Chapter Eleven: THE NEXT LEVEL

"Hello my friends, so glad to see you all come." Heathcliff said to a gathered crowd of 56 players, including himself. This crowd was currently at the plaza of a town called Menplis, the town on Floor Six that was closest to the tower. It was not a particularly pleasant town, with sand virtually everywhere you stepped, even indoors. The buildings were made of crumbling stone that was still considered an Immortal Object, and the only shade came from them and a few palm trees scattered around.

The only one who seemed to be happy here was Nabiki, who was selling water bottles to the crowd for a cheap but undeniable price. The water spring in their desert house was certainly proving its worth now.

The crowd itself was the newly created Guild Congress of Aincrad, the fourteen guild leaders and the fourteen second-in-commands, and two additional members of each guild. They had gathered together for another meeting, one that would hopefully have a great impact for the game. Of the Aincrad Wrecking Crew, gathered here were Shampoo, Nabiki, Ranma, and Akane. Ukyo had declined and Kasumi said the other members needed to find allies like how she had Klein.

"News of our alliance has reached the ears of the other players, but it's safe to assume that not all of them take us seriously." Heathcliff continued.

Several players nodded, easily able to see that being the case. Some guilds were directly opposed to it, while others just saw it as a waste of time. Whether or not anyone would make an effort to undermine the alliance was up for debate though.

"We can promise rights, protection, and laws all we want, but if we want anyone to accept us I think we need a show of unity. We need to show the other players that our allegiance doesn't just sound good on paper. We can work together as a unit to accomplish our goals, rather than just argue over them. I presume that arguing with no accomplishments does come to mind when some people think of a congress, am I right?"

A few laughed at his well-meaning joke.

"I asked you all here today to make that show. I know my guild the Knights of the Blood Oath has already gained a reputation of being rather territorial when it comes to the boss fights. Despite us only having been in three so far."

"Three out of five!" Someone in the crowd pointed out.

Heathcliff closed his eyes for a moment and nodded before reopening them. "How true you are, so consider this my way of dispelling the rumors. I will not have my guild take all the glory. As such, I propose we all band together to take down the Floor Six boss, but the Knights of the Blood Oath will not be leading this battle."

That surprised some players. "So who will?" One of the members of the Lost Boys guild called out.

"I would propose that we put it to a vote, but that would just be a whole bunch of self nominations. So for this raid, how about we have the guild leaders who defeated the most recent boss be the leaders? Does that sound acceptable?"

The crowd murmured among themselves, and collectively decided this would suffice. As a result, the players selected for the roles were Teech of Holy Dragon Alliance, and Shampoo of Aincrad Wrecking Crew, who both were asked to step forward and present themselves.

"Hey, isn't she a Beater?" One of the players in the crowd asked, pointing at the Chinese Amazon.

Shampoo looked to the crowd. "Yes, I am a Beater. But if you think that means anything, I'll have you all know that I never got this far in the beta trials. I have no idea what to expect in this game anymore, no more than the rest of you do. So what's the point of hating me anymore? My advantage over you is gone now."

There was no reply.

"Do we have any intel on the boss?" Lancer jumped in, hoping to change the subject.

Heathcliff shook his head. "Sadly no, I have not sent anyone ahead to scout out the dungeon. Has anyone here?"

No one responded, many having a look that said 'were we supposed to?'.

"We'll make due then without scouts." Teech proclaimed. "Beside, our main priority is the portion that has been locked off, so the other portions are likely unnecessary anyway. Now, let's take thirty minutes to make sure everyone's well stocked on supplies. Then we will go take down this dungeon."

Everyone cheered.

The entrance of the tower came into view after all the players made it through the complicated safe route to get there. The entry hall's cooling temperature was a major relief for most of them.

"Never thought I'd see a dungeon with air conditioning." Klein said happily, wiping some sweat off his forehead. Apparently the mechanics of the game still insured that players were capable of sweating in this virtual world.

"I think this is just shade, not air conditioning." Ranma replied.

Klein shrugged. "Still good enough for me."

"Hey look, the relics are here." Teech announced, seeing four jars that looked like the ones found in Ancient Egyptian tombs by the locked door, placed on the floor free for the taking.

Heathcliff went up to the jars, as did guild leaders Thinker, Teech, and Shampoo since they were the closest. Each grabbed one and together placed a jar inside one of the hollowed out sections of the door. Clicks were heard, as if some sort of weight mechanism was just triggered, then there was the sound of stone rubbing against stone as the door slowly opened, emitting a bright white light from the other side. When the door fully opened, the light faded, and the other side was now pitch black. The floor and the walls could barely be seen even from the lit room.

"Alright everyone I suggest you use your Nightvision skills if you've got them. If you don't, stay close to someone who does." Thinker advised.

All four present members of the Aincrad Wrecking Crew had a Nightvision skill, something Shampoo had insisted on. None of them had particularly strong ones, but they were now able to see the hallway walls in a dark green color. No threats were visible up ahead, prompting everyone to go forward.

"Fear not Akane." Kuno started predictably, coming up to the youngest Tendo and shoving Ranma out of the way from behind to get closer to her. "My guild will protect you better than Saotome ever could."

Akane glared at him, her glowing eyes in the dark making her look like a pissed cat. "Want me to throw you off another cliff Kuno? Because I will if I can find one in here."

"Is there a problem here?" One of the other guild leaders asked, coming closer.

"There's just some friction between us and this player. It won't be a problem as long as he leaves us alone." Nabiki answered on behalf of the others.

"A better solution would be Saotome leaving myself and Akane alone." Kuno countered.

"Ranma and my sister are in the same guild Kuno. You have no right to dictate what people in other guilds do." Nabiki stated to her classmate.

