AN: Noticed a later chapter has more views than the one before it. That's okay, if you trust the presence of reviews more than anything else, go for it. Though, I would like more of those, too. Would really help me grow my skills if I was told what to improve.

December 8th, 2022 – 18:40 AST. An empty house in Urbus, with Kirito and Asuna.

With us, was the blacksmith, Nezha – the one who admitted to using Quick Change to scam players with the weapon enhancement system.

Admittedly, I caught him by complete accident. He couldn't have known someone else would have used that skill mod this early – and I simply opened my menu to confirm that I had one less Wind Fleuret than I had before; happening to see the one which supposedly broke, still available in the Quick-Change slot.

"So, who is this 'our', whom you refer to?" I asked as soon as I closed the door.

Nezha sat down by the round table in the room as he answered. "I'm in a guild which came from another game, called the Legend Braves. I'm their only blacksmith in SAO, but I had fought just fine myself in non-FullDive games. I can't here, though, due to the FNC."

"Ah, I knew a girl from the beta who had FullDive Non-Conformity," I answered, referring to the player «Kathleen» whom had passed on launch night, according to the monument covered in the names of players trapped in the game – crossed out when they died, "She couldn't feel the human skin texture unless she was looking at whatever was touching her."

Nezha glanced down at the cup of tea Asuna had left for him on the table. "That sounds… rather rough for a female player. Not something I'd try to compare…" He then reached for it, and made a grab at the air, half an inch from the handle. Once he leaned close enough to brush his finger on it, the boy carefully picked it up.

"Depth perception," I vocally concluded, "That's a heavy cripple in FullDive. Kathleen may not have had the best time, but she still had fun playing. You can't even do that."

Nezha tilted his head. "She was able to ignore the ramifications of her dysfunction?"

I shrugged. "To a degree. Anyone she caught, she'd report, but otherwise, the wonder of FullDive helped balance out the predictability of male gamers."

"I see… Well, anyway. The Legend Braves tried to help me level up the one skill that might have worked for me, but…"

"You only had basic throwing blades to attack from range," I quickly connected the dots as I replied while leaning back, "Finite use, and they stay where they land."

Asuna looked back and forth from me to Nezha. "Wait… Wouldn't your throws go in a straight line, from where you throw, to the target?"

Kirito sat upright. "Wait, she's right. Your idea hinged on the target staying in the middle of your viewpoint, whether staying still or only moving closer or farther."

I nodded. "You'd be screwed anyway if they moved to the left or right of you."

The blacksmith looked down as he managed to finish the tea while we spoke. "That was proven just from when I took up blacksmithing. Even with stationary objects like a weapon on an anvil, I had to watch where my hammer would land."

"Ah, that was why you carried out the steps of the process so painstakingly." Kirito watched Nezha set the teacup back on the saucer, focusing on that first before looking at Kirito and nodding.

"Truth be told, we formed Legend Braves in a FullDive game," Nezha clarified hastily, "A standard action game three months before SAO came out. You'd fight monsters on a straight-line map, axes and swords like normal. Even that was difficult for me – I'd swing before they were in range, and because of that, our team never got into the top ranks."

I nodded in understanding. "Essentially like any non-FullDive game using a first-person camera."

"I guess," the blacksmith agreed somewhat, "None of them told me to leave, though, so I simply decided to stick around. I was honestly only with them because I wanted to play SAO, but I knew I couldn't do it on my own."

"And without any real danger to crafting, you chose one of those skills instead."

Nezha nodded to Asuna's conclusion. "Mostly for the money to make up for the time lost by all my friends when they tried to help me level my Blade Throwing. Then, a man who I thought was just an NPC, he came to us in the corner of the bar where we were talking."

I tilted my head. "And he told you the trick?"

"Yeah, it was him," he answered as he sat upright, "He said, "If you're going to be a blacksmith with some weapon experience, there's a really cool way to make more money." He told me how to swap weapons, and then disappeared immediately after. Haven't seen 'em since."

