We walked in the forest for about two hours before we were stopped by a large roaring. We readied ourselves and got out our weapons: me having one of my katanas out. From the trees lumbered three identical ogre creatures. I analyzed them and saw that they were a level 10 mini-boss: the Brothers Grimm. I pulled out my other katana and had them at rest; crossed in front of my in a defensive stance.

"Guys! This is the Mini-Boss that we've been looking for, but it seems to be a couple levels higher than what was originally said by the info-broker! Be careful!" Klein called out the warning just in time for the Brothers Grimm to charge.

It was a taxing fight, but we managed to take down two of them. There were three of us left standing, the rest unconscious with two dying. As the second one fell, the third one let out a deafening roar and doubled in size. Not only that, but a large, metal-spiked club appeared in his hand.

"Shit..." I muttered. Klein let out a bitter laugh at this comment.

"Ya think?" that was all he could say before the Uber-Ogre charged. He easily took out one of the three of us still standing, killing him on impact. He growled and swiped at us again, but we dodged that blow as well. The third swing clipped my partner and sent him into a tree, knocking him unconscious. I immediately attacked with new fervor, but none of my attacks pierced his hide like it did with his brothers. I dodged his fourth swing but, unable to dodge it, caught the next one between my crossed katanas. I was quickly being overpowered and so, jumped away, leaving behind my beloved swords. I pulled out the rod and extended her into staff form. I powered her up with all my rage and protectiveness over my newfound friends and she began to vibrate with power. I leaped up high and swung the staff down to deliver the final stroke.

The Uber-Ogre lifted up his club and my anger heightened even more. He shouldn't be able to block this! It's not fair! I won't let him! And with that thought, my staff began to glow silver. My staff transformed and became a wickedly sharp, electrically-powered, six-foot tall, silver death scythe. I swung the deadly blade down and cut through the Uber-Ogre's weapon as if it was butter. The blade continued along its path and sliced my enemy straight down the middle.

Unbeknownst to me, Klein had awoken and had watched the spectacle with an awed expression. He was captivated by the silhouette of the maiden with the scythe, the blue shards of her defeated enemy dancing around her. He witnessed the moment when she caressed her weapon fondly, whispering:

"Artemis..."

The ultimate huntress. It's a fitting name, don't you think? I asked her as we reveled in our victory. I felt the faintest whisperings of agreement before she shrunk down to her rod form. I strapped her to my thigh, picked up and strapped on my katanas, and began assisting my fallen comrades. The drop menu came up and on it was a new weapon and boots. The boots were the softest, yet strongest, leather that money could buy and the weapon was a whip, but no ordinary whip. The whip a dark , almost black, forest green and had sharp, black metal pieces jutting out of it on the top half of it. Its name was Briar, like the bushes that are one of nature's best defenses. I equipped the whip to my belt, the boots to my feet, and continued my helping. Most of them were already waking up, so I treated the still-knocked-out ones first. I was able to save one of the previously dying teammates, both level 4s, but the other died. That makes two deaths I was unable to prevent, I thought guiltily.

All in all, we got away with no critical or seriously major injuries. Most of them would only have scrapes or bruises tomorrow.

Klein came up to me and said in a low tone, only meant for me, "thank you" before he walked off to assist the injured ones in walking. we didn't have enough teleport crystals for everyone, so we had to walk the three hours back to town. Klein and the better off guys in the group helped the worse-off guys while I stayed in the lead, looking for danger. We encountered a few wolves and boars, but nothing that I couldn't handle and got back to town in no time. We walked to the nearest inn and Klein stayed with the guys while I went out and bought food and medical supplies with my share of the drop money. By the time I had gotten everything I deemed necessary, I was cleaned out of the money I just earned. I returned to the inn and emptied the fruits of my labor on the table in our room.

I had gotten many healing, anti-poison, anti-paralyze, and other medical crystals that the guys immediately used. While they were taking care of that, I gathered the food ingredients that I had picked up and started on dinner in the little kitchenette. I was boiling the water for noodles when I heard the gasps of surprise.

Well. Looks like they found the other things I got.

"Maka! This is too much! Buying fifteen teleport crystals must have completely cleaned you out of the reward money you just got!"

