Suki flipped through the guidebook, wondering if there was a quest for the labyrinth, besides killing the boss. It seemed strange, that there would be a quest in the labyrinth. Suki was also reluctant to take Timi into the labyrinth if there was going to be a lot of people in there, even if they were small groups. Monsters seemed to be attracted to large groups of people, but she supposed it had to be done. She was sure Timi would be okay, but she couldn't help but worry.

"I don't think there's a quest for the labyrinth" She said with a frown, "And Shinobu should be here any minute, looking over at Yui as well, and she smiled, wondering the same thing now. Timi leaned back in her chair, finished eating, and content to just sit there a bit. She looked around the inn, appearing interested in what was around them.

A medium-height girl, about 17 years old, black haired, and bronze skinned, ducked into the inn, looking about, she spied the group, and smiling, headed over. Her blue eyes were bright, and she wore a one handed blade on her hip, and Suki recognised it as an Annael blade, a new acquisition it seemed. "I left the others just on the outside of the Labyrinth just in case others turn up" She said happily, sliding onto a seat, and turned to Timi, "Hi there. You're new." She said cheerfully, and Timi returned her smile. "I'm Timi" She said.

Shinobu smiled, and looked about, waiting for whatever conversation the group was having to be finished.

Sanshain sighed as he bought his crystals. "Where do you suggest we go to level grind? I think we should just go back to the boar, even with the threat of Dire wolves. Besides we know we can take down a dire wolf." Sanshain smiled and put the crystals in his inventory. Sanshain wondered if any body had even made it to the 2nd floor yet. Of course Sanshain knew how to get there but at his level, it was a suicide mission. "Has anybody made it to the 2nd floor yet?" Sanshain asked Angelo.

InvariantName said
Sanshain sighed as he bought his crystals. "Where do you suggest we go to level grind? I think we should just go back to the boar, even with the threat of Dire wolves. Besides we know we can take down a dire wolf." Sanshain smiled and put the crystals in his inventory. Sanshain wondered if any body had even made it to the 2nd floor yet. Of course Sanshain knew how to get there but at his level, it was a suicide mission. "Has anybody made it to the 2nd floor yet?" Sanshain asked Angelo.

nobody has made it to the second floor but I know of some guys that will probably make it that point. I know a few guys who were strong enough to probably make it through the boss level" Angelo said softly as he lead the way back to the field they were walking until they found two boars ready to charge them. "looks like we got lucky, time to grind" Angelo said as he pulled out his spear ready to charge it. However these boars were trying to take Angelo on at once and Angelo needed to keep them away so his spear would be effective so Angelo waited before his spear glowed white and he activated <<sweep>> movement and made them go back a few feet "switch!" Angelo called to him telling him to jump in and take on one of them...

Yui

Yui enjoyed the breakfast made while silently listing to what the other at the table where talking about. She began to eat a bit slower when they were talking about what to do with Timi. It would be dangerous to take Timi into the labyrinth but we cant leave her behind here. The group continued on when it was decided that Timi would just go with them but they might not go to the labyrinth itself. She finished the eggs and bacon only leaving the pancakes behind. She gulped down the juice and began to eat the pancakes. Yui was about to put a piece of pancakes in her mouth when suddenly Umichi spoke up to her. Yui was sitting there staring at Umichi with her mouth wide open ready to shove the food into her mouth. She quickly started to eat the pancake, she wanted to taste it before she replyed to Umichi.

When she finished the pancake she could notice Suki looking at her to "Im a bit tired this morning thats all" she yawned while saying and continued as she shoved another piece of pancake in her mouth "We could spilt in two if you all want to. One team would explore the labyrinth for chests and the other would do a quest or train. The higher level players should be team one and the lower levels should be team two with one or two higher levels with them to help. She shoved the last piece of pancake into her mouth as she wiped her mouth with a piece of paper that was lying on the table and headed over to Timi. She sat next to Timi and gave her a tight hug while pressing her face against her head "Goodmorning sunshine" she released her and gave a gentle smile to her. She looked towards the girl that talked to Timi just a minute ago and saw that they had met before "O hi" she smiled at the girl and continued the talk with Timi "Did you sleep well, You looked pretty tired last night"

Timi smiled as Yuii hugged her tight, returning the hug. "Good morning, Yui-San" She said, nodding "I slept well. it...was a long day yesterday, and I haven't slept much really since arriving in Tolbana" She said, shrugging. "Thank you, for letting me sleep on you" She said, grabbing her juice with both hand and drinking the rest of it. Timi smiled, seeing that Yui was still in her pajamas "You should get dressed, Yui-San" She said, setting her class down. Timi was already ready for the day, in her new fighting gear, her short sword at her side. Her armor was light weight, and clearly made so she could still move swiftly.

