Somehow I ended up on the BGM of Wind Waker's 'Earth Temple' theme while writing the Tower section. That immediately brought back the horrendous memories of my voluntarily blind run of Runescape's 'Mourning's End Part 2' because I got so frustrated with the BGM for the related puzzle that it was causing me rage just by listening to it. I was doing my best to channel that frustration; hopefully it carried through.

Side note, this ended up not getting done and edited until November 23rd, the day before I was supposed to release it, even though a good majority of it was finished by Monday the 20th or so. Additionally, thanks to family I totally forgot to try and get this uploaded Friday morning. A Saturday Morning upload is close enough?

I took a deep breath, letting the superfluous action dictate the pace of my movements. Behind me and to my left, Ducker followed along, replicating the self styled forms. Each pattern having been designed for use in an urban environment, surrounded by furniture whether intact or broken. In one grouping, the form assumed that there was a large square table in the center. In another, the square room was assumed to have couches ringing the walls. It was also only one half of the series. I knew its sibling pattern, but the only variation there was to cover more than one opponent. "I hear that you want to try and learn how to fight like me," I stated.

"Keita tell you?" The teen asked.

"Pretty much. He also told me a handful of other things, and upon reflection I'm inclined to agree." My leg slowly moved out in a kick, moving with all the poise traditionally attributed to Tai Chi.

"What did he talk to you about?"

"How he's not exactly happy with how I've been influencing you guys; that with all of you just being teenagers, he'd rather you guys have fun doing quests, fighting monsters, and enjoying the land instead of wanting to imitate me. How to imitate a killer."

"But you're not a killer, Miss Asasaki. You're a protector, a hero."

My cheek twitched, my body holding the defensive stance a little longer than necessary. "I'm going to speed up a bit, try to keep up. Don't worry about doing it perfectly, just make sure the motions are just about the same." I changed to the sibling form for the next set, trying not to let the emotions brought up by his choice in vernacular bother me. "You know how I developed this sort of style, right?"

"From watching movies, games, and real life training?" He hazarded innocently.

"From fighting other people in the real world, sometimes for our lives." I raised my right leg, slowly moving into an advancing series of strikes that would have forced my target into the waiting form of my partner. "I'm not joking about that 'killer' thing, Ducker. If you try to imitate me, you're trying to learn how to make the most efficient moves in taking down a living, breathing opponent."

"That's fine."

I held out my other leg, slowly pulling it back in and pivoting around into a downward knife block on the other side. "How old are you?"

"Fourteen!" He answered happily.

"You're not even old enough to legally have sex," I said bluntly. "And you're wanting to learn how to kill?"

"Well, I mean." I wish I could stop to properly have this conversation, but if I didn't take care of my daily exercises now then I would never have found the time for it once I returned to the fourth floor. "You know Sasamaru almost died the other day, right? We got stuck in a cave system somewhere past Urbus. We couldn't find our way out for a couple of days. I'm pretty sure we would never have gotten out of there if it wasn't for a couple of cosplaying Ninja that were passing through."

I closed my eyes, letting out another controlled breath. "Why'd you guys go in a cave system if you didn't have the information for it?"

"We thought we could handle it. We're kind of over leveled for the region and our teamwork is pretty spot on there days. The only issues is me being a little too excited to go in and start fighting and Sachi keeps flinching whenever she gets singled out." The blonde let out a thoughtful sound. "She's getting better, but every single time she goes up against a new monster it always takes her a second to remember that she can actually take it down and not be the one taken down."

"Haven't you guys been at this for a couple of weeks though?" I cycled through several moves, using a knife hand to replace the weapon that the sequence asked for.

"Just because we've been doing this for a couple of days doesn't mean we're still used to everything. When you first started out, were you able to get your sword skills out without any problems at all?"

I clicked my tongue, finding no fault in his logic. "Still though, I find it a little strange that it hasn't been beaten out of her yet."

"And that's exactly why I want you to train me, Miss Asasaki!" I turned around, sheathing the imaginary blade with a flourish. Ducker was staring at me proudly, having stopped moving alongside me several forms ago. "I want you to train me, so I can fight like you. That way, Sachi won't need that beaten out of her. I know I'm just a kid, I know you're an adult and want me to be as innocent as possible, I know that Keita wants us all to just stay kids and not be forced to become as mature as him, but we can't." The kid shrugged impassively, his face still maintaining a youthful optimism.

"But eventually we're going to have to grow up. We've been here for two months, and we've only beaten four floors out of a hundred. At that rate, it's going to take us maybe four years just to get out of here. I'm going to be seventeen by then, Miss Asasaki. I don't think I could bear sitting around, twiddling my thumbs, just hoping that the adults are strong and smart enough to get us all out of here. I want to be up there at some point, on the front lines. I want to do what I can so that Sachi and others like here can stay innocent and not have to cry because they messed up or got attacked." He looked at me self-consciously. "You can understand that, right?"

"Of course I can. Everything you just said? Apply to that to me, but replace you with Sachi." I began sorting out my inventory to keep my mind partially focused, grumbling meaningless things under my breath.

"So? Will you teach me?"

I shook my head. "I won't teach you everything. I'll teach you pins, grapples, and how to move through all your attacks fluidly, but I won't teach you how to make those final blows. I won't be responsible for producing a child soldier."

"But what would be wrong with that? If I knew how to fight, I'd be able to stand up there right alongside you guys-"

"A child soldier means that you'll be facing up against things that you have no right, no reason to be facing. It means taking lives with you own two hands. It means making decisions that not even adults can make easily." I stepped closer and placed a hand on his shoulder, holding his gaze for a moment before speaking again. "It means that you'll be growing up with a life of war, and separating that between a civilian life is a difficult process."

