Author's Note: Big thanks to Furrballnerd for helping me out with part 3, his PM helped me rethink some ideas and gave me some others to work with, and he was even the beta when this chapter was in its infancy. Go and check him out if you like, he's got some pretty solid stories for SAO on his profile.

Another big thanks goes to AllyKat82 for letting me use one of their ideas for my story. It was originally in Ally's Keeping Me Warm story, and did a conveniently good job of explaining a certain element I didn't worry about with the first chapter. I don't know when I'll use her idea, but I wanted to give my thanks well in advance. KMW is possibly one of the best Kirito/Liz stories on the site (probably more so than mine, I must admit), so go ahead and give it a read if you have the time.

Enough banter, let's get started!

17 July 2024
Floor 57, Fodina Mine
21:36

"Gosh, I knew that the cave would be extensive, but I didn't think that we'd get lost so easily." Lisbeth took a hard look at the map and the immediate surroundings. The ceiling was about five meters above the ground with each wall about three meters apart from each other. Ancient statues and landmarks were in every corridor and turn, often complementary with the stalagmites and stalactites. It almost reminded me of one of those really old console RPGs that'd take place in a fantasy world of dragons and magic. Something about a scroll of the elders? I'm sure it'll come to me later.

"Yeah. At least we found the other two materials fairly quickly. Is there a safe zone around here somewhere?" I asked. At this point, we reached the intersection where the corridor met two transepts.

"Mm hmm, they should be over to the left," Lisbeth pointed as she took another look at the map.

"All right." While following her lead, I continued looking at our surroundings. Directly behind us, I saw something that stood out from the typical cave floor, almost like a person.

"Wait, what's that over there?" I asked, pointing in the figure's direction.

"Where?" Liz asked, squinting towards the area I was pointing.

"It's over here, come on!" I grabber her hand and dragged her along as I ran.

"Hey, slow down! I'm not as fast as you are. What is it?"

"Sorry, swe-Liz! I said Liz! It looks like a player!"

Gosh, Kirito! What the hell was that?!

"Right. I see him, but where's his cursor?" The figure was lying down as if he was headed in our direction, but fell en route.

We stopped about two meters in front of him, trying to get an idea on his status. Since he obviously hadn't shattered, we knew that the poor soul was still alive. He was wearing a torn white shirt similar to the girl at the mine's entrance, but he had ripped blue overalls in place of the brown pants. A battered pickaxe rested at his side, and scuff marks in the dirt behind him lead to a path towards a lower level.

"Looks like there isn't one. Do you think he's the NPC's older brother?" She asked

"Yeah, it's the only thing that makes sense," I replied. "But there's only one way to confirm."

I got on one knee next to him and tried making him come to, turning him from his front to his side and shaking his head around. All over his body resided bruises, cuts, and scratches.

"Hey, be gentle!" Liz said warily.

"He'll be fine. This should work on him," I reassured her as I pulled out a healing crystal. "Heal!"

As the pink light came and left, his wounds faded away.

A few nudges later, the NPC finally woke up. He was rather groggy at first, but gradually became more alert. A moment later, he sat up and rubbed his hands on his face and head.

*groan* "Ugh... Who are you?" He looked up at me and Liz, then the surrounding area.

"I'm Kirito, and this is Lisbeth. Are you okay?"

"I think so... I feel pretty sore, but I think I could walk. I'm Craig." He reached his hand up to me, as if to ask for a lift. Once up, he grabbed his lower abdomen and lowered his head slightly. "Would you happen to have anything to eat? It's been a while since I last had anything," he asked reluctantly.

While smiling and nodding, I dug around my inventory for some bread, then offered it to him. Without hesitating, he grabbed the small loaf and quickly thanked me, then began biting parts of it off.

"Do you have anything for him to drink?" I asked Liz while he ate.

"Yeah, I might have a flask or two for him." She nodded and put put her gunstock club on her hip.

"Well that quest was simple enough, so we return him to his sister, then see if we can find the materials?" I asked.

"Sounds like a plan. Let's go when he's done." Liz looked over at Craig, then offered him a water flask from her inventory.

"Thank you, miss," he said, taking the bottle from her hand.

"Don't worry about it. Are you about done?" She asked.

