Level Thirty Two - Worthy

Rise of the Autumn Moon – December 2nd, 2025

Kirito was standing around waiting for Majin, since the boy had promised to sign up with him for the tournament. The boy rushed over with Aya in tow. "Sorry about that." Majin said, Kirito smiling.

"No problem. You're both gonna sign up?"

"Yeah. Nee-san said she wasn't going to sign up, so…"

"What, really?" Kirito asked as they headed to the sign up board. "Why not?"

"She's diving head first into her research." Aya stated. "I doubt she's gonna game too much until after the 19th of this month." He added.

"Why the 19th?" Kirito questioned.

"Because that's the deadline for her to put in her application for the research program at the company she's aiming for." Aya said, noting the notification for sign up coming up and entering his name and other necessary information. "She even went as far as to lock her amusphere in a box until she submits her application. She left the key with Majin."

"Really? That explains why she wasn't responding to my in-game message…" Kirito nodded, entering his information for the tournament. He actually hadn't talked to her for a while.

"… You're making a face you know." Majin said, finishing his form and submitting it. "If you wanna talk to her, just call her. She'd appreciate the thought." He told his friend.

"That's not gonna bother her?"

"It's not like you're gonna come over in the middle of the night and prevent her from working." Majin shrugged his shoulders. "Besides, if there's one thing I know, it's that she goes stir crazy without some sort of communication."

Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture – Kirigaya Household

Kazuto sat up after spending the late afternoon getting his level up with Majin and Aya. He removed his Amusphere, looking over at his desk where his phone was, picking up the device and pulling up the dial pad. It took him a moment, but he eventually pulled up his call history and pressed Akemi's number. He pressed call, placing the phone next to his ear.

"… Hello?"

"Akemi. It's Kazuto."

"Oh, hey." She said, seeming a little spent but otherwise cheerful. "What's up?"

"Not much… You doing okay?"

"Yeah." She smiled. "And you?"

"I'm fine… it's weird that you're not going to participate in the Rise of the Autumn Moon tournament, though…" he ruffled his own hair.

"Yeah, sorry about that." She chuckled. "… I miss you, you know…"

"I miss you to." He smiled. "Can I count on seeing you after your application is submitted?"

"Of course."

"Good."

Willow Lake Pure: Level – December 19th, 2025

"A special quest?" Kirito asked, looking confused. "What sort of quest?"

"It was something about Willow Lake Pure's upper floors." Majin told him as they sat in the pub together, having been training together this particular afternoon. "Since Ryuuko was destroyed before floor 100 was ever reached, there have been rumors that the people who brought Willow Lake Pure online made some sort of special quest that has to be completed before anyone can head up to the upper floors.

"Whaaat, seriously?" Kirito asked. "Is it some sort of trial?"

"It seems like it, I keep hearing about it in vague, no one knows what it really entails." Majin shrugged. "Aya's been working his contacts, but no one has given him anything solid yet."

"Mmm... sounds like fun."

"One big quest before the year wraps up, huh? Good practice for the tournament though, I guess…" Majin said, tilting his head to the side.

"You know it. You in?"

"Of course." Majin nodded his head. "There's a total of 12 people allowed per challenge, who do you want to bring?" he asked.

"Well if we have us... I'd say bring Black Fox, Asuna, Lisbeth, Sinon, Silica, Klein, Aya, Merona... and two more."

"Two more..." Majin pondered. "We don't have any devoted healers. Asuna might be the only one."

"You think we need one more?"

"For the number of people we have, it would be a good idea." Majin stated. "I know most of the girls have minor heals, but it's not gonna be enough. For a quest that gets you to the upper floors, it's gonna be intense."

"Good point." Kirito and Majin sat there, pondering who else to bring. But unfortunately, neither one really knew any devoted healers.

"I can ask Aya if he knows any good healers."

"Or..." Kirito looked at his friend. "We could just find another summoner."

"Oh, another summoner?" Majin nodded. "That would actually be a good idea... if we have another summoner, we have more distance damage and less worry about someone who can't defend themselves.

"Exactly." Kirito nodded. "You know any?"

"Only one, and I'd have to ask Nee-san to make sure she'd be available."

"Cool. When do you wanna run it?"

"As soon as possible. If someone else beats it before we do, they get the special item drops."

"Special item drops?" Kirito questioned.

"Yeah, there's some sort of special item drops that only fall on the first run through." Majin stated. "Everyone's trying to scramble to get their groups together, but no one's been able to even get through the startup room."