"I believe the lady's right." Lancer said, with a gentlemanly smile on his face. "As guild leader, you should focus more on keeping your troops in line and assuring them that you are there for them. Not leave them wondering if you'll abandon them for someone else."

The kendoist found himself agreeing. "You are right. My apologies." He then left to reaffirm the three members of Glorious Storm with him that he had not forgotten them.

"Thanks sir, I owe you one." Akane said to Lancer, who made a motion of tipping an invisible hat before leaving.

"Imagine how much worse that would have gotten if Kodachi were here." Ranma muttered.

"Where is the crazy ribbon girl anyway?" Shampoo asked.

Nabiki shrugged. "Search me. My guess is she's managing the rest of Kuno's guild."

"Now there's page two of the Recipes of Disaster Cookbook." Ranma stated, making them laugh.

"What's page one?" Akane asked when the laughter died down.

"Kuno leading a guild in the first place."

The laughter resparked.

"Ah, it's been a while since I've just stayed home." Kasumi said as she did some stretches in the central room of their Floor Three house. Even if they had no actual muscles here in Aincrad, the mental feeling helped give them some satisfaction and confidence for when they had to fight in the fields.

"Are you referring to here or back in the real world?" Tofu asked, sitting at a table. At the moment he was the only other person here, since Ukyo was currently shopping for some food and ingredients in one of the Floor Three towns they didn't usually go to, for variety's sake. His hands were busy with some of the harvested plants they had grown here, and he was cutting up the ones labeled as medicinal by the game's standards.

"I suppose technically it could be both, but I meant here." Kasumi clarified, moving to some swordfighting stances that the others had shown her before. She was unequipped but went through the motions anyway since they still felt a little strange to her.

"Don't you think it's a little odd to be calling this place home? I mean, isn't that a little like giving up on getting out of the game?" Tofu questioned.

"Not really." The oldest Tendo replied, equipping herself with her sword and shield. "I see it more as accepting our current situation and making the best of it until we do finish the game. We're going to be here for at least another year, maybe two, and I'd rather not think of myself as homeless during all that time."

'Another year, maybe two.' Tofu repeated to himself, well aware that if such an estimation was accurate then by the time they woke up his practice would be out of business with little chance to rebuild it. His body would need physical therapy, as would they all, and he'd practically have to relearn medicine just to avoid confusing real people's health with game mechanics. He couldn't just tell patients to heal themselves with a crystal after all; he wasn't one of those doctors.

"Hey Tofu," Kasumi started, taking a stance where she held her shield in front of her with her sword pointing forward and pressed against the side. The position made her look like she was focusing on defense but could unleash a surprise offense at any moment. "Does this make me look like one of those Spartans you sometimes see in the movies?"

"Uhh... I don't quite see it." He replied. 'Kasumi imitating a Spartan of all things? Just what is this game doing to her?'

The army of guild leaders inevitably came up to a large door that clearly had to belong to the boss room. Unlike the others, this one was made of onyx and had a golden emblem embroiled on it shaped like a set of scales one would weigh things on. On the left door there was a heart shape above the scale, and on the right door there was a feather. If anyone got the symbolism, no one bothered to mention it out loud.

"This must be the boss room. Swords ready everyone." Teech ordered, and everyone obeyed.

The guild leaders pushed open the door, and torches lit within. A room made of onyx bricks was revealed, with upright sarcophagi lined against the walls. At the back of the room was a giant sarcophagus with a set of scales sticking out of the top, four red stones weighing down one scale compared to the other only having a single white stone. The white stone was easily as big as the four red ones, keeping the scales balanced.

"Anyone feel like we just walked into one of those old mummy movies?" Klein asked, though whether or not he was trying to lighten the mood was anyone's guess.

A rumbling sound was heard and the lid to the large sarcophagus creaked open. A white paw emerged, followed by a large lion the size of an elephant. The head was covered with a golden human mask surrounded by a fancy Egyptian headdress, and on its back were two feathered grey wings kept down. The beast roared behind its mask, and the name Sand Lord Sphinx appeared above it along with five health bars.

Ranma went rigid. "A cat?"

"You don't have to fight it Airen, just have our backs." Shampoo told him.

Four sarcophagi sprung open releasing mummies holding axes, the bandages withered and brown and falling off but still visible. Though the dehydrated flesh underneath was visible too.

"Shield users up front!" Teech commanded.

Akane looked at the others with uncertainty, since she was the only one among her group that actually had a shield.

"Stay close by, this will be harder than the last boss we fought." Nabiki told her sister, who nodded.

"The last boss couldn't be hurt by a weapon." Ranma reminded the mercenary.

Nabiki gave him her infamous 'don't push me' look. "I'm pretty sure this one can be."

The mummies were the first to move, each ambushing them and swinging an ax. The shield users were ready and blocked the mummies. Akane withstood the one that came for her, disgusted by the leathery eyeless face that peered over the rim of her shield. Fortunately Ranma came up from behind and jabbed its face with his sword, making it back off.

"Thanks Ranma."

"Those with the highest levels, go for the boss! Everyone else fight the minions!" Shampoo called out.

Several fighters moved around the shield users and began to fight the mummies directly. Ranma and Nabiki were among them, while Akane and Shampoo moved to face Sand Lord Sphinx. Considering Ranma's phobia, no one was going to argue about him not going directly for the giant lion. The boss monster made a roar and attacked them with its front paws like an angry cat going for a mouse. Akane blocked with her shield and Shampoo rushed in to strike when the opening was revealed.

The mummies went down easily, but all of a sudden four more jumped out of the sarcophagi, these ones brandishing long-handled sickles instead of axes. Their attacks were slower and thus easier to dodge, but the range was wider allowing them to hit more players and from a better distance. Nabiki took a hit and her health dropped but remained in the green, though she did drop to her knees for a moment thanks to the pain of the attack. Ranma ducked the swing and attacked the offending mummy rapidly, until it swung again and this time hit him, making his health drop too.

