:: Author's Note ::

And we're back at it with another chapter! Just a quick update for anyone who might be interested, the entire first arc of "The Devil's Colt" saga is now on Tapas! That's right folks! An entire book ready to read! If you like the supernatural, devils, demons, and other creatures of myth mixed with a massive planetary cold war and plenty of romance, you'll love the Devil's Colt saga. Book one is now free to read on Tapas! Just search, The Devil's Colt: Rise of a Hunter.

Okay, enough plugging. I'm happy to present to all of you, Chapter Seven. Please enjoy!

:: End Note ::

The road was long and treacherous. Yet Asuna survived the ordeal and ascended the twenty levels of Kobold Keep, finally reaching the boss room, now a fully geared level nine fencer.

As they ascended the steps to the boss room, Asuna pulled on one of her leather gloves before placing a hand on the hilt of her rapier. "Thank you so much for working on my equipment, Pitohui."

She waved her off. "Don't mention it, girl. Just keep an eye on the durability of that rapier of yours. I'm no blacksmith, so there's nothing I could do about that."

Asuna frowned sadly before looking down at her weapon. "My rapier's gonna break?"

Argo sighed glumly. "Unfortunately. Trust me, I know how much it sucks to lose a pretty weapon. But eventually the price of constant repairing and reinforcing makes keeping those things expensive. It's easier to just buy replacements, or loot them in the field."

"Besides, you're going to eventually stumble upon better weapons and armor," Diavel added. "Not to mention all the crafted gear you'll have made once you gain enough cash."

"How does crafting in this world work exactly?" she asked.

"Well, the vast majority of weapons and armor will eventually lose its durability and break. That's just kind of how the system works," he explained. "Which means your only real options for replacing your gear are loot drops from monsters and treasure chests."

"Which considering the loot drop is preeeetty much completely random, good effing luck finding things you can actually use," Argo commented.

"Your second option is generic NPC shops," Diavel continued. "You'll find at least one in every small town and several in larger cities."

"The drawback to those is that generic NPC stores only offer generic NPC gear. It's not the worst stuff in the world, but it is very middle of the road. Not exactly ideal for anything other than emergency backup weapons."

"Which is why player crafted gear is the go to for getting bigger badder equipment," Diavel declared. "Players who craft gear themselves gain access to far better equipment than most of what can be looted or bought from NPC stores."

"But how does the crafting itself work?" Asuna asked.

"It depends on what you need made and the materials it requires," Pitohui admitted. "Though there are hundreds, if not thousands of different material types, they can all be bunched into three different categories. Cloth, Leather, and Metal."

"There are three core skills which dictate how you acquire those materials," Diavel continued. "Mining is how you acquire most ores for smithing. Though there are some that drop from monsters as well. For leather, that's dependent on your skinning skill. Players who want to acquire leather fight beasts using unique hunting weapons that will slowly raise their skinning ability, whilst allowing them to acquire pelts as well. Finally, cloth armor is made primarily from materials gathered with the farming skill and all its subsets. Wool, cotton, silk, that sort of thing."

Asuna gave them a weird look. "Why would anyone want cloth armor?"

"Hey! Don't hate on my life choices," Pitohui insisted in a joking manner.

Argo snickered at her. "Cloth armor is for players who desire maximum speed and agility over having high defense." She gestured to Pitohui. "Like our resident ninja here."

"Leather armor is sort of a middle ground between the two," Merida added. "It has more defense than cloth armor but isn't quite as cumbersome as metal armor. It reaches more of a happy medium."

"Finally, there's metal armor," Diavel declared happily. "Which is also what ninety nine point nine percent of all weapons in the game are made of. Metal offers a wide variety of options in regards to durability. Chainmail is slightly heavier than leather but far more durable. Standard plate armor is what most beginner players go for as it offers a fair balance of mobility and defense."

"And then there's us heavy plate users," Gatrie boasted pridefully. "The ones who can take a direct shot with a mace and still be standing."

"Buuut also slow down the whole party with their walking speed," Merida teased him insincerely.

"Bah! Speed is overrated," he insisted. "Raw strength and high defense is where it's at."

She giggled at him before fluttering her lashes. "Just as well, I love your armor, Babe. It really suits you."

"So what skills are required to make this equipment?" Asuna asked next.

"Again, it depends on the material," Diavel explained. "Blacksmithing is the most predominant skill used, as they're not only responsible for making metal armor, but also the vast majority of SAO's weapons as well."

Argo nodded in agreement. "There are thousands of weapon types in this game and I can count on one hand how many are not made of metal ore."

"Aside from blacksmithing, there's leatherworking, and tailoring. Which covers just about the rest of the bases."

"So if I wanted to craft my own rapiers, I'd need to level up mining and blacksmithing," Asuna declared. "Is that how it works?"

"Welllll yes and no," she admitted. "That's certainly a good place to start, but you need more than just those two skills if you want to build a rapier. You'll also need a few levels in leatherworking in order to make a grip for the handle. Which means you'd also need points in skinning to get those materials."

"And that's just to make a basic run of the mill rapier," Diavel insisted. "If you want to make an actually good rapier, you'll want some skill in jewelcrafting, so you can add stat buffs to the weapon. Which means you also need to level your geode processing skill. It also wouldn't hurt to level your appraisal skill as well, to give you a better idea of the materials you're working with."

Asuna's head started to spin. "Okay...this is getting a little complex."

Pitohui laughed at her good spiritedly. "You think that's bad, making armor is even worse. You can reinforce cloth and leather armor with metal plates to create reinforced armor types. There's dozens of sub-types for metal armor. Heavy chainmail, light chainmail, segmented plate, ribbed plate, it gets absurd. And each variation requires you to not only level up your basic blacksmithing skill. But also the appropriate subset skills as well."

"How in the world am I supposed to keep up with all this?" Asuna sounded completely overwhelmed.

Diavel chuckled at her and shook his head. "You're not supposed to. Not if you want to focus on getting really good with that thing."

"Players who want to focus on combat and exploration don't usually make their own gear," Pitohui explained. "We leave that up to the artisan players."

"What's an artisan player?"

"They're players who devote their time to learning how to make weapons, armor, and other equipment," she answered. "Crafting equipment in this game requires so many different skills that most players interested in doing that will devote more time to crafting than they will combat skills and adventuring. The most successful artisan players can even open their own businesses. Usually by purchasing in-game property or building their own player property in designated areas."

"Man…" She shook her head in bewilderment. "...they've really put a lot of thought into this."

"Of course they have," Diavel responded. "SAO is a game that's meant to be lived in, not just played. Artisan players devote themselves to mastering a trade. Be it blacksmithing, tailoring, running a general store. This game almost demands that there be players willing to forego some of the more adventurous aspects for more humble pursuits."

"Well...I think I'll stick to adventuring, myself," Asuna decided. "As interesting as artisan work sounds, it also sounds extremely complicated."

"Oh, trust me, it is," Pitohui assured. "That said, it can also be very cathartic making weapons and armor. There's something far more personal and intimate about making something with your hands. In today's economy, where just about everything made that has any meaning at all is done so on an assembly line, making a pair of bracers, or leather boots from materials you hunted yourself is very gratifying."

She smiled at her. "I can see that."

"I'm actually hoping to open my own leatherworking shop on one of the higher floors someday," Pitohui admitted bashfully. "After I've gotten the appropriate skill set of course."