"Miss Asasaki, I don't think we're actually able to be called civilians anymore."

"And that right there is the problem," I said softly. "You're not exactly civilians anymore, but you're still several steps away from being called a soldier. You still have a chance." The memory of Kirito and Asuna fighting side by side on the first floor, blurred by rage but nonetheless identifiable played through my mind. I sighed. "I won't start teaching you anything until at least next week. What I can teach you depends on entirely how well you can go through all those forms I taught you when I was helping you kids back on out on the first floor. I'm no good with sword skills, but I can work a lot with natural abilities."

Ducker beamed. "Alright. I won't let you down."

"You're already letting me down by asking for this," I corrected. "What you need to do now is not let yourself down, and to always remember the reason why you're asking for this." I shot Issin a message, letting him know that I would be making my way to Urbus shortly. "Oh, and Ducker?" I gave the teen a small smile, waving as I walked away. "Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year, Miss Asasaki!"

{ } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { }

I slashed through a «Sahuagin Scout», the bipedal fish shattering in a shower of blue shards. "This makes absolutely no sense!" I cracked, scanning the battlefield for my next target.

"Is it the fish monsters wandering on land, a good hour or so away from any water, or is it the fact that we have a large group of said monsters blocking the path to the mountain pass?" Harry bolted away from the monster I had just pulled aggro from, his glowing shield carrying him a ways and slamming back one of the armored spear users.

"Why not both?" I yelled, pulling one of the blue scaled beasts in by its weapon and goring it through it's stomach. How does it feel, bastard?!

"Fūrinkazan, to me!" Harry accentuated his rally cry by jabbing his sword into the air. Smoothly he pulled it back and stabbed into a sahuagin, its spear sliding ineffectively across his shield.

Our group of eighteen formed up, our tanks and two handers gathering in a loose variant of the formation Harry and Klein had affectionately called 'The Dragon's Teeth'. If we had enough people we would have appeared as jagged wall of tank users flanked by normal damage dealers, two handed weapon uses at every trough. As it was, we were only segmented arrowheads, forcing our way through the horde of monsters and letting the essential army surround us.

Were we not as numerous as we were, the decision to willingly throw ourselves into their midst would have been a death sentence. Unfortunately for these creatures they were a much lower level than us, the only other hazard aside from their numbers being their spears. Once we got past the range, it was a simple matter to kill them before their programming could make the switch to the short swords at their sides. At Harry's command we broke apart, engaging the army on our own terms.

A short while later I sheathed my blade unceremoniously, the last of the creatures fragmenting into data. "Harry, I'm going to file a complaint in advance. If we end up eating fish in the next five weeks, somebody's getting stabbed."

"Just make sure it's an enemy and not somebody friendly." The second in command of Fūrinkazan huffed and took off his armet, his hair miraculously unmatted from the helm. "How many monsters was that though?" He questioned.

"One hundred? One hundred fifty?" I shook my head, manually removing my armor and placing it gently on the ground. "I lost track once I started getting notifications that my inventory was too full. Again."

The teen glanced at me, quickly looking away upon realizing that I was in the midst of stretching. "With how often you go out and do all these hour long hunts, you should think about picking up the Extended Weight Limit skill. I'm sure you'd be able to catch up with those who already have it in a couple weeks if you keep this up."

"No thanks." I pulled myself forward, stretching out my stomach. "Once I hit Twenty I'm pretty sure I'm going to be picking up the Sprint skill. I kept debating on getting Hide, but I'm going to get more use out of flitting around instead of evading detection. I'm sure I'll pick that skill up eventually though."

Harry waved Dale over, the man jogging away from Yamaguchi and the goblins. "We're going to need to send a couple people back to Rovia. After that fight we're all carrying way too much."

I tuned out their conversation, looking through all the drops I had picked up to the list of materials I recorded for my equipment upgrades. I still needed to pick up more leather and fragments from the taurus' on the second floor, but according to Argo's guide the sahuagin items all carried a small chance to increase the agility stat of armor if used as a secondary ingredient. With unnecessary flourish, I moved the items over to my first box, mechanically sorting the rest of them with a single button.

"Asasaki? Asasaki!"

I jerked away, performing a slightly awkward roll and landing in a crouched position with my blade drawn.

"Easy, easy." Harry motioned placatingly with both hands, a concerned look on both his and Dale's face. "I was asking if you wouldn't mind going with Dale and Issin back to Rovia. Klein's going to meet you guys there. Apparently you're supposed to sell some information to Argo over on the fifth floor."

"They couldn't have done it on their own?" I questioned, asking for his help in putting my vambraces and cuirass back on.

"They said she has a job that only you can perform. She'll be meeting you near the teleport gate."

I shook my arms out, waiting a few moments for the system mechanics to return the strings to the preferences I had set. "Should I just start running then or…"

"It'd be better if we stayed as a group." Dale shaded his eyes from the sun, staring at at the plains we had traversed. "Who knows if the monsters here are normally supposed to be this plentiful. Argo's guide only mentioned the types of monsters we could find out here, not how many."

"Fair enough. Shall we get going?" I reached up and idly redid the ties for my headguard, pulling the knot tightly.

"Maybe in another ten minutes or so," the two handed stated. "Issin said something about wanting to take a small break, how he over exerted himself trying to show up Tarthuul."

"Yeah, that sounds like something he'd do," I agreed. "Back in the Fallen Dungeon he got pretty annoyed when he found out how many monsters the guy ended up killing compared to him." I sat back down, content with watching everyone continue winding down.

{ } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { }

Dale and I raised a hand in unison, waving over the curved blade and dagger users. "You guys have a nice time over on the fifth?" I asked, giving my customary nod whenever we gathered back together.

