When a Monster Becomes a Demon Chapter 2

Tyler smiled into the morning sunlight. Sakura was right behind him. Two months had passed since the sex villager and they were still stuck on floor one. A full two thousand players had died since they had became trapped. But neither Tyler nor Sakura cared. The surrogate siblings were deep in the wilderness, a full weeks travel from most any form of civilization. They were currently camped out on a high cliff side, over looking a vast canyon system. two months and not a single person had managed to locate the floor boss. From Lorg's messages, the duo's only connection to the rest of the trapped populace, the other players were starting to get scared. Tyler had simply sent LOL for a response to that one. He had his lil'sis, so fuck everyone else. Tyler rose and picked up a bow from the ground near him, he nocked an arrow and took aim,

"Ready?"

"Ready!"

he fired and hit a nearly out of sight hawk on the wing, it fell with a piercing shriek. sakura was waiting with a net made from cut vines and caught the falling bird and hauled it to safety,

"Safe!"

"Nice, lets get what we came for!"

Tyler killed the bird with a sharp blow from his hand and it shattered. They received 10 Exp, since an update had lifted level caps entirely, so people could level their characters infinitely. They had also fixed that teleporter glitch Tyler had pointed out, but that was it. The only other thing the devs could do was add new items and stuff to the game. They could fix bugs but not disable anything for risk for killing 30000+ odd people. Today Tyler and Sakura were level 15. The leveling becoming exponentially more difficult as the levels rose. Again that was not a problem for the pair, as they were both extremely dangerous fighters. Sakura, under Tyler's harsh guidance was now able to hold her own against the more experienced boy for hours with neither getting a clear opening. She had opted fro a bow/shortsword combo that would allow her to switch up combat roles should the need arise. Today they were after hawk feathers and Hawkeyes. The feathers to make arrows ad accent Sakura's hat, and the eyes to make potions for archery. They had caught about fifteen birds and amassed a large supply of feathers. Tyler was planning to spend the day there, since the milking limiter had also been removed. They were looking for their next bird when a message popped up on Tyler's HUD

Hey, you two I need the two of you in the Town of beginnings, we're having a meeting. I think someone found the floor boss. Please, I'd feel a lot better with you here, Goreleech, Sakura.

Sakura sighed,

"we gonna help them?"

Tyler also sighed as he closed the message,

"Fraid so, this way we'll get to reach the next floor sooner."

"Yeah still a waste of a crystal."

"No arguments there!"

The two pulled a pair of small blue crystal cubes from their pants pockets and held them up,

"teleport, town of beginnings."

The crystals could be used anywhere outdoors, but had to be recharged at a main teleport gate. They could be used ten times before a recharge. Tyler had drilled it into Sakura's head to always recharge her crystal every time they entered a town regardless if she had used it or not. Better to be sure. The pair had three such crystals each, so they had thirty jumps each at a full recharge.

"Where are they?"

Lorg was getting nervous as the minutes wore on and the duo hadn't yet appeared. She was sitting on the third tire of a open-air amphitheater. There was a higher level player standing in the center of the center ring. Well, a higher level for those assembled. there was about fifty players set around the rings of the theater. Lorg had her crew all around her. She was nervously tapping her foot, waiting for Goreleech and Sakura to arrive.

"relax. They'll come."

"I hope so, We need them."

Svenity sighed in agreement, for Goreleech was the best player she had seen thus far, and Sakura had been mercilessly training under him for a couple months now. They hadn't seen each other since the sex village, the duo setting off the next morning after killing the pedo. That was two months ago, so her progress was either going to be amazing or downright terrifying. They man in the center clapped his hands loudly and opened the meeting, his voice a warm confident tone,

"Alright everybody! Can I have your attention please? Thank you for coming. I am called Diablo. My job is paladin!"

There was a audible laugh as the assembled players got a kick out of his announcement,

"Idiot there's no job system in Britally!"

Lorg had a different reaction,

"Diablo? He's no Demon, we've met the real thing."

Diablo clapped again,

"Alright, everyone. Lets discuss why we're here. We need to find the floor boss and defeat him to advance to floor 2. I am here to tell you that he has been found. We sent out the message to everyone here as we are the most competent players. Together we will form a raid party and defeat the boss."

There was a lot of murmuring as those gathered discussed the information among themselves. Then a player spoke up,

"Okay, but before we can do that we need to get something clear!"

A short stocky guy with orange spikey hair hopped down the ring towards the center. He landed in the center with a puff of sand and addressed the crowd.

"My names Dyybuk. I want to say that there are those we cannot trust! The beta testers! 2000 players have died since we got trapped here, and where'd the testers go? Straight to the best loot areas and EXP farms! They took all the best hunting places and left us with nothing! So I say that before we do anything, we get a formal apology from the testers. They should then hand over their ill gotten goods. hell I bet there's a few here right now! Come out Beta testers!"

There was a awkward silence as the players looked at each other, then

"Oh, you have GOT to be shitting me."

Lorg breathed a heavy sigh of relief as she realized she knew the condescending voice. Only for an icy chill to creep up her spine as she looked to see a pair of cloaked figures outlined against the sun. the hooded duo walked down the steps to take a stance across from Dyybuk. the hooded pair threw their hoods back and Goreleech and Sakura were revealed.

