Mito

"I hate these damn slimes!" screams Jaymes as he "cleanses" his blade of gelatinous goo after one such rough battle with the classical RPG creatures. To Koharu's benefit, the caves consisted of bats and aquatic creatures, with the slimes being the most troublesome. For one, they're weak to blunt weapons, and it can be tough to deal with them with five slashers and one piercer. Maybe if SAO came with magic, a blast of fire or ice could effectively obliterate the living jellies, but Akihiko Kayaba wasn't that giving.

They had just taken care of one by using the light coming from the open ceiling to expose its core. The Covetous Ooze, as it was called, was one meter wide at the most, and it had the urge to claim any weapon it could get its tentacles on. If caught and absorbed into its yellow-brown body, the slime could inflict massive durability loss.

And while the slime's presence breaks the trope of it being an introductory enemy, Mito did not want to find out if it presents with the armor-degrading trope.

Exposing the slime to the light revealed its core, the fatal weak spot for slimes. Under the veteran's instruction, Asuna dealt the fatal blow as the slime spread itself thin in preparation for a jumping attack. Using the single thrust skill Streak, she eradicated the Covetous Ooze, only for its remnants to spread upon her and Jaymes, the other person close to the slime, in case Asuna missed.

Since the slimy remains disappeared into pixels seconds later, Jaymes was overreacting., but Mito understood his sentiment completely.

"Ah, well done, Asuna," Kizmel says, her and Koharu rejoining the others after dispatching a pair of bats. "Not many elves are skilled enough to defeat a slime with a single rapier thrust."

"...Thank you..." Asuna twitches her lips as if she got some of the gunk in her mouth. It could be true, considering the slime exploded all over her and Jaymes. She wants to tease them both, but her senses tell her not to probe the volatile pair and to keep her guard up. Slow, wobbly movements are faint but audible in the cave, and the six quiet down to listen.

The sound crept closer and closer, but a slime did not appear. That did not seem right...unless...

"Above!" Kirito shouts, pointing to the stalactites hanging down from the ceiling. Above Asuna and Jaymes is another slime sliding between the rocky projections. Whether instinctively or because his hands are full, Jaymes kicks Asuna out of the way and holds his shield up to protect himself. At the same time, Kizmel and Koharu race to go after the falling slime; simultaneously, Kirito smashes through the slime with the sword skill Sonic Leap. After initiating the skill, he slowed down for a moment before slicing through the previously unseen core of the slime.

Once he lands back on the ground, he faces Jaymes and Asuna, the former glaring at his savior and the latter glaring at the former. "Are you two all right?"

"Tsk... You got more of it in my mouth. And sorry for kicking you."

"Thanks, but did you have to hit me that hard?"

"Next time, I'll let it catch you, princess. It was light enough not to damage you."

"Calm down, you two," Mito giggles and helps Asuna to her feet. "You are the Slime Siblings from now on."

"No. I rather die to the slimes than have anything more to do with her."

"Please do not equate me with the likes of him."

"What'd it taste like?" Kirito inquires before Jaymes and Asuna rip each other apart.

"The first one was hellishly sour, like sour plums pickled in lemon juice."

"Eww, gross," says a disgusted Koharu. "Is it really that sour?"

"Indeed... Kirito, I'm going to set aside the fact that you could have started by telling me slimes have cores—and how to find them. When you cut the second one, there was no light shining on the slime. Did you just hit the core by getting lucky?"

"No way. I don't have that kind of actual luck. Natural light is the best way to find a slime's core, like you just did, but it also works with torches or lanterns in very dark environments. But once you've hunted enough slimes to get the hang of it, you learn how to find the core from other light sources, too."

"Other light?"

"Oh, of course! You can use the flashing of your sword technique to illuminate the core."

"Correct!" Kirito claps to an excited Kizmel, who somehow understands the nature of sword skills. Granted, she can perform them too, but the tricks players come up with, even Mito couldn't fathom how Kizmel figured it out.

Asuna, the rookie, looks skeptical. "What? Sword skills give you less than a second between flashing and landing on the target…Can you really find a slime's core in that amount of time?"

"Sure," Mito answers. "If you slow down the action of the sword skill, you can extend its longevity. It does take some experience to do so, however."

Koharu taps her chin, pondering the material of the sudden lecture. "it sounds so complicated." She sighs, sheaths her dagger, then nods to the boys and Mito. "But if it comes with experience, we'll leave it to you three to get through the slimes, hehe."

"Uh...s-sure thing," was the only thing Kirito could say.

"You can count on us," Mito says with a proud face.

