A/N: *Gasp* An Update already?! Yeah. It's my "day after my birthday" present to you lot. Enjoy!

The dull sound of boots tapping back and forth echoed throughout the shop floor, accompanied by the muffled sound of frantic talking and sobs. The tea kettle let out a screech of steam and my hands quickly pulled the hissing pot off from the fire of my forge. Despite not having been hurt, despite having complete safe in the city limits, my nervous shaky hands still managed to spill hot water onto the counter. Nonetheless, enough of the hot liquid made it into the cups I was aiming for. Summoning up my inventory I placed some sweet green tea bags into each of the cups and took a moment to compose myself.

It was nearly three in the morning and every limb of my body was demanding sleep. Every joint ached with a longing desire to just rest on something, anything remotely soft. But my mind was the complete opposite. Once as sleepy as my limbs, it was now racing a million times a second. Fear, trepidation, and utter terror pounded through my veins. Tonight had been the first time I had ever seen an orange diamond, never mind facing a duo head on. The protection of the city limits had driven the criminals off but the glare, the anger that they held in their eyes had only just begun to sink in. There was no doubting it, I was probably a target now. A target for them to hunt, to scare, to threaten.

My hands gripped the tray tightly. As tightly as I could, given the volley of emotions coursing through my veins. I worked up the courage to move and soon I found myself in the presence of a broken man, and a courageous knight.

"They…they fooled us all…a surprise attack…when we—" The man broke down sobbing once more. In front of him the source of the dull boots knelt before him. Quivering slightly, I placed the tray on one of my weapon racks and handed a cup to the weeping man hunched over a seat.

"Here, drink this, it will help ease your nerves…" The broken husk of a man gazed up at me with hollow eyes. "T-Th-Thank you miss." He took the drink and began lapping it up, eager for anything to distract his mind. I turned to the kneeling knight. "I made some for you too…thanks for coming again so quickly." The knight patted the man's knee and stood up. Suddenly a strong set of arms wrapped themselves around my torso and pulled me in. I didn't dare disturb the moment, instead I took in the warm sensation, closing my eyes and melting into the embrace.

"Thanks Liz…I'm so glad you're safe." He pushed me away just enough to look me in the eyes. "Don't ever do that again though…these player killers…they could have pulled you out of the city and killed you…this isn't a game Liz…" Anger quickly welled up inside of me. "I know that you idiot!" My tired fist shook as the rage began to dissipate as quickly as it came. A tired sigh took ahold of me and I found myself resting my forehead against the crook of his neck. "I just didn't know what to do Kirito…I couldn't let him die, I had to help…"

A breath of relief. "I know. I'm glad you did. Maybe now we can finally hunt these players down once and for all." I pulled back with an incredulous look on my face. "What do you mean hunt them down?" Kirito fell silent. His black eyes looked at the broken man, still shaking and trembling, clearly in shock from the battle he had survived. "No one has survived an attack from Titan's hand before. So, all we've ever had to go on is rumors. But now? Now…we have names…descriptions…player faces…even recent player positions." A small smile touched his lips as he looked down at me. "We can hunt these bastards down once and for all, all thanks to you Liz. You saved a witness, and maybe…other players too."

Kirito calmly moved past me and began drinking from his cup of tea, meanwhile my heart began beating a thousand times a second. Kirito was driven, powerful, and cunning. That much was clear from the way he survived for so long on the front lines, how he kept his cool when in the dragon pit, and the way he was able to fight onwards with no support. But he was incredibly stubborn. Sword Art's computer enemies were one thing; they were predictable and gave clear warning signs when they were powering up and ready to attack. People were a whole other ball game. I had never fought a human, but even I knew any human player was far and above more difficult to tackle, being almost impossible to predict. Player killers…they were masters of fighting humans.

"You're not going to go hunt these people down, are you?" Kirito leaned against one of my shop display cases and offered me a simple shrug. "I don't know of anyone on the front lines who would be willing to follow this lead. They're the only ones strong enough to take on player killers. Besides we need those players on the front lines to be fighting in teams. I'm solo, I can fight whenever and wherever I want." He took another sip from the tea and closed his eyes contently. "Besides Liz, what's the point of clearing the game if there's no one left to walk free?" This guy was insane. "Kirito! You're crazy! Those are player killers! They're not AI you can just learn how to fight!" "I know that Liz." "NO! NO! NO!" My voice was no shrill and fiercely agitated; fear, desperation, and anger all mixing into one. "You can't just face these guys like this! They're dangerous! Look at what they did to Keyes's guild! You're just one player! You can't take them all on! I won't let you!"

