After a few months since the first floor has been cleared, the players have successfully cleared 9 out of the 100 floors. Asuna and Raven lead the raid of each floor, but the one player that wasn't seen in any of those raids, was Xero. What was also confusing, was that he had also requested to conceal his POV from the gym.

He hasn't streamed either since the first floor. Everyone is wondering as to why he doesn't want anyone to know what he's doing. Rumors spread within Xero and Raven's school, and students started to spread rumors such as: Him murdering players, raping female players, or even disregarding his own words he spoke after the first floor boss fight.

Everyone had tried to speak to him, but to no avail, he didn't reveal the reason for his actions. It was only until this day, that he had messaged both Raven and Asuna for a request, "Asuna, did you get a message from Xero asking for help with a quest?"

"Yeah, it's a little weird don't you think? He hasn't talked to either of us since the first floor, and if I'm correct, he hasn't said anything to you at school either, correct?" With a simple nod, they went to meet him where he told them to meet him in the message

-In front of the warp gate on Floor 8-

Once they spawned on the eighth floor, they looked around for Xero. They glance around and found him talking to someone with a large cloak surrounding their person. They walked over to him when they saw him. He noticed them walking over to him, and the girls saw his new equipment and more surprisingly, his weapon, "Xero? You look different... when did you...?"

"Hey girls, it's been a while. You two like my new armor?" Xero's new armor consisted a long cloak with a breast plate attached around it. The sleeves of the cloak seemed to have been cut off on the left side, and an arm guard covering his left arm. His lower garb consisted of white slacks and with a special type of boots with silver flames on it. His new weapon was no longer a sword, but a spear. The spear was double bladed and looked serrated. It looked really rare, and looks rarely used.

"Xero, can we continue going over our gameplan here?" The hooded player said as they proceed to tug on his cloak.

"I understand, girls, this is Argo. She's my main intel gatherer, and the most well known info broker in SAO. Argo, this is Raven, my classmate, and Asuna, one of my friends."

Argo stared at the both of them, and sighed, "How many times have you done it with them?" Both Asuna and Raven blushed heavily at Argo's question, and Xero just exhaled deeply.

"What the hell brought up that question?"

"Well... you know these two girls, and it's obvious that they have deep feelings for you, I mean look at how flustered they are!"

He turned towards the two girls, whose faces were redder than tomatoes, "Huh...," Xero turned towards a tavern towards the warp gate, "How about we go to that tavern over their, we can talk about the quest there...," Everyone nodded, and proceeded to head to the tavern. As they were walking he turned around, "Raven, I'm gonna talk to the officials using your POV," Raven nodded, and Xero proceeded to speak, "Alright, can you turn my POV back on. Sorry for not having my POV on for so long. I didn't think what I was doing was really entertaining, so you can go ahead and turn it back on. This quest is going to be... something..."

In the gym, the screen was adjusted so that they could watch his perspective. Everyone looked at his level, and Raven's level. The last time they compared the two's levels were when Xero was level 16 and Raven was level 13. Now the gap was bigger..., and by bigger, it was way bigger. Raven's level was peaking 25, but Xero was now... level 37. To be level 37 when you're only on the 10th floor was something you wouldn't see normally. This "Special Training" must've been brutal for him to reach that level.

-Inside the tavern-

"Argo, shall I explain the quest? You can take off where you left off once I reach that point."

Argo nodded, and Xero began explaining the quest, "Well, this quest is more of a... how do you say, um, 'friendship' quest?"

Both Asuna and Raven raised an eyebrow at his quotations, "Why the quotations?"

Xero was about to explain, but Argo interrupted him, "It's a special quest given to males with more than 2 female friends..."

Both girls felt the blood rush to their cheeks as they Argo explain, "Yeah, I didn't think they would have this, but they do. I was surprised too, and since the three of you are my closest female friends in this game, I figured it would be my best bet."

"Wait, you have more female friends?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I?" Asuna and Raven, even Argo got angry at what Xero said, "What's the matter?"

"Nothing!"

Xero sighed in confusion as he continued explaining, "Yeah, it's a compatibility test to see if a male player is going to have a decent marriage once the marriage update is applied. I don't know why Argo is forcing me to do this, but she did tell me that once we complete it, we would get a good chunk of col."

Asuna and Raven looked at each other, and nodded, "We'll do it, and I'll be the one to be the most compatible with you!" Raven said as she banged her fist on the table.

"Now hold on a second there Raven. Who said you were going to be the most compatible with him? If you ask me, I would be that likely heroine!" Asuna said in retort.

"Why would you be the most compatible with him? Unlike you, I actually go to school with him, so I could actually have a chance having a 'real' relationship with him, so ha!"

The spark of a love rivalry was eminent indeed, and even the dense Xero could see it, "Wow... I didn't think I was this popular..."

Argo sighed as she stood beside Xero, "They seem to have forgotten me...," Xero chuckled and rubbed her head, which caused both Asuna and Raven to eye him.

"Don't worry, it's all good. Either way, I got their attention doing that," They looked down upon Argo, who was now backed into a corner.

"Oh, and what about you Argo? How long have you known Xero?"

"I've known him since he was in middle school!" Both girls paused in shock, and Xero continued from what she said.

"Yeah, we used to be best friends in middle school before she moved away. I found out it was her a few months back, and she's been really helpful since the three of us split paths. Either way, we're all friends here, and this quest isn't going to tear us apart, correct?" Reluctantly, all the girls nodded, but the spark between the three grew stronger.

Xero stared in confusion, but shrugged it off either way, "Well, Argo, where do we go to start this quest?"

Argo pulled up her menu, and scrolled through it, "We are supposed to head to the Widower's Garden, and an NPC is supposed to meet us to show our quest briefing."

"Wait, wasn't it already given to you two?" Asuna asked in confusion.

"No, this quest was given to me yesterday, and Argo and I have been dissecting the quest. So, this is all that we could see into it."

"I see, well, shall we get a move on?"

Raven said as she stood up to stretch, "Sure thing, but let's go over our equipment first. We don't know what to expect from this quest, so it's best if we stock up on healing items, and check up on weapons," Everyone nodded as they prepared themselves for... a weird quest. Either way, these three girls are going to see if they are compatible with Xero, and they hope that they are...