"This should be far enough!" Koharu shouted as we raced into the wide clearing within the woods. With trees around the forty-meter circular meadow, this is good for combating the mushroom mob. Yeah, we could be surrounded on all sides, but that seemed unlikely, given that the pink spores the musks shot out earlier covered only a fourth of the clearing. The monsters will only come from the spore-covered parts of the forest.

"Time to deal with our stalkers. Once we get out of the cloud of spores, we go on the defensive. Go all out, but be careful. Just because they're weak—"

"—doesn't mean they can't hurt us. Wasn't that the third lesson you taught me?"

I smirked with pride in my student, then spotted the first mushrooms entering the clearing. "Then let's get to work!"

"Wait! Jaymes!" Koharu skidded to a stop ahead of me as she got to the sporeless part of the clearing. I slowed down just a step behind the panicking, pointing girl. Following her finger, I see the unthinkable. Twenty meters ahead, already in the clearing, is a horde of mushrooms.

"Wha...?"

"No way, they got here before us—"

"To think they got here before me!"

"Yeah, they really got here befo... Huh?" That second statement overpowered Koharu's, and I didn't say it. It was feminine and familiar, but not Asuna's. Koharu and I traded glances, then looked to the right, where the voice came from. Out of the forest came a girl our age with silver hair dressed in red and black. Her blue eyes went from the horde of mushrooms to us two, wide with recognition and annoyance.

"S-Sanya?"

Sanya kept running until she got to us, then grabbed her blade from her back while eyeing us (me) scornfully. "No, that is quite unlikely. You two must have brought them over, am I correct?"

It hasn't been twenty seconds, and I'm already ready and willing to leave her alone with the mushrooms. Didn't I save her life once? She could have thrown us a "yo" or something first. "No, ours are behind us. These must be yours, witch."

"Were you running from the mobs attacked to the spores too?" Koharu asked.

"Running? Of course not. I mobilized to a more strategic location. I didn't think I'd bump into anyone else... Oh well." At this moment, the mushrooms that were chasing Koharu and I came into the clearing.. Sanya sighed and sported a determined frown. "Anyway, it seems this is our battlefield now. Are you prepared?"

"Yeah!'

"Of course!"

"I like the sound of that! Let's go!"

Fifteen minutes later, I watched as the last of the blue-colored Ashtray Musks exploded into pixel shards around my blade. I quickly scanned my immediate surroundings but only saw Sanya and Koharu in my sight. "Haa... It's over." Adrenaline left my system, and I fell to my knees. Settling on my butt, I placed my sword on the ground beside me, call forth my system menu, and navigate over to the FRIENDS option. I analyzed the list of friends for Kirito and Asuna, and once I confirmed they were not greyed out, I shot Kirito a quick message to say Koharu and I were okay.

"To think there'd be this much even on the front lines... Absurd," declared an irritated Sanya as the girls approached me. May I add that she shouldn't be on the floor yet? The four of us who came first hadn't opened the floor to the public. We cleared the thirteenth floor nearly two hours ago, and ten minutes after that, Koharu, Asuna, Kirito, and I took the first steps on this floor. We met the healer's apprentice about an hour after that, and then, thirty minutes later, we found him being chased by mushrooms. The last twenty minutes or so have been us fighting them off.

Oh, and let me add that ALS, DKB, or KoB hadn't made it up here, per Argo's message before we went off after the apprentice. That includes Agil's Bro Squad and Klein's Furinkazan. So how did Sanya make it up here before them and before the Teleport Gate opened?

The answer's obvious, yet I asked anyway. "How did you get up here before the gate opened?"

"How do you think I got up here?" she shot back.

"Tsk... Let me guess, you came from the labyrinth, something after we beat the boss?"

"Oh, it seems your head isn't completely devoid of brain cells. Yes, I decided not to wait for the Teleport Gate to be opened before coming onto this floor, so I came to the labyrinth tower while the Assault Team fought the boss. When I got to the boss's room, your group had already defeated the boss and were...doing other things. I walked by without a word and came up here. You can figure out with the remaining cells you hadn't used up to figure out the rest."

"Bitch," I muttered in English. I hopped to my feet and fixed Sanya with a harsh glare. "Well, thanks for the help against the boss. We surely could've used you and your skills, though it was me who got the last attack bonus. And you did so well against the mushrooms, too, I almost didn't feel a sense of concern for you."

