SAO with a Guidebook: Chapter 4 (Patreon)

I strut through Tolbana town, a grin crossing my lips as I make my way to the amphitheater. The meeting for the floor boss raid is taking place in about ten minutes. 

As I reach the edge I peer around, looking for a certain blonde and- probably- my only friend. 

That's... sort of sad. 

Oh! There she is! Stood towards the very back of the amphitheater, looming like some sort of edgy protagonist while leaning up against a pillar. 

Argo: Level 6 

Oho she's been busy it seems. 

Personally my level hasn't risen, but I'm pretty close. I'll probably level up before, during, or after the boss raid. 

"Hey hey." I greet as I stop right beside her, the girl's bored expression brightens.

"Oho~ if it isn't Arty boy here to grace me with his presence. How have you been?" 

"Pretty good." I answer. "Did a little more farming... hey, did you know that I'm actually the god of luck?" 

She blinks twice. "Hah?" 

"Four." I smirk. 

"Four... what?" 

"I got four one-in one hundreds." My smile grows far more devious.  

"Shit- really?!" She grins. "Lizard?" 

"Nope, but I did grab a few extra Venomfangs, I'll probably hand one off to Kirito- wherever he is- and blue hair down there... he has that shield I gave you a while back, I see." 

"Yep! Ooooh and for Kirito... he's right down there with his giiiirlfriend~" 

"Girlfriend?" I huff. "Him?" 

"They're a cute couple. Did you know they shared a room last night? A room with just one bath?" The girl snorts, bringing a hand to her mouth. "Ooooh and Asuna even exposed herself to Kirito." 

"..." 

"Alright. I'll admit, I'm the one who kind of forced her way inside and threw open the bathroom door while the girl was having a bath, but it's still perfectly viable blackmail!" 

"Man, sometimes I wonder why we're friends." I sigh. "You're like... the definition of shameless." 

"sooo which item drop did you get, Mr 'God of Luck'?" The girl nudges. 

"You know those strength rings?" 

"Yahuh?" 

"Bracelets like those... but they increase strength by plus five... each..." I answer. 

"S-Seriously?" The girl hisses. "That's basically two levels of stats. That's insane." 

Bracelet of Power: {Accessory} 
Emboldened by his success with his ring, the enchanter's apprentice tried to make something... larger... 
The wearer gains +5 to their Strength Stat. 

"I'm keeping two for the boss raid." I admit. "But I've got two more that can go to whoever." 

"One for Diavel. One for Kirito." She answers.  

"Works for me." I shrug. "I guess the black knight's going to really owe me a favor... this item isn't something you'd get until like the twentieth floor or so. What about you, what have you been up to?" 

"I've been killing that floral boss every three days for one." 

"I thought I saw you over there a time or two... get anything good?" I ask. 

"I got one cloak. But that's it... oh. On that note. Here." 

She sends a trade request, offering me seven 'Medicinal Fruits'. 

I wordlessly dump the twenty-one strength rings and twenty one sandals into the trade chat... then, of course, the twenty one spears and a spare knife I collected from one of the bats. 

"Thanks" I accept. 

"Gosh... I feel kind of filthy accepting all this from you... makes me feel like I'm taking advantage of you." The girl grumbles. 

"Well, I don't want to deal with it. Sooo... better you than me~" 

"Thank you all for coming." The blue haired man standing down below begins. 

"To those here who don't know, my name is Diavel... though... I guess it's kind of obvious... in this game it appears I rolled the job of 'Knight'." 

There's a quiet chuckle from a few of the people nearby at his joke to lighten the mood. 

He seems to take a deep breath before continuing. "Here's the deal... today, our party found the boss room at the top of the tower... First. We must defeat the boss and ascend to floor two... next? We have to tell everyone in the town of beginnings to not lose hope. That this game CAN be beaten." 

"The fact is, it's our duty as the most capable players here! Don't you all agree?" He calls out, causing a cheer to echo out. 

"Okay!" The blue haired man seems to smile. "I'm glad you all are with me on this! Now let's figure out how we're going to beat the boss!" 

