The air surrounding the path through the forest was warm, giving off an almost welcoming atmosphere that belied any dangers that may have been lurking in the area. It wasn't a particularly new feeling. Travelling with one's friends often made any area feel safer regardless of the circumstances.

...Although the relatively new presence put one of the Black Cats on edge. Still, they traversed the forest in a rather casual manner.

Leading the group was Kirito who, as they agreed, was taking point and guiding the group through the forest. Close behind him was Keita – evidently he was still trying to be the leader, or at least willing to aid his friend. Tetsuo, Sasamaru and Ducker kept pace behind them, chatting amongst themselves. Leading up the group, Sachi and Asuna followed behind them, the latter of whom seemed determined to take it easy based on her slower pace and relaxed attitude.

"So out of curiosity," Asuna's voice broke the silence between them, "does your guild have some kind of dress code?"

She said it quietly enough that none of the boys looked back to respond to her, leaving Sachi to answer the question.

"...Well, no. Not exactly."

Asuna nodded, as her eyes scanned the other girl before quickly flicking to the others. "That seems right. Although that means that only one of you lives up to your name."

Unconsciously, Sachi's eyes went to the boy who was guiding them through the forest, occasionally his dark clothing and hair melted into the shadows cast upon him, but he was there, always guiding them – Their «Black Swordsman».

"We have reasons to name ourselves such, but for the most part, we just like to wear the colours we like."

Asuna nodded. "Well that should make things easier," she whispered to herself.

Not fully hearing her, Sachi added something else. "Your outfit looks great though."

Continuing to walk, she took a moment to take in the other girl's outfit. It was primarily made up of white and red material, fashioned in a way where from her back, the cloth went down to her knees. There was not a trace of functional armour on her, which she had once claimed aids in her speedy fighting style.

"It's..." - Truth be told, Sachi didn't have a keen sense of fashion - "very stylish. I think it suits someone of your station. It's very commanding."

Asuna smiled although she looked a bit guilty. "It was actually picked out by my guild," she explained, at the same time she looked down at her clothes. "I was hesitant to wear it at first, but when I found out how much effort they put into designing it... I couldn't refuse..." She glanced at the other girl's outfit. "I wish I could use a more practical outfit."

Sachi's uniform was composed of practical armour; shoulder guards, elbow guards and gauntlets protected her arms while her legs were covered in a pair of silver greaves. The rest of her was covered with a tunic made up of light and dark blue cloth, adorned with a dark blue breastplate.

The liberally equipped armour aided in her role as her guild's tank. While it did also hamper her speed to a degree, that was not necessarily a stat that she needed for her fighting style or role.

"Well, I guess we both just wear what works for us," Asuna said playfully.

Sachi smiled gently, sometimes it was nice to talk about something that wasn't completely about the fighting part of the game. She was about to say something in response before she got interrupted.

"Shhh," somebody hissed quietly. Looking up properly, Sachi saw Ducker turned to look at them while putting a spread hand up. He then pointed to some bushes next to a tree before immediately darting in the other direction towards a tree and climbing up it so fast, he may very well have been flying into it. Everyone else had already disappeared from sight.

Knowing what he wanted, she quickly turned to look for a hiding place, however before she could think to run, Asuna quickly grabbed her wrist, dashed a few metres in front of them before pushing her under a bush that hung over the nearby cliff and joining her under it.

Eventually a large group of 12 people appeared on the main path.

Although she was cautiously looking forward, Sachi couldn't help but notice that Asuna's bright white clothing may be noticeable against the foliage. Thinking fast, she quickly opened her inventory and pulled out a dark-blue mantle that had a high hiding bonus, however instead of equipping it herself, she passed it to Asuna.

Asuna looked at her oddly before grabbing a free edge of the cloth. "Put it on," she whispered almost inaudibly. Somehow understanding exactly what she meant, they both stretched the cloth around themselves, successfully wrapping it around their bodies as much as they could.

Nobody who was hiding spoke a word as the group passed by them in such uniform order, one couldn't help but wonder if they were actually a group of NPCs.

They were all warriors. All of them wearing the same black metal armour and green battle garb. Their equipment was all of practical designs, except for a noticeable picture of a castle on each of their shields.

Once they saw the guild emblem, everyone immediately knew the identities of this group: «The Army».

The Army was a group that primarily operated on the 50th floor and below, working on strengthening their group and maintaining order, it was rare to see them on the frontlines.

Unfortunately, the Moonlit Black Cats had come into indirect conflict with them in the past. The Army was known for traveling in huge parties and taking control of entire hunting ranges which went against the Black Cats' ideology to spread knowledge of such areas to all players.

