A/N: I'm losing patience with FFN. If you want an easier time with notifications, and me receiving your feedback, just find this work on Ao3.

"Now, ladies, gentlemen, please – settle down. We have the means to appease you all."

Bardun certainly looked like he was aging fast, as he attempted to cool the gamblers' heads.

"Of course. If you all wouldn't mind, would you join us near the prize counter upstairs?"

The crowd was somewhat puzzled by Nirrnir's request, but they began filing out, regardless.

January 6th, 2023 – 21:20 AST. Just over a dozen minutes prior, we had exposed for all to see, the cheating practices of the Korloy family patriarch, Bardun; just as his Rusty Lykaon was to fight against the Nachtoy family's monster, I sprayed a bleaching solution onto it, revealing it to actually be a more powerful variant, the Storm Lykaon.

Once all the arena gamblers were gathered on the casino's game floor, where the prize counter lay in the middle, Nirrnir turned to the crowd.

"Now… As it has been said, when one of the families running the casino has broken its rules, then judgement will be passed by the founding hero, Falhari."

At that moment, an astral-type being materialized in the air over Nirrnir and Bardun. The figure was entirely nondescript, but clearly had a masculine shape overall. It was agreed in my party, that this outcome was rather anticlimactic.

"Ladies and gentlemen: I am present for the judgement of Bardun, from house Korloy, for his vile treachery of the agreement made between my self-appointed heirs."

His voice sounded just as heroic and noble as we had imagined it would be. Nirrnir's eyes seemed to sparkle with delight, while Bardun looked older than he was fifteen minutes ago.

"What is done, in regards to my own life, is done," Falhari continued from above the two families' leaders as they eagerly listened with the rest of us, "But I will not stand for further greed. Without honesty in the arena battles, I cannot let the fate of my fortune be decided by it. Therefore, I pass judgement as follows…"

He pointed to the display case containing the Sword of Volupta, and the NPC at the prize counter turned to retrieve it, with a switch lowering the case into her reach, and then she opened the glass window before removing the scabbard stored below the sword, and then slid the sword within.

"The Sword of Volupta – the symbol of the heir. I will award this immediately, to the Nachtoy heir, Nirrnir. This casino will see all business overseen by the Nachtoy clan."

The astral figure took the sheathed sword from the prize counter attendant, and handed it directly to Lady Nirrnir, who delicately accepted it, and immediately wore the scabbard.

"House Korloy will be responsible for all reimbursements to those robbed of their winnings. This will include the expenses for the VIP rewards, earned by those whose total winnings surpass the bonus milestone established."

Bardun snarled, arms crossed. "Curses! I may as well have been exiled, if I am to be bankrupt…!"

The spirit of Falhari simply shook his head. "Whatever debt the house Korloy may accrue as a result, shall be paid off with service to the casino, under the employ of the house Nachtoy – no matter how many generations that may take to achieve."

Bardun clutched his upper head in anguish. "I had to open my big mouth…"

"Finally… The Korloy family will not be able to attain control of a monster, without a member of the house Nachtoy as a witness. A representative of the clan, unrelated to the family, must see each individual monster beforehand. I am able to make this so, and it will be. My word is final."

Then, without another word, Falhari vanished, leaving the casino in silence. Then, Bardun bowed his head in defeat.

"I am no fool; his word is indeed, final. Do be patient, people – your compensation will be paid!"

He then turned to Kirito, Asuna, Argo, Kizmel, and myself.

"And you – the ones who shattered my scheme. You will receive the VIP passes; they allow access to the private beach operated by the casino."

He handed each of us a black card with a flower and dragon logo, the cards seemingly neither made from paper, plastic, wood, nor metal.

"I am sure that Lady Nirrnir will work out a proper compensation for me to give to you, along with whatever she intended for your reward."

"That, I will," Nirrnir answered with a smile, "See you soon, Korloy."

Bardun sighed as he left with his butler, and then Nirrnir turned to us.

"Kirito, Asuna, SAUER, Argo, Kizmel. I cannot thank you enough for your effort. I hope you get much relaxation out of those beach passes."

I smiled and bowed. "Thank you, Lady Nirrnir, for your mere presence. Kirito, Asuna, and I will be proceeding for the Pillar of the Heavens, for we must ascend the floors of Aincrad."

