Stepping through the bushes, I slashed at a «Starved Blue Wolf». It was pure luck that I'd seen it scavenging through the foliage for food, with its twitching nose and razor-sharp teeth presented to the world.

The title of the monster was unusual, but it gave us a gist of why it was erratic in its vicious attacks. «Starvation» seemed to have pushed the wolf into desperation for food. I shuddered, wondering just how we'd managed to sneak up on the frenzied beast.

Kirito followed up my critical attack with a sword skill, and the wolf let out a loud yelp. We descended upon it, not giving it a chance to recover. Soon, the wolf dispersed into tiny lights and I grinned wide enough for Kirito to see through the disappearing fragments.

His nod of encouragement did nothing to veil his worry, though, and my expression dropped into a more serious one. Right. Not the time for silly grins. We were here on a quest to find the person making the cure for the innkeeper's sick wife.

"Wolves come in packs," Kirito said, barely a whisper as he scanned the area with sharp eyes, only intended for my ears to hear. I frowned.

"I don't see any other monster." I adjusted the sword on my back, scuffing the ground with the toe of my protective boots. "A scout maybe? It had «Starvation»."

"We can't know for sure. Be careful," Kirito replied with a shake of his head. With no words, we stalked through the darkness. It was a long walk, especially because I was trying to raise my «Hiding» skill at a suggestion from the boy.

The measly lights on the bottom of the second floor barely illuminated our way, and my mirthful mood had completely vanished when Kirito grabbed my arm and hid inside a nearby bush. It did a good job in obscuring us from view.

He put a finger to his lips. I nodded in understanding and sought the object he was pointing towards. It didn't take me too long to see the pack of «Starved Dire Wolves» sniffing and growling. They were vicious in their snarls, drool falling from the side of their open mouths.

As if it would fully hide me if a monster got near enough to notice our scent, I lowered myself further. A hand hovered above my sword, ready to pull it out.

"They don't know we're here," he whispered while pointing at the map the NPC had given us. "We can either attack or wait for them to leave. Our destination is the cave behind them."

There was at least six in the pack, searching for something, and I sure hoped they didn't have humans on their menu today.

"Too many," I replied with a shake of my head. "We can go around them and see if there's another opening?"

"We have to be very careful."

Kirito took the lead. I wordlessly trailed after him, monitoring the wolves as they nipped at each other, their barks raising my hackles and making me tense my entire body in readiness. My entire focus was on staying as silent as possible, taking measured steps across the trees.

I'd wanted an excuse to use «Hiding» again and level it up. It wouldn't have been a skill if it didn't have a purpose in Kayaba Akihiko's grand scheme of things. As of now, though, it was useless against monsters who relied on their noises.

Kirito rubbed the back of his neck in a habit that I noticed to be a nervous tick, face grim and lips pursed. Without being prompted to do so, I raised myself away from the bushes enough to see the «Fatigued Frenzy Boars» that infested the other side of the «Starved Dire Wolves». I bit into my lower lip as I sank down, my back scraping against the tree trunk.

"They're surrounding the entrance from all directions… How are we going to finish this quest?" I said in utter defeat.

Logically, if we were to attack the boars, then the wolves would hear the fight and join in. I didn't even want to think about attacking the wolves – Their teeth and long claws weren't inviting even in their weakened state.

If we could somehow lure them one at a time, then we could win. But that'd also be near impossible to do thanks to the locations of the wolves and boars.

I'd rather fight «Little Nepenthes» than go up against all of these at once.

"Let's try the back. We're bound to find something," Kirito said, and I scrambled back to my feet when he took off, weaving through the forest.

I couldn't help but scrunch my nose in distaste and mutter, "Next thing we know, we'll be finding bears on the other side."

The moment I said that, the roar of a bear reached our ears.

The name, «Murderous Moon Bear» was the most uninviting thing I'd ever had the displeasure of reading. Both of the monster's names were almost black by how dark they were. The grave situation left Kirito visibly unamused at the way I'd just jinxed us.

One of them used a tree as a scratching post, pitch black claws damaging the mossy bark. It was red with a white circle on its front fur. The other one, white with a red circle instead, dragged its back against the other tree with a yawn that was big enough to give us an eyeful of its teeth – They were as big as my hand, if not bigger.

Kirito physically dragged me to safety since my knees locked and I couldn't move an inch. His touch made me aware of my shaking body, my limbs not responding even when I willed them to stop their involuntary reaction. I hugged myself, crouching down, making myself as tiny as possible. I could almost hear my heart beating in my ears.