"Start up room?"

"It's basically a room that's just before the actual quest. No one's even been able to get past the first monster. There's a counter that has 1/3 over the monster at the start when you enter the room. And with 12 people, no one's strong enough to take it out. I think the closest anyone got to killing it was the orange on its health bar. But they get wiped as soon as it happens."

"Geez, so its a super strong mini boss?" Kirito made a face. "That sounds like a pain... What's the monster?"

"It's apparently some sort of rock monster. Like a giant golem or something..." Majin replied, finishing his drink. "Anyway, I gotta go do some homework. I'll send you more info once I finish checking it out."

"Got it." Kirito nodded. "See you in class tomorrow."

"Special Quest?" Akemi asked Makoto as he sat at the kitchen counter, eating his breakfast the next morning as she brewed her tea. "Sounds fun. And your timing is perfect." she smiled. "I'll ask Hiwa if she wants to, but 90% chance that she'll say yes." she added. "You ask the others yet?"

"I messaged everyone except Aya, since he's the one who fed me most of that information." Makoto replied, finishing his plate. "I got a yes from everyone already."

"Hehe, you work fast." she pet his head. "Well, if we're doing this as soon as possible, how about tonight? It's Sunday tomorrow after all."

"Great." he nodded, typing the message out in his phone and sending it out to everyone who would be participating.

"I'll get the dishes, go ahead and get to school." Akemi told him. "I'm working from home today so I'll see what else I can help you dig up on the quest."

"Thanks, Nee-san." Makoto said, going to grab his bag before he hurried out the door. Akemi sighed, smiling a little as she logged onto her laptop and pulled up her chat box.

"Kage. I've got a question for you." she typed, sending the message. Not a moment later, a message arrived.

"Hey, you're online. What's up, Black Fox?" Kage asked.

"I've got a question about the Special Quest in Willow Lake Pure. You heard about it?"

"Oh the upper floor unlock quest? Yeah, what about it?"

Willow Lake Pure – Hallway to the Upper Floors Quest Room

"Nee-san said she'll meet us there." Majin said, soon though, hearing a bunch of voices arguing. "What in the world...?" the group rushed ahead to see a group of 12 players all carrying what looked like super high-class weapons confronting Black Fox and 2 other girls.

"You brats should get out of the way." the leader sneered.

"Shut up." the girl with darker skin and a - growled at the man. "You punks should get out of the way, we were here first."

"Kage, easy." the white-clad player stated, Kirito noticing that it was a revamped White Fox. Klein (of course) got aggravated first.

"Hey, leave em alone!" Klein stated.

"Klein-san, don't worry." White Fox smiled over at him. "These guys won't get past the first monster, there's no way they're any threat."

"What'd you say-?!" one of the flunkies was about to hit White Fox when Black Fox snapped her fingers, a huge spiral shooting up at the guy and blocking him from the white-haired girl.

"I suggest if you do want to run the dungeon that you not attack my friend. Unless you'd like to deal with getting your ass beaten and having your weapon wrecked, anyway." she stated.

"You little-!"

"Enough." the leader stated. "She's right, there's no point in chancing any injuries before a fight." he glared at the others as they approached. "You're the group that's with these three?" he asked Kirito.

"That's right. What of it?"

"... No, nothing." he shook his head. "Regardless, we're going in first." he told the girls still at the door. As Kage almost lashed out, Black Fox stopped her.

"... Che." Kage turned away, walking over to where the others were, White Fox going with her. Black Fox waited for her team to calm down before speaking.

"You shouldn't have brought so may power players." she told the leader, heading over to Kirito and the others, the leader glancing back over his shoulder at her as the doors closed his team in.

"Nee-san, those were all upper class weapons." Majin stated.

"I know... but that won't fare them well." she replied, opening a panel and showing Majin a message, the boy's eyes going wide. "This is why I told you all to bring a sealing tag." she stated. "The boss of this start-up room is going to be a really hard fight."

When the team of heavy hitters reappeared outside of the room, they were all beaten up. Most of their weapons were broken, and all their health bars were drained to the red. "That damn first boss is crazy!"

"No way those kids are gonna get through." One stated, the others nodding in agreement. Aya glared at them, but Black Fox stopped him, all of the party heading through the doors and waiting for the room to close up.

