A/N:

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Thank you so much to everyone for your support. It means a lot to see so many of you enjoying this story.

To answer a few questions I've received since posting Chapter 33…

SentinelSlice: Nobody will be getting multiple unique skills. That would probably make that person stupidly overpowered and Kayaba views himself as a fair game master. Giving that kind of overwhelming power to one player would be detrimental to the balance of his game. Someone else will be getting Defiant Soul, which is a unique skill that I am very much looking forward to introducing when the time comes.

Lord Destroyer and ouroboros: Unfortunately I will not be bringing Rain into this, mainly because I'm just not familiar with her as a character. I haven't played the game she's native to (don't even know the name of it off the top of my head) so in order to avoid egregiously misrepresenting her character, I will not be writing her in. Sorry to disappoint; Dual Blades will be going to a different canonical character that we've yet to see, but I am looking forward to bringing her into the story later.

Now without further ado, here's Chapter 34.

"Sorry, did you say a swamp dragon?"

Yuna tried to hide her giggle at Nautilus's incredulous expression. Her ashen-haired friend seemed frozen in place, jaw slack as he stared at Kizmel who - to her credit - looked rather blasé about the entire situation. It was as if she was remarking about the weather.

"Indeed I did." Kizmel admitted with a nod. "A swamp dragon, and a rather large one at that. Not like the ones outside of the floor guardian's dungeon."

Yuna composed herself and decided to look over the edge of the enormous mangrove tree the camp was situated on. Neither she nor the other Renegades noticed it upon first arriving to the 8th floor, but there were indeed large reptiles swimming in the murky waters below. They weren't dragons, necessarily, but they were probably still a threat nonetheless.

Apparently "swamp dragons" was an elvish colloquialism for "crocodiles."

"So the floor guardian is a giant crocodile?" Liz asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Alligator, actually." Leonn corrected her, earning him a very annoyed glare from the blacksmith. "Alligators have stouter, wider jaws while crocs have longer, more "V-shaped" jaws. Crocodiles also tend to favor habitats like lakes and rivers. You're more likely to find an alligator in a mangrove like this rather than a crocodile."

The Renegades - plus a very impressed Kizmel and Lokuss - stared at Leonn, who seemed to become suddenly aware of the very pointed looks he was receiving and recoiled slightly.

"I doubt you'd usually see a mangrove of this size, though." Asuna retorted, drawing looks of surprise as well. "These trees are anything but naturally occurring, at least in the real world, so I feel like standard laws of nature don't apply here."

Leonn casually pointed at the fencer. "Touche."

"Anyway…" Kirito drawled, changing the topic of conversation. "The floor guardian is a swamp dragon? Anything else you can tell us?"

"According to our records, the swamp dragon's bite is ferocious." Kizmel explained, looking pensive as she recalled the information. "Any unfortunate enough to be caught in its jaws are doomed to a violent end, but striking at the hinge of its jaw is said to release its deathgrip."

"So strike the hinge of the jaw. Got it." Kirito summarized. As he led the group on their trek to the dungeon, he glanced over his shoulder. "Can someone - "

"Already on it." Sinon interrupted him as she was typing something out. She finished before closing her menu. "Argo's been told and she's giving the information to the other guilds now."

It was then that Yuna realized something. She looked over to Kizmel, who was keeping pace and walking alongside the group. "Are you joining us, Kizmel?"

She shook her head. "I would love nothing more than to fight by your side once more against the floor guardian, but I am afraid I will have to travel to the 9th floor in preparation for our meeting with the Forest Elves. However, I would like to help escort you to the dungeon, if that is alright with you all."

All of the Renegades, plus Lokuss, heartily agreed; each was eager to spend as much time with their Dark Elven friend as they could. The next floor would turn out to be their last time seeing her regularly, after all.

"What about you, Lokuss?" Yuna asked, curious to see where the loremaster stood regarding the 8th floor field boss. He didn't strike her as particularly combat-oriented, despite his ingenious use of the grappling hook in the past. "Will you be joining us for the floor boss?"

Lokuss chuckled uncomfortably. "Yeah… I don't think I'm ready for a floor boss just yet. I'll be going back to town after Kizmel and I drop you guys off at the dungeon. I'll be meeting up with Argo to watch the broadcast, so I'll be rooting for you all!"

