As Rin continued running down the grassy plains of <<floor 1>> he got ready to attack the pack of <<wolves>> he began his Sword Art.

"Flaming Spirit!" Rin yelled before attacking one of the <<wolves>> with all of his might.

"Hey this sword is good I can really feel how much energy I am putting into this, plus it is easy to use I think I made good use of my money back there." Rin said as he struck the blade through the back of the <<wolf>>.

"Now who is next?" Rin said gripping his sword looking at the snarling <<wolves>> getting ready to attack him. Rin then ran at the one on the left jumping over it and throwing <<Kotetsy>> through it's chest.

"Haha this is good, now it seem's I have you left!" Rin muttered whilst grabbing the blade off the ground.

Rin then began to run straight for the <<wolf>> but at a sudden turn of events that were not in any case cliche the <<wolf>> jumped over Rin and with his back wide open the <<wolf>> attacked...

"How dare you!!" The phoenix girl cried, slamming the hilt of her sword into the back of Turnip's helmet. Turnip turned back and gave a harsh glare, but retained enough willpower to refrain from Draw Steel-ing the girl in the face.

"Of course I'm the Phoenix," She continued, "and I've never hacked a game in my life! I got as good as I am by being awesome, and don't you ever think otherwise! If all you crazy people weren't intervening, I could handle this so much easier!"

Never hacked a game? What 'life'? Turnip mused, Who the hell does this crazy little woman think she is? Even Yxunomei wasn't this arrogant. And apparently we're intervening? She has less reason to be here than anyone else, for Christ's sake.

And with all the measured reasoning Turnip could have put to use, he instead decided to go with the snide response. He smirked and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, yeah? Fight me IRL, biatch."

But yeah, supposedly she was called Phoenix. So that was what all of those characters meant. At a glance, Turnip noticed she had brought up a keyboard with her fingers, and was typing away.

Great – definitely not cheating, just 'being awesome', because using the in-game console is entirely legitimate.

It wasn't a thought he really had time to dwell on, though. Nirvana had reappeared from hiding, attempting to catch Robin off-guard. From the stance, it looked like he was going to go for some kind of hostage manoeuvre – that meant there was only one real option: act quickly and attack quickly, don't give the captor time to get settled. He threw Boomeraxe in a curve round to Nirvana's neck, hoping Robin would be able to handle himself enough to stay out of its path. A hit from the axe wouldn't exactly one-shot the guy, anyway, but it stood the chance of giving them all the upper hand if everything went to plan.

As perhaps expected, not everything went to plan.

Phoenix, from the looks of things, had thrown something too. The teleport crystal sailed over towards Nirvana, and the PKer disappeared. Strangely enough, Phoenix had gone, too – it occurred to Turnip to think that she was perhaps in league with Nirvana, but he doubted it. It was likely the two didn't know each other, but whatever Phoenix was doing, Turnip didn't like it. It was sinister, and he'd rather not consort with murderers. Just kill them, loot them and be done with it, before they kill again. He was all for morality, but unfortunately there was hardly a jail system in SAO.

Boomeraxe sailed harmlessly around Robin and returned to Turnip's hand. He caught it, twirling it in his hand once before depositing the weapon on his belt once more. Godot hadn't answered his call, and had left, from the looks of things. That left Kagome and Robin around, in the aftermath of the standoff with Nirvana.

Turnip sighed heavily, "Argh, that was really pissy. That Phoenix turned out to be one hell of a little cow. Almost as bad as that Braith kid in Skyrim." He turned to the two warriors with him and shrugged, "I'm honestly not sure what to do right now. I doubt those two are just going to pop back. I suppose floor two's open now, so it might be a good idea for us to go up there – of course, I'm just guessing that you don't consider me a sinister murderous bastard anymore."

In store: No one

Just as Robin predicted. He was able to locate & hit Nightmare, however, he adapted to the attack & only got sliced in the shoulder. He soon slid right around Robin & lock his arm around his neck. This caught Robin off-guard, fortunately, he was trained for this.