"She's right you know…" The man was huddled over in his chair. There were tears on the floor. His tea cup, empty, was clutched tightly in his hands. "I appreciate you listening to me." His voice was shaky but somewhat composed. In my desire to talk to Kirito I had forgotten completely that he was there listening to us bicker. "I told you what I know and what happened, but these players are all at least level 40. I'm level 42 myself and I barely made it out alive. Don't be stupid, don't kill yourself for my vengeance." In my frustration I gestured wildly to the man, my arms trying to signal stubborn Kirito to pay attention to the man's words.

"I understand Keyes. I really do." Kirito sipped more from the cup before putting it on the tray. He kneeled in front of Keyes again and stared into his eyes. "But I'm no normal player. Level 40 players can't damage me. I could take on a dozen players and not even lose health. I'm more than capable of hunting them down." He put a friendly hand on Keyes's shoulder. "I want justice as much as you do. You provide a teleport crystal to the Army's prison, and I guarantee you'll going to get your money's worth." Keyes looked at Kirito with a fresh set of tears and a look of vengeance. "You…you mean that…" Kirito nodded before pulling up his inventory. He immediately transferred over a couple hundred col into Keyes's account. "Its not too late to get yourself to an inn here in Lindas. We can meet up in the morning. You've been through a lot. Go get some rest." Keyes nodded slowly and stood up. His body was at least functioning. "R-R-Right…I'll go do that." His hollow eyes turned to me. "Thank you miss…for saving my life…I…"

"Don't mention it. Stay safe tonight." It was late. As much as my mind was overjoyed that this man was still alive, my body was starting to get snappy. I needed rest.

"Let's meet up here at noon ok?" Kirito offered to the man. A simple nod and the last member of the Silver Flags left my store, walking out towards the town center where the inns were. Kirito waved and then turned towards me. "Thanks for messaging me when you did Liz." I yawned before nodding. "At first, I didn't know what to think, I just thought about making sure this guy was safe…but then I got scared they were going to hunt for me…" my voice trailed off as I thought back on the panic that overtook me as I realized the players had gotten a good look at my face. "I'm just glad you were still up." Kirito's face glowed a bright red as I finished my sentence. "Uh well…about that…I was asleep…I just have…alarms set for when I get messages from…certain people." "Wait what?" my tired mind naively tried to understand why he had an alarm set to my messages, but I was just too tired to think. I stood looking at Kirito for a few moments before my mind started to churn. 'Oh…I must be one of his only friends then…he probably has an alarm set for Asuna's messages too…'

He looked at me sheepishly before continuing. "I mean…I just worry about you…you did jump in front a dragon after all…" gone was the blush, in its place a playful smirk. Ordinarily I would've been all too happy to retort. But it was way too late for that. "I'm so done right now Kirito…I have to sleep. See you in the morning…" Almost immediately Kirito's eyes went wide. "Well…wait up a second…don't you think its still a bit unsafe?" My tired mind churned more. Feelings of attraction and longing started to well up in my chest. Almost immediately my exhausted, overactive mind took a turn to earlier in the evening…remembering the teasing Ryou and the others had given me. It…It couldn't be true right? What they said? "Unsafe?...Well…I have to sleep…how can…you make me more safe?" 'Great going Liz, you sound just so perfect, so in control, when you're tired as hell.'

Kirito rubbed the back of his head before letting another blush sneak across his cheeks. "Well I can stay the night, guard your room…and uh…yeah…" He was delightfully awkward. I knew I shouldn't, but I had to press on a bit. My sleepiness was starting to leave my mind, replaced with a longing desire that didn't want to be disappointed.

"My…uh…bed is big enough for the two of us…" the words spilled out nervously.

"Y-Yeah that works! You won't even know I'm there." Kirito stammered out the words.

I bit my tongue. I didn't want to ruin anything. I wanted to believe my mind, my heart. I wanted to believe he wanted me and didn't just want to protect me. Was I just a friendly player for him? Was that it? Was I just a friend? I didn't know the answer to those questions. And I didn't care. Not now anyway.

A blush exploded across my face. "Well then…uh make sure you're not wearing all that armor then…I don't want you tearing up my sheets." Kirito seemed to let out a sigh of relief before smiling at me. "Of course Lisbeth!"

