The initial edits got done by Thursday evening, and by Friday evening I had about one or two more passes done for proofing purposes. Still don't feel like I got everything. I think so long as I get my Duality chapter done on time, Saturday's is going to be spend on a Pokédex anthology as well as going back from the start of chapter 1 and fixing continuity errors (looking at you, interface line from the Interlude!) as well as keeping notes on things (like the fact that Asasaki was probably the first person to ask Hilde about her speech patterns and general appearance).

Oh, and remember that whole 'Stream of Consciousness' thing I talked about towards the beginning? That still happens, but only for each specific chapter and what occurs. I accidentally spent an hour or so outlining a general idea for what I want from each section of Aincrad and I tell you what, it's going to be just grand. No spoilers though, that's just not fun.

"It's so beautiful…" Mitsui Asuka's voice carried on the wind, the woman expressing more than enough awe for all of us.

"They call this a desert, don't they?" To her right, the forty-odd beast of a man named Yamaguchi took in the landscape of the second floor, his chiseled form a contender for Agil's appearance.

The somewhat frail scholar that was Mitsui's primary assistant cleared his throat. "Actually, I think this specific region would be better called a savanna or a mesa, based on appearances."

"Savannas actually have trees, and mesa refers specifically to the flat topped sections of earth. Desert would be the safest bet." I took a step back and stretched my arms out before silently heading down.

"Hey, Asasaki, wait up!" Issin quickly jogged a few steps to catch up to me, resting a hand on my shoulder. "This is the first time they've seen something other than greenery, give them a chance to enjoy it, yeah?"

"Issin, I've dealt with deserts for the past seven years. Returning back here, as nice as it is to look at, just brings back painful memories." A shrug. "No need to worry about me though, I'll just wait at the bottom where I'm not forced to look at endless sand and rocks. Hopefully something will spawn and keep me company." I raised a hand in dismissal, taking each step at a measured pace.

Mitsui and her two guards had given an extremely good showing during our climb up the Tower. Even though they didn't have access to any enhanced abilities, the twenty something years of experience each of them had were more than enough to out maneuver any of the kobolds that dared approach them.

The goblins that accompanied Klein, Kunimitzz, Dale, and Dynamm were much the same, though radically different in their approach. Where the humans presented a unified front, tactically backing each other up with every strike, the goblins fought with vicious zeal, teamwork only occurring by what seemed to be lucky positioning instead of actual strategy.

It was of course nothing but an fallacy. So sure of their skill and knowledge of each other, the axe wielding berserker Rhaagaar and dagger using assassin Tarthuul readily committed to their assaults, Rhaan's war hawk and Tuukaan's sling countering any attempts on their weak spots.

For the much of the trip through the Tower, our fellow NPC party members had demanded we allow them to fight against the dangers we came up against. Fighting against each other had only done so much; by throwing themselves against foes they had never encountered before they would be able to learn much more than they could have ever dreamed about.

December 25th.

I sat down on the bottom most step leaned back. Back home in America, my family would likely be gathered in the living room of the manor, sharing gifts, hot chocolate, and spiked 'nog. There would be platters of chicken and beef, all kinds of roasted and blanched vegetables. My aunt's legendary garlic bread would be sequestered by my generation and jealously hoarded before the younger ones could even have a chance to so much as find out what was making the smell.

"They probably don't even have a clue what's going on." I stared up at the sky, watching an incredibly realistic model of a cloud float across the ceiling. When I told them that I was leaving, I had also made mention of how it might take me a while to figure everything out and that they shouldn't expect to hear from me for a couple of months while I got situated. Me getting stuck in a game would probably be the last thing they would ever think of.

My gaze slowly turned down, drawn towards a form slowly breaking through the earth. Barely aware of what it was, I unsheathed my weapon and stabbed through the weakened ground, scoffing at the muted notification of my reward. "How unsatisfying."

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I grinned wryly at Asuka's behavior. Both she and Asahi were looking around in awe, the latter furiously writing away at a piece of parchment.

Exactly like a field trip, isn't it?

"I can't even begin to imagine how they created this place!" The red head spun around slowly, wonder suffusing her entire being. "All those towers, they look like they were carved directly from the rock!"

"Some of them are," I responded, feeling as if I had had this conversation before. "Others were built back up using mud bricks among other methods."

"You know this for a fact?" The scholar focused his gaze on me, reminding me of the times project partners from school would start harping on me for not pulling my weight.

I nodded. "There was some running around we had to do when we first arrived here. I ended up talking to the mayor for an hour or so. He seemed fairly excited to be telling me all about his city." I glanced at the pained groan that sounded uniquely like Issin.

"I think you're worse than Harry when it comes to exploring all our options."

I chuckled and shrugged. "What can I say? It's a habit. Figure stuff out about a place and you can potentially take advantage of disadvantages in the construction, figure out points of interest, or just find somewhere with a nice view."

The two pencil pushers continued their observations of the area, guided by our half circle formation. "Do you think it would be a good idea if we tried to meet with the mayor?"

I shifted at her distressed hesitance. "Mitsui, I know we shattered your world view with everything that's going on, but you're still your own person. Whatever you do, it's because you're doing it. Not because somebody decided to to make you do it. I mean, out of all the possible people you could have met and worked with, it was us. And it's not like there's multiple versions of you running around. You are you, and there's no one else that can compare."