Tyler had been listening form a spot at the top of the amphitheater, waiting to decide if this party was worth crashing. So far he was not impressed, their raid leader was level ten, and the second strongest was a measly level 8.

"What the hell did they do for nearly two and a half months?"

"Probably spent too much time at the brothels"

"Most likely."

Sakura and Tyler then listened to Dyybuk's rant, and Tyler decided to introduce them to a true Demon.

"Seriously dude, is this a joke?"

Dyybuk was taken aback at the newcomers and their cold gazes, he responded through

"I am dead serious. If the testers had helped the ones who had died, they would still be here right now. So why don't you introduce yourselves now."

"Oh my apologies. My name is Goreleech. This is Sakura. Nice to hate you."

Diablo's face went pale sat the name, and Tyler noticed,

"Oh, you know who I am? Diablo, wasn't it? Cool then this will be easier then I thought."

Tyler then faced the now suspicious Dyybuk,

"I was a tester myself, and I will not apologize to you and I will not give you my items. Now what are you going to do, my spiked bowling ball headed friend?"

Dyybuk got very mad very quick and drew his weapon, a large spiked mace and swung it at the arrogant tester, only...

"Is that the best you could do with 2 and a half months of grinding? Pathetic."

Tyler had taken the shot right in his chest, without a single move to even attempt a block. Dyybuk look at his health bar drop then heal right back up again. his mouth dropped,

"how?"

Diablo then placed a hand on the mace wielders shoulder,

"Dyybuk, stand down. If you raise that thing again he'll cut you down before you can blink."

Dyybuk looked irately at Diablo,

"You're taking a tester's side?"

Diablo sighed,

"Not A tester. THE tester. My brother was a tester before he died, and he would tell horror stories of a solo player that surpassed every single other player on the test. This player reached floor ten BY HIMSELF. While the rest of the testers were still struggling with floor 2, he had made it to floor 8. My brother always warned me that if I ever encountered him in game, to get the fuck out of his way, or die a screaming death. That thing is not a person, it's a monster that masquerades as a man."

"Hey I know that line! You're Leviathans' kid brother right?"

diablo's hand turned white as he addressed the source of his brother's nightmares,

"I was. He died two weeks after the doors shut."

"really? Oh, well that sucks, what got him?"

"he saved a group of players from the grandboar near Cilest."

"really? Huh must just missed him, I was there maybe three days earlier. Met Sakura there. Shame bout Levi thou, I kinda liked messing with that jackass."

Diablo's jaw tensed at his dismissal of his brother's death. Dyybuk however was lacking in the brains department,

"Hey, asshole, Just shut up! What gives you the right to talk about his brother like that?"

"You were dropped on your head a lot as a baby weren't you? Anyway, Diablo, if you know me, then you know why I'm here."

"I do."

"well, hand it over. we got more important things to do then jaw with you people."

This caused an uproar, the other players coming to Diablos' defense, some even drawing weapons, when a massive bear of a black man stood up and clapped his massive hands together. The resounding slap causing a moment of silence. He then approached Tyler and Sakura inn the center.

"Hi there, my names Gabol. I take it you just want the map data, is that right?"

"It is. The two so us are more then enough to kill it."

"Well unless you want to kill us all, I suggest we work together."

Tyler looked up at the big man, completely unafraid,

"If I wait for you people tom get ready, we'll lose an entire day and nights worth of grinding. Seriously, just give us the damned thin g. I really don't have the patience for a mass slaughter right now."

His tone was matter-of-fact, as if talking about killing fifty plus odd people was nothing for him. Gabol was taken aback by his fearless response, and was about to respond when his cute companion spoke up,

"Gore, if we don't help them they'll mostly all die."

her voice was quiet, but Goreleech turned to hear her words nonetheless,

"You know how much I hate people."

"I've never been part of a large raid party before. I'd like to try it."

"Oh yeah that's right. I forgot you're still a rookie."

Tyler then faced the three players in the center,

"Thank the lady here. We'll lend our strength to your fight. Just don't piss me off. Understood? Sakura, I spotted an item shop I wanna check out. lets roll."

Diablo gave a audible sigh of relief,

"You don't know how close to death we just came everyone."

Gabol and Dyybuk were shocked at the sheer relief in his voice,

"Come on he couldn't kill us all?"

"Yeah, he's just cocky cause of that girl."

"No he's not. Listen to me. That player is dangerous. He could kill us all, the only question you have to ask is, would he even have to bother with sword skills?"

The assembled players all went a little pale,

"He's that good?"

"Better. He's a true monster."

"Then why do we have him on our team? We shouldn't get near him"

'How can we trust him?"

"Because he said he'd help us. That's his only redeeming quality is if he makes an agreement with you he will honor that agreement to the letter. Just for the love of god, don't betray him or try to stab him in the back, otherwise we'll all be just pixels beneath his boots."

There was a scared hush over the assembled players. Then Lorg spoke up,

"I have had dealings with Gore since I started the game, I will personally back what he says. He trained me on how to play the game, so I know he can be trusted."

Diablo seemed both shocked and impressed,

:Um now the hell did you manage that?"

"I asked for his help. he was feeling particularly kind that day,. The kicker? I was cross playing as a dude." The assembly relaxed a little the began to murmur about having the a legend in their corner if only for a single boss raid.