"Mm-hmm!" he answered with his mouth full of the food and water. He swallowed, coughed, then continued. "Do you know the way back to the entrance?"

"Yup. Follow us and we'll get you back with your sister in no time," I answered, pulling up a tangible copy of the cave's map as I talked. "Let's go!"

The three of us began walking, talking as we tried to find our way out of the dungeon. Craig stayed quiet for the most part, so the conversation was between me and Lisbeth. I guess you can't ask much more from a quest NPC.

"Hey, so you've really been smithing since day one? I could've sworn that you turned to it after you found out that you didn't like clearing."

"Yes, we've been over this before. I opened my shop and tried hard to get my name out there for a while before showing off my skill. Don't you ever listen, dummy?" Liz nudged my shoulder as she asked the question.

"Hey, no need for name-calling, dummy! I just find it astonishing that you've stuck with the trade for so long. I mean, even Agil went out and helped the clearing team with a few raids before picking up shop-keeping," I nudged her back in retaliation. It felt nice, really. There's nothing quite like light-hearted fun. I couldn't help but notice how relaxed I feel around her whenever we're out adventuring. Maybe I can even help her join the clearing team one day... I wouldn't mind the training...

Wait, is this the first time it's like this, or just the first time I realize it? Regardless... there's just something about the way she talks.. and the way that she is...

"... not listening, are you?" Liz's question derailed my train of thought.

"Huh? Sorry, um, what were you saying?" I stammered.

"See? Well, never mind that. I guess you took off into your own fantasy world," she started.

I guess you could say that...

"But like I was asking, what do you think we'd run into while we're down there?"

"Well, let's ask Craig," I pointed my thumb to the NPC. "What kind of things did you see down there?"

*Whew* Glad we avoided that other conversation...

"There i-isn't too much at first, just your typical mine. During the daytime, everything was just about empty, save for the occasional miner, but as night begins to fall, cave dwellers begin preying on poor souls still in the mine." His voice was pretty shaky as he told us this, making me think that he had a bit of a run in with those creatures. It would explain his cuts and bruises.

"Cave dwellers? What kind?" I asked.

"Small, horrible goblin-like creatures with stone daggers. I was looking for any rocks or metals that I could sell, but I kept coming up empty. I kept looking and looking for what felt like a short time before the first ones started appearing. Thankfully, I was able to fend some off with my pickax, but the commotion attracted a lot more of them. I tried to get out, but before I knew it, they had me nearly trapped."

"Damn, that bites," I commented.

"I know. I've heard many stories of prospectors stuck in a similar situation and didn't make it. Actually, can I ask a favor of you?"

"What do you need?"

Probably another part of the quest...

"I'm sorry to bring this up now, but if you two could protect me while I get enough for my family, I could give you some of what I collect. Do you still want to take me back to my sister, or protect me while I mine?"

His face lost the fear and panic of earlier as an option window came up in front of him.

Great, just when I was starting to feel sorry for him...

"Hold on a second, why didn't you say anything about this before? Don't you think that it would've been better to ask us before we came so close to the entrance?" I asked.

"Yes, it would have been more ideal that way, but I kept wondering whether I should ask such a favor of near strangers or simply come back another time. I've decided to ask you," Craig answered quickly. He didn't move a single centimeter while he spoke, further dehumanizing the NPC.

The stupid things have a response for everything, I swear. Damn you, developers. I guess that just means more XP and Col.

"What do you think? Do you wanna protect him for a while and get the extra item and training, or escort him to the front and come back later?" I turned and asked Lisbeth.

"I'm up for it, but it'll mean we do the quest in place of tonight's training."

"All right, then," I responded as I looked down to the window.

[Would you like to help Craig mine, or return him to his sister?

A) Protect him while he mines.
B) Escort him to the entrance.]

"Well, if anything, we'll have each others' backs," I said as I hovered my hand over "A". Liz nodded, then yawned as she adjusted her armor.

"Are you sure you're not getting too tired? We could take him back and go hunting tomorrow."

"I'll be fine, okay? Besides, you could use the extra training for your dual wielding. I saw how clumsy you were with the Noctavis Bats. " She snickered as she stretched her arms.

*sigh* "Okay, but if you feel too tired, then let me know. I don't want anything happening to either of us out there."

