It happened that night, after the Reavers had returned from their forays in the bamboo jungle - exhausted, but happy. As taxing as dealing with the << Cursed Mantises >> was, both physically and mentally, no one could complain about the rewards. Reaver's Requiem was now in possession of about two dozen crystals, with effects ranging from normal heals to paralysis and poison antidotes. Drifter was convinced that that was two dozen more crystals than all other players put together had.

They hadn't actually made much progress with mapping. The area of the bamboo forest was all fog again by now, thanks to the special effect of the zone. But they could still remember by memory what path they took, and they really did try to. But it was hard to go anywhere when you could be ambushed at any second by almost-undetectable giant insects eager to take your head off, and which, just because, also cursed you when they died.

On a side note, Ran's idea of dissolving the party and switching who delivered the final blow was mostly a success. Not completely, because as it turned out, if you weren't in a party, the curse actually went to both the player who killed the mob, and to the one who dealt the most damage to it. So, the strategy wasn't perfect, but it was good enough.

It was to a dozen players scarfing down their meals that Liz returned. The blacksmith didn't say much, simply dropping down on a seat between Vallerk and Kizmel and grabbing one of Asuna's sandwiches, devouring it in a matter of seconds. She seemed as exhausted as any of her guildmates.

"You okay, Liz? Should we beat up Klein?"

"Hum? Oh, no, I'm fine. Just tired. But..."

As if someone flicked a switch, Liz's eyes suddenly lit up, and now she seemed almost giddy - why, Drifter had no idea.

"Everyone, one minute of your attention, please!"

She already had it. Liz stood up and walked to an unoccupied table. There, they saw her waving her hands in the air, going through her menu. Liz's smile was blinding.

"I've got presents!"

Another click later and a bunch of equipment materialized in her arms. There was everything, from weapons to armor, and even accessories. Liz unceremoniously dumped everything on the table and spread her hands invitingly.

The players didn't need another invitation. They surrounded the table, picking up the items and looking at their stats. Almost all of them were better than what they were equipped with at the moment.

"Wh- Did you make all of this, Liz?"

"Yes sir!"

"How?!"

Asuna questioned the blacksmith in disbelief. Drifter himself was holding a pair of bracers he knew were made for him - their attributes matched his build perfectly, only they were at least 20% higher than the bracers he had on right now.

"The hidden quest Klein found! We owe Fuurinkazan a meal by the way, Asuna. I already forged somethin' for them, but they still deserve a thank you for showing me to that quest."

Liz launched into a short retelling of what happened. When she finished, all the Reavers were gaping in shock. Liz was already SAO's top blacksmith. Now that her proficiency in the skill broke the 500 mark, she could not touch her hammer for a month and would still be in an unshakable first place.

"And that's not all. After I created the << Red Blossom >> for Fuurinkazan, I still had a set of materials. So I made... This!"

Prolonging her words on purpose to extend the moment and hype it up, Liz stared straight at a certain Reaver as she pulled out her masterpiece.

"For you, Kirito."

What Liz took out of her inventory was a long one-handed sword. The sharp edge gleamed silver. The cross-shaped guard resembled the fangs of a beast. The pommel was shaped like a wolf's claws. Everything, from the hilt to the blade, was black, of course.

"T-This..."

"Your << Anneal Blade >> is good, Kirito, but it's time to let it rest. I forged this one for you. I don't think anyone can use it as well. It was a unique creation, y'know? The best blade I've hammered so far, no doubt."

Kirito took the sword carefully. The hilt fit perfectly in his grip, as if it was made for him - which it was. The blade was perfectly balanced, and Kirito swung it around - it felt like an extension to his arm. He didn't open the sword's tab.

"What... What's its name?"

Liz smiled wearily. And happily. This sword had taken longer and been harder to forge than even Klein's << Red Blossom >>.

"I called it << Shadow Fang >>. It's not very original, I know, but it seemed fitting."

"It's perfect."

Kirito gently touched the black sword. While he liked his << Anneal Blade >>, he was a gamer through and through. Unlike Asuna, who had been reluctant to change her << Wind Fleuret >> for a new rapier, he readily traded his old sword for the << Shadow Fang >>.

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Seeing Kirito so enamored with his new sword he barely registered anything else, Liz rolled her eyes. Everyone else was also eagerly testing their new equipment. Liz's heart was soaring with well-deserved pride.

"By the way, Sinon, you're next in line."

"Uhm?"

"I've been wanting to make you a new bow for a while, but I always failed. Now that my << Blacksmithing >> broke through 500 however, I feel like I can make it."

"Really?"

Sinon perked up. Her bow was under-leveled for the 10th floor. It had already been outdated by the time they got to the 7th. But there were no other options, so she made do with the special arrows Liz crafted. But the lack of bow drops had bothered her for a while now. She worried she would become obsolete if nothing changed. Now it did, and Liz grinned.

"Yup! The materials weren't suitable this time - and there're no bow blueprints, so I'll have to come up with somethin' from scratch. But I can do it. Trust me."

The archer smiled and patted Liz on the shoulder. She knew the blacksmith had been trying to craft her a bow all this while. Sinon would be a terrible ingrate if she couldn't wait a few more days.