She nodded with a giggle. "You will be facing Aghyellr, the Igneous Wyrm; Falhari's next target after Zariegha, the water dragon, if he had continued up the floors to slay dragons."

Kirito tilted his head. "He was going to fight every dragon?"

"Indeed. Falhari left the Town of Beginnings on the first floor, and killed many dragons along the way upward, until he married the woman originally offered as a sacrifice to Zariegha, on this very floor."

I chuckled with interest. "So, a single floor can have more than one dragon… I look forward to them."

"If you really want to fight Aghyellr, though, Falhari had previously learned that this dragon has a technique to help it choose targets: when its wings are spread wide, look away from its eyes – any person looking when its eyes flash, will be momentarily stunned. However, it occurs to me that you adventurers have a Mystic Tome which records your combat effectiveness, and presents it to you in a numerical rating. I believe that if that rating is at least twenty, you will be unaffected."

Asuna nodded as she memorized that detail. "Thank you, Lady Nirrnir; that is especially helpful."

The next morning, with accommodation provided by Nirrnir, we woke up at 6AM and immediately headed west for Pramio, where the frontline parties of my guild were waiting. By the time we got to town, we were ready for lunch – Kumiko and the Dark Auxiliary were joining us for the boss raid, as would be Brandi and the Forest Auxiliary, as they had finished their side of this floor's key quest, so they were both available to cater for the Aincrad Skyward Siege. During lunch, we told the group everything that the beta testers remembered, plus the changes explained by Nirrnir; with crucial release-version information in hand, we were sure to win tonight.

"This will be the last detour for the time being, Kizmel," I promised her, "If we put the whole of the afternoon and evening into the tower, we'll have it done, and we can get the key tomorrow."

"Very well; as long as I may accompany you against the dragon."

I chuckled with a nod. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

For the last two days, the frontline group had mapped out Ant Tunnel Valley, and the tower atop it, allowing us to reach the space in front of the boss door around dinnertime. The wrestlers had also prepared dinner when they made us lunch, so we simply ate it before heading into the chamber.

As Kirito explained on the way up, the word 'dragon' came from the Ancient Greek drakon, which meant 'serpent'. That word, itself, had Indo-European etymology, for 'to see', 'bright', or 'light'.

"Look down!" I advised the group, as Aghyellr spread its wings, before its eyes flashed. I had told everyone that they only had to listen to that specific direction, if they were under Level 20, thus Kumiko, Brandi, Kirito, Asuna, Kizmel and I continued fighting, our eyes concentrated on the boss; while we felt a freezing sensation, it was neither hot nor cold, and it didn't do anything else to us.

At the back of the chamber, the dragon curved its neck into an 'S' shape, wings folded, and sparks spilled from the edges of its jaw. "Here's the breath! Tanks, cover the stunned!" I ordered.

Kaptyn didn't have to move much, carrying the Flag of Valor which maintained the guild buffs, but he still had to pull in behind the shield users, as when Aghyellr's neck lurched forward, and orange fire fanned from its open mouth, throughout the long, narrow chamber, and audibly terrified the primal instinct of some players.

Before we left Volupta this morning, Argo gave us some kind of ice-elemental item for topping drinks. They were called Snow Tree Buds – she had enough for the whole raid group, and we drank some Covanille juice topped with one each with dinner outside the door; it gave us a fire resistance buff, without which every fire breath would shave off 10% of our HP, even with shields.

Once the flames passed, we had a party on the left leg, one on the right, and the Dark and Forest Auxiliary parties each took the dragon's sides, while the other two active frontline parties pulled out for healing; they used potions for the time being, as we wanted to accumulate crystals through Kiril's party on Headwind Road as consistently as we could, before we needed to pull from the stockpile.

Within our second movement against the six HP bars, we cut through the first one. I pulled the group back once we made a scratch on the second, and Aghyellr let out a metallic roar.

"Right arm!" I called, referring to the dragon's limbs from its own perspective, followed by the parties withdrawing from the reach of the clawed foot slamming down, "And its left!"

