(TRIGGER WARNING: This chapter contains minor characteristics of Masochism/the enjoyment of pain. I personally don't see it as much, but just in case it were to trigger some of you, I want to make sure you are aware! Hope you can still enjoy this chapter!)

Maple held her shield up, watching as a large plant monster with a flower for a head lifted a vine-like tentacle up and slammed it down on Maple. Thanks to her incredible Vitality, she blocked the hit like it were an oversized pool noodle.

Sally leapt up, and carved right through the monster in one slash, causing it to lose its illusory form and disintegrate into little blue shards. In front of Sally, a message box appeared to inform her that she leveled up again.

It had only been a month, and Sally (formerly known as Risa) had made significant progress in leveling up her avatar. Especially considering how long it took the rest of the players to get here. Sally mostly focused on Agility. Though, unlike her indestructible best friend, she did not focus only on this stat, opting to put attention to all of her other stats too so she could do "just a little bit of everything".

Sally watched with a grin as their opponent was whisked away to nothingness, then took a good look at her weapon. Sally had this dagger specially enchanted to fit her special play style. Despite what was described when this game was being developed, SWO did have a little bit of magic involved.

This was in the form of little things like the healing and teleporting crystals, potions, and as they got further into the game it was discovered that those with a higher Intelligence stat could level up a new skill known as Enchanting. This allowed weapons to be given special properties similar to the already present "Unique Skills" to the weapon.

Sally's Dagger, Airstrike, dealt double damage whenever its user was airborne. This allowed her to rack up a lot of damage quickly. This, combined with her skills, made her a very dangerous opponent. She was virtually impossible to touch while also being incredibly difficult to defend against. If your name isn't Maple that is.

That's when Maple and Sally heard two voices getting closer. Sally got ready to strike with her dagger, but Maple held out a hand to stop her friend. "Hang on a second…. I recognize that voice…" Maple muttered. Sally was able to hear this thanks to her high level Straining skill.

That's when they saw the pair coming along the trail. The Black Swordsman: Kirito, and a little girl was with him. Sally immediately recognized him from her time on the "Friends/Family of Sword World Online Players" Forums as well as numerous news articles on the subject. Being in the presence of someone so famous and powerful made her stammer as she tried to collect her thoughts.

"Hey, Kirito!" Maple suddenly called out, prompting a very shocked 'huh?!' to come out of Sally. Before she could respond, Kirito looked and smiled at his old friend.

"Hey, Maple! How's it been? I heard you left Klein's guild a while back." He responded, and the girl nodded.

"Yeah, I realized I needed to go off and start my own guild. Sally here is my first member!" She said proudly. Kirito gave her a slight glance and a smirk.

"Your only member?" He asked smugly, and Maple blushed.

"Shut uuuup!" She responded, flustered. "S-So, what brings you and…" she took a second to read the girl's username. "…Silica here on floor 47?"

"Her pet feathered dragon, Pina, got killed by some apes. We're completing the necessary steps to revive it. We're actually on our way to collect the final component."

Maple and Sally looked at each other, then back to Kirito. "You can get pets in this game?"

"Yeah! Though it's a really rare drop that can only come from floor Mini-Bosses." Kirito explained. Maple thought about what he meant for a moment, until she remembered. The Poison Hydra she fought shortly after leaving Fuurikazan. That must've been a floor Mini-Boss.

She smiled widely. "Thank you for the information, Kirito!" She said, and the four said their goodbyes. Kirito and Silica continued on their quest, while Maple and Sally decided it was a good idea to go off and try to obtain a pet!

After asking other players on the town message boards, they were told of a mini-boss on floor 50. A large crystal-like ice bird named Silverwing who could reportedly shoot the ice that made its wings like a volley of arrows. It also used the newly added "piercing damage" in its attacks.

This made Maple a little nervous. See, when the Cardinal System caught wind to how much of a "problem" Maple would be, they decided to add a counter to her absurdity. Piercing Damage. It usually dealt mediocre damage, but the damage could not be resisted, and ignored the Vitality Stat in exchange for only dealing a set amount of damage.

If this boss did a lot of attacks really quickly, or didn't follow the 'low damage output' rule, then Maple feared she would be useless in this fight since she couldn't dodge well, only defend. Sally didn't seem worried at all, however. This at first confused Maple, until Sally explained.

"I can dodge Silverwing's attacks. I'll deal the main damage while you occasionally use 'Provocation' to redirect its attacks to you. This should cause the Boss to switch targets long enough for you to heal, and continue the process. We'll beat that bird in no time!"

Her plan sounded great on paper, but having been in this game for over a year at this point, Maple knew that Boss Fights weren't easy at all. Even the Mini-Bosses took a lot of strategy to beat for anyone. That is, until she remembered how she beat the Poison Hydra…

That memory made her decide it was worth the risk. Maple got up and smiled to Sally with a nod. "Alright… let's do it!" Maple exclaimed, pulling up a mini-map. The player who told her about this pointed to where the bird was rumored to be taking residence, and she marked that location. Immediately the Map pointed her towards the teleport pad, so she could get to floor 50.