It was nearly four in the morning when I found myself laying in bed. I had pulled the window drapes shut and I laid close to the windowsill. Beneath the covers I was wearing a simple night gown. It was what I wore most nights to bed. But on this night, it didn't feel like enough. I felt exposed as I heard the even breaths of Kirito beside me. The entire scenario felt both exhilarating and odd in my mind. Despite levels of exhaustion I had never felt before, I couldn't help but lay restless in bed.

Kirito was beside me. Even if he was just here as a protector, just for a night…I wasn't alone. To my mind, joy and elation swept simply pumped through my veins. In real life none of this would have been possible. None of this would have been fine with my parents…and frankly I had to wonder if Ryou would be ok with this. But right now? They didn't matter. I was in heaven.

"You can't sleep can you…"

I let out a yelp of surprise. "I-I-I didn't know you were awake!" Kirito simply chuckled. "Its not hard to tell you're restless, you shift a bit every few seconds." I was never in my life happier the room was nearly pitch black, because there was no way in hell I could suppress the wild blush of embarrassment coming over my face. "I…I…I…" my voice stuttered like a crazed school girl. Closing my eyes, I composed myself: "I d-don't usually have guests over…actually you're the first person besides myself to ever sleep here." I felt the bed shift and I knew Kirito was laying on his side looking at me. "Oh…sorry for keeping you up then." Another blush flooded up and I knew this one wasn't from embarrassment. My heart was now skipping beats. "Oh…no…its my fault…I'm being silly…"

Something warm touched my arm, it grazed my skin before making its way to my hand. "D-Do…you want to hold my hand again? Will that help you sleep?"

Kirito remembered. He remembered exactly what I had asked for back in the pit of the dragon. I couldn't believe it. I thought he had had forgotten. I had assumed he had been dreaming up of some other crazy escape plan. Instead he took note of my little request. If I really was just a friend to him, I was a damned close one.

"Y-Y-YES!" I almost yelled at him in my desperate, tired state. Realizing how I must have sounded; my voice offered a follow-up. "I-I mean…if its not too much tro—" "Of course not Liz." His voice sounded calm, almost relieved. Slowly I felt his fingers intertwine themselves with mine. His warm hands locked with my own before he shifted ever so closer to me. He was close enough I could feel the light breath of his on my skin. Finally, after an insane night, my body closed its eyes…and found peace. The soft even breathes of Kirito lulled me to sleep.

The game's alarm didn't have a snooze function. It wasn't something I could change the ringtone to. Instead my mind was simply forced awake at the desired time. When Kirito had mentioned to Keyes that we would all meet up at noon, I had set an alarm for ten thirty in the morning, thinking that at least I would be able to sleep several hours before setting off an adventure.

But as my eyes fluttered open by the game's invisible control on me, I instantly regretted setting the damn alarm. A splitting headache immediately took ahold of me and I only wanted to lay in bed forever. The night had been far more exhaustive than I believed it could ever have possibly been. Eating, laughing and drinking followed by another brush with death and then struggling to fall asleep. My body's response was simply to act like it was made of lead. Despite it all however, the drapes I shut had surprisingly kept out the light and though a million tiny hammers pounded on my forehead, my eyes were saved from a blindingly painful brush with death.

A warm thing began to prod at my cheek. "Oh, hey you're up." Wincing as I shifted in bed, I looked over to find Kirito sitting awake next to me. My mind struggled to put one and two together before deciding the only correct response was to let out a red flush across my face. "Y-Y-Yeah! I'm awake…how long have you been there?" Kirito leaned back a bit, he wore only a long set of pants and soft black shirt. He looked much different to his usual stoic appearance. Gone was the off putting and cold demeanor. Instead there was a warmness to him as he smiled down at me. "Hmm…I woke up pretty early. Force of habit, I guess. So, I kinda napped for a bit while waiting for you to wake up." He chuckled as he leaned in, "You fell asleep really quickly after I held your hand." Another flush, "W-w-well you offered!" a huff of embarrassment and frustration left my lips. "Doesn't matter if I fell asleep fast, my head still hurts."

"Best way to get rid of that is some morning hunting. But I'm going to guess that's not what you have in mind." I glowered at him. Of course, he would mention fighting.

"I want coffee and an Omelet. We have time to eat."

My face must have looked very angry because his reaction was priceless; the grin on his face was replaced with mild shock and a tinge of fear. "Alright…alright…you're not a morning person…I get it." It took most of my energy, but I suppressed a laugh. I suppressed a smile. Watching this confident player shrink back at my words…was more that worth it.