Tyler and Sakura had headed into the city to do some selling and crafting. Tyler hadn't even bothered to listen to the rest of the briefing. He had everything he needed to fight a floor one boss already. Sakura was ready too.

"So, Sakura, why did you stick your neck out for them?"

"Because Lorg was in the crowd ands I don't want her to die."

"I see. So you just want us to be there to back her up?"

"Yeah, plus I want you to show that pompous idiot who the true Demon is in this game."

"If you wanted me to show off a little, all you had to do was ask!"

She smiled sweetly and hugged his arm to her chest,

"Then where'd the fun be if I did that?"

"Damn you girls and your mindgames."

"You boys love it!"

"About as much as you .love being called princess, princess."

She giggled and hugged his arm tighter. Enjoying the teasing. They shopped around emptying their inventories of their unwanted items, before heading to a large plaza that the raid party had set up as a staging ground. Sakura was still holding his arm, but as they approached he snuggled her under his cloak like a bird taking it's young one under their wing. They entered the plaza like that getting quite a few stares, Diablo choked on his drink at the sight of the monster with the much smaller girl cuddling his arm. Lorg came up behind the man,

"That's another reason I trust Gore. He now has something precious to protect."

"Who is she to him? A girlfriend?"

"No, surrogate little sister. He rescued her from a capture squad and they've been inseparable since. He's killed four players at the last count to protect her. He dotes on her in a really adorable fashion. Watch, she has that Demon wrapped around her finger."

Diablo did watch. Tyler and Sakura had taken a seat under the tree in the center of the plaza and the two were looking over an open Inventory screen. he was pointing to various things and talking to her and she would respond. They looked like a tried and tested team, at that movement, Diablo remembered a conversation about Goreleech he'd had with his brother,

"It sounds like your scared Of Goreleech."

"I am, bro, but only because I know I can't beat him in game. But It's kinda nice having him around."

"What do you mean? I thought you said he was a monster?"

"I did and he is a monster. he's the kind of monster that keeps the true monsters awake at night. You see, Goreleech will not attack someone unless they attack him first. And if you ask hi for help, he'll bitch and moan but will usually end up helping you to the fullest of his abilities. I once asked him why he likes being a monster and he told me that someone has to give the real monsters nightmares."

"I still don't get it."

"He's like that very scary big brother that is never around, but as soon as his younger brother or sister need his help, then he will come and drag the one whom hurt them down to the bowels of hell. He protects people is all I'm saying."

Seeing the player that had both terrified his brother, and instilled within him a vast respect. Diablo understood both his brother and Goreleech a little more.

Tyler was aware of Diablo staring at them but paid it no mind. He also noticed a pair of players sitting together in a small alley off to the right. One was clearly a girl trying to hide in a ragged cloak, the other a slender dude with black hair and a one handed sword on his back. Tyler then heard small yawn, and saw Sakura's eyes start to droop. He patted his little travel mate's head. She jumped up,

"I'm awake, I'm not sleepy!" Tyler smiled,

"Come on Sakura. Lets find an inn."

"Mmkay."

The next morning Tyler and Sakura were bringing up the rear of the raid party, when they heard the pair Infront of them discussing plans,

"So when I go and deflect the Kobold's sword high you switch and jump in, okay?"

"Switch?"

"Okay, level with me, is this your first time playing in a group?"

A nod from the cloaked girl, and the dude hunched over.

"Need some back up?"

The two looked to see Tyler and Sakura behind them. They went a little pale at the sight of them but the dude spoke up,

"Um we're good. Thanks."

Tyler sighed,

"Hey man, I just offered to help you. Consider what that could mean."

The cloaked girl spoke up,

"I think we'll be fine."

"Listen, Gore is in a good mood today. I'd like it to stay that way. So just go with it."

Tyler sighed, and instead looked over the now irritated dude. He was nothing special, tall enough to look Tyler in the eye, black hair, slender build, black eyes. Tyler turned to inspect the cloaked girl but couldn't really get anything. The dude sighed and spoke up,

"Alright I guess my partner could use a pointer or two, and having two experienced players teach him the better. I'm Kirito."

"Kirito? Why does that name ring a bell?"

The black haired Kirito seemed to get a cold sweat as Tyler recognized his name. Sakura was also curious. Tyler shrugged,

"If I didn't remember you off the bat, then you're probably not very important. Anyway. Now then Lets get this circus under way. If you two would like, you can party up with us. We'll be in the thickest of the fight, so items, EXP and general badassery will be in ample supply."

"Well,"

"I just want this over with so I don't care."

"Coolzies"

"Ugh. Babysitting."

"Welcome to my world kid."

Sakura just sighed and picked up pace leaving the trio to begin instructing the rookie. Tyler and Kirito explained the basics of party play,

"Okay, the most important thing is trust. If you don't trust your partner to have your six then you won't be able to focus on the enemy in front of you."

"Agreed. It's why I used to run solo. Sakura has my trust since I taught her now to properly fight. I don't have time to do this here. So, my best advice is to find your own rhythm and try to find openings. Is your chosen weapon a rapier, by chance?"

"Yes it is."

"Ahh, a Pure speed build, eh? Interesting. You run one-handed? No shield?"