She let out a shuddering breath. "You're right. Thank you, Asasaki." I smiled encouragingly. "I guess for now we'll just go see about meeting with anybody relevant in the area. I suppose this is good bye for now then. When we're all done we'll set up the quest notifier for somebody to meet with us." In unison the four of us gave our partings, watching the Tolbana natives walk away.

"Party's supposed to be around 5," Issin suddenly mentioned. "There's a Teleport Gate right here, so we could still make it if we wanted to."

I shifted my weight, folding my arms behind my head.

"Alternatively, we could spend the day completing the quest for Guild Creation over in Zumfut. Make our group official." Harry took off his helmet and combed his fingers through his hair, dropping the armor into his inventory.

"Remind me why we haven't done that yet?" I questioned.

"Because of the quests down on the first floor as well as the fact that you constantly seemed to be dragging someone from the group with you somewhere to check out 'a cool new thing' you found in the markets or to test a way of kiting monsters that need I remind you usually involved the other person?" Harry affixed me with an accusing stare.

I coughed and looked away. "To be fair though, at least now we don't need to have somebody with «Howl» whenever we go hunting." The shield user merely grunted, conceding the point.

"The Guild quest is supposed to be ten to fifteen hours just to get to the dungeon," Choryu said. "If we can accomplish it with our fastest people, then we could just invite the rest once we got back." When I questioned whether that was round trip or one way, the dagger user rifled through a small leaflet and pointed at a specific entry. "Round trip walking from Zumfut. But with all the running you've made us do, we could probably get it done round trip in about half that."

I couldn't help giving a pleased grin at the admission of my well intentioned torture. "Whelp. Whatever we decide to do, I think I'm going to do a bit more wandering of Urbus, maybe hunt down a few monsters on the outskirts. Just send me a message whenever we figure something out, alright?" I lazily returned their good byes, letting my feet guide me where ever they pleased.

With every passing day, more and more people recovered from their stupor. With every tale of success from the front lines, the cloud of depression lifted over the populace. When last I had been in Urbus the city slash town alternated between filled and empty. Not too unlike a city in the real world, but at least back then you could count on seeing at least one other person more than every five minutes. Now, a river of players flowed through the streets, each group a breath of renewed hope.

I stopped at the familiar plinth of the warp gate, its slowly rotating circle making a soft whooshing noise with every pass. Once upon a time there was supposed to be a gate in every major location such as Tolbana on the first floor and Marome here on the second, but somebody had decided otherwise upon the full release. "A little walking never hurt anyone, I suppose."

A familiar form garbed in dark blues and grey painted leather stepped through, the masked man quickly his bearings before moving on. "Oi, Shen!" I ran up to the armored ninja, a wide smile on my face. "Been awhile, hasn't it?" I forced it a little more, letting the expression carry up to my eyes. My height had stopped being an issue by my third year of high school, but I would never be able to rid the pangs of annoyance every time I had to crane my head to carry conversations.

"Forgive me, Miss Asasaki, but I believe it has been no more than three days at most since we last saw each other," he said simply.

I chuckled nervously, chiding myself for having forgotten I had slipped away a few nights ago to aide the ninja with Mánagarmr once more. "Sorry. Things got a little crazy down on the first floor. There's a quest line we're following that seems like it's going to continue for a couple floors."

"Truly? Is it anything like the Elven Campaign that starts in the «Forest of Wavering Mists»?" The masked man walked slowly, allowing me to get used to his pace before subtly increasing it.

"Maybe? Probably not. You might as well call it one giant Escort Mission, with the objectives able to grow alongside you." I walked behind and to his right, following the shinobi through the white brick pathing of the dug out city. "What brings you to the Second Floor, anyway?"

"Equipment maintenance and resupplying for my men. There are adequate smiths in Rovia and Zumfut, but the one we trust has decided to stay here for the time being. Something about the landscape being nostalgic." The ninja leader paused at a crossroad and stared at me for a moment. "What of you? Have you upgraded the armor from the Frozen Wolf?"

I sounded my admission in English, purposely popping the 'p'. "The cloak's up to a 3 Durability and 2 Agility while I've got the gloves and boots at 1D1A each. I'm purchasing some materials from those kids I mentioned by the end of the month, and that should let me get everything to an even 5. After that I'll need to start looking at the other floors for forest materials."

"I look forward to seeing you with the full set. I know we initially disagreed on how to handle the enhancements but after seeing how often we were damaged last time, even with a new round of experience, I understand why you were so adamant on adding a few points into durability and resistance."

I hummed agreeably. "As good as we are, mistakes and misfortune can occur. It's better to have a small safety net, even if it's just a few points. By the way, I don't know if my group's managed to pin down a smith or armorer of our own yet. Would you recommend this guy of yours?"

Almost immediately the leader of Fūmaningun responded. "No. He's far too invested in the romanticized parts of the shinobi arts. If it does not pertain to our armor or weapons, he has no interest in it. In the words of the modern day, he is a full blown Otaku, perhaps even a NEET." Shen sounded fairly disgusted with the man, though there was an undercurrent of admiration.

I snorted. "I guess I might as well meet him though. These days I seem to be doing more errands than fighting, though I'm not exactly complaining. Who knows? One day I might be doing a favor for your group and ferry supplies."

"Perhaps one day." Shen, stopped in front of a nondescript building, looking at me once more. His partially covered eyes giving off a sense of curiosity. "Please forgive his eccentricities." That curiosity died a sudden and painful death, giving rise to apprehension. "His work is superb for what materials he has, but his personality…" The man sighed and opened the door, his body seeming like it belonged to someone headed to the gallows for a brief second.

