A/N:

Another early post! This time because tomorrow happens to be Thanksgiving here in the United States, so I'd rather post this before the holiday, when some of you might be busy with family. I was also just super eager to get this chapter out; I've been holding onto this one for quite some time and I'm very excited to finally get to this point in the story.

Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in the U.S.! I, for one, and thankful for the constant support and positive feedback you all have so generously given. Reading how much you seem to be enjoying this story is the highlight of my week.

Alright, that's enough being sappy. On with the show!

One-fifth.

Or, more accurately, given where he was standing?

Twenty out of one hundred.

The significance was not lost on Kirito. As he and his guild sat down for dinner after a hard-fought boss battle, he let out a content sigh of relief. Looking around the table, he could see that the others were of a similar mindset. He was glad to share in this victory with each and every one of them.

Agil, Wolfgang, and Mako. The newest additions to the Renegades, having joined on the 15th floor. According to Agil, the trio couldn't stay unaffiliated for much longer. They'd been tempted to form a guild on their own, but Agil convinced his friends to join up with the Renegades. All three were part-time Clearers, which meant that they helped with floor bosses every once in a while, but for the most part stuck with trading and bartering. Buying and selling ingredients, materials, and equipment was their specialty, and with their addition, now the Renegades had a steady source of income. Their guild base wasn't a pipe dream anymore.

Kizmel, even before she joined, was a capable fighter and a welcome addition to the team. Now that she was officially a Renegade, she was an invaluable member of the team. With her shield, she acted as an off-tank occasionally to give Liz and Leonn some breathing room if things got particularly nasty. Slowly but surely, everyone was starting to get her more used to gaming terms, or "human colloquialisms" as she would call them. One of these days they might broach the topic of her true nature, but that day was not today.

Lokuss, much like Agil and his cohorts, considered himself a part-time Clearer. He'd help with floor bosses every now and then, but mostly stuck with information gathering. He was no Argo, but the bits of lore he dug up here and there had already yielded them some hidden treasures, which gave them a slight edge compared to other Clearers.

Geeou, Silica, Yuna, and Nautilus. The group whose addition officially marked the creation of the Resolute Renegades. They'd come a long way since meeting them on the 3rd floor, and he was proud of their progress. Geeou had almost become like a brother to him, and the same might be said of Nautilus. Silica, in particular, proved to be incredibly helpful due to the healing she brought to the table via Pina. Last, but certainly not least was Yuna, whose optimism and songs never failed to lift spirits.

Asuna, Leonn, Liz, and Sinon. His core team, in a sense. They'd been there with him since the beginning, really. Through thick and thin, they'd kept his head in the game and offered him friendship in a place he never thought to find any. They were like family to him, brother and sisters.

Well, except for Asuna, his girlfriend. It still felt weird to call her that, but it was a good weird. After they'd confirmed their feelings for each other on the 9th floor, their relationship only blossomed from there. Surprisingly, and despite everything popular culture portrayed a relationship to be, he and Asuna were not constantly shoving their tongues down each other's throats. Yes, they cuddled, and yes, they shared a few kisses here and there when no one else was looking, but rather than a raging fire of passion, their relationship was instead more akin to a crackling fireplace. Not too intense; just enough to give a constant warm feeling of belonging and comfort.

That's not to say their first kiss was dull or forgettable, though. He still remembered it vividly…

"Kirito?"

He blinked as his girlfriend - it was like she knew he was thinking of her - lightly shook his shoulder. She had a mild look of concern on her face. He shook himself out of his daze and gave her a smile. "What's up?"

"You've barely touched your food." She pointed out. He glanced down and saw that everyone else had finished their meals while he was only halfway through his. "Something wrong?"

"Not at all." He answered, reaching over and giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "Just reminiscing, that's all. We've come a long way."

"Yeah we have." Asuna said, her look of concern giving way to a smile.

As Kirito went to finish his food, he looked over the table again. There were a lot of them now, fourteen in total. They were the largest group in the tavern at the moment and they were definitely attracting attention. If they were going to expand more at some point, they'd probably need to start shopping around for a guild base. At least then they could dine in peace.

