As Kirito was nearing the village, he heard the rustling of leaves. He stopped running and looked around carefully. He crouched down, bending his knees slightly when the rustling of the leaves was getting nearer and nearer. A figure then jumped out of the bushes and attacked Kirito. He was, however, prepared.

He grabbed his attacker by the throat, kneed them in the gut, before taking their dagger that was strapped to their side and placing it at their throat.

"Who are you?" demanded Kirito, his onyx eyes showing anger. "Why did you attack me?"

"K-Kii-bou..." the person muttered. The attacker's face was turning blue and their health bar was dropping fast.

Kirito's eyes widened and he dropped his attacker.

"Argo?" The surprise was clear in his voice. "What the hell are you doing here?!"

Argo, in the character skin that is a species of Fae called a Spriggan, gasped for air, her eyes wide in shock at almost being killed by her friend.

"Sorry about that," Kirito said apologetically. "You surprised me and I don't really like surprises."

When Argo regained her bearings, she looked at her old friend. She could tell that something was different about him, but she couldn't tell what it was.

"What's going on Argo?" Kirito asked his old informant. "Why haven't the last 300 players not woken up yet?"

Argo managed to gather her bearings and looked at her old friend from SAO. He was certainly different than last time. But it was probably the reason he was here. Back in the virtual world.

"O-Oberon," she managed to get out, gasping a bit. "You certainly don't hold your punches, Kii-bou... You could've killed me."

"What do you mean Oberon?" Kirito ignored her statement. "Who is he?"

"The king," Argo informed him. "The one who trapped me and the others here. In fact, I can name three others who are part of your little friend group who are trapped here."

"I know of Asuna," Kirito told his old friend. "Who are the others?"

"Klein and Agil," she told him. "Also, call me Kitsune. That's my name here instead of Argo."

Kirito raised an eyebrow at her statement.

"Fox?" he asked amused. She could tell by the smirk on his face. "At least it's better than Argo the Rat."

Argo, or Kitsune, rolled her eyes.

"Oberon used some sort of object on everyone to make them forget about their life outside of the virtual world," Kitsune told him. "I recognize it from the scroll you gave me back in Sword Art Online. It was the Apple, Kirito. And now everyone thinks that he saved them from diseases or from comas that would have killed them. Asuna especially."

Kirito's eyes narrowed as he realized what Kayaba was talking about and how the Templars have practically taken over this part of the virtual world.

"A Piece of Eden..." he trailed off. "But how? It was only supposed to be in Sword Art Online... Does this mean that..."

Minerva flew out of his pocket and interrupted his muttering.

"Kirito, you must find the Apple and keep it safe," the pixie told him. "And with it, you'll be able to save your friends and your beloved."

Kirito nodded and pushed the theory of the Piece of Eden that he thought up to the back of his mind as to sharpen his focus towards the mission in front of him.

"Mind taking me to the nearest town?" he asked his old friend.

"Of course!" Argo said cheerfully before jumping up and getting wings to form on her back. "Come on!"

"Kirito is not a winged fae, Kitsune," Minerva informed the Spriggan. "He is what is known as an Outcast."

"What's an Outcast?" Kirito asked, confused.

"A Fae without wings," Argo told him, grimacing somewhat. "If you are an Outcast then your mission to save Asuna has just gotten much harder. An Outcast player is looked upon with disgrace and can only do the lowest of missions with the lowest XP gain. Not to mention that they can't go into the bigger cities without being watched in case something happens."

"Anything else?" Kirito asked. He knew his job just got a whole lot tougher with being an Outcast.

"Your magic is weaker as well," Argo said sadly. "You'll only be able to use low level spells even if you manage to get to the maximum level. Not to mention that the Outcasts are the target of every single player in the game. So yeah... You have a huge target on your back now. So your mission is near impossible to complete. Unless you have the skills necessary to do so, then it'll be difficult to say the least."

The two were silent for a moment until Kirito opened up his skills and abilities list.

[Skills/Abilities]

Pickpocket: Lvl Max

Parkour/Free Running: Lvl Max

Blending: Lvl Max

Swordsmanship: Lvl Max

Stealth: Lvl Max

Kirito raised an eyebrow as he went through the list.

"Every single skill I have is at max level," he told his old friend. "Well this is a new one. What's Eagle Sense?"

Argo shrugged.

"Dunno but it sounds pretty cool," she said with a grin.

"There's a description of it," Kirito said before reading aloud, "A more heightened version of Eagle Vision. It allows the user to focus on a target and intuitively approximately where they had gone, or inversely, where they would go, even going so far as to be able to sense the presence of stalkers and when they would strike. This is particularly helpful in tailing a target, or detecting the path a guard or target would take, in order to set up a bomb or lay an ambush."

"So essentially, you'll be able to use it to locate cold trails and even tell who your target is even if they are disguised?" Argo looked at him with wide eyes. "What the hell Kirito!? That's overpowered!"

Kirito smiled sheepishly and said, "Yeah that it is."

Argo turned around and began walking in the direction of the village.

"Come on," she said. "There is someone I want you to meet. He's an Outcast as well. And the leader of the village up ahead."

Hearing this piqued Kirito's curiosity and followed Argo towards the village.

Chapter 10: Old Friends, New Targets Pt. 2