"...Oh well," was all Jaymes could say to that.

Jaymes, Kirito, and Mito handled the various slimes in the caves - the yellow Covetous Ooze, and some red, blue, and black ones - and Kizmel eventually learned the "skill-lighting" ability through the journey. With four swordsmen and women leading the charge, they reached the dungeon's entrance deep within the cave by lunch.

Kirito, Jaymes, and Mito discussed whether they should make the short trip to Goskai, the city within the caves, but after Jaymes reminded them of what Forest Elf-sided players would see Kizmel's cursor as black instead of standard blue, they relegated to each lunch at the dungeon's entrance.

They then entered the dungeon, experiencing no specific trouble aside from different kinds of monsters. That is until a beast not conquering by swords crossed their path, one none of the players or their NPC companion expected in the slightest.

"Huh? This was a dungeon the elves built ages ago, right?"

"That is correct. According to legend, in the olden days just after the Great Separation, the six keys were split across six floors and placed within six different labyrinths to keep them hidden and safe."

"Then why would that be there…?"

"…I do not know." Kizmel steps forward and reaches out to the puzzling feature of the great stone doors before them. Or, to be more frank, she reaches to touch the stone panel containing several number tiles. There's a strange puzzle that blocks the doors.

Koharu, confused as everyone else is, turns to the more experienced beta testers. "Um... If I recall correctly, the puzzles are mostly exclusive to Stachion, right?"

"Yup," the three say together.

"So there aren't supposed to be puzzles elsewhere beyond the Stachion, the house in Suribus, and the interconnecting dungeons in the mountains?"

"Correct," they all say again.

"Which means this is new to you all."

"Indeed," Mito and Kirito answer, as former questers of the elven quarrel in the beta.

It's a 15 puzzle, modified to a 35 puzzle with tiles lined up six by six. In truth, there's nothing strange about the puzzle itself - it is a feature of the sixth floor, after all - but the puzzle's presence in the Goskai region of the floor, specifically an elven ruin, is strange. Puzzles weren't to extend past Stachion, per the curse, the exception being the puzzle lord Pithagrus' retreat in Suribus.

Moving a tile to the empty space beside it, Kizmel turns back to Mito and the others. "This…is not anything made by the dark elves or the forest elves, either, I believe. Count Galeyon said nothing about there being such a contraption in this labyrinth, either."

"No…this one was created by humankind," Kirito answers.

Kizmel winces in response. "What? Meaning, some human snuck into this labyrinth before us and placed this device upon the door? Does that mean…the key's already been taken out?"

"N-no, no, not necessarily. Besides, this puz—this seal might not have been literally placed by the human who snuck in here…"

"What does that mean?"

"...Well..." Jaymes tries to start the discussion, but even he's stumped on how to explain the "Curse of Stachion" quest to Kizmel in gaming terminology. Eventually, the players explain the situation in the human city to Kizmel. She remains quiet during the explanation and a few moments afterward, disgesting the information as humanlike as possible.

"So the curse of this human lord being murdered ten years ago has spilled out of the town of Stachion and has produced this number puzzle on the door of this distant labyrinth?"

"Yep…that's the only way to describe it at this point. Not that I think old Pithagrus has any reason to curse an elf maze, specifically."

"You never know. Curses are truly terrifying and unpredictable things. Especially when they are curses set by the dead…The dark elves have a number of stories about those unfortunate enough to have come into contact with curses unrelated to them. To say nothing of the famous tale of how the wicked dragon Shmargor came under the Holy Tree's curse and tormented the humans who did nothing to it."

"Ah yes…You do have a point…"

"Well, there's only one thing to do," Mito states while folding her arms. "All puzzles have to be solved, curse or not. How great are you at puzzles, Kizmel?"

"Hmm? Well…as children, we solve picture-matching boards and tangle rings, but I have never seen a puzzle of numbers like this. Are we meant to reorder the boards in numerical order?"

"Indeed. We start from the top left and move in rows."

"Well, Mito, we'll leave this to you," Jaymes delegates as he marches to the nearby wall and slides down to his butt. "I wouldn't want to get in the way of a future puzzle countess."

He says that, and it does make Mito feel good, but...as much as she loves a good puzzle, fifteen puzzles are challenging on their own. Twenty more pieces raise the difficulty by a significant margin. It is even said that computers have a hard time with puzzles, so the human brain (or Mito's brain) isn't much better. She doesn't even think an AI could perform such a task efficiently.

Feeling dreadful on the inside, Mito turns to the other swordsman. "Kirito, would you assist?"

"Sure...but I don't think we'll have to do anything..."

