The fourth chapter is already here! Been writing like crazy this past week. :cat I love how the storyline is coming out. Slowly, but surely, it is developing into the dream I always thought about while sleeping. I will keep you guys updated through my profile and maybe post this on some other sites. Of course, I will give info on that as well. Thanks for supporting and keep on enjoying this, because I sure am!
*Note: If a mod or Admin needs to take the series down, please contact me via PM and I will take it down myself. I do not want to cause any trouble here. If I do eventually have to take it down, I will make one last thread about this asking for the names of who wants to continue so I can send it to them. Thanks for your understanding!*

Chapter 4:

Kirito woke up earlier than the other two. He had a meeting with one of the potentially most skilled players in the game. There was so much to know about him, hopefully Tit it be done would come. Leaving a voice message on the table, he put on his coat and quietly went out the front door.

The morning air was crisp, yet with dawn just barely approaching, it was colder than normal. The only light emitted from the East as the sun started its ascending into the sky. Kirito reached for his teleportation crystal, but it was nowhere to be found.

She couldn't have stolen it, could she? He thought. Thinking Michiko took, or even hid his crystal, he headed back towards the cabin.

The front door opened and there was Michiko. Suited up and looking the same as if she had never gone to sleep, she gave him his crystal.

"I heard the door close. You left your crystal on the counter and I thought you might need it." She said, yawning afterward.

"Thanks, I forgot it. I gotta go though, I doubt he'll be there long." He said as he turned.

"Hey!" Michiko half shouted.

Kirito ignored her and started the teleport. The forest around started to illuminate with the sky blue light emitting from the teleportation. In an instant, he was gone. She didn't know where he was going, though she wanted to. All she knew is that he was gonna meet the swordsman who single-handedly defeated multiple bosses. Realizing there was no way to follow, she went back inside, curled in the blanket again, and went back to sleep.

Coming to the town of beginnings was both a breath of fresh air and a jar of many memories both strengthening and heartbreaking. The one thing he remembered the most was that he had come here with Yui, the closest person to a daughter to him. She may have been an AI, but she felt every bit as real as a child and that's exactly what she was to Kirito and Asuna. A tear started to well up in his eye, but he quickly shook it off. There were more important matters to attend to at the moment.

The exact spot he would go to to relax would have been the lone tree in the hills. It had the perfect shade to just lie down and nap for a bit - and who doesn't like that? He started walking towards that one spot, knowing that the best of all swordsmen could already be there.

The hills were just as green as he remembered them. Of course they would be, there was no weather here nor plant deterioration, they were always what they were programed to be. The sun was just above the horizon now; bringing back the orange sky. The clouds looked as if they were on fire. He still couldn't believe how well this game's graphics were. So much detail for such a deadly game, what an interesting concept.

He could now see the tree in the distance. A black silhouette was sitting underneath with its head down. It was the same one that was moving on the tree line just a few days back. He kept walking and now with even more purpose. Getting to the tree, he heard the man's voice once again.

"So, you did come. Was it personal curiosity that drew you or the will to protect what you love the most?" He said, head still down.

"Both, there is a great deal I want to know. You seem to have it." Kirito tried to make out facial details.

"Yes I do, but there is only so much I can share with you. What would you like to know first, hmm?"

"First, your name." He said sternly.

"My name? Hmm, interesting. Well, fair enough." He rose his head to meet his rising hand. "I guess we're acquainted now, my name is Kage. I'd like to know the same of you."

"Kirito." He firmly grasped and shook Kage's hand. "I guess we are..."

"So, what else?" Kage said with a slight chuckle.

"Well, I want to start with the bosses. There is something that I am supposed to know about them that is not common information. At least, that's what I'm getting from you."

"Already jumping there, alright alright. About the bosses, there are many new ones now. They aren't cycling the skins and attack patterns anymore as you may have noticed with The Skull Reaper. The AIs are adaptive, going after players who are either key parts of an attack, or those creating a barrier between said key player. But..." He stared into Kirito's eyes. "There is a loophole."

Kirito shifted his stance. Finding a loophole was extremely hard to do and should have already been reported from the beta tests. If he was the one to find it, somehow, he didn't report it. Or maybe it was supposed to be a part of the game. This still seemed kind of sketchy, but he single-handedly defeated the bosses; not Kirito. He couldn't really argue against it.

Kage continued, "Since the game was released, a timer ticked down. Every month, a boss is weakened on only one day. The day of opportunity is be determined by the previous month's day. So say that January's date was the 8th, February's one would be the 9th and so on."

"A loophole in a seemingly seamless game. If we were to go by those dates, though, it would create a little more than two more years of work for us." Kirito almost seemed to question Kage.

"That may be true, however, those are the key times to strike. The first three floors and now floor 76, what do you think went on?" He turned to hear Kirito's response.

"From what we know, you soloed it and gave the credit to others."

"That is true, but did you ever take notice on the dates?"

Kirito thought back to when they first heard of the clearing of the second floor. December 7th, 2022, exactly one month and a day from the release date of Sword Art Online. Then the clearing of the third floor, January 8th, 2023. The last date, February 9th, 2023, marked the fourth floor's clearing. It fit perfectly with what he said. How could he have found this information out so soon though? The beta was not long enough to compare dates like this.

"But how?" Kirito started, "did you-"

"Do you really want me to answer that now? Aren't there 'more important matters' instead of why a thing exists?" He interrupted.

"You sound like there's not much time left." Kirito said, tilting his head.

"There isn't, I have no intentions to share my personal life with you." Kage said defensively. "Continue with the questions before I have to leave."

"Fine, any boss specific information?"

"Only one, floor 100. Though it still seems so far away, it'll still be worth it to know this. The only thing in that dungeon, is the boss." Kage said.