"yeah that's right."

"what's your emphasis? speed, strength...?"

"Ahh, speed attack combo."

Tyler and Sakura exchanged looks,

"Awww, how cute! He wants to be like you, Gore!"

"Seems like it. His levels pathetic but hey, flattery in all its forms."

At this Kirito bristled,

"And what's YOUR level?"

"me and Sakura both hit 15, what, last week?"

"Yeah, it was after killing that bear clan near the western mountains. If I remember right, we scored a bear king totem."

"Ah that's right. So yeah we're both 15."

Kirito went pale, his cloaked friend started shaking,

"15? This the highest level in this party. How did you get that far so easily?"

"well, we put in 36 hour grind sessions, plus since I memorized a good 90% of this floor back in the beta, we get the pick of areas these idiots couldn't even dream of. Hey, Sakura, Remember that grand bear back on that beach?"

"Oh yeah! The underwear you made for me feels amazing!"

"I'd still would've preferred a larger bedroll, but the blanket works too."

"Beach? There's no beach on this floor?"

Tyler smiled at the now angry player,

"Hey question kid, do you know how big each floor is exactly?"

'Yeah a three day's travel fro-"

"Wrong. If you start at the very edge of the floor and traveled directly to the other side, it would take you two full IRL weeks to get there. This holds true for every. single. floor. except for floors ten, twenty, and every increment of ten. They take a full month to get from one side to the other. And that's just one way. You rookies haven't even seen a quarter of what this game has to offer. So my advice? Get comfy. We're gonna be here a while. For leveling once you hit level 20 takes a good ten times longer then the earlier grind in its entirety."

The remaining color drained from Kirito's face as the sheer size of the task ahead of them finally dawned on him. His partner wasn't in much better shape. Tyler went and slapped them hard on the backs startling them,

"Hey, if you want to quit, feel free to kill yourselves, otherwise get that despair out of your eyes, get that fear out of your hearts. We got ass to kick, places to be and stories to make."

Sakura was smiling as he gave them the same speech he'd given her when she nearly gave up too. Kirito then stood up straight, a more determined look on his face, while his companion also did the same. The cloaked girl threw her hood back revealing a beautiful girl with flowing red hair, red eyes, and a red-white outfit. Her rack was bout average, her skin fair, a clear complexion and delicate features. She stunned Kirito with her big reveal, as he'd thought she was a dude.

"Well, helloooo beautiful!"

She flashed him an angry glare,

"My name is Asuna, and you got no shot."

"Don't want one. Not into boards."

She went red in the face and tried to hit him, but the arrogant Tyler merely stepped to the side. Asuna seemed to have something to say, but Tyler pissed her off, so Kirito came to the rescue,

"Hey, Asuna, was it? You looked like you were gonna say something."

"I was GOING to say how this world won't beat me. I came to fight so I can remain myself. I refuse to run from this deathgame."

"Well, I see you have more then just fiery hair. That's rare. don't ever let that fire be taken from you. IN this game or in real life."

He spoke with a sad tone, and Sakura looked at him concerned. Asuna wasn't sure how to handle this sad advice, but sensed it was sincere so she nodded. Kirito was confused, but was relieved the tension had passed. The raid part then reached the boss room. Diablo gave a few last minute words,

"Alright, here we are. Remember your roles, stick to the plan, and we'll be fine."

Lorg and her crew gripped weapons tightly. Gabol pulled a massive double headed battleaxe from his back, Dyybuk pulled a shield to complement his mace, Asuna drew her Rapier, Kirito pulled his one-hander sword off his back. Tyler and Sakura just sighed. Tyler placed a hand on Kirito and Asuna's shoulder,

"when they first charge, hold back. Lets see how they work together and how the boss reacts to a suicide charge."

They both looked incredulous at this suggestion but then the order was given, and they ignored his order and charged along with the main pack.

"Idiots."

"idiots"

The boss was called Ilfang the kobold lord. A large ten foot tall rat on two legs. The thing carried a sword and shield and when his health hit the red, he drew a massive two handed weapon, and then would change attack patterns. Tyler sighed as he pulled his red blade from his back sheath, and Sakura nocked an arrow.

"The big fuckers mine. You get the kids."

She nodded and they went off like a gunshot. Sakura had a devastating aim with her bow, and she showed off her relentless training under the one they called Demon. Tyler surged forward, carving through a set of kobold sentinels along the way. He only had to hit them once before they shattered. He must have cut through maybe fifteen, stealing a good 9 from other players. Then he reached the big guy. He baseball slid between the big rats legs, slashing as he went.

"Slash dash."

The rat lost a visible chunk of health to his attack. Tyler then righted himself and dived into a pack of sentinels that had gotten too close. Tyler had realized that he could kill the boss with very little effort, and had decided to not hand the victory to the other players on a silver platter. So he would only deal the occasional shot to remind the others he was there and instead hunt the little rats for sport. Sakura had noticed the chunk vanish from the boss's bar, and realized the same thing as Gore. This was a battle that was beneath their current skills, and decided to also to not hand the battle over to the other players like a gift from gods. She reflected on her choice as she rained death on the sentinels with impunity. The girl she was before meeting Goreleech would have happily rushed to win the battle for the others so they wouldn't get hurt. Now though, after being abandoned by her family, nearly enslaved by the other players, and traveling with the harsh, brutally honest Goreleech, she had begun to chance. Her heart had hardened, and her gentleness more guarded. Goreleech had opened her eyes to the weaknesses of blind kindness, and optimism as well. She then had learned that such gifts had to be earned, not given freely. And she had learned that trust was precious, more precious then gold. She fired an arrow and hit two sentinels in its flight path, shattering them both.

