Maple and Sally currently rode on an enlarged Syrup's shell. The turtle was trudging along, going through the sands of Anuht, the desert floor the players had currently made it to.

The two girls had just been informed by Iz about a rare drop from the even rarer Tramplers that roamed these lands. Tramplers were aggressive elephant-like mobs. Their tusks could supposedly be harvested and used to make crude, but highly effective weapons. Glass Cannons, as most players referred to them.

Maple could tell Syrup was starting to slow down, so she cupped her hands over her mouth. "You've got this, Syrup! Woohoo!" She cheered, hoping to give the enormous turtle the encouragement he needed to keep going. The big reptile suddenly seemed a lot more energetic, and started running through the sand leaving big, circular pits as he moved.

Sally held on tightly to Maple, who was seemingly having the time of her life, whooping and hollering as her pet picked up speed. That's when she noticed a menu pop up in front of her.

Encourage: Acquired!

Effect: Doubles the base stats of your pet for 10 minutes (Cooldown: 30 minutes)

Acquire: Cheer on your pet while it is actively using its lowest stat.

Maple happily cheered on Syrup, who was absolutely zooming through the desert towards the farming zone. Eventually they could see a few mummies in the distance, one of which was riding a Trampler! Sally, seeing this, got up onto one knee as they got closer.

Before Maple could ask what she was doing, Sally leapt off the creature, sailing through the air and slashing right through the elephant. In an instant, it was split in two and shattered.

Maple looked at Sally with pure shock and awe. "That… was so cool." She simply muttered, then saw another message box appear in front of her.

"Trampler Tusk x1"

When Sally hopped back on, Maple could see Sally also got one, and 500 experience. Nothing incredible, but still a nice haul for the two of them in Maple's eyes. After all, they both got a tusk for Iz! Like that, Syrup seemed to be exhausted, and the good boy shrunk down to normal size.

Maple held up her hand, and Syrup's Bridge of Bonds started flowing a brilliant green. Syrup was then absorbed into the green ring. Both girls pulled out a teleport crystal each. "Teleport: Sabulo!" They both exclaimed, and disappeared in blue light…

The two appeared in Sabulo, and quickly left to Floor 47's Floria, finding Iz's Blacksmith Shop. When the two entered, they saw someone else was in there with her. A man named Agil. The two appeared to be deep in conversation.

"And then I told him! I said- 'You really wanna sell this? It's an S-Class Ingredient!' Should've just taken the rabbit and ate like a king…" he said, Iz chuckling. That's when she noticed the girls in the doorway.

"Oh! Hey guys! Don't mind us, this is my friend. He's a fellow blacksmith! Agil, meet Maple and Sally!" She introduced.

Upon hearing Maple's name, Agil sprung to his feet. "Maple? As in, the impenetrable fortress Maple?" He inquired. Maple was quick to extend her hand to the man.

"hehe! Yup! The one and only!" She replied, and the eager blacksmith gave her a firm handshake.

"It's an absolute honor!" He told her. He then sat back down, and Maple and Sally opened their inventories. They each made a trade request with Iz. There, they gave her the Trampler Tusks she was looking for.

Iz paid them their col for their services, and the girls took their leave. Maple looked to Sally with a smile. "Alright, shall we head back to Maple Tree? We can make sure we have everything before the Anubis Raid?" She asked. Sally nodded and the girls headed to Floria's teleport gate.

On their way, however, they started hearing a commotion. Two male players walked passed. They couldn't help but overhear a conversation.

"…and Kirito just challenged him?" One spoke, clearly surprised by whatever the other's previous statement was.

"Yeah! The fight's going on in, like, 5 minutes! If we head back to town we'll be able to see it!" The other replied enthusiastically.

Before either girl could even ask questions, however, a message popped up in front of each of them. "Kirito has invited you to spectate his match! Accept?" Maple read aloud. "Of course!" She added as she pushed the 'Yes' Button. Sally pressed as well, and the two teleported.

When the light was cleared, they could see a large open meadow. They stood behind Kirito, and a familiar face stood on the other side. Payne. Kirito turned back to look at the two and smiled. "Hey! Glad you guys could make it!" He said, briefly looking back at Payne.

Maple gave Kirito a hug before asking "What's going on here? A fight?"

Kirito explained. "This is Floria's version of a PvP arena. You get sent here for any 'official' challenges so there's no interruptions." He explained. Maple thought it was an awesome concept, but Sally was a little apprehensive.

"Why are you fighting him in the first place, Kirito?" Sally asked incredulously. She couldn't comprehend the sense behind doing something like this.

