Asuna

"So I was thinking," Asuna mumbles as she and Kirito make the ascent up the spiral staircase to the fifth floor. "Kizmel and the viscount took that black gondola back to the castle, right? And we left the Tilnel moored at the castle pier. Jaymes, Koharu, and Mito are returning for it, right?"

"Yes. Once we activate the fifth-floor teleport gate, we can use that to return to Rovia and then travel to Yofel Castle again with the others."

"But we'll return to Rovia, leaving the Tilnel there. That's not what we agreed on."

"...Jaymes and I didn't think that through. Well, we can make another one. It'll be a snap, as long as we don't focus on high-quality materials this time."

"Well, sure...but you're naming the next one." Kirito goes silent at that point, and she doesn't press the issue further. Her eyes, however, linger on the sword Kirito has been using, a pickup from the forest elf commander. "So, are you going to keep using that sword?"

"Eh? Uh, no." Kirito touches the hilt over his right shoulder, where his pick-up blade rests. "When we get back to Yofel Castle, I'll take a one-handed sword with my quest rewards and use that for my next main weapon. You should think hard about what you'll pick, Asuna. We get two, remember."

"You boys and Mito were that excited about getting two items?" she replies with a groan. "That lord was a very strange person, wasn't he? Spending years of his life locked into a pitch-black room, even pretending he was sick."

"Yeah, it's odd. I wonder if Kizmel will tell us how he got that scar if we ask…"

"No, don't go prying into that."

"H-hey, you were the one who started wondering about him."

"No matter how he got his scar, the viscount is a very nice person,"

"Of course he is. He helped us beat the boss."

"Not just that. I think he eased up on his final attack so that you could get the Last Attack bonus, Kirito."

"…M-maybe he did." As the pair come close to the apex of the staircase, the double doors to the fifth floor in sight, Asuna's steps stop. She looks up at Kirito, who stops and looks back seconds later. "…Wh-what? Did you want the LA bonus that bad?"

"No!" she exclaims with puffed cheeks. In a slightly lower voice, she sighs and asks the question bugging her mind, for it pertains to their future. "...Hey. How long are you planning to work with me? With us?"

"...Until you're strong enough that you don't need me," he answers unwaveringly. "As for Jaymes and Koharu, I have no clue, but for now, I guess until we see the end of the campaign if what he told me earlier is his current goal. And Mito, I... Well, you'd be back with her once we split."

"...Hmm." Asuna smiles briefly, though, in her mind, the question isn't answered. For the moment, whether she wants to admit it or not, it makes her happy. Being with Kirito, Koharu, and Jaymes the last month has made things bearable, and the return of Mito made things much better.

Koharu, sometime later...

After Jaymes received a message from Kirito about the fate of the Tilnel after traveling back and forth between Yofel Castle and Rovia, they asked the viscount if it was possible if they could be dropped off as close to Rovia as possible. Yofilis accepted, and now the dark elven boat sails north in the direction of Rovia. Upon the return to the fourth floor, they'll build a new gondola and return to Yofel Castle to claim their rewards.

Jaymes has already claimed his rewards; the Flame Shield, a red and gold shield with a bird-like design in the center, and Imperial, a slender, steel-black blade with the outer edges and tip colored red. He claimed his rewards before they departed from the claimed hers too at the same time, a dark-grey cloak to replace her previous one and a new scythe, the Boatman's Scythe.

As the city of Rovia comes into view, Koharu hears the footsteps that announce her partner, and he sits across from her at the front of the boat, eyeing the town as well. "You okay? You've been quiet this entire time."

"...Far from it. Maybe I'm tired from the defense of the castle and the boss raid."

"I understand. I feel the same. But a new floor ahead of us, yeah? Though this is the second time we're not taking those stairs. DKB and ALS are acting as they usually do, too."

"We did make it through without a single casualty, though. Might be why no one is on edge."

Jaymes nods, but his face is grim. "That's the problem, though, huh? If we can keep this up, that's great, but how long will it last? This time, we got some info on the boss who helped out. This time, and in the knick of it. Had the raid occurred tomorrow as originally scheduled, there's a chance we wouldn't have known that everything had changed or had the extra help. We just so happened to talk about the boss fight in front of Kizmel and the viscount; would we have done that if nothing had changed? DKB and ALS seemed ready to head in, with or without us. Which means..."

"They're so focused on beating each other out that they'd rely solely on info from the beta, which we now know isn't even useful." Illfang changed the weapon wielded in the final phase from a talwar to a katana. They later learned that information would have been found weeks earlier had Jaymes, Argo, and Koharu investigated the cave they found Asuna in as planned. On the second floor, the game put the beta's miniboss Nato the Taurus Colonel with Baran the Taurus General (the boss in the beta) and added Asterius the Taurus King. The king's weakness to chakrams was learned after Asuna completed the boulder-breaking quest to gain the Martial Art skill. Nerius the Evil Treat had a poison attack that her party learned about solely from the Elf questline.

Lind and Kibaou may never admit the truth, but three of the last four boss fights have been successful due to Koharu's party finding vital information unexpectedly. They ought to be owed thanks.

"This game is no place to put everything on the line for some stupid competition. They're risking their guildmates' lives."

"If they could just work together, then they would at least be able to wait until we gather up all the intel before charging in..."

"The glory they seek in competition is not something I care for. We just get treated as outcasts, which is perfectly fine for me. I'm used to it anyway."

