silently to the tiny diner just inside the town walls. They all seemed to have their seating, as Keiko always sat next to her brother, which forced Mithos to sit next to Shizunei. Alexon took an odd seat on the end of the booth, pulling a chair from a random table to sit next to Kazuma.

Kazuma made sure to take the seat across from Mithos, as it seemed they always managed to speak to one another without even talking. "She wont be going back out."

Neither of the redheads questioned him, as they both knew who he was talking about and why. Even Alexon kept his thoughts to his self. Instead, they nodded without looking at him, and Shizunei looked across the table at Keiko with an unspoken 'sorry'. The five of them ate silently, with the women mostly picking at their food. The death of so many seemed to hit them all the same way, but as always, women seemed to show their sadness or frustration a little more than men.

Kazuma looked over to Alexon, then Mithos, still not speaking. The girls kept to their thoughts. As Kazuma looked to them, a tear rolled down Shizunei's cheek before she casually wiped it away. It was rare for her to show any kind of sorrow.

After eating, they all seemed to feel a little better, but the silence between them seemed to weigh heavily on them until the left the small diner. They had all agreed to get their items identified and made their way out to the local market. Each of them seemed to drool over their new items, each one had its unique attribute, and each of them equipped their new items.

The group smiled and talked as they walked and boasted about what their items had. Keikos shield added to defense and was far more durable than her last one, and Alexons sword added to his attack speed and his special ability. Shizunei's new dagger added to her speed, in general, and her attack. Kazuma recieved a breast plate that added to his agility and defenses, while Mithos' rings added to his health and his strength.

Shezunei and Mithos seemed to always be the first on a scene, and this time, it was a woman who seemed to be raging about something. When the two got close enough, it sounded as though she was talking about the boss fight they had just won. They recognized this woman from the dungeon as one of the few that fled to the corner to save them self.

"Coward!" Sheizunei's voice rang out over the crowed and this woman, both. Everyone went silent and the girl looked at Shizunei. "I saw you down there. Hiding to save your own ass!"

"I did what I felt was necessary." The girl automatically jumped to the offensive.

"No,_ I_ did what was necessary._ You_ ran. Some of those lives could have been saved if you and certain others werent hiding." Shizunei's eyes traveled the crowed, stopping off at a few of the other players that she had seen. Each person looked away with guilt.

Just then a woman with brown hair stepped from the crowed to speak. She looked directly at Shizunei, "You saved lives.." then to the girl. "You saved yourself." The woman went to put an arm around the girls shoulder, her eyes trained on Shizunei as she was already toying with her dagger at her side. "Cant you see, she did save a life today." The womans words were sarcastic, which set Shizunei off.

"If you cant handle the fighting, then you shouldnt be in the damned field to begin with!" Sheizunei was screaming at the women this time, her blade had managed to go from her sheath to her hand. "I'll bet you havnt even faught out here! I'll bet you havnt felt the pain of getting hit!" With this, Shizunei lunged.

The woman next to the girl was quick to react and cought Shizunei right before she connected with the girl. Shizunei clenched her teeth at the woman and watched the girl as she ran. Shizunei made another lunge, this time pivoting around her and slicing high at the womans arm. A cry of pain was let out from the woman and then from Shizunei as the woman had managed to grab one of her arrows and shove one hard into the back of Shizunei's arm. At this point, the women were a match, and they were both wounded. It was clear that these women were not the type to give up, and so Mithos and Kazuma seemed to be forced to step in.

Mithos grabbed Shizunei up and forced her hard against the wall, pinning her, while Kazuma calmly pulled the other woman out the of the center of the crowed. Keiko's high pitched voice could be heard shooing away the crowed, as there was nothing left for them to see. Both women were being dragged away from each other. Shizunei's eye caught the girl that was complaining earlier and gave her a nasty look. Mithos responded to her with a subtle shake, that pulled her from the wall and pushed her back into it.

