AN: Truth is, I had this chapter finished only four days after I published Chapter 7. But I wanted to have some more time to polish it. Go figure, I underestimated how prepared I would be. But I'm confident that I need the extra week per chapter. I may publish new chapters early if I'm really confident that they're finished to the standards I wish to uphold.

December 4th, 2022 – 11:45AM AST. Minutes after the second floor of Aincrad was opened.

No other kind of air could be described as 'crispy', than from a mountainous region. And no clearer establishment stood for this floor being mountain-based, than its main settlement, Urbus – having been carved into the flat top of a mountain. The BGM NPCs in this town played oboes, giving this floor a more wistful tone compared to the calm, stringy music of the first floor. The NPCs also had a different style of clothing.

I had to recall that from the beta for the time being, as I saw a trio of dots shooting away from the west gate. Since I was headed in that general direction anyway, and had no real obligation to go to Urbus just yet, I decided to follow. Then, another figure came into my view ahead of me, behind the other three – a figure that I quickly realized was Kirito, from his new coat. Perfect, that meant we'd make it back from here; the cattle monsters in this western savannah pushed the recommendation for this area to a level above my own – even though Illfang's XP yield had lifted me to Level 12.

At that level, I had my fourth skill slot, but I wasn't ready to assign something to it yet. In my other three slots, I had «One-Handed Sword», «One-Handed Curved Blade», and «Blade Throwing». And I was mainly aiming to level the latter two skills.

I followed Kirito up the rockface of the canyon we entered, while the other figures continued their way through it. I crawled along a flat ledge, upon which the boy ahead noticed me as I shuffled up beside him. He hastily shushed me and pointed to the figures in the canyon.

One of them spoke up as we observed the argument below. "…As we said, we will pay the asking price and be grateful for your service! Just sell us the information on this floor's special quest that grants the Extra Skill!"

There was a particular quirk Kirito had paid attention to in one of the three – the painted mouse whiskers of Argo the Rat. It was her defining trait alongside her masculine speech pattern, and her inflection when speaking. She was the broker from whom the two other players were asking for information on a quest.

Kirito had been trying for the last month to figure out the whiskers. But she would charge the boy upwards of 100,000 Cor for it. I knew – and not through Argo herself – but I figured that I would amuse myself watching the kid struggle as an awkward teen male gamer.

One of the other players spoke. "We are not backing down – not today, you see!"

The other boy spoke too. "That Extra Skill is necessary for us to complete our characters, you see!"

…Players were still trying to maintain a persona when their lives depended on optimal play? And I thought I was autistic, before I had CBD. I stopped doing this in 2012 – and these voices were from grown men wanting to play characters. Not for TV, or for a movie, or anime, not even for a YouTube comedy sketch; but to roleplay… in a death game. No-one would be prepared, circumstantially or emotionally, for such an abstract form of entertainment in a life-or-death context.

"Who goes there?!" asked one as Kirito dropped down between the roleplayers and Argo.

The other continued the roleplay. "An interloper from an enemy province?!"

Kirito hesitated in his words as I slithered down the wall, just out of sight. "Oh! You're um, you're… Let's see, the… fu… Food? No, Fugue – no, not that either…"

"It is Fuma!"

The other roleplayer then backed up the one who answered. "We are Kotaro and Isuke of the Fuma Ninja Force!"

"Right! That was it!" Kirito snapped his fingers in recollection. These two were from a notorious beta guild – a collection of minmaxers and munchkins who invested attributes in nothing but Agility. The guild would arrive as a wall of Sonic the Hedgehog-esque Naruto-running weeaboos, then left when the situation overwhelmed them. Yes, it sounded odd describing Japanese people as weeaboos, but that was only because there wasn't a term for fanaticism in one's own culture – or pop culture, in a context like this. Patriotism was more about fanaticism in the nation, rather than just culture, so the term wasn't applicable.