"I'm sure you'll do it," Asuna spoke encouragingly. "And hopefully when you open up your shop, I'll get to be one of your customers."

Pitohui smiled at her gratefully. "I hope so too."

As they approached the top step, Diavel brought the party to a halt. "We're here."

Coper drew his sword and shield. "You planning on sharing some of the front work this time, Gatrie?"

He drew his one handed axe and tower shield. "Nope."

Coper scoffed at him. "There are other people trying to get their blocking skill up in the party besides you, you know?"

"Would you relax?" Chrys insisted before drawing his halberd and slinging it over his shoulder. "Our stats are all about to be reset anyway. What the hell does it matter?"

Pitohui drew her naginata and shouldered it as well. "Same plan as usual, Argo?"

Argo placed two metal gloves on her fists, whereupon four metal claws sprouted on both weapons. "Run around to the back and stab it in the butt repeatedly? You know it."

Merida drew her short sword and buckler. "I'll be right behind you as always, Honey."

He smirked. "I'd rather be behind you. You know how much I love staring at that gorgeous…"

She shoved him playfully, breaking out into a giggle fit while her face heated up. "Would you stop? I'm trying to focus up."

Diavel drew his sword before turning to his party and planting it in the ground at his feet. "Alright! We've run this guy plenty of times before, and we're a whole lot stronger than the last time we did this, but that doesn't mean we should get sloppy. Illfang the Kobold Lord is still a floor boss with some very nasty tricks up his sleeve. Remember that he'll switch from his axe and shield to that recurved talwar once he's down to a third of his health. So expect some heavy hitting slash attacks with an increased crit risk."

"What do you want me to do?" Asuna asked.

"For this run, you'll be switching with me," Diavel decided. "We'll let Gatrie soak up some of the heavy hits to start. While the others pull sentinels away from him, you and I will take turns attacking Illfang."

"Okay," she responded nervously. "I'll...do my best."

He smiled at her. "Don't worry yourself too much. Trust me, you've got this."

After a moment, she took a breath and nodded, drawing her rapier. "Okay. I'm ready."

Diavel pulled his sword from the floor below and readied his shield. "Then we've got a floor boss to clear."

The massive metal doors to the boss room opened up in front of them. Diavel and company stepped through into a large dark chamber of stone columns and unlit torches. At the very end of the massive chamber, a great beast sat on an equally massive throne as if it had been waiting for them, expecting their arrival.

Its eyes began to glow bright red and the room became enveloped in light, revealing walls of multicolored phosphorescence and white marble columns. The massive beast at the far end of the chamber stood from his throne and picked up his weapons before leaping high into the air and coming back down to the ground, shaking the entire room with the force of his impact.

He was huge! That was Asuna's first thought. Easily twice the size of any foe she had faced thus far. Muscular copper-red fur covered his body and massive canines were set into its maw just below the blood thirsty glowing red eyes it used to glare at them. The axe it bore in its right hand appeared to be made from bone, while in his left hand, he wielded a massive leatherbound shield. Directly above its head, a blood red icon appeared along with four green health bars, as well as the bosses name.

Illfang the Kobold Lord.

A beastial roar burst forth from its diaphragm. Whereupon a dozen smaller sentinels wielding large maces that looked more like jagged hunks of stone attached to metal rods were summoned to his side. Each was a level twelve elite monster.

"Alright! Fan out! Clear the minions and form up around the boss!" Diavel commanded.

Argo and Pitohui charged to the left while Coper and Chrys charged to the right. Meanwhile Gatrie charged straight down the middle to confront Illfang directly while his wife followed close behind him. Asuna, meanwhile, stayed right behind Diavel, watching as the others worked.

Seeing Pitohui in action, it became clear to Asuna why someone might want to opt for cloth armor. She was ridiculously fast with that naginata of hers, carving her way through one sentinel after another while using it as a vault to nimbly sail over her enemies whenever she was at risk of being swarmed. Argo, meanwhile, wasn't far behind her, mopping up the rest with vicious swipes of her metal claws. Using them almost like hooks, she'd pull one sentinel down and vault over it, jumping from head to head like a graceful feline.

Over on the other side, Coper and Chrys were working their way through minions in a more methodical manner. To his credit, Coper clearly had some skill. He used leather armor to increase his agility with the sword and shield at his disposal. This gave him the option to nimbly roll around slower enemies and strike at them from behind. As for Chrys, he clearly favored staying planted in one spot and letting the enemies come to him. The versatility of his polearm gave him both slashing and stabbing options and if he ever got surrounded, Chrys would activate a combat skill that allowed him to spin around like a hurricane, blowing his enemies back in the process.

While they saw to the minions, Gatrie stood his ground against Illfang. It was impressive seeing him tank that massive axe with nothing but his shield while taking swings at Illfang with his own weapon. Meanwhile, Merida moved far more swiftly in her light chainmail armor, taking some of the pressure off her husband by taking shots at Illfang with her short sword. They continued this process until Gatrie's health entered the yellow.

"Diavel! You and Asuna switch with us!"

He nodded before gesturing to Asuna. "Let's get in there! Remember, just like we practiced!"

"Right!"

Gatrie and Merida fell back while Diavel pulled aggro to him. Once they were out of danger, Merida began using her first aid skill on him. A passive ability that increased the rate of battle healing that was activated by touching another player. In this case, Merida would heal her husband by planting a kiss on his cheek and holding it.

Diavel began blocking shots from Illfang with his shield while hacking away at his midsection with his sword. Upon taking another downswing of the axe, he parried with his shield before dashing back.

"Switch!" he called back to Asuna.

She charged in and thrust at Illfang with her rapier, hitting him with one attack after the other while nimbly dodging out of the way of his axe. Still getting hit with splash damage in the process.

"Switch!" Diavel called again and they changed positions. He retook the frontlines while she used battle healing to restore her health.

Just when it seemed like Diavel might be overwhelmed, his health falling into the yellow, Gatrie switched in and pulled aggro. His health reserves had been restored to full by his wife, giving their leader a chance to pull back and heal alongside Asuna.

"Pretty intense, huh?" he commented, slightly out of breath.

"Yeah," she responded, also slightly winded.

"The others should be finished mopping up the remaining minions soon enough," he assured. "Just in time for us to attack him as a group when he switches modes. After that, we'll set you up for the last attack bonus."

"Sounds good! What is that again?"

He shook his head. "I'll explain after. Just be ready to switch in when I give the signal."

The two groups on the side finished mopping up the rest of the sentinels and began attacking Illfang. His second health bar entered the red.

"He's about to roar again!" Diavel shouted. "Argo, you're up!"

"Got it!" She leapt onto Illfang's back with her claw hooks and climbed up nimbly like a feline before pulling a round metal bomb from her satchel and lighting it. Right as the beast's second health bar hit zero it reared back and opened its mouth to roar. Whereupon she lept over Illfang and hit him straight in the eyes with the bomb, which sparked with a blinding flash of light and incurring the paralysis status effect on their adversary.

"Now! Everyone at once!" Diavel shouted.

Every member of the party hit Illfang simultaneously, dropping his health very rapidly until it hit the one third mark. Whereupon the paralysis status disappeared and Illfang knocked the entire group back with an invisible force.

