A month has passed. The front has slowed dramatically. We were on 73 now.

Word of the incident has spread to everyone, including what I did. Now, instead of a mix of praise or annoyance, I got looks of worry or concern when I came into town. Which wasn't very often. Half because I just didn't have a need to, but more so to not add fuel to the fire that is my new name... The Blue Demon.

Majiku gets extremely pissed whenever someone calls me that. It'd be different if I was called that from the beginning, but because that name sprouted from a person that was not me; he wouldn't let anyone get away with calling me that. He knew me better than anyone, so he knows that the person in that cave was not the real me.

Honestly, I didn't care anymore... My goal was to beat this hellhole and set all of my friends free. To end the pain we've all endured... And give Argo her life back so she wouldn't be in danger anymore... I was ready to die if it meant saving everyone.

I made this stance clear by beating Kirito to the Last Attack bonuses in the last two boss fights for the first time ever. But I only beat him by pushing my health down to maybe 5% both times and ignoring orders from whoever was leading the raid at the time.

I got a new, powerful sword from one of them. It was called Tyrfing. It was navy blue and black, with a pointed guard and pommel. According to Liz when Maj took it to her, it was on a legendary tier level. She's seen two other swords that were basically just like this one in terms of stats, one being a sword she made from a super rare metal. She had never heard of it before, which means I'm most likely the only one that has ever had it drop.

The flavor text was... Disturbing.

"Tyrfing was forged by dwarves that were kept captive by a power-hungry king who wanted nothing more than to dominate the battlefield. But, to spite the king, the dwarves cursed the blade to kill every time it's unsheathed, even if that means its own wielder. Only clear-minded swordsmen can draw this blade and withstand the curse."

The other boss dropped a Cloth Armor Enhancement kit that had 10 charges. I split it with Maj and shockingly, every charge was successful. So our stats were now on par with a heavy armor user. The major difference between us and them was the fact that we could still move at the same speed. We were basically the fastest tanks in the game.

I haven't seen Argo since the raid, and it was for the best. She nearly got killed because she came to help me. Then she watched me kill people in a brutal fashion that even I would never want to see. I wouldn't want her to have to relive that memory by seeing me again. I couldn't do that to her. I also figured that if people didn't see us together, she would be safe. If anyone saw me with her, they may try to kill her to get to me.

Not that I would allow anyone to touch her, but I would rather avoid that scenario if I could.

So I went out of my way to stay away. If she was in town, I would stay out. If she was in the field, I would be at the opposite end of the floor. If she never saw me again, it would be great. Because I could never look her in the eyes again after what I did.

1

Majiku and I, along with a party from the Knights of the Blood oath and another group from the Assault Team were walking to take on the field boss for the 73rd Floor. The rest of the group walked about 3 feet in front of us while Majiku and I brought up the rear.

Every so often, Asuna would glance back at me, concerned. She had been seriously worried about how I was acting and had been suggesting that I take time away from the front.

I did what I always did, ignored her gaze. I was getting sick of the concerned looks people gave me. Like they all of a sudden care about my wellbeing. People have tried to console me, tried to talk to me about what happened. I would just shut them out. Most of these people hated me before the LC raid. Most of them have spent their entire time in Aincrad hating me. Some hated me from the day I called Diavel stupid. Why do they care now?

We walked into a clearing where the field boss was. When we did, Asuna ordered the group to be ready. Then the boss came swinging in.

It was an ape about 3 stories tall. It had four arms, all of them wielded wooden mallets that were sharpened to a point.

The Jungle Guardian: Jugo was its name. Jugo roared and charged at our group.

For some reason, a memory stirred.

"Just don't do anything that stupid again, alright? At least, not without me there to slap you afterward."

A month of pent-up anger and aggression washed over me and I dashed forward. I drew my sword and charged the overgrown ape.

"Flastor!" Asuna called.

"You dumb-ass!" Majiku shot at me.

Before anyone was able to even react and move forward, I was lined up with Jugo.

I slashed 5 times in the blink of an eye. Then I jumped onto his back and slashed 4 more times. His first of three health bars were down about 25% Then one of his arms reached around and grabbed me.

"Crap..." I cursed.

He threw me in the air and hit me with his mallet like I was a baseball. As soon as his mallet made contact with me, my health went from full, to yellow.

