Technically speaking, this chapter was ready to go by Tuesday morning, but both my desire to stick to a regular schedule and the fear of it not being as good as it could be kept me from publishing it Wednesday or Thursday.

I hummed to myself, peacefully skating across the water. To the east not more than three minutes of boating stood the 4th floor Tower, stretching into the next floor like the skyscrapers of our past. In the largest of the houses here at the southern village, all the heads of the guilds and parties had gathered for a last minute strategy meeting. Klein and Harry had extended an invitation to me, but I had declined in favor of relaxing atop the water's surface.

"I've seen people use those before, Miss Asasaki, but I don't think anyone's seemed as natural about it like you."

I slid to a stop, turn to face the youngest of Agil's group. "It's basically like skating, whether on rollerblades or ice skates. The balancing is a little weird, but it's easier if you think of it like a four wheeler setup." My eyes flicked to the side, my body jerking to adjust for a moment of overbalancedness.

"Really? I'll have to try them out at some point then. I used to do a bit of skating on my own back in the real world."

"I don't know if you'll be able to. The Rat mentioned you needed to have a high agility value to use them." I gestured at my body, pointing out the lack of armor. "People like her and some of the Fūma nin could get away with having additional equipment on since they're using Cloth or Leather, but I've already made the switch to Light Metal and I don't have any gear that wouldn't mess me up."

"Really? That's a shame." Siegfried popped his head up from his hands and nudged his companion. "Hey, Yunyun. You wear Leather armor still. Think you could pull those things off?"

"I thought I told you to call me Jun," the green themed fauchard user grumbled.

"But that's not your name?" The younger asked in mock confusion.

Yunyun scoffed. "Even if I wanted to, I couldn't. I'm focused on Strength and Vitality, remember?"

"Aww, you're no fun." Siegfried slumped, letting his body convey his disappointment.

"It's good to see that you two are still so close," I commented. "Having connections is important in these trying times."

"Speaking of connections," the teen's head perked back up, grinning wildly. "Got anybody special in that little harem of yours?"

I rolled my eyes and started moving around in a lazy eight. "They're more minions than boy toys if we're being honest. Some days I lead them around, some days they guide me around." I turned around, starting the pattern in reverse. "It's a mutually beneficial relationship."

"Must be nice, having all that eye candy all the time," he teased.

"I'll take that as a compliment," I smiled and skated over to the walkway, pulling myself up beside them. "So walk me through this. We go into the Tower…"

"Rotate Squads through each mob to stay as fresh as possible then wait at the boss door, pot up, and start the battle," YunYun began. "A single Tank team and DPS team will go in each time, DPS groups rotating for CD's and aggro while Tank teams call for a switch whenever they fall below their potion margins. If there are Adds, the designated teams will take care of those. If not, cautiously rotate through and assist the damage dealers until we make sure there isn't a mechanic that punishes too much damage in a certain amount of time like we've been hearing rumors about."

"Hm." I swung my legs, staying silent on the fact that it was an off hand comment regarding an unnamed Mánagarmr while talking with Argo that spawned the fears of previously unknown special moves. "So same old, same old."

Siegfried raised his arms in the air, eerily replicating the cheer I had given to the Fukasawa kids with significantly more energy. "Just another day in the world of Aincrad! Field Boss? Actually pay attention to the mechanics. Floor Boss? Group up and hit it until it dies! It's honestly a little boring," he finished lamely, falling onto his back.

I chuckled. "You should look into doing the quests or hunting down special monsters then. Still pretty much a DPS rush, but at least the mechanics are fresh and so you have to pay attention to what you're doing." I shared the events that had taken place yesterday when I led part of Fūmaningun to the Martial Arts quest. Before heading out, I had met with the mayor along with Mitsui. Now aware that she was working with the Swordsmen of yore, the man had tasked me with reclaiming the lost sigil of Urbus. It held no importance other than as memorabilia, but nobody had kept records of the image or what it even looked like. All that was known was that it disappeared alongside a messenger sent to persuade the Hermit to assist them with an impending monster invasion a few decades ago.

"I take it back!" Siegfried cried when I finished. "I am totally fine fighting Floor Bosses if it means I don't have to deal with a monster that glows in the dark!"