"Makes sense, that the knowledge came from outside the guild," I yawned into the evening as I sat upright again, "Any way we can identify the guy?"

Nezha shook his head. "If he wanted me to find him again, he'd have given me his name, I guess. Strange person, though – funny way of talking… Funny outfit. Wore a glossy, black hooded cape, a sort of rain poncho-type thing…"

"I guess if he wanted anything in return, he'd come to you for it instead."

"See, that's what gets me," the boy offered his voice more energy, "He taught me how to do Quick Change with an object obscuring the menu on a Vendor's Carpet, but he didn't say a word about a share or any payment, nothing."

"Did he answer any questions you might have had?" Kirito asked.

"Well, we knew it was technically a scam. That the trick would be a crime. But he said, "We're in a game, don't you know? If we weren't supposed to do something, they'd outlaw it in the game code, wouldn't they? So, anything you can do… you're allowed to do. Don't you think?" Well…"

"Th-That's total nonsense!" Asuna exploded, as I looked back and nodded, "That would mean you could butt in and attack someone else's monster—"

"Standard practice any MMO, really," I interrupted her outburst, "Still doesn't make it okay, but it's not like a specific thing that's often called out."

"You keep saying that like it's not my first."

I couldn't help but chuckle at her complaint. "Fair enough. But yeah, not every morally wrong thing, can always be tracked by the system. That hole is usually filled by the… still-absent GMs."

"Which means the players have started to take it upon themselves…"

I nodded in agreement with Kirito. "And there's no center of power to prevent a bandwagon."

The others nodded after. They were certain that Nezha would be executed for this.

I returned us to conversation. "So, the guy with the poncho. That was it?"

"Er… Yes. We nodded to him, he stood up, said 'good luck', and left the bar. I haven't seen him since. Now it all seems very mysterious… After he left, the guild most certainly changed. Everyone seemed very gung-ho on the idea. I'm ashamed to admit that I decided I would rather be the centerpiece of the money-making scheme than be relegated to useless baggage, dragging everyone down."

I watched his expression change to a shut-eyed grimace. "You're remembering your first one…?"

"Y-Yes… The first time I tried the trick… when I broke that substitute weapon and saw the look on the customer's face, I knew. Just because it was possible within the game didn't make it right. And I should have given the real sword back and explained everything… but I didn't have the guts. When I went back to the hangout bar, I was going to say we should call it quits, but… but when they saw the sword that I stole… they were so, so happy, and they said how great I was, and…"

"You ended up just wanting the recognition of your peers."

"…I suppose so…" Nezha nodded, with a sigh. "So, now what? I'd really like to return everything, but we sold it all to buy other things…"

I opened my regular coat, showing Convection on the inside. "There are a few… returning weapons available in the game. You can still hit things if they stay lined up ahead of you, right?"

The boy's head lifted slightly. "Is… Is that a boomerang…?"

"Sure is," I answered as I let my coat fall against my chest again, "But arc spinners don't get straight throws right at the start. There's a straight spinner that should be available soon, but all spinners require two skills to use. You've still got the main one, right?"

He hesitated for a moment before answering. "I do, yeah. I'm Level 10, so in the three slots, I have One-Handed Weapon Crafting, Inventory Expansion, and Blade Throwing."

Kirito picked up where I was going with this. "I'm assuming that the one you'd eliminate to make space for the secondary skill, would be your crafting."

Nezha slowly nodded. "I think I'd have to."

"Alright, here's what you do," I began to explain the cover story he could use, so that his friends wouldn't figure out that he was caught, or that he told us everything, "Go about your day like we barely interacted with you. Say we told you about a quest that would allow you to return to the battlefield alongside them – you can even take them with you, the skill is great as a standalone."

"It really is," the 'beater' concurred, "Tell them we're even providing you with the weapon that makes the throwing skill worthwhile."

