Drifter blinked away the white spots that always filled his vision after a hasty teleportation, and took in his surroundings.

  The 56th floor looked exactly the same as it had a couple hours ago, when they first unlocked it. There were more clearers walking around, but that was about it.

  Everything in the floor reminded Drifter of an ant colony - from the mound-shaped buildings to the sickly, yellow grass. Even the NPC houses were made of some pale brown dirt and shaped like anthills.

  "Broken Spear? What's going on?"

  A familiar voice called him, and Drifter turned to see a spearman approaching. He smiled and put his hand forward.

  "Jaho, how are you doing?"

  That had been the unlucky player who got impaled by J?tunn Mammorath's tusk a couple hours ago. Though there had been other injuries, none were as bad as his.

  But now, Jaho seemed no worse for wear, at least to a quick glance. His dyed blond hair was slicked back, and his grip firm when he shook hands with Drifter.

  "Not too bad. It's not like that was the first time I ever got hurt. You did put us through hell after the 51st floor got unlocked."

  Though he said that, there was no bite in Jaho's tone. Instead, he was smirking. He, much like every other frontliner, knew that Drifter's insistence they got used to pain through controlled duels had kept many of them alive over the past few weeks.

  Jaho himself had been somewhat of a pupil of Drifter. He was part of a small, dozen-or-so-members guild, of which only half were active frontliners. They had joined whereabouts the 20th floor, and, since then, often came to Drifter for advice on the spear arts, or simply for sparring.

  He wasn't the only one. Titled players often had others surrounding them asking for tips and training. Especially those with Unique Skills.

  "What's going on, Broken Spear? Reaver's Requiem is out in full force. You don't usually do that unless it's for a boss. And so soon after the raid too."

  He was asking casually, but his grip on his weapon tightened, and his whole posture shifted. When Broken Spear Drifter did something unusual, you damn well better take cues from him.

  The spearmaster didn't dismiss his concern either. After all, until they ascertained the truth behind Keita and the others' discovery, it was better to treat it as a trap.

  "Our clearers found another settlement an hour's walk southeast. NPCs, shops, quality of life services, the whole deal. Except a safe zone."

  "What? That can't be right."

  "They confirmed it. We are going there right now to try to work out what the hell's going on. We'll keep Argo in the loop."

  Joha nodded grimly. With Argo the Rat on the job, if it was vital information for the Assault Team, it would reach them in a matter of minutes after the info-broker knew it.

  "Alright. We were just setting out to explore the north quadrant, but send a message our way if you need help."

  "Will do. See you around, Jaho."

  "You too, Broken Spear, Reavers."

  Drifter watched Jaho's back for a moment before nodding to himself. Good. It seemed like what happened during the raid hadn't affected his psych.

  The spearmaster knew that, in many ways, the frontliners were damaged. More than that, some of them were outright broken.

  But as a guild leader and commander of the Assault Team, his duty was two-fold: to care for those who collapsed, and to build them back up, because, cruel or not, they needed to keep fighting so everyone could escape.

  "Let's go."

  Shaking his head at the somber thought, Drifter gestured with his hand for Reaver's Requiem to follow him.

  Unlike many other floors in Aincrad which boasted a complex and engaging terrain, the 56th floor was just a flat, continuous field of yellow grass with brown mounds. And, considering the 56th floor was only about three-fourths of the size of the 1st, they could actually vaguely see in the distance where the floor ended and the endless skies of Sword Art Online began.

  "Floor exploration is speeding up, isn't it? With this size, it will probably be 5 days or less until we find the entrance to the tower."

  Wolv commented while casually kicking away a rolling tuff of grass. Drifter shrugged and waved his hand in a so-so gesture.

  "Yeah, but there's no way of knowing how long the labyrinth itself will take. That thing's dimensions don't exactly follow physics."

  Labyrinths were a mismatched mix of passages, tunnels, archways, and bridges. They crossed over and under one another, looped around, and, quite often, the distance you traveled simply didn't make sense, nor did directions.

  "It's nauseating. I hate that place."