"Yeah, I thought so!" I cackled, suppressing a shiver at memory of the glowing silver lights on that scarab's body. Creatures that size had no right moving around that fast. "It was only thanks to my paranoia and desire to actually have to use those lanterns that I had Klein and the others purchase back on the first floor that we actually managed to get through it without any casualties. We lit up a handful of safe zones and then just rotated through everybody on who was pulling aggro while the rest maintained their health."

"And now the question is is what's worse? These huge, four to six bar DPS rushes or a gimmicky fight with around one to three bars and high amount of maneuverability?"

There was a rhetorical tone to YunYun's voice, but for the sake of continuing the conversation, "I'll go with Questing being the more difficult option. Even though we're not around the same level as you guys, the fact that we're having all these different fights with unique approaches means we're probably better off than you in terms of skill."

"Or you're just a ninja. Who helped developed this game," the polearm user responded.

"I had nothing to do with the creation of this game," I grumbled uselessly.

I knew I'd regret that jibe to Argo.

"Aw, look, Klein. The kids are getting along, isn't that great?" I rolled my eyes at the sound of Agil's gruff voice, the American native letting his shadow tower over us.

"I'm just happy seeing little Asasaki socializing, She's such an anti-social shut in sometimes it makes Kirito look normal."

"Hey, I resent that statement with all my heart!" I jumped up and took a step forward, daring them to continue. "I'm nothing like that pint sized gothic hikikomori!"

"Pint sized and rarely seen out in public unless its to gather supplies or travelling somewhere. Over rooftops instead of on the ground like a normal person I might add." Agil pointed a finger at me and raised an accusing brow.

"Face it, Asasaki. You're just the adult and female version of Kirito." Klein grinned and ruffled my hair, laughing when I brushed his arm away.

"Screw you! I'm heading over to the tower." I leapt off the walkway and skated off, grumbling at how easy I let myself fall to their taunts. "S'not like I don't purposely talk to people. I just don't see why I should go out of my way to learn everybody's faces or names when I'm only going to interact with them the single time. Perfectly normal behavior."

When the silt covered landing to the 4th Floor tower came into sight I slowed down my pace, wondering if I had overreacted to the jest. "Look at me, 27 years old and getting all worked up over being compared to a child. I'm supposed to be mature, not letting myself be the butt of a joke." I slowly stepped across the shoal, savoring the sensation of water soaked particles on my feet.

"Kids really shouldn't be here..."

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While not quite an underground, multi-level maze of mind breaking confusion and horrendous back tracking puzzles, the 4th floor Tower was irrevocably the 'Water Level'. A mix of both natural rock and grey bricks, the curving levels of this dungeon were still fairly easy to get lost in. It was only thanks to the 40-odd bodies mercilessly pushing each other to be the first to find the boss room that had allowed it to be conquered so easily.

"Luckily, I'm not them and I have a map." I hummed a small tune from a song I had long forgotten the origins of, downing a Paralysis Potion while I set up markers for each floor. "Suck it, Clearers. I'll just say I was getting some last minute grinding in."

My newest weapon, a creation of the Ninja geek Isuke, served incredibly well for unarmored enemies. A dramatized version of the khopeshes I had seen on display (and not reversed hand scythes as I had first thought) the S shaped «Tormenting Reaper» had the unique ability to deal heavier damage on any reversed strikes, a skill most likely due to the vicious length of metal on either curve partially extending towards the hilt.

Floor by floor I climbed, dancing around horribly telegraphed blows and Sword Skills from the mix of beastly and vaguely humanoid monsters, slowly cataloging the speed and indications for every strike until I could reach a point where minimal effort was all that I needed to continue forward.

It wasn't until a few floors after the mid point Safe Zone that I felt confident enough in giving only small side steps and leans instead the full retreats that I started with. Euphoria surged through me when I completed my third perfect fight in a row without the need for the dodge mechanic of «Acrobatics» forcibly moving me out of the way, a renewed sense of fervor washing through my body.

"Wait no, that's just a level up." Without a second thought I flung the three points into Dexterity, nodding at the minute increase in limberness. Though my original plan was to follow a 2, 1, 3 ratio for my skill points I had somehow ended up following an almost 1, 1, 4 ratio, currently sitting at 10, 8, and 36. "Not like it matters too much," I mumbled. With most of my normal attacks being aimed at vital areas, my output was on par with those who had a Strength value of 20 or higher.