I grunted as I hit the ground hard, creating a crater around me. The rest of the raid charged to get Jugo off of me. As they did, Majiku and Asuna ran to me.

Before they got to me I got up and charged again.

"Flastor, please stop!* Asuna shouted.

I shot past the raiding party and started chopping again as fast as I could.

I activated a Sword Skill I just learned, Deadly Sins. A 9 part skill that had me moving around Jugo in a dance of blue. After the skill was done I was locked up. I couldn't move because the system had me frozen after using a skill that I hadn't had full mastery in yet.

Jugo swung his mallet at me and it connected perfectly. Once again I was sent flying.

When I hit the ground this time, I skidded across the dirt. I slammed hard into a tree, the wind temporarily getting knocked out of me. Through my foggy vision, I saw I had maybe 15% health left. I got up and started to run to Jugo again, but was intercepted by a flash of crimson.

"Let me go, god damn it! I'm gonna beat that overgrown ape and get us out!" I roared. Finally voicing my aggression. "I can't stand this place anymore! Let me go so I can get us out of this hellhole!"

"Flastor..." Majiku couldn't find the right words to calm me down.

Then I felt a sharp pain on my face... Someone freakin' slapped me. HARD.

"You idiot! Snap out of it!" Asuna yelled. I looked over at her in time to see Jugo shatter.

The entire group was walking up to us. And they were pissed that I trashed the plan, and that I risked my life to fight a boss by myself. Before they all could say anything to me, Asuna turned to them.

"Leave... NOW!" She ordered them. They all stopped in their tracks like Asuna's stare had erected an invisible wall between us and them.

They all stared me down, some in pity, some in anger. Then they left us. When they were all out of sight Asuna turned to me.

"What is your problem?" She asked sternly. "You just charged a BOSS, Flastor. ALONE. Not even Kirito is that stupid!" I hung my head. "We've seen what that does once. And that was only the first floor. I don't care what the situation is. You can't charge in like that anymore."

For once I was better than Kirito at something. I could feel her stare on the back of my head.

"Sorry..." I said, softly.

"Look at me, Flastor," Asuna ordered. I did as she said. She was fully ready to pummel me with the next wrong word. "I understand you're angry at yourself, and we've offered to help and you refused. That's something you need to work out. But I'll be damned if I sit by and keep letting you throw your life away. You need a break from the front to clear your head. Go somewhere that doesn't involve fighting."

I looked at her, ready to tell her off. Say that I was going to keep my promise and keep fighting to free everyone. But it was almost like she was staring me into the ground. Like she was forcing the anger and grief that was keeping me going out of my mind. I looked down to the ground.

"Fine..." I shook myself from Majiku's grip. Asuna nodded at me.

"Go back to 22. You liked that place right?" She said, trying to cheer me up. Maj patted my back lightly.

"Come on man. Let's hang the swords up for a while." I just nodded and started walking back to town.

2

Majiku and I appeared in the teleport plaza on Floor 22. The floor was basically a floor full of lakes and forests. It was probably one of my favorite places in this stupid castle.

When we got there, I was about to start wandering, when Majiku grabbed my coat collar.

I turned to him, annoyed. "What?"

"You will not go into any kind of fight. Understand? I will be watching your health bar," Maj said, sternly. "If it even so much as budges, I will be there to knock you into next Tuesday."

"Fine, fine, let me go," I said, shaking him off. I unequipped my sword. "There, Dad... Happy?"

Maj just stared at me. He had a slightly hurt look to him. I turned and walked to the edge of town. As I did, people parted ways for me.

They were all staring at me like I was some monster about to kill them all.

I just hung my head and walked, hands in my pockets.

This is the first time I've actually been left alone with my thoughts. Majiku never went far while we were on the front, for what should now be obvious reasons. My body was still stiff. I was itching to fight. I didn't want to waste time here. I had people relying on me to beat the game. Thinking about that caused my mind to drift to the people I shut out.

Aside from Majiku, I haven't spoken to anyone... Sam, Kira, Willow, and even Rena have all tried to message me. I had at least 20 unread messages from them.

I made sure to leave them unread.

I wanted them to disconnect from me... I didn't want to know what they thought of me now. Even if they accepted what happened, we couldn't just go back to the way things were. Every time they would look at me, they would remember a killer. And when I look at them... I'll be reminded of my sin.

