Hey everyone, NainTarlow here.

I will try to keep this AN brief this time, before jumping into the story.

First of all, I am terribly sorry for the late chapter but with the start of school, I have less and less time for writing. Because of that, my updates may become even more sporadic.

I was happy to see that you liked the appearance of Byakuran and Bluebell, I wanted to include them for a long time but couldn't find the opportunity. We will see if they appear more after this arc closes.

Reviews:

GoddessOfFanfiction: The rest of the funeral wreaths? Maybe I'm not sure if I have the others appear just yet. And yes, while Natsu and Co. are busy Kirito has his own angst coming up, though I'm currently undecided if I touch it, or simply mention it.

tsun: even if you don't love much drama, please bear with it, since you probably know the laughing coffin arc will be filled with it. As for Tsuna, the seal will not break completely just yet but I want him to gradually grow and this arc will be a catalyst of sorts for that. As for Liz, in this chapter, she reappears and I tried to give a plausible reason for her staying away from the action so to speak. Argo, well originally I didn't plan to have Argo appear too much but she came and basically took over my fic.

michiko-chan27: We will see. It would be easier if they stayed in namimori middle for the khr plot but it would be interesting all the same to have them to group with friends from the game.

That's it for this author's note, thank you for the favs, follows, and reviews, it really makes my day to see someone enjoy my stories.

Level 13 the adventure of Ken and company

"It's kind of a long story." Ken said with a sheepish laugh at the questioning stares of Natsu, Buzz, and Argo.

At the table, the newly revealed former laughing coffin members' presence didn't help matters at all. The girl, Bluebell was still glaring at them, at Buzz in particular while Byakuran was looking at them as if he was watching his favorite TV show. Klein was no help either and Dynamn was obviously indicating that his guild, his responsibility.

"That makes me hear it even more." Argo commented with a sweet smile that never failed to bring a shiver to his smile. He may have faced down various, frightening bosses but none scared him as much as Argo did. Natsu was very lucky or unlucky that the Rat was too busy teasing him to put the fear of Her into him

This was the last time he chose to hang out with Klein by himself because for some reason he was the only one in trouble

-0-

Earlier that day

"You must be really bored to come here visit little old me." Liz commented with a teasing smile as she stood next to her newly acquired shop's forge, finishing the one-handed sword she was forging. Ken sat not much far from her watching her work with interest."Nowadays I only hear from you guys when you need new equipment or need an upgrade and even then it's rare for one of you guys to come down here to the 19th floor."

"Sorry about that, Liz-chan." he apologized, feeling a little sheepish.

It's not like they stopped visiting their favorite blacksmith intentionally. But Liz preferred to stay and work on lower floors, only occasionally coming close to the frontlines when she needed some ingredients and she didn't want to ask them for it, while they worked tirelessly on farming and beating the game as fast as possible. It left little time for themselves, so visiting Liz just slipped out of their mind. Especially since it was only one or two of them at a time who went down to her if they needed anything.

"Nah, don't sweat it." the pink-haired blacksmith waved away his apology without a moment's pause. She finished the inspection of her work and with a pleased smile she placed it down the table, before giving Ken a large smile."A lot of things have changed since the first days when both of us were starting out. You guys are now big deals, I can't expect you to always have time to visit me. So why were you left out from whatever the others were doing?" she inquired as she sat down next to him.

"Natsu and Buzz are going to the 1st floor to negotiate with the Army with Asuna. Agil took out the new members to farm for equipment, while Basil, Wedge, and Biggs went back to the dungeon of the 27th floor, along with a small scouting group consisting of DDA and KOB members to make sure their info is correct after all the mess that went down." he explained to her, the smile never leaving his face.

"Then how come you are not with Basil's group?" Liz asked with her head tilted to the side. Ken, for all the easy-going guy he was, he was especially in his element whenever he was fighting. It was just like he was playing baseball, a very scary version of baseball he claimed.

"Basil group was needed to be a small force for some reason, it was specified how many people each group can send. It made more sense to send those who encountered the boss already from us. For Agil group, too many high-level players would make it harder for the new guys to grow, or something like that, so I was left behind." he explained, not losing his grin for a moment.

Liz chuckled as she heard him before a mischievous smirk appeared on her face she wasn't as much a tease as Argo but she enjoyed poking fun at the boys' expense from time to time. Natsu was a prime target but Ken and Basil could be fun to fluster occasionally.

"And you couldn't go with Natsu because you are rubbish at negotiations and that stupid smile on your face would only piss someone off." she said, though her laughter took most of the things of her words. However, she was surprised when Ken only laughed at her.

"That's exactly what Buzz said when I asked to go with them."

Liz watched him with a large sweat drop, wondering if he really was that naive and clueless or he was just that good of an actor. Either possibility scared her.

Shaking her head, deciding to file this thought at the never thinking about it again category, she sent him a genuine smile, changing the subject.

