93 Chapter 93 - The 10th Floor

"Well, if it ain't the lovebirds. Finally decided to come back, hum? We almost thought ya were gonna spend the night out."

Drifter and Yuna rolled their eyes as they strolled into the inn hand-in-hand. Argo was the first to tease them. No surprises there.

"Laugh it up, Argo. I'm the one with a boyfriend here."

"Who said anythin' 'bout boyfriends? I'm just sad ya are off the market now, Yu-chan."

Succeeding on her quest of leaving Yuna speechless, the info-broker guffawed while the others finally came forward to greet them - all with wide grins on their faces.

As prophesied, Sinon was smirking without saying a word as she hugged them, right before she, Silica, Ran, Merida, Yuuki, and Liz - the last two were jumping in excitement over the gossip - dragged Yuna away to interrogate her. Drifter waved cheerfully to the songstress as she begged for help with her eyes, but he had his own inquisition to face.

Though, it was, admittedly, a much smaller one. Only the Reavers plus Argo - who was basically an honorary member - were there, so he didn't have to face Agil, Klein, Orlando, and their friends. Vallerk wasn't nearly as close to him as the others, and Kirito and Asuna were conspicuously absent. So, it was really only Argo, Kizmel, and Nautilus asking questions. The spearman mock-glared at the former with a raised eyebrow.

"Do I have to worry about you stealing my girlfriend, little rat?"

"Only if ya don't treat her right, Dri-bou. But somehow I don't think that's ever happenin'."

Her expression softened, and she gave him a quick hug.

"Congrats, Drifter. Just about everyone could see how much ya two like each other. I'm happy for both of ya."

"And it was about damn time too."

That was Nautilus. The normally taciturn player sported a grin so wide it threatened to split his face. He dragged Drifter into a hug far longer than the one Argo gave him.

"You and Yuna have been dancing around each other for almost as long as Kirito and Asuna. I was going to tell you to hurry up and get over with it soon if you still didn't do anything after the battle earlier."

When Nautilus let him go and spoke, Drifter shrugged.

"There was a lot to think about. But I didn't really doubt it for a moment."

Whatever it was that Drifter was speaking about, Nautilus understood. The ash-haired swung an arm over his friend's shoulder and stood there, beaming at everything and everyone, uncharacteristically overjoyed. Drifter shook his head in amusement and turned to the last person. Not to be outdone, Kizmel also hugged him.

"It has been a most eventful day, my friend. You and Yuna make a matching couple. May the gods bless your union."

The dark elf was more formal and NPC-ish about it, but her meaning was conveyed well enough, and Drifter squeezed her once before letting go.

"Kiz-chan over here was under the impression ya and Yu-chan were already datin', but didn't like showin' off, Dri-bou."

Argo butt in, and the dark elf lost some of her dignified poise when she blushed and looked away.

"Ah, well... It was a misunderstanding. And I seem to remember you were most amused by it, Argo."

"Never said I wasn't, Kiz-chan! It's always a good laugh with this bunch. Ya made a good choice by joinin' in."

Drifter smiled, and ruffled Argo's head.

"Ignore the little rat, Kiz. She likes to tease people. Though she is right. Defeating Aater, you entering Reaver's Requiem, Yuna accepting my half-assed confession. I think those are three great reasons to lay off and have a party. Probably four, when Kirito and Asuna arrive. What do y'all think?"

There were shouts of agreement from all the people gathered. Yuna had returned to his side and was holding his hand again. Drifter grinned at her and squeezed it.

"Way ahead of you, Drifter. I already called Agil and his three, as well as Fuurinkazan and the Legend Braves. Shivata and Liten too. We held off on telling them about you and Yuna becoming official since there was always the chance it didn't happen - as minuscule as it was. But the party for beating Aater and welcoming Kizmel was already arranged. We have a room in that fancy restaurant on the 6th floor."

Liz spoke up, brushing strands of pink hair behind her ear. The blacksmith was typing with the other hand, no doubt sending messages to the invited players that the party was on. Yuna chimed in.

"Ooh, call Sasha and the children too!"