"Can't exactly say it was nice, but it was interesting for sure." Klein bumped fists with Dale, giving the man in a quick hug.

"The fifth floor is pretty much nothing but undead of the skeletal and zombie sort. There's some ratmen wandering around, but basically if you can imagine it in a 'sewer' level you'll find it." Haru made copies of the newest info, trading the pages over to me. "Oh, you'll also need this." He manifested an odd looking copy of the 5th floor guide, physically trading it over.

"Most of the quests there were all about exploring the ruins. It was actually pretty interesting. I felt like we were Laura Croft for a while." To Issin, our guild leader gave a long embrace that felt like it was carrying a hefty amount of unspoken words.

"Are torches required?" Dale questioned, a hand flicking through windows.

"For the most part, no. There's some magical torches set up, but in a handful of places somebody needs to be providing a light source if you want to find the hidden treasures." Choryu nodded suddenly, recalling something. "The fifth floor has some dungeons that are repeatable. A few of them are daily things, but then there are others that seem like they have a long wait period between each attempt." The office worker chuckled. "There's even one that's repeatable as many times as you want if you're hurting for cor. There's artifacts you can collect and sell to the NPC's topside."

"You need to keep in mind the timer though. It's not exactly a window that gets shown, but there's a mist down there that creeps up on you. Stay down there too long and it starts burning down your health." Klein grimaced at that, the kind of grim acceptance that only appeared when informed about the resources required to gain information.

Dale tilted his head. "Is there a set timer or does it change from attempt to attempt?"

"So far it seems like the timer is around five minutes or so. Ah!" The swordsmen jumped and spun towards me. "Asasaki, you need to get going! We told Argo that you'd be able to take care of something in her place!" He quickly traded over a handful of potions, roughly pushing me towards the portal. "She'll tell you everything you need to know once you get in there, and be safe!" Utilizing the voice commands, Klein gave me another shove, sending me stumbling through the blue gate.

I caught myself on the stone guard rail on the other side of the portal, leaping back when the material dissipated under my grasp. "Thanks, Guild Master," I muttered. I rose my head and stared out at the decrepit buildings of the fifth floor's main city, the name 'Karluin' rising out of flatly drawn ruins. After a moment the word faded, my HUD returning it back to view.

"You're kind of late, aren't you, Asa-chaN?"

"We got side tracked by fatigue," I answered, the only sign of my annoyance being a single facial twitch.

"Klein and Choryu told me to talk to yoU." The Rat stepped to my side, staring out at the vista. "Said that you'd have something to share regarding that little «Contract» skill of yourS?"

I looked up looked up at her, brow furrowed. "Sorry, you're going to have to be a little more concise than that."

She cleared her throat, imitating Klein to an uncanny degree. "Asasaki's the one invested in this whole quest line. Plus, I'm pretty sure she's the only one who has the full details here." She closed her eyes, presumably taking a moment to compose herself.

More statement than question, "You do that inflection at the end of every sentence on purpose, don't you?"

"5,000 coR."

"Pass." I shook my head. "Is there any chance we can get a better view while we talk? I want to take a better look at the region."

The Rat brought a hand to the railing, slowly tapping each finger in sequence. "I suppose I could lead you somewhere, but if I don't think the information is worth it I'm charging yoU."

"Like I wouldn't have opened up trade window if I didn't think it would be worth it for you," I deadpanned.

She snickered. "How high's your Acrobatics skill?"

"158," I responded, wondering why she nearly tripped.

"Nevermind, theN. You'll be able to make the trip without any problemS. Just make sure to step exactly where I go, or at least be ready to catch yourselF." Argo led me into the ancient castle directly behind us, guiding us along the edges of the courtyard.

"If I asked how bad it could be," I trailed off, taking in the ruined castle slowly being reclaimed by nature.

"Nearly every genre savvy person would start screaming at you for setting up a flag like thaT." The broker grabbed my hand and pulled me through a passage that led to another enclosure.

I sighed grumpily. "Alright then. Let's get to it."

The trek turned out to be worse than I expected, but utterly tame once we started. After having climbed up eight foot tall bovines, scaling the outside of three story fort by running up it, and taking a some seven floor or more jump and surviving nearly every three days, the slow crawl up the castle walls was extremely cathartic.

"There's just a handful of platforms lefT." Argo held out an unnecessary hand for me, needing both to pull me up the rest of the way. After a moment she led me inside, signalling for a quick breather.

"Is this place quest related?" I begrudgingly forked over the 200 cor for the information, deciding to believe her claim of not having mass produced a guide for the region yet.

"All currently known quests in the region set you into the catacombs underneath or at the other settlementS. They're based around collecting lost heirloomS." Argo backed up a few steps. With an oddly cute grunt, she began scurrying along the wall and up to the next landing.

"So absolutely no idea for here then?" I asked, making a deduction based on her phrasing.

"I wouldn't phrase it like that, and I request that you don't tell people that until the guide for the region gets published." Argo pointed towards the next level section of stone. "Not until you and your group decide to settle here and use that Contract skill of yours and sniff out everything I'm missinG."

"The Rat? Missing something? She must be losing her touch." I laughed and set off in the opposite direction, kicking off the last few steps and landed there moments before her. "You seem distracted." I reached up and tapped her nose, snickering at the bewildered expression she gave.

"I'm just really curious about what happened the past few dayS." Argo returned my tap with a quick shove, taking advantage of the brief moment I was stunned to break ahead.

