Kirito, Level-16, with proficiency points in One-Handed Swords, Blacksmithing, Carpentry, Woodworking, Stoneworking, and Beast-Taming; skill points in Brawn.

Alice, Level-15. with proficiency points in Bastard Swords, Pottery, Weaving, and Tailoring; skill points in Brawn.

Jaymes, Level-15, with proficiency points in Riding, Woodworking, Night-Vision, and Stoneworking; skill points in Brawn, Toughness, and Sagacity.

Philia, Level-8, with proficiency points in Thief, Woodworking, and Stoneworking; skill points in Swiftness.

That's the current outlook for my party of four that travels south along the river to the starting point for ALO players, the Stiss Ruins, where we're to meet up with Argo the Rat. Alice and Kirito run ahead while Philia and I converse and lag behind. The conversation we're having is not one I want to fall on the ears of Kirito, though it is only because Philia tagged along that I can speak the inner workings of my mind.

Namely, the strange appearance of a classmate of Philia's, Shimiki Kamura.

"Kamura...well, I can tell you that she's gorgeous and popular in our room. Her dark hair, slender frame, and mysterious nature make her very attractive. Out of your league, if I may say so yourself."

"And what is my league, Kotone?"

She shrugs. "I don't know. You seem to select whichever one fills a gap in your life. That's terribly pathetic when it's said out loud, but it's true."

I can't take the stabbing truth to my heart right now. It hurts more with the fact that Kotone used to bear feelings for me while I dated Rika. I regret asking that question and continue with the original topic. "So, in class, there's nothing weird about her?"

"Nothing. Granted, it's only been two days. I may need a week before I sense any change of attitude. But knowing the full story, what you've learned from Kikuoka, it does seem suspicious. I, too, felt it was weird that she transferred there so late in her high school career with her credits, and to the SAO school at that. But knowing the Kamura company is doing something shady... What's your take on it?"

I close my eyes and think things through. At the SAO Survivor School, the names "Kirito," "Asuna," "Jaymes," "Koharu," and "Lisbeth" are well-known; the four of us as renowned frontier players and Liz was a popular blacksmith and the first legitimate one. "Silica" and "Philia" have their fan clubs, sure. But besides that, no one at the school - and I say that without truly investigating - has ever come after us harmfully. Far as I can tell, Laughing Coffin hasn't infiltrated the school (it did at Shino's, though that's purely circumstantial), and in the last year and a half, our other adventures in ALO, GGO, and SA:O haven't gained us greater notoriety. As a matter of fact, Koharu's admission into the school after the summer break was the only time since school began that we were in the limelight.

As far as I know, Shikimi is not an SAO survivor. Her attendance at the school doesn't prove it, as Argo didn't attend until yesterday; my friends from SAO, Sanya, Liten, and Shivata, are still in school but don't attend ours; Rain doesn't attend high school at all as her idol career has had a successful start the last year and a half.

So to answer Philia's question... "I don't know. I just have a Sugou-like feeling all over again. Maybe I'm wrong, but too many times, the one to do us harm has been someone we've known right there at our side. Laughing Coffin, Heathcliff, Itsuki, Pitohui... even Eydis and Medina. It's been too many times."

My list of names is few and does not correlate except for the fact they've turned out to be traitors. Granted, only Itsuki betrayed me of his own volition. Kayaba meant to hide as Heathcliff until the hundredth floor, but Kirito ousted him. Laughing Coffin blended in with the frontier guilds; the time with Morte, I forgot his name and had no prior encounters with him. Pitohui technically didn't betray me; she did as she wanted in the second Squad Jam and played along with the special rules of the third Squad Jam. Medina was manipulated into betraying me and the ACTF by Hersyrian, her ancestor. Eydis was manipulated and turned by Primus, one of the first fluctlights of the Underworld.

The fact is, those who've done harm to us, more often than not, have been in close proximity. All of them, and let me add Suguo, Eiji, and Tia to that list, are people we've known about before whatever harm occurs. All I can say about Shikimi is that she's in Philia's class. She introduced herself to Asuna and me as the companies our families are associated with are technological competitors.

"For now, all I feel is that there's a connection between the company she'll inherit and her presence, and Argo's, at our school. I don't believe Unital Ring is part of it, nor the Underworld's trouble. At least...not now."