Many of the nearby Renegades smiled, glad to at least have the loremaster's support. Leonn gave him a half-hearted punch to the shoulder in solidarity while Silica reached down to pet Gryd, who was prancing right next to his master.

"So Kizmel." Yuna started. The Dark Elf gave a warm smile as she looked to address the songstress. "What will you do once the war with the Forest Elves is over?"

While her gait didn't pause, the Dark Elf's expression certainly did. Clearly the question had caught her off guard. "I… am not quite sure, Yuna. We have been at odds with the Forest and Fallen for so long it is hard to imagine any semblance of resolution or peace. I suppose I will continue to serve my queen as best I can."

Yuna gave a comforting smile, trying her best to alleviate the elf's apparent uncertainty. "I'm sure you'll find some way to continue to serve her. I'm sure once this is all over, you'll be hailed as a hero!"

"Perhaps, but you know I do this out of duty, not for glory or honor." Kizmel gave a slight chuckle. "What of you, Yuna? What will you do once you and your friends clear the 100th floor?"

Now it was Yuna's turn to pause. What would she and the Renegades do? She was not so naive to think that they would reach the 100th floor anytime soon; it would likely take years to clear the 100th floor. Sure, the Clearers had made fairly good progress in the months they'd been trapped in the death game, but it was all too obvious that the game would only get harder as they climbed the castle.

Death was inevitable, much as Yuna hated to admit it.

Assuming that everyone she knew made it out alive, what was next? Some of them would be too old to attend high school at that point, with Silica being one of the obvious exceptions, and undoubtedly their education and progress in real life would be forever set back by this. Socially, they would probably be outcasts to some degree. Japan was not cruel or discriminatory by any means, but the social stigma that would undoubtedly follow the SAO survivors would be heavy.

"I'm… not sure, Kizmel." Yuna said soberly. She saw Nautilus give her a knowing, albeit somber, look. "It will be years before we even reach that point. A lot will probably have changed when we return home."

"It'll be strange seeing our families after all that time, I think." Geeou said grimly. Lokuss seemed to wince, Asuna noticeably paled, while Kirito looked deep in thought. Yuna could only guess what had her friends so somber, startled, frightened, and pensive - respectively - but decided against prodding into their personal lives. If they ever felt the need to share, she'd be there to offer her ear or a comforting shoulder, but she knew better than to pry.

The uncomfortable silence that followed was abruptly interrupted by a very enthusiastic dragon tamer. "Hey, we're here!"

Yuna looked up to see that they had, indeed, arrived at the 8th floor dungeon entrance. Unlike the rest of the floor - which up until this point consisted of trees, trees, and more trees - the dungeon entrance resembled the opening to a swampy, mossy cave. Yuna could literally smell the musky smell of mildew and stagnant water wafting and assaulting her senses. She sneered reflexively, though that did little to hold back the offending odor.

"Ugh!" Nautilus cried out with a scowl. "I get wanting to make the game immersive, but come on!"

Yuna stifled a giggle at his attitude. It was one of the many things she liked about him, even after all these years. He always made his opinions known, despite how often it got him in trouble. Keeping him in check was her job, self-appointed it may be, but she wouldn't have it any other way.

"Well, I am afraid I must be off." Kizmel said, taking a few steps to distance herself from the group. Lokuss stepped away to join her, Gryd following close by (much to Silica's chagrin). "I wish you all the best of luck in your upcoming battle. Were it that I could at least watch your progress, but rest assured that I will be supporting you from afar."

The Renegades said their farewells as they walked into the mouth of the cave. Though the interior's mossy walls and stagnant water immediately muffled most sounds from the outside, Yuna could still hear Lokuss and Kizmel walking the opposite direction back to camp, the former bringing up an amusing topic of discussion…

"... One of these days I'm going to show you something we players call 'Boss Broadcasts'."

"I frickin' hate crocodiles!" Nautilus shouted.

"Alligators!"

"Shut it, Leonn!"

"Hey! Focus!" Asuna snapped, much to Yuna's amusement.

Yuna didn't want to jinx anything, but everything was going pretty well for the most part. All of the Clearer guilds took Kizmel's advice to heart against the enormous crocodile - scratch that; alligator - they were fighting, ((Lockjaw the Ravenous)).