I finally stopped at the entrance to a large room, eyeing the darkness within. With my map displaying only a circular pond of water in the center nothing else seemed to suggest a trap but considering that everything up to this point had been lit up, even if obscured by the fonts of water, it was safe to assume that whatever lay ahead would be trouble.

Hesitating only for a second, I convinced myself that everybody was only a couple minutes behind. Immediately upon entering the torches around the room started lighting up in opposing directions, bathing the room in light. Four streams of water flowed symmetrically into the room, each ending at the pool of water that appeared to go down forever. Another step forward. A quiet orchestra began playing, the instruments heralding something's approach. In tandem with the appearance of a larger version of the 5 foot tall sahuagins that patrolled this Tower, the dark gray stones took on a kaleidoscope of colors, the previously hard surface now appearing like stained glass.

#Scourge of the Sea, Zirgog#

Similar in theme to the rest of its blue skinned companions, Zirgog had a sleek suit of armor protecting its torso. Its helm holding to the streamlined design of numerous slim spikes pointing backwards. Patches of impenetrable scales covered its limbs, and a heavy blade, almost rapier-like in appearance, sprouted from a large gauntlet covering its right hand.

With a sardonic grin I unsheathed my weapon, mentally marking its weak points and likely attack patterns. "You know, it's honestly a little disappointing. You have such a cool design, but you're nothing but a collection of 1's and 0's tagged with a 'Kill all Swordsmen' command." I ducked under a diagonal left-right slash, muted annoyance flaring at the aborted glimmer washing through my body.

"Could you imagine if I had somebody like you under my command? What kind of shenanigans I could have you do to the monster population?" Its left leg shot out, taking a thrust to its calf in exchange. With a yank, its health bar dipped once again, around 6% total from the two attacks.

"Seriously, you're almost an eight foot beast with a sword nearly as long as you. I throw you into open plains and the loot would comically rack up." Zirgog reared back, missing a glowing thrust and its follow up spinning slice.

With such a dramatic attack having been used I launched forward and scaled its body, drawing the edge of my blade across its face. A quick flick and adjustment of my hands brought the steel through its skull, the red markings fading away as I kicked off and generated some space.

A symbol of a blocked eye flashed into existence above its health bar, the two legged amphibian stumbling around before cocking its arm behind it in a motion similar to the one handed sword ability «Rage Spike», sans the parallel position to its legs. The instant Zirgog started turned I hopped back several times, noting the small upward curve before each of its three slashes in my direction. "That's four. What else you got, you walking piece of sushi?"

Almost as if in response to my taunt, it flung its free hand out and grabbed hold of me, slamming me into the ground back first. Undoubtedly concussed if that happened in the real world, the offended creature flung me somewhere to its right, letting out roar accompanied by a dulcet clicking sound.

I curled up and tensed my left arm when the numbness of «Delay» faded away, the tingling of the system taking over and granting me the ability to recover from the throw. "Fucker, that hurt. Not." I pulled out a potion from my quick access pouch, downing the liquid as fast as possible. It wouldn't kick in for several seconds, but it would be better than allowing myself to continue with over a fourth of my health missing.

I ducked underneath the right-left slash, my impromptu glass projectile taking a few lines of health when it connected with the sahuagin's face. "That should not have worked," I grumbled. A sudden punch received a single slash in kind. The proceeding thrust and swipe hit nothing but wall behind me.

"This is where you lose." With its pattern figured out, I dashed in and delivered a series of strikes to its legs, the scales mitigating most but not all of my damage. With a quick breath I leapt up to its left thigh and plunged my sword in, affixing myself to the limb while it leapt back and unleashed its triple spin attack.

The moment its movement stopped I clambered back up to its neck and stabbed through its temple repeatedly, gritting my teeth when it began shaking. Its left hand tore me off, flinging me once more through the air. I crossed my arms, this time moving with the «Acrobatics» mod 'Ukemi' to land on my feet. Water splashed through the air, the din of the falling streams behind me drowning out all sound. My eyes fell to the ring of raised bricks guiding the liquid into the center, creating a half circle pool.

I need more room.

