Hey guys MT here!

I. Am. So. Extremely. Sorry!

I got SO backed up with crap to do because of all my procrastination. I waited until the last minute to do FOUR projects for my classes AND I had to do make-up work AND I had some tests and it's just been a bloody nightmare.

Good thing, though, is that you'll be getting a double chapter today to make-up for the last two weeks!

Anyways, ENJOY!

UPDATED 7/15/15

Chapter 10

"Hey, Agil, we're going for awhile. We're gonna explore the floor a bit and will be back tonight, wait up for us," I said as Aiko and I entered his shop through the furnace room door.

"Alright, man. Don't forget to sell me those ingots!" said Agil, speaking louder when he saw us walking towards the door. I held the door open for Aiko and, as she went through it, grinned at Agil and waved to him before following her out the door.

"Soooo, what are we going to check out first?" asked Aiko, curiously, the childlike curiosity beaming from her eyes. I opened up my menu and looked at an image of the map which had a small amount of info on it, things like locations of towns, the shape of the floor, and any notable locations. I picked a spot at random and found that there was some kind of watchtower midway to the edge of the floor. I felt Aiko peek over my shoulder to look at where I was pointing and I was sure she wanted to know.

"This watchtower is probably run by bandits. If we go we might find something nice in the chests and, since the floor just opened, no one should have touched it yet. If we go now we could probably get there, clean it out, and get back by 11pm," I explained, receiving nods of understanding from Aiko every once and awhile. I glanced at her with a worried expression, not sure if she was ready for fights yet. "Or we could do something else. I don't want to push you into a dangerous situation if you're not ready."

"Shikai…" began Aiko, forcing me to look her in the eye. "I'm ready to go. Just because something bad happened doesn't mean I get to just sit around and do nothing dangerous. I want to move on."

"…Okay, let's go," I said, wearing a small smile. I spun around and began to lead the way, Aiko smiling brightly and skipping beside me, happy she got her way.

It took us around 2 hours to get to the tower, running most of way, and we stopped to rest a couple yards from the tower.

The tower was old and falling apart. It was made out of gray bricks and towered above us, still coming nowhere near the size of the mangroves that surround it. I could easily see two bandit archers on the top, neither looking human.

"Aiko, we're going to have to run through to get inside the tower. Put on the chainmail I gave you in case we can't dodge all the arrows. Once we get inside, I'll cover you while you change into your plate armor," I explained, Aiko nodding at random parts. She opened her menu and did as I instructed before we moved into position to sprint. "Ready…set…GO!"

We both kicked off the ground and ran towards the tower, the guards seeing us when we were only a yard and a half away from the tower. We managed to weave past the few arrows shot at us and we ran into the tower. Both of us skidded to a stop and Aiko immediately entered her menu to swap her armor. I pulled out my blade and prepared for the bandits to arrive, two coming down to attack us.

"RAHH!" I shouted as I slammed my sword into the handle of the enemy bandit's war axe. The other attempted to slash at me with their jagged sword. Before I got a chance to even dodge it, Aiko ran in between us and caught its sword with her own. "Well you were quick to change."

"Of course! I'm not going to let you deal with this alone while I take my time!" shouted Aiko before throwing the bandit off her. In the moment of recoil, she slashed at the bandit, slicing right through their leather armor and doing massive damage to it with the effect of her sword.

I performed a similar action, however the enemy didn't recoil. Instead they took a step back and swung their axe at me, which I narrowly avoided, and pierced through their abdomen. The bandit roared in pain and attempted another swing but was unable to complete it as I had swiped my sword while in him and sliced him in half. The last of his health disappeared and he blew up into blue pixels. As I turned away from my kill, I could see Aiko finishing hers as well.

Before I could say anything, though, we heard more bandits shuffling upstairs. I quickly glanced at her and we nodded to each other before carefully going up the stairs. Aiko insisted on going first because she's a tank and could take attacks better. When we made it up there, we found a bandit that looked like an orc and another that looked like an elf, though its face was covered in scars.

They noticed us ascending the stairs and ran towards us, attacking Aiko first. The orc's hammer smashed into Aiko's armor, catching her off guard. I caught her when she fell back into me and stabbed in front of us at the elf that was attempting to slash at us.

"I'm okay, Shikai," said Aiko after regaining herself. She pushed off of me and ran up the remaining few steps, roaring and then stabbing into the arm of the elf. I ran up after her and kept the orc off of her, weaving between attacks, knowing it would be too difficult to take a hit with my sword. I heard Aiko cuss and I, against my better judgment, turned around to see what was wrong and found that the elf had managed to get a stab into the inner elbow, in between the armor plates.

I heard the orc roar at me and I turned, only to be met with a hammer smash to the face. I was thrown back, smashing into the wall of the tower, and I heard Aiko scream my name. I was disoriented from the hit, how sudden it was, and I knew it was completely my fault. I struggled to get up, trying to regain a proper orientation, and I dragged my hand down my face. I peeked between my fingers and glared at the orc who was now making his way towards me.

I don't know about everybody else, but getting smashed in the face with a giant hammer, pisses me off. Especially because I was stupid enough to take my eyes off my opponent.

I roared and swiped upward once it was close enough, slicing off an arm of the orc. The orc staggered and I growled, low and threateningly. I knew Aiko was probably looking at me, because that was the same growl I used when I killed her brother. It means I was pissed and going to overdo it again. And look and behold, I did.

After I cut off the arm of the orc, who by the way had a lot of health, I stabbed its other hand, causing it to drop its hammer and then proceeded to cut off each limb, grinning, wildly as I did so. I really need to control my emotions better. Though this game isn't helping much. Before I realized it, I had already killed the orc and was looking for more bandits to kill before Aiko appeared before me, placing her hands on my chest. I glanced at her, eyebrow cocked in confusion at who would be touching me. I realized Aiko was looking at me with a worried expression and I snapped out of my mood almost immediately.