"Well, it's nice to get visitors from time to time. As much as I love working in the smithy all day, even I got lonely sometimes. Since you guys are busy I understand you could only visit so much but other than you Asuna is the only regular who visits and chats with me. And even then she mostly rants about that Kirito guy. Wonder why." she said, giving a conspirational wink at the end for good measure.

Ken blinked in surprise. Their little group was close-knit since they all worked together frequently, that the fact that Liz had yet to meet Kirito surprised him.

"You know this is kind of funny that you have to meet Kirito. Though he is pretty much a loner so it's rare to see him outside of boss meetings and fights."

Liz only smirked at him, shrugging her shoulders to show she was not very much bothered by it. Considering Kirito did not have the best reputation and Asuna's opinion of him changed frequently, it was not that much of a surprise.

"Don't worry, I heard so much about him from all of you, I probably will recognize him on sight alone." she said with a large grin as she turned away from Ken and opened a menu in front of her.

Ken tilted his head in confusion, feeling as if a lot of people laughed out at that moment for some reason. A moment later, he shrugged to himself, deciding it was better to put it behind him and never think of what it meant.

They fell into a comfortable silence, Liz doing some administrative work or something like that, while Ken simply humming to himself. Unlike Natsu, who would constantly hound himself, not liking to be idle, he liked these quiet moments. There was no point in constantly running himself ragged, but there was a need for the time put aside for simple rest, even if their bodies were in truth just a bunch of zeros and ones.

It was a trick he learned from his baseball coach, though it was also something he tended to forget most of the time. The body, as well as the mind, needed rest. If he tried to force himself to perform at best, without taking breaks between, sooner or later he would crash and burn out. That's why, knowing things wouldn't get any easier as they continued to get closer to the 100th floor, he did his best to appreciate his time off.

Of course, as per the eternal rules of the universe, the moment that thought rang through his head, the front door of Liz's shop opened, and then the bell placed on top of the door gave out its recorded sound, alerting them to the arrival of customers.

"I'll be out front in a moment." she called out as she closed the menu in front of her, and stood up, dusting her clothes in a reflex, even though in this virtual world there was no such thing as dirt or dust.

She looked at him in question and he simply shrugged before standing up and following her outside the counter. He had nothing to do right now, simply waiting for someone to tell him that they needed help or something like that.

Giving him a fond shake of her head, Liz opened the door leading out of her forge, a blinding, practiced smile on her face that became a necessity to keep her business booming. Not to say she didn't usually smile but she had more honest smiles reserved for her friends, something Ken could understand very well.

"Welcome, to Lisbeth's smi-" she froze for a moment as she looked at her potential customer and her smile quickly was replaced by a deadpanned look as she recognized him."What do you want?" she asked plainly and Ken struggled to hold back the snort that tried to escape him.

In front of the counter stood a scruffy looking man with bright red hair and a bandana and red armor that resembled the get up of a samurai. The katana at his side further enhanced that image. He was looking at the various displayed items on items before they entered and while he looked up at a wide smile initially, now he looked like just a kicked puppy.

He was the leader of the guild fuurinkazan and one of their closest friend and ally, Klein.

"Come on Liz-chan, that's no way to talk to a customer. And I was planning on buying new weapons for the guild but after a treatment like that, why should I?" he asked her, through the slight grin on his face told them he wasn't serious at all.

"I would talk respectfully to proper customers but you are anything but that." she challenged with a grin as she made her way behind the counter, leaning down on her elbows."You can't even purchase in the name of the guild, since Dynamn is the one who controls your finances and it's always him who delivers bulk orders like that."

"She got you there." Ken voiced as he walked to them with a smile."It's pretty well-known that you are banned from the guild finances."

"You guys are so mean to me." Klein said, visibly deflating. Liz and Ken looked at him but soon lost the fight against the laughter and both of them burst out, laughing at the antics of the red-haired man. Klein looked up with a grin and soon joined them.

A few minutes later all of them were wheezing from the last vestiges of laughter. Finally calming down, Liz looked up, hand reaching up to try and wipe away the tears from her eyes but before she could they simply disappeared into small polygons, the system automatically destroying them.

"That was good. I needed it." she commented as she turned to Klein with an honest smile on her face. "So what do you need? I mean usually, it's Dynamn who orders from your guild so I'm surprised to see you here, alone." she said, looking over his shoulder, seeing no one else.

Ken also listened on curiously, since it was unusual to see Klein alone. He was almost always accompanied by one of his friends, guildmates. He didn't know why that was, either they didn't trust him or simply in this deadly world they stuck close to others but he could understand the feeling. After spending the start of the game completely alone, surrounded only by his morose thoughts, he knew it's better to be around friends you could trust.

"Ah, about that." Klein sheepishly scratched the back of his head before pointing at Ken who blinked in surprise."The guys are waiting for me on another floor but I came looking for that guy."

