"KIRITO!" Klein ran to catch his friend as he fell. The giant snake shattered into a million pieces once the Black Swordsman dealt the fatal blow and the door to floor 44 opened up.

Ever since he had been bitten by the snake within the first few seconds of the battle, Kirito's health had been steadily declining. The worst part was that no known cure existed for the poison. Players simply had to continuously use HP potions until the venom wore off, or it would wear off if they died and respawned but since death here was permanent, the latter wasn't an option for the teenager, so he'd just have to suffer through it.

Klein quickly dosed him with a couple of healing potions and tried to wake him.

"Kirito? Are you okay? Kirito?"

The black haired boy blinked his eyes open. "Klein? What happened? Did we win?"

"Yeah. And you got the fatal hit. Unfortunately you also received another little 'gift' from the Death Adder."

"What?"

"Don't you remember? At the start of the battle you were bitten and now you're poisoned."

"Oh. I remember being bitten, but not much else afterwards. Did we… Did we lose anyone?"

"Nope! We're all good. You're the worst off, Hero-san."

"I'm… glad…" Kirito's eyes slid shut. Klein saw his HP was down to yellow and gave him another potion before lifting him into his arms.

Asuna gave him a curt nod before leading the troops into the town on floor 44.

"I guess I'm in charge of you for now, Kirito. Right then. Let's go!" And with that, Klein stood and walked onto floor 44.

/brbr\

A couple of days and many health potions later, Kirito finally woke up… in a forest.

"Where…?"

"Kirito! You woke up! That's great."

"Klein? Where are we?"

"We're in the forest on floor 44. We would be in town but someone happened to catch us while I was asleep and fortunately I woke up in time and neither of us died, but we had to flee the city. That and we might be a little bit lost." Klein grinned apologetically.

"Klein!" Kirito sighed. Unfortunately the pain absorption level had been lowered at some point so Kirito was making a valiant but counterproductive attempt to fight off the searing pain in his head and body. "Anyway, we should really relocate. Why didn't you use a teleport crystal?"

"They don't work here, I tried."

"Oh. Well, I guess we should try to search for town and hope for the best."

"Are you really alright to go in your condition?"

"I'm fine. Really. And anyway, I'd rather be in a safe area when I've got a status effect than in a monster-rich area, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"LOOK OUT!" Kirito pulled Klein to the ground as a swarm of 6 foot wasps flew over their heads and began to circle the two of them.

"Thanks." Klein panted.

"No problem." Kirito winced at the blinding pain rushing through his veins.

The two of them got into battle stances.

"Are you sure you're okay Kirito? You really don't look well." Klein glanced at him worriedly.

"I'll be fine, which is more than I can say for these stupid bugs." He gallantly tried for a confident smirk but it ended up as more of a pained grimace.

"Let's just get this over with." Klein responded as the two leapt into the fray.

Swords and stingers flew wildly and the number of wasps gradually decreased until only the queen was left.

For a moment the pain overcame Kirito and he paused for a moment until the wave passed.

"Kirito! Are you okay?" Klein turned his back on the queen to address his charge.

"KLEIN!" Kirito pushed the man aside just in time as the queen wasp jabbed him right in the stomach, dropping his HP to red.

"KIRITO!" Klein shouted, already rushing to the boy.

Kirito struggled upright from hunching over in pain and staggered towards the queen wasp with newfound resolve.

"You don't attack a man when his back is turned, especially not if that man is my friend!" He growled through gritted teeth as he thrust his sword at the beast and sliced it in two, promptly falling to his knees after.

"Kirito!" Klein ran over to his friend, kneeling in front of him. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry!"

Kirito fell forwards onto his chest, unconscious.

"Damn it, Kirito!" Klein gave Kirito a few potions to bring his HP up to green.

"Kirito? Can you hear me?" Klein shook him a little.

"Yes, I can hear you. Please stop shouting, my head hurts like hell. So does the rest of me, come to that."

"Sorry. I'm glad you're okay, though."

"…Thank you, Klein."

"For what?"

"For this. For taking care of me; for spending your money on potions to keep me alive; for saving me from a Sleep PK; for everything."

"I could say the same to you. I wouldn't even know what to do in this game if it wasn't for you. I'd probably be dead right now, hell, we all would, if not for you. You've saved everyone's asses so often that you deserve something in return. You didn't have to help anyone; you didn't have to keep fighting to liberate us; you didn't have to get stung by the queen for me; you didn't have to get POISONED by the last boss. But you did. The least I can do is help you survive the poison."

Kirito gave a rare smile. "Thanks. Really."

"Maaan! You're making me blush." Klein smiled back. "Shall we go?"

"I thought you'd never ask."