Chapter 9: A Year In Aincrad, A Day In Hell.

I wake to the monotonous, familiar sound of tiny bells chiming. My eyes venture out from under my covers, and across the room I see Jade hitting buttons in her inventory menu as she equips the white, light metal gear Klein and I brought for the day before. With her new short plate-skirt and slim chest-plate, I can't help but stare at the figure enveloped in a dim light from outside. It then strikes me just how dark the room is.

...what time is it?

I pull up my inventory window, and the ringing sound it generates as it opens makes Jade slowly turns her head towards me.

"You're awake." she states.

Really? I hadn't noticed.

"No Jade, I'm afraid your eyes deceive you. I'm unconscious and dreaming, or at the very, least I wish I was." I reply grumpily.

The time displayed in a unforgiving plain font on my screen reads [4:00AM].

"Why are we awake so ear-" I cut myself off when I see the way that Jade is looking at me. Her nose is turned up, and her arms are crossed in front of her. If I didn't know better, I'd think she was a teacher staring down at a mischievous student.

"Well...you were saying?" Jade takes a step towards me as she speaks, and I suddenly sense a previously undetected aura of resentment radiating from her very figure. I, up until now, had no idea that such a feeling was possible inside Virtual Reality, but to my horror it is. The shock of this discovery mixed with Jade's terrifying demeanour frightens me into pulling my blanket up to my nose, as if a thin layer of cotton could protect me from my companion's wrath.

"What's wrong, Klaes? You were saying something, weren't you?" Jade's voice has lost its usual soft and sing-song tone and now resembles the sharpening of a million knives.

Why is she so ill-tempered?

For the life of me, I cannot remember what has vexed this woman so, and in a attempt to reconcile I quite foolishly decide to joke around with her.

"You're not a morning person, are you?" I grin like an idiot as these words escape my mouth and very quickly regret it.

Jade leaps up onto my bed, and a shining boot comes crashing down onto my stomach. I gasp in pain as Jade digs her heel into my skin, but luckily the damage is too superficial to drop my HP bar. I glance up at my attacker, and a shiver runs down my spine. If fury were to be captured in a single image, it would be appropriate to take a picture of Jade's face.

"Ahhh! JADE! JADE! STOP IT!"

"You IDIOT! After what you did you don't even apologize?!"

"Apologize for wha-" I stop myself, but it's too late. Jade's eyebrow twitches, and I can do nothing but watch in terror as she begins to draw her blade. Luckily, it is at that very moment that I remember what happened the night before. A vivid image of Jade slapping me enters my mind; unfortunately, this memory is paired with a very accurate recollection of what she was wearing, and my face flushes up immediately.

At the sight of my crimson cheeks, Jade sheaths her light red blade back an inch into its scabbard, and leans her face down towards mine. Her foot is still pressing down hard onto me, but with the danger of instant death no longer present I relax a little.

"I'm sorry for..."

Wait, what the hell am I apologizing for? She's the one that jumped out of her bed, and that wasn't my fault.

Now, in a normal situation, I would just apologize regularly and pretend I didn't take issue with it. However, this was Jade I was dealing with, and I'd rather mess with the girl who never thanked me for saving her than cave in so easily.

This may cost me my life.

Jade nods her head. "Go on, go on, hurry up and say it already!" I'm not psychic, but it's easy enough to tell that's what she's thinking.

"I'm am truly and deeply sorry," I bow my head slightly as part of the act. "Sorry that your underwear does not match. Truly, it is a tragedy. I promise to buy you a matching pair as soon as possible." I grin wildly as her face reddens up, bracing myself the death I have chosen.

In a blur of dirty blonde hair and armour the colour of snow, Jade draws her blade and jumps down on me. Before I can move, she pounces, pinning me down by sitting on my lower stomach and causing me to cry out in pain as the full weight of her plate armour crashes down on me. She has her left hand grasping my neck, her right aiming her light red sword towards my nose. For the first time since the day I met her in the snow, I get to admire from close up the runic patterns of her sword, and the slightly jagged edges which accentuate both its menace and beauty. I cannot see Jade's facial expression under the curtain of her blonde hair that hides it, but I imagine it is one that resembles her blade. Two things: both equally beautiful and prepared to slit my throat open.