After about half an hour I was about to walk out of town and explore the woods. Then someone called out to me.

"Hey! Flastor!"

I turned to the source of the voice. When I saw it, I was instantly filled with dread.

It was Sam.

"Oh... Hey..." I said, without emotion. He walked up and held his hand out. I hesitated, then I shook it lightly.

"Haven't seen you in a while. How have you-"

"Fine..." I cut him off and started walking.

He grabbed my shoulder and spun me. His face clearly showed he was pissed.

"Listen here, schmuck. We are going to hang out. Right here, right now." I tried to shake him off but he tightened his grip. "I'm not accepting no as an answer. I will follow your ass back to the front if I have to."

After a pretty intense stare-down, I finally sighed. "Fine, stubborn ass. What do you want to do?" I said. Sam smiled.

"There's a restaurant not far from here that has good sandwiches like we used to get IRL." My stomach growled. "And judging from your stomach, you could use one," Sam said. I hung my head, cursing my stomach for giving me away.

"K. Lead the way," I said.

When we got to the restaurant, I wanted to run.

Sitting at a table were Kira, Willow, Majiku, and the girl Maj was with before, Rena.

"The hell is this?" I said, annoyed.

"We need to talk, bonehead," Majiku said.

I turned on my heel and started to walk, but Sam caught my shoulder.

"Sit your ass down, boy."

When Sam said 'boy', I instantly thought of Argo and my anger got the better of me... Again. "DON'T CALL ME THAT!" I shouted, staring at him.

Sam looked like I had punched him. I looked back at the others and they were eyeing me like I was about to pitch myself off of the edge of Aincrad.

"I'm sorry... I just..." I hung my head.

Thinking of Argo made me ache. I haven't seen her in so long. I don't even know if she is doing OK. But I still didn't want her to be afraid anymore. So it's better this way...

Sam lightened his grip on me, realizing why I snapped.

"Come on man. Sit with your family," he said, lightly.

"You are not my family," I said, coldly. I shrugged Sam's hand off of my shoulder.

I was trying to get them to hate me so they would stay away. I didn't want them in any more danger or to have any more trauma while in this death game.

Kira stared me down, clearly reading my thoughts somehow and ready to beat the crap out of me for what I was thinking.

"You listen to me, you hardheaded ass," she had a steely yet soft tone. "We may not all be blood. But we've been through too much together to be considered anything less."

"We're more of a family than most real ones are," Willow finished. "And when one of us needs help, they get it. And right now, you need help."

I spun on my heels. "I don't need anyone's help!" I shot, staring them all down. They all looked at me like I had stabbed their hearts. "I'll do this by myself. That way the only one I can hurt is me!"

Rena got to her feet and walked to me. When she got to me she smacked the side of my arm. It reminded me of Majiku or my Dad when they were trying to snap me out of being pissed.

"Why?" I looked at Rena, stunned. "Why are you being like this? From what your brother has told me about you, you're nothing like this. You're always ready to help and always smiling in some way! No matter what happens, you're always trying to find the bright side." Her eyes bored into me like she was trying to make me catch fire.

"Bright side of what? What's the bright side of what I did?" I said, annoyed. Anger was making my voice elevate.

Rena grabbed my coat and pulled me close. "You protected someone with your life! Yet you act like you're the bad guy!" Her saying that like I was a hero made me snap.

"I KILLED PEOPLE!" I pulled myself from Rena's grip.

"IT WAS THEM, YOURSELF, OR ARGO!" Rena shouted back to me. Getting in my face again.

I finally voiced what I had been feeling. I let it out in a scream.

"THEN IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME! I SHOULD HAVE DIED INSTEAD!"

Kira shot to her feet so fast the chair she was sitting in flew out from under her.

Without looking me in the eye, she walked up to me and let loose a smack from hell that cut me and took my health down a percent.

Everyone just stared at me and her.

"Since your sister isn't here to do that... I had to," she said, in a dark tone. I looked at her, not being able to talk. "Don't you DARE say you should die. You mean too much to the people that did and still do care about you."

"Seriously. If your sister or parents heard you say that..." Sam didn't need to finish. I started to ease a bit. It's starting to hit me that this is the most I've interacted with someone besides Majiku...