"Hey Agil." Kirito said after he finished off his sandwich. Seriously, his girlfriend made the best sandwiches. Wait, was that sexist? Maybe, but it was still true. Well, the bit about her sandwiches, that is, not the bit about women making sandwiches. He stopped that train of thought before he could dig himself any further. "How's the shop doing? Anything you need us to gather for you? I'm thinking we should start shopping around for a guild base."

Agil reclined in his seat and folded his hands across his stomach. "We're doing pretty well so far. We're good on materials, but anything new you gather from this floor's going to be in demand over the next couple of days."

"Then we should start farming mats tomorrow." Kirito suggested to his guild. Many nodded in agreement, but Lokuss appeared to be deep in thought and distracted. He looked at his loremaster. "Lokuss?"

"...Huh?" Lokuss asked, looking lost as his eyes met everyone else's. "Sorry, just thinking. I've been doing some research and I think… I think… I might be able to find us a guild base. I don't know for sure yet, but based on what I've found so far and what I've gotten from Argo, there might be a base we can unlock for cheaper than normal."

"That's great!" Asuna exclaimed as everyone's side conversations came to a stop. All eyes were on the loremaster. "Where is it?"

Lokuss shook his head. "I don't know yet, but if I'm right, it might be unlocked via a hidden quest. It's going to take a lot of investigating and exploring, starting on this floor, but I'll look into it. What I do know is that it's connected to the elves. It's an important place in their history, actually."

"Surely you don't mean…" Kizmel muttered, locking eyes with the loremaster.

"I think so." Lokuss nodded. "Nelluon Arael."

"Impossible!" Kizmel gasped. "It was said to have been lost during the first war!"

"I think it still exists, the elves just never found it because it was hidden on a higher floor." Lokuss explained.

"Wait, hold on a second." Nautilus said, holding his hands up in a 'stop' sign. "Care to explain for us uncultured folks? What's Nellon Ariel?"

"Nelluon Arael." Lokuss gently corrected him, prompting an intense glare from the ashen-haired swordsman. "It means 'Hidden Heart' and is rumored to be where the elves first lived when they were brought to Aincrad."

"... And you want us to make it our base, if it exists?" Sinon asked pointedly. "Kizmel, wouldn't your people have an issue with this? I can't imagine a bunch of humans living in a historical monument would go over well."

Kizmel, surprisingly, shook her head. "I do not believe so. Uncovering such a site and dedicating it towards the clearing of Aincrad would be a worthy cause. It may even prove to be the catalyst that brings the Forest and Dark Elves closer together as we once used to be."

"Do you need anything from us to help, Lokuss?" Kirito asked. "We'll get started on that quest right away."

Lokuss shook his head. "No. Focusing the entire guild on this quest, if it exists, will make us fall behind. I'll take care of the quest and report back to you with what I find. I could use a hand, though, just in case things get nasty."

"Any volunteers?" Kirito asked, looking around at the group.

Wolfgang and Mako raised their hands, the former of the duo speaking up. "We'll go with him. Agil can keep the shop open. We're not dedicated raiders like you all, but we can hold our own in a fight."

"Gee, thanks guys." Agil grumbled. "Making me keep the shop open by myself."

"Appreciate the help, gentlemen." Lokuss said with a smile. "We'll start searching tomorrow."

"Alright, it's settled then." Kirito concluded, getting up from his chair. The rest of the Renegades mirrored him as they packed up their things.

"Get some rest. Tomorrow we grind."

Tomorrow came sooner than Kirito thought.

He was awoken not by his alarm, nor by the light of day. In fact, it was barely light out, if the little rays of sunlight peeking through his window were any indicator. He was awoken by very-much-unwelcome knocking at his door. With groggy eyes, Kirito blearily glanced up at his HUD to see that it was 6:00 in the morning. They were planning on sleeping in and starting the day at 9:00 AM as a much-needed respite from tackling the floor boss. Now, though, Kirito stared at his HUD clock in mild irritation and confusion.

What the hell?

With a groan, Kirito got up from his bed, made sure he was decent, and trudged over to the door. He opened it and grumbled. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

He received a displeased scowl from Asuna, complete with a hand resting on her hip. "Yes, Kirito. It's six in the morning. I can read my HUD, thank you."

