Chapter 109 - 12th, 13th, 14th

Another month and a half passed since the Assault Team reached the 12th floor, and Drifter had all but forgotten his encounter with the Moonlit Black Cats. Like many others, they were simply passerbies in his life.

If he had asked, Argo could have told him that the small guild had taken his advice very seriously and trained egregiously during this time. Now they were almost on and at the level of clearers. They had also been providing the info-broker with some very important tidbits of intel from the Heart of Stone campaign that spanned from the 12th to, at the very least, 15th floors. And Argo had, in turn, double-checked the information and relayed it to the Assault Team when it was pertinent.

It had been a huge help. Accurate information, diligent preparation, scouting raids, and careful fighting had allowed the Assault Team to get through the 12th, 13th, and 14th floors with no casualties.

It was on the boss chamber of the 14th floor that Drifter was now, surrounded by his friends and the rest of the Assault Team. His breathing was labored, but he was relieved. The floor hadn't been an easy one, a swamp-themed mess with ogres and all kinds of odd monsters about, with a centaur boss just as the icing on the cake. But they had pulled through with no losses.

As usual, the players rested in the boss room itself after the raid was over. That meant the broadcast to the other SAO players was still live, but they were used to being watched by now. And while some of them disliked it, others were performers at heart.

The melodic tune of Yuna's harp and her otherworldly voice - at least in Drifter's opinion - created one of the most unreal yet beautiful sights of Sword Art Online. And the smile on the Songstress' eyes as she put on a show in the middle of a boss room, for the thousands of SAO players, made Drifter's heart do funny things in his chest.

All the frontliners had stopped to listen to her. Kibaou and Lind were distributing rations to their guild members to congratulate them on a job well done, and the ALS and DKB sat down while eating and chatting quietly. Despite the rivalry between the two guilds, some of their members were mingling, led by Shivata and Liten, who were not-so-subtly holding hands.

Orlando and the Legend Braves were somewhere around, talking with other frontliners. Fuurinkazan had simply laid down and closed their eyes to rest to the sound of the music. Reaver's Requiem was likewise enjoying the show, quietly chatting in pairs and trios or, like Drifter, just staring at Yuna.

The girl was unafraid in front of an audience of thousands - that she knew about. Indeed, Songstress Yuna was an appropriate name, even if simple.

This was a concert that would be remembered forever, not only because of the audience's size - the whole world - but because of the absurd circumstances it came to be.

If Yuna had it her way, she would play after every successful boss raid. It was nerve-wracking, but she was loving every second of it. Especially the way Drifter looked at her. She wanted to end her song right now and go to him, but that wouldn't be fair to the audience. So she sang.

When her performance was finished, Yuna was rewarded with scattered claps. She didn't mind, as she hadn't done it for the applause. Her eyes were on Drifter the entire time.

The spearman had gotten up as soon as she stopped playing, and was waiting with open arms. He wrapped his hands around her waist when she got close and kissed her.

"Beautiful, Yun'."

"Me or the song?"

"Both."

The answer earned him another peck on the lips, and he grinned. Then he rolled his eyes when Sinon pretended to gag, and kicked the archer. As if their cyan-haired friend hadn't had Yuuki clinging to her just a minute ago.

"Careful, Drifter. If Yuna keeps putting on shows like that, you will be fighting the competition off with a stick."

Yuna gasped, as, of all people, it was Silica who teased them. The young girl only seemed to realize what she said afterwards, because she blushed bright red when all the Reavers turned to stare at her. Drifter just tapped the weapon strapped to his back.

"Good thing I have a very pointy stick then - no double meaning you bunch of dirty-minded perverts. Yes, I'm looking at you, Klein. I'm not giving Yuna up easily. Or at all."

Drifter pulled the songstress close and took out his weapon to prove his point. The forked spearhead of Liz's latest creation glinted under the torches.

The blacksmith had taken her sweet time to find the perfect materials and forge Drifter's spear, and he had used the halberd until the very end of the 13th floor. He still kept it in his inventory, in case he ever needed it again.