"Piercing Lance."

She had also picked up the habit of naming her skill attacks, and saying them when used from the boy too. That last one was more of just a fun habit. Tyler carved through a set of sentinels when he heard a loud roar, and saw that the boss had reached his red phase.

"Sakura! Pattern shift! Adapt as needed!"

"On it!"

Tyler and Sakura regrouped together as The red rat threw his sword and shield down and pulled a massive two-handed Warhammer from his back sash. Tyler smiled wickedly, he knew this pattern,

"Heads up! That's a one shot hammer! Watch your asses!"

Kirito and Asuna heard and acknowledged his warning, along with Lorg, her crew, Gabol, and Dyybuk. Unfortunately,

"Stay back! I got it!"

Diablo had charged in alone while the others started fighting with a fresh group of sentinels. Tyler and Sakura both groaned as they saw were that was headed. Diablo ran forward setting up a lunging sword skill, and soared at the beast. He scored a glancing blow as the now far-more acrobatic boss leapt up to bounce off a pillar and smash it's Warhammer into Diablo's torso sending him skipping back down the hall like rock on a still pond. Tyler and Kirito reach the fallen raid leader at the same time. They both had potions ready but Diablo waved them off as his bar depleted rapidly,

"idiot, the final attack bonus? Seriously? A fellow tester should've known better!"

"You were a tester?"

Diablo smiled as his bar kept draining rapidly,

"yes and you two were too. I was a tester along side by brother. Leave me, hurry and save the others, they need you!"

His bar reached zero and he shattered in Kirito's arms. The black-haired kid seemed shocked at the death of someone he seemed to respect. Tyler grabbed his shoulder,

"Alright, now I'm pissed. Kirito get up. Let's kill this thing."

Kirito looked over his shoulder, and stood.

"Yeah lets to it together."

Tyler smiled and gave directions to the girls,

"Sakura! Asuna! back us up, we're getting in its face!"

"right!"

"On it!"

Tyler and Kirito glanced at each other and banged knuckles together as they took off. Tyler in the clear lead, with Kirito close behind with the Red-haired Asuna right next to him Sakura fired arrows over their heads as the melee fighters charged through the group of raiders. Tyler reached the rat first and spun a circle slashing it's legs as he passed,

"Dragon Spiral"

Next Kirito deflected a hammer shot while Asuna activated a sword skill and stabbed the big beast a good 8 times in rapid succession, then an arrow from Sakura hit the beast center mass, knocking him back. Tyler then leapt up and over the beast and slashed it across the chest, and Kirito slashed in the opposite direction. The two swordsmen passed each other on their slashes, while Asuna did another rapid-fire stab fest followed by an arrow. The four of them working in perfect unison, each following up the other with a savage multi-person combo attack. The health bar dropped significantly, but then the beast activated a counterattack skill as Kirito finished an attack run. The beast swung his hammer at the next attacker Asuna, and Kirito used a sword skill to block the shot, but still got hit hard. He was flung back into Asuna and the pair went down. Tyler was then besieged by a swarm of sentinels, and Sakura was too far to reach them in time. Tyler was about to unleash his fastest sword skill, when the boss recoiled, knocked back by Gabol who, along with the rest of the raid party had moved into the breach. Tyler slaughtered the small fry and made it to Kirito and Asuna's side,

"Hey, you good? Here a high health potion. Get your marbles back, We got this. Sakura! Cover them!"

"On it!"

Tyler then turned and dived back into the fray. Kirito and Asuna took his potion and spilt it. Their bars jumped to full,

"Hey, Asuna you good?"

"Yep, lets roll!"

Kirito then raced forward, with the streak of red that was Asuna beside him, Tyler caught of to them,

"Mind if I crash this party?"

"You're the friggin host!"

Laughing Tyler hit first with a savage slashing front flip, Asuna then stabbed the beasts chest a good ten times with a glowing sword tip, Sakura fired a glowing arrow that smashed like a hammer shot, and then Kirito slashed in a zig-zag pattern up the beasts torso, then Tyler appeared beside him, and the jumped back and surged forward together with sword skills. Tyler went to the left, Kirito the right. Their attacks brought them to the center and they both spun in mid air and stabbed the boss in the chest with a perfectly synced combo attack. The big rat shattered under the weight of the simultaneous attacks. The winner icon appeared over the party and a fanfare of trumpets blew. Tyler and Kirito got a final attack bonus since they had impacted at the same exact time. Tyler got a dark red jacket, which was named The Demon's Mark. It boosted attack power, gave a significant speed boost, looked badass, and raised physical defense by 30. Kirito got a black coat, The cloak Of Midnight. It did the same things as Tyler's red jacket, but had a more night themed look. Tyler equipped his new long Jacket and it paired with his wolf fur armour gave him a fearsome appearance. Tyler raised his red blade and roared,

"And THATS how it's done."