"Well…he was saying there was somebody in this game he was planning to fight. He never told me who, but clearly this guy must be something else if one of the top 10 players in all of Sword World is nervous. So, he asked me to give him a match so he could see if he was good enough to keep up with the guy… as you can see, I accepted…" he replied, at first serious in expression, but now a slight smirk formed. "So, you ready over there, Payne? Cause I'm about to bring it!" He added, looking back to his adversary.

"Pffft… is that the best line you could come up with? Let's hope your sword skills are better than your people skills…" Payne replied casually, entering a fighting stance…

Kirito brandished his black blade, and dashed forward at near lightning speed. Payne could clearly see it coming however, as before Maple could even register what had happened she could already hear three consecutive sword clashes. After the sounds of all the clashes pierced through the air, she could feel three shockwaves fly off the two before they stood sword to sword, staring each other down. Payne had blocked every single swing by The Black Swordsman, and Kirito was clearly impressed.

Following a few more seconds of staring each other down, Payne moved one hand away from his sword, and aggressively pressed his open hand into Kirito's abdomen. Suddenly he was blown away from Payne, sent flying backwards at incredible speeds. Kirito managed to backflip and stab his sword into the ground, slowing him down until he could land on his feet.

Kirito stood, and twirled his sword in the air before taking another stance. Kirito's sword began glowing green before activating his sword skill Howling Octave! Each thrust Kirito took was swiftly parried by Payne. Then Kirito slashed downwards, which caught Payne off guard. Before he could even anticipate the next attack, the sword swung back up again! Payne was pushed back a couple inches before he was quickly under attack again! Kirito was slashing and thrusting his blade at Payne while his defenses were opened, but Kirito began to notice something…

Payne wasn't taking anywhere near as much damage as he should have… despite what Kirito knew about Payne he was certainly a DPS character, but his defenses were high enough to make Kirito's attacks look puny by comparison. For all the damage Kirito was doing to Payne in this swift opening, most other players would have lost the duel by now. Payne was certainly different.

Sally's eyes glossed over with green, using her high level Insight skill to try and look into what was going on, hoping to give Kirito a distinct answer that would help him win. That was when she saw Payne's name, level, and class. She could also see Kirito's for comparison. Kirito was a Level 53 Warrior, running a high Strength, high Dexterity build similar to herself as made obvious by his high speed sword swings. Payne, on the other hand, was a level 70… Greatshielder?! Sally's eyes widened, which Maple saw out of the corner of her eye. "Is everything okay Sally?" she asked.

Sally didn't acknowledge Maple's question. Instead, she quickly called out to Kirito. "Kirito! Payne is a greatshielder! That's why your attacks are doing so little damage!" she exclaimed. Though, she couldn't quite figure out how he was dealing so much damage in one blow in return. Payne looked back to Sally with a slight smile.

"Ah! Playing a Rogue Build, are we? High detection, insight, and stealth to perform recon on your next target. Well, you're not wrong. I AM a Greatshielder. That's mostly for the defensive perks..." he explained before pushing back against Kirito. Quickly the Black Swordsman rushed back in on the offensive. However, this time, Payne sidestepped at the last possible second, his sword ready for an upper slash counterattack. "...Mirror Flash." He said simply as his sword began glowing a bright white. Like that, he slashed and sent Kirito tumbling to the floor. His health bar entered the yellow, but stopped as soon as it hit red. Like that, the game congratulated Payne on his victory over Kirito.

Payne helped up Kirito and gave him a few healing potions until eventually he was at full health. He then began talking with the three players. "I can't say who I'm going to fight. If I did, he'd send anybody who'd listen to him to hunt me down until I was killed. Even with stats like mine, enough people could take me down given enough time…" he admitted.

Sally spoke up immediately after. "Well then why don't you bring reinforcements? I'm sure the four of us could handle anything that he throws at us!" she exclaimed, before Maple shot her a glare. Sally was a little surprised, but shyly quieted down…

Maple just smiled at Payne after. "I'll be rooting for you, Payne! Whoever you're going in to fight, I'm sure you'll kick his butt! Just don't get yourself killed. After all, we're gonna need you for the final fight on the 100th Floor." she stated before he turned to leave. He walked out of the PvP zone, and vanished in the same brilliant blue light. It had lost its charm over time, however…

Kirito, Sally, and Maple all left as well, returning to where they were prior to the fight. Kirito was nowhere to be seen, but Maple and Sally kept onward. After all, they had a raid to prepare for…