"Cheater!" I chased her the rest of the way up the tower, taking a few seconds at the second to last platform to recharge my run timer. Immediately upon landing all sounded faded away, nothing my but footsteps guiding me up the stairwell. The following room was incongruous to the rest of the tower, its circular walls untouched by the ravages of time. In the center of the floor a smooth relief of four fleur de lis' set in a cross design carved from the white stone sat, a complex ring of lines bordering it.

"Over herE." Argo awaited at a sun kissed balcony, withered faded purple fabrics resting on either side of the archway.

"Damn, I'm starting to rethink whether or not the information I have for you is worth this view." I walked over to the railing, gingerly testing my weight against it before sitting down. "Look, I don't have any other way to start this so humor me. What do you know of the Elven Questline?"

"The Elven Questline starts on the third floor, located in the central region of the Forest of Wavering Mist, south of the riveR. The starting quest is best located through sound, though there are other methods such as using the tracking function of «SearcH». Upon finding the region, the player and their allies must make a decision on which elf to assisT. The Forest Elf, or the Dark ElF. Regardless of their decision, the players will be knocked down into the Yellow or Red, at which point the enemy elf will unleash a final gambit on the playerS."

"The elf they chose to assist will intercept the suicidal elf and save the playerS. Once this happens, the allied elf will pass on their final ta0K. Deliver the Jade Key to their respective basE. The players can of course decide not to do this and sell the Jade Key to an NPC for a very nice sum of money, but they will no longer be able to perform the quest, not unless they join up with a player who has chosen the same side as them but has not yet delivered the keY."

I grunted, glad to have the broker confirm my suspicions. "Choryu and I started the quest two days ago, in the specified region. We had our combat capable allies from Tolbana with us." I brushed my fingers through my air, basking in the wind. "Everything went just about the same way. We fought, I got brought down into the yellow, the Forest Elf we chose to help didn't really participate in the battle, but he still passed on his orders."

I brought my fingers to my lips, turning the motion of bringing a cigarette to my mouth into a small massage. "He was trying to get a peace treaty going," I started. "Something about how the Fallen Elves in the region had taken over their Spirit Tree to the West and was systematically taking down their camps one by one." I rubbed my stomach with my left hand, recalling the sensation of something pressing against my back and disappearing into a numb void.

"The Elven Questline we walked into was an Elven War, Argo." I stared down at the castle's main courtyard. "As far as I know, the Forest Elf population on the third floor for Fūrinkazan has been reduced to one coherent Sergeant and two barely responsive husks."

I glanced over at her, nodding somberly at her expression. "The last thing we did in the region was walk into a trap. From what we gathered, the Forest Elf in charge of the region was working with the Fallen Elves. They had an artifact." I frowned, recalling the golden sigil of a cat's eye surrounded by a square that Yamaguchi had taken off Harak'thaar's corpse. "Apparently it was a way to interface with raw crystals that grew from a tree in the dungeon we went into. The Fallen leader was using the artifact to create healing crystals, or so we believe." I uncoiled my legs from the pillar and flipped over backwards, spinning on a single foot and resting against the railing. "Something like that," I looked up at the sky, "was never in the beta, right?"

Argo quietly sat down next to me and pulled me into a tight, one armed hug. "No, I can't say that it waS."

"Didn't I tell you before that it's supposed to be my job as the older one to do the comforting?" I turned to look at her, thoughts freezing when I felt her minute trembles.

"You arE," she whispered. I maneuvered myself so I could reciprocate the hug, letting her silently cry into my shoulder.

"What happened?" I asked quietly.

"They had this really awful look in their eyeS," she whispered. "The moment I asked what they've been up to, both of them just froze and stared off into the distancE. I've never seen anything like iT." She quickly pulled her hood over her head before curling into my chest. "If you said you got into a war, an actual one, what does that mean for the rest of the quesT? For the rest of uS?"

I stilled, realizing the problem. "What have Kirito and Asuna been up to?"

"They've been exploring all the dungeons in the areA." The young woman's hands slowly roamed my body, searching for a sizeable piece of clothing to grip. "They're supposed to be clearing the labyrinth today with some otherS. They didn't want the other guilds to fight over the last attack drop." Argo suddenly looked up at me, eyes blazing. "You'll protect them, righT? You won't let them see whatever happened to your grouP? They're just kids, AsasakI!" Her last words were slightly crazed, her breath barely controlled enough to just skirt away from being called hyperventilating.

"I'll do what I can, but I don't see-"

"I only stayed here today because I was supposed you meet with KleiN. He told me you'd go in my placE." Argo pulled away, furiously working her interface. "They're at a set of ruins to the easT. The entrance is in the graveyarD. You have to go down for a few levels before you can start climbing uP. Bring a torcH." The woman quickly worked through the buttons, telling me to pay her back later. "This is everything you need to get there safelY." Her hand paused, inches away from tapping the confirmation button. "They're just kids, AsasakI," she breathed.

"I know. But they're also at the front lines. I can't protect them from everything, but I can limit their exposure." I smiled bleakly. "That's what I'm supposed to do as an adult, isn't it? Teach the next generation and guide them into maturity?"

Argo nodded slowly, finishing the transaction. After a moment she looked back up, a her panicked gaze slowly becoming distraught. "Asasaki?"

"This is a safe zone?" At her hesitant nod, I smirked. "So no worries. I won't take any damage. I've done this before in Tolbana. It's much higher than there, but it's basically the same principle." I looked over the edge, reflexively swallowing at the height. "Argo? Despite all the grief I give you, I want you to know you're a good person." I hopped off the edge, inverting my body to see if she had leaned over to watch me. She hadn't.

Please don't let that be a mistake.

I took a deep breath, reorienting myself to increase my drag.

{ } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { }

"Seriously, fuck Kayaba." I brought a hand to my face, smushing the potion components closer to my mouth. At first the smell within the fifth floor Tower was nothing more than damp and stale air, but the higher I progressed the more the overbearing the stench of decay became. It ended up reaching the point where I had to change into the ninja outfit Shen had given me so I could stuff spare herbs into the face mask for a filter.

When the patrolling group of skeletons and zombies passed by, I leapt off the damaged platform and began making my way across the various fixtures in an elevated game of 'The Floor is Lava'.

I stilled at the top of a broken pillar, another group of undead passing by. Being essentially a full floor above them, the monsters would have posed no problem to me were it not for the fact that on more than one occasion a platform I had chosen to step on immediately began crumbling under my feet.

This is just flat out cheating though.

The only reason I was progressing so quickly through the twenty levels was because I could freely abuse my Acrobatics skill. Several times throughout the dungeon the floor above had fallen through, each opening positioned in a way that seemed completely natural yet was conveniently located near scalable pillars or walls with portions of the flooring intact enough to allow the placement of hands or feet.

It was after crossing a series of handholds placed along a two story drop that a thought occurred to me. "If there's a light puzzle here, I'm going to stab that bastard in the gut," I uttered darkly. I lunged to the side, catching myself on the dilapidated flooring. With a huff, I pulled myself up, rolling forward into a defensive crouch while I took stock of my surroundings. The section I had just arrived in was a rather small intersection, the halls wide enough for only a single person to walk down at a time.

I folded my arms, eyes flicking towards the forcibly compressed map. "If I was an impetuous thirteen year old, where would I go?" With a partially stifled groan, I trodded down the eastern path, presuming that it was the only one that lead into the heart of the fourteenth level.

For what felt like hours I wandered the level, my steps accompanied by an ever present mix of pendulic drums and offbeat maraca. Once in awhile the sound of falling rubble or groans of either monsters or spontaneous movement of air throughout the dungeon would reach my ears, the noises the only reprieve from the homogenous environment.

I grit back a curse, taking a deep breath through my mint scented face mask. "Twenty goddamn minutes on this floor and it turns out to be a fucking dead end." There was the rare (and easily dispatched) skeleton and zombie, but aside from that and the handful of chests I dared not touch this level was completely worthless.

I made my way back to the stairs leading down to the thirteenth level, angrily rolling a potion around in my hand. It wouldn't have been the first time I discovered a dead end; the same had nearly occurred on the sixth and ninth; my only saving grace for those two was a section of crumbled flooring that managed to lead up two floors instead of the usual one.

"Ke." Letting the rush of air take the place of a curse, I charged forward and began whittling down the group of three skeletons, their chipped and rusted axes cutting nothing but air. With none of my usual pomp, «Armor Splitter» was returned back to its sheath, the notifications from the monsters dismissed in favor of relocating the stairwell I had previously ignored. Only superficially aware of my surroundings I continued my journey up the levels, taking whatever shortcuts I could and hoping that it didn't end with me backtracking.

Eventually I found myself in a large circular room. Similar to the giant sahuagin's room on the fourth floor, this room had four beams of light shining down from the ceiling, the hot rays redirected into the center by diagonal slabs of reflective stone that seemed out of place. My eye began twitching when I noticing a gear placed surreptitiously near one of the entry points for the lights. With a long breath I normally used to begin meditation, I pulled open my notepad and inserted in english letters 'STAB KAYABA IN THE STOMACH!'. With that source of irritation shelved I passed through the chamber, forcing myself to ignore the desire to fall asleep in the warm beams.

The remaining four floors passed by fairly uneventfully. It wasn't until I reach the final hall to boss room, a grandiose section filled with rusted sets of armor placed between still burning hearths that I broke out of my trance.

While the armor itself was beyond hope, the swords and shields seemed to have retained their original glory. I knelt down and rubbed away at one of the shields, a terrible plan forming in my mind that I desperately hoped was nothing more than an aesthetic choice and not a mechanical requirement.

With a huff, I attached the small kite shield the size of a buckler to my left forearm. The moment the system recognized it as 'equipped', the item lost all of the dust and grime that had accumulated on it. I stepped up to the massive stone doors, the motif of a crazed golem carved from the material. "Please tell me they noticed this too," I whispered.

Behind the doors, the raid group consisting of a meager two parties cycled through their members, each member sticking around only long enough to handle a single attack or two before retreating for another set. In this manner, through the manipulation of hate skills and strong hitting abilities from the tanks, «Bezalel, Corrupted Protector of the Sand Iron Kingdom» was forcibly kept in the center of the room.

My eyes roamed over to the northern side at the far end of the blistering hot room. Keeping to the same dimensions of the mini-boss room, four beams of light shone directly down through by small cut outs in the rotating ceiling some three or four stories above. The easiest way to find the light source would scaling the Golem and making the leap to the chains dangling from above. The harder way would be to scale one of the eight pillars situated on a circle a few feet outside the path of the lighting.

They didn't notice.

"Of course they didn't," I uttered, walking with one of the beams to reflect it at the beast's chambering fist. "They're here to rush ahead, not play it safe." Restraining a sigh, I surged forward, vaulting over the blocking form of the Vector and speeding up the extended stone limb.

I shut out the surprised calls of my name, instead paying attention to the focus of the golem. The beast had yet to notice me, all of its rage fully directed at the rotating six tanks of which five utilized shields of what had to be the current highest quality.

When it rose back into a standing position I leapt onto its flat head, springboarding off and grabbing onto the longests of the six chains. From this high up, an uncontrolled fall would undoubtedly result in a small moment of Delay and Stun; a moment in which the Golem could take advantage of and crush me in a single blow.