The party by that leg mimicked the party around the right leg, and were missed by the slam, though shaken up by the resulting shockwave for about 15% HP. The Elf Aux parties continued shaving off at least half of the second bar, and then Aghyellr began to reposition itself.

"Everyone back!" I commanded firmly, and all complied, as the dragon curled its body into a C shape, before then swinging its thick, tree trunk-like tail in a 360-degree spin. This attack was also new, like the stunning gaze, as the tail's clashes on the walls clouded the area with dust.

The healing parties were done, so they swapped places with the leg parties, advancing once more following another gaze and breath, and then the pattern was established with claw and tail attacks. This same loop persisted until we started on the fourth HP bar.

Though we followed the same pattern, each move was still under my direction, as any bar could introduce new factors. Sure enough, on the fourth, Aghyellr blew fire three times in a row, before returning to the original pattern. With that single event out of the way, the fourth and fifth bars were drained out in much the same fashion. We just had one more to empty.

"If anything's to change, it has to be here! Stand by for orders!"

Aghyellr's next growl was deeper than the others, the walls and floor fairly damaged by its previous attacks with rubble effects having formed around the impact points, making it difficult to get at its flanks when advancing on it.

Then, Aghyellr's growl stopped, and its wings spread out.

"It could be different, but it could also be the same! Standby for gaze aversion!"

Kirito, Asuna, Kizmel and I were the only ones still looking at the dragon, as the other players above Level 20 must have assumed the gaze would be more powerful. But rather than its eyes flashing, the dragon began beating its wings, lifting itself up.

"It's flying! Observe, then avert once more!"

Everyone looked up to see that Aghyellr was about 40 feet up, near the ceiling, and then just half a second after they returned their eyes to the floor, the dragon's eyes flashed.

"Okay! Is fire still next?!" I asked redundantly, as we were about to receive our answer.

As everyone looked up again, Aghyellr opened its mouth and coughed up a sparking sphere, about three feet across, which shot down toward the center of the chamber.

"To the walls! Face your shields to the center!"

We moved to the left and right walls of the narrow chamber, and just as I suspected, the ball made contact with the floor and created a mammoth explosion; first a shockwave, then a wall of red flame, both pushing roughly against us – the closer to the wall we were, the shorter distance we flew when knocked by both forces.

As most of us were scrambling to our feet, Aghyellr then landed in the center of the room. And then, as I admitted disappointment afterward, the final HP bar was exactly the same – with the final blow from my Swampforge Kobold Saber, Aghyellr the Igneous Wyrm exploded into blue flames.

"Excellent work, everybody! Kaptyn, take the front line to the first town of the eighth floor. Brandi, proceed with them until you find your next objective. Kumiko, teleport back down to Lexio and then return to Volupta from that side. I'll let you know when to resume your intended path."

As the frontline parties and both Elf Auxiliaries began up the stairs to the exit, I turned to my party.

"Kirito, Asuna, Kizmel – let's head back to Pramio, and we can get that key in the morning."

"Right," the three answered in unison.

Around 7:30AM, the morning of January 8th, we got to the shrine, and after another half hour, we obtained the key in uneventful fashion. Only as we made our way back toward Pramio, were there Fallen Elves to fight; Kysarah was present for a moment, but she did little more than shatter Kizmel's saber before simply leaving – I assumed that this was a result of the deal made with Valkyrie's help.

"I am sorry that you had to experience that, Kizmel," I sighed as she stared at the hilt in her hand.

"It's alright. All that matters to me, is that the keys are safe – and you three, more importantly."

I smiled and removed my sword in its sheath. She turned to me with a puzzled look.

"Surely you do not intend to gift me the weapon you have been using for much of this floor?"

I nodded with a chuckle. "It has history with me, Kizmel; surely that is worth its chips?"

The dark elf knight grinned as she took the sheathed saber. "It certainly is. Thank you, SAUER."

I then equipped the claws I had forged at least a week ago. "I can make do with these, until I can get something from those kobold smiths."

We had no need to remain in Pramio, so we continued back to Volupta, which took until dinner. On the way, I retrieved the Claw skill from its Crystal Bottle of Kales'Oh, storing my One-Handed Curved Blade skill for the time being; I was tempted to store Humanoid Relations, but I was sure that it was helping me get closer to Kizmel.

