AN: It just occurred to me that I've been saying 'Saturday' when I update, when for most of you, it should still be Friday. Anyway, that should be all I need to say, except for; thank you for 10+ followers! Surely I must be doing something right if I'm in the double digits there. Now, if I could get my reviews to that point, I could more easily figure out how to keep y'all reading.

The ship you ordered is complete. Head to the shipwright's workshop, the quest log read.

December 22nd, 2022 – 4:30AM AST. Asuna had slept while we waited, and Kirito rocked her awake with the rocking chair in which she slept. She had been prompted with a glitched harassment report window and we convinced her to decline, and then we took her down to the workshop via a loud, rumbling elevator to a five-yard channel leading to a door out into the town canals.

The NPC, Romolo, stood by the dock, gazing at the finished two-seat gondola with a body of ivory white, forest green prow and side trimmings, and brown leather seats. Fitted beneath the prow was the Fire-Bear's Horn for the dangers of the rivers, and the boat had an overall length of 23 feet, and width of just over four.

And as agreed upon by all three of us, Tilnel – the name of Kizmel's late sister – in calligraphy on the side of the ship. The shipwright still had an in-progress quest marker.

"Thank you, Mr. Romolo," I said as I admired the work he'd done, "It's beautiful."

"Hmph. It's been a long time since I was this satisfied with a vessel," the old man muttered happily, scratching his beard, "However! After driving this poor senior citizen into his workshop, you'd better not let her sink!"

I chuckled with satisfaction of the life clear in this NPC. "We've put too much work into getting the supplies to squander your talent for putting them together. We'll treat her with the utmost care."

Romolo nodded with a snort. "In that case, the ship is now yours. I'll open the gate for you, and then you can row it wherever you like."

As Kirito and Asuna hopped into the two seats, I got up to the space at the prow, as the gondolier.

"Looks like the player has to control it," I grunted as I pulled myself into a comfortable position for taking control, "Ooh, it controls kind of like a plane…!"

The gondola controls were simplified for the sake of fun – gripping the oar, I tilted it forward, and it simply began moving forward. Holding it straight, the gondola stopped. I nodded to Romolo, and he took it as a confirmation that I was ready.

"I'm opening the gate!"

He pulled a lever to open the double doors, and mist poured into the workshop, catching the pale light of dawn. I steered the Tilnel out of the workshop, and we made our way through town, as the traffic moved along the right side. I then sent a message for a new task, to my guild recruiters.

"I'm gonna need some time to adjust to this," I called down to my passengers, "You two just have yourselves a good time, for now."

"Sure! Let's go for a little tour!" Asuna replied gleefully.

As I rowed us along, I checked the quest log. "Say, you know how the first guy we sailed with, said that he couldn't answer the question about gondolas that leave town?"

Kirito tilted his head back. "Yeah? What about it?"

"Well, the log says, the boats from the Water Carriers Guild are acting strange. Talk to the old craftsman again. There was more to that answer we got."

"Let's go, then!" Asuna answered enthusiastically.

We returned to the house to continue the «Shipwright of Yore» quest, and the NPC took a puff from his pipe as he leaned back in his rocking chair.

"If you really want to know what's going on here, find the big boat carrying wooden boxes instead of passengers, and follow it without drawing notice. It should leave town to the southeast around the nightfall. Just be careful not to let them spot you. They've got ruffians on board – then again, after handling the bear king, you've got nothing to fear."

We decided to relax for now, first, pulling in at the western dock and throwing the coiled rope at the front of the gondola, over a bit – one of the fat, rounded posts along the pier. A popup appeared for all three co-owners, that the Tilnel was fixed in place. We then checked in at the inn, and rose again around 11AM.

When we got back out to the square, we saw players running to the west, and we headed over with them to see that they were interested in the gondola moored at the pier. Closest, were two parties wearing moss green, and blue doublets under their armors, respectively. And each were led by the two guilds' leaders.

"Lind, Kibaou! Wondering about this gondola?" I called out with a chuckle.

Lind was the first to turn toward us. "Yeah, what's up with it? Do you know?"

"Do I know? It's mine," I confirmed while leaving out Kirito and Asuna's ownership, "There's a quest over in the northwest sector, where you can get one built. It'll ask for bear fat, and wood. Pay close attention to what the NPC says – you can get different qualities of the requested items."

"How's the quality of this one?" Kibaou asked in response.

I took a deep breath. "All you need to know is that they don't break. When they get to zero, you just need to repair it with the quest NPC or a player's Carpentry skill."

"Anything else?"