Its next cycle of attacks were dodged neatly, a desire to keep myself from risking additional damage before the potion ran its course staying at the forefront of my mind. "Are you serious?!" I slashed at the single kick from its repeated pattern, growling at the bar that was under 10%. "I could've killed you that last round?!"

"Dawn!"

My head reflexively turned towards the voice, ready for the following commands.

Oh right. You're still here.

A hiss instinctively left my lips, the blade of Zirgog stabbing through my right elbow. With the retracting motion my forearm disappeared in an explosion of data, sword clattering to the ground. "You piece of-" The pata swung through the air, batting me aside. Another ukemi that brought me into a crouch. My eyes flashed to the timer above my health, my lips contorting into a grimace at the heavy bleed I was suffering from. Before I could adjust my plans, the combined forces of the Dragon Knights and the Liberation Squad shattered the sahuagin, a loud cheer being released before the two groups exactly who else was beside them.

"Fuck! Shit! Oh crap, are you okay!? Do you have potions?!" Klein stared at me uselessly, his hands shaking as he tried to comprehend what had just occurred.

"Commander, with all due respect,, shut up. I'm fine." I huffed. "Just give me another twenty seconds and I can counteract this."

"I'm not your commander," he responded quietly, arms falling to his sides.

"You know what I mean…" I lowered my head, taking note of how the lack of a limb felt.

With a jolt Klein's arms moved into fists, a furious look in his eyes. "What the hell were you thinking, coming in here like that! You didn't party up with us, didn't tell us what you were doing, weren't you the one who was always going on about the necessities of trusting your comrades?!"

I sunk lower, fighting back against the part of me that wanted to scream back.

I didn't tell them anything…?

Klein held a potion in front of me, anger poisoning his face. "You promised us you wouldn't pull shit like this again!"

I thought I had this handled...

I took the potion, taking deep breaths while he continued berating me.

"Klein, enough." A voice I didn't expect silenced his rant. "If the Demon Nin thought she could handle it, she could handle it."

"Kibaou…" Klein's voice ended in a quiet growl, the spiky haired leader of the Liberation Squad stepping up to me.

When the icon for the potion cooldown disappeared, I tilted my head back and sucked down the red liquid, focusing on the bitter taste in place of the questioning coldness in my heart.

"What does yer arm feel like?"

"Say again?" I questioned, placing the empty bottle in my inventory.

The orange haired sword user held my weapon out for me. "Yer arm. Yer the first person since the Beta to be dismembered. What's it feel like?"

"Like it should still be there," I grabbed hold of the blade, nodding in appreciation. "If you asked me to shake your hand I'd instinctively do it with my right, even though its not there. It feels exactly like getting damaged should be. A void of nonexistence that you know isn't right but until you look and see what's wrong doesn't make any sense." The orange haired one handed sword user grunted before walking away, calling out for everybody to keep on moving.

"Why…?" Klein whispered.

"I don't know." I looked away, watching my health bar slowly fight back against the bleed.

"The hell does that mean!?"

"I don't know," I restated, looking him in the eye. "I set off from the village thinking I was just going to have some fun while I waited for you guys to catch up. Next thing I know, I'm 18 floors up and fighting against Zirgog." I waved my hand in annoyance, rolling my eyes when I realized that it was with my missing right and not my left.

"You're not participating in this Raid," he said suddenly.

"Excuse me?"

"You're not participating in this raid. We don't know what we're going up against, and this is the third, maybe fourth time you've pulled something like this. What am I supposed to think?" Klein stared at me, his lips pushed together in a scowl. "It's like you have a death wish!"

All emotion left my face. "Is that what you think…?"

"It's what it looks like! I know you come from the military, that you have almost a decade's worth of fighting experience, and that you've lost people, but the way you're acting it's like you don't even care about yourself!"

My lip twitched.

"First it was with that Goblin back near the outpost, then during the Raid on the First floor, after that you had that other Goblin south of Tolbana, and who knows what happened when you snuck out the other night!" Klein stared me, the rest of the still unofficial Fūrinkazan standing uncomfortably behind him. "You're acting compromised, Asasaki. I can't let you continue like this."

"Fine. I'll stay on the side lines."

"No, you're staying outside the doors."

"You want me to just stand aside while others are fighting?!"

"I WANT YOU TO STAY WHERE IT'S SAFE!"

I pushed onto the ball of my right foot, challenging his gaze unflinchingly.