"Excuse..me...I don't think I heard you right, could you say that again?" Jade's words are doused in venom.

Do I die laughing or apologize and live?

I look up at the blonde. Even through her veil of darkened gold, I can feel her gaze piercing into my soul.

"Jade, I'm sorry about yesterday." Jade bows her head a little, and she lowers her blade. "I really, really didn't mean to stare, it's just that..."

Jade's blade returns to my neck.

Ehhh... I remember what happened last time I commented on her figure and deem it not a good idea to repeat the same mistake.

"I didn't realize until it was too late, okay?" Jade lowers her blade again.

"It was humiliating, you know?" Jade says, the softness in her voice returned. She lets go of my neck and straightens herself out again, sighing. Her face is still slightly blushed, but more of mild embarrassment than anger.

"Yeah, I know. My bad." I apologize once more, and Jade's face goes back to its normal indifferent state.

"Well, the others are waiting for us, shall we go?" Jade asks.

I put my hand on her waist to push her off and I open my mouth to state the obvious answer, but I don't have time to answer the question because before I can speak the door bursts open to reveal Klein and Argo standing in the doorway. Upon seeing Jade and I, Klein's jaw goes as wide as a boss door, and I'm sure Argo begins to giggle under her hood.

What's up with their reactions?

Then, it hits me. Here we are, Jade sitting atop my lower abdomen and her legs to either side of me. Her blade is hanging loosely at her side, and my hand is on her waist. Granted, there is a sheet between my body and hers, however...

"Wedidntmeantointrude!Sorry!" Klein fires out words like a machine gun and then slams the door shut hurriedly. Argo's laugh rings out from the other side.

Oh, God of Misunderstandings.

Jade, much like a star would, reddens until she explodes.

"Corridor: Sand Stone Desert!"

The air shimmers as the corridor crystal activates, slightly blurring out all that lies behind its transparent gate. Klein takes a step toward the gateway and then turns to face the rest of us.

"All right, according to the information Argo gave us, we're about to step into the 43rd floor, about a half mile away from the city of Aradu. It's the only city we've encountered in Aincrad up until now that is not a safe zone, so be on your guard. Additionally, I recently received a message from a friend I have up on the front-line warning me about some kind of irregularity with the mobs. When we step in there, be ready for a fight." Klein's words, packed full with confidence ring out towards the other 13 players of the group. "Right. To Aradu, the Sand Stone City!"

"To Aradu!" the Furinkazan guild cheers wholeheartedly.

I look far to my left towards Argo and Jade, who are standing as far away from me as they possibly could be. After the misunderstanding this morning, Jade, who had just the other day taken ages to get ready, had somehow grabbed the rest of her gear and dashed out before I could stop her. I hadn't had a chance to speak with her since then, and I'd rather not help the rumours spread. They were bad enough already.

Klein turns around, draws his blade, and steps through the barrier. I follow suit, feeling the eyes of his entire guild digging into the back of my head, and my orange cursor. A chill breeze hits me as a I phase through the corridor, jumping instantly from the 42nd floor to the 43rd.

Behind me, twelve other sets of feet crunch onto the sand, and there is a small zap as the corridor closes behind us.

At [8:05AM], on November the 6th, year 2023, our merry band of quest-undertaking misfits and mercenaries arrive on the 43rd floor with all the likelihood of clearing my bad name. Just a few weeks ago, I was a solo player trudging up this giant castle called Aincrad, alone and stuck with orange status, having no intentions of having friends or guildmates apart from the bandits that I occasionally collaborated with.

Now, I'm backed by a large group of green players, who, although they don't trust me, are ready to work with me to re-set my status to green. Things have changed very quickly, and when I think about it, it was all because I jumped in to save Jade.

"Klaes, you're spacing out." Klein says.

Oh, right. Name's not cleared yet.

"Yeah, sorry." I have no idea why I apologize, but Klein smiles. Before he turns away, I see him look for a millisecond up at my colour cursor. Normally, such a gesture would irritate me, but nothing can down my mood right now.

I look out at the vast floor in front of me. It is no traditional desert, large and jagged sand-stone cliffs dot the landscape, and I can see multiple lakes in the distance. The traditional sea of sand-dunes which you usually find in fantasy games is not present, at least not on this floor.

So this is the front-line, huh?

