Floor 4 - Boss - Wythege the Hippocampus

December 19th, 2022 - 20:34pm - Floor 4, Labyrinth Entrance

Having cleared the quest, and failed to remember the blacksmith still waiting at the teleport gate, Jet and Koharu arrived at the labyrinth to find... only two people stood there.

''Umm, did you guys already clear the boss or something?'' - Jet asked, wondering if they'd waited behind, just to call them slow...

''I mean, we could've done in the time we waited...'' - Kirito commented sarcastically, before Asuna elbowed him - ''Oww!''

''Ignore him, for he knows not what he speaks. We've been here about 5 minutes. Did you two find out that you needed a boat from somewhere too?''

''Yeah, and poisons too.''

''All of this does leave us with one big question though... where do we get a boat from?''

''There's a workshop over there, right... and we've still got all of the wood from the third floor... so...''

''We build our own!'' - Jet cried, evidently quite pleased with the idea. The girls both looked on apprehensively, as the boys grinned maniacally at the thought...

(A brief interlude - bought to you by Koharu, Asuna and Kirito with hammers, nails and wooden planks... whilst Jet walks past, on with a load of fabric wrapped around some spars, in tow, having been sowed to him...)

In all honesty, the group had achieved something spectacular. They'd built a complex object in just over 8 hours, and... well, it showed. The group stood outside, in the dark and cold, looking at their creation... we use the word creation, because there was no chance that... thing, was actually a boat. If the narrator had been forced to guess what they'd produced, they'd have suggested it was some form of deformed airplane instead...

''Well, if it looks like a duck...'' - Jet said optimistically...

''We've made a duck.'' - Koharu spoke realistically...

''No... I'm pretty sure we've made a white elephant.'' - Asuna spoke as the voice of pessimism.

''Uhh, just one important question... does it actually float?'' - Kirito asked, as he checked over the boat...

''Only one way to find out...'' - Jet and Kirito took the helm of the newly christened HMS Crow, a ship that notably tempted fate. Well, we say tempted fate... more like held a middle finger up to it, and told it to perform oral sex on an unspecified object. Unsurprisingly, knowing this, the name had been Jet's choice.

The boat was pushed out to the lake, where it performed admirably... for all of five seconds, before capsizing the instant it left the lake shore, leaving a rather soaked Jet and Kirito to crawl back to land...

''It worked as well as I said it would then...''

''I believe there's a saying in Latin... Ambitiose sed ineptum.'' - Jet muttered, as he shook the water off him, soaking everyone around him.

''What's that mean?''

''Ambitious, but rubbish.''

''Umm, you know we built the boat, right?'' - Koharu had noticed something they'd all ignored... - ''Well, have you noticed there's four stalls there, not the usual three... one of them is a craftsman.'' - The other three looked over, and collectively facepalmed. At least they still had some wood left, anyway...

Yet more time later, and having asked the NPC to build their boat...

Leaving the stand, the four began thinking of their next moves...

''So, we've got the rest of the day free...''

''Good - YAWNNN - I'm going to get some sleep then.'' - Koharu decided on her course of action, and began to walk to the lake's shore, where she'd suggested she wanted to relax...

Jet contorted his face, as if he'd swallowed an entire wasp's nest - ''I'm agreeing with Koharu on this... I need a nap.'' - He muttered, as he walked off too, leaving Kirito and Asuna to their own devices...

''So, where are we going?'' - Jet asked, as he caught up to his partner.

''I found a bit of the beach last night, I kind of wanted to just relax there...''

''Was that before I sowed myself to the boat, or after?''

''After that, but before you caught fire. How did you do that, anyway?''

''Truthfully... I've no idea.''

''Shame that wasn't filmed though, your reaction was amazing... 'Oh dear, I'm on fire now... (glances down at her arm) I'M ON FIRE NOW!'' - Her reaction was spot on, he thought.

''Yeah, yeah, I know...'' - Jet fought for control not to laugh at his partner's impression of him. He had to admit that, occasionally, he did overact for an effect. The joys of being in a drama club... or it was a club that had a load of drama. Either or.

''Ah! Here it is...''