"So what's the plan exactly…" I innocently asked as Kirito watched me wolf down another omelet. The look of surprise on his face at my ability to eat wasn't exactly flattering but it was either this or go through a day all grumpy and whatnot. "…do you eat this much in the real world?" I paused long enough to shoot him another glare. "What kind of question is that? Don't I look just normal to you?" He held up his hands in a bid of mock fear. "Ok…ok…right…I didn't know that food could wake a player up like this." I nodded, satisfied there was some dignity to my eating habits. "Food is the only thing that wakes me up, maybe it's my version of hunting…"

"At least I make money when I hunt."

Another glare.

"Right! Well…" he let out a small chuckle before his eyes narrowed, his mind now clearly in the zone. "Keyes mentioned the player Rosalia. She's apparently a pretty and tall woman. Keyes's guild was looking for a rare item, it was a group healing crystal. Its obvious Rosalia wanted it. So, she got the Silver Flags to trust her and then she ambushed his guild once they acquired the item." I nodded watching entranced as Kirito's fingers danced around the table, drawing an imaginary map of the events he described.

"Rosalia is a green player. She doesn't kill anyone directly, but her guild does. So, the goal should be to find her, talk about getting a rare item and then lure her into joining our party. After we get the rare item, Rosalia will probably want it as well, so she'll hopefully ambush us."

"Hopefully…?" my voice sounded like a dying squeak as I listened to Kirito's plan. "…You're insane…" Kirito looked into my eyes and smiled. "I know, you've told me before." I wanted to chuckle but instead all I felt was a deep queasiness in my stomach. "Let me get straight…you're going to do everything that Keyes's guild did…so that Rosalia comes hunting right for you?"

"Yeah. Oh, and we'll have Keyes's corridor crystal ready to send these players right to prison when they ambush us."

His shining optimism couldn't be a further contrast to my sickening stomach.

"But Kirito! They're player killers! They'll tear you apart! You can't just lure them in! You gotta pick them all off one by one!"

Kirito closed his eyes and shook his head. "No. That won't work. You said it yourself Lisbeth, these people aren't AIs; they'll adapt to our strategy, so even if we pick off a few by taking them one on one, we'll lose track of the other players. Making them believe we're helpless and defenseless is the only surefire way we got to take them out all at once." He cocked his head to the side as seemed to lose himself in my eyes. "Besides, I'm not worried about fighting them. They can't really hurt me."

Everything he was saying made sense, except for his last sentence.

"What do you mean they can't hurt you? They're really high-level players!" his gloved hand waved off my concern with a light chuckle. "Oh, I guess I haven't told you then, I'm level 78 right now." His hand immediately flew to the back of his head and he rubbed it with a nervous twitch, as if he was expecting me to say something rude. "I guess I should have said that before…" Instead I had to collect my jaw from the floor as his words registered in my mind. After a few moments I found my voice: "You're level 78?!" shock ripped through my chest. I knew of people on the assault team as high as level 60, but never someone as high of a level as Kirito. This guy only kept surprising me at every turn.

"Y-y-yeah…I…should have told you after the dragon…but I've been almost forty levels ahead of you for a while now…" he seemed nervous as he put the staggering gap between us into perspective. "I…I can understand if you don't want to have me around…" He seemed afraid, almost sad as he spoke of the difference between us. I couldn't figure out why though… I knew monsters spawned according to the highest player level in a party, but why would he think I would be afraid of that? He clearly knew how to keep me safe, after all, he did save me from a dragon. So why was he scared of telling me?

"No! I want you around!" my fist pounded against the table, rattling the silverware, all while drawing the stares of some other people in the restaurant. "I just had no idea…you were so powerful." Kirito still seemed tense, "But what about…lik—" I cut him off, knowing exactly where his mind was wandering to, "Kirito, you've shown me you can save me from a dragon. I think I'll be fine hanging around you." His eyes seemed relieved, but his posture was still tense. However, on my end, I was feeling comfortable. No wonder he wasn't worried. There was no way a group of level 40 players could take on a player nearly at level 80. I leaned back and sighed, my stomach now feeling much more at ease knowing Kirito wasn't actually risking his life. But as I opened my eyes to smile at him, I was caught off guard by how stressed he looked. "Hey, Kirito, don't worry about me, I'm not going to be joining you on the front lines. I have a smith shop to run after all," his eyes met mine, "Just relax will you? I doubt we're gonna see any high-level monsters hunting these players down. As long as we stay away from high level dungeons, I'm sure we'll be fine." As he heard my words, his eyes softened, and he seemed to relax his tense posture. "Alright Lisbeth," he took my hands in his, much to my surprise, and smiled at me with determination. "As long as you're with me, I won't let anything happen to you." "You better not," I started with a laugh, "Otherwise Ryou will have your head."