"Are you…?!"

"I don't see why not."

Many thanks were heard for my answer, and after further discussing the cover story's details, we separated our presence from Nezha so that he could return to business for the remaining evening.

But first, he properly upgraded my last Wind Fleuret, matching the success rate at his own expense.

It was roughly another hour for the blacksmith, before he packed up again at 20:00. Asuna and I nominated Kirito as the one to follow and listen in on Nezha's conversations with the rest of the Legend Braves, in case there was anything to learn from their next move, or if they had found out that he was caught. As the 'beater' told me, the coat he received as Illfang's Last Attack Bonus, was the «Coat of Midnight», increasing the effect of his Hiding skill.

We followed far enough behind Kirito that he'd briefly disappear in a blur to us every so often, just for the sake of being as far away from Nezha as possible without losing sight of Kirito. He would be watching Nezha, so we would watch him to ensure he didn't get caught.

The fencer and I saw Kirito blend himself in with a tree, as the blacksmith went into a bar at the southeast edge of Urbus. After a few seconds, our designated spy slithered up to the door.

He glanced back at us for a moment, and then placed his hand gently on the door. The two of us found a small café with outdoor tables. The place was closed, but the seats were still usable. My interface then showed a small notification for my messages, and I opened my log with Kirito as the young woman beside me leaned over my shoulder, seemingly ready to assume it was him. I had no choice but to ignore the feeling of her jaw against my neck, as we read what he had sent.

[Soundproofing code breaks when the door is 15 degrees open!]

"Gee, risky for him to go for it, though."

Asuna lifted her head just enough to talk comfortably. "You get nothing through closed doors?"

"There's an «Eavesdropping» skill to bypass it. I guess it's even needed for saloon-style doors."

We glanced back up to watch Kirito by the door, and he very quickly lifted his head above the door before ducking back down.

[Looks like there are five other members. They're calling him 'Nezuo'.]

"Isn't that the maximum size of a party, anyway? Granted, their name is from another game…"

I chuckled softly. "The guild feature is unlocked through a quest on the next floor."

[The more you open it, the quieter of sounds you can hear. Got to do 20.]

Our eyes returned to Kirito as he crouched there for another moment, then suddenly darted off against another tree. A second later, a man burst through the door in banded armor, wearing a bascinet with a pointed top. He turned in Kirito's direction, but didn't seem to react.

After roughly 15 seconds, the player turned back and went into the bar again. Immediately, Kirito scurried back to us, seemingly done with snooping.

"That was the leader, I think," he said as we got up, "They're trying to get to the front lines."

"Makes sense," I commented as I closed my menu, "How does everyone else look?"

"They're geared up pretty well, too. Nezha said they'd made back the cost of the time they spent helping him, and I suppose, the cost of buying Ryufior's Anneal Blade at twice the market value."

I nodded slowly. "Stealing upgraded weapons would allow them to buy useless ones and stay firmly up in the black."

"Right. So, do we have all the important stuff?" asked the lady accompanying us two males.

"Yeah. But it'll become a non-issue quickly," Kirito answered as he glanced back at the bar, before turning back to us again, "Anyway, we should be at the front line tomorrow."

"Oh, yeah," Asuna agreed as we began to return to the inner parts of the city, "From what I heard over in Marome today, they're going to challenge the last Field Boss tomorrow morning, then enter the labyrinth in the afternoon."

"Wow, that's quick," Kirito commented, "Who's leading the battle force?"

"Kibaou and Lind. The latter was the one who used a scimitar, like SAUER here does."

"Ah, him. Okay." Kirito nodded as he recalled the player.

"Yes. It seems like he took over in Diavel's place. He even dyed his hair blue and his armor silver."

I exhaled in amusement. "I didn't even know you could dye equipment outside of the guild menu."

Kirito chuckled lightly. "I heard that in the new interface you suggested, you can drag the dye item over the thumbnail of the equipment you want to dye. There's a confirmation pop-up, too."