By that time, Kumiko was there as well, so she cooked for us again. Then, we took the Ruby Key to Harin Tree Palace; unfortunately, Kizmel did not receive a day of downtime like she did on the sixth floor, but we were able to spend the rest of the night with her there, before we accompanied her to the Spirit Tree's location, and she left us once again.

However, Asuna was not disheartened enough to pass up the private beach in Volupta; and neither were Argo or myself. So, on January 9th, we found our way onto the white sand late in the morning.

Kumiko made us fruit punch to take to the beach before she set off to reunite with Vantorain, and once we had brought it out onto the sand, Argo gave us more Snow Tree Buds just to chill the drink.

Argo's two-piece swimsuit was also designed by Asuna, the top having a layered look to it; it would wrap firmly and widely around the back like a tube top, but there was still a strap which curved up around the neck.

"You know, Kii-boy, I don't know why I thought you were the one entranced by my legs; Ozii-chan, on the other hand, seems to have his eyes on them more often than you."

"Not just your legs, my little blonde rodent," I chuckled as I patted her head, "I seldom get to see you around at all, let alone much skin – forgive me if I equate scarcity with value."

Asuna simply rolled her eyes. "You wouldn't be saying I'm depreciating in your eyes, as a result?"

I snorted at her concern that she was losing my interest. "Hey, I can't leave Kirito with nothing…"

"Huh?!" Kirito panicked, as my quip prompted the fencer to turn and catch him staring at her.

I slowly shook my head with a smirk. "As if it wasn't obvious how you concur with my opinion of this corporate princess' figure. Every time I dare to gaze upon her, I find you already looking."

Asuna crossed her arms and leaned back. "I can't decide which of you is more stupid…!"

She was in that gorgeous white one-piece again, the one she made on the fourth floor. I couldn't imagine any other design on her, even though I'd only seen this one twice, now.

Argo cackled the way she tended to, wrapping an arm over Asuna's shoulders.

"Sorry, A-chan – you must know Ozii-chan has other targets to pursue; I'm not sure he could take anyone pursuing him, if it wasn't already someone he was pursuing."

"Who's pursuing who?! Why am I being included in the topic?!" whined the reddening fencer.

I chuckled at Asuna's reactions. "Let's not fluster the lady too much, as we queue up while she's pouring our drinks – she just might start a literal punchline."

Asuna's whole body trembled for a second before it was restrained to her face. Then, she took in a deep breath. "…You just might have saved the other two."

I glanced back at Argo and Kirito, then simply shrugged. "You're welcome."

Thankfully, the beach counted as part of Volupta's safe zone, so Asuna was free to put in full force behind her fist.

Once we got our cups filled, we sat down to relax.

"So, after the pleasant news of 19 new guildmates yesterday, I think I should clarify that only eleven will be joining the front lines – the other eight are crafters. I have a new smith, three more armor specialists, another tailor, another carpenter, and another two culinary craftsmen; just like the first apprentice of Brandi & Kumiko's traveling café business, they took up glassblowing as a side skill, leaving a slot open for Martial Arts. They'll be taking it tomorrow with the other half of the new frontliners, then the rest of the new crafters will take it on the 11th."

"That's… good to hear," Kirito responded after a sip of the punch, "Where is the front line?"

"Brandi has made it to where they're supposed to be – they went around a counterclockwise loop while she continued east to the forest. She's doing the Forest elf quest today."

Asuna nodded. "Okay. Is that 'Speen' guy still doing the Fallen route?"

"Sure is," I answered after a sip, "He's doing the sixth floor today. Said he's seen no real need for Kysarah's assistance just yet; it must have been those guys doing it just because they could."

"Does that Valkyrie girl know that you have Speen doing the same route as her?" asked Argo.

"Oh, yes – she got it done yesterday. She told me that you reach the base from within the tower."

Kirito and Asuna blinked a few times in confusion, before the latter spoke. "Well, you'd better remember to let Speen know that, when his party is ready to do this floor."

"Of course; it'll be easy for them, because they can just go back to Stachion, teleport to the eighth floor, then backtrack down the stairs. They could have it done tomorrow, then waltz back onto the eighth floor just as we get to see Kizmel again."