"Why... Huh?" To Mito's amazement, Kizmel is flying through the puzzle after only looking at it for a few seconds. The tiles click into place in rapid succession, and before four appalled eyes, the tiles begin to line up in order from the top left. Once the final tile is placed, the stone board glows, dictating the puzzle is solved, and the door rumbles open.

Looking at everyone over her shoulder, Kizmel says, "Ah, I see now. Your human puzzles are quite refreshing."

The dungeon's path was straightforward from there on. After conquering a headless dullahan, the group obtained the Agate Key, then had to make the entire journey back to Castle Galey on foot. By the time they exited the caves, crossed Lake Talpha again (to Mito's disappointment and fear), and marched through the wasteland to the castle, it was late afternoon, the sky colored by the orange of sunset.

"Nice work, today...but there's more of it yet to do. We must deliver the key we recovered to Count Galeyon."

"Oh...yes, that's right." Kirito says that, but in all honesty, no one was in the mood to see the count. After all, once they did, it will signify the end of this leg of the Elf War Campaign. They wouldn't see Kizmel again until the next floor. That pattern, no matter the side, will repeat until players reach the castles of the dark elf queen and the forest elf king on the ninth floor and enter the grand finale.

Well, everyone but Mito will see Kizmel again and reach the end.

"Um...Kizmel," Asuna says, speaking for everyone, "when we give the count the key, are you going to leave for the next floor?"

Kizmel delays her answer, seemingly holding herself back, but then she presents with a natural smile. "That's a good question... It depends on the determination of the priests sent from the royal city. Most likely, I will be ordered to deliver the four keys to the fortress on the seventh floor."

"That's...expected, after all," Koharu murmurs, her head downcasted. Asuna mimics her friend's emotional state, looking toward the spirit tree in the courtyard's center.

Then she faces and steps to Kizmel and, in a quiet tone, says, "But in that case, why does it have to be just you who goes around gathering these keys? We've gotten four of the six back…Why can't the knights from the castle or those darn priests themselves go and get the last two?"

"I don't think of this mission as being difficult or unpleasant." Grinning, Kizmel strokes Asuna's hair like an elder sister would do to comfort the younger. "As Her Majesty's knight, I have a duty to uphold, and I have you five helping me…Sometimes I wish it was not six keys, but ten or twenty instead."

"...Kizmel..." Asuna leans forward, about to cry. Koharu stands a step behind, tears forming at her eyelids. Kizmel places her hands on their backs and looks to Mito and boys, ushering them closer.

Quietly, she continues, "Also, in the background of this mission are a host of troublesome political calculations and squabbles. As I told you a while ago, my Pagoda Knights Brigade, the palace security Sandalwood Knights Brigade, and the heavily armored Trifoliate Knights Brigade are often at odds…Our leadership, especially, has always been competitive with one another. When the word came that the forest elves were going after the hidden keys, there was considerable argument over which brigade should respond…"

"And they weren't trying to foist off the responsibility on one another, but just the opposite, of course."

Kizmel nods to Kirito's assumption. "That is correct. It has been over a century since knights of Lyusula left the castle for a practical mission, rather than training…and against the forest elves of Kales'Oh, no less. The three brigades fought for the honor of this duty, and ultimately, it was given solely to the Pagoda Knights Brigade, for our light armor and fleet movement. A vanguard of sixty was sent down to the third floor, but there is no dark elf fortress there. We were to build a camp for our base and scout the labyrinth that contained the key. There was not supposed to be any combat…"

With a heavy sigh, Kizmel continues. "…But on our first scouting mission, which split the vanguard into two groups, we suffered a forest elf ambush. The scout group was virtually wiped out by an attack from the rear, and that was when Tilnel lost her life. The commander of the vanguard requested more members from the brigade's headquarters, of course…but the request was refused. They probably knew that if it was revealed that the group freshly descended to the third floor was already half gone, the other brigades would swoop in to steal our glory…"

"No! You fought as hard as you could! They can't just..." Stopping Asuna from shouting any further, Kizmel leads everyone to a bench. She sits between Asuna and Koharu, arms crossing her stomach, eyes on the gap of air between Jaymes and Kirito to the spirit tree.

"We fought hard… That is correct. But fighting hard, by itself, is not enough when you are the queen's knight. When you fight, you must win…so I do not curse our headquarters for refusing our request. If anything, I am grateful that they allowed me the opportunity to regain my honor."