"Welcome to the Shadow's Den! How can I help- Shen!" A lanky man dashed around the counter, embracing the Fūma Nin in a one sided hug. "It's so great to see you again! How's my favorite ninja doing?"

I blinked rapidly, eyes wide. Eccentric was a gentle term. There was so much wrong with the blacksmith that it fully looped back into being right. From his jutting chin, wide eyes, bucktoothed overbite, and a mole that grew where his left dimple formed.

"And who is…?"

Without missing a beat, Shen broke free of the arguably affectionate gesture and strode towards the counter, his body composed in a way that fresh faced recruits could only dream of. "Miss Asasaki, a samurai in training. She helps us from time to time and is our liaison with certain matters that require exposure to the public."

Liar. But thank you for sparing me.

The NEET made a condescending sound before he tuned me out completely, performing a complete 180 as soon as I left his vision. "So what can I do for you today?"

"We require more throwing picks. Also, some of our weapons need repairs. We'd also like to purchase a new model, if you have one."

"I swear, one of these days I'm going to find a way to make these picks return to the owner." The smith stepped to the side and began moving several crates. "I tell you what though, I can't wait to find that coastal town though. All these imitation weapons are seriously starting to annoy me. What I'd do to be able to forge kunai, shuriken, and a nice, strong, ninjato."

Isn't a ninjato thought to be a relatively modern creation with no historical basis?

Allowing the otaku to deliver his rant uninterrupted, Shen stoically exchanged a few bags of cor in exchange for the boxes of ammunition, verifying their contents before dismissing them to his inventory.

"I have a new model for you guys if you're interested. It's around a two level increase, but it comes with three more upgrade attempts than the shoddy butterfly swords I made last time." I turned away from the rack of what looked to be flattened sickles to shoot him a glare.

Excuse you, butterfly swords are cool. They have an excellent hand guard and the blade is a wonderful mix of length and girth that allow you a great mix of offense and defense depending on how you respond to an attack.

Isn't your only experience with them that one time you attended a demo for a cultural festival? And they were blunted at that.

Quiet you, I'm trying to poke fun at the nerd.

"What's this guy's name, anyway?" I asked once he disappeared into the back room where his forge and grinder was.

"He calls himself Isuke," Shen responded dully. "I never asked for the specifics."

"He seems nice. Spot on description though. Were this the real world I'd fully expect to see anime posters covering the walls." I crouched down to look at a display of curved blades, their tips notably thicker than the tang and sporting a vicious looking barb jutting down from the upper half. Shen hummed ambiguously. In my mind he was fully lost in his own world, a trait only those far too used to nuisances were able to gain.

After a couple minutes the otaku stepped back out, a bundle of sheathed swords in that seemed to be of the 'cutlass' variety in his arm. "Right then. That's everything. Threw in the 2Q2S for each of them like usual. That's ten more attempts that you guys will have to scrounge up on your own, but feel free to come back if you want me to take a crack at it. I'm always happy for a chance to level up my skills, you know."

The man, perhaps early twenties at most, flicked a piece of cor in the air before pocketing it. "And uh, you, girlie. If you ever decide that being a ninja is a better idea instead of a loud and boisterous samurai, you know where to find me. I won't be leaving this floor until we unlock the ninja level."

He likes you.

He likes the idea of me. Big difference.

I flicked my hand to the side in farewell, holding the door open for Shen to follow through. "I take it back. He's a lost cause."

"For many, being trapped in here is more a dream than a nightmare. No longer bound by the limitations of reality, they are free to chase after the things that existed only in their minds."

"Like your merry band of nin?" I teased.

"Or your harem of honorable swordsmen," he fired back.

I twitched. "They're not a harem," I contested.

"You are the lone female in a group of seven males that many players look up to. Rumors spread, Demon Nin, regardless of the truth."

I could do nothing but grumble half heartedly, more than aware of how it looked. "Hey, so, we were thinking of tackling the Guild quest. Got any tips?"

"Keep yourselves constantly protected against poisons. Additionally, if your group plans on performing quests for experience instead of fighting monster after monster, you should consider taking a left from the Tower stairs instead of heading right to Zumfut. The elven campaign starts somewhere in the woods along there. The front lines have been barred from attempting it for the time being, aside from the Black Swordsman and his companion."

"Man, those two just do not know how to keep a low profile, do they?" I folded my hands behind my back and swayed from side to side, watching him interact with the menu for the portal.

"They are children. They do as they please, uncaring of the consequences. Good in moderation, terrible when left unchecked."

"I guess that's what growing up is all about though, isn't it? Learning how to be strong, how to be silent, how to speak up. Say hi to the others for me, alright?" I gave him a soft smile, sensing that behind the molded cover he was smiling as well.

"Yeah, definitely like that guy."

"Which guY? The one that looks like you could use his head for calligraphy or the one that looks like he belongs on the side of the road robbing caravanS?"

I jumped slightly, more at the nasal lilt that I would never get used to than the suddenness. "Hey, Argo?" I started, internally cringing at the minute crack in my voice. "What level is your Sneak at?"

"Not a skilL. The correct question is HidinG." The hooded brunette raised a finger, inordinately pleased with herself. "And 300 coR." Said finger smoothly transitioned into an open palm, a greedy grin on her face.