"Oh, there's no need to get worried, Kirito. I can still kick butt if I have to. That includes yours!" She shot me a confident smile when she finished.

"Good, then let's go." I returned the smile before I looked back to the menu.

I selected option "A" and looked back to Craig. He stood still for a second after I clicked, then started on to the next part of his script.

"So it's settled, Kirito. I'm trusting you two."

"You can count on us. Lead the way."

Suddenly, Craig started sprinting back deeper into the cavern, taking several lefts, rights, and downhills until we were back where we found him. This time, we followed the skid marks down the mine shaft in search of ore veins to deplete. Random equipment was scattered in every direction: shovels, carts, pickaxes, support beams, and empty boxes. When we turned a corner into a larger room, Craig pointed to a vein and led us in that direction. We kicked aside a few boxes before letting him pound into the cave wall. After about a minute, the sound of faint footsteps started to fill the room.

"What do you think that is?" Liz asked as she looked around.

"I don't know, maybe it's another player who got lost?" I answered.

"This late at night? I'd think that if a player got lost, they'd've either teleported or called out for someone."

"I guess you're right. Then it's probably the dwellers he mentioned earlier."

"In that case, we're going to be in for a fight."

Soon enough, about a half-dozen chest-high shadows danced along the wall opposite to us, then a group of the goblin creatures began entering the room. I drew my Elucidator and waited.

Here we go, now time for some more action!

"Wait, don't jump right in, you don't know what they can do!" Lisbeth grabbed my shoulder as I leaned forward to strike.

"Well what's with you suddenly being the cautious one?"

"You said that you don't want anyone getting hurt while we're down here, right? Can't that work both ways?"

*sigh* "Right, but don't let them get too close," I responded. I drew my second blade and stood in a defensive position, waiting for the distance to close.

"Act as the forward! I'll take out anything that slips through," I heard Liz yell from behind me.

Sounds good. Just like we always would.

The Parvo Warriors were about one-and-a-half meters tall with slender gray bodies and narrow, pointed faces. Sure enough, their weapons primarily consisted of crudely-made stone daggers and swords.

I started off by using basic skills, letting my two swords hack, slash, and stab through each Parvo as he attacked. As the seconds ticked went by, more and more started appearing from different areas. Liz began fighting the elf-like creatures when they threatened to surround us, bludgeoning a gray humanoid into glass every few seconds. Eventually, I had to stop using sword skills to circumvent the cool-off period between strikes.

"Kirito, they're starting to fall through!" Liz called as she continued bashing away at the little beasts.

Stay away from them, bastards!

For the next few minutes, I continued to slash and stab at the Warriors until their sheer numbers overwhelmed us. Before long, I was dealing with as many as 12 at a time while Liz was taking on at least 5.

"Just a little bit longer! I've almost depleted the vein!" Craig called from his alcove.

Damn it, Craig, I was really hoping that you'd have a mining setting faster than "Abysmally Slow".

"We don't have that kind of time, Craig! Get what you can so we can get out of here!" Liz ordered.

"I'll make a path! You make sure he stays intact, alright?" I called. "Agh!"

One of the Parvos managed to embed their dagger into my hamstring, then disappeared in a cloud of blue polygons courtesy of Liz.

Shit! That hurt! Craig wasn't kidding about their ferocity. We have to get out of here!

While I was clearing the path, a few more goblins were able to slash me in a various parts of my body, draining my HP to about 68%. I looked at my HUD to see Liz's HP still in the high green.

Good, she's still okay.

Suddenly, a deafening roar shook the cave, knocking the three of us off balance and the Warriors off of their feet. Once they recovered, all 25 or so got up, looked around, and started scattering in several directions, ignoring me, Liz, and Craig, and running to the safety of their home.

*sigh* "Well, I'm glad that they're gone, but I'm not liking where this is going. Something had to have made that roar," Liz noted. "How are you doing?"

"Holding out fine, I guess," I answered as I started going through my inventory. "I was at about 70% earlier, but it's somewhat lower now. I think the Parvo bastards used poisons on their daggers. I'm starting to feel a little weak."

I pulled two Cure Poison and health potions from and gave one of each to Liz.

"Thanks for saving be back there, I could only imagine what they would've done if I didn't have your backup," I said while scanning the room for anomalies.