[Split] 

"So that's my plan. two thousand lives have been lost for one sole reason... they went in alone! That's how this plan came to me! If we all share information and form cooperative raid parties we can beat this game one floor at a time!" 

"Hold on a second! Before we go and take on the boss there's one thing I need to get off my chest!" Some man calls out from the seats as he rises to his feet, he has spikey orange hair and a goatee. "The name's Kibaou! We all know that over two thousand of us have died, right? Well some of you need to apologize!" 

He sweeps his hand out, looking over the stands. 

"Kibaou..." Diavel quietly begins. "I think I know who you are referring to... the beta testers, right? But-" 

"Of course I mean the beta testers! The second this damn game started all of them up and vanished!" The orange haired man snarls. "They snagged all the good hunting spots, they took all the easy quests! The whole time they were just gettin' stronger while ignoring us all like we're garbage!" 

"Ugh. This guy." The girl beside me sighs. "Give me a second." 

She steps behind the pole and activates her stealth. 

I can vaguely track her as she marches down the stairs towards the stage behind Diavel and the orange haired man. 

"Hell, I bet some of them's here now! Come on out beta testers!" 

"We should make them Appologize to us! And we should make them give up the money and items they got too! They can't expect the party to trust them if they don't trust us! 

"I would like to say something." A tall man with dark skin and a bald head raises from his seat at the front row. "My name is Agil." 

He slowly walks forwards. "Kibaou, right? I want to make sure I'm on the same page. You want to blame the Beta Testers for the deaths of the rookie players because they didn't help, right?" 

"And you want them to apologize and give up the items they bled for, correct?" 

"Yeah! That's right!" 

"The item shops... tell me, did you get a guide book from them? They hand them out for free." Agil continues. 

"I- Yeah?" The orange haired man sputters. 

"Do you know who was writing and handing these out? The beta testers." Agil rumbles. 

"Listen up!" He turns. "Everyone had equal access to the information that was discovered in the Beta. Even still a lot of players still died. I'm here to find out what we can learn from their sacrifice. I'm here to make them count!" 

"It is not right to focus your anger at the Beta Testers. They're just as stuck as we are. They've tried to help as much as they possibly can while making sure they stay alive. That's all we can ask of them. People with military training... or perhaps practiced fencing would have an unfair advantage in this game... perhaps even more than a Beta Tester. So should we demand that they turn over their items and money as well?" 

There's a sudden flash behind him as the crowd gasps. 

Dozens of spears appear in a pile and clatter to the floor, then a pile of sandals to the left of that. Then dozens upon dozens of rings clatter to the floor in a much smaller pile beside that. 

"H-Huh?!" The orange haired man blinks. 

"Kibaou... I understand your frustration... but... it isn't their fault. I have spoken to a few of the beta testers." Diavel continues. "And... since the first day they have been preparing for this... I know a few who kept farming specific mobs... mobs drop very little experience and that require an investigation skill of ten or higher to even detect let alone catch and kill... those mobs have been farmed since day one... all to collect the items you see behind me. 

"If you wield a spear, take one. If you wear light armor, take a pair of boots. If you prefer a two-handed hammer or axe, take two rings. If any of the rings are left, please grant them to those who use shield to tank, so they might better resist the enemy's strength." 

Argo reforms behind me. "Huh. I like that Agil guy... I think I'll give him a one-time discount if we ever do business." 

Several of the spectators slowly rise and begin walking downwards, I can hear sputtered shouts of surprise as they reach the items. 

I make my way down and take a seat next to Kirito. "Yo. Kirito." 

"Pendragon." His eyes widen. "You're going to participate in the raid?" 

"Yep." I nod once before leaning forwards slightly. "So who's this?" 

"Oh. This is Asuna... we planned on partnering for the raid." The black haired swordsman replies. 

"Hello..." The cloaked girl weakly waves. 

"Hn Hn. Argo thinks you two make a cute couple and I'm finding myself to agree." I grin impishly.  

"H-HUH?!" The girl gasps. 