"Owww." Asuna groaned while slowly lurching back up. "What the hell was that?"

"Don't worry. That was supposed to happen," Diavel assured while also getting back up. "We just wanted to get his health down far enough to trigger the mode switch before he had a chance to summon more sentinels."

She looked up to see that, despite the nasty hit she took, her health was still full. "So what happens now?"

He pointed with his sword. "Watch."

Illfang proceeded to throw his axe and shield aside before switching to a recurved talwar. He then charged at Gatrie with reckless abandon. Who absorbed most of the hits with his shield. Whereupon Illfang leapt into the air and brought a vertical slash down onto Pitohui and Argo, who nimbly dodged out of the way, only taking slight splash damage in the process.

"This is phase two," Diavel explained. "Illfang is gonna come at us with hard hitting sweep attacks and large leaping attacks. Also, his target of aggression is gonna change randomly."

"So what do we do?"

He smirked at her. "You stay behind me until I give you the signal. Then, once we've gotten his health down far enough. You charge in and deliver the final blow. Securing the last hit bonus."

She nodded in understanding. "Okay."

"Just be extremely careful not to get hit if you see his weapon start glowing. That means he's about to hit you with a really nasty sword art that probably most definitely will wipe you out."

She gulped back her nerves. "Good to know."

Illfang continued to dart between the four groups of two, who responded by attacking with well timed combat skills.

"Coming back to you, Argo!" Chrys called after parrying a blow with the handle of his polearm.

"I see it!" She avoided another leaping horizontal slash before quickly climbing up the boss's back again and attacking his head.

"Careful Argo!" Pitohui insisted.

"I'm fine!" she called back while slashing at his head. "Going for a crit!"

"Okay, but last time you did that..."

Illfang suddenly bucked Argo off, who went flailing through the air, an indignant look of surprise and terror on her face before face planting into the hard stone ground.

Pitohui sighed wearily. "That happened…"

Argo groaned, shaking the cobwebs loose as she stood back to her feet. Oblivious to the fact that Illfang's bloodthirsty eyes were upon her, his weapon starting to glow.

Chrys went wide eyed. "Ohhhh crap."

"Can you get over there?" Merida asked quickly.

Gatrie shook his head frantically. "Not enough time!"

Pitohui turned away. "I can't watch."

Illfang executed his combat art. Moments before it connected to Argo, a figure darted in front of her and parried the blow.

Everyone's jaw damn near hit the floor as Asuna went flying backwards. Her rapier shattered into fragments and her health went critically in the red. She slowly stood up, her vision and hearing faded as a blaring alarm rang in her skull. Off in the distance, she could see Illfang charging in to deliver the finishing blow.

Only for Diavel to jump in front of her and take the full brunt of the attack, getting knocked to the ground in her place. Gatrie seized the opportunity and pulled aggro back to him with his warcry skill. Merida ran over to Asuna and pulled out a square red crystal.

"Heal!" she shouted.

The crystal shattered and Asuna was restored to full health. Her vision and hearing returned and the alarm stopped ringing.

"You alright?" Merida asked while placing a hand on her shoulder.

She nodded. "I'm fine."

"You have another weapon, right?"

"Uhh, I think so." Asuna quickly opened her inventory. "Yeah! I've got my basic starting rapier still."

She smiled at her and nodded. "Good. Then let's get you that last attack bonus."

"Diavel! Switch out with me!" Gatrie shouted.

"On it!" he shouted back before pulling aggro to him.

Merida offered Asuna a hand up whereupon a steely look formed in her eyes. "You ready?"

Asuna nodded before drawing her next weapon, determination in her eyes as well. "Ready!"

They charged the boss. Each of them took turns switching in and out repeatedly while doing damage to Illfang. His final health bar slowly dropped from yellow into the red, and from there, into the critical. Whereupon Merida took one final attack before switching out.

"Now's your chance! Do it!"

Asuna dashed forward, pulled back her blade, twisted the guard, charged up one final Linear attack…

Whereupon Coper charged in front of her and dug his blade deep into Illfang's belly, cutting a massive horizontal slash across his front. The boss fell backwards and shattered in a bright flash of light fragments.

Asuna stopped dead in her tracks and her shoulders slunk. Did he...did he seriously just do that?

"Woo! Hell yeah! Last attack bonus, baby!" Coper cheered excitedly.

As peace slowly returned to the room, everyone in the party turned and glared at him murderously.

"Coper, you inconsiderate jerk!" Even Merida was livid. "That was supposed to be Asuna's!"

"Huh?" He stopped his cheering long enough to turn around and look at her in confusion. "Wait...what do you mean it was supposed to be hers?"

"Oh don't even try to pretend like you didn't know what the plan was, Asshole!" Argo got directly in his face and shoved him backwards. "You totally did that on purpose!"

Chrys shook his head at him in disappointment. "Really foul play there, Dude."

"What the hell does it even matter for?!" he insisted defensively. "It's not like the Beta's gonna be up long enough for her to even use it."

"That's not the point!" Merida insisted sharply, her hands squarely on her hips. "We all agreed that Asuna would get the last attack bonus. You were there when we made that call."

"I don't remember a damn thing about this, and I didn't agree to jackshit!" he flared back angrily. "So back off!"

Gatrie got directly in his face, murder in his eyes. "Yell at her one more time, Dickwad, and I'll split your skull in half."

"Oh I'm sorry, did I hurt your feelings?" He held out his arms in challenge. "If you've got a problem with me tough guy then let's go right now!"

The sound of metal running through his back brought the argument to an end. Coper looked down to see the blade of a one handed broadsword sticking out of his chest. It was then he noticed his health bar drain all the way to absolute zero.

"Wait, what the fu..."

Coper shattered into light fragments, whereupon Diavel calmly sheathed his sword and looked at everyone, an orange icon now above his head.

"Anyone got a problem with that?" he asked taciturnly.

They all shook their heads no.

"Chrys?" he asked.

Chrys chuckled in response and shook his head. "He earned that one."

Diavel nodded in agreement. "Alright, then consider him officially expelled from the party for the rest of Beta."

"You realize we're going to be hearing about this two months from now?" Argo commented, unable to hide the amused grin on her face.

He shrugged indifferently. "So? I've officially had enough. Let him whine all he wants."

Pitohui laughed in agreement. "You'll get no argument here."

Diavel finally turned to Asuna. "Sorry we didn't get you your last attack bonus, Asuna. But silver lining, it looks like you gained two levels."

She smiled at him. "It's really not a big deal. Is it okay that you're orange now?"

He chuckled thunderously, slipping back into character for a minute. "My dear, this is hardly the first time the Renegade Knight has had to pay off a corrupt official to lower his notoriety. Sometimes, dispensing justice means going against established law."

Asuna couldn't help but laugh at the silly man. "Well alright then."

"By the way, I sent you a friend request," he commented in his normal voice.

Her cheeks flushed. "Oh...you did?"

Diavel gave her a charming smile and nodded. "Should be in your menu. No pressure to accept. Just figured I'd send one." With that, he turned around and gestured for them to follow. "Now then, let's get going! Floor Two awaits us!"

The group began to move out. Whereupon Argo and Pitohui saddled up alongside Asuna and nudged her.

"You need to be careful around him," Argo warned with a playful smirk on her face. "Diavel can be charming as hell but he's also quite the conniver."