"Any time, Kirito. I'm glad that I'm able to help you..." She responded, her words getting quieter as she continued the sentence.

Not a second later, the same deafening roar echoed around the cave again, this time, much closer. A few seconds later, the ground about fifteen meters away gave away to the level beneath us. A pair of large hands with enormous claws grabbed the edge of the newly-made hole as if the creature was pulling itself up.

"Shit, that doesn't look good. Hurry up and get Craig out of here, I'll stall him until you two are out."

"What about you? When it comes to things like this, we always take on the boss together," Liz asked as she looked at the commotion in the floor.

"I'm Aincrad's beater, I'll be fine." I gave her a reassuring smile and drew the Dark Repulsor. "Besides, we only need enough time to escape. We'll probably worry about him later. Worst case scenario, I'll teleport back to Fodina, okay? Message me when you're at the entrance. I'll know when I get the notification."

"Alright. You'd better be careful, I don't want anything bad to happen."

"Will do, now go! He's already inside!"

When the creature finally finished emerging from his newly-made entrance, it looked around the cave and crouched with his fists pressed on the ground when he saw me. It was a brown, bipedal reptilian creature with a proportionately large upper body that stood about three meters tall. A large claw sat on the end of each of his ten fingers, and half-meter spikes protruded along his spine.

Vintrum the Guardian, his name read. Three health bars appeared and filled in to the right of the name plate.

"All right, let's see what he's got!" I leaned forward with the two swords pointed 45 degrees away from the ground. Off to the side, I heard what vaguely sounded like a teleport.

Dang it, Liz! If you teleport, Craig might not follow along. I hope you know what you're doing... Please stay safe...

Vintrum screamed as he threw the first strike, sending his left claws slashing through the air in my direction. Using the two blades, I blocked the hit, then activated a Double Horizontal aimed for his abdomen. To my frustration, his HP only went down about 3%.

This is gonna take a while...

After the short stagger, the mini-boss moved his other arm for a similar swipe, only much faster. Unfortunately, I couldn't get out of its way in time, so he sent me flying across the cave. I hit the wall opposite to the door way with a loud thud, dropped my swords on impact, then landed on a stack of old barrels. Vintrum screamed again, knocked some shovels and wheelbarrows aside, then started moving in my direction.

Shit, that hurt! Never mind that, I gotta keep the damn thing busy!

I got up to retrieve my blades, then went to continue fighting the monster. Before he could land a slashing attack on me, I charged and released a Double Horizontal to his hand, splitting the palm on each side of his middle finger.

The cave creature roared in anger, then turned back to me. He pounded his two fists into the cave floor, then leaned forward and roared in my face. Rows of razor-sharp teeth stuck out of his mouth as virtual saliva landed on my coat. The split appendage left him with the Bleeding status effect.

Crap, it sounds like that really hurt him. But that would make us about even, right?

"Come on, is that all you got?! I've fought tougher monsters on the first floor!" I slashed at his face, ignoring the throbbing pain in my back and shoulder, then jumped back to put distance between him and the others.

Good, now that I've got a good strike on him, fighting him might be a little easier. But I can't afford any mistakes like earlier...

The battle between me and Vintrum continued for what felt like eternity. I would go on the offensive and get a few slashes, only to be put on the defensive when he went berserk. I would go in, my dual blades glowing bright, then I'd have to retreat from his counter attack. The cat-and-mouse game went on for several exchanges before I could deal substantial damage. Slowly but surely, I wore down his first health bar and started working on his second.

With his second health bar came a new attack pattern, as always, so I eased up on the offensive and tried to see how he'd fight. When I backed away, he roared, then jumped up to the ceiling, making sure to grab two stalactites before making his landing.

Well shit, now he's gonna dual wield?

Suddenly, a faint ping rang from the message system and a small exclamation point appeared on my inbox icon. A preview of the message showed up at the top of my HUD:

Sender: Lisbeth
Subject: no subject
23:27

"Craig safe. TP to F. RV there."

'TP'? 'RV'? Right, shorthand for 'teleport' and 'rendezvous'. Thank God, I was starting to worry that I'd be here all night.

I sheathed my Dark Repulsor, then grabbed a blue crystal off of my belt clip, jumped back, then said the activating words:

"Teleport, Fodina!"