"Shikai?" she asked when my shoulders relaxed and my eyes softened. I lifted my free hand to caress the hand she had on my chest and I smiled at her.

"Thanks," I said, simply, eliciting a relieved smile from her. Our moment lasted only a moment, though, when another bandit appeared from the top floor along with the bandit chief. The bandit chief looked like a regular human but he must have been extremely strong because he was carrying an enormous battleaxe that could probably slice through steel armor in one chop.

Aiko and I moved into battle positions and it only took a moment for us to engage the two. I decided to take on the chief but I promised Aiko I wouldn't get too into it until she got to it. It only took a couple minutes for her to defeat the last bandit and she was at my side to help with the chief.

The chief was fairly easy to dodge because of the slow speed of swinging such a large weapon. Aiko attempted to stab him while I distracted him, I being able to easily dodge with my light armor.

Aiko managed to stab him twice before his attention turned to her and she narrowly avoided being slashed before I sliced the chief in half with one, powerful slash which took out the remaining third of his health. The chief burst into blue pixels and we received a message that said 'Congratulations! You have cleared the Lagoon Watchtower!'

"Yay! We cleared the tower!" shouted Aiko, happily, while jumping up and pumping her fist in the air. I smiled and watched her do a bit of a victory dance before I remembered we hadn't checked out the loot chest at the top.

"Hey, Aiko, let's check out the chest before you start going nuts. There's gotta be some good loot to get," I said, cracking a bright grin at her. She ceased her dance and nodded at me before the two of us sheathed our weapons and began up the stairs towards the chest.

Aiko and I were just entering town when the large clock in its center struck 11pm.

After we looted the chest, we had inspected the surrounding area for any interesting things and then proceeded to walk back to the village, not really wanting to rush.

"Why don't you go and book us a room at the inn while I meet up with Agil and sell the ingots and armor I made," I said, pointing towards Agil's shop.

"M'Kay! Don't take too long! It's late and it will be good to get an early start," said Aiko, winking at me. I grinned and nodded at her before she ran off towards the inn to book us a room. I watched her disappear into the building and then I began to walk towards Agil's shop. I could see the lights on the second floor, the residential rooms, were on and I climbed up the outdoor steps and knocked on the door.

"Hey! Agil! I'm back!" I shouted, hoping he would hear me. I could hear someone trip and curse, loudly, from the other side of the door and a minute later, the door opened.

"Shikai? That you? Man, you sure know how to take your time," said Agil.

"You okay there? I heard something crash," I said, cocking a brow in curiosity.

"Yeah, just tripped over my chair. I was fallin' asleep waitin' for you when you knocked," said Agil, making my roll my eyes and smirk. "Anyways! Come on in so you can sell me your stuff."

I nodded and followed Agil inside, both of us sitting down at the table he had in the middle of his room.

"So, where's Aiko? Thought she'd still be with you," said Agil, calmly.

"She went to find us a room for tonight," I said, casually, causing Agil to give me a look.

"You two are sharin' a room? That's a little suspicious, y'know," said Agil, rubbing his chin and looking at me suspiciously. I blushed, violently, after I realized what he meant by that and I waved my hands in front of me and tried to defend myself.

"I-It's not like that! I don't sleep in the bed, she does! I usually sleep on the floor!" I shouted, nervously. Agil eyed me suspiciously before breaking out into laughter, causing me to laugh, nervously. "A-Anyways, why don't we get through the trade?"

"Alright then," said Agil before I showed him what I had to sell. We went back and forth on prices for a bit, Agil trying to give me low amounts for the armor, and I trying to get reasonable amounts for it. We laughed, we argued, and before we knew it, it was almost midnight.

"Alright, Agil, I'll try to stop by again, soon. Aiko and I will probably go exploring again tomorrow," I said as I waved to Agil and began making my way down the stairs.

"Alright, man. Take care, and remember to take care of that girl. She's pretty cheerful and seems like someone to get into trouble, she'll need someone to protect her," said Agil, a bright smile on his face. I grinned at him and turned back around, throwing a hand up to say goodbye. I heard the door close, but didn't turn, wanting to get to the inn to see Aiko. She'll probably be mad that I took so long after she told me not to. Meh, she's cute when she's mad so I guess I won't be that annoyed.

After entering the inn, I went straight to the innkeeper, who was another player, in order to find out what room Aiko's in.

"Hey, innkeeper. A silver haired girl came in here about an hour ago, name's Aiko. Do you know what room she's in? I messaged her but she didn't answer," I said, leaning on the counter.

"Girl with silver hair? No, none like her," he said, causing my face to scrunch up in confusion.

"Uh…are there any other inns in town?" I asked, becoming a bit worried.

"No, this is the only one. Whoever this girl is, she didn't come here. Though I did have some suspicious characters come in asking for someone named Shikai. Told them I never heard of him but they left a note with me anyways," said the innkeeper, piquing my interest.

"That's me! Where's the note?" I asked, worried by the description being 'suspicious characters'. The innkeeper slipped the note onto the counter and I quickly picked it up and cussed.

We have Aiko. We'll meet you on the 9th floor in one week. It should be open by then. Look for a hooded figure when you arrive via teleport gate. –PoH

Who the fuck is PoH!? And why did they kidnap Aiko?! DAMMNIT!

So? What did you guys think?

I swear on my life that LC is my FAVORITE evil organization for more realistic anime like SAO. Therefore they will be the main villain for awhile.

Anyways, go ahead and check out the second chapter and Review