''I'll keep watch, never know when the unexpected might happen...''

''Tends to be why - YAWNNN - it's called the unexpected... Wake me up in a bit, anyway. May as well take turns, right?''

''Sure.'' - Jet let his partner settle down, as he kept a watchful eye on the world around them. Eventually, and by that, we mean 'after 15 minutes', he got bored of that though, and decided to do some drawing... after all, it fit the description of 'watching the world', so he wasn't going to fall asleep himself...

December 20th, 2022 - 14:09pm, Floor 4, Border Lake

''You reckon they've both fell asleep?''

''Almost certainly.'' - Kirito answered, in a cocky tone. He'd been certain enough of that to have made a bet on that with Asuna, for around 50 Col... a bet he'd later come to regret. - ''Oh.''

''Well, it's not how I imagined I'd win... but I win!'' - Jet looked up from his drawings, in confusion at the approaching duo. Asuna looked more unbearable than usual, whilst Kirito looked downtrodden for some reason. He'd ask why... but he dreaded the answer he'd get.

''Aww, the ever diligent knight, aren't you?'' - Kirito decided that teasing Jet was the best option to offset the loss of his money.

''Be serious, will you? On that note, hope you two are well rested now...''

''She will be.''

''What about you though?''

''What time is it?''

''Just after 2, why?''

''Oops.'' - Jet realised how long he'd been sitting there drawing for... and it didn't bode well for his continued safety.

''What have you done...''

''I was supposed to wake her up about... 5 hours ago, and have my rest.''

''So, how long has she been asleep?''

''Just over 8 hours now.''

''You know something, this does make losing that bet a lot more tolerable...'' - Kirito quipped, evidently enjoying the look of dawning dread on his friend's face...

''Eh, I've gone for a lot longer without sleep before, you know? One night isn't gonna kill me...'' - He was right. Pulling one all nighter wouldn't kill him... his partner, on the other hand? Well, that wasn't guaranteed...

''Still not healthy though... just look at Asuna, for example.''

''Hey! Why am I the go-to example?!''

''You did put yourself into a fatigue induced belief that dying was the right option, and pigheadedly fought until you were literally on the verge of death, only to be saved by the dork swordsman here...'' - Asuna looked scandalised, until hearing that last bit, and sniggering to herself, much to Kirito's chagrin.

''He's right... and don't ever call me that again, please.''

''YAWWWNNN - Huh? How long have I been out for?'' - Fortunately for Kirito, Koharu had woken up, and prevented the two of them from ganging up on him further.

''About 8 hours now.'' - Asuna answered innocently, before looking at Jet with the same smile... only with far more malice behind it.

''Eight?! What happened to taking turns?''

''Uhh, I kind of forgot?'' - Jet tried to look as innocent as possible. It didn't work.

''You forgot to go to sleep... seriously, what am I going to do with you?''

''Uhh...''

''Rhetorical! Don't answer that!''

''Well, if you two are finished having your lover's tiff...''

''We aren't lovers! Just friends, Asuna!'' - Jet vehemently denied... although he'd be lying if he said he didn't wish it were true, in any way.

''Yeah... just friends. That's all...'' - Koharu smiled... but even Jet, oblivious as he was, saw something behind it. Almost like she was hiding her actual feelings...

''Sure... anyway, the boat's finished. Want to go and see?''

''Oh, hell yes. Lead the way...''

Thankfully for all involved, the new boat was actually... a boat. It wasn't built in 8 hours by three unqualified, inexperienced builders, and their commanding officer bellowing orders, and it definitely floated this time! For that reason, the remaining three of the four had taken the executive decision to bar Jet from having input in the name. To achieve that aim, Asuna had suggested and implemented the policy of tying him to a nearby tree. Probably for the best, really...

''So... what do we call this boat?''

''Uhh, lad and lasses?''

''Jet, you aren't naming it. That's why we tied you to that tree, remember?''

''I still think that's a bit harsh...'' - Koharu looked over towards her partner, and gave a sympathetic smile.