"The quest continues after you get the boat. It'll be in the guide when we finish it. Or when the SSA finish it, whichever's first."

I couldn't help but laugh at their outrage after hearing that I had sent a party to get a gondola first, while Kirito, Asuna and I returned to the food carts. We split up a seafood pizza like the one Kirito bought for Argo yesterday, and then headed to a shop in the southeast quarter of Rovia to get our female companion equipped with some studded leather armor – at least for her gloves and boots. Her leather skirt now had flat steel plates sewn in, keeping the same mobility, and her breastplate, previously bronze, was now steel. I went for plated gloves instead, as well as studded leather for the rest of me, keeping the boots from the third floor's elf quests. I also replaced my chestplate for the steel version like Asuna did for hers.

After that, I signed on four new members for the Aincrad Skyward Siege, and then at 12PM, I got a message from the party who recruited them, telling me their gondola was about to be built – which was the cue for Kumiko's Pagoda Auxiliary to rest for three hours. At 3PM, as the first SSA gondola emerged from the workshop dock, Kumiko led her party through the shipwright's front door. I then told the former recruiters to find the Field Boss and report back with its location and identity. This would give them something to do while my party figured out the rest of the relevant quest.

And at 4:30PM, we found the boat mentioned by the shipwright, 50 feet long, two rowers, and two guards with daggers. Along the middle, ten large wooden boxes under a sheet.

The suspicious ship navigated the narrow channels quickly for its size, but I kept it in sight while remaining distant from it, all the way out of the market area and out the south gate, without even passing through the main channel. We followed it through winding natural waterways, and passed through a waterfall to a dungeon behind it. Officially, we got here at 18:01, and we were around the eastern mountains on this floor.

Rowing in the darkness, the gondola ahead was used to it, and while my vision exercises didn't get carried over to my game avatar's eyes, I could see enough to keep up – at least, until a Scuttle Crab emerged, four yards wide with its pincers.

"I'll keep going! You two go for the crab!"

"Just make sure you can still get the boat to dodge!" Asuna called back.

To prove I was watching the back as much as the front, I sent my boomerang, Convection, into the crab with my newly-acquired throwing skill, Round Trip – the boomerang's return tracing an oval, rather than an imperfect circle, and thus allowing it to avoid the walls of the dungeon as I caught it.

I didn't see the hit, and didn't look at the crab's HP, but I heard Kirito point out that its mouth was apparently its weak point, meaning I must have done some decent damage.

Keeping an eye on the ship ahead, I glanced back to see Asuna carve 40% of the Scuttle Crab's HP away with the diagonal slash, Streak. Kirito then followed up with Vertical Arc, the second slice of it lifting him back up enough to jump onto the gondola again. The dark green crab tilted back, and I promptly slung my boomerang into its belly. As I caught Convection again, the crab exploded into polygonal blue glass.

Altogether, our drops included a Great Crab Shell, some gems, Great Crab Leg Meat, and Great Crab Claw Meat.

"I'm not eating these," Asuna vowed in disgust, "And I'm not selling it to players who could cook it."

I shrugged as I steered the Tilnel carefully. "That shell will make for good material, at least."

We met the next crab five minutes later, and I opened with a throw while it was in front of us, this time. Hitting the mouth again, I caught Convection, and proceeded to jam the Fire-Bear's Horn, mounted under the boat's prow, into the still-submerged belly of the crab, thinking this might be quicker than knocking it backward with more Sword Skills.

Sure enough, the horn served its assumed purpose, cooking the crab and turning its shell red, as it exploded into glass again as steam billowed from below the gondola.

"Look at that! Seems the horn carries its own residual heat."

Kirito and Asuna high-fived at not having to do anything this time, and then kept their guard up. Roughly ten minutes later, we handled another crab in a manner closer to the first one – except we got to see a couple of its attacks in the process. Aside from hammering the boat with the bulk of its claw, or snapping them at its passengers, it had a bubble breath attack which would obscure vision until the suds were rinsed off in the water below.

Then we looked ahead, and Asuna groaned. "Those crabs took up too much of our time…!"

I sighed. "It can't be that far, it's just out of sight."

Eight crabs later – and about two hours, too – we heard metallic creaking in the distance.

"They must be going through a door…!" Kirito affirmed to my silent assumption.

"Told ya it wasn't far," I commented as I rowed ahead, "There should be time for one more crab, if there is one waiting for us."

There were two, but we heard the door slam shut after the second, and we followed the sound. Eventually, we rounded a corner and saw a small landing ten feet ahead, as well as a metal door.

