The next morning, we began our trek to the location of the Mark of Nihonto.

We journeyed to southeast of the teleport town into the mountain range (mountains, again?). The tall rocky mountains covered by green trees spread across the plains, giving a breathtaking scenery not unlike the famous Chinese mountains I saw in Geography classes.

Gotta hand in to Kayaba. That bastard sure put efforts into details, unlike most games these days...

"So, where's this place anyway?" Keita asked Klein.

"At the top of Fei Hung Mountain over there." Klein pointed to the highest mountain. "I found it the same way you guys probably did. When we get close to the location of one of these Marks, a notification box will pops up saying that a Mark is hidden somewhere nearby. And a ray of light will appear showing the way to its location."

"Wow, just like Shadow of the Colossus!" Oren said excitingly.

"Shadow of what?"

"Wha…? Don't tell me you guys have never played Shadow of the Colossus before!" Oren pouted. "It's, like, one of the best open-world games ever! And it's on Playstation 2!"

"Dude, nobody plays Playstation 2 anymore!" Sasamaru teased.

"Hey, I still do! You guys just don't appreciate the classics…"

Oren sighed, then walked ahead of the group to scout the area ahead.

"What's up with that kid?" Agil asked.

"He's always been like this. That guy's a pure gamer." Keita replied. "Never shuts up about it ever since he joined our guide. Kinda a cool person to hang out with, though."

I looked at Oren. He started jogging through the plains with a pose that seems like he's pretending to be a character running around in an RPG game.

Heh, what a funny guy.

Fei Hung Mountain proves to be a much more dangerous area I've expected.

Shadow Tengus, Great Claw Tigers, Crimson Qilins, and those freaking Tree Mantises.

Goddamn Tree Mantises!

I'm not really fond of bugs, and I especially HATE how those things like to camouflage themselves within the trees and attack in swarms. Although they deal pretty low damage each and pose not so much threat with us fighting together, it gets quite annoying pretty quickly, and chances are while fighting them, we could run into some other more dangerous enemies nearby.

Klein himself even got into trouble a bit when he and two of his guildmates wondered straight into a Crimson Qilin nest after they fought off some Mantises. Luckily, we managed to fend the Qilins off before they could do some serious damage.

"Seriously, people could die from this!" Dale, one of Klein's guildemates complained.

"Well, thanks for the obvious, Dale! As if the last two years hadn't give us a hint already!" Klein smacked Kenji's head playfully, then fell flat on his back. "But yeah, we seriously almost got killed back there…"

Thankfully, we reached the mountain summit without any casualty.

A large ruins laid before us, with the buildings a mix between various Orient countries. There were small and medium-sized temples spread around the area, along with various statues of Zodiac animals. The open ground area had a symbol of Yin and Yang on it.

I didn't realize how high this place was until I saw the sea of clouds down below. The white clouds covered the ground plains completely. The only thing we could see from up here was the big, blue sky.

A gigantic Chinese pagoda stood tall in the middle of them all. Its dark color gave a somewhat ominous feeling.

"I bet our prize must be at the top of the tower." Klein spoke as a notification box popped up in front of him with a message saying that the Mark was nearby.

"Hopefully not. That's so cliché!" Oren said.

"Okay, maybe it is. But it can't be that simple!" He continued while pacing around back and forth, his hand on his chin like he's deep in thought. "We'd have to do some puzzles solving first, most likely including rotating statues or putting things in the right places. There'd be traps, I'm sure. They always have traps in places like this! Probably pressure-based traps. Who knows what's hidden behind the walls! And the trees! Oooh, I can't wait to find out how the trees would figure out into the puzzles! And…"

"Alright, genius. Let's cool it down a bit." Izumi patted Oren's back. "I don't think trees would be involved."

"Let's take a break here for a while." Keita announced.

"And no one wanders off on their own!" Klein yelled. "Or else I'll consider you a cheater!"

We settled down on the stone steps leading up to the Giant Pagoda. There's a wide open ground between two sets of steps that is large enough for all of us to sit around resting.

Sachi brought up her grilled chickens again (GOODNESS!) while Asuna tried to one-up her with her equally delicious sandwiches. Meanwhile, Keita's having a friendly banter with Klein about their experiences as guild leaders.

"So I got my ass handed to me after I tried to take on those two hackers-turned-beasts on my own! Luckily, I have good guildmates. Tetsuo flanked one of them and Izumi helped me dealing with the other. Those two are probably the best players in my guild as of now. I'm lucky to have them."

"Hah! You better be more careful, man! Luckily, you're half as good leader as me, so you and your guildmates can handle yourselves well in tough situations."

"Don't brag too much, Klein. Remember that one time you drag us into the Scorpion Cave on floor 47?" Another of Klein's guidemates said jokingly.

"Never gonna let me live that one down, eh, Issin?"