It seems the information Argo gave was correct. About half a mile away a gigantic, pale yellow wall marks the gateway of Aradu. Sand Stone City – aptly named – is tucked neatly inside a colossal crevice which cuts through a mountain of sand-coloured rock, the tip of which only seems to be a hundred feet from the roof of this floor. Behind the city, it is possible to see the obsidian tower which represents the climb up to the next floor. Unfortunately, this entire set up lies on top of another sand stone plateau, this one about 20 meters high and a quarter mile away from us. To reach the city walls, we'll first have to scale that.

A longer walk than expected, huh?

"The palace is around the centre of the city. We should head out now so we can reach it before 10." Argo yells out as she starts to march across the desert. Shrugging and nodding in agreement, Klein calls his guild into their marching positions.
"Five-Five-One formation, march!"

The guild trots into two lines, tanks at the back, long-ranged fighters and damage-per-second based swordsmen in the middle, and Klein heading at the front.

Hmm...what a strange strategy.

We begin the journey to the Sand-Stone City in three close but separated groups. On the far right is yours truly, a heavy hitting one-handed criminal player, in the middle is the mercenary group Furinkazan, and on the as-far-away-from-Klaes-as-possible left is Jade, who appears to be talking with Argo. With this set-up, and me in my lonely sector of the group, we begin the journey over the rocky outcrop of the 43rd floor.

Five minutes into the journey, I see the information broker of our group start to coast towards my side of the pack. Argo passes Furinkazan, and makes a beeline towards me. Before I can run into the midst of Furinkazan and start talking to Klein, she places herself happily by my side.

There's only one thing a information broker could want...

"Soooo, how'd you two meeT?" Argo asks.

Predictable.

Instead of playing along, I go with the "cold and hostile" option in a attempt to shoo the Rat away.

"Why don't you just ask her about it?" I keep my voice flat.

"Because every time I do, she gets irritateD."

"I wonder why?" my words are voids, empty of all compassion, interest and care. In this void, I throw in a bit of dryness and sarcasm.

"Aww, c'mon KlaeS. I am paying for Furinkazan, after alL."

My jaw practically hits the sand below my feet.

"You're doing WHAT?"

"Shhhh, I've told them you're the one who's sending them the cash, so keep quieT."

"But why?"

"Because I value information a lot more than money, and you do not have enough cash to pay them, correcT?" Argo's reasoning is, unfortunately, spot on. I don't have enough money, although I might have had just enough if it hadn't been for one unpredictably expensive factor – Jade – which has been dragging down my total cash by quite a bit. However, for a top information broker like Argo, a few mega-col means nothing if she could get the right information out of it.

"WelL?" The broker asks.

I groan in frustration.

When she's cutting me a deal like this, I can't exactly refuse.

"What do you want to know?" I resign to my fate.

The information broker grins, the lines on her cheeks growing wider as she bares her teeth.

"Considering this is one of the few friends you've made inside the game, and for the sake of researcH..." Don't do it. I mentally try to stop the Rat from releasing the last words from her mouth, but alas mind control isn't a skill in Sword Art Online, so it doesn't work.

"I want to know everything, from the very starT." Once again, predictable, Argo.

"Why would you need to know everything? Can't I just tell yo-"

"Everything. Because there might be pre-existing conditions you forget to mentioN." Argo states matter of factly.

"..." I'm lost for words.

"PleasE? I can't call it the Complete Quest Walkthrough Guide if it isn't completE."

"Okay...you win. About four days ago, I ran into a high level NPC on the 40th floor..." I begin to recount the events of the last few days in high detail.

[8:42AM, November 6th, 2023. Sand Stone Desert, 0.25 Miles away from Aradu.]

"and...yeah. That's pretty much it." I finish my story as I swing my arm up, grabbing the next rock and pulling myself up a few inches. The quest group is currently climbing the Sand Stone

"Ahhh, so it was a misunderstanding, just as Jade saiD. What a shamE." The Rat's ink whiskers tilt downwards with her cheeks as she bows her head in disappointment. The Rat, with her high AGI, is a few feet above me on the mountain side.

"How is that in any way dis – gurgh – disappointing?" I question the information broker whilst trying to climb, which results in me grunting from effort midway through my sentence. Argo seems to ignore this piece of information.

