I do not own Sword Art Online or any of the characters.

Mistake

Kirito gripped his sword tightly, almost seeming afraid, but in reality just exceptionally tense. The reason was simple, Keita, leader of the Moonlit Black Cats, Kirito's guild, had gone back to floor one to buy them a base of operations for their guild. While he was gone, the other three guys had unanimously decided that they should skip up a lot of levels to twenty seven, which they were not ready for. For Kirito it wouldn't be a problem, Sachi could probably survive most situations in the level as well. The level was about thirty two in difficulty. Kirito knew he could kill the enemies with ease if he needed to but the others would die if they were swarmed.

"You see?" Sasamaru, the guild's other lancer, spoke up. "I told you guys, this is gonna be cake! We might even be able to reach the front lines sooner."

"That's what I'm talking about," Ducker, the guild's thief, spoke up before noticing a glowing mark on the wall. "Look!"

The dungeon they were in was a labyrinth, with white walls and white blocks for a floor, gaps here and there creating fatal fall hazards. The wall around the mark glowed and faded, revealing a secret door leading into a large room that was a rough square with countless blocks forming walls and square tiles laid on top of each other to form the floor, overlapping everywhere. In the middle of the room sat a single chest. Kirito instantly didn't trust it.

"A treasure chest!" Ducker cheered, sprinting into the room and toward the chest.

"Wait!" Kirito shouted as he quickly sent Sachi better armor and a lance that had much better damage than her staff.

She smiled up at him and equipped them all, her white shirt and black miniskirt being replaced by a light blue mid-rift shirt and a white miniskirt that was a half inch shorter than the last. The lance was entirely silver with a gold ball on the back end and another at the base of the spear head.

Sasamaru and Tetsuo, Kirito's fellow forward and a hammer- or maul-and-shield user, both stopped, looking back but Ducker ignored him, dropping to one knee in front of the chest and opened it. His smile faltered and an alarm sounded, the room suddenly turning blood red. The door swung closed and locked and more slid open in the walls, revealing rows upon rows of enemies, some gnomes with pickaxes that were much faster and stronger than those Kirito had trained Sachi against, Dark Dwarf Miners, and others were massive golems made of stones, Mineral Elementals.

"It's a trap guys!" Kirito stated as they formed a tight circle, the enemies forming a circle around them. "Hurry! Let's get out of here!"

"Teleport!" Ducker shouted holding up his teleportation crystal. "Taft!"

Nothing.

"Teleport Taft!" Ducker tried again, voice cracking in terror.

"We can't use our crystals!" Sachi gasped.

"They're probably being blocked by the walls," Kirito guessed.

The lines of Dark Dwarf Miners all charged forward, leaping at them as one. Kirito slashed several, killing them but Ducker, who had left the circle when one attacked him, allowing Kirito to kill it for him, was tackled by another before three more joined it and they all drove their pickaxes into his back again and again. After two seconds, his avatar exploded and a Mineral Elemental moved forward to attack Kirito.

"Sachi, Tetsuo, Sasamaru, get over here!" Kirito ordered killing the golem.

A Mineral Elemental swing its arm at Sasamaru but Tetsuo stepped between them, raising his shield. When the arm hit, however, Tetsuo was thrown away and exploded.

"Tetsuo!" Sasamaru shouted charging and driving his spear into the Mineral Elemental.

It didn't react and raised its arm. Before it could kill him, however, Sachi's lance drove itself through its head, killing it before the lance returned to Sachi. Sasamaru sighed and sprinted over to her, pulling her out of the way of a Dark Dwarf Miner's pickaxe. The two of them reached Kirito who had fought his way to a corner and pulled both of them behind him, holding his sword in front of him.

"Whatever happens, stay behind me," Kirito instructed. "Sachi, throw your spear at the Mineral Elementals. Sasamaru, you need to get your healing potions out."