"Pass." I turned away from her, walking away at a pace brisk enough to show my annoyance but not enough to lose her. "And a certain person who leads a certain clan we had a run in with once. He's nice. Old, experienced, patient, peaceful. I could see myself under his command."

"Asasaki has a fetish for submission, I'll just mark that at 10,000," she chirped.

"Lies, slander, and incrimination," I recited rotely. Without any heat, "What do you want, Rat?"

"Just my weekly check up on the woman who helped save my skin, and absent mindedly galvanized the entire coherent population of Aincrad into either hating little Kiri-bou or worshiping him for his effortS."

Concern draped over my body. "I didn't really do that, did I?"

"You did my dear, short, fellow blondE." Argo wrapped an arm around my shoulder, forcefully guiding me somewhere towards the northern part of the city. "Aside from the front lines who mostly blindly follow their leaders, the rest of the player base are either of the mind that all Beta Testers, with a certain Beater specifically, should give up all their equipment or that Kirito is going to be the one who saves us alL."

I let out a groan, letting a few steps fall heavier than they should have. "All I wanted to do was just show him he still has people he can lean on, helpfully ones of the adult age."

"And you diD!" She exclaimed. "Poor kid messages me every other day asking me for help about all sorts of things like girls and how to socializE. I of course don't charge him for it nor do I allow myself to sell that informatioN. Well, most of it anywaY. You're a wretched thing, you know thaT? Making me turn against my own code so drasticallY."

"You have my deepest condolences," I drawled, recognizing the building she was pulling me into as the one that sold Tremble Shortcake.

"By the way, AsasakI. I heard this wonderful little storY." The teen pushing young adult sat me down at a booth, happily tapping something before sending the interface away. "A tale of three strapping young lads and their erotic ninja master leading around a red haired woman with two knights and a scholaR." My head hit the table. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about it, would yoU?"

That's it. I'm going to kill her. I'm going to kill her, slowly.

"It's a quest we weren't expecting," I muttered. "You remember that ma[ you sold to Klein back in the first month? About a settlement in the forest-"

"That wasn't in the beta and claimed the lives of four solo testers and around a dozen or so regular players before your group somehow managed to leave without a scratcH?" She answered curtly. "Yes, I remembeR."

I pulled back. I knew that there were people who had found the location of the outpost, but to hear that so many had died in the process? It was rather unsettling. "Well it turns out it was a whole quest line for the region. It neatly tied together all those little one shots located around the Black Iron Kingdom." I narrowed my eyes at her. "I'm expecting cor for this, by the way." The self styled 'Rat' could be trusted so long as you paid her, but she was still a businesswoman who loved a profit. Five minutes with her meant she left five hundred cor richer, one way or another.

"You'll get it in the form of a shortcakE," she stated, rapidly working her interface. "Now run that by me one more time, Black Iron KingdoM?" Argo stared at me intently, fingers poised above an invisible keyboard.

"It's what Mitsui, the head of a Trading Guild that used to span the kingdom most of these floors were part of, called the area. Apparently the Town of Beginnings was more commonly known as the Black Iron City, and back in its heyday was a rather powerful place. Tolbana was much the same, though mostly due to all the ores they could get from their mines."

"I'm sorry, did you say the floors used to be apart of a bigger kingdoM?"

"It was an event called the Great Separation. Happened maybe a hundred or so years ago? At least three generations in this world have passed since it happened. Anyway, a series of area clearings and explorations later, Mitsui ended up asking us to escort her and some of her people to the other regions in an attempt to reconnect with her lost branches of her guild."

I rested my chin on my hand and looked to the side. "Same deal with the goblin tribe in the area." Expecting a question, I raised a finger. "They're from part of the last area we had to explore. It's how we ended up getting the Extra Skill: Contract. It allows us to invite a unique, named NPC into our party while also conferring the ability to mess around with their experience gain, among other things." I tapped open my interface, allowing Argo to see the basic layout of the skill window.

"Considering it feels like we're going to be travelling through the majority of the floors with them, and that last I saw Mitsui and her group were heading to meet with the mayor of Urbus, I think it's a safe bet to say that eventually a quest that can grant the 'Contract' skill will pop up wherever we go."

"Anything elsE?" she asked expectantly.

"There seems to be a mod choice that pops up every 50 levels, but they're all locked for the time being. We can't even read up on them. We have some speculations, but it's not like that'll do us any good. For now, we're just going to wait on both the Shukechuun, that's the goblins, and Mitsui's group to do whatever they want in the region while training them up through normal xp share mechanics before moving on to each floor."

"I'll just make a footnote in the Urbus guide theN." With a look of satisfaction, Argo dismissed her interface. "Send me a message when you find something out, yaH?"

"Of course. And, do me a favor and make a note in all future editions to consider NPC's as humans? The programming for those that seem compatible for Contract tend to have behavioral patterns significantly stronger than what you would expect. If people treat them like they're just robots they might have a harder time trying to actually form a Contract. That's part of the skill, by the way. Actually presenting a scroll to the NPC you want to work with."

"Are you calling in this favoR?" she queried.

"No," I said sharply. "It's a request from a friend, for the betterment of our survival and ability to progress through this world."

"Aw, Asasaki, you think of me as a frienD?" She put her hands together and fluttered her lashes at me. It would have been cute were it from anyone else.

"Against my better judgement, yes. You help us out, even if you have a really shitty way of going about it. You don't hide anything beyond reason, and if there's pertinent information you either dangle it in front of us or package it along with whatever information we purchase. You're a dick, but still a friend."