Anyway, Fuma Ninja Force – when they fled after being overwhelmed, most monsters pursuing the guild would often change target to nearer parties, earning them a reputation akin to that of griefers from the peak periods of Minecraft and Grand Theft Auto Online.

Kirito slid a finger down the hilt of his Anneal Blade. "As a spy for the shogun, I cannot overlook the wicked deeds of the Fuma."

"You Iga dog!" Oh, great. They got wooooshed. Instead of catching onto his joke, the two Kōga-ryū enthusiasts mistook him for a member of a rival ninjutsu school. I couldn't help but chuckle as the players reached for their scimitars – likely placeholders for ninja swords until something closer was accessible on later floors. The two glanced at me as I approached from behind Kirito.

"Oh, boy. What a show this is! Hell, I think I've watched this exact episode, on the last Saturday morning before the game launch."

My chuckle already got their attention, but my jab at their style drew it all in.

"We're not catering to your broadcasting schedule, Australian! Not once, has it been a cultural standard in Japan to air animated programming on a Saturday morning like you and the US!"

I shook my head and pointed behind them. "I'd worry less about our differing TV schedules, and instead the environment in which our debate takes place."

The ninjas turned to see a Trembling Ox – eight feet tall, with attack and defense stats made clear enough by its appearance, as well as a target range so large in time and distance, that there was no debate about the second floor being the 'wake-up floor' in the beta test.

The ox's roar prompted a unison scream from Kotaro and Isuke, as they took off back to town in a blur, with the ox in hot pursuit.

I shrugged as I approached Kirito and Argo. "I feel like that was some kind of gag from a Saturday morning show, too."

As I got close, I noticed why Kirito seemed to freeze – Argo's arms were wrapped around his upper stomach, and her face was buried in his back. I heard faint whispering from the cute little rodent, though I couldn't hear what she said. I could discern the tone, though – appreciative, and grateful.

She whispered something else, and Kirito's face changed slightly, to confusion. Watching this, I had begun to wonder if this was his first 'sudden' embrace by a non-family female. I couldn't blame his reaction, though – I had no self-esteem in my teen years, and thus would completely seize up when shown any amount of physical affection from a girl I was interested in. That quickly changed when I found myself living with the Harbinger family, however, among more than twenty girls of all ages.

Kirito's voice was audible enough for me to pick it up. "…You owe me one, remember? I can't have anything happening to you until you explain the reason for your whiskers."

I figured that he intended it as a joke, but then Argo pressed her face harder into his back.

"…Okay, I'll tell you. Just wait so I can get the paint off..."

"N-Never mind, I've got a better idea!" Why was he backing out? "How about you tell me the details for that hidden skill those guys were going on about?!"

I managed to hold back a chortle. Argo let go of him, and stepped in front of him, whiskers still there on her face. I thought I saw her mouth move, but Kirito didn't seem to react.

"Well, I said I'd tell you any one thing," the info broker explained, "And a deal's a deal. But you need to promise me something as well, Kii-boy. You can't blame me for what happens, no matter what!"

"You said the same thing to those ninjas earlier," Kirito reminded her, "What do you mean by that? Why would someone bear a grudge against you for selling information on an Extra Skill that almost everyone wants?"

I exhaled in amusement. "Look at that grin, Ki-bro – you know exactly what she's gonna say."

I broke out in laughter as Argo gave me an eye. "Okay, ha-haa…! That's a one-and-done. Promise."

In the literal sense, 'Kii-bou' translated to 'Little Kii'. But that was basically calling Kirito a small boy anyway, so Argo may as well have been saying 'Kii-boy' all along. My modification of it was intended to poke at him as my 'little brother', but that may have been encroaching on Argo's territory, as she had been referring to herself as his older sister – Onee-san in their language – for just about as long as she'd been calling him 'Kii-boy'.

"Alright, I promise," Kirito answered Argo, "Swear to God – I mean, swear to the system, no matter what happens, I won't hold it against you."