Asuna quirked a brow at her. "Is that so?"

Pitohui chuckled before nodding in agreement. "Oh yeah. He's developed kind of a reputation around here. Diavel can be hella fun to play with if you're just looking to fool around, but don't go getting too attached. He's been known to be something of a womanizer."

She frowned in disappointment at that. "Oh…well that's a shame."

"Don't let us give you the wrong idea, he's still a good guy at heart," Argo assured her. "But he's definitely not looking for anything serious right now. Not as far as we know, anyway."

Asuna nodded in understanding. "Thanks. I'll keep that in mind."

"Besides, aren't you trying to go after Kirito?" Pitohui asked playfully.

She went wide eyed with shock and her face heated up like a thermometer. "Wh...what the heck gives you that idea?"

They both snickered at her teasingly.

"Oh my God, you should see how red your face just got," Argo insisted.

"So effing cute," Pitohui agreed.

Asuna shut her eyes and shook her head vehemently to get her flustered thoughts back in order. "Look...I really can't go into detail about it, but…there are extenuating circumstances that would make something like that..."

"Relax, girl. We're just messing with you," Argo assured.

"We're just curious about your relationship is all," Pitohui admitted. "Kirito is always so quiet and reserved. We can't help but want to know more about who he is IRL."

She frowned at them. "I really wish there was more I could tell you," Asuna sighed glumly. "But honestly? I don't know enough about him to speak on his behalf. We've only known each other for about a week, and we really only just became good friends today."

Argo nodded in understanding. "Sounds complicated."

"Trust me, it is," Asuna assured. "Kirito is...I don't know, he's just so completely different from any other guy I've known. On the one hand, he's one of the sweetest and most honest guys I've ever met."

"And on the other?" Pitohui added, already sensing a but coming.

She bit her lower lip nervously, worried about potentially saying too much if she made the wrong comment. "He's...extremely inhibited emotionally. Kirito struggles with expressing empathy or showing social awareness."

"I'll be honest, that sounds like most guys I know IRL," Argo commented bluntly.

Asuna shook her head vehemently. "This is completely different. Kirito isn't the byproduct of toxic masculinity, he's…" She sighed. "Look, it's really not my place to say. Just trust me when I say that Kirito has a lot he has to deal with. And it just wouldn't feel right of me to take advantage of him in that way."

They both seemed to consider her words for a moment. Finally, it was Argo who spoke up.

"Everyone is dealing with something. No one comes into this world all sparkly and shit free."

Pitohui nodded in agreement. "We just have to learn to love one another for who we are, and hope our love will be shared in return. That's something we've all sort of come to accept about this place."

Asuna stopped walking for a second and considered their words. After a moment of thought, she quickly picked up the pace and followed them out of the labyrinth.

The group ascended the stairs of the final floor, whereupon they emerged onto a large stone platform surrounded by nothing but open fields of tall grass and savannah plains, with large mountain ranges off in the distance. A couple yards away, Asuna watched as a herd of large oxen-like beasts ran in a pack across the plains.

"Breathtaking, isn't it?" Diavel commented. "Every time we ascend to a new floor, I'm always blown away by the sheer majesty of it all." Upon spotting a familiar face waiting for them on the platform, he grinned and waved. "Ah good, he's right on time."

Asuna looked to see, standing a few feet away, a familiar swordsman in a black trenchcoat, a patient smile on his face. Her eyes lit up upon seeing him.

"Kirito!" She blew past everyone and ran up to hug him. The Black Swordsman seemed to not quite know how to respond at first, before finally hugging her back. Argo and Pitohu, meanwhile, both rolled their eyes at her.

"Just friends, she says."

"Guess what? I just killed my first floor boss!" she boasted proudly after hugging him.

He nodded, already fully aware of the situation. "So you passed Diavel's test then."

Asuna blinked at him. "Huh?"

Diavel chuckled mirthfully before joining them. "Sorry, my dear. It was my idea. I wanted to get a good measure of your abilities for myself, so I asked Kirito if we could borrow you for the day."

"Wait…" It slowly dawned on her what he was saying. "...so this whole thing was just a test? Were you seriously not fighting Beaters all this time?"

At that, Kirito frowned guiltily. "You're not mad that we lied, are you?"

"Oh relax, my friend." Diavel clasped Kirito's shoulder good spiritedly. "It wasn't a lie. You just said so yourself. We were testing her."

"I was only repeating your words, Diavel," Kirito insisted. "It still feels like a lie to me."

Asuna smiled at him reassuringly. "Well don't worry, Kirito. Lie or not, I'm happy I got to spend the day with your friends. They're incredible people."

"Aww shucks." Argo waved her off while pretending to be bashful.

Pitohui laughed at her before smiling at Asuna. "We like you a lot too, Asuna. I'm happy Kirito let us borrow you for the day."

Merida nodded in agreement. "It's been fun."

Asuna frowned at them. "Wait a minute...why are you making it sound like you're leaving?"

Diavel scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Well...we sort of figured you'd be leaving with Kirito."

"And he doesn't really party up with us that often," Argo admitted before speaking directly to him. "Which is totally fine by the way. We've always known you were a lone wolf."

"You two are friends IRL," Merida insisted. "You should spend what little is left of the Beta enjoying each other's company."

She bit the tip of her thumb in thought. It was true Asuna wanted to spend more time with Kirito. But she was also really enjoying hanging out with Diavel and the others. Yet despite how much more confident Kirito seemed to be in Aincrad, he was still avoiding large groups of people, and if she had to guess why, it was likely because he was insecure about his condition. Truth be told, she was torn. She really liked her new friends, but she also didn't want to hurt Kirito's feelings.

While she struggled to come to a decision, Kirito noticed something that immediately drew his full attention. "Diavel, your icon is orange again."

He sighed in annoyance and nodded. "Yep. It sure is."

Kirito looked around at the group, immediately putting two and two together. "Coper?"

"Coper," Diavel confirmed wearily.

He smiled at him before turning to Asuna. "Then we have a new objective. We need to escort Diavel to the city of Urbus so he can decrease his notoriety score."

Asuna beamed excitedly at him before nodding in agreement. "We'll be his escort!"

Diavel chuckled at them both before waving off their concern. "You guys don't have to do that. I'm perfectly capable of just teleporting their real quick and coming right back."

Argo laughed at him. "Dude, have you already forgotten about the last update? Orange and red players can't teleport to major cities anymore."

He blanched upon hearing her words. "Oh...oh shit. You're so right." The full gravity of his actions sank in. "Holy fuck, I'm gonna miss the last day party entirely! It's a two day walk from here!"

Pitohui couldn't help but snicker at his situation. "Really didn't think that one through, did ya?"

He slumped his head and groaned indignantly. "Gimme a break, will you? These updates come out so frequently I have trouble keeping up."

Kirito chuckled at him. "Really? Cause I don't."

Pitohui scoffed at him jokingly. "Well yeah...but you're a freak."

Asuna's heart stopped dead in her chest and the world went quiet around her. Even though she, along with everyone else there, knew good and well that that was supposed to be a compliment. There was no way in hell that Kirito would know that. And judging by the look Merida was giving her at that moment, she was likely thinking the exact same thing.

Sure enough, upon turning and looking at him, Asuna could already see the look of betrayal forming in his eyes. His lip curled into a sour frown and Kirito turned around to walk away.