Those two bears could shred us like nothing, snuffing our lives out with a swipe of their glinting claws.

"Heishi."

Was I having a panic-attack?

"Look at me," Kirito ordered, and I attempted to meet his stare. "We can drop the quest if it's too much."

I inhaled deeply, shaking my head. While the action was unnecessary in this world, it still brought a sense of calmness and control over myself. I had to get used to mobs similar to mobs like this even through the numbing fear. If I turned my back away from them now, I didn't think I could face them later. I'd just end up cowering again.

"No," I said aloud, as firmly as I could, both to Kirito and that thought.

Look at the facts.

Games were made so they could be beaten. There was always a formula of sorts, just like cooking. It required ingredients, effort, and patience. I just had to gather myself so Kirito and I could make something out of this seemingly impossible mission.

"There's – There's obviously a puzzle here we need to crack so we can advance."

I didn't know if Kirito's nod was for my sake or if he truly believed there was another route. The way he pinched his chin and frowned in thought made me hopeful, though.

The twin bears huffed at each other, growling and pawing the grass. Kirito drew back, as if that'd allow him to see the bigger picture. Time seemed to pass slowly while I occupied myself by recalling the three types of mobs we'd encountered so far, mentally trying to guess their weaknesses and strengths.

Fatigued boars, obviously weak from the status effect. Starved wolves, unpredictable in their search for food, and murderous bears – The most intimidating and the ones I least wanted to fight. I wished someone else could butt in and fight them for us. Someone strong, preferably.

A tiny rock bumped my bare thigh – My skirt had ridden up, but I didn't move to fix it. My eyes didn't move away from the same rocks that littered the ground. Kirito kicked at another one, and it barely made any sound as it rolled towards me.

Everything seemed to click in place, and we both scrambled to reach the rock at the same moment. Our hands brushed, fingers almost getting tangled, and I grabbed another rock without acknowledging that ever happened.

"We make them fight," Kirito said in newfound determination. His tone infected me, seeping into my bones and giving me enough strength to raise to my feet with only a slight wobble.

"It's like rock paper scissors!" I agreed, tracing the rock's cool texture with my thumb.

"I don't know if this will work. But we have to try. Let them attack each other." He nodded with an easy smile, the tension slipping away. The bears growled and I let my arm drop back to my side.

"If this doesn't work..." I muttered, my face falling at the reminder of their existence.

Kirito pinched the bridge of his nose,

"We can outrun them." The probably was left unsaid, yet crystal clear. "We'll go into the cave while they're distracted."

"We can do this," I said with a shaky tone.

Kirito rested a hand over the hilt of his sword, and I found repeating the motion brought an imitation of courage. If I tried hard enough, I could believe our words and move forward.

"We can," he confirmed.

We gathered a few more rocks and tip-toed back to the «Fatigued Frenzy Boars». The plan was simple – lure them towards the wolves and then bring the bears to deal with both monsters. That way, we'd have made it possible to run to the cave while they were attacking each other. We could do that even if they found us out.

It seemed easy in theory, but anything and everything could go wrong.

"Does the cave look like a dungeon to you?" I motioned to the entrance with my head when we passed the wolves towards the boars on the left side of the clearing. Kirito didn't look at me when he answered.

"It was empty in the Closed Beta. The players made fun of the developers since it looked like they had forgotten to use it." He went behind a tree and I easily slipped beside him.

"He must have been… waiting…"

We were about to start our plan even as I was speaking, but the world abruptly swayed. Left, right. I didn't know what was up and what was down for a second, and I had to put a palm over my head when everything became fuzzy and incomprehensible. I vaguely heard Kirito calling for me as my knees thudded against the mossy dirt.

Inhaling deeply, I steadied myself using Kirito's shoulder, confusion and panic seizing me even when I forced myself to stay conscious of my surroundings. Everything around me whizzed, colours and noises blurring together as I lost function over my body.

Kirito's arms stopped me from painfully crashing to the ground. My head was limp on his shoulder. I was sure he was speaking, but his words weren't registering. My ears rang, and everything spun to the point of making me believe the entire world was quaking.

I could barely feel Kirito when he shook me. I tried telling him I was still awake, but no voice left my throat. Cool fingers pressed against my forehead and I startled; couldn't do anything but lay in his arms as he checked me over. I fought the lethargy with all my might.

Even then, my eyes closed in defiance.