Before they left, however, the player spoke up. "By the way, I heard I can use those crystals it drops after the fight to make some nice, high quality gear. If you could share some with me I will happily create some gear for you at half price!" They said, smiling at the pair.

Maple and Sally nodded enthusiastically. "Oh that would be awesome! Thank you… uhhh…" Sally started, then remembered she could look above their head to see their name. "…Iz!" She added at the end, with a nervous giggle. Despite how long it's been since she joined, she was still getting used to having the ability to read names above people's heads. It was a very neat feature of living in a video game, though.

Maple and Sally hopped on and waved to their potential new friend before vanishing in a flash of light to Floor 50. They immediately set off on this adventure! They traversed icy landscapes, snowy forests flooded with sentient snowmen, and made their way eventually to an ice cave leading to a staircase. Yep, this was the mini-boss room!

The two girls steadily walked down, until eventually the exit behind them was closed off by a light blue Forcefield. Maple nervously looked behind her before continuing down. On the last few steps, the bird revealed itself from the ceiling in its camouflage, and rained ice crystals down upon them. Maple hid underneath her shield like a makeshift umbrella. This, thankfully, protected her from the onslaught. Sally however had sidestepped away from the attack, and ran towards Silverwing and leapt at him, taking a mighty slash at his left talon.

Silverwing screeched in pain, immediately pushing off the wall and flying a good distance away before firing its signature projectile at the Swashbuckler. Sally attempted to evade, but a few crystals were injected to her leg. This caused her to trip up, sliding as she grit her teeth to not let out a sound and show any weakness. She gripped her dagger tighter and leapt to her feet as fast as she could. She couldn't quite react quick enough, however, when she saw Maple was the target of Silverwing's next attack. Sally lunged towards the action, hoping she'd be able to at least disrupt it before it dealt any major damage to Maple.

Maple held her shield firm against the crystals that rained down on her. However, her shield was not perfect, and unfortunately a crystal just so happened to graze her leg. It was enough to create a wound, and cause damage however. Thankfully this was a video game, so all Maple had to worry about was her visible red marking now crossing her calf. However… that triggered an unusual response in Maple.

"Ack!" She let out as the blow lowered her HP. However, a thought crossed her mind. "Wait… why was that… kind of refreshing?" She asked herself. Then, another cut landed, and another, each one sending a rush of adrenaline to the black haired girl's brain. She felt like a nice cool wave had just hit her. The pain was almost bringing joy to Maple, until she noticed her HP bar was three fourths full. That wasn't a good sign. Quickly, Maple got her head back in the game.

Thankfully, Maple didn't have to worry at the moment, as Sally had come to her rescue. Sally was standing atop the bird's back, using its neck for leverage as her dagger was plunged into its back. Maple then had an idea! "Cover Move!" She yelled, vanishing.

She soon appeared beside Sally, and stabbed Silverwing as well! The two could see they were severely depleting it's numerous Health Bars. Thanks to Airstrike's damage output, and the extra poison damage Maple's short sword could deal, Silverwing was no match.

Silverwing fell from the air, the girls jumping off as fast as they could before he hit the ground. Slowly, he evaporated into polygons, and a chest appeared in the middle of the cave. An exit also appeared behind the chest.

Both girls collapsed to the ground, using each other for support. Maple looked at her health and… hadn't realized how many times she really got hit in that fight. Her heart was racing for the first time in a long while. She used a heal crystal on herself, and watched her HP slowly go back up.

Eventually she had the strength to stand, and could go see what was in the chest alongside Sally. What they found inside made them both very happy. A pair of eggs! One green, and the other white with a little red. Maple picked up the green one while Sally got the white. They both watched as a menu appeared in front of them, telling them they got 50 Silverwing crystals, a "Mysterious Egg", and "Skill Medals". Curious, Maple opened her menu and analyzed the item. It could allow her to gain any one skill in the directory. One time use!

The two girls exited the cave with their eggs in hand. They both grabbed a teleport crystal, and vanished to the town on floor 50…

Maple and Sally went back to Floor 47, meeting up with Iz and giving her all the crystals. Iz was very excited, as she set to work converting them into materials for crafting. "Thank you both so much! Why don't we friend each other so I can notify you when the materials are ready for you to use!" She suggested. Maple and Sally agreed, and the friendships were formed!

"Are you sure you're okay with giving us this new stuff at Half Price, though?" Maple asked. As awesome as those prices are, she didn't think it was exactly a good business model to take up.

"I would love to! It's not every day you get to make high quality gear for the impenetrable fortress herself!" Iz exclaimed, making Maple blush at her own recognition. She had made a little bit of a cult following during her time in SWO.

Maple and Sally bowed, said their thank yous, and left the shop, happy to have made a new friend out of a blacksmith! They grabbed their Teleport Crystals and went off to floor

With that, Maple and Sally's guild, The Maple Tree, begins! They packed their belongings into transportation crystals, and moved into their newly found secret base in a tree. Maple smiled as she set herself up. The guild is getting stronger, and so will she once the egg hatches. Until then, Maple and Sally made a makeshift nest on the coffee table, placing the eggs there while the two sat and talked.

The two finally felt at home…