Lost Realm Online

Kirito nodded, and turned to the girl. "Then, want to form a party with us?" She turned her head slightly toward him, but didn't answer. "He just said we can't beat this boss on our own. So, just for this fight?" After some hesitation, she nodded, and Kirito sent her the invite. She accepted, and her health bar appeared below his own and Emus' in his view, just as it would appear below Kirito's for Emus. A close look would show that her name was Asuna.

"Okay, so have you formed your parties?" Kirito's attention was pulled back to Diabel as he resumed speaking. "Then-"

"Just a second!" A rough voice called out, and a man came rushing down to the stage, skidding to a halt and turning to the group. "My name is Kibaou. I wanna say something before we take on the boss. Some of you here need to apologize, to the twenty-thousand who have died so far!" He pointed out into the crowd, causing murmuring to start, while Kirito looked down a bit. Something about that... it made him think of Klein. Was Klein still alive? If not, was it his fault for leaving him?

"Kibaou, are you referring to the Beta-Testers?" Diabel was looking at Kibaou carefully, as the man nodded firmly.

"Of course I am! On the day this stupid game started, the beta guys ditched us beginners, and they all disappeared. They took all the good hunting spots and easy quests for themselves, so only they could get stronger. And then, they just ignored the rest of us." He growled, yelling at the crowd. "I'm sure someone here was in the beta! They should get on their knees and apologize, and give up all the money and item's they've hoarded! Otherwise, we can't trust them to protect us as party members, and they shouldn't trust us!" As he stopped, Kirito was starting to shake, squeezing his eyes shut. He was on the verge of completely freaking out.

Emus' thoughts soon went to confusion at the last part. Was this guy for real? They were fighting for their lives and now he was trying to turn this into a pissing match of wrong doings?

Seriously the fuck?

Emus glanced at his friend and frowned, then without a word literally jumped down, crouching a bit before standing his fall height as he walked over. He pulled out a guide book. "You see this? This is a guide book given for free for all players that was made by Beta-testers. That's besides the point. The point is, while I'm sure there are some beta testers that acted that way, its pretty obvious given the guidebook they aren't all bad. Rather then turning this into a pissing match, we should focus on surviving. In the world we live in, the people by you are just that: people. A Beta player isn't any more moral or immoral then anyone else. And frankly, with people doing witch hunts on Beta's, the smart thing to do would be to keep your head down even if you've done nothing wrong."

He crossed his arms. "So we gonna focus on what's actually important here?"

Kibaou was clearly irritated, but he knew when to drop a subject. Everyone seemed to be in agreement with Emus. When Kibaou sat down, and everyone turned their attention back to Diabel, Kirito let out a breath, relaxing and hanging his head. Diabel continued speaking.

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

"This concludes the briefing. Lastly, items will be automatically distributed. EXP goes to the party that defeats the monster. And whoever receives an item, keeps it. Any objections? ...Okay, we leave tomorrow, at ten in the morning. See you there!" Everyone went their own way, some going to speak to Diabel, while Asuna simply stood and walked off. Kirito watched her go, then looked down toward Emus.

Emus soon leaped up in the aisle Kirito was at, before clapping a hand on his shoulder. "Relax. Looks like you've seen a ghost. Let's get the hell out of here, even if its technically not real feels like I've been sitting forever." He..hadn't really Emus just didn't like sitting still for too long periods of time when there was things to do or on his mind. "Maybe even get to know our new guest member huh?"