Argo made a sound that sounded like a mix between a laugh, a cough, and a sneeze. "Oh aren't you just adorablE!" She leaned forward and stared at me happily. "Are you sure you're older than mE? Because you might as well be a tsundere schoolgirl with how much of a mixed message that waS."

"Call me that again and I'm stabbing you."

"You're welcome to trY~"

"They call me the demon-nin," I deadpanned. "You really want to find out why?"

"Lighten up, AsasakI." She leaned back in her seat, a wary look on her face. "I'm only teasinG."

I sighed and shook my head. "My apologies. You do good, even if you have selfish reasons for it. It's just a little hard for me not to get testy with you sometimes."

"NoteD. Now tell me about this mystery guy of yours, just between us girlfriendS."

I rolled my eyes, quietly shaking with laughter. "First of all, mysterious doesn't even begin to touch this guy. He's the leader of a group of ninjas and he wears a mask practically all the time."

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I leapt off the edge of the building, turning mid roll to face Mitsui with a flourish. "Ta da!" My only applause was from Asahi, Captain Yamaguchi and his fellow Explorer Kuro rising to their feet with a hand on their swords.

"Lady Mitsui, is travelling by roof top a normal thing for Swordsmen?" The head of both the Explorers and the Tolbana Guard relaxed his body. "I've heard rumors from several of my men of a blonde figure leaping from building to building back in Tolbana the past week, but I'm not sure if it was the result of single person or many."

"I think it's an Asasaki only thing," she replied. "Everybody else seems far more tame than her."

"I'm right here you know!" I shouted in feigned annoyance. "And anyway, travelling on the ground is good for killing time or wanting to think. If I go by rooftop I get to be more active and train up my skills even in urbanized areas."

Mitsui crossed her legs the other way and played with the dark green fabric of her baggy pants, material that was par for the course for NPC's in Urbus. "If you had to assign a number to your penchant for acrobatics, what would you say?"

"Around 130 or so, out of 1,000." The pace had been slow going these days. The first eighty levels or so went by quickly, but with every ten I rose the effort required seemed to increase almost exponentially. I rested against the wall beside the stone bench, grateful for the shade provided by the woven awning. It wasn't a perfect defense against the allegedly winter sun, but something was better than nothing. "So what came out of your conversation?"

"They don't have anything like a merchant's guild here. They still accept cor, but they much rather work with bartering. In exchange for the recipe on how they make their bricks, Ahanu wants us to bring back some seeds for plants that were lost a few decades ago during a drought."

I leaned my head against the flat brick and stared through the holes in the shade. "You're just going to be a series of fetch quests, aren't you?" I mumbled quietly.

"Such is the ways of a merchant." Not as quiet as I thought, apparently. "Offering goods to come out richer. If it helps, think of it as networking with the locals. They learn your face, you learn about the needs of each kingdom. You learn about the needs of each kingdom, you learn how to get in the good graces of those in charge and thus have greater freedom in your operations."

I turned to look at the pseudo-knight. "Is that from lessons Lady Mitsui was given that you were forced to sit in on?"

"It was from a conversation she was having with herself."

"I don't talk to myself!" The woman in question squeaked. Yamaguchi and Asahi replied otherwise.

I chuckled. "Well, if we need to bring back seeds I feel like that means it's our turn to do some work."

"We greatly appreciate it. We aren't opposed to travelling back through the Tower, but since there's a 'Teleport Gate' right here it would be easier if you guys handled it." Ever since we informed Mitsui and her companions of their status as highly autonomous clockwork technology (the most relevant analogy that sprung to mind for 'AI'), the little quirk of their voice falling a little flat whenever key terms were mentioned had completely disappeared. Instead, words that we players threw around with casual ease was spoken with the hesitance of unfamiliarity.

"I'll ask Klein and Harry what they think. Off the top of my head though, and without having seen what Mayor Ahanu wants, I'm thinking myself and Choryu would be the best decisions."

"Twelve Nephente seeds, eight Shadow Roses seeds, ten potato seeds, He didn't specify what type of potatoes he wanted, so whichever one you end up coming across first should do just fine. He also mentioned how the old hermit somewhere in the south might have some other crops growing around his mountain that they've lost as well.

I filed pulled open my inventory, quickly swiping over to my copy of the bestiary Choryu gave us all. "Is that first one from the Little Nephentes over near Horunka?" I turned to look at her, peering out from in front of Yamaguchi's body. "The one that's supposedly a meter and a half tall?"

"That's the one. You'll be looking for one that has something that looks like a fruit on top of its head. The core of it has a bunch of seeds when you cut it open. If you can cut the fruit off by its stem instead of cutting through it the beast won't call for reinforcements, so keep that in mind."

I pushed a finger along one of the metal bands on my tassets. "No pressure or anything," I grumbled.

"For some reason, growing the plant outside of the Horunka forest doesn't result it in becoming a monster. Only in there do we see the giant monsters." Mitsui uncorked one of her flasks, shaking it in disappointment when nothing came out.

"Those monster versions within the forest are completely useless for us as well, unlike the plants which become edible after a year." Perhaps more butler than knight, Yamaguchi silently handed the woman one of his own flasks, reattaching it behind his back when she finished.

"Remind me to try that out sometime. And the Shadow Roses are over in the swamplands, right? They grow between the roots of trees?" Dale had mentioned the plants when they returned from the eastern region. One of the quests over there was gathering enough petals for a tea, something I'd never connected to the tea that Mitsui often served me when I seemed distressed.