"We have 1 minute before the fight starts, take your positions." Kage stated, noting the timer count down for the fight to begin. Sinon went with Majin to a good shooting location, Most of the others spreading out around the perimeter of the room. Black Fox sighed, standing back with White Fox. While Kirito stood at the center.

"You're sitting back. It's unusual." White Fox stated to her friend.

"… It's necessary." She replied, watching the timer count down. "This might be the last time I fight like this." She stated.

"Oh, you're really serious about the research then? Good for you." White Fox nodded as the timer got down past the 20 second mark. "Just make sure you're ready to accept all that work, my dear partner~"

"I will be." She stated. "… But… I hope that I don't regret it later."

"Since when do you ever make a decision you regret, Ake~?" White Fox chuckled. "You always make good decisions~"

"Hah, you think?" Black Fox asked, seeing the timer tick down its final seconds, the first monster materializing. "We'll see…" she smiled, her summoning circle glowing beneath her.

"Alright guys, let's get this show on the road!" Klein exclaimed, since he was the one who would deal out the first attack. He charged in and swung his sword, hitting the golem in the leg. The group began its assault, slowly wearing down the HP of the monster. But just as predicted, the monster's health bar reached the orange and suddenly something changed. An attack nearly wiped out half the group's HP, only the people in the long range unharmed by the mysterious attack. Black Fox pulled back, noting the points of attack and summoning her shadow bear, watching as a healing glow started to appear around the golem.

"Start the sealing!" she stated, the bear protecting her from the attacks that flew out from the golem, obviously meant to prevent anyone from getting another attack. Anyone who'd brought a tag began pouring their energy to them while everyone else kept the distance attacks going so as to continue wearing down the health gauge. White Fox was using her summons to protect Kirito and Klein, since they were mostly physical attackers and they needed their damage to win in a reasonable time. The golem's health fell to the red, the healing glow now gone and the gauge still low. The sealing tags had done their job. There were two more to go.

Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture – Akemi's Apartment – 11:00pm

After finishing the quest, Makoto sat up in his bed and glanced around. They'd gotten not only the special drops, but their names were now logged as the first to clear the dungeon. But he was a little surprised when they cleared the dungeon and his sister handed over the drops she'd gotten as well as a good chunk of her special items from previous quests to the members of their party before logging out. She seemed to be in a rush, too. He got up and wandered to the main room, looking around. "… Nee-san?" but she didn't respond so he assumed she didn't want to be bothered. He went to the kitchen to grab some water when he heard her door open, turning to see her staring at the ground as she walked to sit on the couch. "… Why are you sad?"

"I'm not-"

"Akemi-nee."

"… I can't seem to enjoy the game." She stated. "Everything's just stopped, its like I've lost all interest in it… it feels terrible." She stated.

"… That bad, huh?" he asked, going to sit next to her as she leaned back on the couch and stared at the ceiling. "You're getting depressed again, Nee-san."

"But Makoto…"

"Please stop arguing, Nee-san." He stated, leaning back on the couch with her. "If you keep it up, you'll make yourself sick… Just do what you like, you don't have to keep playing if you don't want to… you don't have to keep up appearances if you want to disappear from the outside for a while, either." Akemi's eyes went wide, turning to her brother. "… Going home to see mom might be a good idea, you know." He added.

"… I don't know she'd want to see me…"

"That's stupid. She always loves to see you." Makoto said, sitting up and ruffling her hair before going to put his cup away. "Besides, it might help you out to clear your head right? Going to see her always helps you with that." He added.

"… Will you come with me?" she asked.

"If I don't she'll end up getting mad at me." He replied, turning to head for his room. "Go to sleep for a while. I'll tell father that you need some time off so don't worry."

"… Thank you, Makoto…" she whispered.

"Don't thank me." He said. "… Just stop moping; it's weird for you to get like this over something like losing interest in a game." Once he retreated to his room, Akemi sat up straight again.

"… It's not at all because of the game…" she mumbled. "… You know that, Makoto…" she sighed. "Everything's up in the air now…" she stood up and headed back to her room. "The future… no even just…" she stopped at the door to her room when she saw her phone light up. "… Kazuto…" she mumbled, hearing the rain start to pick up outside. A storm? "Hah… a storm… that's putting it mildly." She went to lay down, closing her eyes and turning off her bedside lamp. "… Mama… what do I do?"

(Gods this took forever to write... But finally its up~ Another chapter~ ; u ;

Just one more chapter to go, and then a special epilogue~!

Thank you all for your patience~

-Winter Cheshire)