I'm on a roll! Time for a completely original chapter, and the forging of a powerful bond.

You may notice two things, I'm going to start adding title songs to each chapter. I'll also start to input the rough date of the chapter and the floors that we go to. Let me know if you like this idea or not!

Enjoy, Read and Review!


Chapter 3: The Young Tamer

Title Song - Winterspell by Two Steps From Hell


2023, 4th October

Floor Twenty-One


"Hyah!" A yell was heard through the fields as Ion thrust his rapier through the bones of his opponent. The Skeleton Soldier gave a shriek, before shattering into fragments.

He then turned his attention to the other one, which was now rushing in, sword raised and shield held in front. Ion ducked under the sword, and leapt back to a short distance, then, he activated the sword skill Shooting Star, a more powerful version of Linear.

The skill landed a critical blow, and Ion jabbed his rapier against the skeleton soldier's ribs, and dealt with the last of it's HP. Ion breathed hard as he twirled his weapon around, and sheathed it at his waist.

Ion was now wearing a white jacket over an ocean blue shirt. In between the layers was a light silver breastplate. He was also wearing black pants, boot and fingerless gloves. His rapier, called Light Foil, was a simple steel blade with a black hilt and blue handguard.

He opened his menu, and went to the quest log, "Yep, that's the last one, now all I need is to beat two Skeleton Sergeants," he muttered out loud, and dismissed the log. Opening his map, he looked for the area he had been told by an info broker where to find the target enemies.

As he did, he heard a battle cry over the hill behind him. Shrugging, he decided to investigate.

When he reached the crest of the hill, he saw a girl in a yellow coat cartwheeling around a boar, before her dagger lit up green, and she thrust out three times, before delivering a final stab, which finished the creature off. Ion recognized the dagger skill as Faded Edge.

The girl put her dagger in a small sheath on her belt, and whistled. Ion was rather shocked to see a small feathered dragon come down from above and engulf her in a light blue breath.

"Those were some nice skills," He called down, doing his best to not appear threatening to her.

The girl seemed to yelp, and jumped into a weary stance, "Who goes there?!" She asked, looking up. "Friend or foe?!" The little dragon seemed to growl at her words, also looking up at Ion.

"I approach as a friend, and have no intention of being a foe," he said, raising his hands in a sign of surrender.

"Sorry, I can get jumpy when I meet new people," the girl said, calming down.

"It's ok, you can't be too careful anymore, not with scumbags like Laughing Coffin out there," Ion shook his head, and walked down the hill to approach her.

Now that he was closer, he saw she had brown hair tied up in a pair of small tails by red bows, and had sweet red eyes that matched her innocence.

He noted her yellow coat had red details, and saw she had a black shirt underneath and black shorts as well. Her chest was covered in a steel breastplate, and matching shoulder pads too. Her belt carried her dagger, and she also had a small pouch on her back as well. To finish, she had brown fingerless gloves, and high yellow boots with black socks going up a bit further.

"That's a familiar, isn't it?" Ion asked, pointing at the dragon.

"This is Pina, my best friend," the girl said, then her eyes widened. "I'm Silica."

"Call me Ion," the boy in white nodded. "How are you for quests and supplies?" He asked.

"I've got a few crystals and potions left, and I've got one quest left," Silica told him. "And you?"

"Same," Ion nodded. "What quest is it you have to do? I got 'beat the sergeants'."

"Huh, that's a coincidence, that's all I have left too!" Silica said, opening her quest log and checking the ones she had done already.

She closed her menu, and looked at Ion, "Do you wanna party up? We could get it done faster?" She asked.

"Sure, it'd be nice to have some company to talk to, I'm kind of a solo player at the moment," Ion gave a grin, and sent her an invitation through his menu.

Silica accepted it, and her health bar appeared under his, then, a smaller HP gauge appeared under that one. Ion assumed that must be Pina's health bar.

"Shall we go then?" He asked, and the two players set off, Ion leading the way with his map open.


Along the way, Ion kept glancing at Silica, who started to notice after a while, "What?" She asked.

"Nothing really, just… how'd someone your age get your hands on a Nervegear? The advisable age is thirteen… you look younger than that," Ion said.

"My dad got it for me while I was at school, he told me I could use it and I dived in back on that fateful day," Silica shrugged. "My handle is actually a wordplay on Silicon Dioxide," she then said.