Keyes put the dark colored crystal into Kirito's hand and then gripped his palms tightly. "Take care, this crystal is set right to location of the Army's Black Iron Prison." The man nervously looked into Kirito's eyes. "Please…be careful…but honestly, I want some justice, any justice…I'm just too much of a coward to face them myself." Kirito smiled and shook his head as he squeezed Keyes's hand.

"That's where you're wrong. They are the cowards for taking from others who work hard to get ahead in this world." He patted Keyes's shoulder, "You're smart for sitting this one out. There's no point in throwing your life away in this game." Keyes nodded and wiped his eyes again. "Right. Well then, don't let me keep you. Come back safe, will you?" Kirito nodded once again and tucked the corridor crystal into his inventory. "Don't worry, I plan to be back in a few days." He paused and looked at Keyes once more, "What are you going to do after I lock these bastards away?"

Kirito seldom cursed, I knew that because even when he was saving me, or when he felt embarrassed or even occasionally scared, he only let out yelps of fear or agitation. To get him to curse really was an accomplishment, and I bet it had no small part to do with someone murdering and taking someone else's life.

Keyes let out a small chuckle, the first time I had seen the man do something other than cry or look morose or afraid. "Well…if I'm honest, I've had it with fighting. As a guild we tried to be a rear guard of sorts to the assault team…we used to clear up monsters in some of the areas the assault team didn't go through too well." He let out a sigh before hanging his head low. "But those days…those days are behind me. I think I'll take up fishing for a change actually…they say there's some good fishing spots on Floor 22. I should probably get into that, make a bit of col and just relax." He took a small breath and his face seemed to grow somber. "I tried to fight the good fight and now everyone I knew is now dead…" Kirito solemnly nodded. "Well you can't go wrong then with Floor 22, its really beautiful and quiet there. As someone who's been on the front lines, I can't thank you enough for having helped to clean out stuff we missed. Don't worry about the front lines though, take it easy. I'll let you know when I've caught the people responsible for this." Keyes managed a weak smile and turned to face us, "Right. Well. I wish you two the best of luck, please…don't get yourselves killed, but dammit," his voice became a low growl, "Send those sons of bitches right to hell." Kirito extended his hand and gripped Keyes hand once more.

"With pleasure."

I waved a solemn goodbye to Keyes as I stood by Kirito. Pulling up my menu screen, I opened up my messages with Ryou.

"Hey Dad, just wanted to let you know I'm going to take off the next couple days, I did get that sword order done early anyway, so I'll be hanging out with Kirito! We're going just to Mishe! Don't worry, we'll be safe!"

I winced a bit as I wrote the last part of the message. It was a lie. We were going to be hunting player killers. Despite everything I had ever said about dodging danger, I was starting to realize I was really someone willing to put all that stuff about safety aside for an exciting adventure. I guess in my own weird way I wanted to face the danger as long as I had a fighting chance. I didn't feel I had any chance on the first day of Sword Art. I had been afraid, alone and quite powerless. But now? I had an unstoppable force by my side. Player killers didn't even faze me now that I knew how powerful Kirito was. Still…the message to Ryou felt…short.

"I'll message you every day before bed. Love you guys! 3"

Even if it was cheesy, it was true. I certainly wouldn't be where I was today if it wasn't for them. My name would have been crossed of on the wall on Floor 1…probably with the cause of my death being 'Fell from a great height'. I shuddered a bit as the thought crossed my mind. No, I certainly did love Ryou, Gaya and Zaki. They basically saved my life and made sure I survived. Survived long enough so I could build my own courage and go on adventures with amazing people like Kirito.

"All good now Liz?"

I minimized my messages tab before looking back at Kirito. It was the early afternoon and his head blocked out the sun in the sky, giving him a radiant and heroic look as the light scattered around him. "Goodness you look just like a hero." Kirito snickered as he realized I was in his shadow. "Please, I'm no hero…" his eyes looked wistfully towards the copy of the wall of players in Lindas. Each wall kept a copy of all the names of the players along with their cause of death. Kirito's voice was distant, "I haven't saved people I could have saved." Anytime he spoke negatively of himself it got on my nerves, "Hey you saved me! You're my hero ok!"

