Author's notes: You might recall the third episode of SAO as the "Christmas episode" chronicling Kirito's time with the Moonlit Black Cats. You might also remember the ludicrous amount of time that gets skipped over in said episode. Therefore, this chapter will instead reflect more on the events of the fourth episode. The next major dungeon even has an animal theme, yay! The Christmas chapter reflecting episode 3 will happen later, however. For now, enjoy this one.

Chapter 3 – The Azure Knight

8th of February, 2022

Mantine's log

[Mantine]

[Knight]

[Lv. 24]

I'm feeling better. Not exactly what I'd call "good", but better, to say the least. I hate to boast... oh, who am I kidding, I love it! Gotta say, I felt like a total badass pulling that facade the other day. The look on Saffron's face was just cathartic. I always was a good liar.

Not long after our victory against Hookah, the Mudkips unanimously decided to make it a top priority to recruit new guild members, as the three of us could only take the fight so far. Normally, such a task would prove difficult, with many of the game's players either swearing fealty to the Guardian Force, or lacking the resolve to fight at all. However, it seems that word of my victory that day spread quickly, inspiring a number of players to take up arms and fight for their freedom.

Some even began to sing my praises, referring to me as the Azure Knight. While I do wish they would've chosen something more original in lieu of an obvious Soul Calibur reference, it certainly feels nice to be spoken of as though I were a figure of Arthurian legend.

Kindon, that clever thief, had already discovered the location of the next major boss. Evidently, it was deep within Port of the Winds' city hall sewers. I could only wonder what lurked that deep below the peaceful port town, but if facing it meant progress, we had little choice in the matter.

Port of the Winds

Until now, it had not occurred to Mantine, Kite, and Kindon just how beautiful of a sight Port of the Winds was. During this time of year, powder snow fell, blanketing the ground as clouds hung overhead, giving the town just the right amount of lighting that you could fall asleep under its gentle caress, if you desired. Everything about the Port made even the most shaken-up player feel safe, if only for that moment, and the music that played throughout was comforting and oddly nostalgic. While the new members they recruited were off training and gathering supplies, the three friends laid on their backs, conversing as they took everything in under the snowfall.

"...You don't remember Doctor Ferrell?" questioned Kindon to Mantine. "Don't tell me you haven't been paying attention to the lore..."

Mantine turned his head in Kindon's direction. "I think fighting for our lives takes a bit of precedence. Plus, these MMO stories are all the same, y'know? Anyways, he any relation to Will?" he asked, referring to the actor as he couldn't help but crack a smile. "'Cuz I smoked pot with Johnny Hopkins.'"

"Be serious, wouldja, 'Azure Knight'?" Kite scolded. "We're almost sure he's the boss we'll be up against beneath the sewers. The lore's really playin' him up to be a badass, not to mention a real psycho. With those mad scientist=types, you never know, so we should be on our toes. There may be other surprises down there..."

City Hall Sewers

While the Mudkips pondered what lurked below them, some adventurers, whether very brave or very, very foolish, had already began to explore for themselves. One such brave soul was a girl no older than thirteen. She'd reluctantly entered the sewers, alone save for the reason she was there in the first place – a small, curious pig followed close behind. An animal handler NPC in Port of the Winds gave out a quest to new arrivals, with the reward being one of a selection of pet familiars. Much like other traditional MMOs, these pets could be taken care of, and would benefit the player by fighting for them and providing a stat boost.

However, much like the real world, these animals needed food to stay alive. Buying it proved too expensive for the young girl's wallet, but the animal handler did offer a follow-up quest to obtain more for free. The only catch was, the pet food stash was hidden away somewhere deep in the sewers. With no other option, she and her pig descended the manhole and began the search...

Like Kite, she chose the hunter class. Preferring to avoid direct combat, she had, so far, gotten by with simply sniping her enemies from afar, with her new pig providing an additional source of damage when needed.

...that is to say, so far. Unfortunately for her, it didn't take long for her to get lost in the mazelike sewers, encountering stronger and more gruesome monsters at each turn. Predictably, it also became darker the deeper she went.

