November 9th 2022, Aincrad 1st floor, Tolbana.

It was the middle of the morning, and Drifter, Yuna, and Nautilus were standing just outside of Tolbana. Drifter was, at this moment, trying - and failing - to appease a very pissed-off Yuna. He hadn't thought she would have that great of a reaction when he told them that he would be going to the labyrinth today. Alone.

"I just don't understand?! Why can't we stay together?! Why do you want to go there?!"

Drifter glanced at Nautilus pleading for aid, but the boy refused to look at him. He seemed intent on ignoring Drifter. He sighed.

"Honestly, I'm a bit over-leveled for the mobs outside, Yuna. And you and Nautilus proved more than capable of taking care of yourselves."

"Then we will go with you!"

"No!"

"Why not?! Humph! You said yourself we are very capable!"

"It's different. I talked with a lot of people and bought Argo's intel. The mobs inside the tower are much more dangerous."

"Another reason for you not to go!"

Yuna crossed her arms and glared at Drifter. He could do little but scratch the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

"Listen, Yuna. If I want to get stronger, that's where I have to be."

"Why are you so fixated I'm getting stronger?!"

"So we can get out of this hell escape."

Aincrad definitely didn't look like a hell escape. Just the 1st floor was already a beautiful place, full of plains, grassy hills, forests, and clean rivers. But to Drifter, to any player, this was their personal hell. And Yuna knew that.

"Can't... Can't you just wait a few more days? Naut and I will work hard! We will get to level 8 before you know it."

It was a tempting proposition. Having someone to watch your back while you fought was at the very least reassuring. But Drifter shook his head. Yuna stomped the ground, unhappy, but knew it was impossible to change his mind.

"All right. But only for two days, you hear me? Two days! Then we will be joining you whether you like it or not!"

Drifter raised his hands in surrender. Yuna was still very angry, because she grabbed Nautilus's arm and dragged him away. The player, who seemed to find a kindred spirit in Drifter after the scolding session, raised a fist in goodbye before quickly lowering it when Yuna poked him in the ribs. Despite knowing that would just upset her more, Drifter couldn't help but chuckle.

After the two had left, he walked towards the entrance to the 1st floor labyrinth, killing a few mobs along the way. Not much later, he arrived at the base of the giant tower that connected two floors of Aincrad. In front of him was a gate which wouldn't look out of place in a palace.

Without hesitation, Drifter entered. The labyrinth was composed of countless passages, bridges, and paths. The cardinal directions seemed to stop working as soon as he set foot inside. Luckily his map would automatically update as he walked, or he would be really worried about never finding his way out. Argo's guide was also undeniably helpful in this situation.

Drifter made slow progress in the labyrinth. Sliding his spear off of his back, he took careful, measured steps. Maybe he was being overly cautious, but everything he had learned about this place pointed to just one thing: make a single wrong move, and you are done.

His caution paid off, and he heard the mobs before he saw them. Tightening his grip on his spear, he peeked around the corner, and saw three bipedal monsters. They looked like a mix between humans and dogs, with red skin and cruel little beady eyes.

Unlike the mobs outside, those << Ruin Kobolds >> used weapons, and one of them even had a piece of armor. Two of them were holding short one-handed axes, and the third had the same spear Agil was selling. Maybe, if Drifter was lucky, it would drop. But he had to kill them first for that to happen.

Taking a deep breath, Drifter turned the corner, instantly catching the aggro of the mobs. They snarled, and rushed at him. Drifter stabbed the one in front of the pack, but the << Ruin Kobold >> sidestepped, and his spearhead only nicked it's skin, barely taking off a few percents of it's health.

Drifter wasn't expecting the monsters to be so agile, and panicked slightly when the kobold closed in on him, axe raised. It was one thing to read about it in Argo's guidebook, and another entirely to face the real thing.

Stumbling back, Drifter raised his spear and hurriedly blocked the blow. A small part of his mind saw how a good fourth of the weapon's durability vanished. The bigger part of it was focused on staying alive.

Both staggered back when they clashed, but Drifter recovered faster than the << Ruin Kobold >>. Instead of going for a counterattack, the player took the chance to put some distance between them, at the same time dodging the other two mobs.

After steadying himself, Drifter scanned his opponents. Their AI didn't allow them to think too deeply, so instead of encircling him, all three were attacking head-on. A perfect opportunity to test out his newest skill.

Drifter's spear glowed green, and he swung out two times, from the left to the right, and then back to the left. All three mobs were caught by the swipes, the one in the middle particularly so, it's health bar dropping to yellow.

<< Horizontal Arc >> had been unlocked yesterday, after Drifter's << One-handed Lance >> mastery reached 90 points. It was a simple skill, basically adding one more attack to << Horizontal >>. It was also damn useful.

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During the second-long cooldown, Drifter didn't stay idle. He had learned the hard way that staying still while waiting for your skill to recharge was both a waste of time and a vulnerability. So, he filled that gap with two normal strikes, all aimed at the << Ruin Kobold >> with the lowest health. Something every player, every fighter knew was that when you were outnumbered, you should focus on dwindling the enemies' numbers. It was better to fully kill one mob than to heavily damage all.

As the << Ruin Kobold's >> health reached red, the patrol also recovered from the staggering effect of << Horizontal Arc >>. One of them came up of his right, the one-handed axe aimed at Drifter's midsection. Another was trying to chop off his head.

