Yo guys! I'm back with another chapter! The first chapter went pretty well, and I was wondering who do you guys think I should pair Shiki with. The pairing is optional, I've already decided, but IF you can convince me, I might change it.

Thanks for reviewing! I am not worthy! Also, it seem the word 'Bro fist' are not too popular, so, I will minimalist it for story sake, they will say it, but rarely. Anyway, on to the story!

By the way, this chapter is original, and there are side oc's, this is a 'filler chapter' of how Shiki and Kirito can become what they are at the volume 2 in the anime, so no Asuna in this chapter... sorry.

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"Hyah!" A gray wolf was cut into two as it disappeared. "There we go..." Shiki mumbled as he crouched to take a fang the wolf left. "That's three..."

He then sheathed his sword and looked around. "Seems like that was all of them...for now at least."

'Ping' A ping like sound got his attention.

'You have a new message'

Shiki opened the mail.

Shik, I'm done here, what about you?

Kirito

Shiki opened his reply menu as he type his answer.

Done, let's meet up at the village.

Shiki

"Alright, let's get moving!" Shiki nodded, as he ran towards the village area.

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Floor 1: Kokoto Village

Its been a couple of days since the event where Akihiko's announcement took place, the chaos had subsided... a little. Right now, Kirito and Shiki were powering up by doing quests and buying better equipment in the village, where at the moment, only had few players, which was a good thing, the village was small, few buildings, one inn, one blacksmith, one item shop, and a quest shop. But... there was slight problem...

"Here you go, three wild wolf fangs for your sick mother."

"Ah! Thanks Mr! Uhm... its not much, but here's your payment." A little girl with red dress said, as she handed Shiki a small bag of coins.

The redhead stared at the bag, and then he smiled and patted the girl's head. "Nah, its okay Claire, you keep it."

The little girl, Claire, looked surprised. "B-but my mother said-"

Shiki silenced her by patting her head again. "Its okay, you can use the coins for your mother, beside, your smile is rewarding enough. So, let me be selfish and see it." He told her as he smiled.

The girl looked even more surprised at Shiki. Then she looked down, before giving him her biggest smile. "Thank's Mr!" The girl said as she ran towards her home, her smile still on her face.

"At it again huh?" A voice spoke up as Shiki turned around to see Kirito walking up to him. "That's the third time you didn't accept payment."

"Oh... hey Ki."

"You know, we can't buy good equipment if we keep saying no to the quest reward. I mean, why would the game create a no option to a quest reward?"

Shiki chuckled. "Yeah... you maybe right... But, every good deeds we do shall be returned ten fold, I'm sure of it!" He said determined.

Kirito sighed at his friend's sense of justice. "I guess that's what makes him unique."

"Anyway, you got the reward for your quest?" Shiki asked.

Kirito nodded. "Yeah, maybe next time I should do the gathering quest, and you the exterminate quest."

Shiki though about it and shook his head. "Mmm...Nah, I prefer it this way, beside your tracking skill sucks."

Kirito's eyes twitch at the red-head's bluntness, even though its true, Kirito's tracking skill was still low, he focused on his fighting skill, while Shiki prefered a non-combat skill, like tracking and cooking, though he increased his combat skill too.

"And your cooking sucks too." Shiki continued with a shrug.

"Why you-"

"Hey boys!" The two looked towards the source, and see Ken, a giant muscle man, the town's blacksmith, running towards them.

"Oh... What's up, Muscle Man!" Shiki greeted the man with his nick name.

"Hello Ken." Kirito greeted in a more... respectful manner.

Ken stopped near them. "Hey you two," He looked at Shiki. "I saw what you did with Claire... that brave girl gathered that coins by selling flowers and herbs, you know? I-no, we all appreciate it, it's quite rare to see adventurer like you, so, why don't you and your friend come to my shop? I can give you a discount."

"What? Really, Muscule Man? You'll do that?"

"Heck yeah! And stop calling me that!"

"Why? You're basically a muscle-bound beefcake!"