''Or that Asuna has a weird si...'' - Asuna glared towards her partner, smirking as she began to draw her rapier... Kirito, even with his lack of wisdom around the fairer sex, decided that shutting up was by far and above the best idea here... -''Shutting up now.''

''Good idea...'' - Koharu shuddered at the look of pure menace on Asuna's face.

''Yeah, I remember that... but you know the boat there?''

''Yes, ours?'' - Honestly, Jet could be such a dullard sometimes, Asuna thought...

''Umm, did you check the paperwork for it?''

''No, why?'' - Kirito answered, looking over the boat...

''Probably should've... that isn't ours. Ours is that one.'' - Jet pointed towards a boat a few hundred yards away, one that suspiciously looked a lot more like the sketches Jet had done when they were asking the NPC for their boat...

''So... whose boat is this one then?''

''You three! And... why is Jet tied to a tree?'' - Lind looked equally as confused as anyone else in that situation would be... Kibaou just looked annoyed instead. Or tired. Or happy. Honestly, with that face, it was hard to tell, Jet thought.

''I suck at naming!'' - Jet shouted over to the guild leaders...

''Okay then... not gonna ask. One of ya's is clearly not right in th' head...'' - Jet nodded, knowing exactly who it was. - ''That's ours! Your's is down there!''

''Yeah, we've just realised... sorry about that...'' - The trio left, forgetting something tall, orange, purple and whiny...

''They've left you behind, haven't they?''

''Why did they tie you to a tree, anyway?''

''I told you both, my naming skills are shocking...''

''Seems like an overreaction to me...''

''Ya think?'' - The sarcasm was thick enough that even a sword wouldn't cut it.

''Sorry! Forgot to pick up my partner!'' - Koharu raced back, and untied her partner.

''I thought it was supposed to be the knight savin' the princess...'' - Kibaou and Lind looked on, fighting back laughter.

''Maybe it is... we don't know what Jet does at weekends.'' - The guild leaders were in hysterics, as Jet just looked on, as dignified as he could under the comment of the Statler and Waldorf wannabes, whilst Koharu untied the rope around his waist, and tried not to picture her partner in a tight red dress...

Eventually, the rope was slackened enough that Jet was able to get out without cutting it, and the duo carried on towards the boat...

''You okay? I mean, the naming thing was a bit... bad, but I think Asuna overreacted there.''

''Yup, and it's fine... just, I'll give you a heads up now. The next meal I make for all four of us, I'm making sure I misread the ingredients. I think one dustbin full of chilli powder should do it!'' - Koharu was vaguely concerned that Jet might actually do that. It was certainly his style, anyway...

''Umm, if you do that... can I have some notice, so I don't try and eat it?''

''Of course. I like you, so I'm not going to pull a prank on you...'' - Jet smiled innocently towards her.

''W-wait... you l-like me?!''

''Uhh, yeah, you're a nice person to be around, and a really good friend. Hell, probably my best friend about now. Why wouldn't I like you?'' - The jury was still undecided on whether Jet was an idiot, who occasionally said what he meant, but in a slightly too literal way... or a complete troll. Most would lean towards the idiot hypothesis, though.

''Oh, you don't mean that way...''

''Uhh, I'll get back to you on that one.'' - Jet deliberately tried to evade the question, knowing that he wasn't ready to answer it yet, and started walking a little faster, slightly outpacing his shorter partner...

''Oh, okay...'' - Koharu struggled to understand her partner sometimes... especially how much he tried to hide any form of emotion that wasn't annoyance. She wouldn't lie, he was terrible at it, but that didn't mean he didn't try.

''Thanks for tying me to that tree, by the way, you two...'' - If there was a way to sound more passive aggressive... Jet hadn't heard of it yet. Still though, the boat they'd taken was certainly an improvement over the Crow. Unlike the previous ''boat'', the new one had a twin hull structure, becoming a catamaran in the process...

Needless to say, all four were extremely impressed, Asuna and Koharu agreeing that labelling the new vessel as the Tilnel was by far and above the best name they could think of. Asuna prepared herself for an argument with the boys over the name, but to her surprise, both thought it was a nice gesture, and agreed that it was a far superior name than the Crow... far less likely to annoy fate, certainly.