Realizing he'd accidentally given his girlfriend unnecessary snark, he winced. "Sorry, Asuna. Just wasn't expecting to wake up this early, that's all."

She sighed and her posture relaxed a little. "It's fine. I wasn't either, but we need to talk."

Crap. Had he done something to upset her? He was still new to this whole relationship thing, and he hoped to whoever might be listening that he hadn't done something wrong. She must have noticed the panicked look on his face, as she gave him a quick peck on the lips.

"I'm not breaking up with you, idiot." She mock-chastised him. "When I say 'we', I mean all of us. Something's happened."

"What's wrong?" Kirito asked as she led him towards one of the larger inn rooms that some of the girls had decided to bunk together in. He was glad to hear that he wasn't in the dog house but was still curious as to what was going on.

"I'll let them explain it to you." Asuna replied, opening the door and ushering him in.

Inside, the entire guild was assembled in the room's communal living area. It was a little cramped with fourteen people occupying it, which only told him that whatever was going on was not meant for prying ears. He and Asuna took a seat on one of the couches as he looked over everyone assembled.

"What's going on?" He asked no one in particular.

Leonn leaned forward in his chair and rested his elbows on his knees. "We woke up this morning with some new skills. Well, some of us, at least."

"New skills?" Kirito asked. Sure, there were extra skills one could acquire in the game, but usually there was a quest involved. The ((Martial Arts)) skill they'd acquired on the 2nd Floor was one such extra skill. One did not simply wake up with new skills. Not usually, anyway.

Silica was the first to speak up. "Yup! I got a skill called ((Beast Master)). It lets me tame a second familiar!"

"You've got to find a new familiar first." Lokuss reminded her. Her expression dropped. "I'll help you find one, of course, but it's not going to be easy. I don't need to tell you how hard it is to find familiars."

"Thanks Lokey!" Silica beamed, giving him a thumbs up. She turned back to Kirito. "There's a couple of sub-skills listed under it, but they're greyed out right now."

Lokuss sighed. "You know how I feel about you calling me that, Sil. Makes me sound like the god of mischief. Just… Lok is fine."

"Geez…" Silica pouted. "You're no fun."

"Probably won't show up until you get your second familiar." Kirito surmised while trying to bring the conversation back on track. "I don't know a whole lot about familiars, but if you were to get another one like Pina that would be huge. Even another damage dealer like Gryd would be helpful. I can't help but wonder how you got the skill, though…"

"Beats me, but I'm not gonna complain!" Silica said, plopping back down in her chair. She giggled as Pina launched off of Nautilus's shoulder and nestled in her hair.

Yuna was the next to speak up. "It looks like I got one too. It's called ((Chant)). It lets me heal and buff others through music. I also have a sub-skill greyed out, though."

"What do you mean by 'buff'?" Kizmel asked, clearly unfamiliar with the term. Kirito couldn't blame her, necessarily. Buffs weren't very commonly encountered, and an NPC like Kizmel definitely would be unfamiliar with the concept.

"Buffs are like magical effects that increase one's abilities." Kirito explained carefully. Wording was not his strong suit when it came to Kizmel; Lokuss and Leonn were far better at that than he was, though Asuna was proving to be just as adept. "Strength, dexterity, vitality, agility, and so on. They vary and have durations to how long the effect lasts."

"That would be very helpful, indeed." Kizmel nodded. "You would certainly become quite the asset in battle, Yuna, with an ability like that."

"I have to play the song once normally before it registers as a valid… what's the sub-skill called… ((Ballad)). After I play it once, then I'll know the song's effects." Yuna continued, her eyes darting back and forth as she read the skill description. "So expect to hear a lot of singing from me in the coming days."

Nautilus scoffed. "Like anyone's gonna complain about that. Your singing's great, Yuna. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

Yuna blushed at the compliment before sitting down. Kirito noted with some amusement that Nautilus looked a little flush in the face, too. Interesting…

"I'll go next, I guess." Liz said. "I've got a skill called ((Divine Forge)). It increases the quality of items I can forge when I use my ((Blacksmithing)) skill. I can also perform battlefield repairs faster. There's another skill greyed out for me too, so I don't know what else comes later. Kinda underwhelming, to be honest."