Argo led us on a route I'd travelled in the beta. Up the side of a flat-topped mountain, into a small cave, down an underground river like a water slide. We had three battles along the way, but with three of us, there was no concern.

"Nice metal claws, by the way," I commented to Argo as we walked, "I didn't realize how easy they can be to use."

"You have to get in close, though," Kirito sighed as he looked at the pair of bladed knuckle braces hanging at the Rat's waist – the reason she'd quipped to him every so often about her legs, at first.

"Don't worry, they get more useful from here and up." I wasn't spoiling too much, was I…?

The cool part of the claws, when I saw Kirito trying them in the beta, was that because they were fastened to the player's hands, they couldn't be dropped or pulled away. It would have been handy back in November, if we had taken Argo with us on «The Heifer Strikes Back», against the Weapon Dropper wielded by the Swamp Kobold Trapper.

After half an hour, the three of us reached a clearing by the east edge of the floor, surrounded by sheer rock walls, with a tree and a water spring accompanied by a small shed.

"…Is this it?" Kirito asked Argo, and she nodded. He walked up to the shed, trying to determine the degree of danger. I knew there was none.

The shed's door flew open, revealing some furniture and a large, bald, bearded elderly man – all muscle and bone, his head shiny and smooth. The NPC had a quest, as shown by the '?' symbol displayed over his head. Kirito looked back at Argo, and she nodded again.

"That's the NPC who gives you the Extra Skill, «Martial Arts»," she clarified as she glanced at my struggle to not react, "This is all I can tell you. It's up to you whether to accept the quest or not."

"M…Martial Arts?"

"In this context," I began to answer Kirito's confusion, "The term is being used as a catch-all for attacking with the avatar alone. Or, perhaps, with some augmenting attachments."

Kirito tilted his head at my latter statement. "Right… Anyway, that would be useful if your weapon breaks or you drop it, wouldn't it?"

I nodded. "Or when you don't have time to get a weapon out."

"Yeah. Unlike Meditation, that's actually useful. I can see why the ninjas wanted it." Kirito turned around to Argo after he spoke, and noticed her confusion. "People think ninjas use ninja blades and shuriken, but it's a bit different in video games. One good wrist chop at the neck, and the head just flies off. For whatever reason, that's been the pinnacle of any video game ninja's style for a while."

"That sounds like something they'd like," I answered with a nod, "Kotaro and Isuke wanted this skill just to round out their perfect image of a ninja."

Kirito placed his hand on his chin. "But in that case… If they knew where to find this place, how did they know it involved the skill or, for that matter, that you knew about it?"

Argo looked at me, then at Kirito, before answering.

"…At the very end of the beta, an NPC on the seventh floor mentioned a 'Martial Arts master on the second floor.' I'd found him long before that, of course, but I'm guessing the ninjas heard it from this fellow on the 7th floor. So, once I started getting into the strategy guide business here, they came to me for details on the Extra Skill."

The boy shrugged. "Then… why didn't you just say you didn't know?"

"Credibility is a powerful factor in sales," I cut him off, "Would you buy information from someone who was willing to lie?"

"So, you said you did, but you wouldn't sell it," Kirito began to summarize, "And you didn't sell it because you were afraid the buyer would blame you for it. Well, if you ask me, it seems like you've made more than a few enemies already…"

"Any grudge over information sold or bought only lasts three days," Argo shot back, "But this one's different! It could last a lifetime…" Her little frame shivered, and Kirito seemed to notice as I did.

"So, I guess I just have to find out what happens after this point for myself. Alright, you've got a deal. Whatever happens, I won't hold it against you."

The dark-coated swordsman walked into the shack and stood in front of the man, who had assumed a Zen position on a mat about half a minute prior.

"You want to follow my school?" asked the NPC.

"…That's right."

The bald man's head tilted up. "The road of training is long and fraught with peril."

"That's what I like to hear."