"I changed my mind. We won't be escorting Diavel," he replied with cold detachment.

The sudden shift in his demeanor completely through them all for a loop, Pitohui most of all.

"W...wait!" she called out to him. "Kirito, what's wrong? Was it something I said?"

"I don't want to talk to you," he responded indifferently. "Asuna, let's go."

Argo looked completely put off. "What the hell, Man? Why are you mad? She was just joking."

"Well it's not funny," Kirito insisted angrily before gesturing to Asuna. "Come on. We're leaving."

Merida shot Asuna a panicked look as if to say what do we do? Her mind raced at a mile a minute. An executive decision needed to be made here or Kirito was likely to alienate his friends purely based on a misunderstanding.

Law of Nunya be damned. She wasn't about to let this travesty unfold. Asuna ran up in front of him and put her hands out.

"Kirito, just wait a second," she insisted pleadingly. "You're making a mistake."

"Did you not hear what she called me?" he asked, still clearly perturbed. "Asuna, I don't want to be around someone who..."

She gently placed her hands on his face and gazed into his eyes with absolute sincerity. "You trust me, right?"

His body went rigid at her touch and his cheeks burned terribly.

"Do you trust me?" she asked again.

He finally nodded. "Y...yes. I trust you."

Asuna smiled at him warmly. "Then trust me when I say I'm on your side. You've helped me since I got here, so give me a chance to return the favor and help you. Okay?"

He started to fidget uncomfortably, showing more and more of the shy introvert she knew in the real world. Finally, he lowered his head and let her take him by the hand. Asuna gently tugged him back towards the incredibly confused and bewildered group.

"Everyone, I apologize for that. This whole situation is entirely my fault," Asuna assured.

"How is it your fault?" Argo asked in confusion. "We just want to know why he..."

"Please let her finish, Argo," Merida spoke up calmly.

She glared back at her in confusion. "Okay but..."

"Just trust me." Merida smiled at her.

Argo finally bit her tongue, saved her judgments, and listened. Whereupon Merida gestured for Asuna to continue.

"I've been staying silent about this out of respect for Kirito's privacy, but I can't in good conscience let this happen."

As she spoke, Kirito kept his gaze to the ground. "Are you...really gonna tell them? I don't want other people to think I'm..."

"Kirito, these are your friends," Asuna assured him. "I understand this is supposed to be your fresh start too, but you can trust these people."

He began tapping his fingers against his thumb. "But...what if they…"

"You said you would rather trust people and let them disappoint you then be alone right?" she countered. "Well, if you let them in, I promise they won't disappoint you."

After a moment of thought, he quietly nodded his head. Letting her do as she pleased.

"So, you mind filling us in, Asuna?" Diavel asked while narrowing his eyes at Kirito in confusion.

She took a breath before continuing. "This is all one big misunderstanding. Please, don't be mad at him for giving you the cold shoulder like that, Pitohui," Asuna implored before turning to Kirito. "The only reason he got upset is because he didn't understand that you were trying to give him a compliment."

Pitohui just looked even more confused. "He didn't?"

"That was supposed to be a compliment?" He sounded just as confused.

Asuna nodded her head vehemently. "Kirito, Pitohui wasn't calling you a freak to be mean like those kids at school do. She meant it as praise towards your knowledge and skill of the game. It was word substitution."

Upon hearing her say word substitution it finally clicked. Whereupon Kirito's anxiety started to spike again.

"But...then that means she was trying to be nice and I…" He suddenly gripped his hair in his fists and started pulling, the thoughts buzzing in his head like a swarm of incessant wasps. "No no no no no, I messed up. I messed up again!"

Asuna raised her hands up assuredly to calm him down as Kirito started to vanish and more of Kazuto began to leak out. "Kirito, listen to me, you didn't mess up. It was a simple misunderstanding. Nothing more."

"I don't get it…" Argo murmured to Pitohui. "What's his deal?"

Merida was about to speak up but someone beat her to it.

"He's autistic," Chrys answered confidently.

Everyone turned and looked at Chrys in bewilderment.

"Hold on...he is?" Argo asked in disbelief.

He nodded in confirmation. "You mean you really couldn't tell? It was pretty obvious to me. Dude shows all the signs of it."

"I noticed it too," Merida admitted while giving Chrys a squirrely look. "But how did you know?"

He shrugged. "One of my teammates on the Diamond Novas was on the spectrum. Coper was clueless, but the rest of us knew. Kirito shares a lot of the same quirks he did."

"Hooooly shit…" Argo looked as if her mind had just been blown. "How in the world did none of us notice?"

"It's not always something that's easy to notice," Merida assured her.

Gatrie laughed awkwardly while scratching the back of his head. "To be fair, I was completely clueless too."

Diavel shook his head in disappointment at himself. "We all were, Gatrie." A look of admiration formed in his eyes as he watched Asuna continue to calm Kirito down. "I'm just happy we had a mediator here to help open our eyes."

Argo slapped her forehead in exasperation. "Well great. Now I feel like a complete bitch."

Asuna gently pulled Kirito back to the group after taking a moment to console him. "Pitohui, there's something Kirito would like to say to you."

He kept his gaze to the ground. "Thank you...for complimenting me. I'm sorry I didn't understand what you were trying to say."

Pitohui clasped her hands up to her mouth and her eyes filled with tears. After a moment, she ran into his arms much to the Black Swordsman's surprise.

"I'm so so sorry!" she exclaimed while letting her emotions out on his chest. "I had no idea! I promise!"

After a moment, he finally smiled and hugged her back. "It's okay. I know that now. Asuna told me."

She pulled away from him and wiped her eyes dry. "I just feel so awful because…" Pitohui hung her head dejectedly. "...I know exactly what it feels like to be bullied like that."

Argo placed a hand on Pitohui's shoulder reassuringly. "Hey, we've all been there. It was the same for me too."

Diavel approached Kirito, a newfound sense of appreciation in his eyes. "So is it true what Chrys and Merida just told us? You're autistic?"

He nodded his head, still not looking at anyone. "I'm...on the spectrum, yes."

A giant grin formed on Diavel's features. "That's...really cool man."

Kirito finally looked up at him. "It is?"

He coughed awkwardly before turning his head away. "I mean...I don't know much about your condition, but I respect you for the work you've put into making SAO what it is, all the same."

Chrys nodded in agreement. "You're easily the most badass player on the server, Dude. Honestly? This just makes you more badass."

Kirito's smile finally returned. "It does?"

"We've respected the hell out of you since day one," Argo spoke in admiration. "You do so much work for the server and you've never once tried to lord your power over us."

"Why do you think we all decided we want you to be our King?" Gatrie added. "You totally saved the day at Merida and I's wedding. We both owe you a lot."

Merida slowly approached a completely flabbergasted Kirito, who regarded her curiously.

"Kirito...do you remember when you sent me that email saying I was chosen for the Beta?"

He nodded his head, still slightly in shock.

"I never got a chance to tell you how much that meant to me." Her eyes started to glass over as emotion swelled in her voice. "If it wasn't for you, I might not be here right now. I may never have met my husband and…"

She hugged him tightly, allowing the tears to fall freely down her face.

"And I'm just so happy that I got to know you."