"A non-combat skill, mostly." Kirito mused. When Liz gave a pout, he quickly continued. "I'm not saying it's useless. The opposite, actually. Having better weapons helps out everyone."

"Now you really can say you're the best blacksmith in Aincrad." Agil said with a chuckle, earning an affronted glare from the blacksmith in question. "Tell you what, if you make up a batch of those upgraded weapons, we'll act as distributors for you. You can probably make a lot of Cor from weapons like that. This way you won't have to worry about keeping a shop open all the time."

"We'll forward you any custom requests." Wolfgang added. "Also, speaking from a market standpoint, providing high-end weapons like that while not being constantly open will only increase demand and profits. You can focus on Clearing and work on your blacksmithing on the side. It's a win-win."

Liz grinned. "Sounds like a good deal, boys. We can talk shop later."

Kirito chuckled. They had a point, though. Liz creating high quality weapons would definitely help the guild turn a profit, which would only help them in the long run. Ignoring the potential cost of a guild base - assuming this elf base Lokuss hinted at would cost them much - they would need funds for a variety of things.

"Anyone else?" Kirito asked, scanning over the group. Most of them shook their heads, some of them looking slightly dejected at having missed out on whatever was handing out powerful skills like candy. A few actually looked jealous, not that he could really blame them. The skills that were revealed so far made sense for their owners, but the question of why still lingered on their minds, undoubtedly.

One last person, however, was nodding their head.

"Guess I'm last, then." Leonn said with some hesitance. He awkwardly cleared his throat. "It's called ((Defiant Soul)). It resets and locks my AGI, DEX, and LUK stats back to their defaults, but doubles my STR and VIT stats."

"That's not too much of a loss for you, though." Sinon remarked. "You rarely invest anything in those stats anyway."

"Yes, but now he never can." Asuna said with realization. "It means that he's forever locked as the slowest member of the guild. If there ever comes a time where he needs to invest points in those stats, he can't. He's locked out."

"That's… not all." Leonn continued, drawing surprised looks from the others. "There's two sub-skills, one of which is greyed out. The one that is available is called ((Absorb Shock)). If I take damage while using a sword skill, that missing health from taking the attack is regenerated over the next 10 seconds."

"Shit, dude!" Lokuss cried out. "That's OP!"

"Sure sounds like it." Leonn shrugged. "There's more, though. If I take damage while I'm not using a sword skill, the regeneration effect cancels completely. Any health that was being regenerated is lost and I'm stuck with whatever is left over."

"Let me see?" Kirito requested, getting up and standing behind his fellow beta tester. He peered over his shoulder as Leonn set his menu to visible. Kirito read through the description multiple times. "If I'm reading this right, this skill isn't as overpowered as it sounds. If anything, it's a risky gamble."

"How so?" Asuna asked. Her expression of confusion was mirrored across many of the others' faces.

Kirito walked back over and sat down next to her, but addressed the group as a whole. "Think about it. If he times his attacks right, all of the damage taken hits him during a sword skill and then he regenerates it. However, the more damage he takes, the more ends up at risk. For example, if he takes a lot of damage and is regenerating 60% of his health, then all it takes is one slip-up for an attack to hit him when he's vulnerable. When that happens, he loses all of that health in one attack before it can fully regenerate. That skill lets him attack more aggressively, which means he's going to be taking more damage and regenerating a lot of health at any given time. It's a high risk, high reward skill."

"Damn." Leonn grimaced. "I'm going to need to stay away from poison and paralysis effects, then. If I take any poison damage while I'm regenerating, I'll lose everything."

"Same goes for any burning effects." Geeou added. "That's kind of a handicap in some scenarios."

"Bit of a mixed bag." Leonn chuckled. "I'll make do, though. What about you, Kirito? You checked to see if you got anything from the skill fairy yet?"