"Because 'it was all just bad timing' is a far more boring and cheap piece of info than its alternativE." The rat launches herself up a few more rocks, skilfully using her agility to scale the cliff-side.

I struggle to keep up and end up slamming my «Climbers Pick» into the Sand Stone in front of me and taking a break. During my rest, I reply. "Cheap and boring or not, the truth is always worth more."

"AgreeD. Clients do not appreciate getting falsifications or twisted version of the trutH." Argo then cracks a slight smile as she continues. "I wish it were true thougH. You and Jade do get along quite well, thougH."

"Then why have you two followed each other into hell and high water when it would be far easier to just walk away with the usual 'oranges and greens can't work together excusE?'" Indeed. Argo has a point, as I've given this same excuse to many greens I've helped along the way, the Rat herself included, however...

"We've made a contract; that's all there is to it." I decide.

"Isn't a relationship simply a agreement between two people who care for each otheR?"

"No, no. It's a bit more than tha– " I stop myself mid-way, because when I think about it...there isn't really much more to it. Argo slides down towards me a little way and then signals for me to start climbing again. I begin scaling, but I do so without saying another word.

"What's wrong, Rat got your tonguE?" Argo snorts in amusement.

I finally find a way to justify my actions within the last few days.

"It's a temporary contract, not a permanent partnership." I say.

Argo vaults over the last rock, rolling onto the top. I follow soon after, scrambling up the cliff face. She looks at me from a few feet to my right and at that moment I realize her mischievous smile is gone.

"Foolish." Argo's tone is abnormally harsh, and this level of bluntness is rare from such a slippery information broker.

"What?" I'm taken aback.

"Foolish. That is what you arE. You say temporary like it holds no meaning in this world, like permanent means something in AincraD." As Argo's voice raises, I suddenly feel glad that Furinkazan and Jade still have a good few meters to go before reaching the top. This is a side of Argo I had never seen before, and I have no doubt Klein would be shocked if he saw this.

What's up with her?

Argo walks up and draws her claws up to my neck. I flinch, slide back instinctively, and almost draw my hand up to my blade. Argo smiles bitterly, and then spits out: "See how you step back to protect yourself? It is because you know your life could end here at this very momenT. This world, its population, its people, is finitE. We are a few thousand striving endlessly towards a goal, and regardless of the end outcome, we will leave this world, either by death or clearing the final flooR. When either one of those days come, Aincrad will cease to exisT. Even you, Klaes, your life as a orange player will end in time. Whether it be in a few hours, or days, or weeks, or months, or years from noW. It doesn't matter if this quest doesn't clear your criminal status – although it probably will – because you'll eventually be free of both it and this worlD. Nothing is permenanT." She spits the last words out.

Argo...this isn't like you.

I stand with my jaw agape. Never had I seen a burst of emotion so powerful from the broker.

Argo gasps as the words she has spoken register in her own mind.

As a information broker with a "no bias, just information" policy, she has just broken her own code severely. If I tell the others what happened here, she loses all credibility as a broker. Quite clearly, Argo knows this, as she scrambles to apologize.

"I'm sorry, it's just that I've heard about so many horrible things happening to players in the recent floorS... I..."

I understand.

In Sword Art Online, breakdowns are not a uncommon occurrence. Being thrown against your own will into a brutal and unforgiving world where death is a daily thing broke many players, and the high casualty rates from the first few months of the game only made matters worse. Information brokers, those whose job it was to learn of everything that happened in the castle, occasionally would crack upon hearing of a particularly horrendous or tragic death. Argo had never shown signs of letting the world drag her down and that was her selling point as a broker, but it looks like its finally gotten through.

You're right, Argo. Nothing here is permanent. I can't believe I haven't realized it earlier, after all that has happened.

I place my hand on the top of her head, Argo stops apologizing mid phrase. Her eyes are filled with terror, expecting me to scream her down and disgrace her as a informant.
"Well, this is a stroke of good luck." I say.

"...eh?"

"That's the most information I've ever received from a informant for free." I claim.

Argo's jaw drops.

"You really are a terrible broker, you know that? You could have charged me a few mega col for what you just taught me." I tell the Rat. A weak smile finds its way onto Argo's face, and some of the usual mischief returns to her eyes.

"Cherish it, KlaeS. You're never getting that much out of me agaiN."