"Hah! I didn't even think of telling them that," I complimented Kayaba for the first time since he trapped us in the game, somewhat proud of myself, "I can recreate my stage persona's aesthetic."

I had two purely-aesthetic personas in my career. The 'stage' persona, was one I used mainly for performances and most in-person work – dark gray vest, white dress-shirt, any color of business trousers, a showman's cape that was gold on top and red underneath, and a showman's hat with a golden band instead of red. Essentially, I'd be dressed like a wealthy 20th-century magician.

The 'business' persona, which I used for gaming appearances, such as at E3, in the Six-Foot Style tutorials and commercials, as well as on Black Yeti's social media, I simply wore a yellow dress suit, perfectly in the middle between the gold of honey and the neon yellow of most Pacman art. I even ordered it in the same brand used by Markiplier in the 'Darkiplier vs. Antisepticeye' video. However, my first time wearing it was actually in a TikTok for the Minus8 Pacman ghost dance, in a two-part version wherein I first fled in the foreground, from Alamea, Adsila, Abequa, and Amira; followed by another that depicted me getting a Power Pellet, then slapping the asses of the latter three. It was understandable that I couldn't do it to their mother, as her husband was the one filming it – which made it surreal that they'd both enthusiastically allow me to touch their eldest daughters that way, eight hips in total swaying before my eyes as I crept up from the background while they danced.

Kirito's voice brought me out of my vivid recollection of October 2020. "Between Kibaou and Lind being the leaders, I'm guessing they won't save a space for me in the boss fight. Will you two be participating in it, though?"

I shrugged. "I think the only reason they wouldn't want me there, is to show me that they're truly improving after my 'skill issue' speech."

"I was in the scouting effort," Asuna answered in turn, "It's just a big bull. I think there's enough players there, as long as they're well-coordinated. Plus, they started getting really bossy about who would get the Last Attack Bonus, so I told them straight out, that I wouldn't be in the battle."

"I see…" Kirito grimaced, "You're right. That boss isn't anything to worry about. The real problem is the floor boss."

"It's a problem?" Asuna asked, unexpectedly as I figured she'd grasp the upward scale of difficulty.

"Illfang was just using Sword Skills otherwise accessible in the game," I explained just as Kirito was about to, "From here on, you'll see floor bosses using special moves of their own. We could figure something out with practice on the regular enemies from the labyrinth, but we only have the beta information to go on. And you saw how well that went last Sunday."

"Yeah, you're right," Asuna yawned softly, "7AM, we start looking for a spot to watch from?"

I chuckled at her suggestion. "You wanna get in the tower right as it can be reached, huh?"

"We could go for another Tremble Shortcake if either of you are late."

Next morning, we were all at the south gate of Urbus, around 6:55. After some wandering, we had found a spot up on one of the mesas surrounding the 200yd*50yd basin in which the Field Boss we discussed last night – the Bullbous Bow, pawed at the ground. It was a four-horned bull standing twelve feet tall – only twice the height of a human. It had a rounded forehead like a ship's bow, indicated by the boss' name. This basin separated the north and south halves of the floor. Another 'natural' chokepoint like the first floor.

"Since his fur is black and brown, does that make him a Black Wagyu?"

I cracked up at the comment. "F-For real, Kirito? A-A joke about beef?"

"You'll have to ask them to share to share any meat it drops in order to find out."

Kirito gave Asuna's response actual thought. "In that case, was it really a joke…?"

I settled down as best I could. "I'll concede, my boss' mom does a killer Wagyu. Maybe when we're out of the game, I'll bring you two up to the executive office and she'll show you just how strong a motherly touch, can be put into a meal."

Animal-based monsters dropped food items like «[X] meat» or «[Y] eggs» which could be cooked, offering greater variety in flavor than NPC restaurant food – for better or worse.

The fencer tilted her head at my offer. "You'd actually take us into the office building?"