"I seriously doubt I got…" Kirito began as he opened his skill list. He trailed off and his eyes bulged as he noticed that yes, he did get a new skill. It wasn't anything spectacular as Yuna's or needlessly complex as Leonn's, but it was a boon nonetheless. He stood up and quickly cycled through his inventory, equipping a sword he'd replaced his current one with, but hadn't yet sold.

In a flash of light, a second sword manifested on his back.

"Whoa!" Geeou and Nautilus exclaimed at the same time. Both swordsmen stood up and attempted the same thing, only to find that equipping one sword replaced the other. They exchanged a glance before the latter spoke up. "How'd you do that?!"

Kirito opened up the skill description before drawing both swords. He held out both experimentally as he read the skill aloud. "((Dual Blades)). It lets me dual wield longswords, and there's a small list of ((Dual Blades)) specific sword skills included. There's one that's greyed out, though."

"Oh, I am so making you a better sword now that you can use two." Liz said with no small amount of excitement as Kirito sheathed both swords.

"Huh." Leonn hummed. "Anyone else's list classify their new skill as a "Unique Skill"?"

Kirito, Liz, Silica, and Yuna all brought up their lists to verify. All four confirmed the status of their new Unique Skills.

So their skills were unique to them? Could nobody else learn these skills? How would the other players react to these new skills? His guild already had an unfavorable reputation among some of the player base since he was still a "Beater", though many seemed to have moved on since beta knowledge was now obsolete. Seeing a guild with five Unique Skill users would likely cause feelings of jealousy or envy, if these skills were that rare.

"I want to check with Argo and find out who else has unique skills, but in the meantime, we should get some practice in." Kirito suggested. "We were already planning on grinding today, so we might as well get used to these new skills."

After finishing their breakfast, the Renegades began their day. Lokuss, Wolfgang, and Mako all split off to investigate this vaunted elf base, while the rest of the Renegades went out into the field.

Time to get to work.

Asuna would be lying if she said she wasn't at least a little envious.

Of course she was happy for her boyfriend. Who wouldn't be? Now he was even more of a badass since he was able to use two swords at the same time. He could attack twice as fast, parry twice as many blows, and was twice as versatile in his available attacks he could do. You wouldn't know it, though, based on how much he was floundering against his current opponent, a creature resembling a blend between a polar bear and an arctic owl. Fortunately, Geeou and Nautilus were nearby to lend a hand if necessary.

She still wished she had a Unique Skill too, though.

"He's… definitely got some practice to do, eh Aa-chan?"

Asuna smirked at Argo's observation. "Yeah, he's got some work to do."

After Kirito contacted Argo, the Rat immediately demanded to see everyone's skills in action and rushed over to take notes. Now she and Argo were watching over the group as they grinded out levels or - in the case of the Unique Skill holders - practiced their new abilities.

Well, that was only partly possible right now. Liz simply didn't have enough materials at the moment to create anything "worth making," in her words, and her ((Divine Forge)) had no applications in battle outside of field repairs. Silica hadn't found a second familiar yet, so she couldn't really use her ((Beast Master)) to its fullest extent right now either.

Yuna was already singing a ((Ballad)), which was currently applying a small healing effect on the entire group. Not only was it helpful, but the melody itself was absolutely enthralling. It was a song she'd heard Yuna play in her spare time, and now it was being used to heal everyone.

"Gotta say, it's nice to hear Yuna singin' again." Argo remarked with a smile. "Been too long since I heard her sing."

"She sings beautifully." Asuna agreed with a smile.

"Can' wait to see what else she's got in store. If ((Chant)) lets her give out buffs too with other songs, she's gonna be invaluable durin' boss battles." Argo grinned before turning and pointing to where the others were fighting. "Now those two are interestin' in their own way."

Asuna looked over and saw Kirito and Leonn squaring off against an owl… bear… thing each. Closer inspection of the name plate confirmed that yes, these creatures were in fact called owlbears. How original. In any case, they were definitely struggling.