"I'm sure of that."

Argo laughs at my response, probably as much out of relief as of actual happiness.

"I'll talk to Jade."

"Go, white knighT." Argo douses her words in sarcasm as I turn to walk toward the cliff. "Just one more thing; make sure history doesn't repeat itselF." She says this in full seriousness.

I turn to her and smile weakly. "It won't, don't worry." I assure Argo.

I'll make sure it won't happen again. That's the most I can do for you, Arissa.

I take a few steps towards the cliff, and then lie down and crawl forward to the verge of the sand stone monstrosity. I nudge my head over the edge to see a mess of white armour and dirty blonde hair hangs a few feet under me, Jade's hands grasping onto a rock. I blink whilst looking down at her, and when I open my eyes in Jade's place is a girl with hair the colour of midnight and electric blue eyes. Startled, I blink again, breaking the illusion and once again placing Jade before me. Despite myself, I feel a smile make its way onto my face when I see that she has returned.

Four days is a long time in Aincrad, huh? To confuse those two means she's had more of a impression than expected.

"What the hell are you smiling at?" Jade's looks up at me, irritated at my expression and obviously worn out by the climb.

"A damsel in distress that's getting her dress all tangled up on the rocks, that's all."

"Hah. Hah. Hilarious." Jade spits out the words as she clings onto the stone, the drop behind her a good 19 meters of thin air.

"If you find it that funny, perhaps I should stop joking around before I make you laugh so hard you loose your grip." I smirk as I stare down at the blonde, who is struggling to stay stable on the face of the cliff.

Jade lets out a exasperated gasp and moves her foot up slightly. Further to the right, I see Furinkazan make the last stretch and roll themselves over onto the flat ground. It is then when I realize tank-class players just beat Jade up the cliff.

What's taking her so long?

It is then that I notice that my companion is trembling. Surely enough, she's shaking slightly as she clutches the sand stone before her. For a split second, she looks down, and I see her dart her eyes back in front of her in fear.

You're kidding me.

"Heyyyy Jade, need a hand there?" I say in a sing-song tone.

"I'm fine!" She exclaims, tightening her grip on the stone.

Stubborn as always, I see.

"Really? You seem a little bit frightened... could it be that you're afrai-"

"GAH! YES! I am afraid of heights! Fearful, scared, terrified, whatever the hell you want to call it!" Jade cuts me off in a outburst.

Ah-hah!

I grin as I hang my head over the limit, cherishing my victory in this small battle.

"Well then..." I reach out my hand to her.

She hesitates for a second, but then looks at the drop behind her and shakes her head.

"...I'm not forgiving you for this morning. You owe me a very expensive meal."

"I have no doubt about that, Jade."

She smiles and then reaches out, grabbing my hand. I smile back, and then put my STR into getting her up onto the plateau.

I pull my companion over the top and onto steady ground. She dusts herself off and then walks past me to stare at Aradu., the Sand Stone City. I walk to her side, and we both look out past the vast landscape of sand-stone and small lakes at the city tucked neatly in-between stones.

"We won't have to climb another one of these, right?" Jade asks.

"Not as far as I can see." I answer honestly.

"Good, I don't like cliffs."

You also don't like paying for food, and orange players, and when your companion hides stuff, and when people get the wrong impression.

"You don't like a lot of things." I say.

"True, but there are exceptions to everything I deeply dislike."

"Oh really?" Her response intrigues me, and I foolishly play into it.

"Yes, I've met a orange player who I don't deeply dislike..." A feeling of warmth enters my chest, despite myself.

Is this tenderness, from Jade?

"I simply find him to be lewd, arrogant, and paranoid, but somewhat dependable." Jade's words crush the warm feeling in my chest and replace it with the same frigid degradation that I've learned is key to her character.

From kindness to blatant degradation. Why does she always do that?

"I'm truly honoured that you depend on me." I say.

"Even a orange player has his uses."

"At least this orange player would have told his companion that he was scared of heights before starting to clamber up a twenty meter cliff."

Jade spins around on the balls of her feet and pokes me in the chest with her finger, her face slightly flushed from humiliation. "I would have told you, but you seemed to be having soooo much fun with Argo that I didn't want to interrupt!" Jade raises her voice.

