Integral Factor: Ordinal Scale

Jaymes' Bane, The Storm Griffin

"So, Koharu, is practice going okay?"

"It's a pain in the fingers, but everything is going well. Thanks for asking, Asuna."

"I can't wait for the performance. It's been three years since you started writing the song, right? Have you heard it, Jaymes?"

"Not in its entirety. Aside from when we met up, I wasn't listening today when Ko was practicing, so until the recital, I won't know what the entire thing sounds like. I don't even know what the name of the song is."

"If I tell you the song's name, it'll spoil everything. So, until the recital, I'm keeping it under wraps." Deciding to switch topics, Koharu turned to Asuna. "Speaking of upcoming events, you and Kirito are going to the meteor shower next week, right?"

"Right. Are you sure you two don't want to come? I was surprised you shut Kirito down."

Jaymes huffed and replied, "Look, we four are together enough as is. He promised to show you the shower, and while it was nice of him to extend the invitation to us, I would rather not intrude on a moment meant for you two. I'm sure we'll be on enough double dates this summer to make me sick of you two. And that's with the other summer stuff I'll be doing."

"Alright, you made your point."

"But you better get my bro a good gift. Do me that favor."

Ah, right. Asuna had been playing Ordinal Scale to gather enough points to buy Kirito a gift. She sighed and twiddled her fingers. "Only halfway there. I can't wait to surprise him. It's not fair to receive a gift and not give one. I wonder how pretty of a ring he's giving me." A pair of green and light brown eyes angled to the sole boy in the trio. Jaymes grunted and turned away, not giving an indication as to whether he knew about the ring or not. If Koharu and Asuna knew their companion well, he was just keeping a secret.

"Well it's time," the boy stated, roughly transitioning the topic back to Ordinal Scale. The world around them, however, smoothly warped from their world back to the augmented one. This time, their surroundings seemed to be a ruin town, the opposite of the previous night's location. The orange holographic pillars and graffiti were present too.

"Please be the ninth floor boss. Please be the First Fallen. Please be the First Fallen..."

"Why would you prefer him?"

"It wouldn't feel right to beat the final boss of the Elf War Campaign without Kirito with us. And didn't you say the first ten were already used?"

"Just anyone but the—" Fire erupted on higher ground, turning their eyes to it. What was born from it was a creature with eagle-like wings, spanning 25 feet in each direction. Its head and front legs were also that of an eagle, while the body, back legs, and tail resembled a lion's.

"...Heh."

"Oh."

"Dammit... And stop your sneering!"

xxxxxx

The eleventh floor of Aincrad was a desert region, the first true desert region of the game. Koharu, Jaymes, Kirito, and Asuna were first on the unexplored frontier, now that the first ten levels known in the beta (with varying level of changes) had been conquered. For the first time, we were in unknown territory, and split off on our own. After chilling for the rest of the evening and doing small quests the next, we took on a quest on the second morning on the floor; a merchant waiting for a colleague to cross the desert, only for the passage to be blocked by a sandstorm. Of course we'd be happy to carry the bought goods to the colleague while dealing with the storm and any monsters we come across.