He was speechless. No one had ever said anything like this to him before. No one. Kirito turned his head towards Asuna for confirmation that this was really happening. To which she simply smiled and nodded.

"I'm sorry." Merida finally pulled away from him and smiled brightly. "I should have asked first before just putting my hands on you like that."

Pitohui, upon realizing her fo paux blushed in embarrassment. "Oh crap! I hadn't considered that either."

"Do you like hugs?" Merida asked sincerely. "It's okay if you don't. I just want you to be comfortable with us."

Argo nodded in agreement. "We all do."

Kirito looked around at their bright smiling faces. After a moment, his confidence seemed to return and he beamed happily at them.

"Yeah, I do. Hugs are great." He then scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Just...don't grab me from behind, please."

Diavel chuckled thunderously before knocking a fist against his breastplate. "Well I'm inspired. All in favor of promoting Kirito to party leader?"

They all shouted Aye! in unison. Whereupon Diavel invited him to the party. Kirito accepted the invite graciously, prompting the Renegade Knight to pass party lead off to him. He then drew his sword and took a knee.

"Let this promotion serve as my pledge of fealty," he declared boisterously. "I do so solemnly swear, by my honor as a Knight, to follow you to the very top of this castle." Diavel placed his fist against his chest and bowed his head. "To the future King of Aincrad!"

Feeling inspired as well, Gatrie bent a knee and bowed the same as Diavel. "Aye! To the future King of Aincrad!"

Chrys chuckled before dropping to a knee as well. "I've never been much for pomp and ceremony but...ahh what the hell. To the future King of Aincrad."

Argo and Pitohui both exchanged knowing looks with each other before nodding. They took a knee and bowed their heads, same as the others.

"To the future King of Aincrad!" they declared in unison.

Merida giggled, flushing in embarrassment before taking a knee and bowing. "I'm not much of a roleplayer, but...to the future King of Aincrad!"

Kirito looked around at all of them, still at a complete loss for words. He then turned and looked back at Asuna. Who smiled back at him proudly before drawing her rapier and kneeling down.

"To the future King of Aincrad."

He took all of this in, emotions he'd never really felt before swirling in his chest. After a moment of silence, he raised his head up and addressed them.

"I...am not sure what to say in this situation," he admitted honestly. "Words have never come easily to me. Try as I might, I tend to have trouble getting my point across, or I ramble on endlessly about things that make sense in my own mind, but confuse everyone around me."

His body trembled slightly as emotion overwhelmed him for just the briefest moment. Whereupon he took a breath and continued, determination in his eyes.

"I've never had a group of friends like this before. But as your King...I promise to make you all proud of me."

He drew his sword and pointed it to the sky.

"So let my actions serve in place of my words. I will ascend to the top of this castle and claim the Throne of Aincrad. Not just for myself, but for all of you as well."

They all stood up and raised their weapons to the sky.

"One for all, and all for one," Asuna declared.

With Kirito now leading the party, the group of adventurers began the trek towards the city of Urbus. The road ahead of them was a long one, but as luck would have it, they stumbled upon a traveling horse pulled wagon delivering cargo to one of the smaller towns. After paying the NPC driving the buggy a small fee, the group was allowed to hop in the back and rest their feet for a minute. They wouldn't be able to travel the entire way there in the cart, but they'd at least make it to the base of the mountains. During which time, Asuna asked more questions about the game.

"So how does notoriety work exactly? I remember you giving me the basic rundown Kirito, but is there more to it than just PKing?"

He nodded confidently. "There's a lot more to it than that. Committing any crimes or fraudulent activities at all, be it stealing or destroying private property, can increase your notoriety score and change the color of your icon."

"And incur the wrath of the guards if you're not careful," Diavel added.

"There are several different ways to lower your notoriety score," Kirito continued. "The first is the simple passage of time. Though depending on how high your notoriety level is, that could take several in game months or even years depending on the severity of the crime committed."

"The second is serving a prison sentence," Diavel chimed in. "When an orange or red player is PK'd , they're not sent to the Chamber of Resurrection like a green player normally would be. Instead, they resurrect directly in the Town of Beginnings prison. Where they can either try to escape or serve out their sentence to have their notoriety reset to zero. Now granted, this is usually faster than just letting your notoriety score go down overtime, but you're still stuck doing sweet FA until your sentence is up."

She nodded, listening along as both of them explained the mechanics to her.

"The third way is to complete specific quests. These usually involve blackmail, assassinations, that sort of thing," Kirito continued his explanation. "They can be insanely difficult as getting caught by the Town Guard can incur a much steeper prison sentence. Finally, there's the most direct way. Paying off a corrupt official."

"Every major city has a corrupt official hanging out somewhere. Slipping him a bribe will automatically reduce your notoriety back to zero," Diavel picked up where he left off. "While that's the simplest solution, it can get hideously expensive depending on how high your notoriety score is." He sighed glumly while leaning back against the wall of the wagon. "I'm gonna be taking a pretty substantial hit to the coin purse for this one."

Argo snickered devilishly at him. "It was totally worth it." She then turned to Chrys. "Speaking of which, has he stopped spamming you with angry messages yet?"

Chrys groaned in aggravation. "Only because he logged out of the server."

"Ha! Rage quit!" Pitohui declared in amusement.

"All I'm saying is, we need to be prepared when he shows back up on launch day because there is going to be saaaaalt," Argo declared in a sing-song voice.

Kirito nudged Asuna with his elbow gently. "I've heard that one before, but I don't know what it means."

Asuna quirked a brow at him. "You don't? Even I know that one and I'm not a gamer."

He frowned shamefully. "Klein would use it a lot but I was always too embarrassed to ask him what it meant."

"Hey man, don't ever feel ashamed because there's something you don't know," Diavel insisted, a patient, understanding look in his eyes. "That's how we learn as humans is by sharing that knowledge with each other."

That made him perk right back up. "Okay. So what word is she replacing with salt?"

"Well, it's not one word in particular," Argo admitted, offering her own explanation in an agreeable tone. "It's more like a combination of words. Being salty means getting upset over something trivial."

"So basically, salt equals a whoooole lot of bitching," Gatrie joked causing everyone around him to chuckle. Merida, meanwhile, swatted him on the arm playfully.

"You be sweet, you," she chided him gently, a dazzling smile on her face.

He chuckled before pulling her in close by the waist. "I'm always extra sweet when I'm around you, my little honey bunny."

His comment caused her to giggle in utter delight, her face turning absolutely scarlet.

"Dear God...gonna hurl...someone pull over…" Argo insisted while making overdramatic gagging sounds. Once again, Merida simply stuck her tongue out and blew a raspberry at her.

"So what happens if a player goes red?" Asuna finally thought to ask.

"Hmm, red players are a bit different," Diavel remarked. "But Kirito here knows more about the specifics of it than I do."

He nodded. "If a player's icon turns red, it means they've achieved maximum notoriety. In which case, their icon will be permanently locked into that state until one of two conditions are met."

"What are those conditions?" Asuna asked.

"Either they're arrested by a guard or killed by another player. Either way, they end up in prison with a hefty sentence."

"Most players who commit to doing that won't ever go back to going green," Diavel admitted frankly. "They'll just escape from their cells and try again."