Upon Kirito's answer, the NPC stood up. Surprisingly, the quest icon was still present for me, even though it would have changed to a '!' in Kirito's vision. The martial artist walked Kirito to a massive boulder at the edge of his stone-lined garden. He patted the stone, six feet tall and five across, and stroked his beard.

"Your training is simple – split this stone with your two fists," he explained as the boy examined the rock in front of him, "If you succeed, I will teach you all of my secrets."

"Um… Time out." Kirito lightly tapped the rock. After a long time in the game, it was easy to tell an object's durability by its sensory texture. The boulder in front of him, as I'd felt in the beta, was that of a tier just slightly below an «Immortal Object» - the term used for indestructible props and other scenery in the game. Kirito looked like he thought it was impossible.

"You are not permitted to descend this mountain until you break the stone. I will put the sign upon you now."

As he spoke, the NPC's hands dove into his robe pockets, retrieving a small jar in his left, and a thick paintbrush in his right. His hand shot out with speed like that of Asuna's, as he dipped the tip of the brush into the pot, and made three thick strokes on both sides of Kirito's cheeks, similar to those featured on the face of The Rat beside me – the whiskers that he kept asking about.

"Wh-whaaa?!" Kirito shrieked pitifully and fell back. His glance met Argo's. I could tell she was trying not to laugh, behind her empathetic expression. He tried to futilely wipe the paint, but it dried faster than a frog's tongue catching a fly. The martial artist then spoke once more.

"That sign will not vanish until you break this rock and complete your training. I have faith in your potential, my apprentice."

The martial artist then returned to the shed, and inside, prepared to sit back down again, until he noticed me walking in. "Another student, already? That is, you are looking to learn here, right?"

"That's right."

"The road of training is long and fraught with peril."

I shrugged at the repeated dialogue. "Sounds good to me."

"One moment, please."

I stepped out of the shed after his response, as the quest icon changed accordingly, and he then closed the door. I glanced back at Argo, who seemed intrigued that I would immediately take the quest right after.

"You'll have to note down that this quest has no cooldown."

The Rat nodded, and opened her menu. When she was done, the NPC came out of the shack, with rope tightly gripped in his hands and slung over his shoulder. He dragged out another boulder, just like the one already in the garden, and once it was out of the shed, he lifted it onto his back and carried it to a spot beside Kirito's rock. I followed him up, and he dropped this boulder in a shallow, three-inch-deep pit where the rock fit perfectly.

"Your training is simple – split this stone with your two fists," he repeated, no vocal command available to skip dialogue, "If you succeed, I will teach you all of my secrets."

Kirito looked back at me. "You're doing it too? After what just happened?"

"Why not?"

The NPC glanced at Kirito, and then turned to me again. "You are not permitted to descend this mountain until you break the stone. I will put the sign upon you, now."

"So, Argo, you really couldn't do this one in the beta?" I asked as the master took out his brush and pot once more, "To the point that you developed a 'rat' persona, and painted yourself again?"

She tilted her head as she approached us. "Ya saying you can do it, SAUER?"

I chuckled at the ticklish feeling of the brush. "What do you think, Kirito? Not only have you got an Extra Skill, but you know about her whiskers, too."

He looked to Argo. "I think the important question is, did he give me the whiskers he gave you?"

"Hmm… They're not the same."

Kirito looked at me as my whiskers dried, and then to her again. "Wh-what are they like?"

Argo stared for a few more second to get her answer. "If I had to describe you in one word, it would be… Kiriemon."

His simple question broke her, as she then fell to the ground, flailing her feet and screeching with laughter at her own comparison. Kirito looked as if he wasn't going to hate her, but he knew that a ton of other players would have. I could only see him from the corner of my eye, as I was focusing most of my attention on my rock, but I could still see how he felt as Argo continued to laugh.

"There it is…!"