Nabiki reaffirmed her grip on her blade and came up beside Ranma, stabbing the mummy with it. Its health was in the red but it wasn't dead yet. It tried spinning its sickle in front of it forcing the two to back away for a moment, then it stopped.

"Now!" Nabiki said before it could attack again, and the two went in and both stabbed it with their weapons, pleased to see it shatter into shards of pixels. But rather than relax, they waited to see if anything else would replace it.

Meanwhile, the heavy hitters and shield users continued pressing on with Sand Lord Sphinx from all sides. The first health bar got depleted, and one of the red stones on the scales shattered with it. Once that happened the scales shifted a bit and the entire room trembled as if hit by an earthquake.

"What the hell was that?" Klein asked, getting back up quickly. Almost all of the players had been knocked off their feet by the unexpectedness of the quake.

Sand Lord Sphinx took advantage of the opportunity and clawed at the closest players. One from Knights of the Blood Oath and another from Glorious Storm got hit, and their health dropped into the yellow. They made sure to back away swiftly as soon as they could.

"It's getting faster." Shampoo said to Teech, observing the boss. It had yet to change its tactics, still swiping at them all with its claws, but it was doing so faster than before.

"That means fewer openings for us to get in close and fight it." Teech said back. "Got any ranged attacks?"

Shampoo looked over the crowd. "Any archers in here?"

Most denied, saying they did not have such skills or equipment. Kuno admitted he had not thought to bring any of his archers with him.

"Get our shield users and fastest fighters in close!" Teech commanded, waving his arm to encourage fast players to move to the front and the slower ones to back up. "Heal the wounded if you're not fighting!"

Most of the guild leaders with a few others came up with shield users taking position in front. As a result Akane was in front of Shampoo while Ranma and Nabiki focused on recovery and fighting the remaining mummies. Sand Lord Sphinx struck and the shields deflected, with the guild leaders lashing out at the paw. The boss's speed kept up, not giving them many chances to keep at it, but the progress was steady.

"Looks like this is going great." Klein commented as he swung his sword. "So far no one's dead, that's definitely good."

"Yeah but we're mostly guild leaders here. It's kind of expected that we're the best our guilds have to offer." Shampoo replied, making Klein grin.

As the boss's second health bar depleted, another of the red stones shattered. The room trembled again, this time marginally worse with a few rocks falling from the ceiling. Most players fell over and several got hit by the falling rubble, but fortunately the damage was minimal. The mummies took the opportunity to swarm the downed players, and the damage here was more than minimal. Multiple players jumped in to assist, effectively destroying them all. Once they were gone the players refrained from joining in the boss fight in case more mummies appeared.

"Is there any room left for us to join in?" Ranma asked, eyeing the boss battle. So far no more mummies were popping out.

"I sure don't see any, but let's keep our eyes out in case the boss has a last minute surprise for us." Nabiki advised.

It took some time and a few players had to pull back and be replaced, but soon enough the third health bar of Sand Lord Sphinx was depleted.

"Brace yourself!" Heathcliff called out just before the third red stone shattered and the room trembled again. The quake was bad but this time the players were ready for it and maintained their balance. The downside was more rubble fell down, forcing the shield users to cover themselves and the others to evade as best they could.

Sand Lord Sphinx surprisingly did not continue its assault. Rather it actually withdrew, like it was hurt or stunned.

"Press on before it tries something new!" Teech ordered, and everyone who had been attacking sped up their assault, hoping to get in as much damage as they could before whatever change that was about to come got triggered.

This part of the battle went much easier compared to what came prior. Sand Lord Sphinx did nothing but take their hits and flinch, making the players very confused since bosses don't do that unless stunned. More rubble continued to fall down, forcing the players to back away rather than attack continuously, so that was likely the intended change in tactics for the game.

Players took advantage of the levity and healed the players that up until now hadn't had the chance to. The fourth health bar of Sand Lord Sphinx went empty bringing it down to the fifth and final one. The last red stone burst and the scale was completely one-sided now. The white stone fell off is side and landed on top the boss, resulting in a bright light engulfing it with a sudden unseen force pushing all the players back.

"This can't be good." Klein stated.

The light faded and there was no apparent visible change to the monster. The large sphinx roared and spread it's wings like a vulture ready to take flight, then the mask it was wearing started to crack. Sand geysers erupted from the floor around it, and the mask and headdress completely broke away, revealing the face of a serpent instead of a person or lion. Not just any serpent, it was like a yellow cobra with green eyes and a now expanded hood that had what was possibly a lion's mane coming out from the underside of it. It revealed fangs and a serpent's tongue while hissing menacingly. The sarcophagi in the room all burst into shards and were replaced by small tornadoes whirling around sand, though so far that appeared to be merely a cosmetic change to the environment.

"Alright everyone, give it all you got!" Teech and Shampoo shouted together, encouraging the warrior spirits of the players to take the beast down.

Everyone rushed forward but right away Sand Lord Sphinx flapped its wings and pushed them all back with a powerful burst of wind. A few players were pushed right into the tornadoes, and they screamed as if being battered by some kind of weapon. When each pulled away, their HP had dropped into the yellow range and dangerously close to red.

"Those tornadoes are more dangerous than they look, and I'm guessing the geysers are too." Teech warned everyone.

"The shield users should go first here. They can best withstand it now." Shampoo advised.

When the wind faded, Akane and the others with shields made another attempt to hit the boss. They had all expected another swipe from its paws, but this time the neck stretched out, making a giant hairy cobra lunge at them like the Greek hydra.