"Anyways, Kirito. Here." I open a trade window and send over the first of my spare power bracelets and a Venomfang. "Probably a bit late for that sword, but you're seriously hard to find, Ki-Bou." 

His eyes widen slightly before flicking down to my wrist. "Where the hell did you even get this?" 

"One percent drop one per day hit four times in twenty one days. I'm the god of luck, haven't you heard?" I grin. 

I look down at Diavel standing to the side of all the loot then send him a trade request. His head snaps up, looking around as I input the items and click 'accept'. 

I offer a small wave as he makes eye-contact with me. 

You know... with my current stealth I might have been able to solo Illfang by just throwing a bunch of throwing knives at him. 

Ah well. This is probably faster. 

[Split] 

"Ugh! You're both so annoying!" The cloaked girl grumbles as we make our way through the dungeon, following along within the massive clearing party of over forty people. "We're NOT dating!" 

"But I totally saw you sharing a room... with one bed... oh Ki-bou you animal!" Argo chirps.  

"You make a really cute couple, though!" I agree as my body briefly flickers, a throwing knife appears in my offhand. 

Black briefly streaks down its edge as I toss it forwards, it shoots off with a black glow, and strikes a nearby kobold in the center of its forehead, it seems to piece cleanly through the metal helmet as it staggers back, a fairly large chunk of its health disappearing from that single attack. It's attack is halted as it lets out a pained shriek... just as it is promptly impaled on a glowing red spear that would have healed its wielder had they been damaged... then another from another spear wielder just beside him. 

The kobold dies as a third stabs forwards as well. 

Argo's red knife briefly shimmers as she steps forwards and manages to perfectly jab it into the gap of the kobold's armor, just below the armpit. It lets out a shriek, stumbling slightly from the force of her stab and... instantly gets beheaded by Kirito who now wields a green blade. 

I knock a third Kobold to the floor with a swing of my own venom blade- and my currently ridiculous strength that's like I'm a min-maxed level four strength build- Asuna seems to use a sword skill to stab it twice in the chest as it writhes on the floor. 

Its dead a moment later, Kirito stepping to the side briefly to land a three-hit combo on another kobold. 

"Alright!" Diavel calls out. "We've made it! We're taking a ten minute break! Recover your health and stamina! Eat any food if you've got it." 

"And be aware. Illfang's second phase has apparently changed according to some information the beta testers have dug up! He now uses a Nodachi instead of the Talwar he once did. His reach will be much larger. Probably with some Area of Effect attacks as well. Be careful when that happens as according to the guide book, he breaks taunt when he changes phase. He will likely leap right towards the DPS group which has hurt him the most. After that, predict a wide swing, guard yourselves and try to get away from him. In that time, I and the other tanks will try and restore our taunts on him." 

I take a seat on the floor with a small groan, the others in our four-man party sit around me as I summon a bread roll from my inventory. 

"Hey, Kirito, you got any cream from that one cow quest? I wasn't able to farm stuff because I had other priorities." 

"Not at the moment sadly. Someone has been farming that quest almost territorially." Three sets of eyes stray to Asuna who stiffens. 

"H-Hey now. Thats- not a very nice accusation!" She sputters, a bread roll with butter on it in her hand. 

"How much?" I deadpan. 

"H-Huh?" 

"How much do you want for some?" I question. 

"Just... take it." The girl sighs. 

"Much appreciated... I'll get you something nice sometime." I smile as I apply the butter to my own roll. 

It at least makes the bread palatable. A fine crunch and a bit of savoriness. 

I'm not a big fan of rye. 

"So. Argo... have you got a route?" I ask quietly. 

"Yep. I did a bit of calculation. If things haven't changed we should be able to make great time... especially if we ignore all the mobs." She smirks. 

"What... are you doing?" Kirito mutters. 

"Oh, we have some errands to run once we get to the second floor." I answer. "Nothing big but it could help with the floor two boss." 

I also remember the location of the dungeons, Argo's just going with me so if I find out there's a rare mob in a dungeon, she can go in and kill it while I hurry to the next area. Then if that place has a mob, I'll shoot her a message, she runs over and kills that mob while I continue on. 

