It's said that everything has already been done before. Such a statement might be of arguable validity, but as Johnny sat atop the peak of the Venician cathedral and gazed down at the streets far below he was of the opinion that some things most certainly had been done before. Seriously, this was straight out of Assassin's Creed.

Though, as he dangled his legs over the edge he admitted that it was a much different experience when one was, for all intents and purposes, experiencing it for themselves. The streets far below and the empty void between him and the ground were much more frightening in Virtual Reality than when you were just staring at a computer screen.

Below him, countless throngs of players and NPCs wandered the streets. The floor boss had been beaten a few days before, thanks to a joint effort between him, Kirito, Asuna, and Argo to discover the boss's weakness, without which the Clearers most likely would have taken heavy casualties. Again. Just like last floor and the floor before. Seriously, the Clearers were like a bunch of D&D players; rushing headfirst into danger without even trying to solve any puzzles or gather any information. Hit it until it dies is such a dumb plan.

Rolling his eyes, Johnny scanned the players below, finally spotting his target exiting the city. Leaning forwards, the boy plummeted off of the cathedral's peak and hurtled towards the waterway below. He hit the shallow canal and his momentum instantly reversed, bringing him to a halt with his fingertips barely brushing the bottom. The Minecraft-like water physics were a bit strange, able to stop one's fall with a scant two meters of depth. Though it was probably because SAO only calculated water to a depth of two meters anyways. To lighten the load on the servers, most likely.

Whatever the case, Johnny pulled himself out of the water and darted towards one of the buildings, scrambling up the side. Using clotheslines, windows, and other assorted decorative structures, Johnny ghosted above the crowds below. Though he had compared SAO to Assassin's Creed, the parkour system was more like Sunset Overdrive 2's. Less fixed, more fluid. With a high enough level of [Climbing], you could pass though the upper levels of a town with almost no effort.

In short order Johnny left [Rovia], the largest town on the 4th Floor. With no more buildings around, he was forced to use trees to traverse. Luckily the [Bear Forest] bordered the river, providing plenty of places to parkour from.

Running parallel to the waterway, Johnny kept pace with a mid-sized sailboat. After a few hours of tracking the boat, the forest finally started to peter out. Now or never. Leaping from the foliage, Johnny used the mast of the sailboat as a pseudo-fireman's pole, sliding down. As he slid, he hurled throwing knives downwards at the crew below. Caught off-guard by the vicious attack from above, a dozen [Forest Elven Rowers] were killed before they could react. The pair of [Forest Elven Heavy Warriors] were able to deflect the rain of throwing knives, right up until Johnny leapt off of the mast and tackled one of the [Forest Elven Heavy Warriors] to the ground, triggering the [Dagger Skill] [Falling Assassin's Blade; Rank 7] and ramming his blade into the elf's throat.

While Johnny's actual damage output was pretty garbage, [Falling Assassin's Blade] dealt damage based on the [Fall Damage] that the player would have taken allowing him to actually kill things. You couldn't just rely on [Corruption] after all.

That said, he was on the ground now, and facing down a [Forest Elven Heavy Warrior] solo. Not an ideal situation. But as Johnny darted towards the elf, he smiled. The rush was so worth it. Sliding under a horizontal swing that would have carved him in half, Johnny's dagger danced across the elf's armour, scoring light cuts in the metal that slowly grew larger.

An overhead strike threatened to split Johnny's head open. Raising his dagger, Johnny caught the blow on the crossguard of his weapon and crumpled under the force of the blow. Even with both hands on his dagger, Johnny was forced to his knees and his [Health] was halved. With a grunt, Johnny shunted the blade to the side where it slammed into the deck of the boat, sending up a shower of wood chips that blinded both fighters. The elf retreated, swinging defensively. Blind, Johnny swept forward— the defensive strike of the elf passing just by his head and slicing the hood of his cloak off—and buried his blade in the elf's arm.

Impaled into soft flesh and through simulated bone, Johnny's dagger bled crimson light. The sword fell from no longer functioning fingers as [Corruption] took effect, combining with the poisons lacing the dagger to sap the elf's arm of all its strength.

Tearing the blade free, Johnny slid behind the elf, slicing the elf's helmet off with a [Corruption] infused slash and placed his dagger against the tender flesh of her neck. "Surrender, or I slit your throat. The damage won't kill you, but the poison will steal your breath and you'll die slowly as your heart stops from lack of oxygen."

The elf glanced over her shoulder with wide, fearful eyes, which widened in recognition. "Master Johnny?"

Johnny blinked in surprise at seeing a familiar face. "Sarey? I haven't seen you since you helped me assassinate Luo Tianyang."

Sarey's eyes flickered with lines of code briefly. "Y-yes. After you ran away, I brought his body to my Commander. Because you weren't around, I was credited with killing an Elf Killer and was promoted from Warrior to Heavy Warrior."

"Huh." Johnny grinned. "Then, you could say you owe me a favour, right?"

The elf wilted at the evil glint in Johnny's eyes. "I-I mean… I guess…"

"Great. Then I need that message you're carrying."

Sarey flinched. "I-I have no idea w-what you're…" Johnny's dagger pressed against her throat and she gulped fearfully. "Okay, fine, I have the message, but I won't give it to you! A favour isn't worth that much. In fact, I'd rather you kill me first!"

Johnny considered that. "You know… technically aren't you still my slave? I mean, I never said you could go, right?"