Kirito nodded a bit. "Yeah.. we'll have to go find her though, she walked off..."

~~~~~

They found her a little after dark, sitting on a low brick wall in front of a garden, a bit away from other people, eating bread. Kirito looked at Emus, then approached. "It's pretty tasty, isn't it? Do you mind if we sit?" Asuna turned to look over at them, then back to her bread, and said nothing. Kirito took a seat next to her, and she immediately scooted further away. Kirito didn't let it bother him, instead pulling out some of the same bread. Surprisingly, Asuna spoke then.

"Do you really think it's good?"

"Of course. I've been eating at least one daily, since I arrived in this town. I do change it up a little though."

"..Change it up?" Kirito nodded, pulling out a small jar, setting it down between them.

"Try putting some on the bread." After a long moment, Asuna did do, visibly suprised to find it was cream. Kirito did the same, beginning to eat. Asuna hesitated, then took a small bite. And froze.... and then quickly devoured the rest of the bread, letting out a soft breath.

Emus smiled a bit at the display, amused. "That was my first reaction when I got one of those too." He didn't take out any bread he wasn't "hungry". He knew intellucally they didn't really get hungry here but their bodies in the real world did and were likely fed and kept alive by various means. Depending on the techology, you could keep someone like that almost indefinitely until their natural life span ran out..for others not so much.

..Wonder what sis is up to? I can't think about her too much or I'll get home sick. Besides, look at the positive. I'm on the biggest adventure of my life, even if technically it isn't real.

Deciding to take his mind off, he spoke up. "You guys ready for tomorrow?"

Kirito simply nodded, but Asuna didn't respond at all. Kirito looked at her carefully. "..Everything okay? Do you want more or something?"

"I didn't come to this town to eat good food." She almost sounded irritated. Kirito looked to Emus with slight concern.

"Uh... then why did you?" Asuna's response was soft, nearly a whisper.

"So I can still be me... I'd rather stay myself until the very end than sit and rot away at in Inn, back in the first town." She clasped her hands together. "Even if I get killed by a monster, I don't want to lose to this game... to this world. No matter what." She went silent, and Kirito, after a moment, took another bite of bread.

"....I wouldn't want a party member dying on me... so at the least, don't die tomorrow."

"No one's dying on my watch." Emus said firmly. "I agree with Asuna. I couldn't just sit in the first town if I wanted too. Too much to do and see after we get through with this place. Let's just stick together and do our best tomorrow."

Kirito nodded to that, and Asuna did the same, slowly. She was appreciative of the fact that her two party members seemed to have the same thinking that she did. Tomorrow would prove to be an interesting day. And win or lose... at least she tried.

Emus didn't know what tomorrow would bring, but he tried to remain optimistic. He had too. It was the only way he would have survived being back in that pit those years ago and one of the only reasons he kept in one piece mentally or didn't become a cynical asshole because of experiences. He still had a light hearted air despite the past, but he preferred to keep it that way.

And he'd make sure Kirito never had to go through anything of the things he did. He promised himself that.

The next morning, after a bit of travel through the dungeon, Diabel stood in front of everyone, in front of the boss door. He was addressing everyone, and giving out group duties. Kirito was standing between Emus and Asuna, gripping his sword tightly. "Well... this is it. The first step in clearing this game and getting home."

A girl standing among the group nervously, yet subtly, shifted her weight from side to side. The digital tag above her read 'Rachael'. The first boss room of this monstrous game stood before them. There was no backing down, this had to be done. 'Okay, Rach! This is it! There's no phoenix down to bail your butt out of trouble, so focus!' Rachael slapped her cheeks before equipping her spear. 'Go! Fight! WIN!' She was very busy pumping herself up to subdue her fear.

Emus nodded. "Don't have to tell me twice. We'll get through this whole thing in one piece one way or another." He then noticed another goal..only she strangely didn't seem to be part of a party. Far as he could tell. Anyone who wasn't part of a group stood no chance what so ever. That didn't sit well with him, he glanced at Kirito for a brief moment. His intent was obvious: asking if it was okay to let her join their group.

Kirito caught the gaze, and then pointed the girl out to Asuna, who simply nodded. Kirito sent the party invite. When she inevitably looked around to see who had sent it, she'd find Kirito waving slightly.

Rachael ceased her fidgeting when a sudden 'ping' caught her attention. A party invite from one... Kirito? She located the sender with a mildly surprised expression before accepting. Rachael rushed over to the three. "Um! Thank you!" Off in her own little battle prep world, she'd completely forgotten to join a group. She was a little embarrassed.

Emus grinned hoping to ease her embarrassment. "Nice to meet you. Name's Emus, welcome to our little group. If we stick together, I'm sure we'll be fine." It was something he repeated. Intelluctally he knew there was no way of knowing that for sure, but he had to have faith he and those under his care would be okay.

Kirito introduced himself as well, and Asuna did as well. Interesting circumstances to meet a person, but it's how things were.

Rachael nodded in response to each of their introductions, remembering their names. "I'm Rachael; I'll do my best!" Her nervousness was fading fast.

"That's the spirit." Emus moved closer to Kiroto and the others, looking at the giant gates. "The raid should start at any given moment when we get the word out. I'm not sure exactly how many players are in this attack though.."

Kirito did a quick head count. "Uh... looks like... thirty, I think. A good number, I think. Oh, and hey; we've been set to focus on the boss' guards. They carry spears. An easy way to do this; I'll knock their spears up with a sword skill, then one of you land a hit. Me and Emus can switch off on who is deflecting the spears if needed."

"Okay! I'm pretty quick, so I'll be ready to attack the opening." She ran through the motions in her head. Parry and switch... Parry and switch... She'd be teaming up with Asuna, the cloaked character.

"Sounds like a plan." Emus nodded a bit. "I'll be sure to cover you ass while we're doing it and as long as nobody does anything stupid, we should be okay." Someone like that douche that had tried to kill them just to get a extra reward..it would be succidal to do anything like that here, so he wasn't worried about anyone acting up. Everyone would have to work together to stay in one piece.

Kirito was about to respond, when the doors to the boss room began to open. He tensed, and swallowed. "Alright... here we go... everyone, watch each other's backs..." Diabel led the raid group in, and the doors closed behind them. When the boss made it's move, the main groups moved in to attack, while branch groups, such as Kirito's, were to handle the bosses three guards. Immediately, Kirito launched himself at the nearest one and, true to the plan, parried it's spear thrust, knocking the weapon up and exposing the monster to attack.

The battle to clear the first floor of Aincrad had begun.

Rachael took a deep breath as the doors opened. For a split second, her resolve wavered. Her feet were urged forward along with the motion of her party. Everyone in the raid was putting their lives on the line. This thought filled her with energy. "Here I go!" She dashed forward, low and fast, to switch places with Kirito and land a few quick thrusts of her own. As soon as her skill was complete, she back-stepped to allow Kirito or Emus to resume their part of the plan.

Emus didn't say anything, he already knew what he needed to do. Once Rachael had went in for the attack and stepped back he moved in. Like a wolf..or more accurately and amusingly enough a bloodlusted dog that had picked up on the smell of blood. His sword glowed a faint silver as he lunged for the spear, sword hand for a thrust.

In the real world, he could, maybe if he was lucky go for cutting the things arms off. Since this didn't go for real physics meant there was no short cuts; they just had to beat the thing to death until it keeled over.