It should let us kill more of them overall if we start them respawning quickly. I'd need to backtrack to get to them, and for these lower floors, that could easily be a run of a few hours. 

They'd likely have respawned once by the time I get back around to them. 

[Split] 

I slash the running kobold with my weapon, the edge briefly flashing black as a large chunk of his health is removed. 

I can almost one-shot them with a slash to the neck... I suppose there's benefits to having a maxed out weapon that'll probably last up to the fourth floor easily. 

Me ignoring ninety percent of their armor likely also helps a bit.  

Turns out... when you managed to grind a little over a hundred thousand Cor on the first floor- money that most level fifty players likely wouldn't have on hand, you can really power-level your gear at the NPC blacksmith. 

All of my gear has been fully enhanced. My gloves, my boots, my pants and my leather chest plate and helmet... which I have toggled to 'invisible'. 

It took a ridiculous thirty thousand to get the materials and smith chance of each enhancement up to one hundred percent, but frankly that's chump change in exchange for my life! 

My blade flicks black as I cut through another Kobold, my dagger finding itself jabbed into its spine. 

"IT'S ENTERING PHASE TWO!" Diavel shouts. 

I find my gaze briefly straying upwards as I level up. I can see numerous kobolds spawn, the large red dog-like beast letting out a roar as he casts aside his cleaver and buckler, drawing an absolutely massive sword. 

He turns, suddenly leaping towards a group of five towards the back of the room. They seem to see him coming, quickly scattering. 

He singles one out, Diavel lets out a shout. "I'M RIGHT HERE!"  

The kobold twitches and whirls around, letting out a snarl as he changes targets and charges, large blade swinging upwards. 

I cut down three Kobolds with quick slashes and stabs, as the blue haired raid leader blocks the attack, feet sliding back across the floor. 

His blade glows green as he counters the next swing with the first attack of his 'Envenom' sword skill and lands the two follow-ups into its torso. 

"Tank Group, circle behind- GUARD UP!" 

Illfang suddenly whirls in a circle, some of the shield-wielders are knocked off their feet, Diavel stabs forwards as Illfang enters the brief over extension from his sword-skill, chipping another percentage of the bar off. "Swap! Let them heal!" 

A group of five quickly dart in, stabbing their spears into the boss monster as Diavel briefly hesitates. 

The moment Illfang looks like it's attention strays elsewhere, Diavel lunges forwards, landing three crushing blows on the boss, the final swing coming up and cleaving right into its neck. 

A severed head flips through the air as his blade finds purchase. 

Illfang the kobold lord... 

Has been slain without a single casualty. 

Everything is quiet for a moment as I kill one final kobold guardian, then a roar echoes through the boss room as the players lift their weapons and let out shouts of excitement. 

A robotic voice echoes out all around us. 

"Congratulations! Illfang the Kobold Lord has been slain. The path to floor 2 has been unlocked." 

I sheath my weapons and make my way over to the blue haired man. "Diavel. Nice work. I'm going to head on up." 

He nods once. "Thank you. Your party taking care of the mobs helped us immensely." 

He offers a hand which I take and shake. 

"I owe you, Pendragon." He smiles.  

"Don't worry about it. Just keep doing what you're doing... I know I couldn't inspire people like you do." 

With that I turn and make my towards the large door on the other side of the room. 

"Before we all make our way to the next floor... I would like to say some words." Diavel begins. "Thank you all for putting your faith into me... we have accomplished something great... we took one large step to earning our freedom... one massive leap to prove that we're not doomed... that we CAN win this!" He calls out. "We, just forty four players of over seven thousand, have proven that all isn't lost." 

"But we're not stopping here. We're going to keep our momentum and beat the second floor, then the third! I'm setting a timer. In one week we will meet at the town closest to the next floor's labyrinth to strategize... and by day eight, we will fell another boss." 

The men cheer. 

"BUT!" He quickly calls out. "There is one single event we must do... I have spoken to the information broker... and... they have discovered something... something that allowed us to defeat Illfang the Kobold Lord without a single death." 