She understood my sarcasm and bit back, "Oh, are you saying you're so confident in your abilities that you can afford to pay attention to others mid-battle?"

"You should know. Remember you didn't become pulp when you fell down that hole?"

Sanya raised her eyebrow. "A hole? Wait a second... I feel like I've seen you two somewhere before..." So she didn't recognize us earlier...but she snapped her fingers after a hard look at me and Koharu. "Ah, that's right! From that one time! Let's see... Jaymes and Koharu, right?"

I sighed and dropped the hostilities. "Yeah, that's our name."

Sanya nodded and added, "This momentary memory lapse is not my fault, you hear? It must've been from the spores... You two are among the best of the Assault Team, aren't you? Allow me to reintroduce myself." She stepped back and bowed a greeting. "My name is Sanya. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

Koharu bowed back. "Nice to meet you again, Sanya. Have you been exploring the front lines all by yourself?"

"Yes, correct. What of it?"

"You haven't activated the Teleport Monument yet, right?"

To my surprise, she nodded. "Why yes. I made sure to avoid drawing unnecessary attention since I'd be near the Teleport Gate. Is that so wrong?" She found the first town already? We had a head start and got lost in the woods - well, we took a leisure stroll - and this silver-haired brat beat us? I decided to hold my thoughts to myself, figuring that it was good someone got to the gate when Sanya spoke again.

"Anyway, I have a proposal to make. It's quite a bother to be surrounded by obs like that when exploring, so I think it'd be best to search for reliable company. You two seem dependable enough, previous encounters notwithstanding. Why don't we work together?"

"So you want to form a party," I blurted before Miss Willing-To-Help-Anyone-Anywhere accepted. I know Sanya is skilled, but yesterday's encounter with her gave me all the information about her I needed to know. She's a loner; she dislikes others helping her; if that does happen, she doesn't want to be indebted. In my experience, those are the hardest people to work with. Koharu might not feel like I do about Sanya's personality, yet I don't mind if Sanya joins us. It isn't like we aren't used to partying with other people.

"I suppose you can call it that," she responded matter-of-factly. "How about it?"

"Certainly...er... I mean, okay!" Koharu answered as expected with her trademarked cheerfulness. She turned to me, excited for the prospect of making a new friend. "Jaymes, what about you?"

This is the second time a girl will join us alone. You'd think it would be exciting for sixteen-year-old me to have two admittedly beautiful girls at my side, but you couldn't be more wrong. I mean, Koharu's fine since I'm used to her; the last time we were a trio, it was Mito who joined us on the twelfth floor, and we had befriended the scythe-wielder long before; something told me I'd regret looking at Sanya for ten more minutes.

And though their names are not on the left side of my HUD under Koharu's name anymore, we're somewhat in a party with Kirito and Asuna on important business. But that aside... "We're in the middle of a quest, Sanya. The very quest that started this mayhem, to be frank. Since the Teleport Gate is activated, we don't have to head to town anytime soon. We'll be out here until late evening."

Sanya didn't seem fazed at all. "I suppose I'll join you, then. I was suddenly taken aback by the spores while testing my abilities, so I couldn't take the quest. That aside, we shouldn't stay here for long. The mushrooms may come again. You wouldn't mind moving to someplace safer, would you?"

"I take it you didn't come across the healer's apprentice on your way here, did you?"

I halted Koharu's change of subject for the moment. "Sanya's right. Let's get to someplace safe for now."

"We'll be able to take our time talking there. Plus, we might come across the apprentice, too." She pointed in a direction where a beaten trail exited the clearing. It would lead in the general direction Koharu and I last encountered the apprentice. "Let's follow this path."

"I'll be right behind you," the Silver Witch politely declared. "Lead the way."

The walk was mostly crammed with silence. Koharu and Sanya dominated the short conversations while I relayed the status of the Teleport Gate to Argo and Kirito or kept an eye on our surroundings. So far, Koharu and I have avoided any danger on the floor beside the mushrooms (which I couldn't voice that Sanya's activation of the gate might've ended the unofficial grace period of the floor), and this path was just as uneventful. Either we're lucky, or the forest is biding its time.