I forced the thoughts out of my mind, instead pulling myself up link by link. Upon nearing the top, I coiled the metal between my feet, letting myself fall flush along the chain. The two parties had been forced to forget about me; YunYun and Siegfried, as well as a duo I only partially recognized, had split off from Kirito's DPS group to deal with the small grouping of axe wielding skeletons that spewed through now opened entrances along the walls while the twin stars themselves flitted around the boss, inflicting strike after strike that for all their damage may as well have been flicks to the forehead.

Slowly I began swinging back and forth, focusing my gaze on a stationary, unlit hole several feet away. With a grunt I grabbed hold of the opening, inching up to my elbows before untangling my feet and pulling myself through. Muffled by the stone, the battle and all its related sounds seemed to be a lifetime away, only the sound of turning gears talking to me.

"I could really use an axe or a maul." I looked around the room, visually grading each piece for their importance in the design of the room. Despite being a completely enclosed edifice of modern- perhaps even fictional material, the space above me seemed to have been completely open to the sky, the construction funnelling a strong wind into the chamber.

With no such oddly placed weapon or device of destruction, I leaned back through the hole I had come through, giving my light bleached eyes a moment to recover before referencing the placement of the pillars to the construction of the non-sentient constructions. "This is like that damn boar all over again." I sat back up and quickly chugged a potion before plummeting through the hole, performing a quick system assisted roll and round off to reduce as much damage as possible.

"Oi, Kii!" I waved my free hand, snagging the teen's attention when he completed an attack run. "Call the DPS off, I'm doing something stupid!" I ran closer to the tanks, positioning so that my liberated shield would reflect light at yet another one of the golem's attacking fists. "Vector, stand over there and push me to the side!" I gestured wildly with my sword arm to the pillar to the east, walking with the beam of light until I returned to my self-designated 9 o'clock.

"Hey, what's going on?!" Agil clashed his glowing two handed axe against the now fully rest fist of the golem, the impact pushing him back slightly with minimal damage.

"Something stupid and insane!" I whooped. "Reduce your output on both damage and hate!" I swapped out to Tormenting Reaver, my head growing woozy despite my confidence in executing the modification to my plan. "Isuke, don't let me down!" I charged in, unleashing skill after skill upon the golem's legs before dashing twice towards the pillar I had direct Vector to.

Noticing the rapidly approaching death sentence, the shield and axe wielding man tackled me to the side, looming over me like lover would once he recovered. "What the hell were you thinking?!"

"That I'm going to bring down the roof!" I directed the man to bring me closer to the others, the man tossing me roughly over his shoulder. "Tanks, make it face north!" I banged my fist against Vector's armor, letting him know to drop me. I explained my plan to him excitedly, the man's eyes widening when he realized the process would make the fight go by significantly easier.

"You're a madman," he called out, moving into position.

"I prefer the terms creative and inventive!" I ran over to Kirito, handing over my buckler and letting him in on my suspicions. "Keep everybody else safely away, once that thing comes down and the light starts shining, go back to whatever plan you had before." The black haired swordsman nodded, continuing his role of raid leader with a determination that made my heart weep with bittersweet pride.

Several times later, the stone supporting the gears crumbled down, doubling the amount of damage that had been dealt to the beast throughout the entire fight. "Hang back, wait for the form change!" I yelled in the deafening silence.

True to my words, the hardened black outer layer rapidly began turning red, the material crumbling away and turning the layer underneath that sunburnt red as well.

"Asasaki, with me! We need to get that thing to clear some space! Tanks, DPS, hang back!" Kirito dashed over the rubble, focused entirely on the exposed golem.

"I better not deal more damage than you!" I taunted, bounding over to him. Together we rotated around the beast, both of us utilizing our Acrobatics skill to the fullest to evade the enraged punches that shattered the rubble around us into nothingness.

"Tanks, in! DPS, same pattern as before!" Kirito rolled to the side, the shield I had given him tossed aside long ago. "Asasaki, wait for Vector to swap out before doing your thing. You two work well together. Don't let us down." The teen relayed his instructions to Agil's group, charging forward and dealing his own three hit combo before leaping back.

This feels amazing. Is this what Klein and the others felt whenever they played their games? I grinned and let loose another combo, abusing the same system assisted punch-dash-punch chain to get away from the beast.

"Asasaki, you are quite possibly the most insane person I've ever met. And we have a teen leading a two, barely three, party raid group that's succeeding."

"Odds are just a number!" I grinned and handed the man a pair of potions, my heart rejoicing with both the call of battle and a euphoric sense of camaraderie. It wasn't the non-stop action I was used to with Fūrinkazan, but sitting and waiting my turn, performing my duties and having somebody there to assist me after each attempt? The moment I was able to perform this with Fūrinkazan would never arrive soon enough.

Over and over we assaulted the boss, a newborn machine continually tinkered on by a fledgling but prodigal inventor. With every pass the mistakes that had previously occurred were pressed out. It wasn't quite the exact, fraction of a second delay I used to know, but by the time we reduced that to no more than half second pauses the boss had disappeared, its body swelling outward into a flurry of shards centered around the tip of my blade after my final skyward «Pierce the Sun».

I landed on my feet, weapon still extended while the some three second delay began ticking away. Around me the other players began cheering excitedly. Agil and two members I pinned down as being part of the Liberation Squad and Dragon Knights, wielding a maul and sword and shield respectively, gathered around me. "You know, I can't but feel like I did something wrong," I stated, looking at their stoic faces.

"You're part of a Fūmaningun , aren't you?" The Dragon Knight said.

"No, I'm actually part of Fūrinkazan, thought I can see why you'd be confused." I reached up and pulled the crushed leaves out, tucking the mass into my inventory before pulling the face mask off.