All four of them heard a familiar pinging noise - a new message. This time, one that told them of the time and place for the meeting... tomorrow, at 10am, right outside the Labyrinth Entrance. Given they now had an entire afternoon and night to kill, Jet momentarily considered enacting his plan for vengeance, before reconsidering, realising that he might be being a little petty, and attempting to feed someone an entire dustbin full of chilli powder might just be considered an overreaction for a minor public humiliation. Koharu decided that, for Asuna and Kirito's safety, and for her own benefit of not having to hear the constant passive aggressive remarks all day, went back to the nearest town, and found an inn room to settle down for the night.

December 21st, 2022 - Floor 4, Labyrinth Entrance

The next morning had arrived, and the duo had made their way back to the Labyrinth Entrance. With all of the boats now complete, the group met up with the clearing party, for a rundown of any intel that had been gathered. Considering that Floor 4 had been the most major change to the beta that they'd encountered, Koharu had suggested that very little of the beta information would be of any use, anyway, and explained the information they'd gathered from the Elf War Quest...

''Great, so the Hippogriff is now a Hippocampus. Looks like the old information may be starting to become less and less useful as we go on...''

''I'd imagine there'll come a point soon where that was the case anyway, right?''

''Well, we only got to Floor 10, so anything after that is a complete unknown anyway.''

''By any case, we should be wary of this boss. If Jet and Koharu are right, and this creature uses water based attacks... then keeping our distance from it won't be the worst idea.''

''I... uhh, have a question.'' - Jet raised his hand hesitantly, fearing looking like the class dunce.

''Go ahead, Jet.''

''How are we gonna hit this thing, if we're on boats...'' - A number of murmurs came from the rank and file, and even Asuna, who hadn't given that part too much thought, suddenly realised that too.

''We have a plan for that, which is to wait for the beast to pass under us, then concentrate all attacks on it from atop.''

''Well, at least there's a slight plan in place.''

The labyrinth itself was by far and above the hardest part of the fight so far... mainly as it took constant switching from the crew of the Tilnel, and almost constant evasive action to avoid monsters, to actually get anywhere bloody near the main... well, it wasn't actually a chamber for once, but a small island in the middle of the canal system that had been called a labyrinth. Having moored the boats as best as the group could, the combined attack party went ashore...

''Huh, did kind of think we'd be fighting on the boats... but I'm definitely not complaining about doing it on dry land!'' - Koharu looked sympathetically towards Jet, who was currently kissing the sand, having discovered, at the worst possible time, that he got seasick. Badly seasick, and in SAO, there was no mechanic to vomit... but there was a gag reflex seemingly. To the unfortunate knight, that seemed even more cruel...

''Agreed.'' - The usually purple, but now green, member of the group commented, picking himself up off his knees.

''I see it! It's...'' CRASH, CRASH, CRASH... ''- destroyed our boats.'' - commented one particularly astute member of the ALS, whilst a member of the DKB simply yelled out in horror.

''Be ready, everyone!''

Wythege the Hippocampus reared up from the water, and onto land. If Jet was being honest... it was a horse with a fish tail. A biologist's dream, sure, but... just wrong. That, however, didn't stop said Hippocampus from unleashing a roar on everyone, and debuffing them...

''Where the hell did that come from?!''

''Guess it's bark may really be worse than it's bite! No point standing around though... time to kill that SOB!'' - Jet readied his blade, as he stood up, desperately pretending he wasn't still slightly seasick.

The Hippocampus charged at the group, leading to anyone in it's path leaping out of the way in order to avoid the charging creature's onslaught. Jet and Koharu had landed just off the creature's 7 o'clock, and began to attack as best they could, despite the disadvantage they were both at. The beast's HP was going down, slowly, but surely...

Every attack that the Hippocampus launched was easily countered by the attack force, even whilst Kibaou and Lind bickered about who should take which flank, whilst Agil's group and the two pairs pressed their attacks... this continued for a long time, and just describing it would get incredibly boring. So, we fast forward about 30 minutes...

