[Alfheim Online, New Aincrad, Floor 27]

The floor was filled with craggy, rocky mountains and, in terms of impression, the floor is quite similar to the underground territory in the north of Alfheim. Numerous stalactites hang unevenly from the ceiling of the next floor and, above those, are large prismatic gems which let out a hazy blue glow. Ronbaru is a night elf-theme city, located at the bottom of a wide circular valley of the floor. The town is carved out of one of the rocky mountains that are abundant on the floor

But a field trip to the Floor wasn't my concern. Rather, I have been kidnapped by a spunky young girl around my age who until ten minutes ago, begged me to assist her with... something. Whatever that was. "Why do I feel like I've been dragged into a lion's den?"

"Mr Malzeno! Let me introduce you!" Yuuki waved her hand out to the round table located in a small cafe where several other players stared at me with various degrees of speculation. "These are my comrades from my guild, the Sleeping Knights!"

"...'kay?" I feel like I'm being judged.

The first to greet me was a Salamander with red eyes and orange hair tied in a braid at the back of his head. "I'm Jun, sup," He kept a cool demeanour but I had a feeling he was wary of me. I did look very sketchy in this get-up.

Next was a skinny-looking Leprechaun youth with small eyes, tidy, brass-coloured hair and round, iron-rimmed glasses that give him the impression of a student. "A-And I'm Talken, I-it's a pleasure to m-meet you, Malzeno,"

"Come on, Tal, he's not that scary lookin'!" Next to him was a Spriggan girl. She had darker skin and black, spiky hair. However, she has thick eyebrows and lips, as well as a large physique which wasn't that common among our race. Still, she gave me a sweet smile and wink. "Nice to meecha, name's Nori, Mr Malzeno!"

Probably the nicest aside from Yuuki was a young woman with long, light-blue hair which is almost pure white, one of the most defining feature of Undine players. She also has calm deep-blue eyes shining radiantly beneath her drooping eyelashes, a long nose, lustrous lips and surprisingly slender body. "Nice to meet you, I'm Siune! Thank you so much for coming all this way, Mr Malzeno,"

Lastly, a man built like a bunker had probably the most open and friendly aura to date, a gentle giant. A Gnome with beaming eyes and wavy, sand-coloured hair gave me a welcoming smile. "My name is Tecchi. Pleasure to meet you."

"Uh... likewise," I had to give myself a moment to absorb all that before I rubbed my nose out of habit. "So, uh, first, please drop the 'Mr', I'm probably Cupcake's age even with our height difference, but nice to meet you all the same, name's Malzeno as you know," I waved my hand slightly before Yuuki yanked my hand sharply. "Yah!"

"'Cupcake', w-what's with that!?" She looked bewildered at her new nickname to I smiled and tapped her forehead.

"'Cause it's funny," She proved my point by pout, bringing a laugh up from my chest. "Ah, yes, definitely my best nickname to date, alongside 'Princess' and 'Rivet Face', ah... Rivet Face," He will be missed... probably.

"Wow, already giving her a nickname," Nori grinned ear to ear like a sly cat as she leaned her chin on her hands. "You sure picked a good one, Yuuki,"

"Eh?" She jolted upright. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, nothing..." Nori brushed off as I too felt a little lost.

"What's with me getting jabbed at?" Yuuki huffed then spun around to clasp my hand in both of hers tightly, giving me a big smile and wide eyes bubbling with glee. "I'm the leader here and to skip to the point as to why I dragged you here, we... wanna defeat a floor boss! Just us!"

...

...

...

"HaAH!?" I made an odd sound as my jaw unhinged itself, and my brain took the next train out of my head.