"I asked for her to be here. Argo had things she needed to take care of and so Asasaki was sent in her place. Don't worry, she knows the rule. She's not allowed to use the banner nor can she sell it." Kirito looked at me in what was probably a stern look, though coming from him it was utterly diminished by his slight babyish features.

"In any case, there's the matter of loot to be discussed." The green clothed Liberation Squad member stared at me. "Kirito, we know you don't care much for boss drops, but as for you," His cheeks pulled up marginally, likely a result of eyes hidden by his helmet narrowing, "being the one who got the last hit and actually being conscious this time around, we'll need you to send everything but that banner into the loot box. Raid rules state that everything but the LA or Trash drops have to be rolled for if any participants want them."

I did as requested, leaving open the after action report for review. "Do they normally do that?" I motioned towards the retreating forms of Kirito and Asuna, tapping the button to participate in the roll for an «Ancient Dagger».

"Yup. Seems to be their M.O. these days. Roll into the boss room, take the Last Attack, then immediately set off to the next floor." Agil let out a joking, kid friendly curse when the roll for a two handed axe went to the ALS representative named Okotan.

"The guilds aren't exactly happy with them, but they leave the hunting spots alone, so we don't have much fuss with them."

I nodded at the Shivata, the Sword and Shield user from DKB. "Most of their experience and level ups come from questing then?"

"Pretty much." Okotan pulled off his own helm, waving a hand in an attempt to cool himself down. "The only times we ever see them in the main cities is when it's the only one unlocked, when we have a boss meeting, or if we get unlucky."

"You call it unlucky, but if only your leaders could pull their heads out of their ass and play nice instead of squabbling like school children over who has the cooler outfit y'all could probably ask those two for information instead of shoving your heads between Argo's-"

"Agil, play nice," I told him in english, noticing the strangled expressions from the other two. "He does have a point though. I'm pretty sure if you worked with those two you could get stuff for cheaper instead of going through any of the information brokers." I made a celebratory fist when the roll for a metal helmet went to me.

"Kirito works closely with the Rat," the ALS representative said. "Any time we tried to get any sort of information from him he just told us to look for the next edition of the guide book."

Still socially awkward then or is this something else? I shook my head. "By the way, why are you two here? I was under the impression that the ALS and DKB had an intense rivalry going on."

"On the record, we're all here because we wanted personal access to the drops without having to worry about the rest of the raiders. Off the record," Agil pointed towards me, "we did it because if a guild got ahold of that banner it'd be a massively unfair advantage for the owner, especially since it's a boss drop and won't every show up again."

I nodded, pretending to understand the situation completely. I clapped gently for the Dragon Knight representative when the last item went to him, quelling my amusement at Agil's half hearted grumbles. "So what now?" I looked over at the others, Siegfried regaling a tale of some kind to a rapt Nezha.

"Now, we all make our way back down this place and go our separate ways, hoping that none of our guild mates see us together." Shivata waved over his companion, the other Dragon Knight garbed in heavy plate that was a contender for Kinboshi's equipment in regards to which was the more durable of the two. "Asasaki, would it trouble you much to forge the way down for us like you did on the fourth? Most of our resources have been depleted. We'd be more than happy to compensate you with cor."

I pulled open my stat page, distributing the skill points I had acquired into Dexterity and Vitality as well as acquiring the «Sprint» skill. "I don't have the critical path though. Aside from a few dead end floors, I ended up cheating my way up here with Acrobatics." I ignored Agil's bark of laughter, the man handing me a handful of potions and a physical copy of his map.

"And why does that not surprise me?" The former reporter swung his axe over his head, reaching behind his back with his other hand to secure it. "Does an eight minute head start sound good to you? The ALS folk can go ahead first. We've all agreed that if anybody asks us what we were doing that we wanted to get some extra cash in before we headed down to the New Year's Party."

"Party?" I blinked owlishly, transcribing the relevant markers onto my map interface.

"The ALS and DKB are hosting another party in Karluin. This time for the New Year." Shivata pulled his helmet back on. "It's another attempt to boost morale, that despite us being trapped in here we can still let loose."

"How about you figure out a way to get some boat races going on down in Rovia some day?" I suggested, discarding the map once I got everything useful. "Might be a little difficult figuring out how to host it as well as the goal points, but it might be some fun. Maybe make it a relay instead of a race, considering how long the river is."

"Hey, that's not a half bad idea, Asasaki!" Agil clapped me on the back, his heavy hand sending me forward a few steps. "Though you're right on that whole relay thing. We might be better off waiting until we find an island floor or something. The fourth floor is way too small for something like that."

"We'll bring it up with our leaders when we get a chance. I'm sure they'll enjoy being able to show each other up again." Okotan heft his maul, resting the shaft on his shoulder. "Here's the payment from our side." I choked at the amount, turning the gut reaction into three practiced coughs to hide my surprise.

"Thanks. I'll get started on it." As I walked towards the entrance, waving at the rest of Agil's World Market, I considered the merits of going through Argo to purchase materials for my various upgrades. That thought was passed in favor of looking through the stalls in the Gate Cities; I still had to find a personal smith after all. Isuke was useful for my weapons, but my go to for repairs was still an NPC in Black Iron City.

I waited until the doors to the boss room shut behind me, taking a moment to familiarize myself with the markers before setting off with Sprint. Like Acrobatics, the skill created a tingling sensation in my legs, something very noticeable yet so easy to ignore. In bursts of three seconds I charged through the pathways, «Armor Splitter» cutting through any undead I came across.