'Holy crap, that thing could have eaten me if I didn't have my shield.' Akane thought in a brief panic.

The neck retracted and the wings flapped again, pushing the players back. This time they knew to avoid the tornadoes.

"Hitting this thing isn't going to be so easy anymore." Shampoo noted.

"Maybe we need to hit it when the neck is exposed." Ranma suggested. 'A snake is something I can fight, even a giant one like back in Ryugenzawa.'

"It's worth a shot." Shampoo agreed, then moved closer to the other guild leaders and repeated the suggestion. As she did Sand Lord Sphinx flapped its wings again and darted its head as if to keep them on alert.

With their new strategy, the offensive players moved around to the sides of the boss while the shield users remained right in front of it. Though the sand geysers made it hard to fit everyone.

The shield users got into position, instructed not to attack, and Sand Lord Sphinx struck out again. Akane was less afraid since this time she was expecting it, and deflected the large fangs of the monster. While she was busy, Shampoo and several other guild leaders burst out through the gaps of the sand geysers and hacked and slashed at the serpentine neck of the boss. The plan worked and the monster was taking damage again, until the neck retracted and the wings flapped again. At this close range the guild leaders took direct hits from the wings, forcing them to withdraw.

"Okay, we'll do a switch and have one of you go for it. Make sure to get back here when the neck pulls away." Shampoo told her friends while the shield users got back into position.

Sand Lord Sphinx struck again, and this time Ranma rushed out. The other guild leaders apparently had the same idea as Shampoo and sent out other members of their guilds in their place for this. They hit it hard and rapidly, and the boss's last health bar was now in the yellow. The neck retracted and they all retreated, missing the wings though the shield users still had to suffer the wind.

"We're doing good." Nabiki stated with a proud smile, waiting for her turn. It didn't take long for the neck to come out again, prompting her to jump out and have a literal whack at it before pulling back. "Hey Ranma, wanna bet that it will die on my next turn instead of yours?" She asked, seeing the HP was still yellow.

"Oh yeah, and what do I get if it dies on my next turn?" He asked.

Nabiki waited until Shampoo left to have her turn again, both certain the boss wouldn't die this time and at best be brought down into the red. "Loser gives the winner their Col from this battle."

Ranma smirked. "You're on. 'Bout time you be the one to pay me Nabiki."

'We'll see about that Ranma.' The mercenary thought, certain she'd win this bet.

Shampoo came back, and like anticipated now the boss's remaining HP was in the red. Surprisingly, when she and the others pulled back, the sand geysers fizzled out and became mere sand piles on the dungeon floor.

"That doesn't seem right." Klein noted.

"This thing sure loves to change tactics." Griselda thought out loud.

The wings started beating multiple times, pushing the shield users back consistently rather than just for a moment, and when Sand Lord Sphinx's neck stretched came out, the neck curved around towards the right, going for the attacking players this time. Being on that side, Ranma, Shampoo, and Nabiki backed away, though members of the Golden Apple guild were not so lucky. A woman fell down and a man knelt down to heal her with a crystal while the snake head turned to strike the players at its left.

"How are we supposed to beat it now?" A member of the Holy Dragon Alliance guild asked as all the players moved out of its range. The neck wasn't retracting anymore, the head just kept switching what side it was attacking.

"I don't know." Teech answered sadly.

From the front, Akane and the shield users were trying to figure out what to do now. Timing the snake's moves, Akane withdrew her sword. "Now it's our turn!" She told everyone before moving forward. The others stayed back mostly due to confusion, but that went away when Akane got a hit on the still exposed neck then ducked when it changed sides, passing over her. Encouraged, the other shield users joined her and attacked with her, depleting what was left of the boss's HP.

Sand Lord Sphinx roared then glowed bright white before exploding into shards, quickly replaced by a congratulatory icon. The piles of sand were blown away and the room became more lit like the sun was shining in now. The players cheered and saw a prize screen pop up in front of each one of them, telling them the Col and Experience they had earned.

"Well done everyone." Heathcliff called out to everyone as the doorway to Floor Seven revealed itself. "All our guilds together were able to take down this boss! And unless my eyes deceive me, we did it with no casualties as well." He paused to let the players cheer more. "News of this will spread and hopefully the other players will begin to have faith in the Guild Congress of Aincrad. For now though, let's recover our health and go see what Floor Seven has to offer us. And let's not forget to give a special thanks to the Holy Dragon Alliance and Aincrad Wrecking Crew for leading this battle."

The players nodded and clapped for the aforementioned guilds. Several members blushed but soaked up the praise. When it ended, several people began tending to their wounded with their remaining crystals.

"Remind me what you know about Floor Seven Shampoo." Nabiki requested while eyeing the HP of her guildmates. They were out of crystals, so odds were they'd just have to recover their own health.

"I never got past Floor Four in the beta test. But other players in the forum who did said it was just an open field with no real features. Like a meadow without the grass, and no hills or rivers or anything. No one said anything else. At the time the popular theory was it was a glitch or just underdeveloped. I know that a lot of testers mentioned it to the company when the beta tests were done. So right now it could be anything."

"Let's just hope it's not another desert." Akane muttered.

"Hey, who got the last attack bonus here?" Klein called out.

"I think that was me." A girl called out. Everyone looked to her, she was the one female member of Holy Dragon Alliance present. She had long brown hair with bangs that framed her face, wore a red women's tunic and purple pants with the guild's silver and blue armor over it. Her height made it hard to determine her age, she could have been anywhere from an average fourteen year old to a short sixteen or seventeen year old.

Teech smiled and came up beside her. "Congratulations Dyana, what was your prize?"

The girl pulled up a screen and in her hands materialized a golden set of scales, the kinds used to balance things in ancient times. And very similar to the giant ones still here in the room.