Calling Lockjaw big would be an understatement. According to Leonn - who seemed to be the expert on the natural world, she'd since learned - alligators grew to be about 12 feet long at their largest. Lockjaw was easily five times that size. Yet, despite its massive size, it was able to move quite quickly around the swampy arena due to the ponds and bogs that littered the boss room. Worst of all, they learned, was that Lockjaw had a small posse of regular sized alligators at its beck and call.

Was that the collective noun for alligators? She'd have to ask Leonn later.

Yuna was snapped out of that train of thought, quite literally, as she was forced to side-step an alligator that chomped down on the space she used to occupy. She immediately lunged forward and struck out with her dagger, carving several holes and gashes into its snout before it exploded into a burst of polygons.

"You alright, Yuna?" Sinon asked as she loosed a volley of arrows at the alligator adds in front of her. "Cutting it a little close there."

Yuna shook her head. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just caught me mid-thought, that's all."

"If you say so." Sinon said with a mild shrug. "Don't get too distracted. I'm counting on you to keep these lizards off my back."

"Of course!" Yuna said, her usual optimism bleeding through just enough to warrant a friendly, albeit competitive, smile. Though Yuna was just as agile as other dagger users like Silica, she'd recently taken to protecting the backline fighters like Sinon and Nezha due to her ability to quickly traverse the battlefield. She was certainly a capable fighter, but more often than not she preferred to play support, leaving the tackling of the boss to the heavier hitters like Kirito, Asuna, Nautilus, Leonn, Liz, and Geeou.

Effectively the rest of the Renegades, now that she thought about it.

"GAH!" A voice cried out. Yuna whipped around to see that somebody had been sent flying by a quick thrash of Lockjaw's tail. The player slammed into a nearby tree before unceremoniously sinking back down into the mud.

She immediately darted over, health potion in hand. Now that she was closer, the songstress could properly identify the downed player as Dale, one of Klein's guild members. "You okay?"

Dale graciously took the health potion before practically inhaling the tonic. "Thanks Yuna. Yeah, I'm good. He's a lot faster than we thought!"

Yuna nodded before looking back at the boss monster in question, who was at this moment thrashing about against the Clearer shield wall. Silica, living up to her moniker of dragon tamer (at least in some part) was mounted on its back like usual, stabbing her impromptu ride repeatedly with her new dagger. Yuna turned back to face Dale, who was now standing up and ready to charge back into battle. "Should be getting close now, right?"

He nodded, brandishing his claymore before leveling his gaze at Lockjaw again. "Yep, getting close to the last health bar at this point."

As Dale charged back into the fray, Yuna looked over to see that Sinon was fending off another alligator add. Realizing that she left her guildmate to fend for herself, she dashed forward and interposed herself between the archer and the reptile.

"Sorry!" Yuna shouted over her shoulder. She pivoted to the side and rent two thin gashes across the alligator's hide. "Dale took a tail to the face and needed a hand."

"No need to apologize." Sinon said, shifting her focus to the alligator Yuna was engaging. She loosed a charged arrow shot, killing the monster. "You're playing support right now, that's kind of your job. Speaking of, looks like our tanks might need a top-off."

Yuna looked up at her HUD and, sure enough, Leonn and Liz were below half on their health but didn't seem to be making any moves to recover that health on their own. Pina was trying her best to heal the raid group, but there was only so much a lone familiar could do to stem the massive amounts of damage being dealt out by the massive alligator boss. She looked over at the line of tanks and, thankfully, she saw the two Renegade tanks swapping out with Liten and Beowulf, who she recalled were tanks from the ALS and Legend Braves, respectively.

Taking a quick glance around to ensure no more alligators would ambush Sinon, Yuna jogged over to meet with Liz and Leonn. She pulled out a couple of health potions and held them out. "You two shouldn't let your health get so low like that, especially this close to the last health bar phase change."

Leonn looked like he was about to retort when Liz held up a hand, silencing him before he could even start. "We got a little carried away, but thanks for looking out for us though!"

"Well, drink up already." Yuna pressed, holding the potions out further for the duo to take.