Well, a spear was still the most comfortable in the end. And Liz had made it to his preferences, so it was even more perfect. Light and flexible, but unquestionably durable. The spearhead was forged into an odd shape, two prongs with a finger of distance between them, spiraling around each other. Drifter liked it.

"If you are done, should we start heading to the next floor?"

Kirito touched his back, and Drifter nodded. The 15th floor. It wasn't a huge milestone, but it was one step closer.

For the SAO players, the broadcast cut off after the Assault Team left the boss room. But for the viewers in the outside world, they just needed to switch to their player of preference to watch in real-time as the 15th floor was discovered and unlocked.

"Another jungle? Couldn't it be something more straightforward for once?"

Someone on the DKB group remarked, and Drifter couldn't help but nod along. This was what, the seventh forest-themed floor? Even though the enemies and mechanics were always different, it did get a bit tedious.

"There's something strange, though? What's up with the acrid smell?"

"Black mist? No, smoke?"

Drifter frowned as he climbed the final few steps and set foot on the 15th floor. It was a forest, like the other player had said, but everything in sight was covered by smoke and ashes. The entire floor smelled like the inside of a furnace.

"Look, the trees are burning!"

Drifter squinted his eyes and realized it was true. One in every five trees was actively smoldering, the cracks along the bark glowing orange and red, and puffing out smoke. Even the leaves seemed to be coated in molten metal.

Now that he looked carefully, the trees weren't the only thing on fire. Rocks had turned dark red because of the temperature, and he wasn't keen on touching them to find out how hot. Strings of flame raced across the ground, seemingly on random patterns. One was right in front of him, and was extinguished when Drifter stepped on it, only to reappear somewhere else.

"So... What exactly is this floor's theme? A burning forest?"

"Please don't make us try to quench the fire, please."

"Ugh, the mobs are going to inflict burns. What a pain."

The frontliners discussed what they thought the 15th floor was about while scouts were sent to find the position of the main town. Sinon and Silica were amongst the first to return, and the archer pointed west.

"That direction. Seems to be another dwarf settlement, but there's something weird 'bout it. What we are seeing isn't all there is to this floor."

Drifter, Kirito, and Asuna said nothing. Reaver's Requiem's three leaders started walking in the direction Sinon indicated, while also having the guild keep a tight formation. The track between the stairs to the town was normally safe, but this floor didn't exactly inspire confidence. Better to err on the side of caution.

Drifter carried his spear across his chest. It saved a lot of stamina compared to walking with it at the ready position, but it also meant he would need a half a second longer to react if they came across an enemy. But the entire Assault Team was marching together, so he wasn't really worried.

"There's something up ahead."

Kirito called out, and Reaver's Requiem stopped. Drifter's gaze locked onto a burning bush, and he prepared to use Serpentcoil Impale. Then he stopped and lowered his arm, because what came out was a... Slime?

The cursor above the glowing orange creature was green. Drifter focused on it and saw it was called a Magma Slime. It wasn't a monster, but a critter, like rabbits and birds. The players stared as the slime rolled past them without a care in the world.

"This floor is weird."

...

The town of Firestarter was aptly named in Drifter's opinion. It seemed like every other shop was a smithy, and all the NPCs were stereotypical dwarves - short, bearded, and covered in soot.

The Reavers barely stopped by the town to restock, and Liz borrowed a smithy to repair their equipment. Then some of their members went searching for quests, while others went out into the field to fight monsters.

Ashen Myconid. Drifter narrowed his eyes at the humanoid fungus. With pale gray skin and a blazing cap, the mobs stood at over two meters tall. Their eyes were burning embers, giving the creatures a fierce appearance.

"Uragghh!"

Drifter especially disliked their guttural screams. It was as if the mobs were in pain from the flames all the time. It was very unnerving.