Kirito only watch the interaction agape, because of Shiki decided not to accept a reward from a little girl? Kirito shook his head with a smile. "I guess what he said was true."

"Ki, come on!" Shiki yelled, calling his friend, as he and Ken already made their way to the black smith.

"Alright, I'm coming." Kirito said as he jogged there, at least they'll get a discount.

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Kokoto Village blacksmith.

"Come on! Pick what you boys like!" Ken said as the two boys quickly browsed his wares.

Kirito went to the one hand long sword scion, While Shoto went to browse around more. He then came across a sword that catch his attention. The blade was silver, the rainguard was blue, and the guard was bright gold with a lion engraved on the blade. The scabbard beside it was orange, while the middle was blue. Beside it, was a red white round shield with a gray outline. It's also appeared to have a dragon design on it.

"Hey, Muscle man, how much is these?" Shiki asked as he picked up the sword, along with the shield.

Ken sighed, knowing he can't change Shiki's mind about his nickname. "Well... for you, I'll charge 50 coins." He answered.

"Really!? It's cheap! I'll take it!"

"How much is this Ken?" Kirito asked as he inspected a long sword, the sword has silver guard and hilt, the hilt was covered by blue bandage, the scabbard side was colored blue while the middle black.

"For you... 40 coins."

"I'll take it, thank you." Kirito said as he handed the money for the weapon.

Ken raised an eyebrow. "You don't want a shield?"

Kirito shook his head. "No, this will do."

"Okay then. Oh yeah, hold on boys." Ken went to the back of his store, and later emerged carrying two iron breast-plates. "I see you both still wear that leather's armor, why don't you two buy these? usually, I'll charge 250 coins for each, but... if you boys buy a pair, I'm wiling to sell it at 160 coins for each."

Shiki and Kirito looked at each other, and smiled as they turned back to the blacksmith. "We'll take it."

"Thank you for your business, boys!"

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Kokoto Village Inn

"So Kirito, how many money you still have?"

"42 coins, you?"

"20 coins."

"I see..."

Currently, our two heroes were now sitting at the almost empty inn, discussing they're current status.

Kirito sighed. "The quests in this village are running out, and more players come everyday...We should move soon."

Shiki also sighed, as he nodded in understanding. "Yeah." He then lifted his new shield with a smile. "On the plus side, I can use this baby just like Cap in the First Avenger. So win-win."

"I swear you watch way too many Marvel Movies..."

"Hey, you two." The two boys looked towards the source, and saw the inn mistress, an older woman in her 30, holding two tray's of foods. "How do you do?"

"Oh... Amanra, how's it going." Shiki greeted.

"Hello miss Amanra." Kirito also greeted. "We're fine, I guess."

"Ahaha, that's good to hear, anyway, I heard about what you did, Mr. Redd." Amanra said, as she put the tray to they're table. "Here, it's on the house." With that she walked away.

Shiki looks at the food, then to the retreating mistress, to the food, then without wasting a second, he started to eat it. "God, bless that woman!"

Kirito rasied an eyebrow, quite impressed by today chain of event's by one single action.

After the two are done, the inn door burst open, and a little girl with red dress run in and headed towards Shiki. "Big bro!"

Shiki, who was drinking his drink, spilt everything in his mouth as a red ball of energy crash into his stomach. "C-Claire!?"

Claire looked at Shiki with her big crimson eyes. "Big bro! I wanna tell you about my day!"

"Wh-wha... okay okay... slowdown..." Shiki said trying to calm down the hyper girl.

Kirito watched the scene with amusement. "She's quite clingy into him huh?" Amanra asked, as she stood beside Kirito.

"Yeah... even though all Shik did was not accept the reward."

Amanra nodded. "That girl... she's quite lonely you know? She doesn't have friends, she's too busy taking care of her mother, and earning coins..."

Kirito looked at Claire with sad eyes. "I see..." He muttered then looked over at Shiki, who listening to Claire talk rapidly. 'I guess they're same in a way.'

"Then-then, I met this cute bunny on my way from Moon Edge Hill! That's my favorite place! I like going there at night to see it."