The cloud formed and took me away just before Vintrum was able to smash the stalactite over my skull.

Floor 57, Fodina Town Square
23:30

As I stepped down from the teleport gate, I looked around and saw Lisbeth sitting on a bench about ten meters away. On a moonless night, lanterns along different pathways in the city provided the only light. The streets were completely vacant and the inns were the only businesses still open at this hour. Speaking of which, I should probably reserve one before we return to the shop.

"Hey! I'm glad to see that you're all right!" Liz cheerfully called as she stood up and began walking towards me.

"Yeah, as soon as I got your message I got the hell out of there. I'm not sure how long I'd have been down there if I tried finishing him off." I replied, beginning to walk in her direction.

"Probably not much longer, knowing you. Well since it's late, we should probably hurry back to the shop."

"Yeah. What was the quest reward?" I asked as we turned back to the gate.

"Conveniently enough, the aluminum-bauxite ore that we needed. We can smelt the bauxite out and make the steel back at the shop in the morning."

"That's good," we stepped on the teleport gate, "I guess it was a good idea to let him keep mining."

"Right. But I'm not going into that cave again."

"Don't worry, I won't make you. Teleport, Lindas!"

After we arrived in the city, we made the fifteen-minute trek to the Outer Steppes, the section home to Lisbeth's shop. Since it was close to midnight, the only light in the Steppes came from the door and windows of the storefront. Normally, she would have had the shop dark and closed at 2200, so it was odd seeing the radiating light. Once we got inside, we found the NPC clerk left the lanterns burning and was seated behind the counter, his feet propped up opposite to the cash register, hands folded on his chest, and the Weekly Argo open over his face.

I swear to God, that NPC! Why didn't he close the shop?! As if those damn GMs haven't had their fun with us already.

"You okay? You look frustrated," Liz asked.

"I'm fine, I guess I'm just worn out..."

"All right then. Ready to call it a night?"

"Yeah. So... umm... I should probably look around for an inn for tonight," I said wearily, scratching my head. She yawned as we walked over to the back room.

"Don't worry about it, you could spend the night here if you want," she offered, almost nervously.

"Are you sure? I mean it's not a big deal; there are plenty in the center of town."

"I-I'm sure. Besides, that just means we could continue the project sooner!"

I guess she wants me to stay the night... Oh, why not? She's trying to be nice and save me some trouble, so I'll accept and return the favor in the immediate future.

"You know, I think you're right. Where would I stay? And where do we go?"

"That door I told you to avoid last week leads to my living area upstairs. It covers about the area of the first floor."

I followed her over to the small staircase opposite to the entrance, let her unlock the door, then started up the narrow staircase.

"So what, is it one large room, several rooms?"

"If you let me get to that," we walked around the first landing, "I have a pull-out sofa in the living room that you can stay on, if you like."

"That'll work," I said wearily as we went up the final step. Lisbeth unlocked the door, pushed it open, and led me inside her living space.

The white walls were adorned with floral paintings and lanterns, contrasting greatly with the dark hardwood flooring. The living room furniture consisted of a three-seated sofa, a two-person love seat, and a single sofa resembling an American Lay-Z Boy, all a dark green. The three-seater was against the wall to the right with a small night stand on the far end. The two-seater and Lay-Z Boy were on the opposite side next to each other, and a rectangular glass coffee table sat in the middle of the living room with a white ovular rug beneath it.

At the end of the room behind an arch resided her dining room. A four-person wooden dining room set sat next to a window that provided a clear view of Floor 48's grassy fields with Lindas just beyond them. A small doorway on the left led to what looked like a small kitchen equipped with a basic oven and storage compartments, while the hall to the right of the dining room possibly led to whatever bedrooms and storage areas.

"Nice place you've got. Almost makes me wish I had one."

We opened our menus and removed our battle gear, leaving me in my t-shirt and pants and her in her usual dress and leggings.

"Thanks. But if you don't have a place, then where do you stay at night?" Liz asked.

"Usually I'll rent inns for a week or two at a time close to the front lines so I'm never far from the action, but I'm starting to get tired of storing all my extra stuff in a night stand only to return it to my inventory. The carrying capacity does wear on you after a while."

