#7

After a period of intense battling, the beast had at last burst into a shower of pixels. I rose to level 36 thanks to the rewards that showered me and the rest of the assault group, but I didn't feel like celebrating; in fact, no one at that moment did, as we lost maybe half our forces in the battle. Sure, Kirito, Asuna and I still remained with the others, but the cost to get out safely certainly wasn't worth it.

In any case, we continued up the labyrinth's staircase as we always did after each boss, and on the other side was floor 26, sun shining in all.

"So," Kirito began, "this is the newest floor, huh?"

"It's at least better than the last one," Asuna reassured.

"That's for sure," I replied. Floor 25 really was a hell if there was one in this already hellish game. Still, one quarter of the game cleared in a single winter wasn't bad.

"Ugh," a voice grunted, which I matched as Kibaou's, "that was such a waste of manpower!"

I faced the thuggish guild leader for the first time since floor two. "Are you kidding?" I exclaimed. "Of course it was! You were just too impatient the first time to fight with the rest of us. I mean, what the hell did you expect?" I noticed his face stiffen up, a side effect of my comment no doubt, but nothing prepared me for what he did next. He swiftly took a back handed swipe at my face, after which I crashed to the ground, the mark on my face crimson red, as well as having a tiny chunk of health wiped out.

"Y-you think you have the right to talk down about my forces, punk?" He interrogated.

I staggered back to my feet. "That wasn't my intention, but sure. Why the hell not?"

"You've got some nerve, kid," he shouted as he walked towards me.

"Yeah, as if your guys have actual brainpower over there," I snapped back as I walked in his direction. Suddenly, I was being held back at both sides by Kirito and Asuna, while Kibaou was being held back by a few of his guildmates.

"Haiyamoto, you need to calm the hell down," Kirito strained.

"B-but he's an asshole and you know it," I remarked.

"I agree," Asuna began, "but I also agree with Kirito right now. You need to chill."

"C-c'mon, guys. He deserves it!"

"Does that make you any better than him?" Kirito asked. I pondered this for a moment before stopping my struggling.

"Y-you're right, man," I replied before putting my hand over my face. "God, I must look like a real douche right now."

"Trust me," Asuna replied, "you're not the only one here who would love to pound his face in."

"Heh," I chuckled. I looked over to Kibaou. "This doesn't change anything." He just stood there, glaring at me before he put his hands in the air and started walking towards the town.

"Ugh, forget all of you!" he exclaimed. "If this is what it takes to clear the game, I'll leave it to the lot of you to go kill yourselves." He then faced his forces. "C'mon guys. We're going back to floor one."

"Wait a minute," Kirito protested.

"Just let them go," Asuna replied.

"Yeah, man," I replied. "We don't need them anyways." I looked towards the remainder of Kibaou and his forces as they continued their trek towards the town. I, of course, could give a damn less what their plan was after today; I was just glad to be out of Kibaou's sight.

SAO

By the time the rest of us made it into town, there was, of course, no sign of Kibaou or his forces, which must mean they already teleported back to the Town of Beginnings. Other than that, there was a plentiful stream of players who began to occupy the square, compliments of the teleport gate that shimmered blue.

"So," I started to break the silence, "what do we do now?"

"I dunno," Kirito replied.

"Beats me," Asuna followed.

"That's what I want to know," a voice from the crowd continued. In an instant, the entire square was drowned out by a sea of conversation. Without Kibaou and the Aincrad Liberation Corps out of the front lines, our forces were seriously crippled, and that's not even counting those who died a floor back. Put bluntly, I wouldn't have been surprised if full scale riots broke out.

"Everyone remain calm," a stoic voice boomed. The square quickly grew back to a murmur, seeking out the source of the voice. Suddenly, a large, muscular man took to the front of the crowd, likely to address us directly.

"Listen," he began, "my name is Heathcliff, and I feel we need to recap what has happened."

"What is there to recap?" a boy from the crowd shouted.

"I'm glad you asked," he continued. "Well, I feel the need to remind you all that in between recent departures and player deaths, we are now down to about a third of our previous size." The crowd immediately sparked back to life.

"S-seriously?" I asked.

"How would someone know those numbers so accurately?" Asuna asked.

"I guess someone had to," Kirito replied nonchalantly. I still thought it was unreal to be so confident of those numbers, estimate or otherwise.

"Because of this," Heathcliff continued, "we are now short a clearing guild."

"What do you suggest, then?" I asked.

He faced me and my two party members. "I'm thinking we need to form a new guild to replace the Aincrad Liberation Corps," he replied. "Only I would recruit the best of the clearers, and not like those who abandoned our cause."

"Like who?" I countered.

He smiled. "Like you three, of course," he replied.

I froze. "Run that by me again?" I stuttered.

"You heard me," he replied. "I've seen you three in action, and that dedication on the battlefield has me convinced of your skills."

"Are you saying you want to recruit us?" Asuna asked.

"If you choose to do so," he replied. There was no avoiding all the eyes peered on us, and it left me flustered. Join a guild? I thought. I haven't even honed my skill enough for that kind of commitment.

"I'll pass," Kirito replied. Asuna and I bolted in his direction while the entire square gasped.

"Say what?" I asked.

"Yeah, Kirito," Asuna continued. "This is your chance to…"

"Sorry, guys," he replied, cutting off Asuna mid-sentence. "I'm a solo player, and we don't exactly work well with groups."

"What about us?" I asked.

"You guys are different," he replied. "I feel comfortable around you two, but in a guild? There's no way." He looked back up at Heathcliff. "I appreciate the offer, but I think I'll just remain a solo player."

