Sword Art Online: Forgotten Edition

Fragment 10 - "Beater"

Diavel, the player who led the front lines, was killed minutes before Haru's sudden appearance. Kibaou was somone who respected Diavel despite his short time knowing him. He blamed Kirito for the death of the trusted leader because the swordsman knew about the attack pattern of the boss after it switched weapons, and didn't share that information.

Many players agreed with Kibaou and began to call Kirito names like a cheater, stupid beta tester, and hacker. Haru was going to speak up for his friend but Kirito stopped him and spoke for himself.

Kirito claimed he knew everything about the boss, increasing the rage and hate against him. Soon enough the players concluded on a name that fit him perfectly. A "Beater" the name of a Beta-tester and a cheater, a suitable title Kirito claimed as he equipped the last attack bonus he received from defeating the boss. A midnight cloak shrouded his body as he made his way to activate the second-floor teleporter, ignoring all of the sneers from the hateful players.

Asuna and Haru followed him up the steps, their bodies dissolving as they entered a pure white room with a device in the middle.

"Why would you take the blame like that? I haven't seen you in a month and you act like a...a jerk face!? That's not cool!" Haru didn't like the idea of his friend being bashed for something he didn't do purposefully, "I could've backed you up—"

"Heh, don't worry about it too much. Besides the name 'Beater' sounds pretty cool, I don't mind it at all," Kirito smiled at the kid.

"Man I want a cool title like that...Oh what about! The Golden Knight! Or The Pokemon Master! Oh! Oh! I know! The Silver Bullet!" The young began to rave about the different names he wanted to be called.

"Hahaha! There's no way! All those names sound so corny!" His friend began to crack up at the ideas, but they were forgetting about someone.

"Ahem!" Asuna sounded mad.

They both turned around and saw her tapping her feet uncontrollably with a stern look on her face.

"Oh! Sorry, I kinda forgot. Uhm, this is a friend I met at the beginning of the game. His name's Haru—"

"I know," Asuna interjected.

"Er...So, Haru this is Asuna—" Kirito was cut off again.

"He knows me, or well he should," She glared at Haru for a long time trying to get his eye contact but he kept avoiding her, "Why didn't you stay back like I told you to?!" She began to yell.

"Wha— Did you really think I'd stay there the whole time while everyone else was fighting for their lives to clear the game??" It was the first time Kirito heard Haru talk back to anyone. He'd never thought about talking back to Asuna.

"You could get killed! That's the reason why I told you to stay with the Sister and the rest of the kids!" She started to sound like an older sister scolding her brother.

"It was boring over there! Besides, I just stayed in the field the whole time! None of the monsters could put a scratch on me. I also have a strong weapon to help me out so it was fine!"

"Uhm—" Kirito tried to interrupt but he didn't succeed.

"Stay out of this!" Asuna and Haru yelled, "You're lucky you weren't hurt by that boss as much as you were supposed to! If we weren't there you would've died!"

Haru was tired of being pampered and showed her his information.

I'll just show her my stats so she can be quiet already. He moved his fingers and flicked his status menu in front of her. She didn't know why he did that, but then she understood as her eyes widened. Kirito took a peek over her shoulder.

"LEVEL SIXTEEN?!" They both sounded surprised and confused.

"Oh did I level up from that fight? But yeah, there's no need to worry about me, I can fend for myself," he puffed out his chest.

"What the hell?! I'm only level twelve, how did you manage to grind the EXP out of the monsters. Your weapon too! How did you—" Kirito was shocked to see someone a higher level than him especially since it was a little kid.

Kirito and Asuna continued to bombard Haru with questions since he's done almost the impossible, but Asuna still wanted to keep him in check. The quarrel lasted for a few more minutes then they finally decided to open the teleporter to the second floor. Kirito disbanded the party with Asuna, while she formed a party with Haru. The trio, however, continued to venture together until the next town.