Shinobu started to speak, "So, we clearly thought others would be here, seeing as we dallied a bit, doing quests and things, but it really only looks like the others and I, you lot, and another large group of 7 have made it here, with the others being small groups of 2 or 3. Not enough to tackle the boss, and not enough to try and clear all the levels, and find the boss on the 20th floor again. It took has about 4 hours to clear all the levels, and that was with the six of us, and with lots of health potions. There's one or two safe rooms, if you can find them, good places to rest and catch your breath, but extremely rare" Shinobu talked fast, and didn't seem to stop for breath as often as she should.

"Well ... the chances are, with a labyrinth that large, there's bound to at least be one quest. What this means is ..." Umichi was going to explain his deductions from his knowledge of games, however, noticed that Shinobu had entered. As she came in, he waved behind him, indicating a hello, as she ended up seating herself in a chair. As the girls spoke to each other, a moment of realization dawned upon him. Hm... I'm the only guy on this table, surrounded by five girls ... Am I becoming a Riajuu? he pondered for a moment at the end.

Once Shinobu spoke of the situation, Umichi analyzed it.
"There's nothing wrong with there being small groups of 2 and 3. They can party together and become a larger group. What matters during a boss raid, isn't the individual party leaders, but the raid leader. The person who organizes the battle and dictates the flow. As long as they are charismatic enough to unite everyone, I think, there is enough to take on the boss. If you count the big groups, that's about 20, and if there are at least 5 small groups, it should be enough.

You speak of clearing all the levels, but that probably isn't necessary. The Labyrinth gets bigger and more complex the deeper you go into it. Each level is bigger and more complicated than the last. If we try to map the whole Labyrinth, that could take a month or so. That would just simply be time wasted. More efficiently would be to gather groups and scout the 20th level for the Boss room. Once it has been found, we should regroup and announce the whereabouts and share map details. An overall plan and route should be organized and then details should be discussed, preferably by the leaders. The route should probably find the shortest way and least amount of enemies.

The big issue is, finding someone charismatic enough to lead 30+ strangers. That of which, the levels might vary."

Continuing to analyze as he spoke, Umichi wondered who could actually gather them all, and get them all to co-operate with each other. Umichi himself was strategic, not charismatic. He knew he wasn't suited for the job. Is there anyone we know who can do it?

Shinobu grinned, leaned against the table and said "what if the guide book is wrong? What if the betas information is flawed? What if the bosses room is actually on level 13? Or such? Then we could just be wasting our time searching the 20th floor over and over. Plus there's good treasure and experience. We can't just go to the top, what if we miss something important?" She shrugged,

She was silent a minute "as for a leader" she said softly "only one or two people I've met would be excellent for this. I'm too demanding to be a raid leader, Violets too shy, Koba is too much...in your face, and the others just don't have an inclination to be a leader, you wouldn't be good Umichi, while you seem to be good at leading, I doubt you could inspire thirty or fourth people. No, the person we need, needs to be friendly. Needs to take advice and give it, needs to treat people like they are the only ones in resistance when they talk to her, they need charm and grace, self-confident, and admiration" her eyes roamed over the group, and Suki found herself frowning.

Throughout their travels....Suki shook her head.

"You already know who should be the leader. Without them, you wouldn't all be here together. Umichi, asides from the fact that Suki's cute and you obviously like her, I can think of another reason why you whisked her away, at least from what you have told us. She stopped, hesitated, and looked at the crowds concern, caring, and fear, not for herself, but for others. That is what makes a great leader. Without her, Paka wouldn't be here-you gotta think, even if they are family, what has inspire such loyalty and devotion to Suki? She probably doesn't even know it, but people migrate to her. It isn't something you notice, until you watch it from afar. You guys wouldn't have rescued Yui, if you didn't know Suki, and by extension, didn't know Paka. An endless circle" Shinobu shrugged again, rising "I should head back. Think on what I've said"

Suki was frowning, and she shook her head again, "I'm not more a leader then a mouse is to a cat" she said as Shinobu walked away. "She's crazy"

Ayame watched at Suki, Umichi and Shinobu discussed the labyrinth. Staring, she lost herself in thought and, as Shinobu left, turned to Umichi.

"There's not a reason to not go straight to the final level of the labyrinth; it's very likely that a linear layout leading to the boss at the top is quite likely. They've got to scale the difficulty somehow." he said before turning to Paka and Suki.