"Huh, is that why you tie your hair up like that? To symbolize the two oxygen atoms in the element?" Ion asked.

"Y…yeah! How'd you guess that?" She asked.

"Well, you tie your hair up with red ribbons, one on each side of you. You're the Silicon, they're the oxygen atoms bound to you," Ion shrugged.

"You're the first person to ever figure that out," Silica told him. "In all fairness though… why'd you chose to let me tag along? You could have gone on your own, but you let me come with you."

Ion gave a smile, "You remind me of my sister. Not by appearance, but I can tell you have that energetic personality that my sister has, and you love animals by the looks of things," he said, pointing to Pina.

"Really? What's she like?" Silica asked.

"Well, she's always been the excitable one out of us. When news came that our parents had died in a dig site, she was the first of us to recover," Ion sighed.

"Dig site?" Silica questioned the phrase.

"They were archeologists, they traveled to excavation sites all over the world in search of fossils or old Dinosaur bones," Ion explained. "Whenever they had a place to go, they left us the care of the neighbors. It was a good thing we were at home when the news reached us, Jun and Amelia allowed us to live with them, as long as we helped with their bakery. We owe those two our lives."

"Sorry for bringing up sour memories," Silica winced.

"No. It's ok, I've long since come to terms with their deaths, and need to continue to grow into a strong individual, but I'm thankful for the Takahiro's help. I don't think I would be able to raise my sister by myself…" Ion trailed off.

His eyes narrowed as he set eyes on a dungeon ahead, "our targets are in there," he said, closing his menu.

"You sure?" Silica asked.

"The information broker I got the intel from said the dungeon exterior was nothing like the rest of the floor, look at this place. No skeletons, and sunlight," Ion said, sure enough, as if the clouds were frozen in time, there was a patch of sunlight shining down on the grass ahead.

He paused on the entrance, "Be on your guard, I was told there were a few traps in here," he said to his companion.

"I'll be careful," Silica assured him.

Ion pulled a consumable item out of his inventory, a stick wrapped in cloth, that lit up with a healthy flame. "Let's go," He said.


The Skeleton Sergeants were rare enemies, Ion deduced, as he cut down an Assault Skeleton. They had found one, and since they were in a party, their quests shared the kill.

"There!" Silica pointed, spotting the elusive monster walking around, a shield on one arm, and a black mace in the other.

"Direction?" Ion asked.

"Right," Silica stated. At those words, the two sprang into action.

Ion curved around, and charged towards the skeleton from the right, sword glowing yellow with Shooting Star. The monster's eyes glowed red, as it detected him approaching, and it raised it's shield to defend.

Ion's rapier bashed against the defensive object, knocking the arm that held it up and out of the way, "Silica! Switch!" He called.

Silica was already moving, dagger glowing blue as she dashed past the monster, slashing heavily into it's side, then leaping back across it's other side. This was the two-hit skill Swift Trick, one of the fastest for the dagger.

As her skill finished, she nodded, "Sword skill! Finish it off!" She called.

Ion's rapier was already glowing blue with the five-hit skill Neutron. Leaping up, he thrust four times, before dropping into a crouch, whirling around and stabbing hard through the sergeant's chest. As it shattered, Ion gave a fist pump of approval.

"We make a good team," Silica smiled, coming over.

"We do, good job," Ion nodded, and held out a fist for her. When the girl tilted her head, Ion had to resist rolling his eyes. Taking her right hand, he curled her hand into a fist, and bumped it against his own. "You've honestly never heard of a fist bump?"

Silica gave a giggle, "No, I haven't," she shook her head.

"Well, it's a sign of respect," Ion explained, chuckling.

Both laughed a little, before Ion looked at the way ahead, "What do you think? Shall we go back to town? Or continue?" He asked.

"Why not? Come on, let's explore a little," Silica smiled.

Ion nodded at her enthusiasm, "Sure, onwards it is then!"


The two kept going throughout the dungeon, Ion keeping his map open to register the route. Eventually, Silica started shivering, "it's getting chilly," she muttered.

"Really? I never really noticed," Ion raised an eyebrow, now that he noticed, he could see his breath was forming condensation. "We must be reaching the bottom of the dungeon, be prepared for anything, from a mini-boss to a monster house."