"Not much of a weapon or tool is it?" A member of Glorious Storm commented.

"Could maybe be worth something if sold." Another member added.

"The text says this is the Scales of Truth." Dyana spoke up. "It says these can be used to tell if a player is lying."

"So it's a lie detector?" Nabiki asked, and Dyana nodded with a shrug. "You know, this could actually be very useful for the Congress."

"Actually, I agree." Heathcliff noted. "Such a tool would come in handy during future trials when the laws are inevitably broken. What else does it say?"

Dyana looked over the text box. "Umm... it can cause harm to someone who lies too much in its presence. And once per dungeon, it can act as a trap detector, though it states clearly that it doesn't prevent or undo the trap, just alert you."

"A trap detector could come in handy too." Shampoo said.

"Well, congratulations on your victory Holy Dragon Alliance. I trust you'll put this treasure to good use." Heathcliff proclaimed proudly, giving Teech a handshake.

The door opened, letting some more light into the room.

"Alright everyone, onto Floor Seven." Teech announced.

One by one everyone walked through, teleporting up to the first town on Floor Seven. The first thing to greet them there was a gentle humid breeze and the sound of unseen seagulls. Looking around, the town had palm trees, ferns, wooden buildings and platforms around them, plenty of benches, and surfboards resting against one building with a sign that said 'Rentals'.

"Whoa, is this a beach resort town?" Bellaprima asked, hands over her eyes to shade them.

"Sure looks like one."

"Awesome! I haven't been able to go to the beach in years!"

"Let's not get carried away." Teech warned, then shrugged. "But then again, we did just earn a break so let's at least have some fun."

The many guilds began to spread out.

"Should we go tell the others?" Ranma asked.

"Hmm... it can wait. We've earned this." Nabiki claimed, stretching her arms over her head a bit. "By the way, Ranma you owe me your Col."

"What?" He asked, aghast. "But neither one of us got to kill the monster."

"No, but I struck it last, that means it died on my turn."

"But it was my turn next so if it hadn't died it was going to die on my turn."

"Going to but it didn't, so pay up." Nabiki grinned while holding out her hand as if expecting some physical money deposited into it.

The pigitailed teen turned to Shampoo. "Uhh... guild leader, can you settle this?"

"You made a bet with Nabiki Airen?" She asked, and he nodded. "You should have known that was a 'Heads I win, tails you lose' situation. So pay up."

Ranma groaned and transferred 3000 Col to the middle Tendo daughter, who grinned like a wolf seeing unguarded sheep.

With that settled, the group headed towards the gate that would take them from the safe zone into the overall landscape of Floor Seven. When they got there, they were all in awe.

Floor Seven's most notable feature was a hue expanse of water. So huge, it could easily be called the ocean of Aincrad. It just went out as far as the eye could see, with a ring of land around it that gave the players somewhere to stand. Said land looked exactly like a tropical beach, the kind you'd expect to see in Hawaii. Off towards the horizon the pillar that could only be the Floor Seven boss dungeon could just barely be seen, almost making it look like a mirage.

"Okay, after the desert this is a very welcome change of pace." Nabiki remarked.

"Still a lot of sand, but I agree completely." Ranma added.

"I just hope I can actually swim here." Akane claimed hopefully.

"So this is what they replaced the empty field with? Thank you whoever decided to put a beach in this game." Shampoo said happily. "We need swimsuits. And more."

"Finally I can wear a guy's swimsuit again." Ranma said with relief.

"Hey what's that say?" Nabiki asked, seeing a wooden sign off to the side. She went up to it and saw a big painted blue circle on it with some words above it.

'TAP FOR FLOOR SEVEN MAP'

"Whoa, the game's just giving us a complete map? That hasn't happened since Floor One." She noted. Since Floor Two, players had to acquire their own map data by actually exploring. The only exceptions were buying maps which usually were in relation to quests and covered only specific relevant portions of the floor, or being given data from another player who already had done the exploring.

Nabiki tapped the blue circle and right away a screen pulled up for her, showing her a circular map of Floor Seven. According to it, the ocean covered virtually the entire floor, with a ring of land around the edge of the floor's outer perimeter wall. At best the beach was probably a little over half a kilometer wide at its widest. And the map showed only two towns, the one they just came from and one all the way on the exact opposite side of the ocean. The tower was situated directly in the center, with no visible means of reaching it.

"The entire floor is like this." She said, sharing the map with the rest of them. "One big ocean and beach."

"Why couldn't we have gotten a second house here instead of the crummy desert?" Akane complained.

"So does this mean we could get attacked by some kind of kaiju here?" Ranma asked.

"Oh I sure hope not." Nabiki replied,.

"I doubt it. A kaiju would be better suited for the boss, not for a field monster. We might see some more basic sea monsters out here, like giant crabs or mutant sharks." Shampoo assured them.

'I sure hope not.' Nabiki mentally shivered, remembering a horror manga she once read involving zombie fish with mechanical spider legs crawling out of the ocean. She wasn't squeamish but that particular manga-ka was damn good at his job in her eyes.

Several other players were seen looking at the beach, many having already purchased and changed into swimsuits. Klein and his friends had left the area, only to inform the rest of their guild and bring them here.

"Should we wait and see if anything attacks?" Akane asked.

Nabiki looked over the beach, eyeing the tide and the other players scoping the area. "I think by the time we're back in the green and comfortable and know if we need sunscreen, if nothing's attacked by then it's not going to. For now, let's go get some swimsuits."

"No way, there's a beach in this game?" Ukyo asked when the Aincrad Wrecking Crew was reunited at their Floor Three house that evening. Everyone was having some roasted pork since Ukyo still couldn't quite figure out how to make okonomiyaki in the game. Not for lack of trying of course, but apparently Japanese pizza required a higher Cooking skill than she currently had.