Asuna smiled as she nodded again. "At the very least, we should leave here after dinner, go back to Lexio, and then we can go up and actually set foot on the eighth floor for a bit before we go to bed."

"Agreed. Kumiko's also gone to Harin Tree Palace," I continued after another gulp of punch, clearing my throat to speak more, "She should be departing with Vantorain about now."

"Good to know," responded the fencer as she finished her punch, "Oh! You should probably see the kobolds for a new sword tonight. Then, we'll head to the next floor, and sleep there; we can look at the town itself tomorrow morning."

It was agreed, and then that was what happened – we enjoyed the beach for the whole afternoon, had dinner back at the casino's hotel, took the east road back to Lexio, and then to the sixth floor tower's exit where the kobolds had settled.

"Hey, Lady Viperhinge – how's this expansion going?" I asked as we entered the old boss chamber.

"We're prepared for the next step!" she answered cheerfully, "We'd like you to deploy a summoning orb containing a Swamp Kobold Settler, by the river west from here."

"Makes sense. Any guidance in the general area?"

"Yes, actually – the architects have moved a large bowl to the ideal location; set the orb into it, and you should see how the resulting camp will look. Then, set the orb on the ground, to finalize the summoning position. The settler has another carpet with two chests on it, each containing two orbs which will summon foremen, and each of them will have four more orbs for carpenters. It might be a good idea to stick around until they're all summoned, when they'll be able to fight back against any monsters that wander off of the road."

"Sure, we can do that," Kirito answered with a smile, "We'll take that orb to the right place."

The kobold chieftain opened the chest containing the orb, and I lifted it up under one arm with my inventory open, then dropped it onto the game window, storing the item safely.

With the seventh floor clear, Kirito and I had reached Level 23, with Asuna to 22. Being a level higher than we were when we started the floor, the monsters on Headwind Road wouldn't become much easier; however, the monsters themselves weren't that much of an issue – it was the frequency of running into them along the road from here to the seventh floor's tower.

We did take the orb where it was meant to go, and sure enough, the arrival of monsters did make the slow process of the Settler opening its chests and retrieving the foremen's orbs, rather annoying. But the quest gradually became more engaging as more of the foremen deployed the carpenters; with more kobolds to defend, more monsters had to be managed at a time. It never got to the ridiculous kind of scenario faced up in the mountains, but it was still an accurate challenge for Headwind Road.

Every kobold gave us a stamped ticket from the Settler, confirming their survival; we handed these to Viperhinge back at the Irrational Cube's chamber, and she graciously thanked us with another chest. Inside, was what appeared to be another sword, slightly less curved than a saber, yet still bearing a clear-enough curve to count as a curved sword.

As I claimed it, I saw in the item properties, that it was called the Kobold Chieftain's Wakizashi. The flavor text stated that the chieftain, Viperhinge, had this one-handed sword forged in order to better understand Illfang's steps in learning the use of katanas.

Thanking Viperhinge once more, I returned the Claw skill to the crystal bottle, retrieving One-Handed Curved Blade from it to be my primary skill once again. Then, as Kirito, Asuna and I returned to Lexio, we ran into two more familiar faces.

"Oh! Kahn, Koishi!" I chuckled enthusiastically, "How convenient; I need another boomerang."

"How convenient for you," Koishi replied with a smile, "Since we're joining you, it's on the house."

"Joining him?" Kirito asked with a tilt of his head.

"You must have known about Sarako's guild name, yeah?" began an explanation from Kahn.

"Niceguy-Feminist Treasurers," I groaned, "Was it the name, or the acronym that bothered you?"

"Both," the brother answered plainly, "If there was one thing we weren't going to stand for as simps for her, it was to both lampshade her whole avatar gimmick, and acknowledge the blockchain."

"We were already losing patience with her antics," the sister admitted with a sigh, "It turns out that I was drawing attention from guys just because I was a girl 'simping' for a girl. And Sarako didn't want some kind of franchise of e-girls – all the 'pathetic boy shenanigans' had to always be her business."

"Japanese guys do seem to like redheads," I chuckled before shaking their hands, "Welcome aboard."