You can't let her use that as a excuse, Klaes. Its just too pathetic.

"Excuse me, but if I recall correctly you were the childish one that made sure were half a bloody mile away from each-other the entire journey!" I raise my voice past hers, and she flushes red at my words.

"Did you just call me childish?" Jade is indignant.

"Damn right I did!"

Jade immediately denies it, and accuses me of causing the misunderstanding in the first place. In the space of a few seconds, we go from loud voices to yelling at each-other, with Furinkazan and Argo staring at us awkwardly. The argument rages on, and about two minutes in Jade begins accusing me of cheating during our small competition over who could kill the most stone statues. Just as I scramble to explain to her just how absurd that claim is, Argo speaks up.

"There is fighting outside the citY."

Jade and I freeze in place, and then Furinkazan guild, who had been silently laughing at the spat Jade and I are, having fall silent. In synchronization, everyone with the «Searching» skill activates it, and pairs of green eyes appear all around us. Jade activates hers, and I launch myself into search mode, my vision goes green as it pans a few hundred meters towards Aradu, and I have to stop myself from gasping as I see dots lighting up the ground below. Dozens of NPCs are battling it out in front of the giant light yellow gates. Dots constantly appear as NPCs re-spawn.

"A battle zone?" I hear Klein's voice. In searching mode, you can still hear voices around you, even though you can only see what your searching skill is detecting.

"Looks like it" I say.

This is bad. A battle zone this close to the quest zone and the front-line spells trouble.

I pan my vision back towards were our group stands, and a cold shiver runs down my spine. Slight green lines, like nothing I've ever seen before, are creeping towards us from all sides. The green means the system recognizes it as alive, however there is no cursor above it to show what it is.

I deactivate my searching skill and hear a slight chiming sound as others do the same. I look all around me, but the mysterious shapes I had seen are nowhere to be found. I sigh in frustration, and Klein begins explaining to his guild the strategy to get through the battle zone without anyone dying. As I'll simply be running in this plan, I ignore it and walk over to Jade, who is kneeling and facing her back to me. Her light metal armour is fit tightly on her, and I silently thank Klein for helping me buy it and Aincrad for having such splendid armour to replace her bulkier blue plating.

I get closer to her, and see that she is picking up something from the ground. Curious, I take a step forward.

"What is that?" I ask.

Jade turns to me, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. She holds her hand up towards me, and I feel a chill run down my spine. "Its snow..." she mutters. An eerie feeling of deja-vu washes over me as I fix my eyes on the small mass of white flakes in her delicate hands. It is then that I start to remember.

Oh my God.

The lines I saw while searching push themselves into the very centre of my mind, and I slowly tilt my head down towards the ground, my hand reaching up to my sword at five centimeters per second.

The ground below me is white. Hundreds of tendrils of ice and snow are creeping their way over the sand, consuming it and replacing it with suffocating cold. Like water spilt on a table, the snow creeps its way over the area around our group. I hear a few members of Furinkazan gasping in amazement, and I see Jade kneel down to pick up some more snow as I stand there petrified

"The story you told me... this is just like..." Argo mutters from nearby, the Rat's feet covered in a thin layer of snow. She turns, and the world slows down as she takes a first running step.

The 40th floor.

The snow has created a circle about ten meters wide, and our whole questing party is inside of it. To my horror, it stops spreading right as it creates a perfect encirclement. Flashes from the a few days ago re-enter my mind.

Snow. Out of place event. A battle event. High level monsters...

Run. Run. Run!

Argo is already at full sprinting speed by the time I draw my sword and open my mouth to scream at Furinkazan.

"RUN!" I yell, pulling Jade up from the ground.

"What the hell?" Jade, caught of guard by my sudden rashness, let's out a cry of surpirse.

"Don't ask, just run." I say. Jade complies without complaining.

Seeing my desperation and the fleeing information broker, Klein and his guild scramble after Argo, but as we get within a feet feet of the end of the snow circle a flash of blue light envelops the world around us. Furinkazan slows down slightly in utter bewilderment.

"Keep running, don't stop!"