The inevitable ambush came in the form of three giant albino wolves. The gaunt canines moved with blinding speed, closing the distance with little effort before she could get a single shot off! When her eyes adjusted to the darkness, closer inspection revealed that the wolves were horribly mutated, with asymmetric faces and limbs of unnatural length. These must've been some of Farrell's rumored experiments, and they appeared quite starved.

Within moments, the girl found herself cornered, trembling with absolute fear as she clutched her crossbow in violently shaking hands.

W-what.. do I do now... Which one do I shoot... Even if I shoot one, I can't reload in time, they're too close...

Before she could process her thoughts, one of the white wolves pounced, meeting the girl's fearful, wide eyes with a crazed look of hunger! Moments before it struck, the small pig leapt in front of her and attempted to tackle the beast!

"Tocino! DON'T-"

An agonizing squeal echoed all throughout the sewers. The girl didn't dare look on, shielding her face with her arms.

The great wolf was indeed stunned for a moment... but not before it had the chance to sink its gangly claw into the poor pig. The girl sprinted to its aid, but before she could touch it, it faded away and left behind a pink crystal. Holding it in both palms, she peered down at what was left of her pet and sobbed in anguish. The other two wolves were slowly closing in on her. The young girl began to feel faint. Not only had she failed her quest and lost the pet she was entrusted with, but she was about to meet the same fate, and there wasn't a thing she could do about it. She slumped against the gray wall, shut her eyes tight, and awaited death.

"METEOR... CRUSH!"

She couldn't see where the voice was coming from at first... and then, a pair of smoldering black rocks lit up the corridor, slamming into the two wolves! Cracking and splintering of bone were clearly audible; the beasts were thoroughly mangled beyond recognition. The flames from the meteors were enough to illuminate their source – another woman, slightly older and sporting cream-colored robes and strikingly scarlet hair.

With a wave of her staff, a third meteor flattened the last wolf into a bloodstain. She rushed toward the girl, queuing up a healing spell. "Hold on, I've got you!"

Still trembling, she slowly opened her eyes and looked up at her savior. "I-I'm not hurt, b-but..." she said, holding out the remains of her pet.

"Shit!" the woman cursed, punching the sewer wall with a resounding thunk. "God-fucking-dammit! Too late... If I'd just got here a second earlier..." No... I have to stay calm... to set an example... "but at least you're safe. You got a name?"

"I-I'm... Jin." she said meekly.

The woman offered her hand, pulling Jin up to a standing position. "Well met, Jin. My name is Morana."

Using the wall to support her shaking body, Jin looked at the tiny pink crystal once more and cried softly. "What's the use of saving me... Tocino, he's... gone..." her tears splashed onto her palm.

I just saved her life, and she's crying over a piece of data... what to do with this one...? "Ahem... please, no tears, little lady." she said in a calm, soothing tone, offering the cloth of her robe to dry Jin's eyes. "Survivors have to be strong, after all."

The young huntress looked up at the cleric, then hung her head jadedly.

"I understand." conceded Morana. "It's your pet, right?"

She slowly, silently nodded and looked up at Morana with wide, distressed eyes.

"That quest to earn one isn't easy, I hear. You must be quite a strong player to clear it on your own." she said with a warm smile.

Jin blushed a little. "You really think so... but..."

"Look, I shouldn't be giving this info out for free... however, a reliable source tells me that deep within the sewers lies a special item. The 'Red Jewel of Farrell'. If we can get to it in two hours, it should be able to revive your pet." she explained, hoping her purchase from the info broker back in town was worth it.

Immediately, Jin's eyes lit up as she dried the last of her tears. "R-really?! I'd do anything to- but it seems like we're already so deep in the sewers..."

"I dropped 20 G for that nugget of wisdom, so it'd better be legit... From what I gather..." said Morana, "Well, there are a few locked doors down here. Hard to see without a light source, I know. We'll need to nab a few keys, otherwise we're just going in circles. Speaking of which..."

She carefully made her way over to the wolves' smoldering bodies... Jin recoiled and gasped lightly, fearing one might get up. Sure enough, one of them displayed an item icon above the mangled mess of bone and fur.

[[White Key]]

"...thought so. Looks like some of the monsters here will drop the keys we need... so let's get to work." she commanded, looking down at the girl's red crossbow. "You're a hunter, right?"

She nodded once again with a timid "Mhm."