"Yep, and it's terrific. Best of all it covers the entire floor, so hopefully it wouldn't be too crowded tomorrow." Nabiki answered.

"Oh yeah, with Floor Seven now open and everyone bound to hear what's there, it's going to become really popular." Kasumi thought out loud.

"I don't care how crowded it gets tomorrow, I'm going." Ukyo stated with a smile. "I love the beach. Spent most of my childhood there."

"I love the beach too. I spent all my life in a land-locked region and almost every body of water had to be tested before used. A real beach is always a treat to me." Shampoo agreed.

"I'm just glad I don't have a curse in this game." Ranma noted.

"Out of curiosity, did any of you have to fight anything?" Tofu inquired. "This is still a game and field monsters should be there."

"We thought the same thing, so we kept an eye out for any giant crabs or killer seagulls." Akane claimed. "But the weird thing was nothing showed up. Not one monster or NPC. It was... honestly the most peaceful this game's ever been."

"So the monsters and quests are further away from the entry town?" Tofu asked. "That's strange, so far each town players start the new floor on has a few quests to get them started in exploring the floor."

"The game is bound to break routine once in a while." Shampoo commented. "I think that's kind of the message that Floor Six was trying to tell us. Don't expect things to stay predictable."

"Considering Floor Six was a desert and the boss used I dunno three different approaches in one battle, that actually makes sense now that you've said it." Akane noted. "So since most players are used to getting quests in convenient areas, now they'll have no choice but to go looking for them."

"Well, the beach is a great place to go looking." Ukyo said, getting everyone to nod. Then she blinked. "Wait, does this mean Ranchan got to spend the day with Akane and Shampoo in swimsuits and I wasn't invited?"

Ranma sweatdropped, then sighed. "Okay, what do I need to do to avoid a fight this time?"

The okonomiyaki chef smiled as an idea came to her.

"Looks like everything worked out as we expected." Nabiki said to Argo, meeting with the girl in one of the Floor Four towns that night. No one in the Aincrad Wrecking Crew knew she was gone since they were all asleep.

"We got lucky Nabiki. This whole plan of yours could have easily collapsed before it got started." Argo replied, sipping on a beverage while leaning against a tree. "And I don't think we can get away with tampering with a dungeon like that again."

"If everything works out we won't have to." Nabiki replied. "Heard anything?"

"There's a lot of confusion going around about why the guilds are doing this. Not everyone believes it's a mere guild alliance, but if you ask me that's just players being paranoid. The solo players like myself are the most concerned since a guild alliance basically singles them out and makes them feel excluded in a way."

Nabiki shrugged. "That comes with being a solo player."

"Oh I agree. But get enough people together that feel like they're being victimized and things escalate really quickly."

"So you're saying that at some point the GCA is going to find itself at war with some group that doesn't want it to exist." Nabiki summarized rather than ask.

Argo nodded. "It's only a matter of time. Be it a separate guild alliance, a bunch of players banded together that use propaganda to make you all look like tyrants, or even from within, it's inevitable that your system of law will be challenged and potentially dethroned."

"Fortunately I was expecting that, and I'm sure the others are too. For now all we can do is try and make it work."

Argo finished off her drink. "Well in the meantime Nabs, I'll keep my ears open for any threats. I won't charge you, but I do expect your guild to come to my aid should I ever need it."

Nabiki nodded. "That's a fair trade if you ask me."

The next day Ukyo smiled as she moved her fingers through her hair, enjoying the breeze and the sun. "Hmm... it even smells like the ocean. Say what you will about the people who made this game, they sure did a good job with the details."

"Yeah I'll give them that." Ranma added, looking around and seeing they were now alone on a stretch of beach on Floor Seven. It had taken them some time to get to somewhere this vacant. The complete lack of others made him a little uncomfortable, since in Nerima being alone usually led to trouble. "You enjoying yourself so far Ucchan?"

She wrapped her arms around him, effectively pulling him in for a hug. "Absolutely. It's about time we get to have a real date with no side drama going on."

"Don't jinx it Ucchan."

Ukyo just chuckled then looked over the ocean, seeing some good waves. "This looks like a good spot." She broke away from him and pulled up her inventory screen, tapping it and materializing a surfboard she had rented not too long ago. Ranma nodded and did the same.

"You ever surfed before?" He asked, carrying his board to the water.

Ukyo shook her head. "Nope, most of my time at the beach was spent working with okonomiyaki. When I did have time to enjoy myself, I either swam or collected seashells. Then came that time when I had to masquerade as a boy so I couldn't risk being seen in a swimsuit anymore."

"Well you sure want to be seen in one now." Ranma said casually. He had been expecting his childhood friend to wear a one piece like she usually had in the past, but instead Ukyo had gone for a black two piece with no shoulder straps. It was honestly the most revealing thing he had ever seen her wear. Especially when she turned around, more of her ass was exposed than covered in his opinion. Not that he was complaining about it of course.

Ukyo smiled and lightly blushed, taking a pose for him to enjoy. "I'm glad you like. How does it make me look?"

"You look good."

"Ranchan I'm not going to hit you or call you a pervert. Tell me what you really think."

The pigtailed martial artist looked uncomfortable for a moment, but took a chance. "Okay, if there's such a thing as a Sex Appeal skill in this game, you just leveled up."

Ukyo blinked, then her smile brightened with a few tears in her eyes. She put down the board and gave Ranma another hug, this one more affectionate than the last one. "Thank you Ranchan, that might be the nicest thing anyone's ever said about me."

"Oh I don't believe that." He remarked.