We teleported up to the eighth floor together, where Kyubi had also just arrived with a party of the fresh recruits who had taken the Martial Arts quest after joining the guild. After Kahn made my new boomerang with Staggerite from the melted-down Numb Daggers, he and his twin sister agreed to accompany this party to catch up to the frontline group.

"That's interesting…" I noted as I modified the Guild Scroll, "Looks like we lost eight guys yesterday. When we see Kaptyn again, I'll have to ask what happened."

We turned in for the night, and then in the morning, we left the inn and ran into two other parties from my Aincrad Skyward Siege.

"Oh, Kumiko, Kyubi, fancy meeting you both!" I laughed cheerfully, "I guess you had both finished up your quests on the lower floors last night, huh?"

"That's right," Kyubi chuckled proudly, "Your new recruits have Martial Arts like you wanted."

Kumiko nodded with a smile. "And we just got the Ruby Key back to Harin Tree Palace, last night."

"Well, I guess we'll be approaching the tower together, before splitting north and east afterward."

I reached that conclusion after having seen the layout of the immediate area; directly north of the village here, was a steep, muddy cliff about twice as tall as the village's tallest building. Northeast, there was a thick, sandy marsh, surrounded by the area with the tower, a road toward the center of the floor, and the road west from there to the high ground above us.

"Let's round the marsh and see the rest of the floor from the cliff," I suggested to Kirito and Asuna.

At the very least, most of the enemies on the floor were familiar – Scream Fish, Giant Sickle, and Pointed Beak; legged piranha, hulking flightless moths, and large water birds, respectively.

As expected, standing a couple yards from the storm-encased tower, we were treated to harsh winds keeping my hair flowing west, as I stood facing southward. The vortex swirled counterclockwise, like the route we were about to take, starting north.

Then, I got a message from Brandi. [Hey, I see you south of us on the map! We just got the key!]

"Oh, the key is at the north end of the floor," I told the group with me as I read the message.

"Ah, Brandi is almost done with this floor of the Forest route, then?" asked Kumiko, impressed.

"Must be," I answered as I received a reply to my follow-up message, "The Forest base is in the east woods, and my frontline passed Brandi as she was leaving it. Kumiko, take the Martial Artists to the frontline and see if the Dark base is around there, too. We'll see if it's on the cliff."

"You got it, boss!" Kumiko answered cheerfully, taking Kyubi's party with hers east.

Kirito, Asuna and I proceeded north, and met with Brandi's party halfway to the center, as implied by her statement of location.

"Hey, Brandi. Kumiko was with me on the way to the tower; she's taking Kyubi to the frontline."

"Good to know. She should be able to take the Dark route on this floor immediately after you…?"

I nodded with a smile. "Well, you go and finish up, then rejoin the frontline. The forest seems to be counted as a dungeon by the messaging system, so once you're out, tell us what else is in there."

"I'll do my best to catch up to them, so I can see it all."

Brandi headed south to turn east, as we made it to the center of the floor and proceeded west. The distance travelled took most of the day to cover from the village to the cliff above it, and it became night by the time we were positioned behind the incline leading up to the cliff.

"Hey, check this out – there's a narrow path on the west side of the incline's wall."

I walked over to Kirito after he pointed this out, and smiled. "This probably didn't show up for the frontline when they fell for this loop."

"Then, is it the way to the dark elves' instance?" asked Asuna behind us.

We simply nodded confidently, and proceeded along the wall, going behind the incline and under a tunnel hidden inside the cliff. And continuing east through this passage, we reached a camp with a similar layout to that of the third floor's camp, except slightly bigger as there were more tents.

"You know, geographically, we should have moved eastward enough to end up in the marsh."

Kirito and Asuna shrugged dismissively, as we approached the guards and held up the fingers each bearing the Sigil of Lyusula, before passing into the camp proper.

"So, we'll be getting the final key, tomorrow…" Asuna sighed, as if disappointed in how close the end of the campaign was, "It still doesn't seem like we're close to beating Kysarah, let alone N'ltzahh…"

I could only shrug. "If all goes well with Valkyrie, we may never have to face Kysarah."

As we walked through the camp while I spoke, I suddenly felt the sensation of arms wrapping around my chest from behind, and a soft plushness on my back.

"I certainly hope you are correct. I cannot let your gifted blade go to waste."