Voices filled the surrounding space. I couldn't comprehend what they were saying no matter how much I tried to focus on them. For some time, I only heard them echo around me. Most of them I couldn't recognise, but after a while I heard the distinct voices of my family conversing with some people I didn't know. At the exact same time, I could hear Kirito's shouts, and the slashes of a sword followed by the growls of monsters.

This space I was in made little sense. I couldn't pin-point the location of the various voices as they mended into one another, leaving me confusedly trying to grasp at both. It was like I had two bodies working, with two minds feeling and listening to both the real and virtual world. I could feel myself lying down on a bed, yet I knew I was being carried on Kirito's shoulder.

But my body wasn't responding to any command I gave it. I didn't know how long I'd stayed in the void between the two worlds, how long it took to feel the pinprick of sensation in the tips of my fingers.

With a jolt and a loud gasp when the other voices finally vanished into the surrounding darkness, I bolted upright. The glare of light that forced me to shield my eyes was a clear sign that I'd been unconscious long enough for the sun to come out.

The fog and the blur of my thoughts took their sweet time to clear up. I squinted in confusion. Various coloured rocks and stones filled the place and I faintly realised I was now in the cave, somehow. The light was coming from some kind of hole at the top.

The sensation beneath my palm wasn't cold and unforgivingly hard, though, and I looked down, sluggish and weak. I was on some kind of cot and there was a fur blanket that covered my legs down to my toes. I took a fistful of the fur and spent some time studying it, not understanding my situation. I only stopped when black hair filled my vision.

"Heishi?" Kirito said, but his words didn't quite align with the way his mouth moved. Lagging, was the term I distantly recalled. But it didn't feel right. Something had clearly happened.

He took full notice of my wince and lowered the volume of his voice, probably thinking that was what brought my sudden discomfort.

"How do you feel...?"

The hesitant touch on my shoulder grounded me, and I was finally capable of enough self control to use actual words and I replied with a simple word,

"Terrible."

I didn't know he could look even more worried, but he proved me wrong when the corners of his eyes tightened and his lower lip caught between his teeth. I tried to smile at him when he offered a helping hand.

Somehow balancing my whole weight on my shaky legs, I took a step forward but ended up tripping in an instant. I braced myself for impact but Kirito was ready to stop me, perhaps expecting my fall. Perhaps I shouldn't push myself when I was still disjointed by the surreal experience that was having two bodies at once.

"That shouldn't have happened," he said, his gaze darting in search for answers. "Do you remember anything?"

Do I? The void was too much for me to make heads or tails from. Everything was a little tangled up, the starting point to figuring out what had happened to me was nowhere in sight. In front of me, though, was a goal and a very damp cave.

So I shook my head, hoping he'd drop the subject. I couldn't answer that question when I didn't know what had happened.

"How did we get here? Was the plan successful?" I suddenly said with a heavy frown, remembering the sound of growling. He scratched his cheek with a wince, allowing the change of subject.

"I had to carry you. And… Well, let's say the plan half worked. It's been a day and the bears haven't gotten bored yet. They're waiting outside."

"A whole day and… We're stuck?" I pinched the bridge of my nose with a visible grimace, trying to hide my shock. Still, I was thankful for his bluntness. "Is there any chance we could overwhelm them?"

"I wouldn't risk it. Their levels are too high," Kirito said while shaking his head.

The fear crawling up my spine was the reason I stopped walking. But I darted my gaze around, trying to latch onto something before I fell into panic.

The carts and boxes scattered in the cave were a good distraction. They were broken and most likely empty. But it was still too soon to decide if that was a good or a bad thing.

A strong gust of wind ruffled my hair, halting my thoughts. It came from a hole deeper in the cave.

"Did you feel that?"

Kirito nodded. "There's an entrance over there. But I haven't inspected it yet, just in case something happened to you."

"Ah, I… Thank you." I said, cheeks flaring up. He really was a good guy, wasn't he? He didn't fall for his curiosity and left me vulnerable in a new environment and stood guard instead while I was passed out.

Upon a closer look, it turned out the open hole had a gate once upon a time. It was beyond repair now, and only scratched beams of wood held up the stones, giving off the impression that this place was really behind on maintenance.

Even when Kirito naturally took the lead, I found my hand resting on the pommel of my sword. It didn't help with my reaction time, though, and I covered my head with a small squeak, closing my eyes and freezing in place when a swarm of bats awakened when we stepped through the hole. I could feel the flutter of their wings brush against my forearms and I curled tighter into myself.