"Me?" he asked a little dumbly, pointing at himself. Not many people knew he came to visit Lisbeth, come to think of it he only told it to Agil when he left with his group, leaving him alone in the guild mansion.

"Figures. One of you visits me once a while, you guys immediately find something else to do. I see how it is." Liz said with a sigh, though the smile she tried to smother was still easily visible."Go on then, boys, off you go." she made a waving motion with her hand.

"Come on Liz-chan, it's not like that. Klein didn't even tell what he needed me for." Ken said, playing around as he pleaded with her not to kick them out.

"Sorry about that. I promise to make it up for you somehow." apologized Klein sheepishly before addressing the other katana-user in the room."Agil told me where to find you. I and a few of my guys from the guild are about to move out and we could use your help."

"What for?" he asked back, intrigued. While they frequently worked together, it was more because they shared the same goal and coordinated with each other, it was rare for Klein to ask for help specifically. Liz also looked interested, despite how nonchalant she tried to act.

"Since those player killers mostly operate on lower levels I decided to take down a group that I trust to face off against them and drive them off if they think for a moment to attack us." Klein declared passionately, a fire burning in his eyes that honestly worried Ken. Klein was a good leader and not a bad fighter at all but he tends to go overboard. "What do you say, Ken?"

The answer was pretty simple at least for him. Looking at Liz in question, he saw the smith smile at him and gave a shrug, silently telling him to go ahead and not worry about her.

It's not like he disliked these peaceful moments, but life in this virtual world made him used to constantly fighting. For the past few months, he was always doing something, training, farming, exploring new floors, or fighting floor bosses. Even when he wasn't fighting he was still doing something most of the time.

Doing nothing, when he knew some of his friends were fighting just didn't sit well with him. So it was not a surprise what his answer was.

"Sounds good." he answered with an eager smile, hand reflexively closing around the handle of his trusty sword.

"Alright then." the red-haired man cheered, slapping Ken enthusiastically on the shoulder, causing his smile to turn a little forced."Let's get going then." he declared as he began to herd out the teen out of the shop.

"Wait, Klein. What's the hurry?" Ken protested as he tried to turn back and apologize to Liz about taking off but she simply waved them goodbye with a small smile on her face.

"Don't worry about that, go and teach those idiots a lesson or two. But you are not allowed to get hurt, understood?" she called after them as the two frontliners stepped out of the shop.

"Thanks, Liz. After we kicked these Laughing Coffin guys' butt we should hold a large party for us. We would round up everyone, even that loner Kirito and we will have a good time. I promise." Klein called out as he finally left with Ken struggling to keep up, leaving Liz alone in the shop.

"I'll hold you to that." she whispered to herself, losing her smile and placing her hand on her chest.

It was always hard, seeing her friends leaving, ready for the next battle. It's not like she was not brave enough to fight at frontlines but unlike Natsu, Ken, or Asuna who found themselves shining and even somewhat enjoying fighting for their life, she found a much better joy in working on her smith skills and she found a fulfillment that her weapons and armor that she made for them contributed of them staying alive and bringing all of them closer to the end of the game.

And maybe, just maybe, when this is all over when they awake in the real world, they could have that party, all of them.

-0-

"Could someone explain to me again, what are we doing here?" Ken asked with an uncharacteristic frown as he started to once again fidget with the crappy armor he currently wore, which was at least ten levels lower than what he was using usually.

It wasn't even his own. Sentimentality in Sao was not something that was heavily encouraged, it got you killed if you stuck to a piece of equipment just because you liked how it looked, so they routinely sold or broke down into materials the equipment they no longer had any need for it, so when Klein told him out of the blue he needed low-level equipment he was in a hurry to buy them. Aside from offering a lot less protection than his usual gear, it was also uncomfortable since it was well-known that you needed a few uses to get used to any new armor, to break them into shape, despite having nothing but virtual bodies.

Even the sword at his side was one he hadn't used before and felt clumsy and unbalanced in his hand. It was a quirk of his that he didn't feel like a blade was usable in combat until he had at least made one thousand practice swings with it. Even then, no katana truly felt fitting in his hands, not even his current one.

To this day, he was still searching for the perfect sword for himself.

"That's easy. We need to blend in, so we don't look out of place in the lower levels. We'll be totally unassuming, so when those pkers try to ambush us, bam, they got floored. They will be like 'What? They supposed to be weak!' It will work for sure." Klein enthusiastically explained, punching into his open palm.

Ken sweatdropped as he watched the manchild:s antics. He genuinely liked Klein, he was fun to be around, bringing much-needed levity to their already stressful lives. The only downside was that his presence forced everyone else in the room to be the voice of reason to balance him out.