I chuckled with a smile. "Hello again, Kizmel."

She let go of me, and gave Kirito a hug after we turned to face her. She was wearing the dress she'd been left wearing on the fourth floor, during that time when the priests didn't allow anyone to walk around Yofel Castle in armor. She let go of Kirito after a few seconds, and gave a hug to Asuna, too.

"You're back in this dress again, Kizmel? Don't tell me those priests are up here?" asked the fencer.

"Fortunately not," Kizmel answered, smiling as she let go of Asuna, "This camp is simply hidden well enough, that I was able to await you in more comfortable wear. I will return to armor for as long as you are with me."

I nodded in response. "Well, we have no other obligations, as far as we can tell, tomorrow. We are likely to pursue the final key."

"Excellent. In the meantime, you must be cold from the wind and rain," the dark elf sighed as she began walking past us, "Come – we have set up this camp atop an underground hot spring."

I grinned eagerly as we followed. "Ah… So, there is more to this camp's advantages over the one on the third floor, than mere size. Good to hear."

In a similar vein to Castle Galey, there were two separate tents set up as 'changing rooms', but both were pitched over holes with ladders leading down to the same subterranean chamber. As we all climbed down, each ladder's base was obscured by the steam rising up to the tents above, and we were only made aware of each-other's presence upon approaching the water. Kirito and I hopped in first, followed by Kizmel across from us, and Asuna sighed in surrender as she stepped into the hot water and sank to shoulder-depth with a moan.

"I still can't believe how much of this I've let happen," the fencer pouted as she leaned back, the coldness of her eyes almost negating the heat of the water, "But as long as these moments end up a footnote in the long run for you boys, then I can put up with it for a couple more floors."

"Oh, Asuna," Kizmel chuckled as she slithered to my side, "You humans really struggle to adjust."

I shrugged with a smile. "Cultural pre-dispositions are often difficult to overcome. It was less than twenty years ago in our world, that two men or two women marrying had become fairly-welcomed scenarios in modern, wealthy regions. And less than ten, that it finally became accepted by law, in most of those regions."

The knight tilted her head. "There is a lot for me to learn about human culture, it seems."

I shook my head with a sigh. "Some of it is best glossed over."

"We have proper beds set up at this camp," Kizmel explained, moving on quickly, "There are three inside my tent. Very warm, in fact; two of you should have no problem having one to yourselves."

Asuna returned her gaze to me. "I assume SAUER will be in yours, then."

The dark elf grinned as she leaned against my shoulder. "I have certainly found myself agreeing with many of the decisions he makes, as he attempts to keep the peace between the three of you in my company. He and I have mutually benefitted from the outcomes of each, as well."

I nervously forced out another chuckle. "I guess Kirito and Asuna will each have their own bed."

"In any case, we should be well-rested for tomorrow, huh?" suggested Kirito with an awkward smile.

"Of course. Far more pleasant rest than on the third floor," answered Kizmel warmly.

We remained in the spring for another dozen minutes before getting out, getting dressed, and then following Kizmel to her tent, which true to her word, contained only three beds.

"Take any of the three; SAUER and I will settle into the remaining one just fine."

The tent was square, all three beds lining the back. Kirito took the left, Asuna in the middle – the mischievous elven knight and I thus sat down on the rightmost bed.

"It has been a little too long since we have had beds to ourselves," the fencer admitted to her previously-established grievances, "So, I am more than grateful for some space."

Kirito shrugged as he slipped under the covers of his bed. "If you're happy with it, I am too. If SAUER and Kizmel are happy with their arrangement, then it should be an easy night."

"That's all one can ask for, right?" Asuna commented with a smile as she turned in. "Good night."

"Night, Asuna," replied the boy in black, as I followed up with "Sweet dreams, my young friends."

"Goodnight," added Kizmel, as the lone sleepers settled into the thin mattresses.

I pulled the covers back on the bed we were to share, and rolled under them as Kizmel followed, bringing them over us again as she shuffled closer to me, arms wrapping under my back and over my chest as her bosom was divided against my right side. I looped my right arm over the upper half of Kizmel's left arm, and rested my hand on her back, at waist level.

"You think they know more than they're letting on?" I gently asked the dark elf, pulling her closer.