Shiki grinned and ruffled the little girl's hair. "Is that so? Then let's go there sometime."

Claire nodded. "Yeah!" Soon, the village bell was heard, signaling the coming of night. "Ah... I have to go! My mom is waiting for me! See ya big bro! Sis Amanra! Big bro's friend!" With that, the girl ran outside, heading home.

"She sure fancies you huh?" Kirito teased as he took a sip of his drink.

"Yeah, yeah... Anyway, I'm turning in okay?"

Kirito raised an eyebrow. "This early?"

Shiki nodded. "I feel bushed for some reason. See ya." Shiki give a mock salute and walked upstairs.

"Well, I better get back to work." Amanra said as she walked away.

Kirito, left alone, sighed, and walked towards his and Shiki's room also, trying to think of a strategy.

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Time Skip

Night time

"Mmm...yes, I would like the coffee cake~"

Shiki was fast asleep in his bed, while Kirito was still looking at the first floor map, trying to think of theire next course of action. That is, until Shiki shot up quickly.

"What the!?" Kirito looked surprised as Shiki, who was fast asleep, suddenly woke up. "What's wrong?"

Shiki face was full with sleepyness and anger, as he opened his mail box. "Damn it! Whoever sent me this mail will be-Huh?" Shiki read the e-mail, as a look of horror replaced the previous one. "No..."

Kirito looked worried. "What's wrong?"

"Claire..." Shiki quickly hopped off the bed and out of the room downstairs.

"What!? Shik, wait!" Kirito quickly chased after him.

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Meanwhile...

Moon Edge Hill

"La la la la la~La la la la" Claire sung as she watched the full moon in the dark sky, that is, until a rustle was heard behind her. "!? W-whose there!?" She asked cautionsly for anything dangerous to came out, only to see a rabbit came out running. "O-oh... its just a rabbit..." She turned around to stare back at the moon, only to see a giant crimson wolf and a giant bee like monster in front of her.

"KYAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

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With Shiki and Kirito

Shiki and Kirito were running full speed towards the Moon Edge Hill. "Why are we going to the hill? Hey, answer me!" Kirito asked.

Shiki gritted his teeth. "I got a message... a time limit event..."

"What!?"

"It said... Help and free Claire before its too late... We don't have much time!"

"And Claire will be at the hill?"

"Yeah!"

The two kept running, until Shiki came to a stop, their eyes widen at the sight they saw. "D-diawolf... and Poisen stinger?" He asked quitely, as he look at the monsters before them.

"What are those monsters doing here? They're not suppose to be here!" Kirito said.

Shiki felt sweat on his neck, but he then noticed someting. "Claire!" he called.

Claire was there, unconscious with cut marks on her body, the monsters surrounded her.

"We need to past the monsters to reach her..." Kirito said, as he drew his blade

"Alright... I'll head towards Claire..." Shoto said as he slipped on his shield and unsheathed his sword. "Let's go." With that, he charged with Kirito, Not noticing a pair of eyes watching.

"I'll take out the Stinger!" Kirito said as he dashed towards the Stinger, and slashed it.

Meanwhile, Shiki headed towards the wolf, as the monster dashed forward and try to bite him, Shoto used his shield to bashed the wolf out of the way and headed towards Claire. "Claire!" He shouted as he came to a stop next to her and checked her pulse. "She's still alive... Thank goodness."

Claire eyes opened a little. "B-big... bro..."

"Don't worry Claire... We'll protect you..."  Shiki looked behind him, towards the crimson giant wolf. He glared at the monster, before he and the monster charged forward, the Diawolf try to bite Shiki again, though this time, he evaded from the side, and stabbed the monster in the back, gaining a critical hit. The monster howled in pain, as it stop, and immediately turned around to claw Shiki. The red grunted in surprise at the monster's speed as he blocked the attack with his shield. 'Even though i blocked it, my life still decrease this much...' Shiki thought as he look at his HP bar.