"Being a red player incurs heavy penalties. They'll be attacked in any major city or settlement by the Town's Guard if they're caught within its borders. They also can't teleport to any city or town that's still controlled by friendly NPCs. In addition, for every crime they commit after becoming a red player, a bounty will be placed on their heads that green players can collect should they successfully kill the red player. This bounty will increase in value with each new crime they commit."

Asuna fell back in her seat in total bewilderment. "It almost doesn't seem worth it. Causing trouble just seems like a bad bad idea. Why would anyone do it?"

"Welllll, there are benefits that can come from being a red player," Diavel admitted. "They gain access to certain advantages that a normal green player might not have."

"Debatable," Kirito commented flatly.

Diavel chuckled at him in a dry tone. "Not surprising coming from our stalwart bastion of justice."

"Out of curiosity, what are the benefits?" Asuna asked.

"Oh! Oh! I know this one!" Argo spoke up while raising her hand. "PKing player avatars gives you more experience than just killing random monsters and questing does."

"How much more?"

"Like, a lot more," Pitohui admitted. "PKing other players will level you up even faster than power running a floor labyrinth. Also, you get to keep whatever items and loot the player had that wasn't equipped to their person. Along with all the money they had on them."

"There are also certain skills that can only be acquired by player killing," Diavel added.

"Like what?"

He grinned before turning to the Black Swordsman. "Why not ask him? He has most of them."

Kirito sighed wearily. "Only because of the Beaters I've killed." He then leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. "But to answer your question, the most prominent skill you get is the ability to poison your weapon with different status effects. Paralysis and health drain being two of the biggest. You can also learn special moves called stealth attacks which incur a ton of bonus damage if pulled off successfully. As well as passive skills that increase your chance to incur critical damage."

"Basically, they're all skills that make it easier to player kill," Diavel concluded.

Asuna shuddered at that. "So…the more you PK, the easier it becomes."

"Poetic, is it not?" Argo commented.

"What other benefits are there?" she asked Kirito next.

"Again, I really hesitate to call them benefits," he insisted. "But there are certain areas in the game marked as 'Criminal Havens' that only orange and red players can teleport to."

"So basically towns for bandits and whatnot," Merida added. "The inhabitants of a criminal haven won't attack you if you're an orange or red player, and they're easily as strong as any normal Town's Guard."

"Red and orange players can also buy unique weapons there that are geared more towards player killing," Kirito continued. "They can also learn how to craft these weapons themselves, as well as improve their design."

"Okay, now I'm starting to see why some players might be tempted to go red," she admitted.

Kirito shook his head vehemently. "It's still not worth it. There are always considerably less criminal havens on any given floor than there are standard towns. In fact, some floors don't have any criminal havens on them."

"Ahh, but you seem to be forgetting something, my good man," Diavel spoke up. "Red and orange players can take over normal towns and turn them into criminal havens."

Asuna gawked at him in disbelief. "They can seriously do that?"

He nodded. "By invading the town with a large enough force and killing its mayor. The NPC that acts as the governing body of the town. This will trigger an event where townsfolk NPCs evacuate and bandits take over. Thus turning the town into a criminal haven."

Kirito visibly rolled his eyes, something Asuna hadn't really seen him do until now. "I didn't forget about that, Diavel. I just don't care. Because the reverse is true as well. Any town a horde of bandits takes over, a group of well trained bounty hunters can take back just as easily. Plus, all the weapons, skills, and other armaments that an orange or red player can find, can also be acquired in the bounty hunting offices at every major city."

Asuna perked up in intrigue. "So...if you don't want to hurt innocent players but still want that experience bonus, you can just become a bounty hunter instead?"

He nodded pridefully. "They're basically the same thing only on the right side of the law. Bounty hunters go after orange and red players, using their own dirty tactics against them. Attacking an orange or red player doesn't affect your notoriety score like it would a green player. Even if you're in a town or major city. And like Diavel pointed out, there are bounties posted for red players that will net you a ton of cor as well."

"One thing you're still not considering though, good sir, is the numbers ratio," Diavel insisted, adding some friendly debate to the conversation. "There will be far more green players than there will be orange or red. Those bounties will be fiercely sought after, and there will be a lot of players who grow impatient with bounty hunting and switch to good old fashioned banditry. The temptation will always be there."

Kirito chuckled at him. "Perhaps so. But that's why we have Knights like you, Diavel. I firmly believe the number of heroes will still outweigh the number of villains come launch day. Especially when I become King."

"Don't let Coper here you say that," Argo commented wryly. "He'll probably try to go red now that he's been kicked out of the party."

He shrugged. "I don't care what Coper thinks. He's too busy being salty."

They all laughed good spiritedly.

"You know something? I'm really glad Asuna was able to mend the gap between us," Diavel remarked honestly.

Argo nodded in agreement. "We always thought you came off as aloof and kind of stodgy. But you're actually a lot of fun to hang out with."

He smiled brightly at that. "I am?"

"Yeah, Man," Gatrie spoke up in a chipper voice. "I'm really glad we get to be friends now."

Kirito turned his head away meekly. "Can I be honest? I kind of thought you guys already were my friends. At least...that's how it felt to me anyway."

Merida placed a reassuring hand on his knee. "Well regardless of however we may have felt before, we are all honored to call you our friend now."

Chrys nodded. "It's nice having you around, Ki. I feel like we're really connecting more."

Kirito gave him a weird look. "Did you just call me Key?"

"Do you not like it? Everyone calls me Chrys for short."

Argo laughed at him. "Well yeah, but that's just because your screen name is really friggin hard to pronounce. We can say his name just fine."

Chrys shrugged, as laid back as ever. "I still think Ki is a pretty cool nickname."

"What do you think, Kirito?" Asuna asked, turning to the person whose opinion on the matter was most important.

He seemed to consider the nickname for a moment before speaking. "Sometimes...at school...the other kids would give me a nickname...I never liked those."

They all frowned at him worriedly. Right as Asuna was about to speak up, however, he suddenly smiled again.

"But...you guys are my friends. So if you like it, then so do I."

Chrys smirked before nodding in approval. "What'd I tell ya? The man knows what's up."

"I know that one," Kirito boasted proudly. "It's a term used to indicate someone has knowledge of a certain predisposition on an established ideal." He frowned at himself before scratching his head. "At least...I think that's right. I always get that one confused with knowing what's good. Or do those both mean the same thing?"

Pitohui blew an exhausted breath through pursed lips. "Dear Lord, someone please get this poor boy to Urban Dictionary."

Everyone laughed at Pitohui, save for Kirito who looked legitimately curious. "What's that?"

"Look it up the next time you're at your computer," Diavel insisted. "Trust me, it will expand your horizons, my friend."

He smiled happily. "Okay. I always love learning new forms of language."

Argo nudged Pitohui and whispered. "I thought Asuna was adorable but Kirito is like 'puppy snuggling with a kitten' levels of cute."

She giggled back at her before nodding. "I know right?"

Diavel took a moment to pop his head over the side of the wagon and check where they were. "Shouldn't be much longer. A couple more minutes and we'll be at the crossroads."

"And we'll be walking from there," Pitohui groaned. "Just what my calves need. Six and a half more hours of uphill hiking. Yeehaw."

"If there's one thing I'm kinda salty about it's that all this virtual walking and running we do doesn't translate into real pounds lost IRL," Argo admitted.