"But there's a catch, isn't there?" Kirito said.

"As if there was none. The thing here is that he HAS to be soloed. It's only possible for one man to enter the boss room anyway. I know you know this, but Heathcliff is Akihiko, if this reaffirms anything in your head. Don't challenge him anymore, as he is reading your patters like an open book. Is that it?"

Kirito stopped for a second. Two battles and already you could get information on someone. Secondly, it was Akihiko. He couldn't let him do this, yet he had to. The reason for getting him in the guild was to watch him practice. How stupid could he be? He should have seen it from the beginning.

"Yea, I think that's it..." Kirito took a long sigh.

"I have a feeling we'll meet again. Take this crystal. It will tell me when friendlies are by." Kage handed a transparent, green crystal shaped as a triangular prism.

Kirito nodded and took it. It was lighter than the teleportation one, strange. It wasn't any smaller either. He looked to Kage now, as he could finally see some features. The 6 foot tall player had grey eyes and short, black hair. The face seemed oddly familiar to a beta tester - or beaters as they were now known as.

"Wait, weren't you a beta tester too?"

"And weren't you the one who coined the term 'beater' for me?"

With that, Kage was off again. No specific place to go, nothing to do for a whole month. He wouldn't strike without the system's aid, or so it seemed. He had to relay the information to Asuna and Michiko, not Heathcliff, though. Shouldn't he already know? Or maybe he still has to play along to this. Kirito contemplated weather or not to tell Heatcliff, or rather Kayaba, his own plan. He can't fix anything now, so it wouldn't matter about telling him the loophole for the bosses below him.

*Back on floor 22*

He walked back into the cabin, Asuna and Michiko were already hard at work making food. The room was filled with delicious smells of what seemed to be rice, tempura, and teriyaki. It was one of his favorite meals and Asuna knew that well. She was very skilled at making in-game food taste and look like food from the real world. On top of that, being that she had the highest cooking level, everything came out perfect. Kirito couldn't resist following the smells to the kitchen.

"Hi Kirito, how did the meeting go." Asuna asked, beaming with joy at his arrival.

"It went well, I'll tell you later, what's all of this?" He reached over for a piece of tempura.

Quickly, Asuna slapped his hand - leaving a mark. "You can't show any patience, can you? It's almost done, alright? You came home a little earlier than expected." She said, getting back to cutting the teriyaki.

"So, she was right?" Michiko giggled, "You can't wait when it comes to food." She was putting the prepared food in large containers for the three to share. "You didn't even take anything for breakfast. I starting to wonder how you survived without it." A hint of sarcasm came with that statement.

"Hey, I can survive without it okay? I was famished after the talk, though, and none of the vendors were open." Kirito said, holding his stomach.

"Alright, lunch is ready." Asuna stated.

The three quickly moved the food to the table nearby. There was a lot of each portion. So much, in fact, that even Kirito looked at it with a longing to be able to finish it all. Of course there were two other people, but after two long years in SAO, he wanted any memory of the real world to last.

"Mmm." Kirito took his first bite. "This is SO good. I keep wondering how you are able to do this."

"Asuna, this is great!!! This is the best teriyaki I ever had, even better than my grandma's!!!" Michiko was astounded.

"Thanks guys, it means a lot!" Asuna said, slightly blushing.

"So tell us, Kirito, what went on?" Michiko said in between a couple of bites.

"Yea, I wanna know what he had to say." Asuna stated inquisitively.

"Well, first off, the bosses are unpredictable now. No attack pattern, no predictable type of monster, nothing at all. Secondly, the solo player, known as Kage, was attacking at certain dates because by that time the boss was weaker."

"A loophole? He was a beta tester like you and I wasn't he?" Michiko became serious.

"Yea, he was. Whatever the case, he still knows it to he true. Oddly enough, the dates he mentioned were the exact dates that floors 2, 3, and 4 were cleared. Those were the 'days of opportunity' as he put it." Kirito shrugged.

"Wait, Kirito, did you just say his name was Kage?" Asuna asked, putting down her utensil.

"Yea, why?" Kirito looked at her.

"Kirito," Michiko started, "I know who you're talking about. He was a friend I trusted back at the town of beginnings. I was hoping for more, but...something happened." She put her head down.

"She was just telling me about him, about what happened back 2 years ago." Asuna looked worried. "You sure you wanna say it again Michiko?"

"Yea, it's ok." She turned to Kirito. "So it all started on the first floor. We basically chatted and turned into really close friends. One day, while walking around, a group of PKers ambushed us from the surrounding foliage. The fight was quick but they got me. Quickly I used a teleportation crystal to get out by my armor broke along with half of my health missing." Michiko started to tear. "I haven't seen him since. He's turned off all PMs and never made contact."

"Wait, you're acquainted already?" Kirito said in shock.

"More than that, they were practically together." Added Asuna. "Thing is, she misses him a lot."

"'A lot' is quite an understatement. He was one of the sweetest guys I ever knew. He never had friends and I was the first one he could trust. I want to find him now. ...I...I gotta go get some air..."

Michiko left for the porch, crying. Asuna followed behind her, waiting for the right time to comfort her. Kirito knew that Kage had emotions, but the man was troubled from past experiences. Michiko, to him, was dead and he closed himself from the rest of the world.

Michiko had another goal now, that was obvious. Asuna would probably aid her along in any way possible. The game seemed to be gaining more and more importance, like before. They could not stay idle anymore, they would have to act quick before they lose their chance at freedom.

 

Wattpad this, and I'll read it.

 

Trying at the moment...bit of trouble with the last "unauthorized" account with my dad. I will update my profile when I get one and will upload all of the chapters that are currently here to that profile! ^.^