As we pulled in, we heard voices, and after steering carefully, we stopped in a dark waterway just before a large, hundred-yard-across semi-circular hall. We were in one of five tunnels along the wall that curved around the front, while the flat wall at the back featured a wide staircase, with a pier below where the gondola we followed, was now moored with thick ropes.

The four sailors on-board had just begun unloading boxes, while warriors with scimitars took them upstairs in dark gray leather armor, featureless masks covering all but their long ears.

"Fallen Elves," I whispered to Kirito and Asuna. The third faction, descendants of elves whose efforts to become immune to blades, were met with banishment, and rejection by the Holy Tree's magic.

"I've never seen them working with humans before," noted my fellow beta tester.

"Was this dungeon even in the beta?" asked the fencer. We both shook our heads.

"I can't imagine how the quest connects to the campaign," I exhaled confusion, "If at all."

"Let's see what's in the boxes," Kirito suggested. Asuna and I nodded in agreement.

We watched the sailors take the last box off the boat, and a Fallen warrior pick it up. The elf took it upstairs and through the large door at the top. Then a larger elf, most likely their leader, handed a small bag to one of the sailors. The man looked inside, then nodded satisfactorily and motioned for the others to leave.

"They'll be pulling out this way," I warned my companions, "I have an idea."

I pulled the oar to reverse the gondola, bringing it back to the landing outside the room. I then took the gondola's looped rope and tossed it over the bit on the dock. Once the system notified us that Tilnel was properly moored, we opened another door on the dock, into a large storeroom.

"You're looking for a non-combat option, right?" probed Kirito, as I began looking over the stock.

"Right. We'd have to see that scene, and then not be seen. There's no way to do that without…"

I trailed off as I saw Kirito pick up a folded cloth. The material was a silvery-gray, and Asuna's tap on the surface opened its property window.

"Argyro's Sheet," Kirito read over her shoulder, "A cloth made of silk from a rare aquatic spider. This cloth will hide anything it covers, but only in a place surrounded by water."

We unfolded it, and saw that it was big enough. Without further hesitation, we returned to the boat and draped it with the sheet. From prow to stern, the material turned the same color as the water.

We then returned to the storeroom, and shut the door, looking through its peephole to watch the larger ship. Sure enough, it passed by without incident, albeit faster without its cargo.

"So, what's in the bag?" I questioned the curiosity of my party.

"We think money," Asuna answered, and Kirito nodded.

"You could fit 200 of the thousand-Cor coins in that bag," concurred the boy.

"Hmm…" I checked the log, and it still showed the vague objective to find the secret of the transport ship at the moment. "I think we still need to see in the boxes. The ship's probably just going back to Rovia with the payment. That'll mean sneaking up the stairs, with all those Fallen Elves."

We returned to the dock, and Kirito aimlessly held his hands out by the pier, until he found Argyro's Sheet to remove it. He cleared his throat to read off the properties.

"I should have figured. If you get carried away with this thing, it'll break down in no time."

After explaining that it used up almost 10% of its durability from just five minutes of use, he tapped the sheet to fold it, and tucked it into the Tilnel's luggage space at the rear. Asuna removed the rope from the bit and I got back up to the helm.

"Considering that sheet was on the floor," I began to reassure my companions, "It likely spawns for each party that comes in during the quest. Larger guilds might be able to farm them."

"Looks like we need to use it again in front of the stairs," Kirito noted.

When we got back to the mouth of the tunnel, the chamber was devoid of sea life or Fallen Elves. Proceeding onward, we pulled up at the foot of the stairs, and covered our gondola again.

"That's got 45 minutes on it, right Kirito?" I asked quietly.

"Yeah, but we shouldn't be here as long as that."

As Asuna replaced her red cape with the violet one from the third-floor rewards, I equipped mine. Climbing the steps, I admired the patterns woven on it.

"I'm sure my guild tailor can make up for this thing's low maximum durability," I commented.

"That doesn't mean we should wear them down willy-nilly."

I nodded to Asuna, as we reached the hefty door at the top. Kirito grabbed the rusty handle and pulled gingerly, getting the door an inch or two open before being stopped by a hinge trap: some doors would just resist for a moment, tricking the player into pulling harder. The more forceful opening would cause a loud creak to alert the enemies on the other side. Kirito knew this, and carefully drew the door four inches open.

Inside was a gloomy hallway sixty feet long, branching left and right. Halfway along it, was a slender silhouette walking to the other end. The name over the cursor was «Fallen Elven Guard». The cursor was also a paler red, indicating an easy fight.