I bring my sword forward in a charging «Rage Spike», launching me forward into the fray of sky blue flashes. My sword connects with the neck of the mob, leaving a deep red line on its light blue skin and launching across the sand with a high pitched screech. Its health only decreases by a measly 5%, but the gap is opened and our group rushes through. Klein yells out orders to his group as we begin sprinting. Snow is shooting across the ground around us, trying to cut us off as flashes of blue reveal more purple-tinted weaponry and their users. We break through line after line of them, doing minimal damage but using knock back attacks to make it past them.

"What the hell are these things?" I hear a member of Furinkazan ask in desperation as more spawn.

"Snow Elves." I say grimly as I use a shoulder tackle to knock another over as Jade, Klein's damage dealers, and I cut a whole through their defences. I hit an elf with «Vertical», breaking its helmet to reveal its pure white mane. It grins wildly as I punch it with my heavy gauntlet, my «Martial Arts» skill dealing moderate damage as it gets knocked out of the way.

Why are they here?

Another line of Snow Elves spawns, and we turn to find ourselves surrounded by well over a dozen elves. I look past the line in front of us to see a little dot in the distance, Argo. I smile as I realize the Rat will almost certainly make it and get help for us as soon as possible.

The Snow Elves point their battle-axes, hammers, and swords towards us, and a grim realization hits me.

We may not survive that long. Klein shouts out an order: "Rotating Circle formation, now!" and his guild rushes to his sides, the tanks of the group hurriedly pulling out shields. Klein looks towards Jade and me and then catches me off guard. "Both of you, form up".

Eh? I'm an orange and you want me that close to your guild-mates?

I hesitate for a second, but then Jade grabs me by the arm and drags me into the fray of Furinkazan players.

"If we want to survive, we're going to have to work together." she says.

"Okay." I concede defeat and place myself in between Jade and Klein. We are currently in a tight circle of thirteen, with the tanks on the outside layer and the damage dealers such as Jade, Klein, and I on the inside.

"After the first attack, begin the rotating march!" Klein shouts out orders, and Furinkazan responds with a resounding: "Yes sir!". In a few seconds, the goofy guild had shifted into a professional and military demeanour, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't impressed.

It might not be enough, though. Even with front liners, if these Snow Elves were like the one I fought on the 40th floor, this would be a brutal battle. I brace myself and flex my gauntlet in preparation for what might be my last battle.

I could be seeing you sooner than I thought, Arissa.

The Snow Elves charge our group from all sides, and I let out a resounding battle cry as I lunge my sword over the shoulder of the shield-bearing player in front of me and embed my obsidian blade into the abdomen of a leaping Snow Elf.

"Switch!" Klein's voice is hoarse from yelling, but he screams out another order as the tanks slip past me and the other parrying damage dealers and the circle encloses itself with the tanks on the outside once again. The very air rings as purple blades crash down on the players' shields, but they hold strong for what seems like the hundredth time.

As expected of a clearing guild.

Jade and I quickly drink our health potions as we shift along with the group. Making sure we are always behind the same tank player. Klein has his entire guild walking towards the city of Aradu whilst slowly turning, switching the tanks out for damage dealers temporarily to give them a chance to heal. The constant rotation, movement, and switching is a strategy that confuses the enemy AI and is quite frankly genius, and if not for Klein's skill as a leader, we'd undoubtedly be slaughtered by the onslaught of blue-skinned, sharp-eared mobs who are pounding away at Furinkazan's shields at this very moment.

However, even with a guild of front-liners and top notch leadership, our party's general HP bar has been constantly at mid yellow. These Snow Elves are just as tough and agile as the female one I fought on the 40th floor, except in much larger number.

"Why the hell are these guys here anyways?" I yell out as I stab past the tank into the upper chest of a Elf with low HP. The creature shrieks as its health hits zero and then explodes into dozens of tiny polygons. The sound of glass shattering rings out in front of me and around me as multiple Elves are dispatched, but a equally synthetic sound signifies that more have spawned.

"It's the combat zone!" I turn to see Jade, who is answering my question as a strike that got past her shieldsman. She pushes the purple blade back, and the tank in front of her slashes up at the Elf. "We're in the middle of the combat zone!" Jade says.

I look around and realize that the intensity of the battle had distracted me from my surroundings. We have moved quite a long way and are now about 50 meters away from the gates of Aradu, which remain firmly shut. Before I can contemplate this, Klein breaks my concentration with another order.