Gatrie chuckled at her comment. "Hey, all that laying around on your bed doing absolutely nothing is bound to lead to some weight loss at some point."

"Yeah, along with a healthy dose of muscle atrophy," she retorted sarcastically. "I'm just saying, if the game could translate all the steps I take in-game into actual fitness, my ass would be looking amazing IRL right now."

"Give it time." Diavel leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms behind his head, shutting his eyes in a relaxed state. "I'm sure the technology will catch up eventually."

"Jesus, that's dangerous," Argo commented in amusement. "Just what I need, any excuse at all to never log out again."

Asuna bit her lower lip thoughtfully. "Should it...really go that far?"

They all looked at her with curious perplexment on their faces.

"I mean, don't get me wrong, I've only been here for a day technically and I'm already more in love with this world than I ever was with the real world. But...saying we'll never come back...I mean, that can be dangerous right?"

"I was mostly kidding," Argo assured.

"Still, Asuna does bring up a valid point," Diavel admitted. "At what point will this technology have officially gone too far?"

"I'd say as soon as NerveGear becomes cheaper than dating," Chrys commented. "Once that happens, society is pretty much doomed."

"You really think it will come to that?" Argo asked.

He shrugged. "Maybe. I mean, the promise of virtual reality to the average consumer has always been enormous. Put on a helmet, go nowhere, but be transported anywhere. It's the same form of escapism peddled by drugs, games, art...throw off the shackles of the mundane through a metaphysical transportation to an altered state."

"I don't think it will go that far. For me, virtual reality is like an extension of yourself. Not just an escape from it. I believe that there can be a healthy balance between this world and the real one," Merida commented a little more cheerfully.

Gatrie smiled at Merida lovingly and took her hand in his. "I agree with you completely, my Love. This world may not be real, but my feelings for you sure are.

She kissed him lovingly in response. "You always know exactly what to say to make me melt, Darling."

"For me, virtual reality is like dreaming with your eyes open," Argo commented matter of factly. "That's how I've always thought of it anyway."

Pitohui nodded in agreement. "Same. For me, it's an opportunity to walk in someone else's shoes for awhile. Books allow us to imagine it, movies allow us to see it, but VR is the first medium that allows us to experience it."

"What about you, Diavel? What's your philosophy on all this?" Argo asked.

He cast his gaze up to the sky in thought. "I've had more time to think about this than most. Given I was part of the team that helped with the Alpha build of SAO. When we were children, our minds were all basically dominated by the internal world that was our imagination." Diavel addressed them, a curious smile on his face as he spoke. "Everything was possible in our eyes. The world was completely fluid. But as we grow up, we face this profound internal conflict between the world of our imagination, and that of reality."

They all listened intently as he continued.

"In the world of our imagination, anything is possible. Yet in the world of reality, we have parents, food, friends, opportunities by which we aren't quite so isolated. This is what allows us to survive and grow as a species. So as we grow up, we have to de-emphasize the world of imagination and emphasize the practical world, that is unless we're willing to be completely alone with our own insanity and dependent on others for survival."

Asuna frowned before looking over at Kirito, worried this might be triggering him. Yet he didn't seem upset, if anything, he was just listening intently to Diavel.

"Of course, it's possible to integrate the two," he offered next. "But it's so hard. Like walking a tightrope. Personally, I think that the reason people like us grew up obsessed with computers, and why we fit in so well in this virtual world, is because it really does present a new solution. A way to make imaginary worlds that we can not only explore, but be together in. Just like the real world."

They let his words truly sink in for a moment. Until at last, Merida spoke up, a bright smile on her face.

"I want to hear what Kirito's thoughts are on all of this."

"Oh yeah! Kirito, do you have anything to add?" Argo asked in a friendly voice.

He seemed to withdraw nervously for a moment. "I...I don't know. Maybe you should just skip me."

"Why?" Diavel asked patiently.

"Because my opinion is different from yours and I don't want to make you mad," he admitted truthfully.

Asuna placed a hand on his leg assuringly. "Then you don't have to talk. That's perfectly okay."

"It is," Merida agreed. "But we also want you to know that your opinion is valid. So if you do want to share, I promise that no one here will think badly of you for it."

He bit his lower lip nervously. "Are you...sure?"

"You're gonna be our King, Dude," Gatrie offered in a friendly tone. "Even if we don't all agree with your opinion, we're still gonna respect the word of our Monarch."

That seemed to make him perk up again. "Well...alright then."

They all listened intently as Kirito gathered his thoughts.

"The disconnect that...my brain causes between person and language, cannot be overstated," he quietly began. "Growing up...I always had to figure out the real world as best I could." He sat up straighter in his seat. "I was an outcast. The world was made up of languages and words and rules that...made absolutely no sense to me." He took a breath to steady himself before continuing. "So, instead of trying to learn these languages and words and rules...I created my own. I would think, feel, and communicate in my own private language. A language...of numbers."

"Sort of like binary?" Gatrie guessed.

He shrugged. "Sort of? Normal language has always been too restrictive for me. People have to reuse words in ways that go against their original meaning. I've always found this practice to be contrived and needlessly convoluting. Which is why I created my own language based on numbers. With numbers, you can assign an exact definition to every single action, thought, place, or thing."

"You're talking about programming," Diavel observed. "That's the fundamentals of how computers operate as well."

He nodded in confirmation. "I learned how to program when I was twelve. But I was communicating through numbers even before then. Everything can be assigned a numeric value so long as you perform the right coding in your head."

Asuna felt like she was really starting to get a better idea of how Kirito's brain operated. It essentially worked like a computer. Albeit one with wifi access.

"That's incredible, Dude," Gatrie commented in an impressed tone of voice. "Honestly? I'm a little jealous."

Kirito frowned sourly. "Don't be. I hate when people say that."

"Oh...sorry man," he quickly tried to backpedal. "I wasn't trying to offend you, I promise."

Kirito sighed despondently before shaking his head. "No. It was an honest mistake. Not one born of malice, just ignorance. I won't pass judgement on you simply for not knowing something. I don't know everything there is to know either."

"We are all ignorant, Kirito," Merida assured gently. "Especially when it comes to what you must be dealing with."

"We just can't help but admire your strengths," Diavel pointed out. "Considering that's all we've seen of you so far."

Kirito quirked a brow at him. "Why do you think that is?"

They all went dead quiet, as it finally sank in what he was trying to say.

"This world is completely different from the one I was born in," he insisted. "I learned to speak in numbers, and this world is made of numbers. If I seem strong to you in here, it's only because I understand how this world functions a hundred times better than I understand the real one." Kirito gripped his knees tightly. "So much of human interaction in the real world seems to contradict itself. The languages, the emotions, the...rules. But what frustrates me the most is that everyone seems to understand these rules and emotions and words a lot better than I do. Like they're playing a game and know all the rules, while I only get to know some of them."

"Kirito…" Asuna was about to interject when he continued.

"You asked us all, Diavel, at what point we will have gone too far. Well for me, there's no such thing. Reality should be the place where you feel the most alive. And even if this reality is only a virtual one…"

He turned his gaze up towards the sky and raised his palm in the air as if catching a cloud in his hands.

"...I feel more alive in this world than I ever did on Earth."

For the longest time, no one said anything. When Diavel next poked his head out over the wagon, he noted they were at the crossroads. It was time to get off.