"But... Who am I to just kill someone? And not even remember their names or faces?" I said, looking down. "No one deserves to die... No matter how evil..."

"Flas. There's something you should know..." Majiku said, standing up. "When you blacked out. You still never went more than two feet away from Argo."

"And?"

"You didn't just kill without reason," Willow said. "Anyone that was stupid enough to try to kill Argo while she was down, met your blade."

"That's what Klein was saying, dude. Ask me how many you fought total," Maj said.

I played along. "How many did I-"

"Fifteen," Maj cut me off. "Out of the fifteen, five were stupid enough to keep coming at Argo. With their health being so low, you didn't have a choice. If you held back at all, Argo would be dead along with you."

I let that sink in. It was clear what they were saying now.

"You're telling me that those lowlife criminals deserve to be alive and Argo and you should be dead? That's the stupidest trade ever," Willow said, walking up to me. "Not only did you save Argo. You saved all of the people that those creeps could have and would have killed if you and Argo would have died."

My knees buckled slightly. Sam grabbed a chair so I could sit down. Willow placed her hand on my shoulder while I slumped over and covered my forehead.

"They may be calling you a Demon," I tensed at the word. "But they're only calling you that because you fought like one. Not because you killed people."

"You need to stop feeling like this for them," Maj said. "They did it to themselves..."

I held the sides of my head for a bit. They weren't just saying this to make me sound any better. I could tell it was the genuine truth. I was only protecting Argo.

After a few minutes, I took a long, shaky breath. Then I stood up.

"I'm sorry..."

I looked at every one of them. Trying to convey that to each of them.

"I thought after everything, you wouldn't even want to be near me. Let alone talk to me. It's in my nature to withdraw into myself the worse a situation is for me. It's a way to keep others around me from worrying too much... I do it because it's my problem and it doesn't need to be anyone else's..." I said. "But... I see now that not talking to you all has only made you worry more."

All at once, the tension in all of them drained. Then they all smiled at me with wicked grins.

"If that's how you feel then there's only one person you really need to apologize to," Maj said. I wasn't following and they could tell.

Sam smacked my shoulder lightly. "You idiot. You need to say sorry to Argo."

I lowered back onto the chair and looked away. There was no way that I could force Argo to remember what I did by seeing her again.

"I... I can't..." Kira raised my head to look at her.

"Do you realize how worried she's been? She's been to the shop every day to at least hear about you," Kira said.

I shook my head.

"You really think she doesn't want to see you?" Kira said, smiling. "Sam and Maj said you were dense when it comes to girls... But I didn't know it was this bad." I raised my eyebrow, thoroughly confused. "She's been WAITING for you! Waiting to see if you need help, and ready to give it."

"She's been feeling the same way you have, man," Sam added. "She thinks that if you see her, you'll remember and freak out. She's been tearing herself apart just as much as you have been."

I stared at him, wide-eyed. There is no way she has been feeling that. Has she?

The sound of a message sounded from Willow.

"Oh come on... Now?" She complained. There was a burning sensation in the back of my head.

"Open it..." I said, standing up.

"No. It can wait." She started to close her menu but I caught her wrist.

"Willow... Open it..." Please let me be wrong... She looked at me, then nodded.

She navigated to her messages and opened the most recent one. When she read it her eyes got wide.

"Oh shit!" Willow made her window visible to me.

The message was from Argo. All it said was.

"help"

"Where is she?" I asked. Willow opened her friend's list and clicked Argo's name. She opened the map to see her location.

"Dungeon on 70..." She said, shakily.

"Damnit." My mind whipped into gear. I equipped Tyrfing and started to run, but Maj grabbed my arm. I looked at him in panic. "LET ME GO!" I shouted, trying to free myself from his grip.

"We're coming," Maj said.

Everyone walked up behind him, even Sam and Kira.

"You two? But... You can't."

"We've been leveling behind your back, buddy. Both of us are level 75." Sam said. I didn't have the time or the patience to argue.

"OK, FINE. COME ON!" I yanked my arm free and dashed to the teleport plaza in the main town as fast as I could. Everyone was hot on my heels.

3

As soon as I felt ground under my feet I shot off of the teleport gate, straight down the same road to Laughing Coffin's old HQ. I kicked up a dust cloud and scared the crap out of everyone that was in the plaza.