"On the first floor. She heard of a secret logout spot- HOWEVER-" He quickly shouts, overpowering the sudden shouts of outrage. "The information she received was said to come from her own mouth. Something she never said... of course she knew something was wrong. She went to this location with a party... and it is a good thing she did. She found an unmarked cave with a miniboss the second you step inside... something that would have no doubt slain any unprepared player or party the moment they stepped inside." 

"It was a trap... luckily, however, she had prepared for that and slayed the miniboss and explored the cave... where she discovered a mural... a mural depicting Illfang and his decision to swap his weapon from a Talwar to a Nodachi. SO. We can only conclude... that these 'Secret Logout Spots' are just information on the next floor boss." 

"Which is why, I beg each and every person here... that if you hear these false rumors of a 'secret logout area' don't be tricked! PLEASE tell the group as a whole... we will dispatch a party of our best to check it out and gather this life saving information!" 

Argo walks beside me as we both ascend the staircase, I let out a low hum. "He knows how to hold a crowd, huh?" 

"Yep. He's gonna be the one the players rally behind." The girl agrees as the moment we grow out of line of sight we break into a sprint. 

[Split] 

"So, you said there's a quest to unlock a hidden skill here?" I ask as we continue rushing through the forest, green whizzes past us as we duck branches and hop over bushes. 

"Yep~ I'll be showing you that as soon as we finish up here!" The girl hums. "You've more than earned it." 

"You gonna reveal it to anyone else?" I huff. 

"Mnnn probably... if they pay for it. From what I saw only so many people could have this skill, though." 

"Oh?" 

"Yeah. You have to break a big rock for it... and I'm not sure if they respawn. There was only like... fifty rocks or so. I never bothered completing it in the beta, thus, I got these little whiskers here and earned my epithet 'The Rat'!" 

"To be fair, you are pretty rat like." I hum. 

"HEY!" The girl growls. "That hurt my feelings Arty!" 

"Probably doesn't help that those two little tufts of hair on your head that refuse to stay down look a bit like rat ears." I observe. 

"I didn't ask to have a cowlick! Sometimes my hair just does its own thing!" 

"It's kind of cute." 

"..." 

"..." 

"Arty-boy are you flirting with me?!" Her grin glows. "Oh this will break the hearts of so many of my admirers!" 

"Why would it break their hearts... unless of course you're flirting BACK?!" I gasp in horror. "Argo this sounds like some delicious blackmail~" 

"Hoh-ho!" The girl laughs. "You dare blackmail The Rat?!" 

"Cheesed to meet you." I huff. 

"AH! I should start using that!" The girl's eyes sparkle slightly. "Nyahaha!" 

My eyes snap forwards as we come up on a sheer cliff face. A doorway set within them. I dart forwards and slap the double doors then open my stat window. I scroll for a brief moment, eventually findign what I'm searching for. "Rare Mob. Silver Guppy." 

I tap the button to track it. "It looks to be about half-way in. Probably a fish of some sort. Look to the ponds." 

"Gotcha. See you at town, Arty~" The girl nods as we split up, I turn and continue running as she darts inside. 

It's... kind of a shame... I wont have her to keep me company anymore. 

We do plan to meet up at the town closest to the labyrinth. Our stealth skill will let us sneak past the field boss guarding the bridge. 

There's ten dungeons on this floor, we've checked four of them so far. 

The next one... is quite far away. 

Honestly? I'm getting kind of exhausted. I've been awake for like... eight hours now, most of it spent fighting. 

Running to all these dungeons is going to take time... but... I should be able to remain on my feet. After all, Argo will be doing the same. 

I... 

Should ask her if she wants to go out and eat sometime. 

[Endsplit]

Sooooo this fic is going REALLY well in the writing department. I decided to post another chapter early (Moving ahead chapter 2 and publicly releasing it and editing the posting date of 3 somewhat to take its place. you'll also notice that this chapter took chapter 3's place in the library and it took chapter 2's spot... I basically just move all the SAO chapters one level down. sooo I hope you enjoyed!