"That bites. Hey, well whenever you want to, I wouldn't mind having y- I mean helping you.. uh.. find your own place!" She quickly looked away and continued scrolling through her Apparel tab. From her dress, she changed into an ivory button-up night shirt with matching pants.

Well what was she about to offer? Haha, just Liz being her kind self... Let's see how she responds to this.

"I appreciate your offer, Liz," I responded playfully, "And once that happens, I'd be glad to have you ov- I mean... help you over here with whatever new weapon orders and material hunting."

"I'll be glad to take you up on that offer," She answered without flinching, almost as though she saw through my challenge. "Hey, so are you going to find something comfortable or are you gonna sleep in that?" She gestured to my outfit.

"Oh, that's right," I looked down at what I was wearing and reopened my menu. A quick search through my apparel later, I was changed into my night clothes: a dark gray shirt with black pajama pants. "So which one pulls out?"

"The two-seater." She waved me over to the left and started moving things around.

A minute or so later, I was lying down on the pull-out bed under a spare blanket and Lisbeth began heading to her room. Before she disappeared into the hallway, she stopped and leaned against the corner.

"Let me know if you need anything, okay?" She pointed her thumb over her shoulder. "My room is the second door on the right."

"I'll remember that. Thanks a lot, Liz. Good night!"

"Good night, Kirito," she called before the turned out the lights and went to her room.

It's kind of funny... all the things we've done and been through recently and I'm just on a pull-out in her living room.

I snickered to myself, then let my fatigue take me into a dreamless sleep.

"Kirito..." I heard a faint voice call.

No.. Not this nightmare again... I thought I moved past those days...

My heart beat began to skyrocket as I slowly became alert.

"Kirito..." The same voice sounded slightly closer.

Despite my drowsiness, I was able to open my eyes and pick up my head to scan the room. Standing about a half meter away from the mattress was Liz, who had a concerned look on her face.

"Hey, I'm sorry to wake you up so late," She started, "But there's something I wanted to talk about. It's kept me up all night."

There was a slight buzzing in my head, possibly from fatigue, and my vision was still blurry, but I responded with whatever energy I could muster.

"It's okay," I yawned, "I didn't have many plans for tomorrow anyway. So what's wrong?" Finally, my heart rate slowed down to normal.

I stretched to try and wake up, then checked the time on my HUD.

03:06
18 July 2024

"Well, it's nothing wrong with me, it's a question I had for you..." She continued.

"For me? What's wrong with me?"

"Well, it's about the way you were before we ran into the cave... Is it okay if I sit down?" She asked as she stepped closer to the mattress.

"Sure," I scooted over, rubbed the sleep from my eyes, then sat up in a cross-legged position. "What about how I was?"

She sat down next to me before she answered.

"I don't know how to ask, so I guess I'll be straight with it... Why did you get upset when I suggested you join a guild?"

Oh crap...

"I know you were shaken up when you thought about it, but you also promised to tell me when we came back... Did something happen in one you might have joined in the past?"

Well, she is right.. I did say I'd tell her back at the shop. I'm almost surprised she remembered, given how drained we were coming in. I guess she really wanted to know about the Black Cats.

The same pain from under the tree came crashing back to me, and any weariness that remained quickly left my body.

*sigh* "And I don't really know how to explain it; it's a long story... Just.. please bear with me."

Come on, Kazuto, she gave you a reason to live in this world that went beyond the fear of dying. The past few weeks with her have been some of the best in Aincrad. If anything, an explanation is long overdue..

"Are you okay with questions?" She asked.

"I suppose.. just be careful with your wording.."

She nodded, signaling for me to start.

"A long time ago, I was in a guild," I started, staring at the floor as I spoke. "The quintet called themselves the Black Cats of the Full Moon, and the members had all been friends IRL who jumped into the game together. Their in-game names were Keita, Sasamaru, Tetsuo, Ducker, and Sachi. I ran into them while material hunting on a lower floor. I had just about reached my goal in the dungeon when I heard the commotion. When I found them, they were mostly surrounded by the dungeon's signature mobs and were obviously struggling to hold their ground. I got them out of the mess, and so they invited me to dinner. At the tavern, they invited me to join their guild, and after a bit of consideration, I lied about my level and accepted. At the time, I was around level 40 while their strongest was in the low-20s."