Meanwhile, Kirito was having his own dilema, fighting against a flying large bee, Poison Stinger, was a pain. The stinger dove to pierce Kirito, who evaded. But as Kirito counter attacked it, the stinger flew again. 'Damn it... I need to take out that wing...' Kirito thought as he looked at Shiki, who was struggling against the wolf monster. "And I need to hurry, God knows how long Shik can hold out." Kirito looked towards the giant bee just in time to evade it, as it dove again to pierce Kirito, but he evaded just in time, jumped and cut the monster's right wing, making it unstable. Kirito silently did a victory dance in his mind as his attack manage to cut its wing. Kirito used the chance to slash the monster, he slashed, slashed and slashed it, until the monster finally disappeared. "Aright! The monster was weaker than the original though... Nevermind that! I need to help Shiki!" Kirito quickly headed towards Shiki, who just got thrown by the wolf.

Shiki grunted as he blocked the monster's attack, as it rammed its head to him, he got thrown into a tree, decreasing his life bar, Shiki looked at his now orange HP bar, he got a potion out of his pack and drunk it. "That's my last one..." He whispered as his life went back to full.

"Shiki!" The teen looked towards the sound, to see Kirito running towards the wolf as he slashed the unexpected monster. "You okay?"

"Ran out of med..."

"I see... Let's take care of this."

Shiki and Kirirto charged towards the wolf, the wolf slammed it's paw to Kirito, making him fly towards the ground, Shiki took this chance to stab the monster again in the back, gaining a critical hit. The monster grunted in pain, and slammed its paw to Shiki, making him fly again. Shoto grunt in pain. "Damn it... I can't die here..."

"Human..."

As those words were heard, the time in the world are stop. "Huh?"

"Do you... want power?"

Shiki blinked and looked around, he can't move his body except his head. "Who-" Shoto then spotted a small green-haired girl, with a flowing white dress on. "What an odd girl..." Shiki said out loud, gaining a tick mark from the girl.

"You! How disrespectful! At least keep that comment to yourself! You red-haired brat!"

Now, its Shiki's time to get a tick mark. "Who are you calling a brat? You're younger than me, midget!"

"Why you little..." The girl held her anger, as she inhaled and exhaled to keep her calm. "Listen to me you brat, I am the mighty Zella. The nymph of power and luck of this forest."

"What!?" Shiki said in surprise. "A midget girl like you?"

The girl, now identified as Zella gritted her teeth. "Stop calling me midget you stupid red head! Just listen to me! I have watched you since you entereed the village..."

"W-what!? An odd stalker midget girl!"

"Ugh... You dumbass... If I didn't want to give you my power, I would kill you right now!"

"Why you- Wait! You want to give me power?"

The girl nodded. "Yes... I have been searching for a person that has enough will and heart to handle my power... Do you want it? My power?"

Shoto stay silent for a second. "Do I have to kill someone?"

"Oh no, I'm not a big fan of killing, I'm not that cruel, I just need you to be my representative, my... champion you might say."

"... Alright girlie... I'll take you up on that, beside, I need strength to protect Claire!"

Zella smirked. "Without strength, you can't protect anyone, let alone yourself. Let us make the contract!"

Shiki's body was covered in light, as great pain start to fill his body. "Gaaahhhh!"

"Hold it steady brat, if you surrender, you will be consume by it and die."

"Easy for... you... to say... Guh!?" Shiki said between grunts. "AAAGGHHHH!"

Then the light covering Shiki disappeared, as said boy looked down at his hands. "I feel kinda funny... And less painful."

"Congratulations brat, you survive, by the way, I forgot to mention your hair has tunred green to symbolize me."

"Wait what!? Why didn't you say so before, Smurfett!"

"Relax, I was just kidding okay? Anyway, you recieved my power. So don't go mis-using alright? Until we will meet again." Zella jumped to the trees, disappearing in the darkness.

"Wait! Damn it!" Shiki tried to move, but he still couldn't, as the female figure disapeared.

Suddenly, once Zella left, the time start again as everything back to normal, Shiki quickly stood up with a golden aura around him to prepare to fight against the monster. "Let's see what that midget girl gave me..." Before Shiki could open his menu to check, The wolf attacked as it charged towards him, Shiki, out of reflex, jumped to the side, but to his surprise, he was faster and jumped longer than usual as he trip on a rock and rolled on the earth. "What the... Sweet..." He said grining.

