After giving out the quest to Kazuto, Ryuji didn't plan to interfere with him until the official release of Sword Art Online. He didn't want to mess up the timeline to much, but his existence, he was bound to disturb it somehow. Sooner or later, the timeline would even go past his knowledge of SAO, stretching his flexibility quite a bit.

 

But with that out of the way, Ryuji got back into gear, because right now, he was standing in the corridor of the boss room, alone.

 

Three days after mass-selling the mapping data for the dungeon, Ryuji decided to take care of the boss.

 

Players had flocked to the dungeon due to his map data, and even though there was a chunk of his sold map missing, it wasn't that hard to find the boss considering it was obviously not outside of the unexplored area.

 

Since most players thought they were 'the shit', they went and found the boss on their own, only to die miserably to Illfang, The Kobold Lord.

 

He definitely wasn't as strong as the kobold lord in the official release, but he was pretty damn strong.

 

Ryuji's Sword Art Online level had reached 30 not to long ago, and he'd risen his proficiency levels quite a bit, so he had confidence that he could defeat this guy by himself.

 

So without further ado, he rushed forward using Dark Stride without Shadowy Haze, arriving in front of a small mace wielding kobold the next second.

 

Using his single-handed long-sword, he activated a Sword Skill 'created' by himself called Void Slash. His sword was instantly coated in a blackish glow, before he swung it horizontally at the small mace wielding kobold.

 

Following his swing was an extra blade slash made of blackish energy. He killed the first kobold in one swing as the void slash carried forward, bisecting another rushing kobold behind it.

 

Illfang leapt up off his seat and landed a few meters away from Ryuji wielding his first weapons, a large bone-axe and a leather shield.

 

Illfang was over two meters tall, muscular, covered in bluish-grey fur, and had bloodthirsty copper-red eyes, but other than that, the last Ruin Kobold Sentinel rushed at Ryuji along with Illfang.

 

Ryuji flipped his sword into a reverse grip, before activating another self-made Sword Skill that caused his weapon to glow a vivacious violet.

 

The Ruin Kobold Sentinel rushed in and raised its mace above its head as it activated a Sword Skill. Its mace glowed a in a bluish hue before it brought it down upon the smirking Ryuji.

 

At that moment, he jumped up as he spun in a rapid fashion. The kobold was cut in two as his sword let out a circular purple wave that surrounded Ryuji and spread outwards a few meters. His sword's violet energy wave hit the oncoming Kobold Lord as it rushed in and swung its large axe down.

 

Swinging his sword forward with force, his blade met Illfang's bone axe at an angle. Parrying the heavy attack out of the way, Ryuji stepped forward and unleashed a barrage of lightning fast slashes.

 

Each strike of his cut off a good 2-5% of the Kobold Lord's health, so he continued his parrying-attack strategy until Illfang went into his second phase.

 

Throwing away both his axe and his shield, the Kobold Lord bellowed out and reached for a long blade attached to its hip. Swinging out his Nodachi in a flash, Illfang nearly disappeared from Ryuji's vision the next second as he jumped all over the boss room. 

 

After a couple seconds, the Kobold Lord leapt towards Ryuji from above. Illfang's Nodachi was held out to the side before he slashed down diagonally at Ryuji with a heavy force.

 

Switching his sword grip into a regular one, he thrusted forward at the attack. Their blades clashed with the deafening sound of grinding metal, but in an instant, Ryuji repositioned his blade and had the Nodachi slide along his blade's edge.

 

Illfang's Nodachi flew over Ryuji and hit the ground behind him as he parried the attack and ducked to the right.

 

Then, with a short dash and a spinning jump, Ryuji switched his sword into a reverse grip and held the hilt with both hands as he brought the sword's point down and into the back of Illfang's neck.

 

Illfang's barely remaining health dropped to zero almost instantly as he bellowed out for the last time. The Kobold Lord exploded into light-blue crystalline shards the next second, and Ryuji dropped to the floor with heavy breaths and a grinning smile.

 

The rewards for the boss raid appeared in front of him along with the last attack bonus reward. Gaining a large amount of Col, as well as a massive amount of Exp, he looked at the last attack bonus and smiled nostalgically.

 

Of course, he wasn't going to forsake his Jujutsu Sorcerer outfit for the Coat of Midnight, but he was going to keep it with him and gift it to the young Kazuto.

 

With that done, he went forward and climbed the stairs as he unequipped his sword and put his hands in his pockets.

 

"Hey! Wait up, Sir Specter!" Suddenly, a voice sounded out from behind, and a weird and large 'man' came up to him from across the empty boss room. It was Mito, or Tozawa Misumi, in her beta-test avatar.

 

Misumi's beta tester avatar, Mito, was a tall man wearing a feminine one-piece outfit and thigh-high boots, as well as a long white cape that went down to 'his' calves. The avatar also had a purple chin beard with lifted hair of the same color.

 

"Yes, Miss Misumi?" Ryuji's words shocked her greatly, and she looked apprehensive about speaking further, but she still spoke the next second.

 

"I... May I have a quest? Please, Sir Specter?" Ryuji guessed that Kazuto leaked a bit of information about him, but to come directly to him whenever he's a player was a bit strange.

 

He looked at Misumi with a stoic and phlegmatic face for a moment, before speaking monotonously as he used Nebulous Stride's Shadowy Haze. A blackish-purple liquid-like energy completely surrounded him in a second, as his voice became glitchy.

 

"I assume the player Kirito tipped you off about me, hmm… Since you've come all this way to find and request of me, the Specter, I shall give you a suitable quest." Almost immediately after he finished speaking, he waved his shadowy hand towards her for show, as a purple edged quest page appeared in front of her.

 

===<•>===

{Quest}

Quest Name: Violet Dawn

Rank: D~A
Difficulty: Intermediate ~ Advanced
Location: Aincrad, All Floors

Objective: Become a known swordswoman clad in purple.
Hidden Objective: ???
Reward: +100 Million Col, +5 Specter's Likability
Hidden Reward: ???

Accept|—or—|Decline

===<•>===

 

Seeing the prompt in front of her, Misumi knew that Kirito didn't lie to her, and although he said that the Specter was a hidden NPC, she knew there had to be something else to it.

 

Without hesitation, she accepted the quest and bowed ninety degrees towards 'Specter', before speaking with gratitude and respect. "I thank you for this opportunity, Sir Specter."

 

Minami looked at Ryuji's shadowy figure for a moment, before smiling warmly and turning around. Ryuji didn't know why she smiled like that, but it looked weird because of her avatar.

 

He himself turned around, then continued to climb the stairs to the second floor as he thought about something, then resolutely nodded to himself.

 

From now on, he was 'Specter', and only Specter. He'd keep his Shadowy Haze on at all times, and lock his emotions in a box for the remainder of the beta-test, as he kept a stoical expression on.