"Here," Kirito said and I cracked open a teary eye despite the shaking of my body.

He was offering his hand. I was really eternally grateful for him, but despite the comfort that it'd have brought, I reached out and pinched the edge of his sleeve instead. We were still practically strangers, even after saving each other's lives.

"Thank you," I gulped down my nerves, forcing the words out to make Kirito understand. "... Just a little shaken from –" I gestured at nothing with a finger. "– you know."

"It's fine. It's just..." he said while scratching his cheek, awkwardly looking away, pale cheeks a little red.

I stared at the narrow road ahead to avoid the awkward air. It looked long, with barely any lights the whole way through. My hand shot out to the damp and mossy wall, becoming fascinated by the changing textures. When I lost my balance, I focused on Kirito's feet so I could step where he was, avoiding the small stones that kept rolling beneath my shoes.

At the first hint of grass peeking between the stony ground, I stood on the tips of my toes to see the exit above Kirito's shoulders. It was narrow and wouldn't fit both of us at the same time. That forced him to let go so he could duck and pass through. When I bent down to follow, I realised that this was the reason the entrance had those broken boxes.

The moment we emerged was when I briefly wondered if Kirito and I had somehow stumbled into the Twilight Zone. It was nothing like the stony passage and dripping walls.

A large lake was in the middle, a falling waterfall was coming down from a hole in the ceiling, while overgrown plants and trees filled the ground around it. Sunlight snuck into the cavern, but the main source of glow was the luminescent mushrooms sticking out of the stony walls.

Startled by the strange scenery, I could only gap, jaw slackening at its surreal beauty, my soul soothed just by looking at it.

"It's breathtaking!" I gushed, crouching down to touch a patch of flowers. The softness of the petals was a stark contrast to the rocks.

"I wonder where Grigard is, though." Kirito hummed, eyes darting around in search of said NPC.

At the reminder of the quest, I ducked my head, which caused my shoulder-length hair to fall forward and expose the back of my neck. Just then, a breeze came from the narrow passage. It tickled my skin and was refreshing, but…

"Is there something on my neck?"

There was a weird weight pushing my head down that I didn't fully notice until now. The more I focused on it, the weirder the feeling got. I reached back and traced the tips of my fingers over the skin, then slid my hand further down and came into contact with a weird texture. It was smooth in some parts and jagged in others, and I pressed down on it to get a more accurate image of what was sticking out of my skin.

Something nicked my finger at the same time Kirito came close enough to take a proper look. He jumped towards me in an instant as I stared at the injury on my skin. It wasn't bleeding; the wound was shining as if my body was made of light. It was made of only zeroes and ones.

Kirito's hands hovered right above my neck and I shied away from him. He looked like he wanted to push me further down so he could inspect it. I tried maintaining my position, and I soon felt the pressure of a finger on my skin.

"Crystals?" he muttered, voice choked as he traced a line down, "Just like the wife…"

My head snapped towards him, horror paralysing my whole being. As if stricken by an idea, Kirito's eyes trailed to the upper-left corner of his vision. He let out a breath of air, shaky and worried, and I realised he must be looking at my status effects on the visionary screen.

The fear was loud and clear when I saw the purple debuff «Crystallisation» under my health bar. I whimpered, both hands hiding behind them an open-mouth.

It was eating away at my life points.

"What…?"

Don't panic. Think. Think.

This wasn't because I'd passed out. I'd heard the voices in the hospital – I was sure of it. Kayaba Akihiko said we would be transported to hospitals, I suddenly recalled. So this must have happened during the time I was unconscious, not because of it.

My eyes flew to Kirito's name and I jumped at him when I saw the grey in his bar. The same as mine, but smaller, less noticeable.

I quickly pushed him down even when he made a sound of protest. The same sight I'd seen on the wife's arm greeted me when I peeled down the collar of his blue shirt.

Crystals, jagged and unforgiving, were growing like a fungi right under my watchful stare. I could see it multiplying, a drop of liquid materialising and then hardening into a blue-ish mineral.

Cold terror washed over me, a heavy rock hitting the bottom of my stomach.

"You can let go now," Kirito said, shyly, his HP turning grey at a snail's pace.

His voice barely brought me back to reality, and I whipped my head around in a desperate search for the NPC. We needed to finish the quest now. But he wasn't anywhere in sight.

Broken tables, worn-out books, scattered boxes. Nothing showed that anyone was currently living here. Dread threatened to make me buckle under my weight, but I pushed myself forward. Until – There, next to a huge rock, and on a bed overgrown with plants was Grigard.