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

Kikouka Seijirou was having the worst week of his life - and he included in that the time first enlisted.

Sword Art Online had been going well. Yes, 3.000 players were dead. But the mortality rate over the last months had fallen to a fraction of the first month of SAO. There were still people dying every week, but they were few and far in-between, so Seijirou had been optimistic. He had no doubt a lot more players were going to die. But he had begun to think it just might be possible that they would clear SAO.

Now... Now Seijirou wasn't so sure anymore. In the past six days since the Assault Team cleared the 9th floor, their battle broadcasted to the entire world, 34 players had died. More than all the deaths on the 9th floor. And following the trend set up on the past floors, the players still needed, in the best-case scenario, a week to find and battle the boss of the 10th floor.

Seijirou was blamed for that. Or, at least, for the lack of results his unit had presented. He couldn't even complain about unfairness. It had been five months, and his team was nowhere closer to rescuing the trapped SAO victims than they were on November 6th of last year. Honestly, Seijirou doubted they would ever be able to do anything. No matter from which angle he looked, Akihiko Kayaba's masterpiece had no holes or weaknesses whatsoever.

Toc. Toc.

"What's it?!"

Irritated, Seijirou yelled for whoever was knocking on his office's door to come in. One of his subordinates poked his head in, nervously.

"There... There is someone to see you, sir."

"Not right now, Itou."

"Err... I... Really don't think we can send that person away, sir."

"Huh?"

Seijirou lifted his head, only now noticing that his subordinate's nervousness wasn't because of his boss' bad mood, but the identity of the visitor.

"Who is it?"

Seijirou straightened his back and fixed his messy clothes. Like him, all of his subordinates were members of the Japanese Defense Force - soldiers. Hearing Itou stuttering, his first thought was that the visitor was a high-ranking officer. He was wrong.

"It's Mister Yuuki Shouzou, sir. The CEO of RECT Inc."

The man who walked in was high-ranking alright. Not a soldier, but he wielded no less power than a general, only in the business world. Political too, Seijirou imagined. Especially now.

"Welcome, Mr. Yuuki. Welcome."

He promptly stood up to greet Yuuki Shouzou, extending both hands to grab one of his. Seijirou felt cold sweat dripping down his back, but he kept a polite and neutral smile on his face. The older man was a giant who could drag him down to hell or lift him up to heaven with one sentence, but Seijirou was born and raised in the army. His backbone stopped him from fawning over a civilian, no matter what their political stature may be.

In his mind, Seijirou was quickly going over everything he knew about Yuuki Shouzou. He was the CEO of RECT Incorporated, a gigantic company focused on developing new technologies, whose reach stretched far beyond the borders of their small island nation.

Seijirou was very familiar with the names and faces of Yuuki Shouzou and all of RECT Inc.'s executives. He had to, since the company had just recently acquired Argus, the company which Akihiko Kayaba headed, and which developed Sword Art Online. After SAO's fiasco, Argus' stocks had taken a sharp dive, and the board of directors had been forced to declare bankruptcy. Under Shouzou's leadership, RECT Inc. had bought the rights to SAO from Argus.

Despite that being a seemingly horrible business decision, Shouzou had more money than he could spend on his lifetime, and one very good reason to keep SAO running as smoothly as possible - which would have been hard after Argus' bankruptcy. That reason being: his daughter was a SAO victim.

And Seijirou knew Shouzou's daughter wasn't just any player either. She was a member of the Assault Team, one of Reaver's Requiem's vice-guild leaders. Yuuki Asuna, or simply Asuna to the other players and most of the populace.

"Mr. Kikouka. This is the first time we met, I believe. I should have come to you as soon as my company acquired the rights to Sword Art Online from Argus, but we were very busy making sure the SAO servers were running properly.

Shouzou spoke in an imperial tone, as befitting of someone of his stature. He was polite enough, however, and Seijirou relaxed. It seemed this wasn't the bad kind of visit.

"Not at all, Mr. Yuuki. That's understandable. And call me Seijirou, please. Take a seat. Can I offer you anything to drink? Tea? Coffee?"

"No, thank you. This will be a quick chat. I merely wanted to greet the man who is partially responsible for my daughter's safety. And also, to notify you that I have my best researchers looking for ways to safely disconnect the players. Your team has been working on that for longer, so please ensure they communicate with my people."

It was an order more than it was a request, but Seijirou didn't mind. Having the resources of a large conglomerate at his disposal would come in handy. And, if even the personnel of RECT Inc. couldn't come up with a way to save the SAO victims, his superiors wouldn't be able to blame him for failing to do so.

The whole meeting was over so fast that Seijirou didn't even have the time to exchange pleasantries. But that was alright with him. They were both very busy men. Shouzou just turned around once, at the door, to hand over a note to Seijirou.

"If you need anything, you can call this number. It's from the person in charge of the SAO servers."

Of course, as the CEO of a multinational company, Yuuki Shouzou didn't have the time to answer calls from a small fry - from his point of view - like Seijirou. The leader of the SAO task force took the piece of paper and bowed, sending away the older man.

Taking out his phone, Seijirou typed in a string of numbers and saved the contact Yuuki Shouzou gave him. One Sugou Nobuyuki. Then Seijirou went back to work.