Silica nodded, "It's cold…" she whispered. Ion opened his menu, and made an adjustment to his avatar. Then he closed the window and took off his jacket, wrapping it around Silica.

"Here, I barely feel the cold, so you keep warm," He said kindly.

Silica took the jacket and put it on around her upper body, instantly, she began to feel even warmer.

Ion pressed on, causing Silica to hurry after him.


"I knew it…" Ion gave a feral grin, as before them was a large hound. It's body was bright blue, with darker blue patches on it's ears and body. It's tail was extremely fluffy looking, but Ion knew not to approach yet.

"What do you mean?" Silica asked, looking up at the dog.

"This is the real reason I saved this quest for last, because I heard this hound had a decent reward for defeating it in combat, however, no one ever had the guts to face it in battle," Ion said.

"Then what will you do?" Silica asked.

"I shall fight her. Alone," Ion said.

"What?" Silica asked. "Are you out of your mind?" She demanded.

"Maybe. But call me a bit of a thrill seeker," He smirked, drawing his sword.

The hound seemed to snarl at the weapon being brought to bear. Ion chuckled, as an HP gauge appeared, and a name. Ice Pack Mother.

"In the name of this sword, I shall defeat you," Ion yelled. And charged forward.


Ion leapt back as the wolf attempted to snap him in two, then slid sideways away from a paw swipe. After this, his sword glowed blue, and he activated the skill Neutron. The wolf growled in pain as she was struck, and her back paw lashed out to swat him away. Ion was knocked onto an icy area, and he carefully got to his feet, even as the wolf walked towards him.

"Big mistake, I live for the element of Ice!" he called out, and began to expertly skate across the ice with ease. Ion's sword lit up yellow, and he lunged forward with Shooting Star, then he leapt back before the counter could take place. But he miscalculated his movements, and slipped backwards into a cave on the far side of the cavern.

He sat up, and noticed something rather weird, a small version of the wolf was looking at him curiously. The little wolf gave a yip, before bounding onto his lap.

Silica heard Ion from the back cave, and rushed across, avoiding the wolf that prowled at the entrance with anger.

"Hey! Stop it!" Ion called out. Silica rushed in, dagger drawn…

To find a puppy wolf licking Ion's face. "Hey! That tickles!" Ion laughed.

He noticed the puppy stop, and nuzzle him affectionately. The mother wolf noticed this too, and seemed to stop snarling. Now, she was merely intrigued. A window appeared before Ion, and his eyes widened at what he saw.

'This Ice Wolf Puppy wants to become your familiar. Will you accept this burden?' It read.

Ion hesitantly pushed yes, and a keyboard appeared before him. Ion looked at Silica, "Could you check it's gender? I need to know before I come up with something," He asked.

"Don't look at me, that's your pet now," She giggled with a pout. Ion sighed, and looked under the puppy's tail.

"A girl, I'll call you…" and he entered the name he had decided on. A small health gauge appeared under his, with the name 'Aurora'.

He then turned to the mother, "I promise with all that I am, I will keep your pup safe," He said, sitting up into a kneel, head held low.

The mother came closer, and Silica watched numbly, as she bent her front legs, and seemed to bow as well.

"Huh… I made friends with a wolf, my day is done," Ion blinked, petting the mother's soft fur.


They stayed a little longer, until Ion deemed they should head back to society, waving goodbye to the mother wolf. She howled as she watched them leave.

Ion grinned, and glanced at the puppy that was riding on his right shoulder. "Aurora, I promise, we'll be good friends," he said.

He then turned to Silica, "May I continue to party up with you? I'd like some tips on training Familiars I guess," he asked.

"We can be friends too? Right?" Silica countered.

Ion's response was opening his window, and sending something to Silica.

'Ion wants you to be his friend. Accept?' She tapped yes without a glance.

"The four of us will be a team, how's that sound?" Ion asked.

"Sure!" Silica beamed.


Ion: Original chapter complete, it's not a dragon, and its attribute is ice, therefore, it's not copying Mataras.

Emma: I don't think anyone was arguing that it was...

Silica: Now we're a powerful team of swords and cute adorable familiars.

Kirito: Where am I at this time?

Ion: ... brooding over the death of Sachi...

Emma: Oh... right, no Mataras means no one to help her...

Silica: This'll be hard to remember.

Sachi: I can still join you here though!

All: Sachi!

Sachi: Next time: Light and Darkness