"Wait a minute, if you were way above their level, why did you join?" Lisbeth asked, her disheveled pink locks falling onto her forehead when she tilted her head.

"I guess.. I wanted to be a part of something good. They were more than real-life friends and guild mates. They were close-knit, and about as close to each other as family members. Me, having been a solo player for over six months, wanted to have the companionship - the camaraderie that they had. On top of their closeness, I saw a lot of potential for them waiting to be tapped into. The leader, Keita, wanted nothing more than to have his friends join the clearing team to escape this damn game. Pair that with the potential, and you get a group that could completely change the egocentric, narcissistic tone of the Assault team."

*sigh* "So for weeks, I trained with them, helping each one get stronger and stronger. They were probably a few levels away from the minimum requirement. Then one day Sachi ran off, putting the guild in near-panic mode. I quickly found her hidden under a bridge, and there she confessed her fear of dying in-game. I told her that I'd protect h-her," a lump started forming in my throat, making it difficult for me to continue," and th-that everyone would make it out of the game. B-but th-that's when things started falling apart," I felt the tears start to form in my eyes. Lisbeth leaned forward and wrapped and arm around me, pulling my head into her shoulder.

"Almost a week went by before we finally made enough money for a house. Up until then, the White Castle Inn in Taft was our headquarters. After a short meeting, Keita left to the Town of Beginnings to make the purchase, leaving us with little to do. To avoid living in an empty house, one of the members suggested hunting on Floor 27, five floors below the front lines at the time, to make more money faster for furniture. The God-forsaken place was full of traps that even clearers died from. But because they didn't know that, everyone but me jumped on the idea. I couldn't convince them to pick another dungeon without revealing my level, so I decided to fight extra hard whenever tougher monsters came out." I lifted my head slightly before I continued and saw dark stains on Lisbeth's shoulder.

"We hunted without incident, and when we made enough, we started making our way out of the dungeon. Shortly before we found the exit, Ducker, our treasure hunter, spotted a hidden room, opened it, then ran inside. As soon as I saw what he found, I realized what it was and tried to warn them about the dangers, but they were all inside by then. The trap activated and dozens of mobs spawned in and started taking down the Cats one by one. None of them stood a chance in the room."

I swallowed a lump in my throat to compose myself as the flashbacks started.

"Ducker fell first. Then Tetsuo. Then Sasamaru. Then Sachi. All of them died in front of me, all of them trusting me to get them out of there. All of them died because I was too careless to tell them the truth."

Damn it, Kirito! Not in front of her! All she wanted was to hear an explanation, not conduct a fucking counseling session!

"K-Kirito.. you can't blame yourself for what happened," Liz started, obviously shaken by the story, "You did-"

"That's not it!" I interrupted. At that point, my crying got worse and I ended up falling back on the bed. Liz, who had been holding me up the whole time, came down and started lying on my right side, returning my head to her left shoulder.

Great, now she's trying to calm me down. Why couldn't she just leave me to help myself like when we were outside the cave? Why is she trying to make me feel better? I go people who trusted me killed! How do I know the same thing won't happen to her? Just finish the damn story...

"I-I eventually found my way back to the first floor where Keita was waiting for the rest of us. When I told him what had happened, he got angry with me, blaming me for their deaths and wishing I'd never joined. Instead of beating on me like I expected for him to do, he climbed on the ledge of the bridge we were on and jumped off.

Ever since then, I played solo, avoiding guilds and refraining from making friends. I don't want to get anyone else killed.

I still have the house, too. Before Keita died, he put copies of the key in the guild inventory so everyone could come and go as they pleased. When everyone died, I was made guild leader, and so before I dissolved the guild, I got my copy and put everyone's items in a storage warehouse. I've visited the house only once in the last year or so, but I couldn't bring myself to go inside," I finally finished, suddenly starting to shiver despite the warmth next to me.

Before long, I heard sniffling coming from the one who'd been comforting me.

"A-are you okay, L-liz?" I wiped away the tears that I could after I picked my head up, then hugged her both in gratitude and to get an idea of why she would be crying.

She returned the hug, then started explaining.

"I'm sorry. I know you went through something that bad... Now I've gone and made you break down because I wanted to know something about your past.. What a selfish thing to do.. I'm sorry.."