"Asuna might think there is more happening than is true," the knight answered with a soft smile, as she let her hand drift across my chest, "But Kirito seems fairly clueless. She might even know that."

"If he were to show complete ignorance, you think she'd tell him?" I chuckled my next question.

"I think she is likely to keep it to herself – as long as we are able to keep it subtle."

I felt her hand reach back for mine, and I moved it slightly into her reach, curious as to her intention. Only once she had found my wrist, she then simply moved my hand lower down her back, past her waist, before returning her right arm to its place across my chest.

I took a deep breath as I closed my eyes. "Those two aren't the gossipy types. We could rely on only the radiation between surfaces of skin for warmth, and they wouldn't necessarily complain."

Kizmel simply grinned as she nuzzled into my armpit. "That is a little risky in this weather. However, there are still plenty of smaller ideas to get away with."

As she spoke, she moved her hand back again for a moment, and suddenly the feeling of fabric was pulled free from my palm, only to be replaced by smoother, silkier fabric, and a more vivid sense of the firmness beneath the texture.

"Damn, Kizmel, you sure know how to plan a honeymoon…" I chuckled as I drifted off, hearing one from her before the next thing I could recall was a dream of seeing Kizmel get the last hit on the previously-unfought Kagachi the Samurai Lord, on the tenth floor, and seeing the Last Attack Bonus clattering to the floor without a Mystic Tome in which to be stored. Regardless, she scooped it up to bring it to me, but the dream passed before I could see what the item was.

Breakfast on the 11th was the same as in the fortresses, but in slightly smaller portions. Kizmel was already in her armor at the table, so we were able to head out right after eating. She took us in the direction indicated by Brandi's run through the quest – northeast; sure enough, the shrine was right against the northern edge of the floor.

"Well, here we are – the shrine holding the final key," said Kizmel with a deep breath.

"Once we're done here, it's back to the camp, and we can go right for the tower beast," I suggested with a smile, cracking my knuckles and taking a deep breath, "This should be a short floor…"

Suddenly, we heard a pained roar in the distance to the east, and while facing that direction, I saw something else at the right corner of my vision.

"Look!" Asuna called out, pointing south just as I noticed, and we all turned to confirm.

At the southern end of the floor, several kilometers across from us, the cylindrical storm was still somewhat visible. However, the winds had quickly died down, and within a minute, only a few last wisps of air were circling the exposed tower, before they also dissipated.

"Whatever roared from the area north of the forest, must have been responsible for the storm."

"You are correct, SAUER," Kizmel answered beside me, "You said that your frontline group had been making their way through the woods; this must mean that they have found and defeated the wind dragon who would often fly over to the Pillar of the Heavens, and beat its wings against the western side of the structure, bending the gusts counterclockwise around it."

While she explained this, I sent a message to Argo, and my suspicions were soon confirmed.

"Kibaou and Lind are preparing to head for the tower, now."

Kirito and Asuna shuffled behind me to look over my shoulder, as I went back-and-forth with the Rat for another minute, as she explained that they wanted to break ahead of the Skyward Siege for once.

"Kizmel, if I remember correctly, the beast is just a very large sabretooth tiger," I explained, prefacing my next suggestion, "But you know how unreliable the visions have been, as of late. Do you know anything about this one?"

"I do not. However, I still believe the four of us should try to catch up to them, for their safety."

"I'm glad you're onboard. We'll definitely get there before my frontliners do; let's go."

A/N: Well, there you go. A break of two months after this, then Chapter 30 will drop on January 5th, 2024. Some of you who play Sword Art Online: Integral Factor may recognize elements of my 8th floor, as being borrowed from that game's 6th floor. These are the lengths I must go to, without a Progressive Volume 9 to adapt from.

If any of you have direct input for my work aside from the feedback you can simply submit here, you want to roast my lackluster growth rate as an author, you want to talk with far better SAO fanfiction authors, more easily find active SAO fanfiction by those authors, or just talk SAO and fanfiction, you can join the SAO Fanfiction Central server on Discord using the key Nq8xrbYFEw. This should be the consistent key for the foreseeable future, as I obtained it from the generator after disabling both expiration criteria (time and uses).

Thank you for making it this far, and I'll see you all in January.