After perhaps forty minutes of almost continuous action, in which time Sprint had leveled up a handful of times, I found myself at the courtyard leading into the labyrinth. The vines that one could climb to access the shortcut for the maze were still there on the right, mirrored by a dummy entrance on the left hand side.

I pulled down the face mask of my outfit, glad that sweat wasn't something we had to worry about in this world. "Have I mentioned how nice it is to breath fresh air?" Quickly unequipped my armor and swapping to my clothing from Urbus, I stood there silently for a short time, enjoying the sound of the gentle wind blowing through the area.

Kirito doesn't fight like me. He's not a soldier. He's still a kid, and he looked so happy fighting that thing.

I reached out and tapped the relevant buttons, the sudden weight of my armor staggering me for a brief moment before my body refamiliarized itself." I frowned, entering a runner's stance. "I'm still not teaching Ducker how to fight like me. Haru gets a pass though, since he's old enough." At the retort of an imaginary pistol, I charged at the wall, the tingling sensation changing minutely when my momentum changed from horizontal to vertical.

{ } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { } - { }

"How'd your day go?"

I smiled at Hibiki, offering a quick thanks when he placed the plated fish and beans before me. "Pretty interesting. I honestly didn't expect it to be as exciting as it was." I brought a closed hand to my lips and coughed, fighting down the laughter that threatened to escape when I recalled my statement to Harry earlier today.

"Oh? Do tell."

I explained to Asuka how everything had gone, tugging on my acting ability to deliver the story in a way that was exciting but not too gruesome. "I'm honestly really surprised that all of my leaping off buildings turned out for the better though. I mean, incidentally leveling up my skills while having fun is one thing, but that's the second time in a week that it's been put to actual use." I placed my spoon down on the plate, respectfully keeping my elbows off the table as I stared at the ceiling.

"The life of a swordsman certainly seems fraught with peril," she commented, daintily eating a piece of the local fish. "By the way, have you talked to Klein or the others?"

"No, not yet." I blinked, a thought suddenly occcuring to me. "Do you have a way of talking to them now?"

"You didn't know?" The leader of the merchant's guild stared at me, an amused smile on her face. "Apparently one of the modifications you can choose for your «Contract» skill is to allow communication with your signators. It seems that Choryu decided to take that bonus instead of the experience enhancement that most of your companions took or your own slot increase."

I blinked, suddenly blank mind echoing the . "When did this happen?"

"Right after he and Klein returned from the plains west of here." She giggled. "Don't you pay attention to this sort of thing?" Asuka tapped her head, an amused smile adorning her face. "You know how I have you fetch things for me? Takeshi has Dale go through various sword stances to try and improve his combat skills, Hibiki has Dynamm spar with him pretty much every day, and Asahi has Choryu share whatever sort of information he comes across related to each region." The same finger moved up to her cheek, the woman humming in thought. "You know, your companions keep saying they feel like you drew the short stick. What do you think?"

"I think their hearts are in the right place, if fairly misguided." I continued digging into my meal, wondering how much of the taste was natural and how much of it was a direct result of the chef's abilities. "It's not that I hate working with you or anything, it's just that I find it kind of odd how I'm pretty much playing messenger while everybody else gets to level their skills up by fighting with alongside their companion or just doing the things they normally do."

Her voice suddenly changed. Where before she seemed happy and joking, now I felt like I was on the other side of a business deal. "Are you saying you'd like for me to join you on the battlefields sometime?"

I shook my head, deciding to ignore her ambiguous tone. "I won't force you to do anything you don't want to, Asuka. While I'd love to having something combat related assigned to me, I think travelling the different regions for you is probably one of the best things I could be doing." I pushed a small collection of beans around my plate, apologizing when Hibiki chastised me.

The woman took a few moments before responding, her tea cup held softly in her hands. "Hibiki, I'm sorry to interrupt your work, but would you mind stepping out for a bit? There's something personal I've been meaning to talk to Asasaki for a while." The man nodded, silently leaving a small stack of dishes in the sink for later.

"I've been reviewing the Contract that I was given after we entered the pact," she started. "Aside from the relatively easy source of Experience that it allows you Swordsmen, the deal is more beneficial to us natives than it is for your kind." She took a sip, the cup in her hands gaining a protective feel to it when juxtaposed to her posture. "But there was something I couldn't help but notice when I reviewed the signatures. All of us signed with our full names, even the elven soldier Iseyer."

"But when I looked at what our partners had written, I realized that the names used were only the handles they went by and not their actual names like we had done. By this point you know of us; who we are, what we do, and what we plan to do, but we're at a disadvantage. All of us." The redhead set her cup down, her hands folded demurely in her lap. "So, Miss Asasaki. Who are you? Where did you come from? And what are you planning?"

I evenly met her gaze, disgruntled panic slowly rising when I noticed her voice had become slightly NPC-like at the end. "It sounds like you're asking me for my personal details, information regarding the other world."

"And what you hope to achieve here." Her voice turned back to normal, her previously composed features gaining a sorrowed look. "A partnership is built on trust, Miss Asasaki, and while I know I can trust in you to keep my interests in mind, I'm not entirely certain I can trust somebody who hides behind a mask."

I let out a single breath of amusement, making the connection to Haru's own observation of me not too long ago. "I guess we'll start from the top then. My name is Dawn Lakewood. I'm twenty seven years old, and I come from a place called America."

With only seven days remaining in November, the next chapter won't be released until December 8th or so. While it's not exactly a full story and is instead more an Anthology of heavily connected events (Spaghetti and Meatballs as opposed to pure Meatballs of easily consumable, isolated event) I still want to try and hit the 50k goal of NaNoWriMo which means seven days to get down 20k of pure, unedited, regurgitated prose. So until then, see you everybody, and thank you for continuing to read this far!