The sound of stone shattering rang past Argo and prompted her to immediately sit up. There, she could see in front of me, two vertically-split halves of the boulder I was tasked with breaking.

I turned to see her expression, as I walked up to the pond, and wiped my whiskers away. It was my turn to be smug, as I walked back to her with a clear face.

"But… But I was there for weeks…!"

"I was here for roughly 70 hours," I exhaled as I pointed at Kirito's rock, "To mimic the realism of a stone in real life, this particular boulder object is spawned with a slice through it, and then the two halves are held together with an invisible trigger, hidden somewhere on the surface. It runs a check when hit, to make sure it's been hit the right way. If it is, the tether trigger deletes itself, letting the halves fall away from each other. …At least, that's how I would interpret the programming."

I then watched Kirito start patting around the rock, as if that would help. "The process is probably repeated a couple of times to allow more than one correct spot to hit it, like on real rocks."

I assigned the skill to the fourth slot which I had left open specifically for it, and then took off back toward Urbus, which was no-doubt well populated with players by this time – especially since the game placed Teleport Gates in the plaza of each floor's major settlement, allowing some players a way up to the second floor straight from the Town of Beginnings.

I knew Kirito would eventually finish the quest, and that Argo would go for it again. But for now, I used each battle from there back to Urbus, to train up my new Martial Arts skill. Once I got to town and actually entered this time, I checked my friend list to see if Lisbeth had moved up. After she answered that she had, I found her around 13:00.

"Hey! Welcome to the second floor," I called to her as I approached, "Getting busy all of a sudden, isn't it?"

Lisbeth smiled and leaned her elbow on her anvil. "You're telling me. But it means business."

I chuckled softly. "I can't imagine you have much to offer this soon. Sure, you started with reforging bronze back in Horunka so we could beat the first-floor Field Boss, but I wouldn't have expected you to have much of any time to yourself. No materials of your own to practice with, no opportunity to forge something original outside of a commission…"

"Well, you're here for something, aren't you?"

I grinned and handed her another Wind Fleuret. "At Level 12, you have four Skill Slots, don't you?"

"Uh-huh," she answered as she looked at the rapier, "I have «Slash Weapon Forging», «Heavy Metal Armor Forging», «Metal Refining», and «Thrust Weapon Forging»."

"Ahh, damn," I sighed taking my weapon back, "Do you know anyone who took «Thrown Weapon Forging» at all?"

"You're asking about 180 degrees off in direction."

I turned around to see Sarako, with four boys and another girl – a full party of six.

"Which of your guys has it, and why?"

Sarako cackled at my question, and pointed to the new pair in her party. "They can answer you on their own, if they would please do so."

The two stepped forward, with matching color shirts and pants, along with fiery orange hair. It was scruffy and Klein-like for the boy, while the girl's hair was shoulder-length. Twins…?

"What're you looking for, SAUER?" asked the girl.

I flinched at her hasty speech. "I need someone with both «Thrown Weapon Forging», and «Slash Weapon Forging», for composite crafting."

"My brother Kahn can do that. I'm Koishi."

"Lisbeth, was it?" Kahn asked of the smith I initially approached, "I've heard good things. Could you melt down his Wind Fleuret while I roll out my carpet?"

"Oh, uh, sure. Those small carpets are cramped, though, aren't they?"

Kahn chuckled as he took his Vendor's Carpet off his back, and set it down beside Lisbeth's, as I handed her the rapier again. I then turned to Koishi.

"So, how did you two find yourselves with Sarako?"

"Oh, there's no shame in either of us," the sister smirked as Kahn laughed, "And we knew a good leader helps their pack grow, and we wanted to grow."

I nodded with a smile. "She's a responsible leader, I know that. What drives you forward?"

"Nothin' but the old warrior spirit," Kahn answered from behind me, "We Scots don't quite hold up our honour to the standards of the Japanese, but we still want to make our ancestors proud!"

"Scottish," I commented absentmindedly in English, "What brought you to Japan?"