Evidently fed up of being stabbed, slashed and smacked about, Wythege changed up its strategy, and began to charge again, this time back out to the canals, aiming to take out at least some of the attack force...

''What's it doing?'' - Someone asked, standing around idly, as if they weren't in mortal peril...

''Shit! It's charging up, Kibaou, move your guys now!'' - Jet shouted, urging the guild leader to beat a hasty retreat... but, attracting the hippocampus's attention in the process...

''Wha- Oh hell!'' - The ALS group managed to get out of the way in time... Jet, on the other hand, didn't, and was smack bang in the firing line.

''Fu-'' - Jet just about raised his shield in time, attempting to block the charging attack. SMASH! The force from the attack almost stopped Wythege dead in it's tracks, and threw Jet into the air, and nearly 10 foot away, completely disorientating the knight. Struggling to get up after the attack, he now posed an inviting target...

''Jet!'' - Koharu jabbed at the beast, before she raced in front of her partner, ready to take on Wythege alone... momentarily, as Asuna, Kirito and Agil moved in to help, forming a defensive perimeter.

''I'm okay, I need a second though...'' - Jet quickly drank a potion to bring his health back up, and stood back up, his shield almost entirely unusable, having taken the brunt of a hippocampus strike. ''Okay, I'm back up, let's get back to it!'' - A few glances towards Kirito, one of which was of acknowledgment and Jet quickly raced towards the bastardised horse. Blade held to the side, Jet charged down the side of the beast, ripping into it, forcing the creature onto it's hind legs, as Koharu unleashed a Sword Skill on it...

The monster yelled out in pain, again debuffing everyone... but it no longer mattered. Wythege was down to less than 5% HP by Jet's reckoning, and one last heavy strike would end the beast... that strike being delivered by Asuna, who's Sword Skill looked like the dictionary definition of 'death by a thousand cuts'. Wythege fell to the ground, before disappearing from the world... whilst Jet decided to drop to the floor again, mumbling about it being comfortable...

''That was... ballsy. How did you know you wouldn't just be killed from that charge?''

''Uhh...''

''You didn't, did you?'' - Kirito looked disappointed at Jet's lack of forward thinking, but realised that he hadn't exactly had a lot of information to draw on, either.

''I had faith in my shield...'' - Jet weakly offered up, as Kibaou walked up to the small splinter group.

''I... uhh, I owe ya one back there. If ya hadn't shouted when ya did, we'd have had a problem... so uhh, thanks.''

''Don't mention it, I just did what anyone else would've in that situation.''

''Congratulations though, you two... you're the MVPs this time.''

''MVPs?'' - The none video gamer that was Koharu asked.

''Most victorious players, or something like that, isn't it?'' - Jet knew of the term, and the general meaning, but not what it actually meant.

''Most Valuable Players. I thought you were a gamer, Jet...'' - Kirito looked genuinely disappointed

''Eh, I wouldn't have considered myself one. I played one game...''

''You all handled yourselves well out there, but Jet... don't make a habit of pulling stunts like that. For everyone's sake...''

''I don't plan to, Agil One...'' - How Agil had cloned himself, Jet didn't know... alternatively, the adrenaline wearing off was starting to highlight just how much of a force that single strike had administered to him.

''I can't say it was easy for us to babysit those two groups though... even in the midst of battle, and they were bickering like children!''

''Ah well, it was still fun to watch...'' - Even the slightly delusional Jet shot a look of concern towards Kirito...

''Be serious, really. That could've gone far worse...'' - Asuna chewed out her partner for his disregard to everyone's lives.

''I agree with Asuna... never thought I'd say those words.'' - Jet mumbled the last part, as the aforementioned girl looked as scandalised as before - ''If it hadn't been for us giving the boss next to no breathing space, that battle would've been far harder.''

''Yeah, you've both got points, but we did make it through without a single casualty... minus Jet's dignity in living up to his namesake momentarily.''

''That's not my namesake, for reference.''

''What, you're telling me that 'Jet' is not a reference to a jet engine?'' - Everyone looked towards him in surprise. It was not particularly uncommon to hear Jet refer to aeronautical terms when explaining a plan, and as a result, everyone had assumed that was the origin of his name. Or at least Kirito had... it wasn't like he could judge, his gamer tag was literally a portmanteau of some of his first and last names.