The cheering broke out, Sakura came running over with stars in her eyes at his badass new look,

"HOLY Gore, you look awesome! I want one!"

Tyler head patted the smaller girl,

"Don't worry, Saki, I'll find you a nice pink one. Then I can be the Terrifying Red Demon, and you can be the Cute Demon In Pink, watchya think?"

She hugged her scary big brother tightly,

"I'd prefer red, but whatever you think is better!"

Kirito had collapsed from the stress of the battle, Asuna had gone with a potion, Kirito had taken some damage from a glancing blow during that last surge. He drank it and was just getting to his feet when,

"Hey! Wait a minute, you knew!"

everyone turned to see without surprise that Dyybuk was bitching again.

"Uhh, context please?"

Dyybuk was irate, with small tears in his eyes,

"You knew the patterns were different, didn't you?"

Tyler, Kirito, Asuna and Sakura had all come together by this point. Tyler smirked,

"You mean how the rat had a Warhammer instead of his standard bladed weapon?"

"You DID know! You knew and didn't tell us! Diablo would still be alive if not for you! You killed him! You were a tester, you said so yourself! Why didn't you tell us? I bet you other three were testers too! I bet there are more here too! Come out beta testers!"

The now suspicious raid party were looking at each other while Tyler just sighed. He glanced at Kirito who nodded. Tyler the started doing his thing.

"Okay, lets answer your accusations in order shall we?"

"did I know the patterns: of course I did. I could've wrote a frigging book on he first 10 floor bosses since ya know, I've beaten them before. I was the BEST tester, so remember that detail. I didn't tell you because, well, I didn't have a reason to. I could've killed that thing myself quite easily. As far as the others go, I know that the girls are NOT testers. I'd remember personalities like theirs. As for this guy, well,"

"Are you kidding? I reached higher floors then you did! Hell, I know more about this game then you do! Don't you lump me in with those bastard betas."

Tyler's eyes flashed at his words, but he knew exactly what he was playing at. Tyler smiled,

"You know, your fighting style, it reminds me of someone from back in the beta. Out of the 10000 other testers, there was only one that could give me a run for my money. A single player that was able to actually keep up with me when the shit hit the fan. If I remember correctly, he even reached the 6th floor first, as I had gotten wrapped up in exploring the fifth. I wonder, does any of this ring a bell? Kirito?"

Kirito smiled darkly,

"It does, Goreleech, fancy getting trapped together in here."

Kirito equipped his new coat. The black clashing with Tyler's red. Dyybuk took a step back from the duo, as they were easily the two strongest players in the room.

"You're monsters. You're worse then testers! You're cheaters! You're Beaters!"

Tyler gave the quivering coward his trademark icy' glare,

"Just call me Demon."

"Beater? I like it!"

Tyler had a very hard time keeping a straight face after that one. He snickered and Sakura could be heard laughing too. Lorg and Svenity both exchanged concerned looks,

"You don't think she picked THAT up from him, do you?"

"OH I fucking HOPE not. If she did, I swear to god I will kick his ass."

Sakura heard the exchange and caught the ladies eyes, and smiled as sweetly as could be, the tow ladies breathed a sighed of relief, which died when she started moving her index finger in and out of a ring of her other finger while winking lewdly at the busty blonde. Lorg blushed, Svenity's jaw dropped, then they both said at exactly the same time,

"He's a dead man."

Tyler then felt a shudder run through his body he couldn't explain, Why do i feel like my executioner is looking at me? he then saw the glared death promises burning a hole through him from Lorg and Svenity. he then noticed a sweetly smiling Sakura, who did to him what she did to the two lades. nice one kid. Well, guess I've lived a full life. Tyler then returned to the task at hand.

"I will take the name Demon, beater is too easy. I am the monster that gives true monsters nightmares. remember that."

Kirito nodded,

"Just don't associate us with those noobish testers again."

They then turned and started walking up the steps. Sakura broke from the gathered crowd and retook her place beside Tyler. Asuna hurried after them,

"Hay, wait!"

Th trio turned, and Sakura got another chance to send lewd gazes and gestures at Lorg and Svenity, of course from Behind Tyler's back where he couldn't see her pranks. Asuna was focused on the two players, and didn't notice the 14 yo licking her lips as she checked her out,

"I just wanted to say thank you for helping me. And Goreleech, you seemed to already know my name, how'd you do that?"

Tyler looked at the fiery red head,

"If you look about here, my gamertag pops up. Not many people use their real names. Like this little tease behind me for instance, not very imaginative."

He then gave her a light wack for teasing, which got a chuckle from Lorg and Svenity,

"Okay, it seems like he's NOT intentional making her a pervert."

"I'm still gonna beat the shit out of him later."

"Agreed"

Asuna looked where he'd pointed,

"Oof, now i see it. I'm so stupid."

She spoke in a cheery, kind voice, and Kirito spoke up,

"you should join a guild. When the day comes that someone you trust invites you to join do it. There are limits to what a solo player can accomplish."

"But you're solo."

Tyler sighed as he dissolved the party. He understood his reasoning,

"Lets go, Sakura. we got a lot of work to do."