"You have a point." Philia blows her black bangs out of her face with an annoyed expression. "Well, if you want me to, I'll watch her. See what happens over the next few days. But you'll owe another favor."

I wave my hand in the air, brushing aside her worries. "An avocado croissant and a cold tea tomorrow satisfy you? And whatever rare doodad I find here in UR?"

Her face beams. "Hehe, you know me well."

Eventually, we come out of the dark Great Zelletelio Forest to the dark Giyoru Savanna, just off its eastern edge. What was once a rocky, compact bank along the river has become grassy and hilly. More likely than not, we crossed this path last night with the others and the Patter. I turn to Kirito, watching him feed Kuro the panther, and listen to him murmur, "If only we had a boat..."

"Can't you build one?" Alice inquires.

"Huh? A boat?"

"Not some majestic sailboat, but surely you could manage a canoe."

"...Good point."

"A canoe, huh?" I smirk reminiscently at the thought of a boat built by Kirito and me. We were with a different set of girls, Koharu, Mito, and Asuna, with a similar reason to build a boat. Back then, because the fourth floor of SAO was a river-filled level, we accidentally stumbled upon the quest to create our gondola. I remember the night vividly, for it was because of Asuna and Koharu's stubbornness to create the best boat possible. I don't know whose idea was to name it the Tilnel, after the dark elven warrior and our friend Kizmel's deceased sister, but that's what our little white four-seater boat was called. It could hold five people; Kirito, as the oarsman, didn't count as a seated person.

Kirito found the recipe for a canoe, and we got to work. It required one saw thick log, two sawed logs, ten thin ropes, twenty iron nails, and two bottles of linseed oil. The logs and ropes were easily attainable from the environment, as there were plenty of grass and trees, and Kirito had some in his inventory. He has three bottles of linseed and seventeen nails. Alice, myself, and I had nothing.

Alice had a chair, and Kirito had the Carpentry skill, so after dismantling the Fine Evergreen Oak Round Chair, we got the three nails necessary for the recipe. At that point, I asked Alice and Philia to gather and create more ropes while Kirito and I went tree hunting for a thick-sized tree. We figured it had to be something thicker than the spiral pines around Kirito Town (we need to change that name tonight!) and find one a couple of minutes later back in the forest.

It has board leaves and is about five feet in the horizontal plane. Kirito taps on the smooth bark, which pulls up its name, Aged Zelle Teak. "...Ohhh... Zelle, as in Zelletelio Forest."

"It looks large enough, probably rare too." I draw a ring shape in the air to project my menu and scroll over to bring up the map. Acknowledging my position on the map, I press down until a sub-menu pops up with various icons. I pick the tree icon and place it on the map. Kirito looks at me in confusion. "What?"

"What did you do?"

"I marked this spot on the map... You didn't know about that?"

"N-no. How did you find out?"

"I marked the location of the Ornith Village as we were leaving yesterday. That's how." While he fumbles with that, I take the metal cylinder off my waist and ignite the photon sword. Meanwhile, I step over to the Aged Zelle Teak and take the front-to-back stance for Horizontal. Thankfully, the SAO/ALO/SA:O versions of sword skills are mostly unchanged from the GGO versions (and after learning about the unique effect of Kirito and Asuna's cabin, I can confirm the GGO sword skills work), so Horizontal has the same pre-motion. I lower my center of gravity just a bit, then slashes at the tree trunk. A trail of blue light cuts through the tree with a smooth fwoosh! before coming to a stop about a foot into the trunk.

I didn't cut down any trees yesterday, but I knew the mechanics from my days in SAO, GGO, and the Underworld. I did do a small incision yesterday to test whether a photon sword could damage a tree and how effective it would be compared to a steel sword. Turns out the plasma beam does more hurt, evident by the disintegration of the tree's inside as I slowly grind through the cut. But this'll go quicker if I hack at the cut instead. "This is gonna take a minute," I tell Kirito. "Mind getting the other side?"

He grabs his sword and nods. "Don't mind if I do."

Some minutes later, materials were collected and crafted into a sixteen-foot long, three-foot wide canoe. Without a word between us, Kirito mans the oars and I the bow, allowing the girls to occupy the middle. Kuro joins me at the bow, growling adventurously as Kirito seats the canoe on its maiden journey.