The guard walked out of sight, into the right hallway. We slipped through the door, snuck up to the end of the hallway, and peeked around the corner to the guard as he walked toward a dead end.

Left it is, then, I concluded, as Kirito and Asuna followed me that way, and around the next corner to the right, just as the guard's steps paused. The hallway we'd entered continued past our vision, with wooden doors along its length on the left and right. I kept an eye on the hallway as Kirito took the doors on the left, and Asuna took the right. By the time we'd seen them all, it was 10:30PM.

"Guess it's these stairs at the end," I sighed with exhaustion as I peered down the staircase.

"The boxes had better be down there," Asuna yawned, "Why do we end up questing overnight this often since the third floor?"

"The game is conspiring for more cute rocking chair naps," I chuckled as I proceeded to catch the wrist of the hand attempting to shove me down the stairs, "You can hit me when we're out of here."

Asuna pouted as she took her hand back, and we continued onward. At the bottom was a large warehouse with a large double-door on the other side, guarded by heavily-armored Fallen Elves.

"The boxes are on the sides, here," I pointed out with a whisper, "Behind that door is some banging and scraping. We should probably just get behind the boxes."

I opened my menu, and selected the Distraction mod unlocked when the Throwing skill had passed 150, before throwing a stone I found nearby. As the guards' masks turned, we scrambled into the shadows behind the boxes on the left, opposite from the thrown rock.

None of the boxes were nailed shut, so I carefully lifted the heavy lid of one and saw… nothing. We took a look in every other box that wasn't under another, and they were the same.

"Hmm… Maybe they just needed the boxes for later."

Asuna nodded in response to my conjecture. "They did treat them really carefully."

"What do we do, then?" asked Kirito, as we heard the doors opening.

"We each get in a box. Maybe we can catch a conversation."

At my prompt, three boxes now had a player in them. Several pairs of heavy boots marched into the warehouse as we peeked through small slits to see the figures to our left. In front was a larger man with a mask that only covered the lower half of his face, long leather gloves, and a large hammer. Glancing up at his color cursor, the name above was «Eddhu: Fallen Elven Foreman».

"Thanks to today's shipment, we've now got the total we need," he announced five yards from us.

"Good. Well done," came a cold, but beautiful masculine voice, from a tall and slender elf in armor featuring both leather and metal, and a crimson cape. His black mask had two horns on its forehead for whatever reason, and the eyes beneath seemed to glow and flicker red.

"But the assembly is taking longer than expected."

Eddhu bowed. "I am very sorry, Your Excellency. We should be caught up within three days."

"Good. Then I may assume that it will be finished entirely in five days, as the plan stated?"

It was then that I noticed the caped elf's cursor: almost black. There was only a hint of red to it, and that meant it was, for a fact, impossible to beat him at our current levels. The name above justified this power: «N'ltzahh: Fallen Elven General».

"I will pledge my life to making it happen, General N'ltzahh."

"Very good. Get to work, Eddhu."

The general, whose name was pronounced 'Noltza,' patted Eddhu's burly arm and approached the boxes in which we hid – stopping ten feet away.

"It truly is a farce, isn't it?" he continued as he turned to his warriors, "Eons since we were removed from the blessing of the Holy Tree, yet we are still bound by the taboos of the elven race…"

A feminine voice, sweet and sharp, answered. "Yes… If not for that nonsensical taboo, we would not need to strike this deal with the filthy humans in order to gain these materials."

"It is not worth complaining about, Kysarah. Pay them as much gold as they want. Once we have all the keys and open the door to the Sanctuary, even the greatest magic left to humankind will vanish without a trace…"

"Of course, Excellency. The moment of our triumph grows ever closer." At least the lady has a name, my mind shamelessly joked in response – as if she'd give a human the time of day, especially if he allowed her to keep her mask on.

"Indeed. But our initial mission is to recover the first key that the special forces commander let slip from our grasp. The plan begins in five days, once all of our preparations are complete. I have great expectations of all of you."

The soldiers shouted a salute in unison, and they returned through the door, then it slammed shut. With the coast clear, we got out of the boxes and gathered behind them again.

"Hey, SAUER, your home language is English," Kirito said out of the blue, "What's a foreman?"

I chortled upon realizing he had a reason to bring up linguistics. "Leader of an industrial work crew. Alternatively, head craftsman. Eddhu would be commanding carpenters. That means they're a bit behind in the change to the floor, and are trying to catch up with a ship of their own. But they're forbidden to cut down live trees, so instead of scavenging for already-fallen ones, they're paying for boxes to dismantle into lumber."