"People could die here, Dawn." He folded his arms and stared back, a minor victory in my book. "And I don't know if I could handle see that happen to you."

"Tch." I stalked away, shoving my weapon back into its sheath.

I'm not suicidal. I'm not that much of an idiot to dishonor everybody like that.

A quiet voice whispered otherwise, its alluring sensation dulling my sensations.

Several minutes later at the entrance of the boss room, I was greeted by the panicked faces of Kirito, Asuna, and Argo rounding the corner. "Yo!" I stood and waved, wondering what had them so frantic.

"Where are they?!" Kirito demanded, stopping in front of me wide eyed.

"Inside?" I answered in confusion, attention drawn to the two dark skinned figures behind them that screamed elf. The twin stars of Black and Red shared a look before motioning for the four of us to step aside. With barely an ounce of effort, the large granite doors leading into the boss room flew open, the trickle of water that had started a few minutes ago transforming into a rush of water, depositing the some fifty or so combatants each wearing a brightly colored inner tubes.

"How's the water, guys?" I jeered, ensuring my venomous smile portrayed the rage I felt at being benched.

"Jus' peachy, Demon Nin." I quietly handed the Kansai native a potion, moving over to begrudgingly assist Klein and the others.

"Alright, everybody up! Pot up, we're going back in!"

"Lind, the hell you talking about?! We just spend ten minutes in there and we didn't even get rid of a single health bar!"

I hummed in amusement, watching Kirito peer from behind the door. True to Klein's words, the odd half-platypus half-fish with a mane of tentacles was still five bars strong, with the sixth resting at around 25% full.

"Of course I do! We figured out its attack patterns and we've already come all this way! There's no point in wasting all that effort!"

Effort that belongs to me, thank you very little.

The clink of metal pulled my attention. "Swordsmen of humankind, if you intend to fight, stand at once." I golf clapped at his commanding presence, ignoring the questioning look the female elf gave me. "If not, then be silent. In either case, through my pact with Kirito and Asuna I shall dispatch the Beast of this Pillar of the Heavens." I shot Argo a look, the woman grinning victoriously.

"In my name, Yofilis, knight of Lysula, I command all who fight to follow my lead!" A torrent of golden light erupted from the self proclaimed knight, his rapier held firmly before him. Four icons blinked into existence above my health bar, each proudly stating an enhancement to various combative stats.

United by the four man of two teens and two NPC's the Raid group charged back into the room, the doors only closing after Kirito told Argo something. "You seem like you're having a profitable day," I commented.

"ExtremelY," she said happily, shaking a few drops of water from her shoes. "So why aren't you in therE?"

"I had a little incident two levels down and the squad leaders almost unanimously agreed that I was in no shape to continue fighting."

"Do you wanna talk about iT?"

"Are you going to sell it?" I asked questioningly.

"Is that your favouR?" she sung.

"Pass," I uttered.

"Fine, finE."Argo waved her hands placatingly. "I promise I won't put this information on the markeT."

"Klein accused me of being suicidal."

"You say whaT?" She said flatly.

"That moment when you say something true that nobody was expecting?" I gave her a sideways look. "That just happened."

Argo looked down at the ground and muttered to herself before looking back at me. "I'm going to need to hear this from the beginninG."

And so I told her. I told her exactly what had happened since the village, my trek up the tower, and the uncomfortable realisation that perhaps subconsciously I wasn't as composed as I originally believed. "Handle," I uttered. The two of us grabbed hold of the fixtures, tugging open the doors to reduce the amount of water. "Get back in there, YunYun. Siegfried isn't going to let you live it down if you back out now."

The two handed polearm user gave an exasperated breath. "My name is Jun!"

"And I'm a teenager!" I told his back.

"I thought you were in your twentieS?"

"I'm 27. Which makes the fact that I'm having all these younglings tell me what to do so grating. I'm pretty sure the only people who have any right ordering me around is Agil, Kinboshi, and Shen."

Argo fell silent. "What do you plan on doing theN?" She asked hesitantly. "About, you knoW."

"Honestly? There's nothing I really can do. Stuff like this," I shrugged. "All I can do is be safe about my actions, keep in mind that there are people both here and in the real world that want to see me walking about and not 6 feet deep, and let time work its magic."