"Okay, in that case, let me take point." said Morana. "Stay a few paces behind me, and... you'd better watch my back. Shoot down whatever my magic can't handle. Got that?" she commanded sternly.

"O-okay..." Jin replied, readying her weapon.

With that, the two continued traversing the network of dank tunnels, stone walls, and eroded pipes. Just a few paces away from the wall Jin had found herself cornered against, they located a wide, wooden double door swallowed up by the darkness. Morana ignited a small torch, revealing a heavy chained lock wrapped around it. Luckily for them, the lock was colored white, corresponding to the key they'd found moments earlier. The key turned, clicked, and the chains fell apart, granting them access to the next sewer chamber.

To their surprise, monsters within the sewer's halls were quite sparse, and it was Morana who took the initiative to break the silence of their trek. "So... who are you, anyway? I mean... I know your name, but... tell me a little about yourself."

"Well, I, uhh..." Jin replied nervously. "My parents got me this game because they thought it'd help me make friends... it didn't pan out too well." her voice quietly echoed, harmonizing with the drips of water as they walked.

Morana nodded at her. "I can see that. It's funny you should say that, though... I picked up this game for the same reason. My parents were always getting on my case about how I needed to be more social."

Jin tilted her head, confused. "You...? But I thought grown-ups had lots of friends. ...like on the show!" she said, referring to the sitcom of the same name.

"Wouldn't it be nice if that were the truth." lamented Morana. "I don't like opening up to strangers, so listen well. I wasn't exactly well-liked in the real world. My schoolmates and I, well... we didn't get along. Many of them didn't take kindly to the way I acted, and I ended up having to... teach them a lesson. My actions got me put away in a... well, a special place for a while. A place where I could be alone with my thoughts. My family suggested online gaming as a way to come out of my shell, and... well, you see how that ended up."

Jin shook her head side-to-side rapidly. "Don't put yourself down! You helped take down that big, mean ol' shark, I heard! That's awesome!"

"It's funny you should bring that up." said Morana, smiling faintly. "It was before that battle that I was nearly ready to pack it in and give up. But then... I met someone. A man who instilled something... no, awoke something that had been hidden within me. His actions that day were questionable, but... it gave me the push I need to keep going. And now, I'm going to give others like you that same push."

The young girl grew cheerful. "Yay! Let's keep going, then! But... are you sure we can save Tocino?"

Morana hesitated for a moment, then gave a confident nod. "Most people end up selling the jewel when after taking one look at the price before they see what it does. Early on, after everyone became trapped, there were rumors that it could revive players. Needless to say, it didn't take long for the first person to try that and realize how wrong they were..." she said, with an intense thousand-yard stare. "Your pet, however, is classified as a mortal object. If we're fast enough, the jewel should work."

"Morana, you're so awesome!" gushed Jin. Examination of the small pink crystal that was left of the pig revealed that it indeed had a timer in its item description, bearing a countdown of just under two hours. "We've gotta hurry, though! I'll shoot down those bad guys for you, I promise!"

Picking up the pace, Morana and Jin resumed their trek, hunting down each door and killing the monsters that guarded it until one of them coughed up the right key. Jin watched in awe as Morana wasted entire groups of mutated ogres, giant spiders, and malformed skeletons. For a class that was usually relegated to healing, her fighting style was berserk and unrelenting. An assault of spells froze, shocked, and incinerated the monsters before they could get close enough to attack. Supported by Jin's crossbow fire, the cleric had little trouble dealing with them.

"Jeez..." sighed Morana, slugging down a magic potion. "Compared to those big bad wolves from before, these guys ain't shit! I had to use up just about all my mana saving your ass, but now I'm almost having fun."

All together, they'd managed to find three more keys, allowing them through the remaining colored doors. Behind the last one was a large, swirling magic portal, crackling with lightning and smoke. The room also appeared to have several other chambers leading even deeper into the underground. The two girls sized up their options, with the portal being the main object of their fixation.

"Hmm... I'm not sure how I feel about going through there." thought Morana out loud. "Come to think of it, it looks kinda like the one we went through to fight Hookah. I'll bet all my cash and gear it's a boss room."

Jin was also staring at it with great intent. Fear began to wash over her once more, which Morana took immediate notice of.