With another rock in hand, they nodded after I finished my explanation, and we made it back to the hallway with the weaker guard while the strong ones by the door were distracted. In the process, though, we ran right into this guard's sight, but we killed him before he could call out. Down at the dock, we found that Argyro's Sheet had just ticked into 11% durability. Kirito put it away, and we proceeded back to the entrance behind the waterfall, fighting crabs and turtles on the way.

As we passed through the torrent and returned to open air, the quest log jingled. I kept one hand firmly on the oar as I opened the log.

"Let's see… 'Alert the appropriate person of the information gained.' That's not the shipwright, as Romolo was referred to before. And the Water Carriers aren't happy that we have our own boat, so trying to talk to them sounds weird."

"We might need fully-awake minds to think about who to go to," Kirito suggested.

"At least we're getting back to Rovia before midnight," Asuna commented.

"You're not dressed in fairy dust. You know what you'd do if you were."

It then occurred to me that sometimes, a smile is more terrifying than a simple glare.

"I guess I do. Let's not picture the premise of the scenario, shall we? Or we just might reach the conclusion anyway."

I coughed an answer. "Makes sense. Anyway, we should hold back on telling Argo much, or the two major guilds might try to fight the general."

On the topic of telling people about quests, I sent out a guild notice to announce that I was ready to take messages again. Almost immediately, I received messages from multiple parties reporting back for different missions.

"Wow. We sure miss a lot," I chuckled as I checked each one.

Kiyo had taken the recruiters to see the Field Boss, and they had more information than I asked for, with one casualty as a result. Kabe's party had obtained 10 Numb Daggers, and I told him to place them straight into guild storage. The tourists who joined to spite the Dragon Knights, had finished upgrading an Anneal Blade+7, and I told them to take the Numb Daggers and upgrade those with whatever parameters the early guides recommended for daggers. Finally, Kumiko told me that her Pagoda Auxiliary would have their gondola in a couple of hours, and I told Brandi to prepare the Sandalwood Auxiliary for the same quest, by having them set alarms for 6AM.

After replying to each message, I then told Kiyo to take one of Wednesday's recruits, get one in with Kumiko's party, and scout the Field Boss properly. Every other party that had finished their last work and had not been given more, would work up some levels in the meantime. Everyone would have something to do in the morning. Satisfied, I pulled up to the western dock in Rovia, where Kiyo's had been moored as well, and I took Asuna and Kirito back to the inn, the former getting her own room just like before.

I had told my guild that when they were to build a gondola, to get the maximum ten-seaters Romolo could build. Counting the gondoliers as the 11th on each, I could have four gondolas for my guild to have all of my combatants and a few other choice players on-board. Including the gondola I shared with Asuna and Kirito, I could have a 47-player raid for the Field Boss found by Kiyo.

From what she'd reported, the Biceps Archelon was just a two-headed ancient turtle. As with most RPGs, the older a turtle or tortoise, the larger and stronger it was – even in the beta, when the lake occupied by the Field Boss was a caldera volcano, the Field Boss back then was a tortoise. This time, beta knowledge didn't exist. That was why I sent her for scouting after her previous, impromptu attempt had gotten one of the scouts killed – having the Pagoda Auxiliary with her would ensure the survival of both gondola-owning parties, and more angles to examine the boss and its attacks.

In the meantime, throughout the 23rd, we did all the other quests in Rovia – without an immediate obvious lead for «Shipwright of Yore», we may as well have been doing something for the day, and possibly come across a hint while going about the floor. At the same time, Argo had given out the guide featuring the part of the quest pertaining to gondola building, and almost immediately, the players realized that materials could be harvested before the quest was accepted. As a result, the waiting time between parties taking the quest, was reduced to the three hours of construction.

Right after the Sandalwood Auxiliary got their gondola, Kabe's party turned in their materials, and around 8PM, they had a gondola, too. Following this, the Aincrad Skyward Siege had four gondolas moored along the western dock with the Tilnel, and could let the other guilds get theirs. Of course, after Kiyo reported back with the scouting details, we told Kibaou and Lind to only get themselves single flagships. Heeding this advice begrudgingly, they had built the Unleash, and the Leviathan, respectively as ten-seaters.

This threw a wrench into my original plans to leave out the DKB and ALS this time, but I was still preparing my guild for fifth-floor power, anyway. For the time being, I would share the spoils of the fourth floor – as long as the other two guilds continued to play nice with each-other.

With this in mind, I re-arranged the party layout. The Unleash had a party of six and one of five, the Leviathan had the same, and so did Kiyo's Ascension. That already made 33 players, and six parties.