"No I'm serious. The truth is I do worry about my sex appeal from time to time and with things between us never seeming to move beyond platonic that only makes me worry more. It makes me so happy to know that I can be sexy for you. Otherwise I'd worry you just see me as your sister."

"Well I definitely don't see you that way Ucchan."

The chef released her fiancee from the hug but still smiled at him. "Hey, you want to know a secret?"

"I suppose."

"In case you did see me as a sister, in the past I actually looked up some brother-sister hentai to get ideas."

Ranma's eyes widened considerably. "What?!"

"Like I said Ranchan I want you to be sexually attracted to me, and with Shampoo using sex appeal back in Nerima I thought I'd even the odds. I looked up all kinds of hentai to see what kind of advantage I could have. Brother-sister, gender bender, food play, all sorts of things that I thought I could use for you."

"You… look at porn?" Ranma asked, still letting this sink in.

"Just to get ideas Ranchan, it's not like I was masturbating to any of that. I was just trying to find out what I could do to get you turned on and want to go to the next level with me. Let's face it, it's not like I could just ask you what aroused you back in Nerima or anything like that."

"Okay, you got me there." Ranma said with a nod. "I don't know what to say, but I do understand."

"That's okay, the important thing is you know what I want." Ukyo responded, then picked her board back up. "Now c'mon, I don't know how much longer we have these things so teach me how to surf before the rental expires."

Ranma nodded and showed her how to get onto the board in the water and paddle out to the wave.

"So, what did you masturbate to then?" He asked just to joke as the waves picked up.

"Enough secrets for one day Ranchan."

While the rest of the Aincrad Wrecking Crew was willing to give Ranma and Ukyo their alone time, that didn't mean they were going to abstain from some playtime on the beach as well. The town on Floor Seven everyone showed up in at first was apparently named Moncris, and when Ranma and Ukyo went to the west side of the floor from that town the rest of the guild went to the east. Even Tofu went along, since so far the odds of him being dragged into a fight were minimal.

"I definitely see this being a popular floor for a long time." Kasumi mused as they walked among the many players trying to have some fun that didn't include questing or fighting. So many were swimming, surfing, playing volleyball, and enjoying the first taste of watermelon available in the game.

"Especially if this turns out to be the only beach in the game." Nabiki added.

"Oh I doubt that. There's got to be at least one more somewhere in this game." Shampoo protested. "Anyone see a good spot?"

"Sorry, it's really crowded. We might have to move further away from the town."

"Shouldn't we wait for Akane?" Tofu asked. The youngest Tendo was currently not with them, having stayed back to go look at something on her mind. The others went on without her.

"She'll be fine, she knows she can use the map and the guild member locator to find us if we get too far ahead of her." Nabiki assured. A handy feature of being in a guild was you could track players you were separated from, though it helped if they were also on your friend's list or your pre-selected party. The mercenary was personally glad that no one in her guild had noticed her sneaking off with Argo more than once.

"C'mon, let's find somewhere to stretch out." Shampoo guided, prompting them to slightly pick up the pace.

Back in Moncris, Akane was browsing one of the stores in the town. She tried to look casual, like she was just out like any girl her age would be, but inside her emotions were practically storming.

'Ranma is on a date with Ukyo right now. If he meant what he told me, that means he's going to do the same for me and Shampoo soon enough. Either we all get a chance or none of us do.' She thought, checking out some of the clothes. 'It's not that I don't want him to, I do, but I'm just so nervous about all this.'

She picked up a dress, something that clearly was not intended to be worn into battle but wasn't exactly the kind of dress a girl would wear to the prom either. If anything it reminded Akane of what Kasumi used to wear back in Nerima, sans the apron, and colored blue and white with some yellow. She liked it, but she wasn't sure yet if it was what she wanted.

'When Ranma takes me out, I want him to see me as something other than an uncute tomboy that hits first and asks questions later. I want to show him the side of me I was too afraid to show him back in Nerima. The side of me that did want to be with him. If only everyone wasn't so fixated on rushing to the end of the engagement we could have had a good one. Right now, I want to show Ranma the Akane he deserves. The one he killed to protect. But… I'm so nervous.'

She paused for a moment to make sure she wasn't starting to cry. 'I want this to go perfectly, but there are so many things that could go wrong. Ranma could screw it up, I could screw it up, someone else butts in and screws it up, monsters attack out of nowhere, one of us gets bored in the first few minutes...' She almost laughed at that last one. 'Yeah right, getting bored around Ranma? That's like Kuno making too much sense.'

Feeling a little better she sighed and smiled. 'C'mon Akane, stop nagging yourself. So many things could go wrong, just remember that the important thing here is that the only one you're trying to please is Ranma. No one's going to make you marry him, no one's going to tear you apart, just enjoy yourself and show him you're worth a second date, and hopefully many more.'

She folded up the dress in her hands and continued checking the selection, with one particular piece catching her eye. 'Hmm… might be a little much for a first date, but Ranma would never call me uncute again after seeing me in this.'

Looking around as if afraid to be seen, Akane quickly grabbed the second outfit and made her way to the NPC merchant to make her sale.

The week went by and Floor Seven remained as popular as the day it was first opened. Even some of the Beginners had made trips to the beach, supervised by the Aincrad Liberation Army for their safety. Virtually every player now had a swimsuit and there was talk of a Beach Beauty Contest in the works later on. Nothing was guaranteed so it was just a rumor.

Nabiki had mentioned if they did have one, odds are Kasumi would win it like the last time the Nerimans had entered one, making them chuckle at the memory and the oldest Tendo daughter blush.