"Thanks." Liz said as she and Leonn took the potions. Both visibly recoiled and shivered after drinking the red tonic. "Ugh, I'm never going to get used to - "

"Phase change!" Kibaou shouted, interrupting their conversation and causing the trio to watch the new development.

With a mighty sound that resembled a grumble and a hiss, Lockjaw thrashed about, immediately knocking back all who were in immediate melee range. Apart from any damage taken by abruptly slamming into any obstacles, the attackers were fortunately otherwise unharmed. Yuna looked and saw that Sinon and the other ranged attackers had stopped their own assault; Kirito had told them about how bosses tended to go invulnerable during a transition cutscene like this, so everyone wisely took the opportunity to top off their health and mentally prepare themselves for whatever came next.

Almost immediately after knocking its attackers back, Lockjaw dove into the water behind it and vanished under its murky surface. Instinctively, the Clearers bunched together in small groups for safety.

For an unbearably long amount of time, the entirety of the raid group stood stock still, waiting. Some exchanged nervous glances with one another, while others visibly relaxed thinking that the danger passed.

The silence was unnerving.

"Wait a second… Shit!" Leonn cursed, drawing the attention of anybody nearby. "Get away from the water!"

The warning came too late for one group, however, as Lockjaw erupted out from the water and lunged forward, snapping its enormous maw down on a tank. Yuna could swear she heard the sound of metal scratching and creaking from the impact. With the hapless tank caught in its jaws, Lockjaw began to thrash about, causing incredible amounts of damage to the armored player with each whip of its head.

"H-h-help!" The tank - who Yuna noticed was wearing the colors of the DKB - shouted in panic, his speech interrupted by the constant whiplash of his current predicament. "Get… this… thing… OFF ME!"

"Quick, hit the base of the jaw!" Kirito commanded as he rushed forward, launching himself at the hinge of the jaw. His efforts were rewarded with a bone-chilling hiss as it paused its assault and leveled its eye at the black-haired swordsman.

*SLAM*

Lockjaw's head jerked to the side - nearly flattening the swordsman in the process - as the combined might of Leonn, Liz, and several other tanks collided with its jaw opposite Kirito's side. The sudden burst of damage caused the massive gator to release its hold, flinging its victim to the side. WIth no one in its jaws, Lockjaw barrelled forward and retreated into the water opposite the side it emerged from. Several players had to throw themselves to the side in an effort to avoid the rampaging reptile.

"Okay, that was terrifying." Klein remarked as he pointed his katana forward in a defensive stance. "Let's not do that again, huh?"

"You weren't even in its jaws, Klein." Orlando deadpanned.

"Yeah, and I'd like to keep it that way!" The red-haired samurai fired back. His eyes shot to the side and he brought his sword to bear. "Look out!"

Exploding out from the waterline came Lockjaw, barreling through and snapping its jaws. Fortunately, those who were nearby were able to dodge to the side in time. The massive alligator continued forward, wildly opening and closing its jaws, eager to entrap another unfortunate player. As it charged through, several players lashed out to score a few hits before it retreated once more into the water.

"It's using hit-and-run tactics!" Lind warned. "Spread out and stay sharp!"

"Hit-and-run tactics?!" Kibaou shouted in return. "How does it have tactics?! It's a crocodile!"

"Alligator!"

"Here it comes again!" Asuna cried out, pointing at the waterline behind them.

Yuna looked over at the far side of the swampy island everyone was situated on to see Lockjaw burst forth, letting out a resounding rumble as it ran through the players. Most of the Clearers at this point realized what the enormous alligator was attempting to do and avoided the charge. However, in this particular group sat one player who seemed to be frozen in place. It took Yuna a second to realize that this wasn't just any player, but a player she knew. She paled and went to shout, but someone beat her to the punch.

"Move, Naut!" Leonn roared out.

Even though her friend was quite some distance away, she could still see the look in his eyes. It was one she'd seen once before during their fight against the Bullbous Bow, and again during the fight against the Spider Queen. It wasn't an expression Nautilus often showed, but the few times it had proved to be disastrous for the swordsman.

Fear.