With only two party slots left, the Tilnel taking one, we took Agil's four-man crew on the Pequod, which for some reason, was named after the ship in Moby Dick.

"It only sank when they fought the whale," Agil answered, "And we're not fighting a whale!"

On Saturday, December 24th, while Kibaou and Lind waited for the first of their ships to be built, I went over the strategy we would use in the afternoon. Then, once both of them had their boats, we all made our way to the mouth of the caldera lake where the Field Boss waited, and then the other ships had two hours to practice with the controls, before we met up again at 3PM. At my signal, the crash of a gong began the pre-amble before the fight.

"Alright! This is probably the only time we'll ever need to fight a boss in ships. Luckily, we can still go ahead and use our regular weapons as we cruise by the Biceps Archelon, and the gondolas won't sustain too-significant hull damage!"

I glanced back at Kirito, as he shook his head at the irony of me saying that from the prow of the smaller and weaker Tilnel.

"As mentioned this morning, the attacks are simple. The main concern of the three attacks, is the charge telegraphed by the two heads. The DKB Leviathan will be in sight of it at all times – mounted aboard the ship, is the gong you heard as we rendezvoused here. They will use it to signal us in the timing of evasion. That said, let's be ready to position ourselves as planned! And, we're off!"

The Tilnel and the Pequod pulled ahead to get to the sides faster, while the Leviathan and Unleash followed closely behind, as they would fight front and center – the remaining ship, Ascension, was positioned behind the boss to watch for a phase change, and get in some attacks as well, mostly by following the turtle as it charged. Highlighting one attack, it meant that the bite and fin-slap were minor inconveniences – the charge, on the other hand, would capsize a ship. As long as it still had durability, though, it would right itself after 30 seconds; the crew, however, would be vulnerable to other attacks while clinging to the ship.

Bwong, bwong! "Evade!"

At Lind's prompt, the two gondolas at the front split left and right. As the Biceps Archelon's heads lifted and stayed pointed in the same direction, its 60-foot bulk tore forward. Foam spray fell all around as waves rocked the boats. The boss' HP was down halfway, and no ships had capsized.

As we closed in around the Archelon's new location, Asuna turned to Kirito, rapier in hand.

"Hey, what kind of boss was here in the beta?"

"Tortoise, same size," I answered in Kirito's place, "It's a common RPG thing."

Kirito sighed as the fencer hit the boss with the two-hit Parallel Sting. "It's not as common to place your own party in a disadvantageous position in the raid."

I exhaled in amusement. "Listen, I get that the sides are protected more by the shell, and we're not doing nearly as much as the front ships are. But we're trying not to keep hogging the LA bonuses."

"You don't have to rig us away from an opportunity to get it, though. Especially since Asuna hasn't obtained one, yet."

Asuna chimed in as we pulled back the ship. "Let's not worry about that right now. The GP gauge is about to drop into the red!"

Sure enough, as Kirito and I looked up, the two-bar gauge over the shell was approaching 10%. The Ascension had found itself at the front of the Archelon many times, and couldn't get a window to return behind it. But the indication for a red-HP surprise could be seen from most angles, anyway.

"Look at that!" I called out to Kirito and Asuna, "The heads, flippers and tail are twisting against the shell in the same direction."

Agil saw this on the other side, as well. "Hey, guys! It's gonna spin! Get back!"

Kirito called to me from port-side. "SAUER, do you think the bear horn could interrupt it?"

I took a deep breath, knowing what could happen, and pushed forward. As the ALS and DKB rained Sword Skills on the heads of the Archelon, its defense higher as it prepared to spin, the Tilnel's hot, sub-surface spike plunged into a soft gap in the shell, and steam burst from the other gaps.

The shape of the turtle's model bulged out in every direction, turned to blue glass, and then finally exploded into a shower of light and shards. I didn't see the LA in my popup window, so I assumed either Kirito or Asuna got it for owning the boat that delivered the blow.

"Good job, everyone!" I called out to the other ships, "As much as we'd like to attend the party, we have some obligations ahead. We'll see you soon!"

"Party?" Kirito asked as the rest of the raid roared half in approval, and half in anger for the LA.

"The two major guilds wanted to celebrate getting over their differences," I answered as I rowed us out of the caldera lake through the south exit, "So, they and my guild pooled together some funds toward a Christmas party. Kumiko and Brandi had both learned to cook poultry earlier in the month, just so they could both handle the major course of catering, beside their usual menu."

"Ahh, that's gonna be a lot of people, surely?" the boy responded as he looked back.

"Yeah, nothing you'd want to be in the middle of. Asuna declined an invitation, too."