"Our gran's from Kyoto," Koishi answered in English, her accent coming through, "She started missin' home aroon when our ma hit eeteen. Our da dinny wan' see 'er gang, so he proposed to her oan the plook. They got back, he merrit 'er next day, n' they made us, so we were born. That's it."

"That's… very... straightforward," I chuckled awkwardly, "Surely your real hair isn't this vibrant of an orange, is it?"

Kahn answered again, this time. "Mine's broon, 'ers is auburn. We wanted to stan' oot, though, so once we found where to get bright orange dye, we got right oan gettin' it to drop."

I blinked. I thought they tried to say their grandmother was homesick, and her daughter didn't want to leave her boyfriend behind, so he proposed to her 'on the spot', before marrying once they were back in Japan.

"Right," I returned to Japanese, "Anyway, Lisbeth, where were we?"

"Metal's done," she answered as she passed it directly to Kahn, "What do you want him to make, anyway, SAUER?"

"I want a re-usable throwing weapon, so I figured I'd just get someone to make a boomerang."

"Really leaning in on the Aussie roots, eh SAUER?" Koishi giggled, as she stretched, "Guess it's fair when we're leaning in on ours."

I shrugged. "Used them in the beta when they weren't as scarce. They can't go up when returning, though, which is realistic, but they at least still return after hitting an enemy, like in most games."

"So, my redheaded friends," Sarako rejoined the conversation, "What's with your profile names?"

"I play a lot of Mortal Kombat," Kahn answered as he worked on my new weapon, "My sister plays pretty much all the Touhou games – including Fairy Best Friends and other licensed fan games."

I grinned upon hearing this. "Hey Koishi, did you play Fairy Best Friends 6 or 7 at any point?"

The sister redhead laughed at my immediate response. "Both. I've played the UDU series, too."

I nodded. "Okay, okay – how do you feel about Queen Udu sticking around in Gensokyo?"

"She's bound to be there at least a little longer. Follow your heart, though."

I chuckled and shook her hand. "We'll see what happens."

"Weapon's done!"

I turned to Kahn, as he held up my boomerang. I had passed him a leather glove required for the crafting sequence, into which part of the metal went to form a subtle support for catching it by the bladed edge.

"It's called Convection. I thought boomerangs were blunt?"

I nodded. "Real ones are. This game allows typical video game fanciness – in real life, a spinning blade will still pass right through leather, and there's very little likelihood for it to actually contact the safety bar."

"I might have to get one of those for myself," Sarako giggled, as she patted Kahn on the head.

"Are we going now?" asked Kahn, as he grabbed the edge of his carpet.

The e-girl cackled. "Yeah, I'll take a little more time to think about if I want this."

Hearing this, Kahn rolled up his Vendor's Carpet, which condensed everything laid on it. The main drawback to wrapping up other objects this way, was that the carpet roll could only be carried by hand, unable to be placed in a player's inventory.

Once Sarako took her boys – and girl – away, Lisbeth coughed.

"I guess it would have been silly to level me all the way to my next skill slot unlock."

I sighed and patted her on the head. "I would have helped, even though it would be Level 20."

She blinked, and a slight tint of red crossed her cheeks. "Don't you think that's a bit much?"

I shrugged. "It'd have been worth it. But for now, focus on your other customers."

She flinched at the seeming accusation of her thoughts, but I had gone too far away to hear her response clearly. Oh well, I thought, she has me added – she can just send a message.

Usage of a boomerang required both Blade Throwing, and Martial Arts, to use effectively. Some «Composite Skills» existed in the game, existing not as their own skills, but as perks related to the primary skills a player had to level to achieve them. In this case, boomerang usage required Martial Arts to catch the intended way with the special glove, and the combination of both skills to unlock appropriate Sword Skills in the Blade Throwing category. The first basic attacks of Blade Throwing were not compatible with non-straight thrown weapons, so those were replaced by an equivalent.