ShinyDiamond: You think you have won. You think all is well, but kiss my green a**. I shall see you in h***! xD Sorry, but I really couldn't help myself! Apologies.

Thanks to all that training in the dojo, the one in the real world, Robin has a few ways to escape Nightmare's grappling. As he adjusts his swordhand to hold in reverse, to his dismay, Nightmare disappears. So does Shiren. That's just great. That blue light that zipped by was a blue crystal that Shiren threw. Robin stabs the ground with his sword in aggression for not getting Kagome's reward back. There's nothing he can do now.

Robin regroups with what's left of the people, Turnip & Kagome. Godot & Lucina were nowhere to be seen. They must've gone on into the 2nd floor. Robin rubs above his nose & thinks. "We'll get your reward box, but not today apparently," he explains to Kagome. "This marks the end of the party, as Illfang was slain. Turnip," Robin stares at Turnip's mask for a moment, "try not to get into any trouble," he leaves it at that & turns toward the 2nd floor. A lot has happened today, Robin needs time to think.

As he heads towards the teleport gate that leads to the 2nd floor, Robin wonders where Nightmare & Shiren could be. He has no idea where they were teleported to, nor does Robin have any clue of there whereabouts. If Robin had accepted Shiren's friend request yesterday, he could track her down, but he didn't. What's done is done of course, let's leave it at that. As he steps into the gate, Robin closes his eyes & later opens them, looking at a whole new floor.

~

This town looks a lot different from Starting City. The place had a mountain view, grassy plains everywhere. This could be a good place for anyone to train, but now was the time to rest & recollect. Robin cloaks half his face with his hood & looks around, searching for an inn. There was one standing on main street, perfect for Robin. He decides to rest inside & heads towards the inn, hoping for some piece & quiet.

"I need to meditate..."

As Robin enters the inn, which was easily located, he recounts the times he's been in the 1st floor inn. This inn was so much different than the one he regularly stayed in. There was one problem though: It was too spacious. With enough room in here, there's bound to be a ton of players staying here. There might even be sme possible trouble. Robin didn't have time to check the rest of the floor, unfortunately. He's fought hard today, so a little rest is needed.

"One room please," he asks the NPC behind the desk. The NPC informs Robin if the cost, 50 col. Rather cheap, but convenient nonetheless. She also mentions that bathrooms are also available. Are restrooms really necessary in this game? Robin wonders but disposes the thought. He pays the NPC 50 col & gets his room. "I do wonder what it's like to take a bath here." Robin tries to resist the urge, but it gets the best of him.

Once he finds his room, while taking off his hood, he opens his inventory & puts away his sword, then heads towards the restrooms. He decides to take the one nearby, for no reason. When he opens the door, this next part he's never done in his life before, he get a poker face.

There was a long silence as neither Robin, nor Lucina, yes Lucina, stared at each other. Robin is the first to break the silence. "What the hell!!!" Whatever Lucina did afterward, Robin shuts the door & puts his bac against the wall nearby, sliding down & sitting. He places his index finger & thumb between his forehead & nose, grunting & blushing. "There is no way I will be able to unsee that...!"

No details will be juiced out, but it was a scene that will be censored to everyone everywhere.

Thoughts of floor 2 raced in Turnip's mind – were there different monsters, different shops, different loot, different things in general? It could be anything up there. On the other hand, it could always just be one other floor of a hundred. Still, he'd have to give the floor a little scope out, hopefully find a good grinding spot before the day's end. Wait, what time was it anyway? He didn't have time to dwell on the question as Kagome started to speak.

"I... thank you guys, for all that you've done. Regardless of whether you had me in mind when you acted or not, I couldn't have asked for better teammates,"

The talking was accompanied by a notification; Kagome had sent him a friend request. His first, actually, in his time playing SAO. Turnip considered the offer – he didn't know how friend status would react to his partial NPC status, but it was probably best not to dwell on such things.

"Well, I'm going to regret this." He murmured with false-pessimism, poking the 'YES' that appeared before him.