Argo padded over to me, enveloping me in a hug from behind.

"Oi, didn't I just tell you? I'm the adult here. I'm the one that should be doing this for people, not the other way around."

"Asasaki, everybody needs help from time to timE. Just shut up and let your friends be there for you, yA?"

I rolled my eyes and turned around, reciprocating the action. "I already am."

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I plopped down in front of Mitsui, waving away Yamaguchi's attempt to pour me a cup of tea in favor of doing it myself. "The fourth floor boss got defeated."

"That's great! Do you know what the next floor looks like?"

I shrugged. "I only stayed around long enough for it to get beaten then headed back down. Klein and I got into another argu- disagreement." I sipped at the liquid, wondering how tense her meeting must have been to warrant making the subtly sweet tea.

"Forgive me, but it seems to me as if you two clash almost once a week."

"We just have different mindsets," I told the butler slash protector.

"But you can see why he acts that way, don't you?" Mitsui looked at me curiously, her eyes filled with concern.

I shrugged. "He's a civilian. As much as he and others like him want me to act otherwise, I'm fundamentally different from them. Of course I fear danger, but not enough to stop me from handling things that need to be done."

"Like facing a creature nearly twice your height all by yourself?" Yamaguchi deadpanned.

"And didn't I come out of that unscathed?" I countered.

"It was an unnecessary risk. Even as Explorers, people who are anathema to the citizens of Tolbana and Black Iron City, we do not charge into fights by ourselves 'because it needs to be done'."

I grunted. "So where's Asahi and Hibiki?"

"Asahi wanted take notes on the architecture of the area. Hibiki decided to accompany him as a precaution. Even if we are in a so called 'Safe Zone' that doesn't change the fact we are in a foreign land."

Mitsui said nothing in regards to the behavior of her captain, instead busying herself with the leaves in her cup. "Anything I can help out with since I'm here?"

"Shouldn't you be able to see that in your Quest Log?" The not-Knight furrowed his brow.

"I disabled most of those notifications unless it's something relevant to what I'm working towards. All the pop ups and colors just get in the way. Plus, I could take a look but it's nicer actually asking about it in person."

"The Village Elder here wants us to bring back some livestock," Mitsui said, breaking free from her thoughts. "They can survive off all the game they catch from their traps in the forests, but it would be nice if they could have something else to supplant their intake."

"I could bring back some chicken eggs?" My head shot up, recalling the attackable fowl I had seen in the farms north of Tolbana.

"You might need to bring back a few dozen of them to sustain a population. They have the grain to take care of them, but since they've likely never seen chickens we should prepare them for failure." The woman nodded gratefully at the new cup. "We were also thinking about bringing over some Nephente seeds, but since we aren't sure whether or not their monster form is a guarantee in forested regions we didn't want to risk it."

"So just a few dozen chicken eggs from the Black Iron Kingdom then." I flicked open my log, confirming the new quest that appeared. "Okay! I'll be back sometime mid or late afternoon then. Let Klein and the others know what I'm up to if they come back here?"

"Of course. Safe travels."

I closed the door behind me, focusing on the gentle wind and string instruments infusing the air. "I know there's something wrong with me, but it's not as bad as they're making it out to be." I closed my eyes, forcing my breaths into a quick four count. "I guess I can make an effort to not be as risky though."

Which means hanging out on the front lines from a time and raising my levels so I can safely do whatever I want.

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I stepped through the portal, smiling happily at the results of the long evening. Shen had set a grueling pace, but in the end we managed to claim the «Leggings of the Frostborn» without any significant injuries.

"If this were the real world, you'd one drunken stupor away from me tearing into you."

I turned to the side, blinking at Choryu's frame. "How long have you been there?" I queried, stepping away from the portal in consideration of any other night owls.

"Since 11." The techie let out a long sigh, motioning for me to follow. "The others have mixed feelings on what to do about you." This late at night, the only NPC's walking around were those working the taverns or inns. Not even general stores could be accessed unless you managed to find one that was player run.

"Klein, Issin, and Dale want to ban you from anywhere near the front lines for a couple of days, maybe even a few weeks. Harry, Kunimitzz, and Dynamm are of the mind that you're more than capable of handling yourself, and that you just need people to keep you grounded."