While most players were having fun, a handful of players were still making an effort to explore the floor beyond the fun parts. One such player was Kirito, still wearing black but like back in Floor Six he had to do so with a cooling outfit. And he had no swimsuit on. It had taken him over two days to get to the only other town on Floor Seven, distance being only part of the problem. The other was his desire to avoid people, easier said than done on a beach, and the fact the layout of the landscape meant he had to traverse the circumference of the floor rather than a direct path. Apparently Moncris didn't rent boats, just surfboards.

The other town on Floor Seven was called Rio, and it looked almost identical to Moncris. The first notable difference was an abundance of brightly colored flowers growing everywhere giving the town a nice aroma, and a few torches to light the area at night which were not presently lit. At the beach Kirito noticed something else Rio had that Moncris didn't.

"Okay, so this is where players get boats." He said to himself, seeing a pier with a sign by the part where the dock meets the land. Strangely there were no actual boats in the water, but a few poles to show where boats could be tethered. Nor was there a building where one could purchase or rent boats like with the surfboard shops back in Moncris.

Curious and confused, Kirito went to the sign and read it. "Tap to begin quest." He smiled. "Finally, this is the first quest I've seen on this floor. Weird how I had to come all the way here to find one."

He reached out to tap the sign, but his hand froze for a moment, his smile diminishing. "Huh, that is weird. Most floors are littered with quests of all types, but here I've only seen one and I had to travel all the way to the other side of the floor to get it. And there haven't been any monsters to fight. Strange change in routine for the game. Leveling up here is almost impossible."

He took a breath and tapped the sign. A screen appeared before him.

ACROSS THE SEA

TASK 1: GATHER 300 WOOD FROM THE AZON GROVE

"Three hundred wood?" Kirito repeated. "That's a huge amount of resources. What, am I supposed to build the boat?" He eyed the Decline option and was tempted to press it, but again he stayed his hand. "Nah, even if it is it wouldn't be as hard as in real life. Worse case scenario I need someone with a Carpentry skill and could just pay someone to do it or sell the wood to someone else wanting this quest."

He tapped Accept and the screen disappeared.

"Hmm… I remember passing a bunch of trees on my way here." He thought out loud, pulling up his Floor Seven map and zooming in on the terrain. The two towns Moncris and Rio were located in the south-southeast and north-northwest portions respectively, and the one cluster of trees he had seen were located in the northeast, roughly halfway between the two but closer to Rio. And the map referred to the region as Azon Grove.

The trip towards the place in question took him the rest of the day and the night as well, partly due to distance and the fact he wasn't in a hurry. But late in the night he found the Azon Grove, a forest with trees that looked like teak trees, tall and slender with practically no branches until the canopy, with dark bark and broad leaves that were a strange blue-green color. A little strange compared to the abundance of palm trees in the environment, but not completely out of place either. But what Kirito wasn't expecting was another player to already be there.

Kirito stopped in place but didn't hide, though he did keep his hand close to his blade's handle. The other player was currently busy trying to dislodge something, but Kirito preferred to err on the side of caution.

The other player, a tall guy wearing a white shirt under a dark green vest with wrapped forearms and elbow pads and dark blue pants, stopped whatever he was doing and stood back, wiping his forehead as if he had worked up a sweat. He must have seen Kirito, since he looked towards the ex-beta tester. "Didn't see you there. With that outfit you'd have snuck up on me if I didn't have my Nightvision working." His voice was booming but friendly, and he was easily over ten years older than Kirito.

"I'm no threat, just here on a quest." Kirito stated, preferring to avoid a fight if possible.

"That's okay, I'm just passing through, saw an ax stuck in one of these trees and thought might as well get it out." The other player replied, pointing his thumb towards the aforementioned ax in the tree. The handle was as long as Kirito's arm and the blade looked like it could make for a nice weapon. "But the dang thing won't budge at all."

'Now that I think about it, I might not be equipped for acquiring enough wood.' Kirito thought. In his inventory was a small hatchet, a tool commonly owned by explorer players since it could be used to acquire kindling and break down some minor obstacles. But he had yet to see any tool designed to chop down entire trees, or at least not one that was worth buying beforehand. "Mind if I give it a try?"

"Help yourself. Maybe it's part of your quest." The other player said while stepping aside.

Kirito was still cautious since this would give the other player a good chance to attack him from behind if he chose to do so. Still, he couldn't very well ask this guy to leave just because he was paranoid. So he came up to the ax, gripped the handle with both hands, and pulled as hard as he could.

There was some resistance, but the ax came out of the tree trunk. Kirito nearly lost his balance and fell on his ass, but he righted himself in time.

"Well I'll be, you did it." The other player said happily, patting Kirito on the back. Up close like this Kirito could see the man was bald and had a darker complexion than himself. "The name's Agil."

"Kirito."

"So, what kind of quest are you in that requires an ax Kirito?" Agil asked.

"I've got to collect 300 wood from this grove. And a hatchet's not going to do the job."

Agil looked over the grove and nodded. "You got that right. Want some help?"

Kirito looked at the tool in his hands. "How? There's only one ax and it's all got to go in my inventory anyway."

"We can take turns, and whatever wood I get I'll donate to you."

'That would make it go by quicker." Kirito thought. "What's in it for you?"

"Let me have the ax when it's over and we can call it good." Agil suggested.

Kirito thought some more then nodded. "Sure, I'm more of a swordsman anyway. Want to take the first swing?"

"Oh boy do I." Agil said happily, accepting the weapon. He aimed for the tree trunk then swung the blade right into it, creating a nice gash in the wood. Since that was the only result he swung again, and on the third hit the tree dissipated like a broken object, leaving only a stump.

Agil pulled up his menu screen and moved to the inventory. "Alright, I got ten wood from that alone."

"Ten wood per tree, so that means twenty-nine to go." Kirito thought out loud. "Let's switch after every fifth tree."

"Sounds like a plan." Agil said, getting ready to chop his next tree.