"Klein, not to ruin your fun but you do know it won't work right?" out of the small group, it was Dale who decided to ask to most pressing question and was proven right when the guild leader's face fell."We are too well-known among the players to be able to pull off incognito that easily."

"Not to mention, declaring to everyone that the fuurinkazan came to the rescue." Ken decided to add, referring to the scene that Klein caused when they arrived on the 14th floor."They also encountered Natsu before, so doubtlessly they researched our guilds, so no use hiding our identity."

The next moment they found Klein facing the wall, banging his head into it repeatedly as an air of depression hung around him. Dale, the two other members of Fuurinkazaan, Syrukko and Monroe looked at him but their faces told Ken that it was an everyday occurrence with the roguish looking samurai.

Shrugging to himself, deciding that it would make no sense to stop and change in the middle of a dungeon while they could still handle the mobs easily. Instead, he looked at the two players he was introduced to in the morning when he met up with Ken and Dale.

Syrukko was a tall man, in his twenties with long blonde hair that he kept in a ponytail and a pale complexion. He was also very thin, so he looked somewhat comical waving around an ax that was almost as large as himself. Beyond that, he was a pleasant individual though he preferred to stay silent and watch their antics with a small smile.

Monroe on the other hand was a dagger user, a thief by profession, he claimed. He had black hair and a large beard. He was around Klein's age, a friend of his from another MMO they played together and just as boisterous and enthusiastic as the aforementioned samurai.

"As if anyone could forget that ugly mug of yours. That plan was doomed from the start." Monroe laughed even as Klein slumped forward, even more depressed.

Seeing this, admittedly comical interaction, Ken decided to break up the fun and remind them of the reason they came here.

"We are already in this gear, so no use crying over it. Instead, let's continue our search. Who knows, maybe we will find the Laughing Coffin's base." he joked in the end, trying to keep up the air of levity they had going.

As if a switch had been switched, Klein was up, giving him a sparkling smile along with a thumbs up, his earlier gloom forgotten.

"That's the way to think, my man, Ken. You are proving yourself to be a very promising apprentice." Ken didn't have the heart to tell him that out of the two of them it wasn't him who unlocked the katana skill tree first.

Dale shook his head, feeling exasperated, Monroe began to laugh merrily, even Syrukko gave a soft snicker.

"Just think about it, if we find their headquarters before anyone, no one will doubt the power of our guild. Ha, take that Kirito, I surpass you for sure. And then, everyone will acknowledge what a handsome and pro-gamer I am, and I will get a girlfriend at long last." and with that, Klein was once again lost to them as he descended into his frequent daydreams.

"Hai, Hai leader-sama." showing just how long he had known the samurai, Dale began to gently push him forward with a resigned expression, so they could at least move along."Before that, we first have to find them, so let's get going."

As a comfortable silence descended among them, Ken reflected on his thoughts about the peculiar members of Fuurinkazaan. They were a fun bunch to be around, their generally accepting personality made them easy to work with. He didn't have the kind of synergy with them that he had with Natsu and Basil, where they didn't even need words anymore to know what the other was planning but he would trust Klein and his friends to watch his back anytime.

"What's the plan anyway?" he asked in the end, since they had to hurry and find 'appropriate' gear, the members of the fuurinkazaan forgot to tell him what they planning besides going to the 14th floor and finding a lead on the pkers.

Klein opened his mouth to explain but in a trained, cohesive move, Syrukko grabbed his arms to stop him from struggling while Monroe put a hand in front of his mouth, to prevent him from speaking, while Dale turned to the younger teen after giving a thankful nod to the two of them.

Honestly, Ken was a little unnerved how they used to these kinds of things.

"The plan, which is not really a plan if I'm truthful is to go around the dungeon a few times while keeping an eye out to other parties and possible pk attacks." he gave a wry smile even as his leader continued to struggle. "Honestly, I kind of doubt we will find anything but simply our presence will have a huge effect on other players which is a plus in my book."

Ken nodded, he thought it was something along these lines. Despite their focus on the Frontline, most of the guilds tended to make their presence known in small ways on the lower floors, to help keep up morale and maybe occasionally recruit up and coming players.

"Makes sense." he said with a smile as he casually began to walk forward, ignoring Klein who was still not released.

"Let me go already." Klein cried out as his friends only laughed at his struggle.

None of them realized how much they would wish these carefree moments back in a few hours.

-0-

"That place does bring back memories." murmured Dale as they walked in the dungeon of the 14th floor, a large castle, its rooms filled with various monsters that seemed to be modern renditions of old Japanese folklore.

While they were very overpowered for this level, they had more crappy equipment than what was their usual, and also this simple fact could do nothing to stop a monster to get lucky and land a killing blow if they got careless. So, even though they probably could have acted less cautious, they remained alert and ready to fight at a moment's notice, especially with the threat posed by the laughing coffin. That did not mean there wasn't a comfortable air around them, born from experience and confidence, thanks to fighting at the frontline all the time.