"I'm not one for flashy parties," the fencer confirmed, "Anyway, are we going to the next town?"

"Yeah, next one's Usco Village. We're just gonna stop there for a drink, then we'll keep going."

Kirito chuckled as he watched the water. "Gee, you're really trying to move forward— Huh!?"

The sudden change of tone in his voice prompted me to look to our left, and I saw Argo skating over the surface of the water beside the Tilnel.

"Wow! Argo, you really do put every attribute point on Agility, don't ya?"

"I do, but that's not what's doing this. I found these babies in town."

She raised her right foot, sliding across the water on her left, to show us a pair of sandals with very light wooden floater paddles on them.

"I'm guessing there's a lot more to using those than just the stats?" I inquired of her.

"Yep! These require a ridiculous amount of agility to equip, and you gotta lower your weight as much as possible when using 'em. Tip your balance even the tiniest bit, and you'll flip over. No way to fight when using these babies."

"Doesn't seem like you've given up much of your gear, though," Kirito commented. As it appeared to his viewing angle, she was still in the hooded cape and didn't seem much lighter.

The Rat's face crinkled into a smirk, her painted whiskers twitching. "Is that how it seems to you? Ya never know, I might be wearin' nothin' at all under here."

"I suppose it'd work!" I laughed as I kept my eyes on her, still several steps behind us. Once I had an eyeful of evidence, I turned my attention back to the waters ahead. "Oh, Kyubi's party finished the Martial Arts quest. I'll tell him to swap parties with Kabe."

By the time we reached Usco, Argo was ahead of us. Mooring the boat kept our eyes off of her long enough that she could have re-dressed herself if she was serious. If Rovia was Venice, Usco was… something akin to one of the villages in rural southwest Asia. The shacks and walkways sat atop a collection of balsa logs strapped together and creaking in the middle of a crescent lake. It was highly unlikely that anyone with inner-ear problems IRL would suffer motion sickness in-game, fortunately.

There was only one restaurant here, tropical-themed in comparison to the romantic urban look of Rovia, but we were only here to toast the field boss effort, so we ordered drinks and appetizers. The NPC waitress was dressed in traditional tropical island wear, almost making me forget about Argo.

"Damn… As slow as it felt, we're actually getting through the fourth floor faster than the third."

Asuna nodded in agreement with my statement. "As long as it's getting done, right?"

Kirito shrugged. "As long as that Kura… Cry… C-Christmas party is going on, we'll have more time to give ourselves a wider head-start on the rest of the floor's quests."

"And figure out the rest of «Shipwright of Yore»…" I grunted as I leaned back in the wicker chair.

"While you three work on that, I'm gonna check out all there is to see here, and then get back off to Rovia again. So long, A-chan, Kii-boy, and Ozii-chan."

I blinked as she hopped to her feet, having not ordered anything. "Fair enough. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Argo," Asuna said, and Kirito joined in after stumbling a bit. "Many… M-Merry Christmas, Argo."

"Merry Christmas to you three as well!" replied the Rat as she took off, just as our orders arrived.

The three of us had ordered cocktails containing lychee juice, and Kirito drank half of his almost immediately after we clinked the glasses.

"She still says my actual player name most of the time," I commented after downing a third of mine, sitting upright with an amused smile, "I think she's still getting used to the logic behind that quirky nickname she came up with. She jumped through a handful of hoops to make sense of it."

"I mean, it doesn't have any part of your game name in it," Asuna noted, "Each of ours has our first syllable, at least."

"Yeah, there isn't much you can do with 'SAUER' except 'sweet and sour.' And I don't think even the one calling herself my 'big sister' would want to go around calling someone sweet less than one or two months into the game."

Asuna and I chuckled at Kirito's well-made point, and finished our drinks.

"Well, why don't we try our own Christmas thing, with less people?" suggested the boy.

"Out here, in a tropical village?" Asuna questioned, perplexed.

"No, no. 'Ozii-chan' knows the place."

I chuckled softly at the use of the nickname Argo invented, and I got up with a stretch.

"It was your idea, though, kid. Let's get down there."

As we made our way back to the Tilnel after accepting all of Usco's quests, the golden light of the afternoon dimmed as the sky was obscured by gray clouds. A chilly wind from across the lake rustled Asuna's long hair.

"Well, it might start to feel like a Christmassy atmosphere," she quipped as she considered pulling up her hood.

As my companions sat in the two seats, and I gripped the oar up on the prow, a tiny white dot fell on my hand, and quickly melted with a chill on my knuckles. The three of us looked up, and more came falling from the sky.