"Shiki! Heads up!" Kirito said as he slashed the monster and got slammed again. "Guh!?"

"Alright!" Shiki dashed towards the monster and jumped... high. "Hyaaaahhhh!" He thrusted his sword towards the monster from above, Kirito could only watch in amazement as Shiki launched onto his enemy, hitting it, also dishing out heavy damage.

The wolf roared in pain, finally disappearing. The duo went silent for a moment.

"Yeah!" The two of them roared in victory, until Shiki remembered Claire's condition. "Claire!" He and Kirito immediately went to Claire, who was still lying on the ground. "Claire! Are you okay?"

"Big bro... you and your friend save me... Thank you... *Cough* *cough*"

"Don't talk, I'll get you home, I promise."

"Shik wait."

"What is it?" He snapped and looked towards Kirito.

"She's... poison... probably from the Poison Stinger."

Shiki's eyes went wide. "Wha-!? Damn it! Don't worry, I brought antidote herb!" Shiki said as he opened his inventory.

Kirito only went silent with a sad face as he watched Shiki feed the herb to Claire.

"Do you feel better?"

"Thank you big bro... you know... I never had a brother... meeting you is the best thing that could happen to me..."

"Come on, don't talk... le-let the herb digest." Shiki said as tears threatened to fall.

"Big bro... it's so dark... I-I'm scared..."

"Don't worry... I-I'm here..."

"Big bro... so... warm..." Claire closed her eyes with a smile on her face, as she drew her last breath.

Kirito's face went grim, as Shiki looked at the lifeless body of Claire. "Claire...? Claire...? CLAIREEEEE!" Shiki screamed into the night.

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Shiki and Kirito stare at the simple grave for Claire that they had made. "Shik..." Kirito call softly. "You know you can cry."

Shiki nodded, and without hesitation, he cried. "HUAAGGHHH!" He yelled to the world with tears running down his cheek.

Few minutes has passed, befre Shiki wipe his tears clean with his sleeve. "Ki, I don't understand...how did she die? I gave her antidote..."

Kirito sighed. "Unlike antidote potion, antidote herb take time to work, and Claire's life was already red at that time..."

"Oh..." Shiki and Kirito went silent for a moment. Before Shiki screamed once again into the world. "I guess no use in moping around... Claire would be sad if she know I had become depress because of her..." He looked at the night sky. "You'll just see Claire... I'll become strong... So that I can protect others!"

Kirito looked surprise for a moment, before smiling. "He never changes..."

*PING*

Shiki just received a new message, he then opened the menu and looked at it. "Huh?"

*Quest Complete*

You have successfully free Claire's soul

Reward:

Hero Soul skill

Coat of Dawn

Description: Help and free Claire soul from monsters at her usual place, time limit, 2 hours.

The red head looked surprised. "What? I thought I failed... Wait... free her soul? You mean she..." He smiled. "So she's in a better place..."

"What's wrong?" Kirito asked.

"Oh... well, looks like that event I got was a success, the objective was to free her soul..."

Kirito went silent for a moment thinking, before he nodded in understanding. "I see... The reward?"

"One item and one skill..."

"Alright then. Well let's go back to village to rest and discuss what we do next... and besides, you have to tell Claire's mother, right?"

Shiki nodded. "Yeah...I don't how much her heart is gonna take."

But then Kirito remember something. "By the way..."

"Yeah?"

"Since when were you able to move and jump like that?"

"...Would you believe me if I said an odd stalker midget looking time stopper girl gave her powers to me?"

"..."

"..."

To be Continued...

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Yeah! Done! In the next chapter the two of them will met Asuna! Muahahahahaha! This is a filler chapter of how Shiki got a little power boost. If you have any question or simply trying to change my mind, review! I'll accept any kind! The more I get the fastest I update! By the way, im looking for a beta, any volunteers?

Until then, see ya!!!