Klein led them, with a large grin on his face, looking for all intents of purposes like a man without a care in the world. Syrukko and Monroe walked behind him at a relaxed pace, alert but not acting overly worried. The formation was closed by Ken and Dale who opted to stay in the rear and watch their backs.

Ken hummed at Dale's words, though he doubted he addressed him, more like talking to himself. For him, he didn't have many memories of this floor, especially the dungeon. At that time, the cleaners practically blazed through his floor, the dungeon discovered and mapped in two days at max and soon they gathered and defeated the boss with ease that made a lot of them more confident that they should be, floors like this leading eventually Kibaou's stupid idea of facing a boss, the 25th with just his men.

The Keepers of the Seven Rings did not really participate in the clearing of this floor, since it took little time and at that time, when they were still a small guild consisting of seven players, they were sidetracked by a quest chain while trying to farm for material to raise the level of Buzz's spear, along with Biggs shield. Thanks to that, they didn't spend much in this dungeon, only marching through it once when they arrived for the boss raid.

He stayed silent, content on letting the others speak and fill the silence, instead, he looked around, inspecting the dungeon.

In rather sharp contrast to the latest dungeon he visited, the 27th or most dungeons he visited in the course of the game, this place was not dark, dreary, or suffocating. The rooms, even the hallways were large open, the colors bright and, dare he say inviting. There were also a lot of windows with sunlight pouring in, even though he was sure they must have been deep in the dungeon. That was the wonders of virtual reality for you.

"Doesn't this look a little strange for you guys?" Monroe spoke up looking around warily, prompting everyone to stop and turn to him curiously. "I mean, when did we ever see a boss dungeon this deserted?" he asked, opening his arms, prompting them to look around the large room that was empty even of monsters, since they just dispatched them.

He had a point, Ken mused. From his experience, these dungeons always had at least a few people in them, farming, exploring, and even if they didn't meet there were a few signs that showed they were not alone.

One of them was the respawning of the monsters but another glaring evidence was in the light. In most cases torches or the like, in this case, it was the light coming from the windows. If no one was in the room, the room stayed dark, even in this dungeon, and only lighted up if players were entering it. After they left, the system would keep up the lighting for fifteen to twenty minutes before they darkened again. And one thing they noticed since entering the dungeon, all of the rooms were initially dark as they entered.

It didn't look good and even Ken tensed, his hand falling on his, admittedly poor quality sword as he looked around warily, excepting an ambush from anywhere. The members of the laughing coffin already proved they were beyond some of the basics rules of the game or at least knew of loopholes that even Argo was not privy to.

In the end, it was Syrukko who broke the tense silence.

"I don't think that's it." the usually silent man stated as he relaxed his stance, pulling his hand away from his weapon. "That's perfectly natural, for a boss dungeon to be abandoned like that." he stated, the others looking at him in question.

"What do you mean by that? I never saw an already discovered dungeon, especially a central one like that this abandoned before." Klein asked him, though despite his doubts he also relaxed, his trust in his subordinate absolute.

Ken also looked at the tall, sickly-looking man, a little more reluctant to simply relax because of the many experiences telling him not to lower his guard.

"The difference is that is not a frontline floor, not anymore. More than that, the frontline is more than ten floors away, so the only people on this floor are the ones who chose to live here, the mid-level players who started the same time as you but moved much, much more cautiously, so they were left behind and new players who are more confident and try to fight more tough opponents for quick grinding." he explained to them, folding his arms in front of his chest.

He talked as if he was lecturing them, so much like some of his teachers that Ken's attention began to waver for a moment, thinking of those peaceful days when all he had to worry about not sleeping through class and baseball. He shook his head, chastising himself for not paying attention.

"I don't understand. The central dungeon always had stronger enemies than almost anywhere on the floor and a source of a lot of good equipment and experience." Monroe asked, tilting his head."And they also have access to the map data we made while going through it first, it's the perfect training spot."

Instead of answering, Syrukko shook his head before looking to the side where a pair of lizards with strange, elongated necks just respawned, but Ken was sure from the look on his face, he saw none of that, deep in memories.

"You are wrong." he stated quietly, the others straining to hear them."I started later than all of you, I was a mid-level player before I finally was able to join the guild so I know very well what's the situation. Most players who stay away from the frontlines are out in the fields four 4 or 5 hours at most, instead of ten to twelve that is the average for the frontline." he informed them and Ken had to blink in surprise. He never thought they were working hard compared to other players, but twelve for his guild was a minimum at most days when they had no other commitments."They simply don't have the mental fortitude to fight for so long. Add to the time spent walking to and from here, it's just not worth enough for them to come out here to farm. Not to mention, most people prefer to continue to fight under-leveled enemies so they would be in minimum danger. Not to mention, the map data that Argo contributes for a low price by our estimation, a little on the pricy side for most others, so not many consider it worth it if they level well enough in their eyes on other, smaller dungeon. The only other reason for them to rechallenge the boss which would be a good goal but mid-level players are just now organized enough to gather a boss raid." he explained, turning back to them, whatever emotions overcame him disappearing from his face.