"You told me to go flank the bastards from the left while you and Dynamm get their attention from the front. Instead, you and Dynamm's flurry stunts ended up destroying several of those scorpion eggs, not only enraging their adults but also spawning their annoying babies to keep me busy!" Issin replied, grinning playfully.

"Hey! That wasn't our fault! Who could've know that those eggs are destructible?!" Dynamm frowned.

"Rule number 27 in any RPG games!" Oren raised his left hand up. "Monster eggs can be destroyed and also spawns smaller monsters! Always tread carefully!"

"Damn! You're such a nerd, kid! Gotta watch out for you during our duel!" Klein's second-in-command, Kunimittz, patted his back.

"Heh, heh. I just played a lot of games in my free time." Oren grinned happily.

"Video games and the real world are two different things, kid." Harry One, the Fuurinkazan's heavy weapon user spoke. "Real life don't always play by your rules."

Oren's smile faded. He lowered his face down.

"Augh! You're always the mood killer, Harry! Don't be mean to him, even if he's one of our rivals!" Klein spoke.

Harry One chuckled. "Hey, just a friendly advice, man. But seriously, how many times have we survived due to sheer luck? This game is unpredictable. We don't know what dangers may lurk ahead in the next corner. Remember the system update? How many of us were expecting that? And what about those hackers that the Black Cats guild encountered? If we aren't alert to our surroundings, any moment could be our last. Only our instincts can help us in a life-or-death situation."

"Tsk. You just had to go and make a big deal out of it." Issin spoke bitterly.

I was contemplating what Harry One said when Sachi approached me from the side.

"He's got a point, you know? Kirito-san."

"WHOA!"

Goddamn it, Sachi! You could've warn me first!

"Ah! I'm sorry! Didn't me to startle you like that, Kirito-san!"

"It's okay! It's okay. So…about what you're saying earlier?"

"Huh? Oh! About what Harry One said earlier. Do you think it's true?"

"From my point of view, he's right." I admitted. "The only reason we got out of that hacker cave alive is because Lamia's light abilities somehow have a negative effect on them. Otherwise, we'd be dead for sure."

I looked up to the gigantic pagoda in front of us, wondering what we'll find in there.

"'This isn't a game anymore. It's real life.' players have been saying that for two years now, and yet there is a moment when I can't help but stretching my luck, believing that I can do anything no matter what this game throws at me. And…"

I paused for a bit.

Was that boulder just moved on its own?

"And what?" Sachi asked.

"And yeah, it's not really a healthy way to live. To constantly fighting everything. Sure, life is about fighting to survive, but the fact is there is just something that you cannot overcome on your own, no matter how experienced or how resourceful you are. Tetsuo said something similar to me back when we and Lisbeth were stuck in that hole. And you know what? He was right. My skills couldn't get us out of that hole, and if it wasn't for Tetsuo's quick thinking, Lisbeth might hadn't make it out of there alive, too."

It's probably just my eyes playing tricks on me.

"So what do you think is more important? Experience or instinct?"

"I believe in working together." I answered. "We can't have only experience or instinct. We need both if we're going to beat the odds. We must be capable of thinking with your gut as well as with your brain. But it's obvious that we can't be the best at both of them at the same time. This might sounds weird coming from a solo player like me, but we need teamwork in order to clear this game. Everyone has a role to play. To use one's strengths to support another's weaknesses. To be a protector that is also protected in return."

I turned to Sachi, and gave her a smile.

"What about you, Sachi? What do you think?"

"I…" She began. "I have a role to play in my guild. I can't just be afraid of everything all the time."

And with that, her eyes flared up with determination.

"My friends need me. And I have to do my best to support them."

And just like that, at least in that very moment, any doubt in Sachi's abilities within me vanished.

Without fear to hold her back, she can be a capable player in her own right.

All she really needs is a motivation from someone. To tell her that her friends are there to support her, and in return, her abilities can help support them, too.

And me? Well, I needed someone to keep my arrogant self in check.

Without her, well, I'd probably still be out in the front lines trying to murder every monster in my line of sight. It worked out well for me so far, but sooner or later, my luck's gonna run out.

Heh, I'd really changed, hadn't I? A far cry from the idiot that yelled in Asuna's face about how teamwork sucks back then…

Speaking of whom…

Where is Asuna?

A/N: LONG TIME NO SEE GUYS!

First of all, sorry for yet another late delay! Due to my busy schedule + my laziness, I've not made much progress as you can see. I have a camp trip coming up on Friday and I'll be back in front of a computer on Sunday, so don't expect any new chapters for a while.

Anyways, I promise that the next chapter will pick up the pace of the story. You'll finally get to see the duel between the Black Cats and the Fuurinkazan to the Mark of Nihonto! Though it might has a pretty nasty twist at the end of that chapter. ;)

Thank you again for reading and reviewing! As always, criticisms are welcomed. See you guys again soon!

PS. For those who wondered, Klein's guildmates' names are according to canon. (I literally copied them from the SAO wiki LOL) so, yeah, I just wanted to mention it.