Nothing was going our way, though. That was the hard truth.

"No…" I muttered, not caring when my hands were glowing red from the multiple cuts Grigard's crystallised form was causing.

"He's… dead," Kirito said as he came closer.

"Maybe it's not him." Yeah. That must be it. We didn't know what Grigard looked like, so why should we assume it's him? Kirito frown deepened.

"Look – He's pointing at something," he said, not waiting for me before jogging to a nearby box.

He rampaged around it before finding torn papers. His eyes moved up and down, reading over the written words. I peered over Kirito's shoulder, doing a quick scan as well.

"It's… his will."

The disease took him before he could find the cure, it said… But, he'd been on the right track because he'd pushed the disease back until he just couldn't. All of his attempts at successfully keeping the debuff at bay failed. He was missing an ingredient.

Kirito peered down the box again. "Wait. There are still things on the bottom… «High Quality Potions» and «Alchemist's Diary»?"

"I can't believe this…" I said while resisting the urge to rub my temples. "At least we now have potions."

"This seems to be an Investigation quest. It'll be a matter of time before the debuff develops further." Kirito sighed. My heart sank further, and he quickly tried peddling back. "But it doesn't mean it's impossible to complete. We'll finish before anything bad happens!"

You're definitely not making this any better, I wanted to snap. Kirito didn't deserve my anger, though. He had done nothing wrong, so I refrained from showing it beyond digging my nails into my palms.

I pursed my lips, going over some papers that had fallen on the ground. They were observations, nothing more.

"The reason Grigard had failed is because of the bears outside," Kirito said, pointing at a passage in the bound notebook.

"They looked..." I shuddered. Kirito's wince was clear enough that he thought the same. Those things were tanks. Deadly and could squish us like bugs. Using just 'strong' just didn't cut it.

"Strong or not, we need their claws. The poison they secrete can dissolve anything, including the crystals." He waved the notebook, but the grimace on his face didn't disappear. "That's the theory, at least. Knowing this is a quest, I'd like to think it's going to work."

I frowned. "Can't we use any other…"

Thud.

Right before my eyes, Kirito fell down on one knee. Items slipped slipped out of his fingers, and his eyes lost their focus. He looked confused, and knowing the signs on a personal level, I leapt towards him before he could slide to the ground, arms wrapping around his shoulders.

"Kirito," I breathed in rising fear. "Please tell me this isn't happening again."

His cheek was on my shoulder, body limp against me. He blinked twice in sheer stubbornness, mouth trying to form words, before his eyes finally closed.

Shit, shit!

My fingers dug into his clothes, teeth grinding against each other. I shook all over while blankly staring at Kirito's slack face. Crystals were slowly forming across his forehead, but I knew the debuff wasn't the reason for his sudden unconsciousness.

He was most likely being transported. His family must've found him lying motionless, not responding to their calls for hours. Or they could've seen the news and ran to him in terror, only to realise they couldn't do anything but take him to a hospital.

While I didn't want to leave his side – waking up from that had been terrifying – I couldn't sit still until then. Who knew when the debuff would engulf one of us like it did to Grigard?

"The… The map!" I remembered seeing one between the scattered notes. I lifted Kirito up, surprised I could do it so with ease. I wouldn't have dreamt of carrying a person like this in the real world.

In the end, that epiphany didn't matter. I sat him against the bed, apologising for not finding a more comfortable place for him to sleep on like he did to me. The greater potions were pocketed into my quick inventory. Hopefully I wouldn't need to use them.

It didn't take too long to find the map, and I paced in circles whilst trying to read it. I couldn't make sense of the lines, so in the end I figured it was best to align it with where I was standing.

The waterfall stood out the most on the map. It was coloured, along with the lake, and I realised Grigard had been pointing at it, and not at the box. I stood beside his outstretched hand and began walking there. Rocks littered the ground around the lake, and I took hurried but careful steps. The closer I got, the louder the falling water became.

I wasn't going to find out how swimming worked in SAO without someone to help if things went wrong.

Behind huge boulders, that were surrounding the waterfall, was a wooden ladder. I let the map disappear back to the inventory and climbed up as fast as I could. It didn't take me too long to find out why this ladder was here.

A path, leading straight towards the water. Light was shining through the end of the path, even through the water. Droplets splashed against me as I stood before it, and I glanced at Kirito, hardening my resolve.

There was no going back. I had to do this.

11