Once they were certain they were all gone, everyone left their hiding places. Silently, they converged in an area that was slightly more clear.

"...The rumour, it's true..." Kirito mused.

"«Rumour»?" Ducker repeated. "You mind explaining for the ones who aren't in the know?"

Kirito looked to Keita who shrugged before answering.

"Well at a previous meeting of guilds that 3 of you didn't go to," he barely paused to look at Ducker, Tetsuo and Sasamaru, "we heard that «The Army» was changing how they worked and have started appearing on the higher floors. They were once a group that was trying to clear the game directly, right? But after the massacre that occurred while fighting the boss on the 25th floor, they began focusing on strengthening their group and stopped fighting on the frontlines."

He looked down as if to ponder his words, then he let out a quiet "Ah" and timidly looked at Kirito.

The boy in question merely shrugged. At the same time, Asuna closed her fists. Although the two had rarely, if ever, mentioned it directly, the original Black Cats had gathered that they were a part of that incident. Everyone had assumed that it was still a touchy subject.

"It would seem that rather than going into the labyrinth in enormous numbers like they used to and causing a huge stir, they've decided to send smaller, more elite units in and try to show that they're still endeavouring to clear the game," Kirito theorized, seemingly unbothered by the subject. "The report guessed that the first unit would appear soon."

"So they're advertising their skill," Sasamaru said. "I can get that, it's not like we don't do that on every floor."

"...But would they really be alright... just going through an unexplored area...?" Sachi asked nervously. She couldn't help but feel concerned.

"They looked like they have pretty high levels but..." Asuna trailed off.

"They're going to try to defeat the floor boss," Kirito said in a tone of absolute certainty.

Everyone looked at him, they were shocked at the idea, but somehow knew that he was right.

"But... that'd be crazy!" Tetsuo exclaimed. "They would need to keep sending in reconnaissance groups to analyze the boss' strength and fighting patterns if they want to have a chance!"

There was a few moments of silence as everyone considered their motives.

"Well... It's not our business," Kirito broke the silence. Everyone turned to him in various states of shock from most of them. "–But," he went on, "if we happen to cross paths with them, we'll try to give them a warning."

He turned to Keita, as if to ask him whether he said the right thing.

Their guild leader nodded approvingly, before suddenly giving his friend a slap on the back. "Well that's that, let's get going. Don't worry, we'll do what we can."

With that, the group continued their march towards the dungeon, moving a little faster than they did before.

After a few more minutes of walking, the group was able to get out of the forest without meeting a single monster. In front of them was a path that led directly to the Labyrinth Area.

Stepping on to it, Sachi let her mind focus on the task at hand. She wasn't certain why, but she felt that today was the day that they would find the boss room. Of course even if they did, they probably wouldn't be able to defeat it without first gathering the forces of the frontline.

On the completion of the floor, the «City Opening» would most likely be celebrated by a huge crowd of people from the lower floors that came to see the new city, turning the new area into a festival of sorts.

It was actually one of these events that had spurred the Moonlit Black Cats to leave their life of relative safety on the bottom 10 floors to truly move forward and make a true difference in the completion of the game.

Eventually, they were in front of the cylindrical building that made up the floor's labyrinth. Despite having travelled through every dungeon for a long time now, Sachi still felt the vestiges of fear that they had to travel through this dangerous place.

It was a bit odd, but Kirito had once admitted to her that he secretly wanted to see the colossal floating castle from outside. Although he had almost immediately laughed it off as a silly wish, she remembered the determination and slight whimsy on his face as he said that.

A goal was something important, allowing for motivation that gives meaning to the day-to-day grinding and exposure to threats that they had to deal with in SAO.

Seeing Aincrad in its entirety was certainly a charming thought, although Sachi herself would honestly be happy enough to never see this castle from any perspective ever again, a view of it from outside would at least mean that she was no longer in it.

By the time they reached the entrance to the labyrinth, their party didn't encounter the unit from «The Army». They'd most likely already made it in. Now, it was their turn.

***

One day, I think I want to write a story that covers why Kirito and Asuna went their separate ways after the 25th floor. It'd be the most consistent thing for most stories that I write.

Since this chapter was originally talking about outfits, this feels like a good place to point this out: The worst thing about using male characters (especially those without much canon screentime) from a series that focuses on its female characters more is the fact that there are no pictures of any upgraded outfits for any of the male Black Cats (other than Kirito) that I know of. For the most part, I just imagine that they have coloured armour on top of their canon outfits.