"As for Suki leading... I'm honestly not sure. Umichi's been leading the charge for as long as I can recall, and if we have Suki lead in his stead without the self-confidence to do so it could lead to some... Conflicts in the group. I honestly can't make decisions that have someone's life in my hands like a military commander, and I'm not sure if Fujiwara's... Okay yet..." she trailed off before shaking her head and looking back at them. "I don't know who here is really fit to lead a group in the end..."

Before Umichi could get a word another in, Shinobu had left. Sighing and scratching his head, he listened to the two girls. "Well ... although in another game it would have a possibility that the boss is not on the 20th floor, it's less likely in SAO. I mean, looking at the Labyrinth from the outside, and the fact we have to climb up Aincrad, it's more logical to place it higher, and closer to the next floor. I mean, if it were on the 13th floor, then there's another 7 flights of steps to go up. It's just pointless. Although there is a good chance to miss out on treasure, and other things, it should be fine to leave treasure available for others instead of the front line being greedy. However, there was a good point about possibly missing out something important, like a key to the boss or something.

Anyway, about Suki ... I have no clue about whether or not it is appropriate to leave her in charge. It is true that I am probably too close to see if she is charismatic or not. There is the fact she that she doesn't want to do it. I mean, sure I have been leading, but I won't do for the Boss Raid. I mean, out of the people here, I did not bring anyone, nor did people join because of me. If anything, I kidnapped two people and now they are in the party." Umichi laughed aloud, at his own silly joke about kidnapping. In a sense he did just drag Suki and now Timi along out of nowhere.

"Leading the boss raid will require the decision making and charisma. The decision making can be done with advise from others. Fujiwara is too emotional, he probably couldn't lead the raid party anyway. Yui keeps silent quite often, Timi is new. I think that leaves either Paka or someone else. I mean, it doesn't have to be someone we know right now, just someone with the ability to gather everyone and have them listen to them is good. If Suki would like to try to lead, I wouldn't mind though. So ..." Umichi continued looking over to Suki, "would you like to give it a try? Want to lead the party for today and try it out?" he suggested.

Suki had no deserve to become a leader. No deserve to be in charge and have to worry about everyone constantly, even though she would never stop worrying about her friends, as well as anyone else they came across. Too many people had already died in this game, that it was impossible for her to not not care about people, at least for her. She squirmed, believing it was a hard decision, and one she didn't know if she could make right then.

She looked down at the table, marveling at how, despite the fact it was game-made, it still had the intricate patterns of hand carved wood, and she just stared at it for a few moments, As she tried to arrange her thoughts. She sighed deeply, "if I didn't want to be with you, I would have fled once we were safe" she said to Umichi, without looking up. She bit her lip, trying to figure out what she wanted to say.

"Look, my whole life I've done what others wanted me too, for the simple fact it was easier then fighting seven males for the ability to just climb a tree-although I did that a lot still. I...schools small, being a farming community, and I didn't really fit in. I was the only Gamer-girl. The only girls were kind of cliche, so I kept to myself. No one followed me, and I had no desire to become a leader, nor do I. Here...." She sighed again and shrugged, looking up.

"This world...people are getting hurt, and as far as we know, they're dying. I don't want that. People have to stand up and say "we can do this. We will get out" and if it has to be me, then so be it. I'll do it, because I want to get out of here. I need to believe we will, because..." She looked down, bit her lip and felt herself blush slightly, glad for her long hair which could cover her face "because I want to be able to meet you guys in real life. To laugh, and talk, and just be together in real life. You know, without the threat of death. So far we have survived. And we will continue to do so" she looked up, meeting the eyes of all those that were present "because we have each other. So" she rose, and shrugged, "I'll try, but I don't know how good I'll be"

Sanshain jumped in hitting the boar with Hiōgi. Since it was such a large Sword skill it of course killed the boar no problem, but what he didn't notice was the other boar charging him. Sanshain turned and then with a hard thud he hit the ground. his health bar dropped a little ways. Sanshain had hit the ground hard enough to knock the air out of him. He was on the ground trying to get the air back into his system. He was gasping and finally regained his air. It was just in time too. He noticed the boar coming again and he dodged. "Switch?" Sanshain yelled questioning it because he didn't attack.