"That's right, SAO had boats as well," Philia remembers. "Only on the fourth floor, though, right?"

"Yeah. It was the only floor where traveling on the water was preferable to walking. The alternative was the donut tubes we found near the staircase gate. Kirito, remember that?"

He chuckles. "Yeah. The fourth floor was a canyon in the beta, so Jaymes and I were dumbfounded by the water. And using the donut tubes, we, Asuna, and Koharu swam down to the main city. We even got chased by a monster that was nothing more than a fish, but the dorsal fin was all we could see until we got to land."

While Philia seems fascinated by the story, Alice looks between Kirito and me with an unimpressed glare. "Reckless as always, even drawing Asuna and Koharu into your foolishness. You even got them wet. They could have drowned..."

"Hey," I respond, noticing a certain level of bias in her words, "Kirito and I could have drowned too. I mean, I get him, but without me, Koharu and Asuna would be... Well, I guess Koharu would have survived no matter what. But not the Underworld."

"Speaking of which," Alice says while glossing over the previous subject, "what is it that Dr. Koujiro wanted with you?"

"Huh..." Kirito blanks for a moment, then the lightbulb turns on. "Ah, right... Dr. Koujiro was just sending along a message from someone else, actually."

"Aha... I had a feeling that was the case. It was Kikuoka who summoned you, wasn't it?"

Alice's low tone and her facial expression imply she doesn't like Kikuoka that much, which is understandable. I also have reservations about him, but my father trusts him, and he saved Koharu. "Anyway, is that why you came, Alice?"

"That's not the only reason," she says crossly to me. "So...what did Kikuoka say?"

Kirito hesitates to answer Alice for whatever reason besides the one I can think of; Philia being here. He doesn't know I told her I met with Kikuoka today after lunch as part of the discussion about Kamura being involved in that meeting. She doesn't know about the Underworld's involvement in the meeting, but I have no plan to hide it from her. I clear my throat and announce the news. "Someone, somewhere, has entered the Underworld outside of Rath."

Alice's eyes widen, and her body rises slightly from her seat. "And intruder? Who is it?"

"Total mystery. He said there's no way to investigate from the real world."

"...I wonder why Dr. Koujiro did not tell me."

"Same reason Jaymes wasn't told. She knew you'd dive-bomb right in at the first chance."

"It is only recently that I learned your slang term dive-bomb does not necessarily refer to an aerial bombardment technique... Yes, I cannot deny it. I suppose I might have a tendency to bristle and lose myself in anger faster than others."

"You might?" I say out loud accidentally. I continue my statement purposely. "You do remember the headaches you caused me when you got angry with Medina?"

Alice's glare at me intensifies, and I think I see her sword hand twitch. "And people wonder why we don't get along."

"Look," Kirito says to keep the peace, "I know how it feels not to be able to sit still in an emergency. But it's completely impossible to find a single individual hiding in the Underworld if you don't have a plan for it. You know that."

"So they're just going to be left on their own?"

"Not at all. Kikuoka called me up to ask us to dive into the Underworld, actually."

"If you're going, then I would also-"

"Yes, we know," I stop her with a raised hand, knowing her request. "You will accompany us. That was the only way Kirito agreed to come along. Don't blame Dr. Koujiro for not telling you about the intruder. She's thinking of our safety above all else."

Alice nods her head. "I understand. She is one of the people in the real world whom I trust the most."

"Uh...am I one of them, too?"

"Questions like that are what lowers one's trust in you," answers a highly annoyed Alice to Kirito's question. She follows up with a question of her own. "Was I the only person you asked to take along?"

"No, I...uh...also asked for Asuna."

"I had a feeling." As good as I am at reading girls' faces, especially when it comes to guys, I can't read Alice's. As someone who had to navigate the feelings of at least two girls simultaneously nowadays, I don't believe she harbors any romantic feelings for Kirito, just a high level of respect and friendship. Of course, that doesn't mean she likes spending time with Kirito with Asuna around, just as I enjoy Sinon's company without the others.

When I think the conversation is over, Alice faces me with a somewhat warmer expression. "What about Koharu? Is she not coming?"

I shake my head. "No, I don't plan on involving Koharu in this. The only reason I agreed to Asuna is that she's already involved with the Underworld...and that excuse fell apart right as I said it. Anyway, I don't want her to know anything more than whatever I may or may not say to her. Besides, Kureha is coming."