Now it was my shirt that was gathering tear stains.

"But still... You can't blame yourself for something like that happening. Even if you feel like that wasn't enough, there wasn't much more you could have done." She wiped her tears and sniffled.

"I... I just wish I could have done more. I wish I could have kept my promise to her. To the others..."

Thankfully, I was able to stop the tears at this point, but the pain in my chest persisted. I tightened my grip on Liz, hoping that somehow it would help ease the pain.

"I know it hurts, Kirito. But you can't keep blaming yourself for it. All that'll do is hurt you even more. Again, I'm sorry for bringing this up... I didn't know what I was digging into." She wiped her eyes one more time, then started stroking the back of my head to finish calming me down.

"Don't worry about it, Lisbeth... I was going to tell you eventually. I... I just didn't expect for it to be so... messy." I responded, wondering when the system was going to dispose of the tears and mucus on our shirts.

"Okay, Kirito. If there's ever a time you want to talk about something, don't hesitate to tell me about it. One of the easiest ways to cope with your feelings is to talk to somebody about them. That way they don't build up and release all at once," She offered, yawning almost immediately after she finished speaking.

Yeah, like now...

"Thanks a lot, Lisbeth... In that case, can we talk more about it in the morning? Maybe over breakfast or something.?"

Lisbeth smiled sincerely and nodded, then started stroking my head again.

"Any place you'd like."

"Thank you... I think I do feel a little better... I've never had anyone to talk to about it. Any time I felt like exploding, I'd take it out on the front lines."

"Well, now there's somebody for you to vent to, at any time any day," she pulled away for a second and smiled, then gave a longer yawn than before.

"Is somebody tired?" I asked, scooting back to give her room on the mattress.

"Yes..." *yawn* "Well, did you want some time to yourself, or did you want some company for tonight.?"

Well, she's already here... and this is more comfortable than the time we went down the dragon's nest... Just for tonight...

"Umm.. can you.. uh.. stay here.? I really don't want to be alone right now," I answered, sounding more needy than I intended to.

"I'd be glad to, Kirito. I just have one more question for you.."

"And that is?"

"How do I put this... can you scoot over? How do you expect for me to sleep here if I'm falling off the edge!" She sat up and turned back to me before nudging my shoulder. On her face was a hint of a smile, barely visible in the light spilling in from the window.

"If you say so, crazy one." I fulfilled her request and left just over half of the pull-out mattress for her to lie down. She lifted the small blanket, climbed inside, and rested her head on the other half of the rectangular pillow. We stayed there for a long while facing each other, not saying a word after the roller-coaster ride of the last few minutes. Due to the small area, we were hardly more than a few centimeters from each other. I readjusted myself so that my left arm was on my half of the blanket and my right arm was bent under the pillow. One last time, I looked at Liz, checking for any signs of discomfort while she closed her eyes to sleep. While searching, I couldn't help but feel an incredible admiration for her patience and compassion. Beyond the avatar is somebody I've grown to trust with my deeper secrets and, when the situation presents itself, my life. Here she is sneaking her way into the softer side of me that I've fearfully kept locked away... yet... I have a hard time wanting to keep her out...

Thanks a lot, Liz. I think I really needed that... Finally, time to get some sleep...

*sigh* "I do love you, Kirito," Lisbeth said with the slightest whisper as she inched closer.

Ha, almost like the time she thought I was asleep in the nest... I know... Trust me, Liz, I know...

Just before everything went dark again, I felt what seemed like a small, warm smile spread across my lips. As to whether those lips were mine or not, I didn't know... Nor did I honestly care. Regardless of who they belonged to, I couldn't help but think that this wouldn't be the last time I feel peace in the presence of the blacksmith next to me.

Author's Note: Thanks again to furrballnerd and AllyKat82 for their help, it would've been a heck of a lot longer without them. I hope you guys enjoy reading the story, I'm having a blast writing it. I'm not entirely sure when Kirito got his house in Algade, so for plot convenience, I left him without it for now.

Don't forget to follow, favorite, and leave a review! It really lifts my spirits to see people responding to my work, probably because it reminds me that I'm doing more than killing time for me and readers alike. You guys really are awesome!

Until next time, ObscureAuthorBrendan out!