Ken hummed in acknowledgment, head tilted to the side. He never gave too much thought to how different the life of a lower-level player could be. He didn't think it was any different but according to Syrukko, it was because of a stark difference in mentality. He wondered what it would be if he didn't stick to Natsu and joined the first boss raid but he could even imagine doing anything differently now, after half a year spent in here, fighting for his life.

From the looks the others sent they were thinking of similar things, all of them were veteran frontlines, maybe not since the first floor like his group but if he remembered they were a constant fixture since the 4th floor.

"Well, you know more about this than us, so I take your word for it." Dale said, giving a nod to the ax user."That said, no sense in standing around and doing nothing, we should move on."

"But is there a point in being here if there is no one around?" Ken felt he needed to ask, to remind them of the original reason they came here. "After all, if there are usually no players in here, I see no reason for the PKers to stick around." he reasoned.

Dylan shared a look with Syrukko who shrugged with an apologetic smile while Monroe could only quietly laugh at their fortune. Meanwhile, Klein, who also realized what the other katana user was talking around, was devastated.

"Do you mean to say, we walked all over here, made it around the middle of a dungeon, for no reason at all?" he asked from them with despair as he sank to his knees. It was understandable, they spent a lot of time getting to here, only to realize a lot later than it was for nothing.

Before anyone could answer the leader of fuurinkazan, the sound of steel meeting steel rang through the mostly empty room, followed by a frustrated shout.

All of them stopped what they were doing, tensing as they strained their ears to listen. A moment later, they heard it, the sound of fighting reaching their ears. It was coming from the direction of one of the hallways and they would have missed it if they were fighting against monsters or talked louder than they did. But thankfully, they heard it and all of them knew what it meant.

Ken, his face showing no emotion, looked up, and meet Klein's eyes. The normally jovial looking man's face was devoid of his smile, his mouth turned into a grim line. There was not a moment of hesitation as he understood what Ken was asking silently and he gave a nod, giving his permission.

The next moment, Ken was running toward the direction they heard the sound, Klein on his heels, Dale and the others quickly following, completely ignoring the various mobs that littered the hallways they ran through, and for once, the system generated enemies did likewise.

This phenomenon came from old 2d MMORPG's and it was something that came quite handy for them in this scenario. In a level-based game, the basic premise was with high enough levels, or more precisely big enough difference between levels could be, that the lower-leveled would have no chance at all. Because of that, if the difference was high enough, there was no point for the weak enemies to attack the player, only annoying them with no real promise of return, so even aggressive mobs tended to ignore these players. And fortunately for them, they were so massively overpowered for the 14th floor, that probably nothing other than a boss would pay any attention to them unless they attacked first.

Thanks to that, they ran through the various hallways, following Ken who seemed to most confident in telling which direction the fighting was, not hesitating at all when taking a turn. By that time, they could hear the sounds of steel clashing with steel more clearly, along with the sounds of a young female voice cursing like a sailor.

"Ken, there a large, circular room ahead." Dale called out to Ken who made an effort not to pull too much ahead of the others, with only Klein and Monroe who focused more on agility able to keep pace with him. The large man was lagging a little behind so to be useful he took the time to be useful and was checking the map. It was useful that this entire dungeon was mapped out beforehand."Judging by the sounds, whoever is fighting, it's probably there."

The teen gave no answer, only gritted his teeth, and ran forward, no longer caring about the others keeping up with him. Monroe shared a look with Klein, the red-haired samurai giving a nod, the self-proclaimed thief running after him while Klein stayed close to the slower members.

Ken noted none of it, his attention only on the opening in front of him, his hands reflexively gripping his katana. As he entered the large room ahead, he slowed down, not completely, and looked around, trying to get a full picture of what was going on.

It was a large room, circular room, with large windows giving it an airy feeling. There were a few, deeply decorated pillars standing at various points, creating another circle in the middle of the room. The room itself was decorated lavishly, making him feel like he would never earn enough money to afford something like this, either real or virtual currency. Not like he ever wanted to but the whole room made him feel a little poor.

He shook his head, silently admonishing himself for getting distracted before he turned toward the center of the room where he spied two figures fighting back to back, surrounded by around seven other people who were in no particular hurry to swarm them, content in only attacking with one or two at one time, the others preventing the two boxed in players from trying to run.

His eyes first focused on the people surrounding the two players, his grip on his sword handle tightening as an unfamiliar rage ran through him as he noticed two things straight away. All of them had large, grey cloaks that concealed their identity and made them look almost identical if not for the differences in height, gender, and weapon of choice. The second thing was the bright orange-colored cursor floating above their heads, declaring to the whole world what they were. Criminals.