"...be that as it may, if you order me to hand over the message, I'll kill myself first," Sarey bravely declared.

"Okay. Kill yourself." Johnny rolled his eyes. So dramatic.

"W-wait, you're not going to offer my freedom in exchange for the message?" Sarey stuttered, staring at Johnny in shock.

The boy shrugged. "I mean. Not really? It's just a [Quest], a side one at that. I'm just wasting time because I don't like the next floor. Mummies. Yuck. But hey, let me just kill you real quick, if that's what you really want."

Fearfully Sarey stumbled away from him. "Okay, okay, you can have the message, don't kill me!"

Johnny considered that. "Mm. But I don't really wanna turn it in any more. How about I slit your throat instead?" Pressing the knife even harder against Sarey's throat, the elf began to gurgle as a trail of simulated blood ran down her neck.

"N-no, please," she begged. Her cries fell on deaf ears. A sadistic smile twisted Johnny's face.

Leaning forwards, he ran his tongue along the soft, jade-like skin. Sweet and salty, with a bit of zest, courtesy of the poison that had already started to mingle with Sarey's blood. Ahh, this taste, this feeling; it was euphoric. Johnny was hardly aware as Sarey slid from his hands, clutching at her throat.

A sharp pain in his leg sent him tumbling sideways. Johnny looked down at his missing limb that was already dissolving into polygons in disbelief. The woman responsible for carving Johnny's leg in sheathed the hatched she had used to fell the boy and moved past him. A [Minor Healing Potion; Grade 4] was poured down the elf's throat, reversing the blood that poured from her throat.

"Seriously, Black. I know you're creepy and all, but no need to go that far," the woman grumbled.

Johnny managed to haul himself up, using the ship's mast as leverage. "You're… Morte! Still hanging around here? I would have thought that you woulda run away after Kirito-san chopped your arm off."

"First, it's Morte, T and E are silent. Second, you and I both know how that match would have ended," Morte replied, stepping away from the NPC she had just healed.

"Hmpf. Whatever," Johnny muttered, annoyed at Morte's dismissive tone towards Kirito. "Didn't think you were the kind of person to step in to help an NPC, considering how willing you are to kill real players."

Morte chuckled at that. "Yeah, you'd think that a girl who named herself after death would be a cold-blooded killer, wouldn't you? But no, I only kill those who warrant it."

"You play the Aincrad Liberation Squad and the Dragon Knights Brigade off each other for fun then?" Johnny asked, palming a dagger behind his back.

"Bah, if they weren't greedy fucks then I wouldn't be able to. It's their own fault if I trick them. If the two groups just sat down and talked it out, they could be much more successful. Instead they struggle against their silly tribulations simply because they do not trust each other. Entirely incomprehensible. Still, the help I offer is genuine. After all, they are still trying to save us all from this game. Why do you think I let your friend Kirito live? He has little enough greed. I protect NPCs because they have no greed, which makes them better than most people. But you, you're drowning in greed," Morte lectured.

Johnny laughed. "I'd like to think I'd be lust more than greed, if we're doing this seven sins thing. Worldly possessions have no meaning, save to enable the continued pursuit of my goals."

Morte stared at Johnny, her eyes hidden by her chainmail coif. After a few seconds she snorted. "Fine, tell you what. I'll let you live. In exchange, you release this elf from her servitude. And put the knife down Black. You can't kill me with it anyhow."

Johnny sighed but nodded in agreement. "Fine, fine. Sarey, you're free to do whatever you do. S'pose Kirito wouldn't much like me stabbing friendly NPCs anyways." Johnny thought for a moment. "Right. Morte, one thing."

The woman tilted her head towards him. "What?"

"The dagger wasn't to kill you." His hand flicked forwards, sending a crimson blur flashing towards her. Still, Morte was able to deal with Kirito in combat, her reactions wouldn't be slow. Her axe swung up, intercepting the dagger. A shattering sound, like glass breaking, filled the air. Morte stared in disbelief as her axe fell apart into polygons. The dagger collided squarely with her forehead, snapping her head back. The damage was, however, minimal, and Morte recovered in a second.

Her chainmail coif had been shattered by Johnny's dagger, leaving her short, wavy silver hair fluttering from the force of the blow. A single yellow eye fixed on him and narrowed in anger. "Black, you-!"

Flipping her off, Johnny hurled himself backwards off the boat. He hit the water and was gone in a flash. The [Swimming] skill, combined with his [Movement Speed] allowed him to easily make distance. Surfacing after a bit, he drank a [Distilled Health Potion; Grade 1], watching as his leg reappeared once his [Health] topped off.

He kept walking until he arrived at the nearest town. Stepping into the [Teleporter], he steeled himself. Sure, mummies were horrid—undead of any kind really—but he had to get stronger. Briefly he considered putting points into something other than [Movement Speed] before turning that idea down. However, maybe poison? He already used some. Damage regardless of other abilities sounded nice. Now to see if the next [Floor] had some sort of corpse poisons or the like.

College is hard man. Right, if you want to read more of my writing that's like this, I have a DeviantArt account. I've been uploading there recently. Same kind of stuff as here, lewd stuff and the like, but not fan fiction. Requests are there as well, I reckon. DA name is MorganPHarder, same as here. I genderbent Morte, but that's because Morte in French is feminine so. Morte is an actual character from SAO Progressive, if you're wondering. Cheers all.