While I ran, I tried to figure out why the hell Argo decided it was a good idea to go back there alone.

Willow must have been reading my face. "She was following a tip that some of the LC guys made it out of the cave and were trying to reform."

"Why didn't she call for help?" I asked, purely annoyed at her recklessness.

"You must be rubbing off on her. She wanted to find them, get a group together, and take them down before you knew." Willow said, looking at me. "She didn't want you to know that there were still LC guys running around. She was worried you would take them alone."

"Damn it. I should've been there," I cursed myself.

Willow looked forward as we ran. "I didn't realize she was this determined. She must have found them. Or-"

"Or I'm gonna beat someone senseless if they even graze her..." I said.

Willow smiled at me. "Good to have you back."

I nodded and sped up. The opening of the cave came into view.

When we got to the entrance, I stopped. My body felt heavy and my mind went numb. It was like there was a force that was keeping me from moving forward. Everyone stopped just past the entrance and looked at me.

"Bro, come on! Move your ass!" Maj called. But I couldn't make my mind work. Then I heard a female scream come from the cave.

My mind went into overdrive. I shot past everyone into the cave. After a few minutes of running, I could hear voices from around the bend in the cave.

"Looks like you picked the wrong cave to sleep in, Rat." A man sneered.

"You know we can't let you leave here alive, right?" Another sneered.

"Come on you freaks! Get some if you dare!" That came from a fiery female voice that I knew all too well.

When I rounded the corner I was going so fast I had to run on the side of the wall to keep from hitting it. I got to the ground and saw the group.

Three men, all wearing the greenish cloaks from Laughing Coffin. They were standing over a girl wearing a brown cloak. Her hood was pulled back, revealing her golden blonde uneven hair. Red cut marks lined her cheeks. She was laying down and holding her arm like she had been cut there too.

I realized that she had been paralyzed, and couldn't move.

"So fiery!" One of them chided.

"I like it when they try to fight back," another said.

I stomped forward loudly so they could hear. "Then you're gonna love me, pal..."

All three of them quickly spun around. When two of them saw me, they got wide-eyed. But the guy standing in front of Argo wasn't phased.

Argo herself was just staring at me, shocked.

"You did a sloppy job of getting rid of us, Demon," the guy closest to Argo said, trying to get to me.

"THAT'S NOT HIS NAME!" The voice came from behind me. The one talking was Kira.

"If you're gonna address him at all, use his real names. Blue Blur, or Flastor," Rena said.

All at once, my friends flanked my sides. Brandishing their weapons.

"He's too much like us to have such an innocent name," one of the guys called.

"He's nothing like you, monsters," Willow shot, stepping forward.

I held my hand up to stop her. I stared at the one closest to Argo.

"Let's settle this..." I said.

The guy smiled a gross smile at me. "And how do you propose we do that, Demon?"

"A duel," everyone looked at me. "No holding back, no system safety nets. You and me. To the end."

The creep sneered at me. "And if I win?"

"Then I'll be dead and you can go free," I said, calmly.

Everyone tensed. A shine came from Argo's eye and I could see her lip quivering

"You idiot!" Maj said to me. I shot him a look, pleading with him to shut up. I had a plan, but it was stupid risky.

Luckily, he caught on.

"You that eager to add to your body count? Blue Demon..." The guy shot.

"I happen to owe a debt to the one that you're attacking... And I intend to pay in full. Now shut up, draw your blade and fight," I followed my own command and drew Tyrfing.

I made a point to be flashy and spun as I drew. When I did, I tossed a Corridor Crystal to Maj. Since the raid, I always keep one handy. He caught it and stashed it out of sight.

The guy sneered at me. I was worried he saw the crystal. "Aw, that's adorable. The Demon and The Rat. A perfect fit." He drew his own blade and readied himself.

I stared them all down, fully ready to defend Argo with my life.

There was no duel window and no countdown. One slip up... And I would be dead...

Almost simultaneously, we shot at each other. He came at me low, like the first guy that came at me during the raid.

"You are all predictable!" I shouted. This caused him to hesitate for a second.

I spun fast to the left. When I did, I activated the skill Sonic Leap. A powerful upward charging strike. But, instead of aiming at him, I aimed at his sword that was level with me now.

I added as much power to my swing as I could and sliced up, shattering his sword to pieces.

"Corridor: Open!" Majiku commanded.

