A:N I have corrected some spelling errors in previous chapters.

Additionally, I'd like to thank those who have favored and followed this story, and a special thanks to Lojky for his review.

Here is chapter 4. Enjoy!

The Lioness could tell that everyone was nervous as they waited for Asuna to begin the meeting. Several days ago, the Knights of the Blood Oath had found the boss room for floor 76, and having all the data they could find on the boss, it was decided that there wasn't any need in waiting around. And so it was that Leopon found herself standing beside Klien anxiously waiting to get the show on the road.

Watching as she addressed the group, she watched her best friend, well at least friend that was a girl. Wait a moment, whatever happened to Heathcliff? She hadn't heard of all of the events which transpired at the boss fight of floor 75, so she was kinda in the dark about what had happened.

Eventually, the meeting died down and those in the Furinkazen grouped together to begin the mass teleport. "Alright guys, remember, we all make it out alive, alright?" Klien reminded them. Leopon let out a nod of determination.

"There's no way I'm gonna die." she muttered determinedly. Not by my father's creation. She added silently as she followed her guild leader into the bosses room. Getting a good look at the boss, she confirmed her suspicions. Gastlygaze? Looks more like some of those eye balls which I've fought in the hollow area.

Before she knew it, she was in a literal sword dance, slashing and hacking whenever she got the chance to. Preforming a double back flip to escape an incoming laser blast from the foe's large eye, she unleashed her Knights charge skill, which was one of the offensive shield-type sword skills which you could begin to learn once your shield's proficiency was maxed out.

Knight's charge was a powerful 2 move sword skill in which the user charged the enemy with his or her shield, then follow up with a sword jab. The skill itself was basic, and anyone who maxed out their shield skills would automatically acquire it. However, as it was normally considered a beginners skill, it wasn't something you'd use in a boss fight.

Unless you where a level 143 Leopon with the offensive shield unique skill. Due to this skill, Knight's Charge was much more powerful. Combine that with her level and her Red's Thornbaron and you have a very powerful combination. Her single skill took a considerable size chunk out of the boss's hp gaze, and she noticed that she had inflicted a bleeding effect on the enemy.

"Now's our chance!" Someone yelled, before nearly half of the assult team rushed in while the bleeding effect was still in effect. Leopon however retreated to the back lines and slumped over for a bit, tring to catch her breath.

"You okay Leopon, maybe you oughta fall back?" Klien remarked, pausing briefly to gaze at his friend.

Leopon let out a sigh. "No, I'll be fine," she deadpanned before rushing back into the battle. She let out a ripe larwne on the boss, before switching with Klien. "We've got this," she muttered determinedly.

On and on this went, for about the next 15 minuets, till finally, Leopon swung at the boss, and causing it to shatter into a million peaces. Huffing from fatigue, she gazed ahead, then turn to the girl whom was about to be hit by the boss before Leopon intervened. "You alright?"

"Yeah, thanks to you," the girl replied, her light green eyes dull with fright, but her face had a small smile plastered on it. "That way you finished the boss off was amazing."

In her tiredness, Leopon didn't know what she meant by that and she simply turned to Klien. "Can we go back to the inn now, I feel like I'm going to fall over." she whined tiredly.

Klien gave her a reassuring smile. "Sure, anything for you, champ."

Real world:

"We've got another update from Cardinal."

"Well, read it on my doc,"

"Ahem, it says, DOK, LAB-76, TRD, FND-KLN, ESC, INN."

"Alright, so that means daughter of Kayaba achieved the last attack bonus for floor 76. She tired, and one of her friends is escorting her to one of the inns."

Taking a look at the monitor, he sighed in relief at her brainwaves. "Whoever this friend is, Lyra must really like him a lot." he commented, noticing similar patterns which show up when a couple holds hands.

Ancrad:

She found herself waking up to the familiar face of Asuna gazing worriedly at her. "Did... did we beat the boss?" Leopon asked, her voice groggy as she sat up and gazed at her friend.

"Yeah, we did."

Leopon let out a sigh of relief. "How many did we lose."

Asuna smiled at that. "No one." she then gazed seriously at Leopon. "Do you remember the girl you saved at the end of the fight?"

I...I saved someone? Leopon thought frantically, desperately trying to remember. She then shook her head no. "I... I'm sorry Asuna, but I don't."