"Ah, the potato seeds should be over by the Black Iron City though so at least you won't need to run all the way out to Tolbana." Asahi peeked over the top of Yamaguchi, liking standing if the posture of his head was anything to go by. "It might take half a day at most if two of you go? Perhaps a full day depending on how much trouble the land gives you. And do you plan on finding this hermit?"

"Maybe tomorrow. The guy's pretty out of the way and going out that far isn't exactly worth it." I slowly tapped my finger against the metal.

Might ask Shen if his men are still interested in picked up the skill.

"What do you guys plan on doing for the rest of the day?"

"Lady Mitsui wishes to explore the land some more," Yamaguchi answered. "The culture here is radically different from our own. Lady Asasaki, if we wished to test our skills against the monsters of his area what would you suggest?"

"Caves, mostly." My hand flicked out, opening the notifications I had missed during my conversations with Shen and Argo. "You can always wander out onto the flat lands if you wanted to, but don't go too far out. There's some pretty big bulls and cows that show up from time to time. For the most part, staying here in the northern region you'll only be facing up against giant bugs that have no right existing."

"We'll keep that in mind."

I pushed off from the wall, taking a few bouncing steps before spinning around to look at the four travelers. "I'm going to go ahead and start off on collecting those seeds then. Looks like the others decided to accompany the Ol'dekhaan farther south to face off against the minotaurs there. Meter and a half tall, bipedal cows that can use weapons. We'll have to pass them if we want to move up to the third floor, but only when you guys are done in the area." I stifled a snort at the contemplative expressions the four of them got. "Stay safe!" I broke off into a run, easily transitioning into a vertical run and flipping onto the roof. "I can't tell if I'm doing something wrong with Klein and the others or if this is just them thinking I want some time to myself. Teleport, Town of Beginnings!" I cried, diving through the portal.

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A guttural roar tore through the air, my blade biting into yet another carnivorous plant. What every one failed to mentioned was exactly how many «Budding Nephentes» would show upon attacking the faux fruit of the «Blooming Nephentes». In my haste to complete the quest, instead of a clean red line seperating the bulb from the first one I came across, I delivered a nearly invisible slice just along the bottom fourth and started this piss poor party.

"Hang on, we're coming!"

"Stay back, I've got this!" It wouldn't be the first time somebody tried to help me. By this point I must have killed a hundred of the blasted things, perhaps half a dozen rebuffed voices yelling out their intent to aide me. Their assistance was unnecessary though. With no significant distance or projectile attacks such as acid or roots, the biggest danger came from how little room there was to maneuver but between my size and «Acrobatics» I had no trouble slinking between monsters to avoid damage.

I fell onto my shins, performing a rather admirable reenactment of the 'Matrix'. With a quick twist of my body I launched into springing drop kick, maneuvering my lower half after making contact to fire off an aerial «Water Moon», the roundhouse leaving a jagged wound across the torso of the level four plant.

"Ducker, lure another! Sachi, Sasamaru, keep it up!"

Those kids?!

I laughed, spring boarding my way towards their position. "I better not kill more than you guys!" I cheered. "I don't care how many levels I'm ahead of you, there's still five of you!" With a final slash I fully rotated my body and kicked away towards another target, dancing across the heads of the green and white plants.

On and on the fighting went, every explosion of data that wasn't mine filling my heart with pride. The brief looks I had of the Fukasawa kids revealed that they had taken my teachings and flourished. Where once there was a hint of hesitation and uncertainty in their strikes now lay determination. Every move, as sloppy and unpracticed as they were, was filled with confidence and the knowledge that their allies would be there to back them up.

I spun through the air, lashing out at a familiar red orb. "Got it!" I chortled at the red and white icon that popped over my minimized quest log. "Kill them all, we're done here!" With another joyous cry I tore into the plants anew, treating the creatures like a demented trampoline park.

When the final nephente scattered in a shower of crystalline binary, I sheathed my blades with a flourish, pleased with the hour and a half of combat. "Fancy meeting you kids here." I turned around, unable to stop the grin from infecting my face.

"You're a demon," Ducker breathed, tiredly raising a hand in protest. The limb fell to the ground limply, drawing a tired whine from the equally exhausted Sachi.

"Hey, there's a party I'd like to attend in about…" I winced. "an hour and a half," I finished lamely. Unless I sprinted the entire way back to the Town of Beginnings, there would be no way I would be able to make it on time.

Better late than never.

"Miss Asasaki, why were you fighting all those plants?" Keita asked, the staff user holding himself up with what was probably a metal coated length of wood.

"More importantly," a head of green hair slowly moved into a sitting position, "why were you continually attacking the bulbs even though we were being overrun?"

"Quest from the upper floors." I pulled out a handful of potions and forced them onto the kids. "They want me to bring back some seeds that could only be found by collecting the bulbs from «Blooming Nephentes». Sorry if it caused you guys trouble, but I told you that I had it handled, didn't I?"

Tetsuo sipped at the red concoction, grimacing at the taste. "Handled implies that there was a cause for concern. What you did was take them to class."

"And made them work out of the textbook that you wrote!" Ducker's limbs once again flung out like an inflatable man, the subsequent fall procuring another whine from the girl in blue.

"Still didn't answer why you guys are here." I laid down between Ducker and Sasamaru, deciding to enjoy the returned quiet while I could.