Asuna, fist-balled and head facing her knees, was unconvinced by that answer; it could be said all three girls were unsatisfied based on their hard expressions."…But…that doesn't mean…you need to do this…all on your own…"

"Asuna, it is true that I alone am on the mission to retrieve the keys, but that is not because the other knights are sitting around, doing nothing. The vanguard's commander put together a new plan to complete our mission with a much smaller number. About ten knights would take turns harrying the forest elves and drawing their attention; meanwhile, one knight skilled in stealthy matters would get the keys from the labyrinths…I nominated myself for the retrieval. Tilnel and I played tag and hide-and-seek in our youth, so I am confident in my sneaking."

Mito wonders how many conversations players will have like this with their elven companion, be it on the forest elves' side or the dark elves. Mito knows that it won't be many; she didn't get this personal with the forest elf she worked with in the beta. She doesn't even recall if he was as intelligent of an AI as Kizmel is now. As for the individual gamers, she doesn't believe Jaymes or Kirito would care as much if it wasn't for Koharu and Asuna.

For the boys, Mito, and other veteran gamers, Sword Art Online is their life now; the game's logic determines their every action. For Asuna, Koharu, and those who tried SAO riding the excitement of the time, their life is currently contained in Sword Art Online; the reasoning one uses to move in the real world is all they know and utilize. In the case of the elves, one side would view them as a part of the background of the world, one of many stepping stones to further progression in the game. On the other side, the elves are part of this world equally as much as the players are...or in another view of it, the players are the ones intruding on the world of Aincrad.

So the conversation with Kizmel may be nothing but flavoring of the world to some, but to others, Kizmel is as real a person as the next. She's a living being on Aincrad with desires and wishes for herself. Her reasons may not make sense to Asuna and Koharu, and it may not be given a second thought to Jaymes, Kirito, and Mito...but for whatever reason, Mito can't stop the words from exiting her mouth.

"She's not alone, Asuna. Kizmel's mission is hers. But every step of the way, you, Koharu, Kirito, and Jaymes have been there helping her out."

"Yes, that's right. That's exactly right," Kizmel nods, then gently pats Asuna's hair. "Since everyone began helping me, I have never thought of this mission as a painful one, and I have no intention of dying without completing my task. We'll recover all six keys and go to the palace on the ninth floor together…I think you will like it, Asuna."

"…Yeah."

"...Hey, I want to do something." Koharu stands up and takes about four steps away from the group. She keeps her back to everyone momentarily, then turns around with a purple crystal in her fingertips. Mito hasn't seen this crystal before, so it causes her to frown in confusion. Jaymes, however, forms an "o-shape" with his lips, and even Asuna looks like she knows the purpose of the crystal.

"Another picture with the Record Crystal, Ko?"

"Mhm. Let's see... Jaymes and Kirito stand behind the bench. Mito, sit beside Asuna." Jaymes and Kirito follow instructions, walking to the posterior side of the bench. Kirito takes position behind Asuna while Jaymes hovers above the space Koharu voided to set up the crystal. Mito slides to the left of Asuna, and once Koharu's satisfied with everyone's position, she fiddles with the Record Crystal.

"What are we doing?" Kizmel inquires.

"Taking a picture," Asuna states. "It's hard to explain, but it...takes a one-second moment of time and...well, think of a painting made instantly. I think showing rather than telling will be better, so smile when Koharu asks us to." Kizmel seems to understand that enough to follow along.

"Okay, it's set to ten seconds. Big toothy smiles everyone, including you, Mister Grumpy." Jaymes grumbles while Koharu returns to her seat, then everyone brandishes their teeth all at once. A small flash indicates the picture is taken, and the hovering crystal falls to the ground. Koharu rushes to pick up the crystal, smiles, and returns to the group with the photo visible to every. "I love it."

"It's great!"

"So it made a painting in a short amount of time? This human magic is something else..."

"Record Crystals? How and when did you get one, Koharu? How many pictures can be stored on one? Can it make videos too"

"That'd be 300 Col for outside-partnership secret sharing, my boy."

"Huh? But we're a party."

Mito chuckles as the other girls ogle over the workings of the Record Crystal (and Koharu's other captured photos featuring her and Asuna mostly), and the boys argue over the rights to knowledge of the crystal. It warms her heart to see that, despite their current circumstances, they can remain who they are. Teenagers are forced to mature quickly due to Kayaba's plot, but above to lower their guard occasionally and act as teenagers. She silently hopes that they'll stay together until either the game claims them or they claim total victory on the hundredth floor.

Further on, the four will split into twos. One pair of two will separate based on a promise; the other will be separated by death. One pair will reunite more than a year apart, another will reunite after two and a half years in another world, and all four will be together once more.

But Mito, of course, wouldn't be there for any of it.