While my eyes darted across the woods, Koharu turned back to Sanya with a raised brow. "Did you say something?"

"No, I didn't say anything."

Confused, their heads tilted together. "...I swear I heard something from behind me." Confused, Koharu glanced around, searching the area around and further behind Sanya while the witch and I looked at her in confusion. She then narrowed her eyes and resumed her search. Alarmed, I reached for my sword and stared at my partner.

One of Koharu's Extra Skills is Eagle Sight. When the player hyper-fixates on vision by narrowing their eyes, they can double their field of view with increased clarity. It's a great skill for analyzing places from up high or identifying objects from a distance, but according to Koharu, one can control the depth of the skill. The more she narrowed her eyes, the greater the "zoom" effect.

She only slightly constricted her vision, so while her sight range might not have changed much, the clarity certainly did. And whatever she saw was close as she immediately drew her dagger. "A mushroom foe!" Sanya and I drew our weapons afterward. At the same time, a mushroom-shaped monster about the size of a man in height wobbled from the side of the trail...with its hands outstretched in a panic?

"N-No! Put away the swords!"

"It talked!" I yelped. Since when did mushrooms talk? Since when did enemies that aren't human or elven?

"No, it's not what you think! It's me! The apprentice!" The mushroom's head is removed, revealing the head of the apprentice. The girls and I lowered our blades while the apprentice relaxed. "Whew... It's hard to breathe in there... I can't see in front of me or run. It may be an emergency, but it's just hard to get used to."

"That was a costume," I inquire about the nearly perfect imitation of the mushrooms we've encountered.

"Yeah, my master taught me how to use this. It's a lifelike costume used for the ritual. They don't attack me if I wear it! On the other hand, I sometimes get mistaken for a monster, though. I wasn't wearing it when I was waiting for you, so I was surrounded before I knew it. Sorry for getting you involved."

Better be sorry; that was more trouble than it was worth. I don't want my cause of death to be "Jumped by Mushrooms." We're all fine in the end, so I can't be mad about it. However... I would love one of those costumes for the future.

"Um... Is this the fellow who gave the quest?" Sanya asked with an unimpressed tone.

The apprentice noticed our newest companion and said, "Oh, here to help, too? Yes, I've asked these travelers to help me with a ritual to quell the forest. As part of the ritual, I'll need some rare Wandering Mushroom Wisps from those mushr-"

"Good luck with that ritual," I declared before turning on my heel. A fetch quest before I get a chance to venture into town, eat a nice meal, and relax after the floor boss battle and the mushroom murder attempt? Hell no. Did you hear what he said about the materials? They're "rare," meaning we'll have to farm those not-so-fungi until we collect enough. I have no plans to-

"Oh, I already managed to find some already. Here you go."

I hadn't taken two steps before Sanya materialized and offered their drops to the apprentice. You know what, it's great to have a team with you. They do things you don't want to, like give rare drops to NPCs rather than use them as strengthening or forging materials. I see why two or three important female characters surround male MCs in Isekai novels and anime.

Guys are jerks.

The NPCs eyes widened in surprise as the wisps were given to him. "Whoa! You otherworldly travelers never cease to surprise me! I'm glad I asked for your help!" Putting the materials away, he continued, "The next step should be a piece of cake, then. It must have been exhausting getting these, though, so why don't you rest a bit first? I'll be waiting here, so just let me know once you're ready!"

With a bow, the apprentice put his mushroom head back on and ventured to the side of the road, his position obvious to us with the yellow "!" over his head. I wondered how he'd appear to passing players, but that's for later. I sought to take his advice and rest for the day.

"Seems the quest is progressing just fine," Sanya remarked.

"It's all thanks to you, Sanya."

"You did your part in defeating those mobs earlier, too. It's only a matter of luck who the drops go to." After refusing Koharu's praise, Sanya opened her map data and pointed to a part of the floor we hadn't visited yet. "Let's head to town and recoup first. I'm sure you two wish to check your belongings before we get too involved in quests."

Koharu nodded. "O-Okay!" The raven-haired girl followed the silver-haired girl, leaving me behind as if I had no say in the matter. I did want to go to town, but still, I wasn't asked what I wanted to do. And while we're on that topic...

"Who the hell made her leader of my party?"