Robin spoke, "This marks the end of the party, as Illfang was slain. Turnip," he stared at Turnip's visor for a moment, "try not to get into any trouble,"

So now Robin was leaving too. Probably for the second floor, as was most likely the norm. Turnip wasn't sure if 'the party' was ever truly in effect anyhow, since it was more-or-less just the group fighting near one another with vague co-operation, and as for Robin's advice, Turnip wasn't entirely sure that trouble would stay away from him. He chose not to elaborate on the subjects, though, and simply gave Robin a casual salute as he left.

"Oh, all right. See you, I guess."

And so, Robin walked away. Turnip wasn't really sure what to make of the guy – did Robin trust him, or not? Where did his allegiances lie? Turnip may cover his face, but it seemed to him that Robin came off as even more mysterious than he did.

Kagome was surprisingly on-topic with his train of thought, "Well, regardless of whether Robin trusts you or not, I sure do... and I'm pretty sure Godot does, too. One of these days, I want to see you without the helmet. Somehow."

The girl seemed a little too interested in his helmet for Turnip's comfort, and the suggestion that he would ever remove it was pretty much beyond him. That said; the notion that she – and hopefully Godot, also – trusted him was almost shockingly meaningful. Turnip noticed the teleport crystal in Kagome's hand as she began to smile and wave. So pretty much everyone was going somewhere, then – Turnip would be alone again, for now, although he supposed it would allow him to get back to power levelling.

"Thanks, Kagome, it means a lot." He told her quietly, "For the record, though, this helmet stays on."

The armoured figure gave a short wave as Kagome teleported away, then he turned and strode towards the stairs, into the great unknown. Solo again. He was surprised at how sad he was at the prospect – although, to be honest, any sort of emotional feeling in general was a surprise for the helmeted man. It wouldn't be outlandish to suppose that he'd meet up with some of the people he'd met again, anyway; Turnip suspected that pretty much everyone would be there when the second floor's boss room was discovered, and maybe he'd run into some other people even before then.

Stepping out onto floor 2, Turnip noticed from the general positioning of the artificial Sun that it was around evening time. He was pretty sure that SAO days were real-time, bloody hell, that day had gone quickly. The boss battle had taken a really long time, and even though it had still seemed like ages, Turnip wouldn't have guessed that it would have taken up such a large portion of the day.

Looking around, the buildings of Urbus stretched out a little while into the distance. Beyond that, a large tree seemed to dominate the horizon – Turnip was getting some Avatar and Icewind Dale vibes from that thing. What was it about just one, massive tree? All other trees were just regular, and just one of them turns out bloody colossal. Not two or three, just the one. Looking down, closer to him, the walls of Urbus' buildings formed into various pathways. Something caught his eye on the one closest, a small scribbling that he could barely make out.

"That looks like… 'Taka was here fi-', oh, that son of a…" Turnip smiled at the bard's antics. He knew no-one else who would bother to scrawl a 'first' message on the wall of a building with marker pen.

He supposed, since it was evening already and he was in a city, an inn would probably be his best bet. He knew now that SAO imposed bodily needs on its players, which still annoyed him, but it was best to just get the sleep over with and then get up early tomorrow to get some exploration in. As if on cue, Turnip also noticed that his belly began to cry out for sustenance.

"Dammit, stomach." He muttered, "I'd kill you, if you weren't me."

The armour-clad man honed in on the nearest inn, opening the door and hailing the NPC innkeeper. There seemed to be a distinct lack of players, but that was expected. If there were any, it was likely that they'd be upstairs, anyway – people generally didn't choose to sleep on the ground floor in the parlour, and it seemed that a lot of people tended to keep some food on their person.

"What food do you have- Oh, bacon in a bun! Three, please."

And so, Turnip found a wall between two tables, leaned against it, and began sliding the various components of bacon buns into the black void. He wondered if anyone of 'the group' was here, or if they'd come here soon. If so, they'd have the great experience of witnessing the black hole that was his method of eating.

That image will not leave his mind, no matter how hard Robin tries. There was also something else in that image of Lucina. There was a scar on her back. How on Aincrad did she get that scar? She obviously got it from the real world at some point, so Robin shouldn't further question it.