"We're trying to get a «Little Nephente Ovule»." Keita tried to straighten out, deigning to rest on the floor like his companions after holding the position for a second. "There's a quest we're trying to do for Tetsuo. We have to kill one of the «Blossoming Nephentes», but their spawn rate is supposed to be pretty rare."

I quietly opened up a trade window for the teen in question and handed over the item without fuss. "Mission accomplished. Great job, team!" I flung both my arms into the air, lazily crying praises. "Found one of those things early on. Didn't think anything about it since it wasn't my target, but congrats. How long was this supposed to take?"

"W-we're actually on day three," Sachi admitted. "The crowds died down, but it's still supposed to take around a week, or so the guide book says."

I sat up and rolled forward, moving into a series of stretches while I faced them. "Well, you got it now. Sorry for ruining your plans, but I wasn't expecting to have to deal with anybody while doing this." I propped my head up on both hands, my legs spread out in a split. "You guys doing anything tonight?"

"Why?" Ducker pushed himself up, a portion of his normal cheer returning. "Planning on taking us somewhere?"

"Not me specifically. There's some questing stuff that I need to take care of still, and I don't know if the rest of my group is back from their own quest." I jumped to my feet and made copies of my map for the fourth floor. "There's supposed to be a Christmas party over in the home town of Rovia around 5 pm. It's going to be hosted by the Dragon Knight's Brigade and the Aincrad Liberation Squad. Free food, drinks, probably a couple games and events. I guess it's supposed to be one huge publicity stunt, but honestly I'm just happy to go for the food. If anybody asks about why you're there, just say you were invited by Klein. I'll bring it up with him."

"Hey, Miss Asasaki?"

"Mm?" I looked over at the leader of the five teens, pleased that they have all recovered enough to be sitting.

"We were thinking about heading up to the second floor pretty soon. Do you have any suggestions on what we should do once we get there?"

"Don't go into the open plains far away from any settlements. Monsters that normally only appear in the Tower to the third floor appear there at a higher level, as well as the usual giant Bulls and Cows. Bring antidotes if you go into the caves. Oh, and consider saving up a significant amount of cor to try the Tremble Shortcake over at the «Floating Swallow». It's ridiculously expensive in comparison to everything else, but if you aren't sensitive to sweets it's fairly good. Could always share a single cake as a group if it's too much for you guys. Catch you around." I waved with both hands as I backed away, turning only after I passed a few trees. "Well that was fun."

"Nearly killing six people was fun?" I turned to look at the owner of the scratchy voice, internally rolling my eyes at his overly serious face.

"I did nothing," I responded, continuing to walk. Garbed in a variation of the 'scale mail' class of gear, the gaunt man trailed after me.

"You weren't the only person in the forest, you know."

"I'm not the one that forced them to stay in the area. Besides, the «Sprouting Nephentes» only become aggressive in the area that a Blossoming one was attacked. If anybody got into trouble, they should have left. It's completely open forest around here, and the only things you need to worry about chasing you down are the Wasps."

"Aren't you going to apologize?" he asked aggressively, rushing to stop in front of me.

I gave an exaggerated eye roll. "I just said it's not my fault for people being stupid. This is a death game, they need to start treating it seriously. That means knowing when to back off from threats they can't handle." I gave a one sided smirk, gently stroking my forefinger along the hilt of my Armor Splitter. "Are you seriously going to fight me over this?" I asked incrediously when he drew his blade.

"You Beta Testers need to be put in your place," he growled.

I burst out laughing. "Oh that's adorable." I gave him a once over, a handful of ways to take him down playing through my mind. "How about you come back when you aren't shaking in your pants. Seriously, you're talking about the woman who just killed somewhere around two hundred plants in about two hours without taking a scratch. Do you really think your odds are good?" When he held his position I snorted and walked past him without a word, ensuring my body language screamed 'try it'.

Would you have killed him?

I'd do my best to show him how outclassed he was. Threat of pain doesn't really do much to deter people when all you feel are nudges and pokes.

I looked up through the canopy, humming in thought. "Guess I should dive into the whole 'ninja' thing and look into getting some poisons I can apply to my weapons. Inflicting paralysis or delay on somebody sounds like a good deterrent. Didn't Hilde mention something about that?" I cocked my head to the side. "Mayhaps another day."

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I smiled to myself, proudly flaunting the full length Santa outfit a player training their «Tailoring» skill had given me. Apparently my name and appearance was fairly well known amongst both the front lines and the regular players as a figure who seemed to be just about everywhere. The fact that the teen had specifically singled me out for my height was fairly irksome, but the warmth of the fabric against the chill that accompanied the spontaneous snow was worth the hassle.

Fully diving into the persona of an idol, I gave a small twirl and waved at the passing groups on either side of me, giving a wink to a pair of teens who were staring at me. My evening wasn't all fun and games though. There were people I wanted to catch, potentially people who needed a stern talking to depending on how their responses went.

I let out a gasp and returned an excited eleven year old's cry, kneeling down and conversing with him before his caretakers called him back. While it was true that a party of some kind was being held around every Teleport Gate, perhaps barring the first where it was held at Tolbana, it was here at Rovia where the main event was taking place.

At least for one day, we can put aside our differences and simply embrace our shared humanity.

I clasped my hands behind my back, intently letting the bell on the tip of my hat jingle every time I found something new to look at. The north east corner of the City of Water was packed with bodies, ranging somewhere in the upper four hundreds by Argo's estimates. There was spill over of course into the market and residential quadrants to the south and west respectively, but those were for people who wanted a breather from the second hand energetic high.

