Progressive Factor II: Lacrimosa Of A Reaper

The Vastly Different Fourth Floor

Part 4: The Water-Filled Fourth Floor, The Girl Who Wields A Scythe, And Playing Castle Defense

Kirito, December 20th

"So how long are you going to just stand there? You've spent enough time examining the carved relief on the door. Or are you afraid because it's the fourth floor?"

Realizing he's been staring at the carved relief on the doors to the fourth floor, Kirito turns to his right, looking at the annoyed face of Asuna. It had only been a few seconds, maybe a full minute since his party's heartwarming show of unity, and it's already lifted. "...What do you mean, because it's the fourth floor?"

He can tell she's irritated with him, but there are hints of mischief in her eyes too. "You know how some people are. They don't want a room on the thirteenth floor of the hotel or the fourth because it's associated with death. Are you one of them?"

"N-no way. Look at this all-black outfit. Would I really wear this color if I believed in omens and stuff like that?"

"Well, why are you just standing there, then?"

"Um, because..." He looks back to the door, which, on its own, doesn't stand out too much. Like the previous two floors, the designs give a hint to the overall theme of the floor. The second floor had a bull's head relief, the third pictured two elves in combat underneath a massive tree. The entrance in front of Kirito and his three companions depicts a carving of a traveler rowing what appears to be a gondola.

"Is there something about that picture? Didn't you see this in the beta test?" Asuna asks with rising irritation.

Kirito shakes his head in response. "No...not this. I saw the door, all right...but not this relief." He turns to Jaymes, the shielder staring at the relief now with a curious eye. "Jaymes, you never saw this door, correct?"

"Correct. But I think I get where you're going. Koharu...there's no point asking you how high you made it, huh?"

Koharu glares at her partner accusingly. "No, but what's that supposed to mean? Just because I didn't make it beyond the first floor in the beta doesn't mean anything!"

"Chill. I'm just saying, you don't seem to be as...alarmed as Kirito or myself, else you'll realize why we haven't opened that door yet." Giving Koharu a reassuring pat on the head, he looks back at Kirito. "What did the original design look like?"

"In the beta, it was a traveler wandering through a desert canyon. But in this one, he's on a boat."

"In the beta, the fourth floor was a desert canyon, and we could only travel on the floor of the canyon. Sand everywhere." Jaymes sighs and shivers at the memory of the floor. "Hate desert levels. Damn sand is rough, coarse, and gets everywhere jsut like in real life. And there was the sense module that was annoying accurate to projecting the sense of sinking into sand..."

Asuna bites her lip and faces the door. "Hmm...Sounds appropriate for the picture of the man in the desert canyon. So if the picture's been changed, then..." She takes the final step up to the door and places her hand on the gondola. With a slight push from the fencer, the doors give way. The four shield their eyes from the light that breaches the door, and Kirito's sense of hearing heightens momentarily. Because of it, he hears a low, deep roll combined with a high-pitched leap that reminds him of moving water.