Leonn was fighting too defensively, which was ironic given how aggressive his new skill could allow him to be. He almost seemed to hesitate in his attacks, waiting until the owlbear was attacking before executing a sword skill of his own. The effect was strange to see, however, when he did attack. His attack would land at the same time as the owlbear's attack did, and Asuna could see the marks of damage scoring across his body, but it looked different. Rather than red lines, his scrapes and scratches glowed yellow and would slowly close and disappear over time. It was unnerving to see his health bar drop and slowly fill back up again. Any time he messed up the timing, the owlbear would land the hit successfully and the yellow marks would suddenly shift red to display their permanence.

She noted that Liz looked particularly anxious every time Leonn absorbed a hit. She looked ready to jump in and block an attack with her shield, but was purposefully holding back for the sake of his practice.

Kirito's normal effortless flow of thrusts and slashes was also askew. Maybe it was the added weight of another weapon in his other hand causing his sense of balance to be thrown off. Maybe he just wasn't sure how to use the second weapon without getting in the way of the first. Every once in a while, he would change up his stance or the way he held his weapon, but so far it seemed he hadn't found a good way to hold himself in combat with two swords. Regardless, she saw Kirito having to dodge more often than attack, often cancelling his attacks because his timing was off.

Much like Liz, Asuna herself had to fight back the urge to leap in to assist Kirito. Even though this was practice, the fact remained that they'd chosen to practice on the highest floor possible at the moment.

As such, safety was not guaranteed.

Choosing to distract herself from those worries and let Geeou and Nautilus protect him for her, Asuna turned to Argo. "Have any other Unique Skill users been found?"

"Actually, yeah." Argo answered, pulling up her menu. She swiped through what Asuna assumed to be notes of some kind - she couldn't see them but Argo had told her of her note taking tendencies - and read aloud what she had. "Klei-bou has something called ((Battoujutsu)). It lets him use special sword skills with his katana."

Asuna vaguely remembered Klein telling her about the art form once in his own overly excited, dorky way. Battoujutsu was the practice of unsheathing one's katana and striking in the same fluid motion. There were sometimes other strikes that followed the first drawn strike, but the emphasis was on the unsheathing strike. In real life, such an art form was rare and practiced by only the most diligent of katana users. Klein, ever the katana enthusiast, was a perfect fit for such a skill.

"A friend o' mine, Heathcliff, got a skill called ((Holy Sword))." Argo continued, swiping again through her notes. "It lets him switch freely between offense and defense. Based on what he's told me, he can now attack with his shield with the same power as he can his sword. Not only that, when he tanks he doesn' take much damage at all, his defense is so high now. He's basically a wall now, Aa-chan."

She'd heard of Heathcliff before. He and his guild, the Knights of the Blood Oath, were making a name for themselves. While many fledgling guilds were eager to join the front lines, the KoB were rapidly catching up and gaining in numbers. It wouldn't surprise her if they were able to join the Clearers for the 20th floor boss and become a contender for top guild. She knew Kirito would never take their rise as a threat - he actually had his priorities straight - but the ALS and DKB would definitely see Heathcliff and his guild as rivals.

Idiots.

"Lastly, I happen to know the owner of ((Shurikenjutsu))." Argo admitted with another grin. "They don't want that information public just yet, but I can say that you know 'em. You've met before. Like the name implies, they can throw shurikens. Unlike regular throwin' picks, these suckers pierce armor."

Armor-piercing? There weren't any weapons that existed at the moment that were capable of reliably piercing and ignoring armor. That would definitely be a handy skill to have, especially with more heavily armored bosses.

"That's all I know of. If there are any others, they're either hidin' it or just don't know they have it." Argo said, crossing her arms. She nodded towards the rest of the Renegades. "What's curious to me is how over half of all known Unique Skills found their way into yer ranks. That's huge, Aa-chan."

Both Asuna and Argo flinched as they saw Leonn go flying. A quick glance at her HUD confirmed that he'd lost over 40% of his health from that attack, probably having missed the timing of his own attack and lost the regeneration of his skill. He may have been ridiculously beefy in regards to his current healthpool now, but seeing that much health missing was still concerning to see nonetheless.

Kirito must have noticed, too, as he turned to look at his fallen comrade, only for his owlbear to take advantage of the distraction and slam him into a tree. Before Asuna could leap into action, everyone who had been watching swarmed the offending owlbears and quickly disposed of them. She let out a sigh of relief.