This wasn't just fear, though. Yuna had seen it a few times before but only now was she able to pinpoint another minor detail. Maybe it was the adrenaline or the heat of the moment, but time seemed to slow as she examined his features. Sure, there was fear. Plenty of it, to be honest. There was something else there, though. Most people who were fearful or terrified didn't have their brows furrowed. When one is surprised or afraid, the eyebrows typically shoot upward. Nautilus's were down.

It was frustration. Nautilus was frustrated. Angry, even.

Just as the reptile's jaws were about to clamp down on the terrified swordsman, a white blur slammed into Nautilus, carrying him and his savior clear of the enormous set of jaws. Yuna watched as Asuna and Nautilus rolled across the mud, the sudden and abrupt collision resulting in an uncontrolled slide against the muck. With no one caught in its toothy clutches, Lockjaw continued forward. As he ran through, everyone dodged to the side and struck out as the alligator charged past. It was becoming a pattern at this point.

Dodge. Attack. Watch. Repeat.

With such a simplistic attack pattern, the rest of the fight against Lockjaw went without much of a hitch. Only once or twice did someone get caught in its jaws and when it happened the Clearers were quick to react, pouncing on the alligator's jaw to swiftly release its captive. Yuna's movements were almost on autopilot, but not because of the simplicity of the fight itself. No, her mind was otherwise preoccupied with what just happened.

Nautilus almost died. Again.

The first time, during their fight with the Bullbous Bow, could have been written off as a glitch in the system. Nautilus had mentioned that he literally was unable to move at the time. He said he'd wanted to move, but couldn't. Unfortunate at the time, but at least they'd had Leonn and Sinon there to back them up. The second time he'd been stunned by the Spider Queen's jump attack, but he looked nonetheless as equally frozen in fear. Now it had happened a third time. They needed to find out what this was and how to get past it. The fourth time might just be the one to do him in and Yuna wasn't having any of that. If it weren't for Asuna's incredible speed - seriously, how was she so fast? - he'd have been alligator chow.

"Finally!" Silica exclaimed, bringing Yuna back to Earth. Scratch that; back to Aincrad. Apparently they'd won, if the floating cloud of pixels was anything to go off of.

As the majority of the Clearers crowded around the winner of the last attack bonus, the Renegades likewise clustered around a visibly shaken Nautilus.

"Hey, you okay there, Naut?" Leonn asked hesitantly, resting a hand on the swordsman's shoulder.

"What happened back there?" Kirito asked a little too forcefully. A quick glare from Asuna corrected that in a hurry. "Sorry, that came out wrong."

Yuna looked Nautilus in the eye. "We need to tell them."

"Tell us what?" Geeou asked, confusion evident on his face.

"It's nothing." Nautilus refuted.

"If Asuna hadn't jumped in, you would have died." Yuna asserted, her voice wavering ever so slightly. Nautilus evidently noticed that as his expression turned from defiant to remorseful. "It's not nothing. Maybe they can help."

He sighed before sharing a look with Yuna, who replied with only a nod of her head. She then tilted her head towards the staircase leading up. They needed to talk about this, but not here. They were still on camera right now, so to speak. After a moment, he lifted his head and looked at everyone, but most notably KIrito. "There's something we… no, I… need to tell you all. Can we talk in the next tavern?"

Kirito looked a mix of confused and pensive before he nodded.

"Let's get going then."

In hindsight, the room was entirely too small for a meeting of this size.

Inn rooms typically accommodated anywhere from 1 to 4 occupants. Some rooms consisted of a main living room and adjoining smaller bedrooms, while others went for the more simplistic large central shared bedroom, which contained however many beds were designated for that particular room. As such, the former kind of inn room allowed for privacy but little in the way of a communal living area while the latter sacrificed privacy for ease of communication.

Unfortunately for the nine Renegades currently seated in one singular living space, this particular unit could be classified as the former. That meant that a compact living room meant to seat 3 occupants comfortably was now holding triple its usual occupancy. It was a good thing they were so comfortable around each other because, well…

Yuna hoped no one was claustrophobic.

"Well this is cozy." Leonn quipped from his place on the floor. His sarcasm was rewarded with a simultaneous smack from both Liz and Sinon who were seated on the chairs behind him. "Ow."

"Like that hurt." Sinon drawled.

"Hey, it's the intent." Leonn shot back, voice laced with mock hurt.