I chortled at the interest. "Under the guise of a business meeting. Bring your parents, you can pick Kirito up on the way."

The boy flinched. "Why are they picking me up?"

I gave both their heads a light pat. "You, my friend, are not tied to any business within either family you're attending with, are you?"

They both roughly pushed my hands away as he answered. "Not really. But why her family?"

"Because I live in the office."

"Ah, right," Kirito chuckled lightly, "Let's pay attention to the battle."

"I was gonna say…" Asuna called to our attention as she pointed, "Which are the tanks, and which ones are the attackers?"

Kirito peered over the small trees keeping us hidden from the parties below. "Yeah, I noticed that. Both parties look awfully similar from up here."

This boss was no big deal – it was just a bull. It would just run, turn, and repeat. It could potentially have been done with only one party. But two was good nonetheless, plus the three guys behind.

It was reasonable to be curious about boss meat – the Trembling Ox monsters could be chewed for more than 24 hours straight and wouldn't give at all. The Trembling Cow, on the other hand, was almost exactly like regular cattle beef.

Anyway, we quickly noticed that the two parties of six had equal distribution of tanks and DPS. The pattern of the boss would allow barebones flanking to work for the attackers as the tanks held back the force of the charges.

Kirito spoke up again. "Wait… Look at the cloth they're wearing under their armor."

"Huh? Oh, you're right," Asuna confirmed her observation, "Each party has its own color."

Sure enough, Lind's party to the right of the entrance had blue doublets on, while Kibaou's party on the left had moss green. "I'm already beginning to hate everyone down there."

The other two glanced at me for a moment before returning their gaze downward.

"You alright?" asked my fellow beta tester.

"It's not because they're fighting the boss and will get the loot. It's because they're making it harder for themselves. The colors represent the parties' loyalty and leaders, not their roles. Bright sashes would work much better for that, and the colors used here aren't distinct enough to use together."

"You're right. They're competing…!"

As Asuna vocalized her realization, the 12 front players breached the boss' reaction zone, and it let out a roar as thick white steam poured from its nostrils, and the ground even up here shook.

500 feet between the bull and the players by this point, the leaders then issued commands to their companions without their voices reaching us where we were. On both sides, the heavy-armor tanks lifted their shields and roared as they stepped forward – the aggro-drawing skill «Howl».

"See? Both parties are trying to pull attention." There was clearly annoyance in my voice, vastly different from the frustration of Kirito and Asuna. The Bullbous Bow looked back and forth at both parties in confusion before settling for blue. The tank who Howled approached with another blue tank and then stood their ground in a crouch. Two seconds later, the collision sent the tanks back about 10 yards back, but they landed on their feet. The other four members of Lind's party then proceeded to go ham on the beefy boss' flanks.

"I feel nervous watching them… But it seems like they might manage to win."

"Yeah, I guess," Kirito agreed with Asuna's murmur, "It's supposed to be beatable by a single party, but it seems to me like there was no point to forming a raid group. They really are competing, like SAUER pointed out."

Kibaou's party remained off at the side, not part of the flank. The main tank was still waiting for the cooldown on Howl to end. Meanwhile, we glanced over at the three reserves.

"Kirito, isn't that the guy in the bascinet that burst out to look for you?"

"Bassinet?" Asuna questioned my question, "Aren't those baby cribs?"

I chortled. "B-A-S-S, that is. But B-A-S-C is that onion helmet with the duckbill visor."

"Oh. You know, it's very handy to have an English speaker in here, it turns out. It's really irritating that not every term has a direct Japanese translation."

I smirked at her complaint. "You just got one – duckbill-visor onion helmet."

Kirito must have felt Asuna's eyes through my body. "The round guy in the middle. You seen him before at any other time than when he came looking for me?"

"Oh, yeah. Yesterday morning in the scouting party, exactly where he's standing now. His name is Orlando, I think."