Think, Morana, think... we're a little unprepared for a boss, and we've got some time left... not enough to go all the way back, but we should heal... Easy as the enemies down here were, every little hit that slips through our offense adds up...

Jin tugged on Morana's robe. "Where should we go now?"

"Aww, what's the matter, little girl? You lost?"

The voice came from somewhere else in the chamber, and both girls could instantly feel that something was wrong. Out of the shadows stepped an older woman, slim and dressed in light violet armor and with purple hair, cut chin-length and covering one eye. Morana and Jin took a hostile stance.

"Ooh, my! Aren't I a lucky one? Two for the price of one, eh? I'm gonna take my time with you two." she hissed in a deep, smooth voice.

Morana furrowed her eyebrows and glared at the woman. "...and what the hell do you want with us?"

Cracking her knuckles and drawing a thin, white sword, she began circling them like a shark. "Don't worry, I'll make this quick. Simply lay down all your gold and items, and I'll allow you to leave. Refuse, and I'll take them by force."

Morana did her best to appear unfazed. "Fat chance, bitch. What kind of person thinks about player-killing in a... death game, anyway?! Who are you?"

Smirking, she flipped her hair and announced, "Very well. In your last moments alive, you may refer to me as Belladonna. My guild and I are going to have so much fun splitting all your stuff between us!"

"Wait, guild?!" questioned Morana. "There are only two guilds left fighting on the front lines, and you don't look like either of 'em. You're bullshitting."

Belladonna laughed. "Exactly, we're not interested in fighting on the front lines. We hold up unwitting idiots like you and help ourselves to their items, simple as that. Red player status was totally worth all the treasures we've found, and we've only just begun!"

It was only then that Jin and Morana noticed that the player name above the slender woman was infact red. This was the game's way of indicating a known player-killer. What really made their blood run cold was the realization that you had to attack and kill several players to reach red status.

"Whatever." said Morana dismissively. "You don't look all that tough. I'll fry you before you can even get close to us."

"Will you, now?" Belladonna taunted, snapping her fingers. In response, three men, all roughly the same level, slid out of the darkness and joined their leader. Fittingly, they were all of the assassin class, wielding dual katars. They eyed the two girls up like starving hyenas and laughed gruffly, licking their weapons at the tip. Two of them were only orange players so far, with one sharing his leader's red status. Morana didn't even want to think about how many lives they must've claimed so far.

"What now, little girlies? Still want to test us?" said the tall woman condescendingly. "As you're about to learn, Night Shade doesn't fuck around, child." Her voice grew deadly serious.

...Shit. Now what? We're outnumbered two-to-one!

Morana glanced over to Jin, the poor girl was frozen, trembling in sheer terror.

Who am I kidding, it's four-to-one; she can't fight like that!

The women stared each other down like wild animals, each waiting for the other to make the first move. Morana bared her teeth and kept her heels dug in, but her resolve was showing signs of breaking down. The hands that tightly gripped her staff began to shake.

"Fine! If you can't decide what to do, I'll choose for you! Grab her!"

At his leader's command, one of the men dashed forth and restrained Jin before either one of them could react! The young girl gave a panicked scream, now fearing for her life. The assassin let go of one of his katars to force his hand over her mouth. He looked Morana in the eye and sneered.

Belladonna ordered her other to men to hang back and drew closer to Morana, sword at the ready. "Now, then; I won't ask again. Lay down your money and items, and be on your way. If you make even a single move, the child won't live long enough to see what we do to you." she demanded coldly.

Morana dropped her stance, her arms hanging at her sides. Was this really how she was going to die? Alone and afraid, failing to protect even one person?

"You deaf or something? I said-!"

Suddenly, her clenched fists began to tense up and shake. Through tears and gritted teeth, she growled, "Fucking coward! I won't let you push me around... I won't let things go the way you expect them to! I won't-"

Swoosh. Thunk.

The man that was restraining Jin began to lose his grip, then his entire body fell limp, collapsing onto the sewer floors.

Click. Somewhere, someone had just reloaded a weapon. Sticking out of the assassin's neck was a navy-blue crossbow bolt.