"Well, I don't think this weather is tied to the season mechanics on the real calendar. This must be just a holiday event marked for Christmas."

Kirito coughed awkwardly at my explanation. "It's still snow. Isn't this what you wanted, Asuna?"

"As special as the holidays can feel," Asuna began to answer, "I think we should still be pushing on through Aincrad, instead of throwing parties. Besides, we don't even have gifts for each-other."

"Maybe you don't," Kirito retorted with a smirk, "But we have yours."

We were able to push forward at full speed, as there were no monsters for some reason. The gray tower to the fifth floor loomed ahead two miles, but that wasn't our destination. Taking a detour south through rivers walled by blackened basalt-like rock, we came to a dimming valley, leading through a white misty wall. It was an hour from Usco, already.

"Hey, it's a dead end! When you two said you have a gift, what am I meant to expect?"

Kirito laughed as Asuna questioned my navigation. "That isn't a hard surface, relax."

"Oh, it's just really thick mist? That's… really thick!"

I shook my head at their silly conversation, and rowed us through the mist. I couldn't even see my passengers seven feet in front of me, as I held the oar forward. Taking in a deep breath, the chilly air had become damp and forest-like.

"Don't you think we were a bit overdue?" I asked with a chuckle, as we exited the mist.

Before us was a circular lake several times larger than the home of the field boss. The snow had thoroughly coated the ground ahead, atop which sat a great fortress, with four towers over its roof, waving triangular black pennants marked with a crossed horn and scimitar.

"Is that… the Dark Elf flag?!" Asuna cried excitedly; voice somewhat ragged.

"I was planning to come here right after the field boss," I explained as I stilled the oar, letting the gondola coast forward, "But it was Kirito's idea to show you the view today."

"It's beautiful… More beautiful than any castle I've seen in real life."

From the white stone walls and gray slate roof tiles, orange light from the arched windows pierced through the indigo evening. Large black gondolas sat at the long pier outside the front gate, with a blue lantern at the end to guide us. Mooring the Tilnel, we made our way up toward the gate.

"Thank you, guys. This was a wonderful present."

I looked back at Asuna and the other guy she was thanking, with a grin. "Again, it was all him. But there's more to the present than just looking at a pretty castle."

Even by elven standards, the guards at the gate were heavily armed. I pulled out the scroll given by the commander on the third floor, holding it up with the seal facing them, with the emblem on the flags above. The guards stood their halberds upright and let us pass.

"We didn't need to sit around and wait for them to stop us first," I commented, pocketing the scroll.

"I don't think anyone will be looking for speedrunning tips in this game," Kirito quipped as the gate opened with a deep rumble. We then passed through, onto the grounds, with a garden in front.

"Ooohh! We'll be making the first footprints in the snowy walkway…!"

I chuckled at Asuna's excitement. "I got a lot of strange looks during my first non-Aussie winter."

The fencer snorted, and then broke into a giggle. "You know what? I can believe it."

Inside, it was mostly like the beta. We could roam freely between the dining hall, various stores, and even the prison cells. But upon opening the front door, we were greeted by red rugs all around the main hall, a marble fountain in the center, and a grand staircase behind it, wide hallways on either side as dark elf NPCs walked about.

"Yofel Castle – our own instance of it, at least," I told Asuna, as Kirito and I directed her toward the center courtyard, "We can chill here like we did in the camp on the third floor."

Down a hallway, passing several soldiers, and around a corner to the left, we opened a door ahead and were back in an open-air garden, thorny hedges to the left and right – though, we wanted to continue through the middle. Footsteps had been made on the snowy cobble, and we followed the tracks up to a bigger garden surrounding a conifer. The silhouette on one of the bronze benches all around the tree, with brick planters between them, glanced in our direction.

As we made our approach, the figure stood up, leapt over the planter beside the bench, and the yellow cursor above the clearer-and-clearer model came into view.

"Kirito! Asuna! SAUER!" the familiar, silky voice called out, as its owner landed in front of us, open arms quickly closing around us.

Ahh, f█k! My ribs! My mind cried out instinctively, the game's censorship reminding me that my avatar probably didn't even have ribs.

Kirito, however, was able to vocalize a response. "Good to see you again, Kizmel."

AN: I almost published this chapter with that female Fallen Elf's name left as Kysala. Then on the wiki, I happened to catch that her name was actually Kysarah. Damn you, Yen Press! I also almost forgot to grab the little block symbol I use to represent blacked-out text, to censor that last curse - forgot I used MS Word's highlight function to do it in the doc.