Unwilling to listen to the groaning anymore, Drifter drove his spear through the body of the Ashen Myconid. The spiral shape of the tip gave the weapon an even greater piercing power than his old Caldea Fana, and the spear pierced clean through the mob.

"Huh?"

Drifter grunted in surprise. He had launched just a simple normal attack, and yet one-tenth of the Ashen Myconid's HP had disappeared.

'In that case...'

"Everyone, step back. I'm gonna solo it."

The others raised their eyebrows. Drifter was usually a team player, so it was rare for him to make this kind of request. It obviously wasn't because he wanted to monopolize the experience and loot. Nor was it because he was suddenly battle-thirsty, judging by the frown on his face. So it was most likely that Drifter had noticed something about the Ashen Myconid and wanted to confirm it.

Dodging a wide swing by the mob, Drifter slashed horizontally with a skill, his spear almost cutting the creature in half. Another fifth of its health vanished, but Drifter's expression only grew darker.

Before the mob could gather momentum for a second attack, Drifter dashed and closed in on it. He used Horizontal Arc to cut off one of the myconid's legs, and then, as the monster started to fall, he leaned back and stabbed his spear upwards, at the underside of the Ashen Myconid's cap.

His spear seemed to blur as Drifter used one of his newest skills, Needle Spear, a combo of six connected stabs with increasing damage. Without any surprises, that was enough to eliminate the mob. And yet, despite how easy it was, Drifter wasn't happy.

"What's the problem, Drifter?"

Yuna and the others in the group approached him. They were Yuna, Nautilus, Kirito, Asuna, Sinon, Kizmel, Yuuki, Ran, and Merida. Agil, Shigio, and Wolv had stayed back in the town to trade, while Silica had gone to the church back on the 1st floor to help Sasha with the kids. Vallerk had gone with her for protection. Liz was off searching for new blacksmithing techniques.

"It was like I thought. That wasn't a real mob."

"What?!"

"Not a real mob? How come?"

Despite their trust in him, the others still questioned his words. It wasn't that they didn't believe him, but just human nature to doubt that which was out of the norm. But Drifter just shook his head.

"It didn't drop any loot nor give experience. In fact, there wasn't even a notification I defeated it, you can check. It felt it when I stabbed it the first time. It was far too clumsy for a 15th floor mob."

"But if it isn't a mob, what is it then? It had a red cursor and a health bar."

Even Kizmel, the former NPC - or maybe she still was one, no one was sure - had adapted to the ways of the players. Drifter smiled at that thought, then stabbed his spear into the ground, digging at something. The top layer of the soil was swept aside, showing a carpet of white and red fungus.

"It was an extension of the real mob. Now we have to find the real body."

Drifter's speculation was proved correct during the next hour. The group came across no less than 60 Ashen Myconids, sometimes alone, others in packs of three to four. None of them were 'real' mobs.

"This doesn't make sense! We already covered a third of this map, how can we not find a single real enemy?!"

Despite their indignation, neither the angry Asuna nor the rest of the Reavers planned on giving up. The fact that this portion of the floor was so unusual must mean there was a big secret and, consequently, big rewards waiting for them.

It happened as they were talking. Kirito stabbed his sword into a root to rest, and the forest struck back. An entire tree turned on itself and smashed into the unaware swordsman, sending him flying.

"Argh!"

"Ugh!"

Kirito crashed into Kizmel and Ran, the impact strong enough to knock a few percents out of their health. His own HP dropped by more than a third.

"Kirito! Are you okay?!"

"What was that?!"

Merida, Yuuki, and Nautilus helped Kirito and the other two to their feet. Meanwhile, the rest of the Reavers were watching slack-jawed as the entire burning forest came alive.

Trees crawled along the ground, roots pulling themselves out of the soil and rolling, revealing the network of parasitic fungi controlling them.

"There!"

A huge portion of the ground suddenly exploded, showering the frontliners with dirt. A monstrosity of wood, fungus, and fire presented itself before the Reavers.

Myconid Queen of Embers.