Shock met Asuna's face, and Leopon could easily see that her friend was worried. "Hey listen," Asuna finally began after a moment of silence. "If there is something affecting you, you'd tell me, right?" Asuna's face was serious now. "Me and Klien have noticed you've been getting tired lately, and we've been really worried."

How...How can I tell them? They...they will put me on the side lines for sure, Leopon thought, before sighing. "Alright, but please, don't tell anyone else, especially Klien or the Furinkazin. I... I need to tell them myself."

I kinda figured something was wrong, Asuna thought. "Alright, but you have to tell Klien." Asuna's gaze then softened. "He loves you very much, and if something was going to put you in unnecessary danger, then he need to know." She paused, before hitting the nail on the coffin. "Imagine how he would have felt had you died because he took you on a quest or boss raid and your condition made you unfit for the job."

Shuddering, Leopon burst into tears, realizing how close he was to death. She tried to dry them away quickly, but they kept coming. "I'm sorry, but your right." she whimpered. "There is something wrong, and I've been putting myself at risk too much."

Looking up at her friend, she recomposed herself, though her voice was sad. "Promise me that you'll make sure Klien doesn't just toss me aside after I tell him. It's not that I distrust him, but he works so hard with the furinkazin... and he might get distracted."

Asuna nodded. "Sure,"

Leopon prepared herself. "Okay, in the real world, I have this disease called Optimalhypoamsomnea, a medical condition where the body thinks it is tired when it isn't. They are two variation to it, variation A, where the brain Randall picks up on tiredness, and variation B, which is the one I have. Variation B Optimalhypoamsomnea occurs after person has expanded a certain amount of energy, about the equivalent of 80 minuets worth of a moderate work-out in my case.

"But a boss fight is considered to be about the same as an hour's worth of a difficult work out. And most quest are similar to a 70 minute work out, so that would mean..." Asuna's eyes widened in shock. "Leopon! Most of the time you are overexerting yourself, haven't you?"

Leopon nodded sadly. "See, here is the thing though. If this was what sword art online had been sold to the public as, a VRMMO, I could fight for several hours without getting tired, as the body isn't exerting an large amount of energy. However, because I've been in SAO for so long that...

"Your mind has started rendering your actions in the game as the same as if you where working that hard in the real world." Asuna finished.

Giving out a yawn, Leopon nodded. "I'm still kinda tired, but can I ask you a few things before I go back to bed?" she asked sheepishly.

Asuna understood. Between telling her of her secrete and blanking out at the end of the match, Leopon needed some answers. "I'll just tell you everything, alright? If I miss anything, you can ask me after."

Leopon nodded, before lying down, still gazing at her friend. "Alright, I'm ready Asuna."

"Well, for starters, the girl you saved was named Amy, and she'd like to meet with you later. Klien has the details. After the match, Klien carried you to the inn, and stood beside you for at least 6 hours before he fell asleep. I've been with you for two hours." Asuna paused for a moment before remembering something important. "Oh, and you got the last attack bonus."

Leopon sat up promptly, excited. "Wait, what?" she squealed before opening her inventory, noticing a sword. Getting up, she equipped the sword, a purple sword with quadruple blades. "This is rather different," she commented, before sheathing it. "Well, although my rapair skills are in top notch, my one handed sword skills are pretty good, and considering recent events, I think I might use this sword some.

Asuna could not help but to let out a chuckle at the girl's excitement. "I think it's a great weapon for you."

Leopon nodded. "Thanks!" She then the sword back in her inventory. "I might take it out tomorrow and practice with it a bit." She then paused for a second. "I won't go far, though."

Real world:

"Her scans show excitement, similar to someone getting a gift, but different."

The nurse had a suspicion. "Is their any sign of models 125-B?"

Glancing at the monitor, one of the staff workers shook his head. "Nope!"

Adjusting her glasses, the nurse let out a chuckle. "She must have realized that she had the last attack bonus, then."

About three hours after the last message, Cardinal had sent in another message. As it turned out, this message was actually stats for a weapon, followed by the code LEO-LAB-EQP. It about the sixth time Cardinal had done that, but the last had been code LEO-EQP-RTB.

"I wonder if Leopon knows who Cardinal really is to her?" The nurse asked quietly.