In front of my now disarmed and disoriented opponent, a corridor to the BlackIron Palace prison shimmered into existence. I used his momentum to shove him through the corridor.

I turned to face the remaining two. They were staring at me like I had just slapped both of them. Finally one regained his voice.

"You- You cheated!" He shot. I scoffed at him.

"All is fair in a death game," I said.

They tried to move on Argo, but they were intercepted by Willow and Kira, who had gotten behind them. Rena was helping Argo get away from the fight.

I dashed to them. Sam appeared next to me, wielding a wicked looking Katana.

I ran to the guy on the left that was locking blades with Willow. When I got next to them, she deflected his sword and arms up. I swung over his head and cut both of his hands cleanly off. He sank to his knees in surrender.

I held my sword point to him and looked at Sam and Kira. They subdued their opponent as well. They looked at me with so much determination, I couldn't help but grin slightly.

"You guys have been practicing, huh?" I said.

They both smiled and nodded to me. Sam shoved his blade under the guy's throat to get him to stand up. I looked at my own prisoner.

"Get up... I'm sick of looking at your face," I said. He looked up at me. His eyes were full of hatred and sorrow.

"You know? You killed my brother and friends..." I hesitated, panic swelling inside me. "It makes me sick, you standing over me like you're so high and mighty when you're just as twisted as us."

I lost my breath. My brain shut down and I was just standing there.

Maj came up behind him and picked him up by his shirt collar.

"My brother is nothing like you, freak. And if you cared about yours so much, you should have told them to retreat when you had the chance," Maj said, hauling the guy to the portal.

I shook my head to regain my thoughts. As soon as the remaining two were through the portal and it dissipated, I let out a huge sigh. I swiped to the right and sheathed my blade. For a moment, I was just standing there.

I felt movement behind me, along with a chill going down my spine like imminent doom was just behind me. When I turned, Argo was standing there, looking down. Her hair was covering her eyes, and her mouth didn't give away any emotion...

I scratched my face, not really sure what to say.

"Um... He-," Argo cut me off by rushing forward and wrapping her arms around me, tightly. She buried her head in my chest.

"You... Stupid... Idiot," she sounded exhausted...

The only thing I thought to do was wrap my arms around her. I rested my cheek on top of her head. I couldn't describe how it felt to be so close to her again... We just stood there for a minute. Then I found my words.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry that I did what I did." I could feel her tremble a small bit. "I'm sorry that I left you after that. I shouldn't have." I put my hand on the back of her head. "I want to tell you," I took a breath. "That, if you'll let me, I will not leave your side like that again. I will fight for you, and with you. Now until the end, I will always come back to you..."

We stood there for a minute. Then, Argo spoke.

"And I want to tell you," She looked up at me. She had tears streaming down her face. "That I want to be with you. Through the good, the bad, and the ugly. No matter what happens, I will stand with you, next to you, and behind you in everything you do. I will always be there for you..."

We stood looking at each other for a minute. Her golden brown eyes were dark like she hasn't slept since the raid.

"How much sleep have you gotten?" I asked.

Argo didn't break her gaze, or show much emotion... She spoke softly. "I haven't..."

Then she got up on her toes and kissed me. It felt like the world just melted away, and it was just me and Argo left. We stayed like that for what felt like an eternity. Until Maj cleared his throat. I looked at him and smiled for the first time in a month.

"Sorry," I said. I looked at Argo, still smiling. "You wanna go hang for a bit? I know a cool place on 22 that's really nice."

Argo just stared at me like I was a ghost. Then her eyes began to water.

"Sure... Sounds good," she said.

I offered my hand to her. She took it and got close to me. I turned to everyone.

"Guys. Next get together we plan, I'm picking the place," I said. Everyone smiled at me.

With Argo at my side, we all walked out of the cave for what we hoped was the last time.

4

When we got back to the main town of floor 70, Argo and I said goodbye to the others. We all made plans to meet up later, but for now, I just wanted to be with Argo for a while.

While we made our way to the plaza, I saw a familiar group of people. They were all sitting at a restaurant's outdoor seating, looking like they were having fun. It was the same people from the boss fight today.

"Hey, hold up a second," I said to Argo. I walked up to the group of people. When I did they all had mixed emotions. But most of them were confused. I smiled at them. "Hey, guys," I said, raising my hand. "I wanted to apologize for today. And offer to split the Col I got from Jugo with you all."