Morana gasped, looking around the room in a confused panic. Belladonna was rightfully furious. "What the hell?!" she snarled, looking in vain for the source of the projectile. "Where- you brought more- where are-?!" she was angrily stumbling over her words in an attempt to make heads or tails of the situation. Her and her men looked around in all directions with their weapons held close.

"Right here, dumbass."

The decidedly unenthused voice came from a figure emerging out of the ground, slicing one of the men's necks with a deep blue katar!

Morana was as confused as she was relieved. She hardly had a chance to get a good look at the brown-haired man who appeared from seemingly nowhere before the sniper revealed himself – a very feminine looking male with silken pink hair strode forth, and next to him, a heavily-armored knight brandishing a wide, green blade. She recognized all three the moment she got a good look – The Mudkips guild!

Kindon grabbed the last remaining assassin in a headlock. "He's a slippery one! Kite, where do you wanna shoot him?"

"Wish it could be his balls, but I don't think this bastard has any." echoed his heavy English accent. He opted for the neck once again, loosing a bolt into the struggling body. Kindon laid the limp figure on the ground and dusted his hands.

"My, my, Kite! You haven't changed a bit from our Halo days. Nice shot!" complimented Mantine. "Now could one of you girls explain what the hell this little outfit's all about? We came down here to beat the boss, so you can bet your ass we don't have time for a group of weaklings who have to take hostages because they can't fight for shit."

"Seriously, a little girl?" Kindon chimed. "I'm desensitized to a lot of shit, but how bad do you have to beat this game to resort to that?"

Mantine took a closer look at just who his guild was rescuing. "...Morana? Jeez, of all the people that need our help, you're the last person I would've thought of. Just what did you get yourself into?"

"It's a long story... hey, I thought you left the Mudkips! What gives?" she asked, vividly replaying the events of the show he put on when they first met.

Mantine smiled. "And leave these two homies all by their lonesome? I wouldn't dare!"

"YOU!" roared Belladonna, pointing her sword at the Mudkips. "Who do you think you are interrupting a big score like this?! I'll- I'll-"

"No, go on." taunted Kindon. "Tell the three of us what the one of you is going to do, lady."

As he said this, Belladonna's men started to come to, weakly forcing themselves to their feet. She looked dumbfounded.

"Let me guess, your next line is, 'What? I thought you killed them!'" Kite teased, reading the look on the woman's face perfectly.

"I- I thought you killed them!" she said, before catching herself with a gasp.

Mantine shook his head. "Mmm-mmm. Numbing poison. Sorta acts like a tranquilizer. Maybe if you'd spent more time learning basic game mechanics and less time fuckin' around, you might know that the hunter and assassin classes both get access to that skill fairly early on."

He stepped toward the purple-haired lady, his walk retaining that same swagger from when he confronted Saffron. "That's good, though! Now they can be awake for my next lesson. My pals are a little tired from having to put you in your place, and I want my turn."

Belladonna grew more furious with each word out of the blue-haired knight's mouth. "Just what are you getting at, boy?!"

"Do I really have to spell it out? When your three goons recover from the poison, I want to fight them. I'll even give them the first shot, knight's honor! Hell, you can join in too if you want!" he said, drawing his forest-green sword.

The player-killer was beyond enraged at this point, seething at the idea that one man would challenge her guild. "The audacity! No one, and I mean no one disrespects Night Shade and lives to tell about it! Make him suffer!"

Now fully recovered, the three assassins rushed Mantine down and began a relentless assault with their katars. Each slash and stab dug into the plating of his armor, leaving behind glowing cuts that indicated damage.

...but the knight didn't budge, nor did he make the slightest attempt to retaliate. He stood idle, drew a long breath, and let it out as a sigh. "Have you noticed it yet?"

Kite and Kindon looked on at the display, trying to hide their smiles. One of the reasons they had wanted Mantine to choose the knight class was that they were hoping they could show this off one day.

"I'll take that as a 'no'. Here's another basic game mechanic you should remember. Take a good look at my health bar. Not making much progress in killing me, huh?"

Indeed, the red meter above Mantine's head appeared not to have budged an inch! No, that wasn't it – each hit would indeed chip off a tiny sliver... but it was refilling itself completely after every few attacks!