Angelo heard him call out for a switch and Angelo jumped in and charged the boar before it could turn around and used his <<flurry>> attack and hit the boar 3 times making it go down to the orange then Angelo spun to the side to avoid the boar targeting him with a charge before Angelo then used another <<flurry>> attack and this time the boar turned into nothing and Angelo looked at his stats before he jumped up "yes! level 5!" Angelo said happily knowing that this level grinding was working at least and now he had to help his friend get farther and get him to his level. Angelo also knew they had to pick up the pace so they can take on the boss in this level to find paka and his gang

Yui

She smiled happy seeing how Timi used both hands to drink her use instead of just one it made it more cute looking. It was good to know that Timi slept well on her atleast one of us got some sleep she tought while looking to her side. She yawned widely and looked down at the clothes she was wearing "I can just fight in my pyjama's and dodge everything those monsters trow at me" she said while looking up at Timi again. Her head moved towards the conversation the others were having, they where still going on about the labyrinth. She looked down at the table feeling uncomfortable knowing that she herself wasnt so talk active in the group. She left the table and entered the the toilet to quickly change herself into her armour. In real life she would probably fall over from the heavy armour but this felt like it was nothing. She sat down next to Timi again with still a bit of a uncomfortable expression written on her face and waited for Suki to finish her speech "Cant we have more then one leader or one leader with some lower leaders who would lead difrent groups."

"Alright. I don't think we should just let you lead and that's it. It would be better to let you have a feel for different aspects, like yesterday's thief situation or uncooperative players. If no-one is going to be uncooperative, I will play the part." Umichi stated as Suki seemed to want to try to be leader.

Yui began to speak up, and give her opinion. "Well, a raid party is generally lead by one leader with others leading the smaller groups. The raid leader will give the general battle plans, and the overall decisions. The party leaders tend to adjust according to the situation. For example, if minions are spawned in the boss fight, the leader may tell one party to go handle the minions, and for shield bearers to be out front to guard for a big attack. The party that went to handle the minions may have a bit of trouble with the minions and have a couple of shield bearers, so the leader of that party may tell another party leader to swap out their non shield bearers to help with the minions while they send their shield bearers to guard the big attack. The raid leader divulges the overall plan, while the leaders of the parties execute and lead the others. This is a general way as to how raid parties work. So, I imagine that, we are likely to follow that in SAO as well. The second idea you spoke of" Umichi replied to Yui.

"Anyway, any opposition to let Suki try leading for now? And if none, someone should act uncooperatively to let her have a chance to deal with such things." Umichi looked around to see if there were any objections. "Oh, and before I forget, just because there isn't a Labyrinth quest in the guide book, doesn't mean there isn't a Labyrinth quest. It means it either hasn't been discovered, has a pretty tough pre-requisite to unlock it, or is absurdly hard and doesn't become recommended. If it is one of the first two, it usually would imply it would be quite rewarding, but the last one implies it is a waste of time. Either way, I think it's worth a shot to look for Labyrinth quests." He continued.

If there were no objections, he would finish with, "Now then, Suki, no, Leader! What is on the agenda today?" while turning to Suki. If there were objections, he would see how Suki would handle them.

Timi smiled, "But they don't offer you any protection from attacks" She said, watching as Timi rose and returned changed into her armor. She smiled, listening as the others spoke. Timi had no issues with anyone being leaders. She knew she was probably too young to expect any one to listen to her as a leader, and she still wasn't quite sure about the game as a whole, so it was easier for her to just follow.

She shook her head when Umichi asked if there was any objections. "I trust Suki. She stopped the mean boys when she was out numbered" She said, "I think that a good leader should do anything they ask their followers to do, and I think Suki can do that"

Paka had returned, and frowned as he heard the talk. He sighed, sitting down, didn't say anything, but Suki could still tell he wanted to. She leaned back, looking to him, and just waited for him to speak. It seemed like a better option then just assuming. She waited patiently, until he spoke.

"Suki, you don't know the first thing about leading"

Suki stared at him, "Paka, since I was 10, I've pretty much run the household. You don't think that my brothers and father's cooking just miraculous got better over night? If I can get Lucas to get up on time for school, I can do this" Lucas, 11 month's older then her, ;loved his sleep, and was often hard to wake up. Paka managed to smile, and he shook his head. Suki smiled as well, glad this didn't turn out into a blow out.

She looked around at the others, thinking. "Well, then...I guess we can go to the labyrinth. Explore it some. Maybe see if there is a quest, and see if theres any other groups we can team up with for the boss. We won't be able to defeat the boss without others, after all. Maybe we can help some of the groups of two or three" SHe said, waiting for any objections

"You're level five!" Sanshain yelled standing up and looking at his friend. "I thought you were level one like me." Sanshain said with a little laugh. "But, we need to keep grinding. I need to level up." Sanshain laughed as he began to walk. He found another boar and killed it no problem. Hiōgi was a very strong sword skill for a level 1 player, and Snashain liked it. "Well buddy, do you want to take on the next boar we find?" He asked looking at Angelo with a slight smile.