'You should talk to Kibaou and Lind about the state of affairS. Who knows, you might find something interestinG,' the information broker had told me.

I scoffed. "Oh god, I'm even adding that annoying quirk of her to my thoughts." I hummed to myself in amusement, climbing up the rungs one step at a time. At the end of the row of buildings which functioned for gondola construction, a shadowed figure leaned against a spire, looking over the festivities. "Hey there, Mr. Broody. Having fun skulking about?"

"I ain't skulking," the harsh voice I immediately attributed to Kibaou said. "M'jus taking a break, 's all."

"Mm." I moved to his side, appreciating the view he chose. "What does that make this? Nearly two months since this world began?" I tilted my head towards him, keeping the bonfire built by Agil and his crew in the center of my vision. My previous interactions with the leader of the Liberation Squad weren't all that bad, and as much as I trusted the words of Asuna and Kirito it was better to hold off my judgement until I was able to make my own decisions on the guild leaders.

"Sumthin like that." Kibaou pushed off the wall, staring at me with his arms folded. "Whaddya want, Demon Nin?"

I let out an amused puff of air from my noise at the moniker. "I heard rumors of a shadowy figure staring out at the party. Naturally, as one of Santa's little helpers I decided that it would be best if I checked out the problem for myself." I performed a small dance, ending by leaning forward with my hands folded in my lap.

"That'd be cute if I hadn't seen ya fly into a berserker rage," he grumbled.

"Oh come now, Kibaou. We all have our skeletons. Mine just happens to be an insatiable blood lust." I turned away with another partial twirl, stepping out towards the edge of the roof. "Why do you think the suit is red?" I forced myself to express my amusement at his silence with a giggle. "Kidding, kidding. But really though, why are you up here?" I walked back towards him, treating the ordeal like a play I had been drafted into assisting with. "Shouldn't you be down there with your men, sharing in the festivities and feeling the Christmas spirit?" I tilted my body to the side and smiled, a motion that as far as anybody but my sister knew was completely natural. "C'mon, Kibaou. You can talk to me. Just think of it as a present, somebody you can talk to.

"Didn't 'cha help build this game?" He demanded, a light growl sounding as he spoke.

"Contrary to what everybody keeps thinking, I've had no experience with any type of technology this interactive. I just have around a decade and a half of combat experience and any type of gaming I did do was heavily pattern and reaction based, so I've learned to be good at figuring out how to solve monster routines and other things of that nature." I gave him a teasing smile. "Helps that everything I go up against is a mindless beast trying to kill me, so I have no need to hold back."

The man muttered to himself, backing up against the wall.

"Thanks for hosting this whole thing," I said suddenly. "I've heard that you and the Dragon Knights don't exactly get along, so it's admirable that you guys could play nice for a day and focus on boosting morale."

"Yah know what would really boost morale? More bodies with us at the true front lines and not just hanging about on the lower floors." It was a taunt. Probably. It could just be he was irritated by the fact that there was a good five or six thousand players that weren't helping out, but it was equally as possibly that he'd heard from a certain claw user that I was spending my time questing instead of pushing floors.

"You guys keep pushing the limit, and people like myself show others how to actually live." I stretched my hands above my head. "It might not be what we want, but some people just need to take baby steps instead of signing up for the marathon. I can think of at least five kids who might one day join you guys in the towers."

"Kids shouldn't be here," he grounged.

"No, but they are. And whether they think this is a game or recognize what's actually at stake, we need to do what we can to keep them safe, to make sure that they don't get out of this with more mental problems than they should."

A questioning grunt. "In order to get out of here we have to willingly throw ourselves in the face of death. I'd wager that nearly 95% of all current players are civilians, with another 4% having some kind of combat experience, even if it's just a martial art, while the final 1% has actual experience fighting for their life or the lives of others. Nobody's getting out of here unscathed, not unless they don't fight at all."

I smiled and shook my head. "Some of us are already damaged, and yet still keep on chugging along." I let out ambivalent hum. "You know, I came here to pick your head and instead I picked mine." I turned to face the man, intently meeting his gaze. "Whatever you do, Kibaou, you're a leader. People are going to look up to you, people are going to respect your decisions and whatever fallout happens as a result is directly tied to you. It's a tough position, but somebody needs to do it. Just do your best to make the right decisions, alright?"

Kibaou snorted. "I don't need a crazed, psychotic murderer telling me how ta lead my group."

I hid my wince behind a hand and a choked gasp that would likely be interpreted as a laugh.

"But thanks, I suppose. And for what it's worth, I guess I'm grateful yer helping out the newbies."

"We all have our roles to play." I looked back out at the crowd, watching two figures clash in an organised duel that took full advantage of the lack of damage in a safe zone. "For some of us, that just means working back stage to make sure the main event goes on without any problems." I waved a hand lazily, cocking it to the side like a windshield wiper. "Take care, Kibaou." I broke into a light jog, jumping off the building and slipped alongside a crowd of party goers.

Ugh, god. I don't think I can handle another 'psych murderer' comment tonight. Lind, consider yourself lucky. Auntie Dawn's giving you a free pass tonight.

"Heeey! Asasaki! Over here!"

I smiled at the yellow form of Ducker, running over to follow them for the time being.

Hey me, remember all that flak I was giving these guys back in the «Forsaken Woods»? Yeah, forget about that. These kids are great.

Next chapter should be October 27th-28th.