Kazuma always seemed to have a more calm approach to things, as he lead the woman to the other side of the courtyard. The woman was still looking back over her shoulder at Shizunei as she was led away. Kazumas voice was low and soft. "I know she can be hard to deal with, but she has a point." He looked at the woman next to him and let her stand at the side of him on her own.

"She didnt need to attack an innocent." The woman looked at him, then at Shizunei, who was finally being let go of and the arrow pulled from her arm. The woman smirked as she could see the pain on Shizunei's face.

"She would not have killed her." Kazumas voice was cold and matter-of-factly. "Shizunei wanted that girl to feel the pain of the others. To know what it could feel like to die." Kazumas eyes found the womans in front of him, a hint of sorrow flashing before going back to his regular cold look. The deaths in this game were really starting to get to him.

The woman looked him over and shook her head. "It gives her no excuse to attack anyone else. I was at that fight, I know what she did, and I know what that girl did. I understand that.." She thought over the name the man had given her. "Shizunei had saved lives, and I saw how she saved the other girl back there. But that does not excuse her from attacking another player."

Kazuma shook his head. "No, but Shizunei is brash, she hard to deal with and runs purely on impulse and her feelings. I would not have stepped in if you hadnt, and I would have been fine with seeing that other girl feel pain." Kazuma could see that the other girl didnt know that you could actually feel pain, yet. Maybe she hadnt been told, or maybe she was a beta tester, and didnt believe you could actually feel it.

"It was still out of line." The woman looked from Kazuma to Shizunei and crossed her arms. "Im going to need that arrow back."

Kazuma smirked at her words and nodded. "Will you play nice?"

The woman nodded to him and they both walked back to Shizunei, Mithos, Alexon and Keiko. Shizunei was holding the arrow that had been shoved into her arm, a smirk on her face. When the woman neared Shizunei had the tip in between her teeth, nibbling on it lightly. Mithos stood at the side of Shizunei, ready to pull her back again if she was to try to lunge at the woman again. Shizunei was known for getting even if she wasnt happy with an outcome. Keiko rested her forearm on Shizunei's shoulder to ensure that Shizunei couldnt just rush out, if she had wanted to.

"Im guessing you want this back." Shizunei had pulled the arrow from her teeth and was now swinging it in between her fingers.

"Mind reader." The woman had a sarcastic tone, but seemed a bit more playful.

Shizunei handed out the arrow with a pleasent smile. "I think I might like you, archer." Shizunei always liked a challenge and she liked someone that was like her.

"Like me? Im not sure if thats a good or a bad thing." The woman smirked and put the arrow in the quiver she held on her thigh.

The look of the others had seemed to think it a good thing if you were liked by this firey redhead. "Thats for you to decide." Shizunei chewed on the corner of her mouth as she looked around, then back to the woman. "Name is Shizunei."

The woman nodded. "I know. Miza. Maybe we will see each other around some time."

"The next floor boss, Im sure." Shizunei gave her a nod, the tone in her voice sounded more demanding than hopeful.

Mithos chimed into the conversation, before Miza could turn away. "If you are alone, you could join our group. You seem to have the skill, but are lacking in level. We do a lot of grinding." The others shook their heads to agree, but stood quietly. "Its up to you."Mithos wasnt much for words, but he seemed to act on impulse, as Shizunei had. Maybe it had something to do with the hair color. Miza nodded to them an agreement and let the men take the lead to the next level.

* * *

**Second floor: Aesry**

The six of them had managed to get to the nearest town called Aesry. On the way, Kazuma had decided that they were going to take a break from grinding and leveling for a few days. It was about time that they all get acquainted with one another, and possibly meet some of the others that had survived the boss fight. They all seemed to have agreed and paid for their own separate inn.

Everyone had separated with the intentions of meeting back up at the tavern at nightfall. Even Keiko had separated from her brother to frolic around in the market area meeting new people and buying pieces for her hair and other things. At 15, its a girls favorite thing to do, other than messing with boys. Keiko had a companion quick after she left a shop.