"Let me elucidate you. I'm about four levels higher than your friends here. Normally, that wouldn't make a huge difference, but that's the beauty of the knight class. We have the most health and defense out of any class, and we're just full of other surprises. My regenerative abilities, combined with the set effect of my armor, give me back more health than I know what to do with, and the armor itself is so strong that each of your attacks won't do enough to matter, even with your impressive attack speeds. Long story short, you could stand here and strike me all day, and you'd sooner break your own weapons than do anything to me. I'm basically-"

"Mantine!" yelled Kite, interrupting his friend's long-winded boast. "Cut it out, wouldja?"

Kindon agreed wholeheartedly. "Yeah, quit playing with your food! I'm dying of boredom over here..."

The three men ceased their futile attacks. They all gave off frustrated grumbles, trying to think of a way to turn the situation back in their favor. One of them eyed Jin up, but Mantine and the others caught on quick.

"Don't try it..." he warned, but one of them made a desperate sprint toward the girl!

"...weapon...CRASHER!" roared Mantine, swinging his sword in a heavy, wide arc! In a flash, all three assassins' weapons clattered onto the ground; he'd disarmed them! "Give up. You really don't want to see what happens when we fight back. Indeed, Kite had his crossbow trained on Belladonna and her men, and Kindon was ready to sink back into the shadows at a moment's notice. Morana too was prepared to fight, her staff set aglow with power.

Still absolutely fuming, Belladonna took a long look at Mantine, noting the color of his hair and armor. "No way... it's inconceivable! You?! A mere child is the Azure Knight I keep hearing about?!"

Mantine rolled his eyes, accompanied by a chorus of exasperated sighs from his guildmates. "A few things, lady." he began in an annoyed tone. "One, the 'kid' stuff has gotta stop. I'm turning eighteen this year, dammit!"

"Someone's defensive." Kindin remarked slyly, snickering to himself.

"...Anyways... For that matter, how old are you? I know it's rude to ask a woman her age, but seriously, you talk like a cartoon villain. I wasn't gonna say anything at first, but holy shit, lady. Drop the act."

The woman in violet crossed her arms. "So, now what? Are you gonna finish us off? Huh, big bad Azure Knight?"

Mantine shook his head. "That's not how I roll. Besides, my character would lose green player status, and I'd like to play this game for real someday, once this whole mess is resolved."

She couldn't help but recoil a little. "You're insane!"

"...you're one to talk. Get lost, wouldja?" he commanded, gesturing away with his hand.

"Figures." scoffed Belladonna. "Can't even finish what you started. What's the matter? Haven't the stones to go through with it?"

"Actually, I have an idea." interjected Morana, stepping toward the two. "Since it was originally your intention to steal from us, how about you give her all your gold?"

She pointed over to Jin, still kneeling on the ground, observing in silence.

"He-eyyy! I like the way this girl thinks!" complimented Mantine.

Morana opened a trade window. "Consider it compensation for traumatizing her." her tone grew colder.

"Most of it was probably stolen, anyway!" added Kindon. "Who am I kidding, these goons probably didn't earn any of it!"

Begrudgingly, each member of Night Shade forfeited their money over to Morana. One by one, they wordlessly exited the scene with their teleport crystals. All together, it was less than she'd expected, but right now it felt like a million. As the cleric approached Jin to hand her the spoils, the Mudkips all introduced themselves to her. Now that she'd calmed down, it was as good a time as any to catch up.

"It's a good thing we decided to get off our asses and hunt for the boss down here. We heard people talking, and then somebody screamed!" explained Mantine.

Kite nodded. "We could tell somethin' was dodgy... then we heard what that bitch was sayin', and, well, no choice but to fight. I'm just glad we saw them before they saw us!"

"I'm tellin' you guys," said Kindon, patting Kite on the back, "even in a video game, he's got the eyes of a cat!"

As they laughed, Mantine noticed the item Jin was holding. "Speaking of animals... I'm guessing you aim to revive your pet, eh? Those assholes wasted more time than they were worth, but if we book it, we should be able to take down the boss. Looks like they led us straight to it." he said, pointing to the crackling portal.

Kite loaded his crossbow. "Then what are we standin' around for?! Let's waste the good doctor!"