He didn't have to guess for long to know exactly who they were, after all, he listened carefully to what Natsu, Basil, and the others went through on the 27th floor just recently. Without a doubt, they belonged to the player killer guild that plagued the floors of Aincrad.

"Laughing Coffin?" Monroe whispered in disbelief as he caught up and stopped next to him, the others not far off but far enough that they didn't see what the two of them did.

Ken suddenly realized that he was so shocked by the appearance of the very group they set out to hunt down, he stopped in surprise. At least, Monroe snapped him out of his shock and helped to remind him that he was not alone and it was not the wisest decision to simply rush in without a plan.

It was not an easy thing though. He was generally a laidback kid, who was very hard to truly anger but these Laughing Coffin guys were still able to do it. Because, for him, his friends were one of the most important thing, the reason why he was able to go forward and fight back in this death game. Threatening them, attacking them when he wasn't even there to support them, they made an enemy out of him without a doubt.

Thankfully while the two of them stopped at the edge of the room and gawked at the scene before them, their presence went ignored, the PKers too focused at the two people they were harassing, laughing among each other as they continued to attack them in turns. It was obvious they were playing with them, could have easily overwhelmed them by now.

Narrowing his eyes, Ken turned his attention toward the two fighters. One female and one male were fighting back to back, trying to valiantly stand their ground, even as the female was cursing up a storm which was shocking since she seemed around his and Natsu's age, maybe even a little younger if that was possible.

The male was a tall teen with white hair, wearing a simple vest over what looked like normal, everyday clothes, the rapier in his hands flashing dangerously, causing the cloaked player who was currently attacking him to back off. Despite his situation and the evidence of the damage done to him, he still had a smile on his face as he carefully moved around his partner.

For a moment Ken felt uncertain, scrutinizing him. That was nothing that seemed out of place on the teen but for some reason, Ken felt wary as he watched him, a sense of danger coming from him that he could not place. Yet, he was clearly fighting for his life, the green cursor above his head something of a relief, so no matter what strange feeling he got from him, there was no reason for him not to aid him.

This line of reasoning was much harder to maintain when he looked at the girl.

She was a small-statured girl, with her blue hair swaying behind her as she lashed out with her dagger with a precision that belonged someone used to the frontlines, to fighting for their life. She wore simple but strong armor, her equipment easily above what would be the average for this floor. As he watched her, Ken easily could tell she didn't have any hesitation fighting against humans, as she attacked with a ferocity and skill that would have killed any lesser person. Ken wasn't surprised after he noticed the orange cursor above her head.

They were holding their own for the time being, their enemies chose to remain cautious and use their numbers to tire them out, not a bad tactic at all, Ken had to admit. It was the first rule of the game that they had to learn if you are unsure of the level of your enemy, it's better to remain cautious. Still, it meant the two players would be defeated sooner or later unless help arrived.

"What should we do?" the uncertain question came from Monroe in a low voice as he watched the fight with a conflicted expression, while Klein and the others finally caught up to them and surveyed the situation. Ken wished he could answer but he could only frown, deep in thought.

His first thought, no his first instinct was to dive in and help the two players were surrounded. But much to his inner shame, he hesitated, seeing that orange cursor hanging above that girl. Intellectually he knew that not every people who have an orange cursor killed other players. Players could get an orange cursor temporarily for a lot of reasons, though not one of them was good, most of them were not as bad as killing others.

Yet, a part of Ken's mind still couldn't make that distinction. It was orange players who attacked and almost killed his friends and no matter how much he wanted to say otherwise, he internally already painted that girl as a player killer, someone dangerous that he shouldn't help.

He shook his head as his mouth formed a thin line, a little bit disgusted with himself. What would his friends say if he saw him hesitate to help people in not dying simply because of the color of their cursor? Just what would Natsu do in the same situation?

Ken wanted to laugh out loud when he realized how stupid that question sounded. He knew his friend and he would never, ever leave someone to fend for themselves for such a lousy reason. After all, didn't he rush to help him when they first met, just because he looked like a little over his head? Natsu would always extend a helping hand to those who needed it, it was a part of his character so much that Ken doubted he could ever be different.

In the end, there was never any question about what he should do.

A sharp smile appeared on his face as he leaned forward, ready to charge forward. He met Klein's eyes and was met with a similar determination, offering a single nod, permission he didn't need but appreciated nonetheless. After all, for all of his quirks, Klein was just like his own guild leader, reckless to the point of danger to themselves and others around them but most importantly, the burning desire to help no matter the circumstances.

Knowing the others would be on his heels, he shot forward, using his agility to the full to cover as much of the ground separating them as he could, no longer caring about staying silent or unnoticed. And it seemed he was just in time.