  Nautilus scowled. The remnants of his FNC, even if he was over it now, made the confusing mess that were the labyrinths particularly torturous to him.

  "Yeah, but you have to admit-- Eyes front, we got mobs."

  Asuna cut herself off, already crouching in the starting stance of a skill.

  Drifter had also noticed the enemies, shortly before the fencer did, actually. His spear was in his hand as he considered what to do.

  "Eh, Serpentcoil Impale it is."

  The usual silver streak pierced through the air, arriving even faster than Sinon's Double Shot.

  "Hyek-kkkk!"

  "Ow. Now I understand what Keita meant by hyena-like."

  Yuna, always sensitive to sound, grimaced and dug into her ear. The sound the mob emitted when it was struck by the two attacks was vaguely similar to a laugh, only a lot more high-pitched.

  "Vorpal Strike."

  "Stop Cut."

  "Oblique."

  "Sonic Leap."

  Four figures dashed past Drifter before he could even recall his spear. Red lines criss-crossed over the paralyzed mob, and it shattered with a whine.

  The spearmaster looked at Yuuki, Silica, Asuna, and Kirito, who hadn't even revealed a change in expression. It was just routine for them.

  "So, did anyone catch its name?"

  "Man-Faced Dog."

  "Seriously? Well, that explains why it was so ugly."

  The mob had been about the size of a wolf, but it had no fur, just pale and blotchy skin, discolored in places like it suffered from vitiligo. Its head had been a mix between that of a canine and a human, the snout too short and eyes too close, but with large fangs and pointed ears.

  All in all, it was one of the ugliest mobs Drifter had had the displeasure of fighting in SAO. And also...

  "It wasn't an insect. Does that mean those aren't anthills?"

  "Ugh. I don't know what's worse: having to fight insects, or those things."

  "Hmm... This feels like a Kayaba floor."

  That little comment from Yuna caught Drifter's attention, and he raised an eyebrow towards his wife.

  "How do you figure?"

  The songstress shrugged while idly strumming a tune on her harp.

  "Cardinal's always been the more artisy one. Kayaba's more practical. The mobs and quests and maps he comes up with are more focused on effect rather than appeal."

  "How do you even know who designed what? It's not like there are credits anywhere."

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  Liz bumped shoulders with Yuna, having to tilt her head a little to look up to the songstress, who had a bit of growth spurt recently.

  Yuna had recently turned 19, and stood at just short of 170 centimeters. Her hair reached the small of her back, though she usually had it either braided or tied-up, giving her a more mature appearance.

  "Hm. Instinct? From an artist to another, that's just how it feels."

  "Eh, I don't like calling Kayaba or his murderous AI artists."

  "But he is. Just evil. What's that Harry Potter quote? 'He did great things. Terrible, yes, but great'."

  Everyone paused to stare at Vallerk until the tank flushed.

  "What? I like reading. Harry Potter was one of my favorite series as a kid."

  Right. Because he had lived nearly his whole life in Japan, they often forgot Vallerk was actually half French. His taste in literature was different than that of most Japanese people.

  "Quote or no quote, I still don't like thinking of Kayaba as an artist. Or great. He is just a cruel bastard."

  Liz grumbled, giving her boyfriend a stinky eye for undermining her initial point - though it quickly melted away when he whispered something in her ear that had the blacksmith blushing as pink as her hair.

  Drifter didn't want to know what it was Vallerk said. He just clapped the younger man on the shoulder.

  "We can have a group movie session when we get out, watch all the movies. I think I only saw the first two, like, a thousand years ago, so it will be fun."

  That got everyone excited.

  "Ooh, can we watch Lord of the Rings? My mom always said I was too young."

  "Hm, how about Lion King? It was Yuuki's favorite movie as a child."

  "Sis!"

  "There are good Japanese films too, y'know?"

  "What is a movie?"

  "I wouldn't mind re-watching some of the old classics."

  "Hey, if you want to talk about Western movies, shouldn't you be asking me? I know it better than anyone!"