"What about yourself?" I pulled my map down into my hand and extended the interface for a wider view, realizing that the path we were on led directly to the giant tree that housed the majority of the third floor's major facilities.

A simple shrug was all I received. "You're a strong woman. I'm sure you know what you're doing." Haru took another breath and leaned on the railing overlooking the town of Zumfut. "You know I look up to you?" He

said after a moment.

The man pulled open his interface and allowed me to see the digital version of his Bestiary, slowly moving through each of the entries we had painstakingly filled out. "That first day we met, I saw you and thought you were going to be one of the people who would get us out of here. The way you move, the way you carried yourself." He shook his head. "It was like looking at living legend."

My hand fell to the ivory handle of my sword, a nod to the starter weapon sheathed in the tusk of a Frenzy Boar that still lay at the bottom of my inventory.

"But the thing about legends is, they never really tell the full story. They always tell about the heroics, about the feats accomplished. But they rarely talk about the people around them. They rarely talk about what sort of things go through the minds of those Heros."

"I'm not a Hero," I muttered, taking a step back.

"The front lines think a little differently." Haru stopped at the entry for Wythege, an incredibly detailed black and white picture of the creature prominently displayed at the top. "Only the guild and party heads know otherwise, but to the rest of the fighters? You were the one who volunteered to go ahead and clear as much of the path as possible so everybody else could fight at their best."

I leaned back against the hand rest carved from the living tree. "Who spun that tale?"

"Klein, Kibaou, Agil, Orlando, and eventually Lind once the Dragon Knights started asking questions." He huffed and slid back a bit, resting his arms on the wood. "So what were you even doing?"

"Hunting with some acquaintances."

"This late at night?" Haru gave me a lazy stare. "Why do I distinctly remember you talking about the importance of keeping a normal sleep cycle?"

I chuckled, wincing. "It's a monster that only shows up past midnight and under certain conditions?"

"Enough with the vagueness." He straightened up and crossed his arms. "Dawn, tell me what you've been doing the past few days. Whenever we try to bring you somewhere you say you're busy with helping Mitsui or that you really need to take a nap and that's when we can even contact you."

I looked away at the rising heat in his voice, the man managing to keep it a few ticks away from being considered enraged. "Whenever you try to take us somewhere it's always to a different floor to test something out with monsters or the markets to go window shopping, even when we have things we want to do. It's a double standard and it's starting to tick me off."

I followed his gaze out to the town, lights from within a scattering of the buildings casting shadows onto the streets. "Do you know of a group called Fūmaningun?"

"A group of self proclaimed ninjas that are known for their kill stealing and passive aggressive take overs of hunting grounds whenever they go out."

My eyes flicked to the side. It was true of course, but it was still hard to hear. "That first night while all of you were out in the «Swamp Lands» I wandered into the «Forsaken Forest», the woods surrounding the first floor Tower." I stepped away from the railing and quickly looked around, readying my hand.

"There's twelve of them, those ninja. They were all hunting down the wolves that spawned. Come midnight, a giant one suddenly appears." I dismissed my armor, doing the same to my outer clothing aside from my shirt. "It's called «Mánagarmr, Envoy of the Eclipse». And it drops this." My fingers tapped several buttons in rapid succession, glowing lights surrounding my body and coalescing into the white furred leather of the Frostborn armor. Choryu looked back at me, a light blush gracing his features.

"This stuff is good. Like, scary good." I flexed my hands, the familiar tingle of «Acrobatics» coursing through me even though I wasn't running. "A passive effect that grows stronger with each piece you equip, and each piece has around sixty upgrade attempts." I raised a clawed finger, silencing him mid shout.

"Those times that I said I was busy or needed a nap? It was probably from either collecting materials on my own or helping out a group of kids that just recently moved up to the second floor." I drew the essential trench cloak of fur up, rubbing my cheek against it. "I'm not avoiding you guys. Not really. I know it seems like it, but I'm not."

Haru stared at me silently, his expression slowly morphing into reluctant doubt. "How come I haven't heard about this yet?"

"1,000 monster kills within 24 hours of the defeat of a Floor Boss from an upper floor. When that condition is met, at the nearest stroke of midnight the monster will appear. Apparently there's a special monster for each floor, but so far they've only completed the first floor during the beta and only had a single attempt at the third floor. With those sort of conditions is it really surprising?"