"Alrighty! Dunno if there'll be room for everyone, though."

"Doesn't matter. We can always use the common room of the restaurant if it gets too crowded."

Pulling his girlfriend by the hand, Drifter took the lead in leaving the building.

"Message Kirito and Asuna to meet us there. Let's celebrate!"

...

Kirito and Asuna actually didn't see the messages sent to them until they had gone back to the inn in Lyusula and found out that nobody was there. It was only then that they found out they were supposed to go to the 6th floor.

When they got there, the party was already in full swing. There was a lot of noise and chatter, with over thirty people - of which more than half a dozen were children- talking, eating, and drinking - water and juice only, since a lot of them were minors. Yuna appeared to be pitting on a performance at the moment, and everyone was clapping. And the cheers only got louder when Asuna and Kirito walked in hand-in-hand.

"Told you they would make it! Pay up, Klein!"

Agil's booming laughter woke them up from the startled shock they felt when they saw so many people in one place. The large black man strode over and swept them both into a hug every bit as strong as the one Nautilus had given Drifter earlier today. Even his words were similar.

"It was 'bout time you two man up and did it! And I don't mean coming to the party, but getting together. Congratulations, Kirito and Asuna!"

"Ah, t-thanks. We weren't expecting... This."

Asuna managed to stammer a response while Kirito was still tongue-tied. Agil just laughed and slapped the boy in the back.

"Everyone needs a party every once in a while, and we had more than enough reason to start one. Klein, next drinking night is on you!"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it. Dammit, Kirito! As if Drifter wasn't enough, now even you found a girlfriend before I did! And such a pretty one at that! This world is unfair!"

"Nah, you're just ugly, leader."

"Oi! What's with this stab in the back?!"

Everything got even more boisterous when Klein strutted his way over, complaining and bickering with his guildmates. But there was no missing the mirth in his voice when he put Kirito in a headlock and messed his hair. Knowing Klein, he would probably do the same to Asuna, but her rapier was very sharp.

"He is just jealous, Kirito, Asuna. Don't mind him."

"Course I'm jealous! I'm the most handsome guy in SAO and I'm still single!"

"Might have something to do with the fact your voice doesn't seem to have a quieter setting than 'shout', Klein."

"Besides, since when are you the most handsome man in SAO? You aren't even in the top 10."

Now, Orlando and the Legend Braves had also come over, and Drifter was making his way towards them. Klein's defense against the endless mockery of his - self-proclaimed - impeccable face was growing haggard.

"T-That's because the players are biased!"

"Yeah, biased towards the truth."

"Face it, leader, you're gonna be single forever."

Issin delivered the final blow, and Klein slumped over, deflated. Everyone else burst out laughing, including Drifter and Yuna, who got there just in time to hear the last few sentences. The spearman patted Klein on the back while Yuna completely ignored him - that was just adding insult to injury at this point - and jumped on Asuna.

"Congratulations, Asuna! And you too, Kirito! You look great together!"

While the two girls hugged each other, Drifter slapped Kirito in the back.

"You've heard it plenty already, but congratulations."

"Ah, thanks! So, you and Yuna also...?"

"Yup! To quote everyone, 'it was about damn time'. For me and Yun, and also you two."

While his face was still bright red, Kirito grinned widely. When Asuma grabbed his hand again, his smile became much gentler, but no less authentic. Looking around, he realized he never felt this happy before.

The girl he liked, no, his girlfriend, holding his hand, and dozens of friends around him. There were Sasha, Kizmel, and Silica playing with the kids, Klein arguing with Agil before both laughed loudly and clapped each other in the back. Shivata and Liten hung back, chatting happily with each other. Yuuki, Sinon, Merida, Argo, Vallerk, and some of the Legend Braves and Fuurinkazan playing some sort of game to the side, while Ran and Nautilus were talking about something the girl was showing the ash-haired boy on her HUD. And, of course, Drifter and Yuna standing nearby, he with his arm around her back.