  Opinions and suggestions started flying, everyone talking all at once. Drifter felt like he might come to regret offering.

  "Hello, everyone? 56th floor, remember?"

  He pointed his spear at a pack of 3 Human-Faced Dogs not too far away, and his guildmates snapped into attention.

  "Sorry Drifter."

  "Sorry boss."

  The spearmaster shook his head at the chorus of apologies. He knew they hadn't really been that distracted, they were too experienced to let their guards down in such a way. And with the entire guild out in full force, there was little that could harm them.

  Even so, they should not be careless. That was how frontliners died.

  "Just pay attention. We came here because Keita said there was something weird about this floor. I don't want-- What was that?"

  A sudden gust of wind had blown through the floor, causing all the grass to bend in one direction, and whipping up the hair of the players alongside it.

  Then it changed, blowing the other way. And again. And again. And again.

  Not just that either. Drifter could feel it, although it was faint. Whatever it was, it was getting stronger.

  "Formation!"

  All levity vanished from the faces of the Reavers. They formed a circle with Yuna and Sinon in the middle, their eyes darting around, scanning every direction.

  Now, the air was truly moving. The players had to spread their feet and bend their knees to avoid falling.

  "Look at the mobs!"

  The Human-Faced Dogs were howling and pawing at the ground, throwing up clumps of dirt and soil.

  "What's going on with them?"

  "Don't know, don't care. Nautilus, Vallerk, Kizmel, Griselda, get ready to intercept whatever this is."

  "Yes!"

  Drifter changed his spear into a metal staff, the sturdiest of his weapons. Next to him, he barely heard Ran murmur, her gaze still fixated on the Human-Faced Dogs.

  "They look... afraid."

  The mobs had dug up a hole that was half-a-meter deep now, and were all squeezing inside.

  But it wasn't big enough. One of them couldn't get in, and started biting at the legs of another, trying to drag them out and replace them inside the hole. It soon devolved into an all-out fight between the mobs.

  And that's when it appeared.

  It was from one second to another. At first, there was just the changing wind, violently blowing through the floor with enough power that the Reavers were having some serious trouble staying still.

  And then, a shadow covered them.

  It raced across the floor, passing over them in an instant, zeroing in on the Human-Faced Dogs.

  The mobs didn't even get time to react. They were still brawling when something swooped down and grabbed them, one in each clawed foot.

  Drifter could only stare, open-mouthed, as a white vulture the size of a house picked up the two mobs like they were toys and shot up into the sky again.

  It hadn't even slowed down.

  The beating of its wings had been the source of the hurricane they were feeling. When it was this close to them, more than a few of the Reavers had been forced to stab their weapons into the ground to anchor themselves.

  It wasn't until the creature had vanished in the direction of the tower that the wind stopped, and the players finally broke free from their stunned state.

  "What the fuck was that?!"

  More than a few of them hissed that at the same time. They didn't expect an answer, which was why they jumped when Kizmel gave one.

  "The Terror of Clouds."

  Drifter whipped around to face the dark elf.

  "Kizmel, you know that thing?"

  SAO's first awakened NPC swallowed and nodded, looking more shell-shocked than any of the Reavers had ever seen her.

  "A legend amongst my people and many other races. A monstrous bird, ruler of the skies. It is said he makes his nest amongst the clouds, and swoops down, unseen and unmatched, snatching up lonesome elves."

  Drifter stared at her. Kizmel had once told them the story of Aincrad's creation according to the dark elves.

  In their lore, Aincrad had once been part of the lower world, until, one day, sections of it were carved out and floated into the sky, creating the castle that wandered aimlessly and eternally. Amongst those 'slices' had been a forest where her people's ancestors resided.

  That was why each floor of Aincrad was different. Or so the legend went. But, what was the connection between the dark elves, last seen on the 9th floor, and a giant vulture on the 56th?

  Well, Kayaba had always liked his complicated, convoluted lore. Drifter would have to kick this to Argo, let her do her thing and investigate. But one thing was certain...

  "I think we just found our field-boss."