My companion gave a heavy breath and turned back to the railing. "Riddle me this. Do you get into all these situations that you shouldn't be getting into because you want to die, or is staying busy like this your way of coping?."

I dismissed the armor, quickly putting my normal gear back on. "As much as I hate to admit it, my subconscious probably wants me to just fall asleep and never wake up. You know why I've been sleeping by myself the past few weeks? It's because I wake up a sobbing mess. I see their faces in my dreams. Satoru, Alex, Ally." I calmed my breathing, lighting drumming along the hilt of my weapon. "I guess seeing Diavel die that first raid set something off in me. I used to be so composed, you know? Cracking jokes, serving brews, pushing carts. And now the moment I get into a situation that even remotely seems like it could lead to violence I switch to a persona that shouldn't exist."

"Your face," he stated. At my questioning sound, "When you get into a fight, and I mean really get into a fight, your face turns cold, impassive. You look like a demon come to collect souls of the damned. That's why they call you the Demon Nin. Death in the form of an untouchable ninja that gives no quarter. Sure, you smile and joke and laugh, but when you deliver those critical strikes, you're not Dawn, you're Asasaki."

He looked away. "At some point in your life, you stopped being one and became two, a person living in a state of duality. The person who smiles and cares for everyone around her in her own special tactless way, and the person who knows only death."

I let out a shuddering breath. "Haru, you need to stop."

"I don't think I should," he continued. "You might know it, but I don't think you really Know it."

"Haru, please… I just need time." The trembling words came out as a whisper, almost inaudible to even my own ears.

The man that had no right to say those words laid a hand on my shoulder. For what felt like an eternity he stared at me. "I'm going to do the wrong thing, and for that I'm sorry." I raised my head. "You're strong. You're amazing, you're confident, and you're wonderful. But you're also damaged." His eyes softened. "And I don't think you're ever going to be able to heal until we get out of here."

"What are you saying…?" I mouthed.

"But whatever you think needs to be done, I'll support you. If that means you step back from the front lines and focus on quests or helping others, that's fine. If you think you need to be out there, fighting monsters, protecting others from things they shouldn't see or be doing, so be it." He pulled me into a hug, gently squeezing. "For all intents and purposes, we're in a war zone. It might not be filled with explosions, but we're still fighting for our lives."

"You know I was supposed to end my night happy, not depressed," I muttered into his chest.

"I'm sorry."

I pushed away, wiping away the droplets of moisture. "I don't think Klein's going to appreciate you going behind his back like this," I joked, trying to grab some measure of the joy I previously had.

"Klein's the one who asked me to talk to you." He smiled wryly. "He's more than aware you two haven't exactly been on the best of terms lately."

I sighed and tussled my hair, pulling it out of its usual bun. "I'm not going to stop going up against things I shouldn't you know."

"I know."

"But I guess I can be smarter about it. Which means waiting for people, or calling people to help me out." I rolled my eyes and met his gaze meaningfully.

"Teach me how to fight like you then. Your style is…" He looked away, face scrunching up as he searched for the word.

"Violent?" I suggested.

"I was going to say unique, but I suppose violent works too."

"You know that means me teaching you how to kill, right?" I donned my black cloak from the first floor, basking in the warmth it immediately began retaining.

"I'm prepared to learn, if it means letting you do what you want."

"Careful, keep talking like that and I'll think you're trying to become my servant." I pulled myself onto the railing, wrapping my legs around one of the poles to keep my balance.

"Considering how you treated us during those morning workouts, I feel comfortable in saying I probably already am." Haru moved in front me and smiled, a hand resting on his hip.

I snorted. "Tomorrow morning. We go find Mitsui and check up on what else she needs done around here. After that we spend the rest of the day in the forest training." I gave a lazy salute, mood significantly better now that I knew at least one person supported me.

"I'm going to regret this completely, aren't I?"

"In its entirety." I smiled. "Night, Haru."

"Good night, Dawn."

I released my hold and fell backwards, keeping the face of my newest brother in crime in sight for a few seconds before turning to slide along the face of the tree.

A war fought with swords and not guns.

"Nope, still can't get behind it." I grinned to myself and launched towards the rooftop of the closest building, fully aware of how much difficulty I would have going to sleep tonight.

Next chapter should be Nov 3rd-4th.