''It's an abbreviated version of my middle name, for reference.''

''So... Jet is short for?'' - Koharu asked, trying to think of any name that had the word Jet in it...

''He isn't...'' - Asuna quipped, as Jet pantomime laughed towards her.

Reluctantly, Jet revealed his middle name - ''Jethro.'' - All of the gathered burst out laughing at that reveal. - ''My parents were... well, let's just say, that was the least worst option.'' - Thankfully, his parents hadn't stuck with their original choice, otherwise his name in game would've been Car or Rot... and he'd have never used his middle name!

''I'm calling you Jethro from now on in, okay?'' - Agil smirked as Jet shrunk into his shoulders, a look of despair filling his face... Kirito was quickly typing away at something. ''Great...'' - he thought, realising who the message was to... the resident rat.

''Please don't...'' - Jet looked away, regretting revealing that little nugget of information, turning to his partner in the vain hope of someone on his side... no such luck, as she was still smirking at him. Luckily, the more mature side of the group decided to change the subject...

''So, Asuna? What did you get from the Last Attack Bonus?''

''Huh? Oh right! That was me, wasn't it! Oh, uhh, nothing much, a few EXP boosters, some potions and some Col boosters. Bit disappointing, to be honest...'' - She'd sounded surprised at that, which was justified. Kirito had gotten the drop on Ilfang, Jet had managed the LA bonus on the Tauruses, and Strea had taken out Nerius, so she believed it was about time that she managed to down a boss... even if the drop had been a bit uninspiring.

''Eh, guess they can't all be badass trench coats after all.''

The group carried on chatting for a few minutes, whilst everyone began to make their moves... Kirito and Asuna, unsurprisingly, made haste towards the fifth floor, a town of ruins, according to Kirito... which meant it was in fact, just a town. Agil and his party headed back to the Town of Beginnings, whilst the ALS and DKB marched on, as per usual. All of that left just Koharu and Jet, both of whom were absolutely exhausted...

''Hey, Koharu?''

''Yeah?''

''You know what time of year it is, right?''

''Yeah, nearly Christmas, why?''

''Well, do you want to head back to the town for a bit, and take the next few days off?''

''Do you think everyone will be okay with that?''

''I honestly don't think they'll notice. Kirito and Asuna will be too busy levelling, and I'm willing to bet you could wave a banner insulting the two guilds in front of their faces... and they'd still find a way to blame each other for it.''

''I suppose so... anyway, I thought you didn't like Christmas!''

''I don't... but I do like holidays. Tell you what though, you want to stop off at that lake shore again... this time without being asleep on it?''

''Sure, sounds quite romantic... until that last bit.''

''I... uhh, didn't mean it that way?'' - Jet stuttered, as he tried to dig himself out of that hole...

''I was joking.'' - She wasn't. It actually did sound romantic to her, the two of them, laying there on the beach, watching the sunset...

''Oh, thank god.'' - Well, that hurt her ego slightly... though, she suspected Jet didn't mean it that way, even if that's what he'd said... ''Well, to the beach it is...'' - Jet wished he could get the image of his partner in a bikini out of his head, and cursed his hormones...

''To the beach!'' - Koharu mock cheered, as she walked on ahead... eh, maybe Christmas 2022 was the year when things went a bit better.

{Author's Comments}

Hi everyone, just the author here. I've made a screw up in the timeline of the story, so here's the correction.

- December 19th is the day that meeting Lisbeth and most of the Elf War takes place, not the same day as arriving on the floor. I only realised this after checking, and so this is my correction. Sorry for any confusion it's caused!

So, that's Floor 4 finished now, and I'll admit, I tried to add a bit more humour into this one. I probably shouldn't watch Top Gear whilst writing this...

If you like it, favourite, follow, review etc, and if you don't, I'd still like to hear what you didn't enjoy from it! Just as long as it's constructive criticism, anyway.

Next Chapter will be December 24th, so I'll see you all then!

Midland 2541, signing out.