Instead of countering, Heathcliff just nodded. "Fair enough," he replied. "My offer stands if you change your mind." Kirito nodded, and then pulled up his console. After a few taps, I noticed Kirito's name disappear from my display.

I looked up at Kirito. "Why?"

"Well, it's about time for me to leave anyways," he replied, "but you guys should take up his offer."

"Y-you could stay," I reassured.

He put his back to our faces. "I gotta go. I wish you guys the best of luck." That was the last thing he said before taking off for the fields surrounding the city.

"W-well," I began as I turned to Asuna, "what should we do?"

"I think the answer's obvious," she replied.

"You sure?" I asked. She nodded with a smile. We both faced Heathcliff.

"So what's your answer?"

"I'd be honored," I replied.

"I'm in, too," Asuna replied.

"Wonderful," Heathcliff replied. "Then I'm done here. You all can go."

"About damn time," someone replied.

"I know," another added. "I thought he'd never stop droning on." It pained me to hear this, but you can't satisfy them all.

"You two," Heathcliff said to me and Asuna, "come with me. We have some work to do."

SAO

After a few days, our guild, named The Knights of the Blood, had grown to around fifteen members, myself and Asuna included. Heathcliff kept to his word by finding the best of those with no assistance or those with great potential. I had no Idea there were this many with skills to rival even Kirito to a degree, but I guess the world wasn't quite as small as I had thought.

In addition to the new people, there was also a uniform put into place: outfits stylized in red and white along with a cross as our symbol. I didn't care, but it certainly wasn't the most style trending either. Plus, if our names didn't draw people's attention, the white certainly made walking in public more than a little difficult since we were easy to spot. All in all, this guild has its low points and its high points, and being composed of mostly high level clearers was certainly a huge plus.

But today, I was intent on just going through the floor's labyrinth with the others in peace. I would be fighting alongside with Asuna, but since she was named a sub-leader, she had to stay back in town for the time being; I didn't mind, but we surely worked better as a team. And the group I'm with isn't bad either, just unfamiliar.

In the labyrinth, I was practically mowing down the baddies that littered the labyrinth left and right with my trusty two handed sword, which I proudly nicknamed "the Eliminator." Despite its clunkiness, I felt safe and accomplished with every swipe I took, and the others in my party must have agreed since they just stood back a lot while I took the hard part.

Things were fine, until we walked up to the boss lair's door.

One member, Simon, spoke up. "I-is that…"

I nodded. "Looks like it. The boss' lair." I, of course, felt no intimidation, but the others begged to differ.

"W-well," Simon continued, "what do we do now?"

"Do you want to go in now?" I teased.

"Wha?!" he jumped.

"I'm just kidding," I replied. "We're just gonna head back into town." As I said this, I pulled out a teleport crystal out from my pocket.

"Get your crystals ready!" I exclaimed as the rest of the four man party pulled out crystals of their own.

After activating our crystals, all four of us were showered in a familiar neon blue before finding ourselves back in town. Hesitating no time, we retreated to a building that housed our current headquarters to inform the others of the boss area.

Inside, I spotted Heathcliff and Asuna, whom I could tell were discussing some form of guild affairs, clad in the guild's signature colors.

Asuna tilted her head towards me. "Oh, welcome back, Haiya," she replied.

"I'd be grateful if you didn't call me that," I replied.

"Well, saying Haiyamoto every time is kind of a mouthful," she justified.

"I agree," Heathcliff added, "but that's also being disrespectful to one of our greatest swordsmen."

"Thanks," I told him, "I appreciate that."

"That being said," he said to change the subject, "did you find the boss' lair?"

"Yes," I replied, "but we teleported right back when we found it, as you said."

"Good," he replied. "But did anyone else actually help?"

"Nope," I said with a grin. "But it's not like I'm complaining. I'm a beast with the Eliminator!"

"The what?" Heathcliff asked.

"That's what he nicknames his two handed sword," Asuna replied.

"You act like that's a bad thing," I remarked.

"I-it's not," she stuttered.

"Anyways," I trailed off, turning back to Heathcliff, "what's the next step?"

"Next it gathering groups for the raid, same as with the other floors," Heathcliff replied.

"Alright," I replied. "When will we be facing the boss?"

"I'd say tomorrow, at the earliest," he replied. "However, we'll still hold the raid meeting later today, when we have new info."

"Ok then," I replied.

When the raid meeting did occur, everyone there was enchanted by us who made up the KoB, from our ranks to our flashy uniforms. But surprisingly, Heathcliff relegated Asuna to head the meeting; I don't know exactly why he did that, but the message was conveyed so well by her that you'd think she was in charge.

At any rate, we faced the boss, more prepared than before, and a mix of everyone's skills toppled the boss far easier than the previous floor's boss. And each boss after, while periodically harder than the last, still failed to match the difficulty of the 25th floor's hazards combined. Also, more than usual now, Kirito seemed more and more like a lone wolf with each passing floor, almost to the point of sulking.

It's now December, and we've finally made it to the 49th floor.

Done again! Now I know what you're thinking, and I'm surprised too that I finished this chapter so soon from the last one! And yes, this chapter is WAY longer than most of the others. Most of it was talking, but there was some action, and despite my desire to shape the story, I had (and still do) filling in the general blanks; but, I don't see it as a sign of lack of creativity, but rather being respectful to the story.

Also, sorry for the paragraphs that seemed like filler, but there are times I have no clue what to write, so I just put more blanks. Whatever your feelings are, I'll try not to drone on like I did here, but this chapter should keep you entertained until the next one. Again, thanks for stopping by. And until I'm not burned out, read on!

-rjm324