Kirito had never felt so happy and content before, even given the circumstances, and it must have showed on his face, because he felt a soft touch on his cheek. Asuna had just given him a peck, and he flushed, both from shyness and the fact that he was sure others had seen it. Such as Drifter, for example, whose eyes were twinkling with mirth as he shouted above all the noise.

"Alright, now that everyone is here and all the congratulations are out of the way, it's time for the moment you were all waiting for. Let's decide who won the betting pool!"

Kirito and Asuna tried - and failed - to hide as every head in the room turned to them yet again, sporting unsettling grins, Drifter's most of all. Especially because they hadn't heard about any betting pool, which was a bad sign.

"There's a lot of cor on the line here, and Klein's probably gonna go broke - again. So, Kirito, Asuna... Who confessed first?"

-----------------------

March 2nd, 2023.

Maybe it was because they were still on the high from everything that happened on the 9th floor, but the boss didn't stand a chance, and Reaver's Requiem and the Assault Team breezed through the raid.

When the frontliners climbed the stairs to the 10th floor, it was with not just a small amount of awe and trepidation. Because this marked a tenth of their way up. A tenth of their path to freedom. And also, it marked the complete unknown. No beta-tester had ever fully explored the 10th floor. No, only Kirito, as far as they knew, had even reached it, and he was only there for less than 48 hours. From here on out, there was no previous knowledge, no Beater cheats - as if there ever were any. The true climb of Aincrad started here. Drifter had made sure everyone knew that the day before. If only so Kibaou would shut the hell up about Kizmel.

(Once in a blue moon mid-chapter A/N: I thought I should mention it since it's the first time I'm doing it in this format: the following paragraphs are all in italics because they are a flashback. This will be the standard model for flashbacks from now on.)

"Forget about Kizmel for a second, Kibaou. There's something more important we have to tell you right now. In fact, everyone, listen up!"

Heads turned in the meeting room, looking at Drifter. There were about two dozen people participating in this pre-raid meeting, mostly guild leaders and their second-in-command. The spearman stared at each of them as he spoke, not once flinching.

"After we defeat the floor boss tomorrow, we'll reach the 10th floor. It is uncharted territory. When the beta-testers got to it during the beta, they had less than two days. Not even the main city was entirely explored, much less the floor. Needless to say, the entrance to the tower, the labyrinth, and the field-boss and floor boss are also complete unknowns. Everything is, starting tomorrow. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"We don't have previous knowledge to pull from. Basically, we are going in blind."

It was Shivata who answered after a long pause during which everyone digested Drifter's words. The spearman nodded to him and glanced at Kirito. His guild leader was keeping quiet, as they agreed beforehand. If the words came from his mouth, they would probably cause a commotion. As it was...

"And how do we know that's the truth? Ya and the Beater could be trynna trick us to get all the good stuff from this floor too."

Drifter stared at Kibaou, as did everyone else. By now, the only one still stubbornly hanging onto the stupid belief that Kirito was somehow a cheater was the ALS leader.

"I'm not going to dignify that with an answer. Shivata got it right. Starting from the 10th floor, we don't know what we are facing or what to expect. We are all frontliners, so I don't think I need to tell you to be cautious. So just remember this: until now, we had access to plenty of information from the beta. We basically knew everything there was to know about the previous nine floors. And yet, 3.000 people are dead. Don't underestimate SAO."

That was how that conversation had ended, and everyone left the meeting in a much somber mood. That didn't stop them, including Drifter, from gasping like little kids when they got their first sight of the 10th floor.

The landscape that greeted them was beautiful like none Drifter had ever seen before, not even on the 4th floor. It was like looking at a still scene of spring in Japan. They were on top of a grassy hill, surrounded by sakura trees in full bloom. A giant bamboo forest occupied the left side of the floor, while they could spot rocky mountains with snow-covered tops far away. And to the right, after walking on a pebble road and crossing several bridges over small creeks and streams, they could get to what looked like a classic medieval Japanese city.

Drifter simply stared at the floor, like everyone else, awed by its familiar beauty. He only recovered when one of the DKB players spoke, echoing his thoughts.

"I think I know which is going to be the next vacation floor. Damn."