InvariantName said
"You're level five!" Sanshain yelled standing up and looking at his friend. "I thought you were level one like me." Sanshain said with a little laugh. "But, we need to keep grinding. I need to level up." Sanshain laughed as he began to walk. He found another boar and killed it no problem. Hiōgi was a very strong sword skill for a level 1 player, and Snashain liked it. "Well buddy, do you want to take on the next boar we find?" He asked looking at Angelo with a slight smile.

sure why not, we need to keep grinding. We both need to make at least a level 10 if we want to keep moving and try the boss. Honestly we need to work together since were in a party their will most likely be more then one to attack us during a fight. Also I was able to make level 3 on my own but someone bothered to help me by giving me advice and using a howl ability to bring in monsters so I could level up to 4 right now I just made 5 with you so im on my way and so should you" Angelo said smiling as he went to walking looking for some more boars knowing that he would need to find larger prey later on if he was going to keep leveling up and try against the boss battle later on with his partner.....

Looking around, Umichi saw that Paka had objected to Suki's leadership. Watching her handle the situation, he critiqued to himself, Using a personal experience that not many can relate to to demonstrate a point is not the best thing to do ... but I guess it works since they are close to each other. After she had finished with Paka she waited for more objections and suggested to head to the Labyrinth. There was a moment. Seems it's got to be me he mentally sighed.

"What about Fujiwara leader? What do you suggest we do? Leave him alone? Leave someone behind? Do something else?" Umichi wilfully smiled, turning to Suki. He was going to see how she handled the issue. There are many ways to view this. Many scenarios to take into account. Well, she needs to be able to decide and then go ahead with the decision. In this type of situation, taking other suggestions into account can just lead to problems. It's a moment of indecision that can change the field. In a party like this, in this situation, it may be okay to take time and think and get suggestions, but as a Raid Leader .... Decisions must be decisive. They need to follow the direction they head. Umichi analysed Suki's leading abilities.

He did not want to be the one who had to take a role like this. But it was necessary. Umichi cared deeply for Suki, and would prefer it if she was not burdened to be the Raid Leader. However, as things stood, he had to let it be. He suggested it only because she seemed willing. He had no right to stop that. If he didn't support her, then who would? This was another form of support, to try to get her used to what she required. That's what he believed at least. Umichi could only hope he did not think the wrong way. Also he hoped that she would not take offense to anything he does for now. Although this was only scratching the surface of some antagonism, it was necessary for her to learn to stand up to it. In the face of 40 + people, she needed unwavering decisions, to be able to handle antagonistic remarks and critiques. That is if she were to be a Raid Leader.

Suki didn't really even have to think about that, about what to do with Fujiwara. It seemed simple, really, to her. "We're a team. We give him a few hours more rest-we all take a few hours more rest with that early morning rescue mission so we don't make any foolish mistakes, then we go to the labyrinth as a group. Other then the fact that we shouldn't leave him behind because we are a team, we should have all the numbers we can, in the relatively unfamiliar territory of the labyrinth" she said, sound confident, but she worried that she was making the right choice or not. She thought they could all do with a few hours break, and that they could leave just before lunch, and eat just before going into the labyrinth.

"To be safe, I think we should make sure we all have a Tolbana teleport crystal, a good stock of both health potions and potions for poisions and other status curing potions. And make sure our weapons are in good condition-have durability checked and if we can, get enhancements, as well as check the durability of our other equipment such as armor." She seemed stumped for a minute, unsure how to continue. She frowned.

Then she seemed to brighten, "this would probably work better in a larger group, but...we are coming so close to defeating a floor, defeating a boss. It doesn't seem like much, just one floor out of 100, but...we've come a long way from the beginning of the game. I personally don't believe that if we die here, we die in real life, but that doesn't mean we should risk it. And considering i would really really like to meet you all in real life...well, that's why I think we should give Fujiwara a few hours, why we should just take a few hours...but if anyone has any objections to that, we can discuss it. If not, then we can get on with assembling and checking our gear over. I've also, whenever I've had spare time, been making potions and have a good stock, so I can give you all some"

Sukis biggest problem, in game and in real life, was her nerves. But she was proud of herself that her voice didn't shake, and she didn't seem to falter in her words, but rather spoke confidently. She gave them all a smile, and waited to see if there was any objections.