"Orlando, huh?" I chuckled at Asuna's exposition, "That's the name of a city in Florida."

"And the name of a French hero," Kirito gave the more logical answer, "A knight who served King Charlemagne of France, and bore the legendary blade Durendal."

"A knight, I see…" Asuna pointed to a short warrior with a two-handed sword, "That's Beowulf. Another legendary hero, right? From England. And the skinny spearman on the other side was Cuchulainn. That name sounded familiar, too…"

"Ohh… Yes, that's another legendary hero," Kirito replied quickly, "I think he's Celtic."

"Name is also used in Final Fantasy's Ivalice Alliance saga, which associates certain deity-tier beings with astrological zodiac signs," I rattled off vaguely relevant trivia, "In it, a heroic creature named Cúchulainn was created to swallow the world's impurities, but there was too much for him to safely process, and he was corrupted into a fat, evil monster with empty eye-sockets, and turned on his creators. When the games reference astrology, he's associated with Scorpio."

Asuna tilted her head. "Huh. I guess games can be unintentionally educational."

Kirito seemed to agree. "This floor's centered around bovines. Who's associated with Taurus, in the Ivalice Alliance series?"

"Chaos, Walker of the Wheel. Based on the first Final Fantasy villain of the same name. In IA, he's simply a horned devil sitting in a floating bowl with four swords orbiting it."

The fencer hesitated. "…What about Libra?"

My fellow beta tester looked at her. "Why Libra?"

"My birthday's September 30th."

"Oh, uh… What's October 7th?"

Asuna seemed to gently inhale at his question. "Libra is September 22nd to October 22nd."

I grinned at this revelation. "Exodus, the Judge-Sal," I recalled to them, "He stands on a platform on top of a scale, and is partially based on the villain Exdeath from Final Fantasy V."

The girl pouted. "Is your sign represented by a villain too?"

I exhaled from my nose. "Pisces. That's Mateus, a former ruler of the underworld corrupted by the darkness surrounding him. He crucified a goddess on his own chest, as a shield against the gods. He failed nonetheless, and fell screaming into Hell. Based on Emperor Mateus from Final Fantasy II, similarly a corrupt ruler sent to Hell upon defeat. …Where he promptly killed Satan and took over it without much obstruction. My sign is the evillest of the ones I explained."

Their laugh was quickly interrupted by a ferocious roar of the Bullbous Bow below. The sight in the basin confounded Kirito altogether.

Lind and Kibaou's parties were now tangled together in a disorganized blue-and-green mess as they squabbled over who would draw the Bullbous Bow's aggro, and collided in an attempt to get into a proper position to defend his charge. The shield-carrying tanks lost their balance as a result, and as such, were unable to defend, as heavy warriors took longer to recover from Tumbling.

"Watch out!"

"Attackers, dash outta the way!"

Neither Asuna, nor Kirito after, could be heard at this distance. Kibaou and Lind did prompt the DPS players to dart in opposing directions, but they weren't fast enough – the bull passed through the shield-bearers who only just got to their feet, and caught two swordsmen on his four horns, before throwing them off with a swing of his head.

The two at my sides gasped, likely envisioning their avatars shattering mid-air or upon landing, but they caught themselves on their feet after a few bounces in the soft grass. Lind and Kibaou each signalled to their parties, for them to pull back and drink potions. The two wounded players thrown by the boss took heed and retreated, as Beowulf and Orlando ran in before giving off Howls. They continued to advance after, as Orlando pulled an upgraded Anneal Blade from behind his shield, running right for the bull.

As I saw Lind run in, I made a conclusion and took a chance. He went in close for the kill, and his scimitar entered… an already-glassy model, as the Bullbous Bow exploded into a massive shower of blue shards.

Asuna and Kirito both breathed a sigh of relief, seeing that no-one died. Then they heard my violent coughing of shock, as I realized what just happened. It was then that they saw what I was looking at just a foot from my avatar – a congratulatory pop-up screen. They also saw my avatar glow briefly.