It took my brain a round trip to return to the station but by then I had a drink in my hands to try and coax me into speaking again. "...I'll be blunt, this is by far the dumbest thing I've heard in my life, and I've heard alot of statements that would drive a person to having an aneurism," I pinched the bridge of my nose, opening my eyes to their various expressions. "Can't you just pony up with several other parties to achieve your goal? Saves everyone alot of time, not to mention the forward planning and costs for equipment, items, infomation... it's unrealistic is what I'm saying,"

Yuuki laughed slightly, rubbing the back of her head, "Yeah, it was beyond unrealistic," Then she gave me a sheepish grin. "You see, we've already tried beating Floor 25 and 26 bosses,"

"You're kidding me..." So it wasn't as if they were going in on a whim, no, they've done this and then some with no results.

"Yep, personally, I think we put a pretty good fight but then by the time we'd adjust our strategy another guild swooped in and took the win," Yuuki explained with a half-hearted look.

"Why though? Why go through this trouble for a challenge like this?" They'd make headlines on MMO Today and the like, but again, to achieve this goal was a thin line.

Siune replied, "We met on an online community of a certain game-" Vague, but okay. "-we really hit it off and became great friends. "But unfortunately, we can only go on these adventures together next Spring probably,"

As she said this, the fireplace behind Yuuki made her face clear, she was staring at her murky reflexion in her glass, her smile looked like it was pulled, forcing herself to appear cheery. Was she really upset by this? I guess if you can't play with the people you care about it'll feel pretty rotten.

"All of us will be busy then for different reasons," Siune continued as I listened with my own aloof gaze. "We decided, before disbanding our team, we'd create the one memory we'd never forget, no matter what," The others nodded in agreement.

"Later, let's create as many memories as possible, together!" She smiled cheerily at me.

I didn't let it show but my heart felt a little tight as Siune's words struck a chord in me. I understand how they feel. I tuned back in. "-our names will be recorded on the Monument of Swordsmen," The bluette gave me an ashamed smile. "We know it's about self-satisfaction, but we want-"

"If you don't do so as a team of seven or less only the names of the party leaders will appear in the Black Iron Palace," I interjected, pointing at them. "Yuuki would get the glory but so will other party leaders, and none of you,"

"Exactly," Siune nodded, looking to Yuuki who was lost in thought. "So, we would search for someone as strong or stronger than Yuuki, our strongest member," The purplette perked up at that, face a little pink from the compliment before smiling with her eyes closed at me. She was quite bashful despite moping the floor with dozens of people.

"Now it makes sense why you fought so many..." I awed, then narrowed my eyes. "Hold up, you tossed aside Blackie for me? Really?" My astonished look made them look amongst each other. "Kirito, wears all black,"

"Uh... I think I fought someone like that?" Yuuki tapped her chin but it clearly wasn't coming to her.

"Well, you're definitely the strongest player I've seen to date," I replied, then crossed my arms. This was a very dangerous plan, almost impossible, and if I asked Argo, completely stupid.

"What do you think? Will you accept this proposition?" Siune leaned forward only to quickly swipe through her menu for something. "We may not be able to compensate you efficiently, but..."

"Save it," I raised my hand, cancelling the trade in front of me. "You six are by far the strangest, most danger-prone players I've met since Kirito..." I opened one eye to see them all looking at me with clear expressions withholding their sadness at what I was about to say. Yuuki's eyes locked to mine, her hands around her cup were taut.

"..." I smirked, "Well, sometimes you gotta roll the dice as my sister used to say," They gasped as I waved my drink up slightly with lazy smile. "I've made more enemies than I can keep count of, what's a whole raid party to stop me?"

"D-does this mean...?" Yuuki blinked as I sipped the last of my drink away, it wasn't real alcohol, that, and I'm too young, but it still tasted sweet.

"Malzeno the Archer, at your service, Ms Zekken,"

I made a choice I never thought I'd make again. I joined a guild without reward...

[To Be Continued...]

[Author's Notes]

Meeting the Sleeping Knights hasn't changed much but next time I've got something sweet planned. I hope you enjoyed, I appreciate the support, seeya in the next chapter, Readers!