"Those two are interestin', like I was sayin' before." Argo stated, hopping up onto a tree stump and sitting down, cross-legged. "Kii-bou's skill is definitely useful and is gonna make him one of the better damage dealers on the front line, but he's sure to get some unwanted attention from it. People are gonna start callin' him a Beater again. Well, people that aren't Kibaou."

"And here I was hoping the name-calling would stop." Asuna huffed. "He might be okay with it, but I'm not."

"People suck, Aa-chan. Ain't no changin' that." Argo informed her before she looked at Leonn, who was getting up from the ground. "Leo-bou's is so frickin' complex, I don't know what to make of it. If he gets good at it, he'll be unstoppable, but all it takes is one slip-up and he's dead. That's a helluva gamble. And that's not even mentionin' his wonky stats now. Locked DEX, AGI, and LUK with doubled STR and VIT? Tha's just weird."

"That was our impression, too." Asuna agreed. "We're all worried for him."

"Some more than others, it seems…" Argo smirked as Liz ran over to help Leonn up the rest of the way.

Asuna couldn't help but smirk in kind. "I think it's cute. They've gotten a lot closer lately, but I wish they'd just do something already. I wonder what's holding them back…"

"Like yer one to talk, Aa-chan." Argo chuckled. "Took you and Kii-bou forever to admit ya liked each other. It took a high school dance and a pushy elf to get you two together."

"She's not pushy." Asuna retorted. "She's just… forward. Elves are upfront about their feelings, not subtle like we are."

"She called you his queen, Aa-chan." Argo reminded her with another one of her cocky, mischievous smiles. That had been an embarrassing conversation, having Kizmel regale everyone with how she "convinced" Kirito to make a move on the night of the dance. She'd never felt more proud and embarrassed at the same time.

Not receiving a response, Argo shrugged. "Anyway, keep an eye on Kii-bou and Leo-bou in the meantime. Until they get used to their new skills, they're gonna be vulnerable. With how difficult these floors are gettin' to be, it'll be a week until we tackle the boss, so they've got time."

The sound of glass shattering ripped her attention away from the Rat. Leonn and Kirito had just jointly finished off an owlbear, but both looked exhausted. The abrupt change to their fighting styles was probably taking a mental toll on them as they had to consciously choose how they fought rather than fall back on instinct. As the duo charged into another owlbear, Leonn taking and absorbing the brunt of the massive beast's attacks and Kirito flanking with two swords drawn, Asuna let out an anxious sigh.

It was going to be a long week, and then they'd have to deal with the public's opinion on their new skills. She could already hear Kibaou's incessant griping.

She could already feel a headache coming on.

A/N:

Finally we see the Unique Skills!

Obviously Kirito was going to get Dual Blades, and I'm sure the recipients of Beast Master, Chant, and Divine Forge were obvious. We'll get to explore what Liz and Silica's Unique Skills actually do later on, since right now they're not very remarkable at all. It's no surprise Heathcliff got Holy Sword, and a quick translation or Google search will make it clear that Battoujutsu was always going to go to Klein. The owners of Darkness Blade and Shurikenjutsu aren't confirmed yet, but deducing their owners might not be that hard to do.

Take that as you will.

Some of you guessed that Asuna would get Defiant Soul, and while that name definitely fits her personality, she was never going to be the recipient of that skill. I would have loved to have given her a unique skill, but I couldn't think up a good custom unique skill that would fit her playstyle. She's already fast as lightning and likes to turn her enemies into pincushions; I just don't know how to make her more awesome without adding magic into the mix.

Defiant Soul is based off of a skillset of a character from another game I played in the past and it was such an unorthodox way to make a character a tank that I just had to borrow and tweak it a little. (No, it's not actually called that in its native game, but let me know if you know what game the mechanics are from!) It's a very risky skill that, in the hands of a pro, makes the user an unstoppable force nearly incapable of dying. However, in the hands of a novice, it's a great way to gamble away your HP and die. It's also got its natural weaknesses like poison, burn, and paralysis, so hopefully that helps to balance it.

Let me know what you all think about the Unique Skills and their recipients!

'Til next week!