"What did you…!?"

As they looked down at the basin at parties who seemed confused, Asuna realized what Kirito had realized just a second before. "What the hell was that?! How could you take it from them?!"

I sighed, knowing they would react this way. "That wasn't a victory. They didn't deserve one. Those guys have learned very little from what Kirito and I had each said. This is a reality check."

They both stared at me in disbelief, Asuna the first to speak. "Wha… How did you even do it?"

"It was the only thing I had other than the boomerang," I explained as calmly as I could to a pair of players far from the same emotion, "So, I only had one shot at it. Back in the earliest days of game service, someone threw a knife at an aggro-drawing enemy to try and kill me. I kept it."

Kirito shook his head. "The standards you're upholding here, are ridiculous."

"These standards will allow more of us to survive. It'll wake everyone up so they can play games as competently as anyone who's ever recorded themselves playing one. The only official service user currently playing superior to a beta tester, is standing right beside us."

Said player flinched with widened eyes and a thin red tint on her cheeks. "N-No way…!"

I chuckled at the fencer's reaction, and passed by her before Kirito pulled me back.

"You can't go when they're still down there. What level did that even put you up to?"

I looked down at my menu. "Just 16. I reached 15 yesterday morning, and the Windwasps didn't do that much for me afterward."

Asuna blinked. "How close are you to 17?"

"Uh… It looks like I just barely got to 16."

"Then wait for them to go," Kirito shot back, "Though your methods are questionable, your point is well made. Plus, you're a major asset as well – people will have a harder time living up to your expectations without you to guide those expectations."

Asuna nodded. "As extreme as your ideals on gaming are, our goals are the same. We need people like you if we're going to escape."

I smiled as I closed my menu after assigning my attribute points. "Thank you both." I then got a notification of a message, and read it. I grinned as it was from Argo. "Let's get in that dungeon once they head back to Marome to restock. A chef was just prompted on the southern jungles opening, making the next settlement available – and she's headed straight there to set up business. We can stall for a while in the labyrinth until she's ready."

Kirito looked like he was going to faint from excitement. Asuna lifted his jaw back into place for him before looking down at the basin again. "They might stick around for a while. Let's get back to what we were saying before the zodiac stuff."

"Yeah, good idea," Kirito agreed, "So those three reserves, those are the Legend Braves. You'd seen most of them before we even knew what we were looking for, huh?"

"Yeah, they showed up for the scouting, and asked to join. Lind checked out their stats and only let them hang around because of their gear, and even then, only as reserves."

"Makes sense," I commented in passing, "All named after heroes, huh? But Nezha, or Nezuo as the others call him according to Kirito, is the odd one out, even though he was with them before SAO."

"Hmm…" Asuna looked down at the basin, where the parties were finally leaving. "You said we're going into a jungle now?"

"Yeah, a foggy jungle," I answered as we made our way down into, and then past the basin, while pointing upward, "But there's one thing you can always see better than everything else."

She looked up at the tower that extended through the skybox, looking more like Greek marble than the generic white blocks making up the first floor's labyrinth.

"…What's that on the upper half?"

"Bull horns," I answered in as mundane of a monotone as I could muster, "On the other side of the tower is a relief of a bull. It's the floor theme."

"Oh? I figured that giant one they kill—" She glanced back at me sharply, "They fought, was the end of the ox things…"

"Not even close," Kirito answered in kind, "The Moo-Moo Kingdom is only getting started. The ones ahead are certainly beefy, but they don't look very tasty."

I chuckled softly. "They seem to think they do."

"Huh…?"

AN: Next chapter, "Beef With The Champion", will be the last time I'll be able to paraphrase or copy-paste anything from my older drafts, as that's as far as they go. From 12 onward, it's all from scratch. Meaning I have to limit the length of my Skyrim sessions by more than just the heat of my laptop.