"Oh?" Alice lights up at that. She and Momiji have been getting along better than I expected, which is more than I can say for my rocky relationship with Alice. We did not see eye to eye many times in our early days. "I was sure you'd bring Koharu along, but if that's the case, there's nothing to worry about. At the very least, there's someone to keep you in line."

I want to debate that Kureha's presence doesn't mean I won't act irrationally, but I can't deny that. There's only one woman I'm afraid of pissing off: Kureha.

I wish I could report we made it to the Stiss Ruins without trouble, but that's never the case with us.

While we talked about the Underworld, and even a little bit after the conversation died, it didn't cross our minds that our visibility is so low that we should be aware of any potential danger. It shames me as someone who always expects danger at every corner to say I was distracted alongside Philia in looking for the fallen castle of Aincrad. I mean, can you blame me? I missed out on seeing it fall out of the sky, and I am one of five people who completed a questline long ago to "prevent" that from happening, and not too long ago, witnessed its birth. To bear witness to the Forest Elves of Old Aincrad's goal to return the castle to the land below accomplished, albeit in a different manner, would have been interesting.

So yeah, because we were all doing our own thing, our canoe fell down a waterfall. We survived and trekked across the plains that begged to stoke the memories of the fields of Aincrad's first floor.

Overpowered by the low-leveled bunnies and snails, we players and the panther each leveled up. I almost decided to spend one of my two ability points after hearing Kirito and Alice speak about her abilities (she's already at tier-4 abilities!) but I decided to splurge later on. The rewards were unremarkable, and until we came up to the meeting spot, we faced no trouble I was confident we'll be fine here on the outskirts of the Stiss Ruins.

The next bit of trouble came after we arrived at the meeting spot, in the form of an annoying specter. Like ALO, we could barely damage it with our swords, metallic or photon, and the general weaknesses to ghosts were unavailable to us at the moment. Kirito can't wield the holy sword Excalibur, Yui has the only fire magic spell in our possession, and no one has light magic. Worse, it was a boss monster, for its name was in English (if English naming is the rule for bosses, like Goliath Rana's). At one point, it touches both Philia and Kirito, inflicting them with a freeze debuff.

We're lucky we beat it for two reasons: Argo came with some fire from a torch. Kirito grabbed it, oiled up his sword, and ignited it, doing heavy fire damage. Argo finished it off by stabbing the bastard with the torch.

Anyway, that ordeal was over, but my earlier instinct to not get involved with anything Argo-related turned out to be true. As we recovered, I face my old friend, noticing she looks younger than she does at school and had a familiar yet unwhiskered face. We've encountered Argo many times over the last year, starting with me reuniting with her in GGO for some help and as a whole in SA:O earlier this year. Despite the similar appearances to her GGO and SA:O likenesses, she doesn't look this young. Turns out Argo used her old account from SAO for the first time instead of creating a new avatar like in the past. While ALO is out of commission, the conversion of SAO character data to ALO still works. She didn't get to choose a fairy race before being dumped into UR, so what we're looking at is the Argo I met that fateful day four years ago.

It bothers me greatly, but not as much as Argo not doing her homework for once.

The willow tree we met at is actually a safe spot, provided no one has the associated questline "The Ancient Spirit's Curse (Rec. Level-20)" in the vicinity. Argo had arrived here minutes before we did, but then the grave the wraith appeared from started to glow. She tried to retreat back to the ruins and message us to change meeting locations, but that's when we arrived and activated the boss fight.

"Aha...so having the quest meant you activated the grave, and we must have fulfilled some requirement for the wraith to appear. What was the criteria?"

"Apparently, it was that you had to have a silver item materialized on your person."

"Huh? Silver?" Kirito checks his pockets and pouches. "There's nothing like that on me."

"Same here," Alice announces, and Philia shakes her head. I was about to voice the same thing, then a circular object in one of my pockets brushes against my finger. I internally curse my luck and pull out the silver hundred el coin Sinon and I found in that chest in the cave we hid out in. She gave it to me before we left town, instructing me to spend it solely on musket ammunition and gunpowder. If I spent it on anything else, I'll regret it for the rest of my life.

I would brush it aside as nothing more than her trying to be tough in front of me, but if I die here, my avatar's gone for good.