"Right"

Asuna turned to Tyler, as if to say something, but she stopped. Tyler sighed as he gave her another piece of sad advice,

"Hey, Asuna. If you have something to say, its always better to say it now then not say it now and regret it later. So if you want to say something, then do it."

She looked into his uncompromising eyes.

"I want to travel with you. I was gonna ask Kirito, but he's a solo player."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Lets continue this discussion in an inn. I don't want to get attacked here."

She nodded. Together the three of them exited the boss room. Tyler then took a nard right and began running into a set of thick forests, Sakura right by his side. Asuna was surprised for a moment until,

"If you want to talk, move. I'll leave you behind otherwise."

She took off running after them. Her long red hair stretched out behind her like a streak of fire in the late day sun. Tyler and sakura were accustomed to such hard travel, while Asuna struggled valiantly to at least keep the sprinting pair in sight. They ran for a good two hours, eventually coming to a small little hamlet on the edge of a large lake. They running duo didn't stop until they passed the village mean gate, only then did they come to a rest. Tyler and Sakura waited for a heavily breathing Asuna to catch up. She made it through the main gate and collapsed, panting like overheated dog. Tyler just sighed,

"Well, she has SOME potential. Interesting."

Sakura nudged the proned girl with her boot,

"Are you sure? She's got a lot of access weight to lose."

Asuna jerked upright at this comment. Tyler was glad he didn't make that statement for once.

"hey! You don't gain weight ingame you know!"

"So you look like that IRL? You need a diet."

Asuna was NOT fat, she was a slender good looking girl. The reason for Sakura's ire was that Asuna both had bigger boobs and a better butt then her. Tyler realized this when he caught Sakura's gaze flicker to the Redhead's rack, which appeared to be a respectable C-cup. Asuna, however, did not notice this, instead was on the verge of murdering the smaller girl, until

"Hey, Asuna, quick question. How old are you?"

She seemed flustered by the out-of-the-blue question,

"Um, I'm 16. Why?"

"Oh, well that girl your about to murder is only fourteen. You do the math from there."

she didn't seem to understand so Tyler enlightened her with two words,

"Look down."

she did, and all she saw was her bust...OH,

"I see."

Sakura was glaring daggers at the better endowed girl, but Tyler merely patted her back,

"Hey, kid. Chill, You got a few years before you can start panicking. who knows, you could end up bigger and bustier then her."

She turned to him, her small hands together like a prayer as she looked up at him,

"You mean it?"

Tyler chuckled as he flicked her paperboy hat,

"Of course I do. You're already cute as hell, don't get too greedy."

Sakura's eyes turned to literal sparkling stars at his words. She then turned back to Asuna, and hugged her.

"Sorry I called you fat."

Asuna smiled at her sincere apology, and rubbed her pink hair,

"Its okay. Lets be friends now, okay?"

She looked up and smiled,

"Sure!"

Asuna then turned to Tyler,

"Wow, you're quite the nice big brother."

Tyler jabbed a finger towards a small Tavern set against a babbling brook.

"I can tell you the full story there. Then we can see about if you truly want to join us. But first"

he went and activated the teleport gate, setting a 10DR toll per person. Asuna seemed shocked,

"we're trapped in here and you've been setting tolls? The hell?"

Tyler just went into the inn. Sakura followed and then Asuna did too. The trio sat and Tyler selected a meal for himself. A burger with some grilled fish as the meat, a big mug of ale to drink and a desert of chocolate pie. Sakura picked out a fillet of salmon with garlic, garlic bread, a soda, and a lava cake for after. Asuna seemed to hesitate,

"Hey, it's on us. Last we checked, we had what 500k DR?"

"It's closer to 700k."

"Really?"

Asuna's orange eyes went wide at the number. She then placed an order for grilled trout with basil, rosemary, a side of peaches, a mug of root beer, and a small bowl of strawberry ice-cream. Tyler smiled at her choices,

"watch out Sakura, she likes strawberries!"

Sakura went red, Asuna too.

"I'm not into girls, soo relax?"

"Yeah sure, me neither."

Tyler smiled at their rather unconvincing rebuttal,

"Just to be clear, you don't sound very convincing. I don't need to be convinced. Do you?"

The girls went even redder. Tyler smiled as he dug into his fish burger.

"anyway, Girl-on-girl or not, I think it's time we explain our situation."

Tyler then told Asuna their story, of how Sakura had been abandoned by her family, nearly caught and sold by pedos, his rescue and their resultant travels together. Asuna became very sad on hearing t5his,

"Oh, you poor girl. That's awful. But at least you have Goreleech looking after you now."

Sakura smiled and leaned into her scary big brother,

"Yeah, he's great! But he doesn't 'take care of me'. He's not kind enough for that. Its more he makes sure I don't get myself killed. He is harsh, cruel, and sometimes just plain mean. Once he had me kill a cute rabbit, and when i started to cry he smacked me, and said I need to grow a spine. he then made me fight a group of grizzly bears alone while went for more herbs. He's evil, but fair."

Asuna's eyes went from happiness to horror as she listened to her story of his training,

"that horrible! He's sounds like a monster!"

"He is. And don't forget that fact Asuna. He'd kill us both if we ever truly tried to get in his way. His current count is what 9?"

"that pedo made it 8. that sex village leader was an NPC, remember?"