His face snapped right back to mine as a light blush came over him. I struck a nerve. If there's one thing I wished I could have changed about Sword Art, it was how it tended to overexaggerate player emotions, because there was no stopping the flush across my face either as I looked at him.

"Well then…we should get going…" his hand rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he suddenly became transfixed by the teleport gate in the middle of Lindas. "Wouldn't you agree?" I only smiled timidly as he took my hand and pulled me onto the gate with him. Standing by his side, holding his hand…it was intoxicating.

"Teleport Mishe!"

The afternoon was beginning to drag on and the forest's darkness was starting to get to me. "Are you sure she's going to be in here?" Agitation tugged at my voice as I waved my mace towards the direction of a shadow I didn't recognize. Kirito however remained indifferent to my struggles opting instead to walk around with his sword loosely by his side as we made our way through 'The Forest of Wandering' "Well Liz, even if she's not, it's the closest thing we have to a lead, we have to search the whole forest. Rosalia left the Silver Flags a few days before they were assaulted. Keyes still had her on his friend list at the time, and he checked up on her after she left. He had noticed she had been teleporting back to this forest for a while, so maybe she was with multiple groups when she planned her strike on the Silver Flags."

Another shadow moved and I swung aimlessly at the area in question. Every few steps I felt something new was jumping at me. Even though they probably weren't dangerous, the last thing I wanted was some big bug crawling up my back.

"You know, if you keep swinging your mace like that, you're only going to attract more bugs and forest life." I turned to glare at the black swordsman, only to find him absorbed in the map of the forest he purchased from a shop keeper. "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THAT BEFORE!" Kirito glanced up from the map before a sly grin crept along his face, "I just wanted to watch you squirm for a bit."

"You stupid idiot!" I immediately charged at him with my mace, partly angry and partly trying to vent some steam. As my mace came down however, I felt like I hit a solid wall. Opening my eyes revealed a stoic solid Kirito looking at the map with his free hand having raised a sword to hold back my Mace. He hadn't even paid my little bout of anger a second thought. He finally looked up from the map and smiled slyly at me. "You're going to have to try harder than that if you want to hit me." I let out a low growl of anger. "Show-off…" Kirito only grinned wider, "If I let you hit me then you would've turned orange for a while." My cheeks puffed out in anger. "Yeah…well…would've been worth it…" Kirito only let out a chuckle before going back to the map.

The evening dragged on as Kirito and I made our way through the forest. One by one we crossed the various sections of the forest before making our way deeper and deeper into the depths of the trees.

As I trekked behind Kirito, looking over his shoulder to peer at the map, I picked up a faint scream.

"Did you hear that?" Kirito immediately put his hand to my mouth as his eyes narrowed in the direction of the scream.

"PINA!"

The shrill scream was now louder, and frantic. Accompanying it were some deep growls and an almost ape-like chanting.

Kirito immediately shoved the map into my hands. "Wait here!" Drawing his sword, he immediately dashed forward and disappeared from my sight. I had never seen someone move so quickly. I mean, he probably had moved that fast when he jumped to rescue me from the dragon, but I hadn't actually seen him do it. One second, he was next to me, the next, poof. Gone.

My body only stumbled a bit to the side as I stared in shock at the darkness that Kirito had disappeared into. "Wow…he really does move fast." I waited a few moments, desperately trying to listen for some other scream or call for help. But nothing came. Instead after several minutes a little notification crept up onto my messages. It was from Kirito:

"I saved a girl from a pack of Ape monsters. I'm fine but she lost her pet dragon. There's a rare item you can get on floor 47 to bring back the dragon. I think we can use this to track down Rosalia. Use the map to get back to Mishe, I know my way out, see you in town."

A smile touched my lips. Oh Kirito, you are so cunning.

A/N: You see that? You see how I'm tying in the show?! WHOOO! This is actually a ton of fun to write. But you know what would make this absolutely incredible? If you left a review...its the day after my birthday...please leave a review? They keep me going and give me insight to what people like about this.

In any case, guess what starts in a week? That's right, another semester of grad school. So don't expect an update for a while...maybe a month or so. Sorry about that, but like I said: "My update schedule is bad on a good day, downright atrocious for most of the year." Either way, to those of you in school or college, hope your semester starts out right. To those of you working, hope you make it through each day!