Both nodded as the dwarves charged again. Kirito slashed two aside then blocked a pickaxe and shove the dwarf into another, slashing both and killing them. Sachi's lance flashed over him, hitting a Mineral Elemental but didn't kill him. She tried again and the monster exploded. Kirito killed another dwarf and one right behind it slashed at him. He stepped back, the pickaxe tearing through his left side and dropping his health a good deal. He stepped forward again, slashing the dwarf and then another. Then, a third slashed him and he stumbled back, tripping over Sachi and both fell, Sachi catching Kirito. A Dark Dwarf Miner leapt at them, slashing and Sachi spun her staff, blocking the attack but she still took damage, her health dropping by just over half. Another leapt forward as Kirito reached for his fallen sword but Sasamaru stepped forward, driving his spear forward and impaling the dwarf. It hung limp for a moment as Sachi and Kirito both went into the shared inventory page they had set up and got a health potion and drinking it. Just as they did, the impaled dwarf snapped its head up, grinning wickedly and raising its pickaxe.

"No way!" Sasamaru gasped just before the pickaxe tore through his throat, killing him.

Kirito pushed himself up, slashing the dwarf and three more, before backing up, less than a foot in front of Sachi who was pressed tightly into the corner.

"Damn," Kirito growled. "It's a survival trap."

As he said this, more monster of both types appeared in flashes of light on the opposite side of the room.

"What do we do?" Sachi asked, voice shaking almost as bad as she was.

"Stay here," Kirito growled as his sword began to glow.

He sprinted forward, slashing every monster he came two and killing them, moving fast enough that he was able to zip back and forth, keeping the enemies from reaching Sachi. After a moment, a pickaxe and then a Mineral Elemental's hand got past his blade and hit him, dropping his health to just above red and throwing him. He pushed himself up, legs shaking, then sprinted forward, attacking them again and again tearing into them, killing anything he reached. After about three minutes, a dwarf flew over him, directly toward Sachi. She screamed and he got between the two, stabbing the thing just as its pickaxe drove itself into his left shoulder. He fell to one knee, life barely a sliver of the bar. He got another health potion and drank it, barely reaching high red for health, but growled, raising his sword. There were no dwarves left. Only Mineral Elementals, and only about twenty of them. He sprinted forward again, slashing two at the knees then back across the necks and ducked under a Mineral Elemental's hand. He killed that one then jumped over another swipe, spinning and decapitating three. As he landed, he dove sideways, rolling to his feet as one that had jumped crashed down where he had been. He darted forward, stabbing through that one and into another then spun, ripping his sword out of them before bisecting another. As he turned, one swung at him too fast for him to dodge. Sachi stepped between them, blocking it with her staff, health dropping to about the same percentage as him, only much lower actual amount, and she stabbed the golem in the face, killing it before staggering backward into Kirito. He pushed her into the corner again, then bent backward as a hand sailed over him, removing itself on his sword blade. The severed arm sailed into another and killed it before Kirito stood and killed the one that had attacked him. He stumbled toward Sachi, who was unconscious, and watched the last eight. They were standing in a loose group and he knew he could kill them all. it was just a question of whether or not he could kill them all before one of them attack him.

His sword blade glowed and he sprinted forward, slashing the first one, spinning past a swipe from the second and killing it from behind then spinning, cutting the third in half length-wise, then jumped over a swipe, bisecting the fourth's head. He stepped forward and slashed the fifth across the chest, then stepped diagonally backward and to the left, avoiding a punch from the sixth before splitting its arm and then torso in half. The seventh leapt at him and he ducked under it, splitting it as it flew over him, then spun toward the last as its hand descended. Before it could hit, a glowing green lance flew past, scratching his shoulder and dropping his health by half of what he had left before the lance drilled its way through the Mineral Elemental's chest, killing the thing and ending the trap, the room turning blue again. Kirito dropped his sword, falling to his knees as Sachi rushed forward, hugging him and beginning to sob from pent up fear and grief at the loss of three of her friends. Kirito held her against him for a few minutes as his health slowly regenerated to half and hers to about two fifths. Then, he stood and pulled her up, picking up his sword and wiping her eyes.

"We have to go," Kirito stated. "We have to get out of here before anything else shows up. And we have to find Keita. He needs to know."