Keiko was spotted, by Shizunei, pulling around a spikey, red haired boy who looked to be her age. Keiko was a pretty girl, and obviously attracted most boys her age. Shizunei laughed, but kept to herself. She liked to post up in trees and watch people, or even cat nap. She couldnt wait to get the ability to hide and sneak. She was already working on her ability to listen.

Mithos had followed with Shizunei for a short time before parting to get some wares of his own. He had secret want for the herbology skill. He figured if he could make buffer potions, he could use them on the group, as well as selling them. Mithos liked money, and he liked a battle advantage. Maybe there was something else he could do with herbology that others hadnt already known? It was always fun to dabble in things he hadnt already known about.

Kazuma had went off with Alexon to the npc weaponsmith. He wanted to learn to forge, and Alexon thought it a good idea. It would be nice to have a weaponsmith in the group, or one that he knew to get free, or cheap wares. Alexon teased Kazuma about it, and Kazuma teased back with the retort of jacking his prices up specially for him.

Mizu went off on her own to scout the new area and get as much information on the place and its surroundings as she could. She considered herself an information broker, but at this point in time, as the game was new, and different, she knew practically nothing. She didnt like this, but if she had known before, what she knew now, maybe some of those people would have taken Kazuma more seriously, or even tried harder in the fight.

Later that night, they all met back up at the tavern Kazuma had selected and took up a round table at the back. Kazuma ordered a round of drinks and they all toasted to those that died. Shizunei and Keiko showed the most emotion for these people, the men remained silent, and only a quick flash of sorrow crossed Miza's features. She didnt seem to show much emotion, but everyone knew that she must be feeling the same way they had.

Kazuma blamed himself for some of the deaths. He heard Shizuneis voice in his head over and over, "try harder". And now, he wished he had. Shizunei could almost read his thoughts by the look on his face and reached out to rest her hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her, offering her a fake half smile, and took a large dring of his beer. Or what the game would consider beer. It did seem to taste like it.

It was hard to celebrate the win of a boss when so many people had died. For a long while the group sat in silence, drinking away their newly earned money. Even Keiko was drinking something fruity.

The first to leave the group and go to the inn was Shizunei. Quickly followed by Keiko and then Mithos. The other three, Kazuma, Alexon and Miza returned to the inn together, and went to their separate rooms. The group would sleep for the night, and in the morning, breakfast at the new diner they would delegate as their own.

* * *

Even though the first boss was beaten, the effect Kazuma was hoping to have on the rest of the players just wasn't there. The group of one hundred and fifty went in, only forty-six came out. Those weren't odds to exactly encourage people to push harder. No, there was a record set the very next day for the amount of suicides that took place within just a short few hours.

Most of the men and woman even children had that dark side lurking in the back of their mind, begging for the easy way out. However It would be people like the ones in Kazuma's group that would be the leaders of this cruel world, and whats more, a new list of information for guild's was released. The closer they came to the 10th floor, the closer they came to guild wars.

However for the next couple months that was going to be the least of their worries; surviving til then was going to be their main priority. Only time would tell what this game had in store for Kazuma and his guild, but one things for sure, Cestus Dei is going to rise to the top. Determined to complete this game and get his sister out alive, Kazuma was ready to do anything to survive. Anything. Guild wars were going to play a vital role for their survival, but for now,the group was just going to have to pull together and hunt.

Kazuma had laid down various rules for the guild, no one was to hunt alone. This included himself. At least one other guild member was required to venture out into the wilds to hunt. Pre-Boss Dungeons would be handled with the entire guild, and drops would be kept by those who received them unless the person in question decided to share with the guild. Money was also going to be saved guild-wide to afford a guild headquarters as soon as they could afford one.

With the recent losses, they had decided to remain on floor two until enough players had gained the levels and equipment to fight the next boss. The next few weeks were going to go by slow, but life in this game was going to be hell for everyone.


End file.