Koharu immediately wants to pry into what Jaymes means by that. If she didn't know him, she'd say his looks and attitude place him somewhere on the high side of popularity. She had her claim to fame with life at school too. She wasn't the prettiest girl or the smartest, but she can admit she's one of the more athletic gymnasts and, though she gave it up a while ago, can play the piano like a musical genius. That said, there's no way her partner was part of the lower caste of the student society, unlike Kirito, if she's honest.

She decides not to pry into his real life, but she won't let him get away with part of that prior comment as she leans forward and smiles teasingly. "But you seem to care a lot about getting the LA bonus, huh?"

She internally swells with humor as Jaymes cracks a frown. "Call me a realist. But that doesn't mean I'm just going to let Kirito sweep up every LA bonus there is. I got the third floor's bonus, and I plan to gain more... In any case, we may need to put some trust in NPCs in the future. I know what Kibaou said before we left about how trusting them is wrong, as they're Kayaba's pawns, but... If I take what Kayaba said back then, he wants us to overcome and succeed."

Koharu agrees with Jaymes. Kayaba may have trapped them here, but at the same time, he hasn't held them back. And everything they've done to progress, even the little hints on the floor bosses, it's Kayaba who technically provided it through his creations, like the Christian God sending humanity a message through His angels. "At any rate, we don't have any reason to doubt them now. I think Kibaou meant was not to treat them as people, but...not all of them are simply scripted NPCs."

Koharu looks back to Kizmel, who converses with the viscount. Jaymes silently looks back and then exhales sharply without further conversation. There was no time anyway; moments later, the boat would stop within walking distance of Rovia. The oarsman expertly parks the boat along the riverside to allow Jaymes and Koharu to disembark. But before they can get comfortable on land, they hear their names called out, followed by a tight hug.

"Kizmel?"

"Thank you for everything you've done today. The survival of Yofel Castle and the reappearance of Viscount Yofilis were thanks to your efforts. With this momentary peace, we can mourn those we have lost. I owe you a great debt. Thank you."

Koharu squirms out of the hold Kizmel has on them, or the elf lets them go. Whatever the case is, Jaymes is frozen solid beside Koharu for some reason. "No, Kizmel, you've paid us back with your assistance in the previous fight. Thanks to you and the viscount, we suffered no casualties."

The elf nods solemnly then gazes up towards the sky. "In the meantime, relay my thanks to Kirito and Asuna when you see them. And to Mito as well. It seems you know what paths you all must walk. I will head up myself. Now that I know the Fallen Elves are involved, we cannot allow the keys to remain here. They need to be moved to safety up above."

"We finally meet up again, but we already have to say goodbye, huh?"

Kizmel smiles warmly and pats Koharu's shoulder. "Worry not. If you are ascending the tower, then I'm sure we shall meet again. Now then, until such a time, farewell." Kizmel steps back and retreats to the large gondola, waving farewell along with the rest of the Dark Elves as the boat rows away from Koharu and her partner.

As the boat becomes smaller and smaller, Koharu drops her waving arm and glances down at the HP bars on the left side of her HUD. Where there was five just earlier today, all that remains now is four as Kizmel's name vanishes. Mito, still in the party, is not with them. After Kirito and Asuna headed up the staircase to open the next floor, she decided to return to town with Agil's party. Mito should be back, for they left much earlier than Koharu, Jaymes, and the elves. And after thinking about what Mito whispered to her...it may be the only reason she isn't here now.

"We'll meet after the gate opens, but for now...relax with your partner."

Sighing, she whips her gaze to her partner, whose still as silent as the wind. "Is something bothering you, Jaymes? You've been quiet since Kizmel hugged you."

Suddenly unfrozen, he shakes his head immediately. "Nothing! Nothing at all!"

"Hmm... Pervert."

"It was a nice hug, okay? I mean, sure...there were other nice things about the hug, but...never mind. I'm at peace knowing it's just you and me for a bit, then back to the fantastic outcasts, party of five."

She tries, and fails, at swooning over him being happy it's just the two of them for the moment and begins to walk towards the town of Rovia slowly. By now, the gate to the next floor should be open, but she wants to prolong their alone time together for as long as possible. "So I guess we're just going to rest up a bit, Jaymes? Is that okay?"

"Yeah, let's do that. We're in no rush to join Kirito and Asuna on the next floor. Besides, I want confirmation that it is the same floor as it was in the beta, because if so..." Jaymes' face goes grave for a moment, then he looks at Koharu. "No, never mind it, for now, I won't worry you."

He's thinking of something bad if he's avoiding speaking about it. She shakes her head and grabs his free hand. "You don't have to worry about me if that's what you're doing," Koharu responds. "I want to be a good partner. I want us both to be stronger. So tell me, even if it is very bad."

He looks conflicted and even looks at their interlocked hands and sighs. "Well... Um, the fifth floor...was the deadliest floor in the beta. And it has the potential to be just as deadly here in the death game..."

"So they made it up to the fifth floor, huh? What's it like?"

"In the beta, it was full of ruins. PKing was rampant across the place."

"...Then it's about time I step unto the stage. It's showtime..."

Floor 4, Barcarolle of Froth, is finally complete. I'll admit, including Mito was hard to do. I didn't know where it would be opportune for her to slide into the story. The Magnatherium fight was enticing (as I hint she was watching), but I decided to have her do it afterward. I wondered whether I should omit her from the Elf Quest but found no reason to do so.

Floor 5, Scherzo of a Deep Night, will have a more significant influence from Integral Factor than the previous three floors, so it'll take a lot of work to sort it out. Progressive Factor II will proceed after a short hiatus, so I can read more of the novel, look over Integral Factor's version of events, and get ahead in my writings, so stay tuned.