The attackers did not notice them, despite standing around like idiots but they were also getting bored of playing with the two players they were slowly but surely tiring out and decided to finally change tactics. Two of them engaged the dagger-wielding girl and a moment later they retreated, the enraged girl taking a few steps to follow them, exposing the back of the white-haired teen who was too busy fending off two other attackers to notice another one sneaking into the space between them, raising a long sword, no doubt coated by some sort of poison, aiming for his unguarded back.

The teen only noticed at the last moment, just as the blade was about to bit into his back. He looked over his shoulder as he got a little breathing room, eyes widening in shock as he realized he had no time to turn to block, to dodge, or do anything besides suffering a blow that would without a doubt take him out of the game.

It was the moment when Ken broke into the scene, catching the orange players off-guard who were ironically were completely unaware of their surroundings. The katana user of the Keepers of the Seven Rings ignored all of them as he went for the one about to land a devastating attack, trusting the others to discourage any who thought of attacking him from the back. Drawing his katana from its sheath, he turned his back to them for a moment as he whirled around, giving extra force to his swing and activating one of his sword skills, Tsuji Kaze in the process.

It was also known as Whirlwind, a one-hit skill that was relatively high on the katana's skill tree, it was not something you would see anywhere under the 20th level, even from katana using monsters. Ken himself, only unlocked around three weeks ago and while it did not a big deal of damage, it was a very useful skill because it had a relatively low cooldown compared to his other skills, but most importantly it applied two very useful debuffs if it landed. Light stun and bleeding, particularly useful in this situation.

His sword shone with a soft, red light as he reached his enemy who hurriedly pulled back as he noticed him barrelling toward him, raising his sword in a feeble block. He might have shouted in panic by the way his mouth, which was visible from under his hood at this close range opened but Ken who was concentrating on the attack, all sounds around him diminishing, heard none of it.

The attack landed, though the enemy's blade stopped it for a moment thanks to the extra power gained from the spin, the hasty block was pushed back, pushing back the orange player, the tip of Ken blade leaving a long, thin red line on his arm which unlike other small injuries didn't disappear after a few seconds, courtesy of the bleeding debuff.

"What in the world?" one of the orange players who opted not to engage the duo cried out in surprise before a war cry reached his air. Turning to the right he raised his spear to block a slash from Klein who had a smirk on his face as he pushed back the guy who was caught in an unstable stance. From behind him, Syrukko and Monroe went to engage the hooded attacker not far from him, while Dylan went toward Ken to offer assistance.

The blue-haired girl whirled around as her enemies retreated, seeing Ken push back the sword-user who almost struck her partner. She looked from her friend to Ken to the orange player standing opposite him with a glare that could have killed any lesser men and let out a curse that would have earned a blush even from Buzz, making the usually cheerful teen swore not to let her do that around Natsu.

„Bell-chan! the white-haired ten called out to her in a warning tone, that immediately had her shut up and with a glare turn back towards her earlier opponents, watching them warily. He turned to his own opponents but because they backed away, he sent a look at Ken, who stood between him and Bell, forming a triangle formation."Thanks for the help."

Ken gave a mute nod, not looking away from the orange player he attacked who was returning it with a wary stare. For a long moment, no one moved as Klein and the others readied themselves, while their enemies faced them warily, looking a lot more uncertain now that their numerical advantage was gone.

"You don't know what you stepped into." The apparent leader, the man facing Klein growled as he pointed his weapon, a large claymore that made the usually confident samurai let out an audible gulp. The man itself was similar to his weapon, large and tall, towering a whole foot over Klein who was not that small, to begin with. He also had a small black beard that was not hidden by his hood."But no matter, this mistake will cost your life."

Ken scoffed but didn't say anything as he raised his katana, adopting a more defensive stance in preparation for the attack. From the corner of his eyes, he saw the players he rescued take similar actions, deciding to hold their ground together.

"Bring it on." he said with a confident tone, before looking at the white-haired teen from the corner of his eyes who caught the look sending him a questioning look back."My name is Ken. After we defeat them, you can explain the situation fully but I would like to know just what's going on.

"Much appreciated." he said with a hum as he raised his rapier in front of him, smiling as if he heard a very good joke despite the situation they were in. "I'm Byakuran and this is Bell-chan." he completely ignored the growl coming from his friend and continued on. "These people are members of the player killer guild Laughing Coffin. And the reason they are after us is that we deserted from their group." he declared without a care about the implications of his words as if he was just talking about the weather.

At his words, Klein and the others stiffened, sending the two teens wary glances. For a moment, even Ken tensed before he forced himself to relax and let out a small laugh.

"And here I thought only Natsu had a bad luck like that." he mumbled to himself, looking as if he didn't feel threatened at all by the enemies around them.

Finally, the leader of the orange players lost his patience, ending their stalemate as he charged at Klein.

"Kill them all!" he roared, the others roaring as they followed his example.