Robin rubs between his nose, thinking hard as Lucina comes out of the bath. Robin hastily puts on his hood to hide his red face, at the same time avoiding eye contact with her. She apologizes for not closing the door, definitely her fault. "Yes, that was definitely your fault..." Robin didn't know what else to say besides that. This situation was awkward as it is, mostly for Robin.

Standing up but still avoiding eye contact with Lucina, Robin looks around trying to break the tension, "So that...scar," Robin is a bit curious. "I won't ask about it," but he beats his curiousity. If Lucina isn't comfortable talking about it, Robin won't question. What else was there to talk about then?

Turnip glanced up at the ceiling as he heard muffled shouts and screams of shock on the floor above him. He paused his eating for around two seconds, then looked back down and resumed. There were other players here, then. In the short while after arriving at the inn, he'd noticed a slight influx in the amount of players arriving – looks like news had got out that floor two was open.

It occurred to Turnip that maybe he should check out what the commotion upstairs was, but it was a safe area, and he was feeling tired. So long as they were safe, they could rot in hell for all he cared, which is sort of contradictive. Still, there were times when Turnip would intervene, and times when he wouldn't. If there was to be any kind of problem, then there'd be a load more commotion later – commotion that would stop him from getting any rest, and so he would react to it on his own accord.

The armoured figure soon polished off the third and final bacon bun, happily filled for the day. He figured he should probably get the sleep in now, so he could get up earlier tomorrow; not being one to get a room for the night, though, Turnip simply leant back on the wall and folded his arms, his head lowered slightly. He figured it might not be allowed, but if the NPC innkeeper wanted to fight him over it then she was welcome to try. Turnip supposed that he could always pretend that he'd been awake the whole time anyhow, if need be.

Planning various exploration and grinding prospects for the day ahead, Turnip tried to ignore the increasing background noise and drift off to sleep.

"Um, excuse me?"

Turnip's eyes opened again at a pestering voice in front of him. He was tired, and tired meant grumpy. He glanced up at the young woman in front of him, but said nothing and kept his head still.

"C-could you please lend me some money for some food? I- I'm too frightened to fight monsters, and my family, th- they…"

The armoured figure tried to judge this apparently helpless woman. He was quiet for a few seconds, and just as she was about to start talking again, he spoke:

"You can piss off. No-one with that attitude would be that eager to be on floor two. You're lying. It's a pretty despicable way to get a free dinner, if you ask me."

Turnip was just guessing, of course, but he'd never know if he didn't try – plus, he was hardly going to get fleeced out of what little col he had left after buying Boomeraxe. The woman appeared to choke up for a little while, sniffling and burbling barely audible questions, but after a few seconds of Turnip's faceless gaze she stopped, demeanour changing in an instant.

She put her hands on her hips, "Aww, you're no fun…"

"If your definition of 'fun' is giving you money, then yeah, I agree entirely."

"Come on, now, can't I just have a little bit of col? I mean, I don't really have anything to give you, but-"

"-No, I don't care." Turnip silenced her with a wave of his gloved hand.

"Hey, why not?"

"Because I'm not stupid, you bloody cretin. I'm not making any deals with a swindler. That's like rule one of not getting swindled. Now get the hell out of my sight."

The young woman pouted, "Oh, or what, you'll make me? A big guy like you hurting a sweet little-"

Her eyes barely had time to widen in shock before a Draw Steel caught her in the side of the face, flinging her like a ragdoll over the adjacent table and into the side wall of the inn. The building rattled slightly, and the woman was understandably a little dumbfounded. Turnip sheathed his sword and returned to his position between the two tables.

"The door's on your right." He called. The young woman stood up a little groggily and then made her way out of the door. Even in a safe area, it was safe to say that receiving the full brunt of Draw Steel wasn't really a pleasant experience. Still, had Turnip seen it, he would have been surprised at the amused - if a little shocked - smile that appeared on the woman's face.

The helmeted man didn't bother himself more on the subject of the woman, and instead settled down to what would hopefully be a calm remainder of the evening.