Sachi nodded and they left the room then both teleported back to taft. When they arrived, Keita was waiting.

"There you are!" Keita shouted running forward. "Where are the others?"

He stopped, seeing Sachi on the verge of tears and the fact that both of them had health bars of half or less.

"W...what happened?" Keita breathed.

"They...they wanted to try to level up in a higher dungeon, specifically Level twenty seven," Kirito stated. "I tried to talk them out of it but they wouldn't listen. We found an anti-crystal trap. They...they're dead. I'm sorry."

Keita stared at them, waiting for a punch line that wasn't coming. Then, he stumbled back sitting down on a stone wall as shock and grief grew on his face.

"How...how did you two live?" Keita asked.

"I protected Sachi," Kirito stated. "Ducker died right away, but I tried to protect Tetsuo and Sasamaru too but Tetsuo died protecting Sasamaru and Sasamaru died shielding me and Sachi from an enemy."

"Why were you able to survive injuries and kill enemies that they couldn't?" Keita demanded.

"I...I lied about my level when we met," Kirito stated. "I was level forty back then. Now I'm level forty eight. Sachi survived because, through our training the past month, she's now level thirty one."

"Already?" Keita breathed. "So that's why you were training her. But, why not the others?"

"Had I known what was going to happen, I would have had you all fighting alongside me and Sachi at all times for twice as long as me and Sachi were," Kirito stated. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know what would happen."

"It's...okay," Keita sighed. "But, how are you such a high level?"

"I'm a Beta," Kirito admitted. "I'm a higher level because when we first got here, I did easy missions and fought constantly to get money and experience for better weapons and armor. I'm sorry I hid it from you."

"You're a...no, you're that Beater!" Keita shouted remembering the rumors about the cheating Beta. "You don't deserve to be int eh Moonlit Black Cats. You never did!"

"You're right," Kirito nodded. "It's partially my fault for not telling you the truth. If I had, maybe they would be alive now."

"It doesn't matter anymore," Keita growled kicking Kirito from the guild. "We're done with you. Come on Sachi."

"No," Sachi said quietly but firmly.

"What?" Keita snarled.

"I'm not choosing you over Kirito," Sachi stated slipping her hand into Kirito's. "He's the sole reason I'm alive and is the most important person i the world to me. I'm sorry. but if I have to choose, this is goodbye."

"You're dating?" Keita blinked before smirking in spite of his rage. "Can't say I'm surprised I guess. But still. I'm not changing my mind."

"You don't need to," Kirito stated. "I really do believe that you would make an excellent addition to the Assault Team if you were a higher level. You could help them not be so full of themselves. But you need to be stronger first. If you don't mind, I have a suggestion for you. A friend of mine, not a Beta or a cheater, has a guild of his own that could use someone like you. They're a bit stronger than you but would help you level up quickly if you joined."

"Who?" Keita sighed.

"The Guild is Fuurinkazan," Kirito stated. "The leader, my friend, is named Klein. I'll send tell him to meet you here. He wears red samurai armor, not easy to miss. Tell him you're a recommendation from me."

Keita stared at him for a moment then nodded and continued walking. Kirito turned to Sachi who looked hurt but smiled in spite of herself.

"Thank you," Kirito smiled. "I can't imagine how hard it must be to have to choose between your friend or me."

"It hurts," Sachi admitted. "But in the end, it wasn't really that much of a decision."

Kirito smiled and kissed Sachi who kissed him back before he looked up at the ceiling above them. He was definitely not going to go back to that level for a while, and especially not with Sachi, but she could survive level twenty four or five. And Sasamaru was right. Higher levels would level her up faster, allowing him to not have to worry about her so much, and her to not feel like a hinderance.

"Come on Sachi," Kirito grinned. "You and I are going to get something to eat then go up to twenty four to get you stronger. And if you want, you can just watch for a while."

Sachi smiled and nodded, trusting him to protect her, and the two of them turned and walked toward the nearest restaurant. All the while Kirito had one thought in mind.

Thank God I took the time to train Sachi. Otherwise, things could have been very different.

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