"I'm down for that... but you really think the three of us could do it? The last time we fought a boss, we had that whole big group... musta been like two dozen of us!" Mantine said, replaying the events of the encounter with Hookah in his head.

He felt Kite's hand on his shoulder, and looked over to see a determined smile. "That was ages ago! We're stronger than two... three dozen now!"

"Yeah, Mantine." chimed Kindon. "We've got this!"

"Let me come along!" they jumped slightly and turned around to see Morana preparing a buff spell. "I've seen the way you guys fight. It gets shit done, but you're reckless. With my healing, you might just be able to get away with such an am-... er, unique playstyle." she said, winking.

"You've done more than enough... don't you need to stay behind and guard Jin while we're gone?" Mantine and the others were understandably worried.

"I'm not scared! Let me come in too... I know the five of us can do it!" Jin protested, standing up and readying her crossbow.

The others all shot her unsure looks. "Are you sure? We can wait til you-" asked Morana before the girl protested further.

"Plenty sure! Just keep the enemy off of me and I'll peg his ugly head!" she proclaimed, giving a thumbs-up. "I'm fighting for Tocino, so I can't lose!"

After the final preparations were made, the five brave warriors all entered the portal with their resolves stronger than ever. On the other side was a laboratory, thoroughly wrecked and ransacked, with all sorts of cliché set pieces; cracked test tubes, tesla coils and nodes emitting sparks in erratic patterns, syringes scattered about, and animals suspended in some unknown liquid in tubes, which Mantine compared to "that one really weird level in Kirby."

Hunched over the work bench was a middle-aged man in a labcoat and rubber boots, with goggles that were far too tight around his head, which sported balding black hair and a scraggly mustache and beard. With erratic, jerky movements, he turned around to face the group and began to panic. He frantically searched around the desk until he found one of the syringes, fumbling with it a bit before he was able to tie off his arm with a belt and inject it! Within seconds, his clothes began to rip as his body swelled into a mass of rippling muscle! Complete with dark green skin, Doctor Farrell had hulked out! He ripped a tank of green liquid from the wall and attached it to his back, then came charging at the heroes!

The battle that ensued was as much of a test of skill as it was one of patience! The crazed doctor thrashed about the room, picking up anything he could find to throw at his aggressors! Mantine and Kindon spent most of the fight drawing his attention and delivering fierce melee combos – and Kindon found out the hard way that this boss was immune to the numbing poison! Farrell hit hard with those flailing fists, relegating Morana to full healing duties, keeping Mantine and Kindon alive through the onslaught!

Jin took notes from Kite, and the two pelted away with their crossbows until his back was riddled with bolts all over! They learned early on that to do any real damage, they'd have to destroy the fluid tank on his back, and this is where patience played a part; he'd rip another tank from the wall, and they weren't targetable until fully attached. Regardless, after enough shattered glass and holes in the walls, the mad doctor was felled at last! Just as they had hoped, his body, dissolving from the liquid, left behind a large crimson gem.

Ecstatic, Jin sprinted toward the reward, and after a bit of fiddling with the menu, was indeed able to use it with the remains of her pig, bringing it back to life! Joyful tears streamed down her face as she held the small pink creature close. "Oh, Tocino! I missed you, oh, how I missed you! Let's get strong together so I don't have to worry about you again!"

The others let her have her moment, looking on with smiles at the adorable sight. Jin, and the thieves who accosted her, were clear examples of opposite sides of the spectrum of kindness.

Hearing what she said about getting stronger, Kite offered Jin, as well as Morana, to join the Mudkips. While Jin gleefully accepted the offer, Morana politely declined, insisting that she didn't want to commit to a guild right now and had things to do on her own. With the rest of the spoils from the boss in tow, the players returned topside, turned in their quests, and immediately set off to find their next objective, whatever it might be.

Today, the Mudkips guild was instilled with the feeling that they could accomplish anything. What the Guardian Force had in number, they lacked in coordination and fostering player relationships, and as more people began to understand that, they became easier to recruit. Even better, Mantine himself had finally caught up to his friends in level, and was readier than ever to liberate Dragon Saga Online with his guildmates. For now, it seemed that nothing could stop them, but what were the chances that any of them were fully prepared for what the future held...?

Keep fighting for our liberation, Mudkips guild! ~