Right then, Drifter made a quick - and probably bad - choice. Instead of retreating or defending, he pressed on. Activating << Rage Spike >>, he leaped forward, dodging the kobold trying to decapitate him. That would almost certainly be a critical strike, and he didn't want to see how much that would take off of his health. Unfortunately, that also meant he couldn't completely avoid the mob on his right.

His spear impaled the center << Ruin Kobold >> and shattered it into pixels at the same moment the axe dug into his flank. If this was real life, Drifter's guts would most certainly be spilling on the ground and he would be passed out due to the pain. But this was SAO, so he just grunted when the impact forced him back, and watched his HP drop by a good 30%.

It was worth it. With just two enemies to deal with, Drifter became much more at ease. While chugging a health potion - gods, those tasted awful - he dodged two strikes from the << Ruin Kobolds >>. With a << Horizontal >>, he dispatched the second mob.

Unconsciously, Drifter relaxed. After all, he just had one more kobold, already in yellow, to slay. And as it always goes, it was right then that things went wrong.

The axe in the << Ruin Kobold's >> hand suddenly glowed red, and accelerated. A small part of Drifter's brain recognized that as the one-handed axe skill << Double Cleave >>. He had read about it in Argo's guidebook, but in the heat of the moment, he forgot that << Ruin Kobolds >> were demi-human mobs, and, as such, could also use sword skills. That memory lapse almost cost him his life.

Unable to dodge in time, Drifter was hit head-on by the skill, two savage strikes leaving deep cuts in his chest. His health, which had recovered to full after the potion, instantly fell to the lower end of yellow, almost red. If it wasn't for the chest armor he was wearing, Drifter would be in fatal danger. As it was, he was still very much terrified.

"Arghh!"

In a desperate bid to survive, he kicked the kobold. It did next to no damage, but it forced the mob far enough back that he could rear back his spear, and thrust it through the mob's neck. He did it once, twice, thrice, until he wiped out the << Ruin Kobold's >> health.

Panting heavily, Drifter crumbled to the ground. Hugging his spear like some sort of comfort pillow, he glanced at the health bar in the top left corner of his vision. That was close. Too close. He had gotten overconfident. Complacent.

"Hah... Hahaha... Yuna can't ever know about this. I would never hear the end of it."

While waiting for his HP to slowly recover through the passive regeneration when out of combat, and aided by a health potion, Drifter skimmed through the notifications he received.

'Woah.'

It was no surprise the players in Tolbana were so much stronger than others. Just eliminating a single kobold patrol had filled almost half of his experience bar. Granted, he was alone so he didn't have to split the experience with anyone, and he had almost died, but still... The only unfortunate thing was that the << Kobold Spear >> he wanted hadn't dropped.

What it had dropped was a lot of materials, however. Those would sell for quite a bit. Or maybe he should keep them, and use it to enhance his and his party's equipment. And also... Drifter clicked on a certain item, and watched a chunk of raw meat materialize in his hands. He had to fight the urge to throw it away. That would be one ingredient he would not be using. Ever.

Storing it away, Drifter got up. When he looked at the depths of the tower, his gaze was filled with determination like never before. He had survived his first fight in here. The labyrinth hadn't conquered him, never mind how close it had come. SAO hadn't conquered him. He would conquer it.

He continued, this time even more carefully. Drifter encountered and destroyed another two patrols of << Ruin Kobolds >> before he heard the sounds of fighting. After hesitating for a few seconds, he clenched his teeth and rushed towards the noise. It might be a bad decision, but he would hate himself if he later discovered another party had been annihilated, and that it might have been because of his inaction.

When he rounded the corner, Drifter saw a party of four fighting three of the mobs. Two of the players, who used shields, were holding back an enemy each, focusing on defending rather than attacking. The remaining players, two sword users, were teaming up to face the last << Ruin Kobold >>. All of their health bars were in the green.

Drifter stopped a distance away from them, and sighed in relief. The party had good coordination, and seemed to be able to handle the kobold patrol with ease. They were still wary of their surroundings, and had noticed Drifter as soon as he arrived. He raised a hand in greeting.

"Do you need any help?"

"No... Ugh... But thanks!"

Drifter nodded, and took a few steps back to avoid entering the aggro range of the mobs by mistake or distracting the fighters. Despite the party leader's rejection, he decided to stay nearby until their scuffle ended, just in case anything went wrong. Luckily, it didn't.

After the two who were ganging up on the << Ruin Kobold >> finished it off, they joined hands with the third player, and then the fourth, making quick work of the remaining mobs. Drifter thought to himself that Yuna and Nautilus really did need to level up quickly. It would be much easier, not to mention safer, if he had his friends with him.

Walking up to them, Drifter greeted the players. He seemed to have left a good impression, because they were very friendly. The party leader, a light blue-haired - how? - player who went by Diavel, shook his hand.

"Thanks for the offer to help, and for sticking around. It's good to know there's someone out there willing to offer a hand to those in need."

"Anyone would have done the same."

Drifter gave a polite reply, which both Diavel and his companions seemed to find funny, judging by the chuckles.

"I played enough MMOs to know that's not true. But let's hope you are right. I will see you around, man. Thanks again."

Drifter nodded, and the party walked off. They didn't question why he was alone, nor they offered for him to join them, and he was more than okay with that. He would have rejected anyways. It was one thing before, but now that they knew SAO was a death game, everyone had become much warier of strangers.

Shaking his head, Drifter chose a path different than the one Diavel and the others had gone. There were a few hours still until he had to return to Tolbana.