"Ignore him, Naut." Kirito said, waving in Leonn's direction dismissively. "What did you want to tell us?"

"Shouldn't we wait for Asuna?" Nautilus asked, looking to the doorway leading to the small kitchen. The aforementioned fencer was inside preparing food for everyone.

"I can hear you just fine, Nautilus." She answered, her voice ringing faintly into the living room. "I'm almost done anyway, so go ahead."

Nautilus took a deep breath. He then looked at the group assembled around him, most of which were seated on the floor or leaning against a wall. Kirito was right in front of him, though, on the couch directly opposite. The seat next to him was vacant for Asuna when she returned. Nautilus shook his head and rolled his shoulders slightly, clearly nervous about what he was going to talk about.

"It started back on the 2nd floor." He began, his gaze drifting downward. "It was actually during our fight with the Bullbous Bow, when we met Sinon and Leonn."

Yuna glanced over at the archer and tank, both of whom nodded their heads in agreement.

"You might remember this, Leonn. We talked about it briefly." Nautilus continued. "When we fought the Bullbous Bow, I froze up then too, right as it was charging at Yuna and I."

Some of the attention shifted briefly over to Leonn, who crossed his arms and looked thoughtful. "I thought it was just a glitch at the time. That field boss doesn't have any stun moves, unlike the floor bosses."

"Could it have been a glitch?" Asuna asked as she re-entered the room, arms overloaded with plates full of sandwiches. Kirito hurriedly stood up from his seat and took some of the load off her hands. Together, they handed everyone a sandwich before taking their seats on the couch opposite Nautilus.

"Maybe." Kirito admitted after taking a bite out of his sandwich, looking just as pensive as Leonn was. "It's unlikely, though. Even ignoring the fact that whatever this also happened today, most of the glitches were fixed after the Beta. I haven't heard much of any bugs or glitches from Argo, and she prides herself on knowing that kind of information."

"How often does it happen?" Silica asked, tilting her head. Pina had since learned how to keep herself perched on her master's head in spite of her inability to sit still, since the tiny dragonling was still firmly nestled in the tamer's hair.

"Only three times so far." Nautilus recounted. "Once during the Bullbous Bow fight, once during the Spider Queen fight, and just now against Lockjaw."

"Naut, that was the stun effect from the Spider Queen's jump." Geeou corrected.

"I was just out of range of the effect." Nautilus explained. "I wasn't stunned; at least not technically."

"So it's always during a boss fight." Sinon deduced. "It's not random."

Nautilus nodded, his body language still hinting at his shame. "It's like… I don't know, like my body doesn't want to move. When I see that boss running straight at me, my body freezes up. I try to move but my legs and arms won't work."

"Is that something that's happened to you in real life?" Liz asked, only to be met with accusatory stares from the others. "What? He doesn't have to answer, I'm just trying to help here."

Nautilus shook his head. "No. I've had at least a few close calls in real life with something about to hit me, like bikes or cars. I was always able to get out of the way."

There was a pause as everyone collectively digested the information, trying to make sense of this strange phenomena that was plaguing their friend. Even the normally distracted Silica was thoughtful.

"I mean, it makes sense, I guess." Silica chimed in. "Facing a big monster like that would make anyone afraid, right?"

"Fear... " Kirito mused, breaking his pensive silence. "Were you afraid every time? Were you close to dying every time?"

"I guess so, why?" Nautilus replied.

"It's just a hunch, but I might know what the problem is." Kirito said, leaning back in his seat. He looked over at Asuna. "We've encountered something like this once before."

"We have...?" Asuna trailed.

Kirito nodded. "The few documented cases are never the same. The symptoms are seemingly random."

"You know what it is?" Yuna asked, hopeful that her guild leader might have a solution.

Kirito nodded again before turning his attention to Nautilus. "Have you ever heard of FNC?"

"FNC?" The ashen-haired swordsman asked in return. He raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What's that?"

"Oh!" Asuna exclaimed. "Fulldive Non-Conformity. It's when there's a problem in the connection between the NerveGear and the brain. It's pretty rare, but how it manifests in game varies."

Kirito turned and looked at Asuna, an impressed grin tugging at his lips.