Argo brushed up next to me, nearly making me jump. I didn't realize she followed me. "What did you do this time?"

I tried to come up with a good lie. "I... Uh..."

The group was staring at me, stunned that I was being so light and that Argo was with me.

One of them spoke up. "He charged the field boss of 73 by himself, nearly killing himself doing it."

"YOU DID WHAT?"

Argo jumped and latched her legs around my waist and started to beat the crap out of my head. I swatted her hands away but she was in a frenzy. The group of guys was just staring at us. I finally unlatched Argo from me and calmed her down. Then I turned to the group.

"I clearly wasn't in a good state to be fighting a field boss today. And I kinda hogged a lot of the Col from the fight since I ruined the plan and rushed forward. So I wanted to make up for it by giving it to you all," I said, opening my menu.

I started to send trade requests to them all to split the Col, when the guy that said something stood up. He looked like he was older than me, maybe late 30s.

He walked up to me, just trying to read me. He glanced at Argo.

"I'm sorry for this Idiot's crap temper. I promise he'll be under control from now on," she said while bowing.

The guy couldn't help it, he laughed. "Are you happy?" He asked me. I was shocked at the question. But I grinned at him.

"I can't describe what I'm feeling right now. But..." I looked at Argo, who was smiling at me. "I guess happy is the best word for it." I smiled back at her.

The guy patted my shoulder. Like a father to a son.

"As long as you're out of your funk." He looked at Argo. "And got someone to rein you in. Then that's all we can ask for..." He smiled at me. "Welcome back, Blue Blur."

I nodded at him, faced his group, and waved to them. They all smiled and waved back.

I turned to Argo and offered my hand. She took it and we made our way to the teleport gate. When we got there, we gave the command, "Teleport: Coral!"

Light enveloped us and we were transported to the main town of floor 22.

When we got to 22. I unequipped my sword. I wouldn't be needing it here and it's just now hitting me how heavy it is since I walked around a majority of the day with it off. You could compare it to wearing heavy boots for a long time and getting used to them, then switching to light tennis shoes.

Floor 22 was almost like a break in the fight when we first came through. It had almost no monsters on it and took only 3 days to beat when we were here.

The entire floor was full of either woods or lakes. So it was perfect for me. It reminded me of where I went camping so long ago. It was the only place that ever made me feel truly calm in Aincrad.

I walked with Argo to a hill outside of the main town of the floor, Coral. When we got to the top, Argo gasped.

The hill was very tall. Almost like a small mountain.

It had a view of a lake that was surrounded by trees on all sides, except for the side the hill was on. When the setting sun hit the lake, it made it sparkle. And the lake was so calm, it made a perfect reflection of its surroundings.

On top of the hill, a lone tree stood. The tree was tall and had branches that were high enough for someone to sit under it, and they stretched out enough to block out direct sunlight. but still short enough as to not block out the sky entirely. I walked Argo to the tree and leaned on it.

"I found this place when we were leveling here," I said, looking over the lake. "When we found out there wasn't even a field boss on this floor, Maj and I just waited here until we got the call to raid the floor boss."

Argo laughed slightly.

"Sounds about like you two. As soon as you hear there's no work to be done, you kick your feet up." She walked forward to take in the view. The light reflecting off of the lake seemed to dance around her. And her blonde hair was flowing slightly in the breeze.

"Hey, what's the point of working if there's no work to do? Work smarter, not harder." While she was taking in the view, I sank to the ground. I stretched and yawned. Argo turned to me.

"So..." She still seemed nervous. Like I would still freak out at the wrong word. "What do you want to do?"

"Well, for starters, I'm gonna take my own advice and take a nap," I said, patting the spot next to me. "Every time I come here, it feels like my troubles just... Flow out of me." Argo smiled and walked to me.

But instead of sitting next to me and leaning on the tree. She sank to the ground and basically laid on me. Her head was resting on my chest, just below my left shoulder.

As soon as she got comfortable, her breathing grew steady and she started to snore softly. I smiled and wrapped my arm around her.

"Sleep well, girl..." My own eyes grew heavy and I fell asleep.

For the first time since the raid. I slept soundly with no nightmares at all.

End of Part Five.