"It was worth it." I replied. "I don't want to be stuck in a situation like that again. For one, we could have all died there and we didn't have the crystals to save ourselves and for two, we had injured people that could have gotten seriously hurt if we hadn't gotten back to the village in time. What if next time we have someone in near critical condition and walking would take too long? What then?"

"I see your point. But please at least take a portion of my earnings as recompense." The other guys were nodding along with him. I argued for five minutes before finally relenting and taking and very small portion of each of their earnings. In the end, we all had the same amount of cash from that boss. Afterwards, I made noodles with chicken and some vegetables and we all sat down to eat.

Our motley crew now consisted of two level 8's, me and Klein, three level sevens, and a level six. We had all gotten some sort of drop. Two of the sevens and the six each got a card that could be used to trap a non-boss creature they encounter and use it later on in battle. Once captured the creature will be loyal to you and only you until you die or until it runs out of HP. Handy.

We stayed in that town for two days before moving up to floor 8. Klein was now level 13 and I level 16. When we battled, most of the guys took turns swapping out in the front lines, but, for me, it seemed to be an unspoken agreement that I should always be in the front line. Thus, my high level.

After about three weeks of floor 8, we went up to floor 20. All of us now ranged from level 21 to level 32 (me). Still well-rounded. After about a week on floor 20, I decided to get a haircut. My hair had grown quite long in the past month, from my shoulders to about just below them. I like the length, so I was just going to get the ends tidied up. It took about 45 minutes to get it done and, when I returned, Klein seemed distracted.

I asked him what was up and he said he met an old friend. When I asked who he said the guy who taught him how to fight. Knowing how good Klein was with a sword from the start, I wanted to meet this guy.

"What's his name?"

"Kirito."

"I'll be back. I'm going to go say high to Klein's mentor." I didn't even wait for a reply before leaving. All I heard was a faint "bye Maka!" Through the door as I went down the stairs. I looked with my player-locator sight and found the guy. He wasn't moving, just staying in one place.

As I walked outside, the first thing I notice is how deserted it is. There is nobody on the streets. Shrugging off the unease I feel, I continue to Kirito's location. I see a shape standing by the fountain and jog up to it.

"Kirito I assume?"

"and you are?"

"a friend of a friend."

"what friend."

"Klein." He froze at that name.

"He told you to come here?"

"nope. He told me you taught him how to play."

"Ye-es?"

"I must thank you for that. He's saved my life more times than I count because of those skills."

"Okay..."

"What are you doing here?"

"waiting."

"For what.?"

"a special boss..."

"I'll join you then."

"I'm sorry. Who are you?"

"Aha. That would help, wouldn't it? My names Makanosi, but you can call me Maka."

"okay Maka. This is a level 40 boss, not for someone that's only level 32. So, please. Leave this to me." He said before turning his back on me.

"Listen here, buddy! I was beating bosses twice my level since I was level 4. Don't patronize me, I know what I'm doing."

Before he could reply, the clock chimed midnight I and a giant cow fell com the sky. I say cow in the loosest terms because this was no ordinary cow. Nope. We can't just fight ordinary things, can we? This "cow" was a twenty foot tall beast that had the lower half and head was that of a bull and his torso was that of a man. A very large man. This creature looked familiar, but I wasn't sure.

I saw my companion, Kirito, sink down into a defensive stance with his sword out. He rushed at the beast, but it was surprisingly quick. Then it did something weird. It's hands began to glow and the ground shake. All of a sudden, we transported from the town to a narrow, walled hallway. The creature was gone.

Walking up to the wall, I touched it and realized that this wasn't a wall at all, but a hedge. Then it hit me. We were in a maze. And the creature? Well it could be none other than a:..

"Minotaur..." I breathed and my companion looked at me in shock.

"What's that?" He asked.

"A half man half beast. It's a part of Greek mythology. It's said that it had the strength of ten of the strongest men and the intelligence of the smartest humans. Because of its intelligence, it gets bored really easily. And so it made a game. He made a maze and put his "players" in it. They had to get out of the maze before he caught up to them. If he caught up, they would get eaten. Alive." I shuddered at the thought.

"We better get goi-" he was cut off by a large sign that appeared in front of us. 'Begin' is said.

"That's our cue." I muttered dryly and began running in the direction that the sign appeared in. "This should be fun."