Luckily, the glove still counted only as clothing, so it didn't interfere with the Martial Arts skill on its own, and a claw could also be worn over the glove. With this in mind, I took off out of town, and proceeded to fight the large cattle monsters with my boomerang. I would use my Martial Arts to make room to retrieve it, and if push came to shove, I still had my scimitar. And if I got into any real trouble at the end of the day, the Anneal Blade was the answer. Good old «Quick Change» mod, always handy for switching weapons from a separate window, disconnected from the actual menu.

I got back to Urbus two hours later, and as I passed the street to the western gate, I spotted Kirito walking into town. His face was clear of the paint.

"Well, what do you know! I knew you'd get it."

The boy hesitantly high-fived me, and we walked back to the square. "What have you been doing during the time I was there?"

"Leveling the skill," I answered straightforwardly, "We can work on it easier together."

"Can't we eat first? Something smaller than Tolbana bread, since dinner is closer by now?"

I tilted my head. "Just put some sour cream in your palm."

He squinted his eyes at me. "I'm all out."

I exhaled in amusement, and handed him one of my jars. "Just tap it and I'll put it away."

He sighed, and did so. He spread his finger across his hand, and licked it off, hiding his hand and his face in his coat out of shame.

"It's… not filling at all, but it's something, I guess."

I chuckled softly. "It'll tide you over for the next three hours."

He groaned as he walked toward the south gate. "Will it, though?"

"Distract yourself," I laughed at his youthful whine, "Leveling is more important."

Kirito couldn't have been happier once it hit 6PM. We went to an NPC café back in the Town of Beginnings on the 1st floor, since we could so easily reach it from Urbus on the second. We both simply decided to get a generic-looking sandwich known as a Chip Butty.

"I trusted your judgement when choosing this," Kirito hesitantly commented as we sat down with these sandwiches, "But what is it, really?"

"In the UK, they call fries 'chips'. They tend to favour the thick ones, and that's what you'll find on these sandwiches," I plainly explained as I lifted one slice of white bread, "They spread a bunch of them between slices of white bread, and season with ketchup, or salt and vinegar. This version has the three of them."

The 'beater' blinked. And then he bit into it. Then, he ate the rest, just as I swallowed my first bite.

"So, how do they tell fries apart from snack potato chips?"

I rolled my eyes in amusement. "They call them crisps."

He tilted his head. "You're Australian, right? How similar is it to the UK?"

I swallowed another bite to answer. "We call the shoestring style 'fries' like normal, but we call the thick ones like these 'chips'. And we just say the whole 'potato chips' for the 'crisps'. Of course, we were much more similar before 2010, when the internet became mainstream and more social, and American influence became easier to spread."

"Oh. Okay…" Kirito stood up as I continued to eat my sandwich. "Should we get some limoncello?"

I nodded as I stood up, sandwich in hand. "Without the actual alcohol effect? Hell yeah."

I finished the sandwich on the way to the stall, showing the boy where to find it, and we only bought one bottle each. We drank them on the way back to the Teleport Gate in the plaza, and returned to Urbus so we could go into the field just south, and continue hunting. He was intrigued by my new boomerang, but he wasn't interested in obtaining one. I reached Level 15, while he got to Level 14, over the course of the next four days.

That included the earlier half of December 8th, and we made our way back to Urbus again around roughly 15:00 with the intention to get some more limoncello on the floor below.

"When do you suppose they'll go after the Field Boss?" I asked Kirito on the way to the plaza.

He shrugged. "It's hard to tell the average confidence until you see people gathering up."

"Yeah, it is," I sighed as I looked around at the players, "I wonder what kind of level could solo it…?"

"S…S-SCREW YOU!"

I lifted my head and looked in the direction of the yell. "That wasn't to you."

Kirito nodded after a breath. "Yeah, took me a moment to realize. Do you… wanna check it out?"

"I was going to without you, if you weren't sure."