"Oh yeah that's right!"

Asuna's face seemed to lose color,

"You mean to tell me that you killed 8 people? You know that when a player's health bar hits zero-"

"They die IRL, yeah I know. I've killed eight people IRL."

He finished his burger and started on his pie. Asuna was speechless. So her choice was to eat her food while she digested the knowledge that he'd killed that many people, and didn't seem to care in the slightest. Sakura then perked up after a moment of silence,

"Hey, Gore! Check this, I got an item from that boss!"

"Oh? Let see the goods!"

Sakura scrunched over to Tyler and opened her Ui and let him see it without hesitating. Again, Asuna was shocked,

"Hey! There's private information on that thing! Don't let a boy just look at it!"

Sakura just looked at the prudish girl,

"Look toots, if you truly want to come with us, you really need to just stop with the prude routine. In Gore's party, we share everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING, about our playthrough. I've seen his screen too, he looks through mine. It's how we work. Don't like it, doors over there. Anyway here's the item. It's a bow! Cool uh?"

"Well, kinda. It's got decent base stats, but the thing I'm concerned about is it's material durability. See? It's less then half of your current weapon. I think we should sell it, and keep what we got for now."

"Awww! I thought I got lucky!"

"You did, its decent weapon drop. But always see the whole picture, not just one or two stats. Especially for our way of playing. Think of how often we see civilization. That think would break two days out at our pace. Then where'd we be?"

Sakura seemed crushed but saw what he meant. Asuna was curious now too,

"Hey, can I see the bow?"

Sakura smiled and pulled it out of her inventory,

"Sure, here."

It was a dark redwood longbow, with a white handle, silver string and a yellow varnish. Asuna picked it up and was amazed at it's quality,

"Wow, it's so light! You call this just a sell weapon? It's awesome!"

Tyler sighed,

"It's got looks, damage, basically everything except the one thing that truly matters."

"what?"

"Weapon durability. The single worst thing that can happen mid-fight is equipment failure. If you're fighting for your life and your weapon breaks, you're fucked. So I try to strike a decent balance between durability and damage. We usually grind deep in the wilds, sometimes days from any village, so we usually try to make the very most out of our equipment."

Asuna put the shiny weapon down, and took another look at the duo.

"You're telling me, that that boss raid was the first time you'd been to any town in DAYS?"

"Actually, Id'd been a full two months since the last time we saw civilization."

"TWO MONTHS?"

They both nodded,

"Yep"

Asuna just sat back in her seat, completely flabbergasted at this revelation. Tyler placed the bow in a sub inventory of 'for sale' items, and moved some other things around as well.

"Hey, Sakura we score any crafting mats?"

"Um, I don't think so, lemme check."

She scrolled through her IY before answering,

"Doesn't look like it, sorry."

"Its cool, I know a good place for ore near here. There should also be a small drake nest as well. We'll do a little fishing in the brook then hit that nest."

"Sweet! Fish for dinner!"

Asuna then saw that the sun was going down,

"Wait, you're grinding after dark? The monsters are gonna be stronger!"

"Yeah, that's the point. We once went an entire week without seeing the sun once. Look, Asuna we need to get rolling. If you want to come wit us, I have a few rules that ARE NOT negotiable. They are rather simple to remember, 1:I call the shots, my word is law.2:if you complain about anything, from hardship to chores, I will drop your ass, regardless of where we are. We could be in the middle of a dragons nest, I don't care.3:Everything you have/get/find is to be shared equally among us. If you get an item you run it by me, odds are I know how to get the absolute most from it,4:everything about your character's stats is open party knowledge, we keep no secrets. I have a set plan to keep us alive even if out numbered and out leveled, I need to see your stats to better make use of your skills and abilities. This goes both ways, for if you ask I'll show you my UI too, without hesitating.5: I do not care about any of the other players besides my friends. We do our own thing and the rest of the players can fuck right off.6: We spent the overwhelming majority outside as such we share a single tent, and when in town a single room. I do not have the time or patience for bullshit arguments over stuff like boys and girls in the same room together. If you think you can follow these rules, then welcome to our circus, if you don't think you can, that's fine too. We don't really need you, or anyone else for that matter. So Asuna what will you choose?"

The pretty red head seemed conflicted, like she wanted to go, but,

"I want to, but"

Sakura then spoke up,

"Hey, Asuna, I know how he can sound, and he does mean every word of it. But he's not an unreasonable dictator, I mean he is, but these are all rules he himself follows. He will never ask you to don something he himself would not do. Hell he'd rather do it himself if that's the case. If you come with us, you will learn so much about how to play this game, and how to survive in general. If you get in trouble he'll get you out of it, or die trying. You watch his back and he'll protect yours. He'll train you as well, to the very best of his ability. He watches out for his own,"

Sakura was smiling as she said this, and Asuna seemed to make a decision,

"Okay, but seperat-"

"Sakura lets go. We got work to do, we can't have a hesitator with us."

"Okay! Fine! Just one thing, we don't bathe together, right?"

"No, one is usually on watch while the other washes up."

"Soo when you say on watch.."

"Gore doesn't peep if that's what your asking."

"Phew! Okay, I'll come with you. So what's our next move?"

"I thought I already said what our plans were."