Asuna suddenly looked a little flustered. She gave Kirito a half-hearted, almost playful, smack on the arm. "Don't give me that look. I'm not going to forget something you told me. I already told you, I'm a quick learner."

Yuna grinned. Maybe she should jump in on Leonn's ongoing relationship bet. She'd been hesitant to bet on something very personal regarding their friends, but now? Now she wanted in.

"You think I have FNC?" Nautilus asked, clearly unsure about this haphazard prognosis.

Kirito shrugged. "It's the only explanation I have right now for why you freeze up like that. Sorry."

"No, it's better than nothing." Nautilus said with a sigh. "Is there a cure? A solution?"

Kirito sadly shook his head. "None I'm aware of. The person Asuna and I encountered with FNC we were able to help, but his manifested as the inability to judge depth. We gave him a chakram so he wouldn't have to worry about judging distance. Your case is much more extreme. Yours doesn't affect normal activities, but it's arguably much more dangerous when it does manifest."

"So what are we going to do?" Leonn asked. He looked at Nautilus. "No offense, dude, but this is a pretty big issue here."

Nautilus grumbled, not disagreeing with the assessment but still clearly displeased. At least his normal attitude was slowly coming back.

"Naut." Kirito said, drawing the swordsman's attention. "I can't force you to do anything, but I'm going to recommend you join the support team during boss fights for the time being."

"You're benching me?!" Nautilus cried out in indignation.

Kirito raised a hand up to stop him. "It's temporary and like I said, I can't force you. I'm not about to pull rank here, either. Just hear me out."

Nautilus huffed and settled back into his seat. "Go on."

"Helping on the support team isn't benching you." Kirito began. "I'd like you to be on the attacking team, but until we find a solution to your FNC this is the best option."

"We don't want to lose you, Naut." Yuna added, putting a comforting hand on her friend's back. He relaxed a little under the gesture.

"We'll find a way." Kirito said. "I'll get in touch with Argo. She might know more, but in the meantime please consider joining Yuna on backline support."

Nautilus let out a defeated sigh. "Alright. I'll do it, but the second we find a way to fix this..."

"We'll let you know." Kirito finished for him. He shifted his posture as if to stand up. "Alright, we've got a big couple of days ahead of us. We're on the 9th floor now; Kizmel's really going to need our help, so let's get some rest."

Everyone nodded in agreement and before too long the Renegades were either in bed or wrapping up their activities for the night. Kirito was right, after all. This was the end of the Elf War campaign quest, and it was sure to be the most difficult of the bunch. Probably the longest, too. More importantly, at least to the Renegades, it also signaled one crucial, albeit sobering, detail.

The last time they'd adventure with Kizmel.

A/N:

I couldn't find anything on what the 8th floor field boss is, so I took some liberties here given the overall theme of this floor seems to be that of an enormous mangrove. I'll probably be taking more liberties with the floors (including floor 9 coming up), just as a heads up, given the lack of information regarding those floors. There are a few canonical bosses that we'll be definitely seeing, but the rest will be crap I make up. Hope that's cool with everyone.

If you're familiar at all with Tetanus, you might have caught onto this chapter's title's double meaning. Tetanus is an infection brought about by the bacteria Clostridium tetani, which is often contracted when one is stabbed (accidentally or otherwise) by anything rusty. Rusty nails are the most common culprit of this. The bacteria growing on the rust lodge themselves deep in the wound, where the lack of oxygen creates the perfect growing conditions for it to thrive, spread, and produce a toxin that spreads into the body. If left untreated, it can cause the muscles, particularly in the jaw and neck, to freeze and clench up, preventing movement or easy articulation. The experience is supposed to be quite painful for the afflicted, unfortunately. Tetanus also happens to go by another name: Lockjaw.

While not brought about by bacteria, Naut's FNC manifests itself in a similar way, causing his entire body to freeze and lock up whenever he experiences real fear, hence the name of this chapter. While SAO doesn't allow for physical pain to affect its players, there's no way Naut doesn't feel some level of emotional/mental trauma from the phenomena.

Lockjaw also sounded like a badass Alligator boss name. Sometimes I get clever like that. I have my moments.

Anyway, now we're moving onto the final legs of the Elf War campaign story. Buckle up, because it's all coming to a head! 'Til next week!