When they got back to town, the group said their goodbyes to take care of their own business. Yari and Fitch walked in separate directions, but they came back around and met once more in the plaza. They didn't want the others to think they were being abandoned for any reason, but sometimes it was nice to just step back from everything. The two of them found a basic NPC shop and browsed the weapons before deciding to keep what they had for a while longer. Rather than spend their money responsibly on equipment, they decided to pull a Suto and find an adequate restaurant in Caldwell, sharing one side of a booth rather than sitting across from one another. Before getting trapped in Aincrad, the two had rarely been able to feel like a couple, despite having been together for a while and if there was one thing about this floating Hell that Fitch would regret losing, it was all of the time that he and Yari could spend without her parents breathing down their necks. Fitch paid the tab off and continued their stroll, still amazed that they never seemed to run out of things to talk about. If not for her, he'd likely still be out in that jungle, tearing down pixel after pixel of data, fully addicted to the rush of battle and becoming the best.

Both of them had taken up a room in an inn that none of the others were using, as each of them had their own preferences, and thus they could spend less to share one with two beds. It was cost-efficient and the two would turn in that night with an overwhelming sense of exhaustion. The next day, their alarms would ring and wake them up and the team would go at it again, sometimes in threes and sometimes in pairs, but they managed to keep their levels fairly even. For several more floors they continued to do anything they could to remain in a comfortable leveling zone, and without realizing it, they were amongst the top players. On the eleventh, they were invited to the major raid party that was pushing against the boss.

---

[i]Aincrad, Floor Eleven, approx. 4 months into the game[/i]

Forty-nine players all stood in a crowd at the doorway to the boss of the eleventh floor, all of them either giddy or nervous with anticipation. Notably in the ranks were Fitch, Yari, Suto, and Kenshin, all wearing quite strong gear for their levels, obtained through drops, smiths, and some rather nice NPC shops in the most recent town. Apart from them, there was a silver-haired boy wearing a curved sword and leather armour of the absolute highest grade. He'd already obtained quite a reputation, having amassed what was believed to be one of the largest fortunes out of all the players, though it was too early in the game to tell if it was true wealth or simply luck. What they didn't know was that the ring on his hand had been a bonus from the third-floor boss' last-hit drop; it improved drop rates of rare and valuable items as well as increased the quantities at which items of any moderate grade or lower would be dropped. An even more well-known face was that of a man who called himself [i]Heathcliffe.[/i] This man had earned his recognition quickly by organizing one of the strongest guilds composed of highly elite players, his own strength appearing nearly unmatched. However, he only appeared on some of the boss fights, despite his power, and remained cloaked in mystery.

Heathcliffe stood before them all, his armour was a signature red, as was his shield, no matter how basic in appearance, they were quite formidable. He seemed to be thinking for several moments before finally speaking, "I could not be more impressed with this group... In four short months, we have- nay, [i]you[/i] have conquered over a tenth of Aincrad." The man seemed almost prideful of them all, but he merely smiled and drew his blade, placing the tip gently to the ground beside him, resting his hand on the pommel. "I just want you all to remember how hard you've worked, and how continuing to do so will help everybody stuck here with us. Remember to stay in formation, shield users and heavy armours need to take a few hits so that whatever is behind this door can take as much damage as possible in return," He explained before continuing to run through the battle strategy one more time, as they always did before entering. Everybody seemed to be on the same page, so he turned and the sound of blades being drawn could be heard throughout the large, basic hallway. The doors opened and each party rushed inside, taking up their respective locations as they waited for the start of the fight.

The lights around the room began to come alive in the form of torches. They were surrounded by grey brick walls which wrapped around to the white marbled staircase, like a wonderfully gilded path to the next floor. However, standing before the stairs was something large... Or, wait... bulbous? It was a man? The large character stepped forward with a bright smile - he wore red robes and a tall hat, his hands clasped in front of him. He seemed friendly enough as he opened his arms, "My children!" It was a truly bewildering voice, as it held some kind of bouncy accent that Fitch could barely make out. He was vaguely reminiscent of some kind of plumber in one of those classic games, though he couldn't remember the character's name for the life of him. However, this man did not wear overalls or have a bushy moustache. "It's good to see you all here, I've been waiting for you!" It recited its lines just as it was programmed to, looking to Luna and locking eyes with her. Nobody moved, "Come, my child, kneel at my feet and we shall all pray for ascension, then perhaps we will rise to the next floor!"

The bot did not budge, his eyes trained on the girl, suddenly void of emotion. There was still no movement and now there was no sound and Luna looked around. Why her? What kind of sick joke was this? Was that all there was to it? Fitch didn't like it, but he kept his mouth shut as he tightened his posture and lowered his blade, ready to block. Finally, the girl did as she was told, because clearly he would not choose a new target, move, or even let them pass until she did. As she lowered herself, the man began to speak in some foreign tongue that sounded nothing like Japanese. Horror filled the room as he began to grow and his skin peeled away; the chanting turned into an indistinguishable snarl as a beastly hand bashed into Luna, sending her into the wall and quickly pouncing after her. She had been prepared for something to go wrong, but there was nothing she could do to stop it. The man had become some type of demon with a menacing black hide, running on all fours and baring the most disgusting of teeth. He had red eyes and ram horns while his lower half became covered in fur and his feet became hooved. For a moment, everybody was stunned, and it was enough time for him to be on top of Luna, mercilessly attacking her as she screamed for help - this wouldn't be fair... How could a game be programmed to auto-kill some random player in the boss room... and why did it have to be her?

Nero blasted from the ground forward and was quickly followed by Heathcliffe and Fitch. The monster took a hit from the curved swordsman as the two shield-users moved in front of Luna, combining their strength to take the next blow from the beast head-on with the metal plates. A few hits later and the demon seemed to have forgotten the girl on the ground as it was lured to the middle of the room by the players who had all regained their senses and started to attack, methodically blocking and switching out for damage against the cretin. Every player was focused on taking it down and keeping it away from anybody with lower health, and Luna was left where she had landed, her eyes wide in disbelief as she stared at the blinking red sliver of health she had left. Why couldn't she move..? Why couldn't she just pull out a potion and drink it?

The beast would lose its first two health bars at record speed while the entire group tore at it - they were all fighting that much harder because it had started the battle dishonourably. As it was down to one simple bar left, it rose onto its hind legs and held out a hand, materializing a pitchfork and starting to fight back with plenty more vigor. Two players died in the initial attack of it and a total of four were lost to the battle by the time it was killed. The silver-haired boy seemed pleased, gave Heathcliffe a thumbs up and, with most of the other party members, would check on Luna before leaving. Some grieved for the few fallen comrades, but they had to keep going... life moved on. Yari, however, was in tears as she jumped into Luna, crying out in relief that she had been able to recover.