"SWITCH!" Klein steps past his tank, and I scramble past mine to hit my quarry with a «Diagonal» that sneaks the Heaven Splitter right between its arm plates. The blow severs its arm, and besides me I see Jade raining down strikes withher runic sword, dropping the Elf's HP to yellow. Once again, I am bewildered by her beauty in combat. She dances her blade past the purple of the Elf's shield, landing hit after hit on its chest, arms, and head.

If only she was always like th-

*WHAM* My thoughts are, put bluntly, crushed as a two-handed war-hammer clips me on the side of the head. I stumble and nearly collapse into the snow, my head ringing as I try to regain my balance. I turn around to see the hammer coming down, its head shining a light orange, straight towards my head. The world slows down as I spin around, but even as my sword, glowing blue, arches up in a «Diagonal», I know it won't be fast enough to counter it. With my health now at low yellow, if the hammer hits a critical it's all over for me.

Oh shit!

A red, runic blade smashes into the Elf's sword. Jade stands beside me, her hair flowing behind her as she swiftly helps me up,w and we both leap back behind the tanks, who, now at full health, are moving to the outside of the circle. We start strafing along with the group as Jade hands me a health potion.

"Who's the damsel-in-distress now?" Jade teases.

"Oh, shut up."

There is a loud, deep creaking noise, and our entire band of players, every member of Furinkazan included, turn to see the gates of Aradu open about forty meters away from us. The gigantic, ten meter tall gate has only opened to a gap of about four-players-wide, but its enough to get through. Across the battlefield around us, there is a loud, high pitched screech that lasts well over five seconds. Klein, Jade, and I watch in horror as every Snow Elf on the battlefield turns its head towards the doors and begins to charge.

"RUN! GET INSIDE THE WALLS!" Klein cries out a pointless order, as everyone is already making a beeline towards the gates. We slice as we run, knocking back any Elves that get too close. A member of Furinkazan trips, and I grab him by the scruff of his neck and throw him back onto his feet.

Thirty meters

The gates begin closing slightly.

"GO, GO, GO! I'll cover the rear!" I yell as I sprint.

Twenty meters.

Klein decapitates a Elf as he runs past it. I turn to fight off a Elf that was about to cut us down, bowling it over with a martial art skill. When sheath my blade and start running again, but now I'm a few meters behind the group.

Ten Meters.

The gap is now three-players-wide.

C'mon, we have to make it.

Five meters left and the gap is tiny. Furinkazan suddenly becomes a group of Olympic runners as they dash through, but it closes further, leaving only the width of one person. Jade sprints through, and I see the gates begin to close even more and cries of protest from inside as they try to stop the gates from closing.

I guess I shouldn't have covered the back, huh?

I realize in horror that even at this sprinting speed, I won't make it.

Only one hope I guess.

If this goes wrong, the delay will get me killed, but I have no choice. In a last act of desperation, I reach towards the Heaven Splitter once more.

I draw my sword and activate «Rage Spike», giving myself a last boost of speed. Once the speed boost is over I straighten myself out, diving past the doors of the gigantic gate just as they close. Due to the speed I picked up in the last few seconds, I slide smoothly across the stone, my sword clattering next to me as I come to a stop. I roll over, sighing in relief, as I close my eyes.

"God, that was exhausting." I say, my eyes still firmly shut. I get no response from anyone, not a sound. In Sword Art Online, silence inside a area with a lot of players means bad news.

Why is no one speaking? I just saw them go through the gates, so they can't be too far away.

I gulp and then slowly open my eyes.

A rapier is hovering in front of my eyes. Its blade is the colour of silver, and its hilt and handle are a shining light-green. A deep ocean blue jewel lies on the hilt. My eyes draw up past the blade to owner, and even as I smile up at the player in front of me I am filled with dread. Chestnut hair and hazel eyes, white armour with dashes of red, and bare shoulders fill my vision, but my eyes are fixed on one insignia which is placed all over her armour. A red cross on white metal.

This day couldn't get any worse...

There is no doubting it. The girl in front of me is one of Sword Art Online's most famous players... a skilled fighter, renown front-liner, beauty, and efficient leader. The sub-leader of the Aincrad's most powerful guild, and the coordinator of every boss battle. The player whose blade hangs precariously above me is the legendary rapier user from the Knights of Blood.

Asuna «The Flash».