A gentle breeze brushed the lake's surface, stirring faint ripples. This was a beautiful grassland, stretching as far as the eye could see, a vast expanse of lush green.
In the center of the grassland lay a crystal-clear lake. There were no signs of human presence here.
Suddenly, the tranquil lake began to show layers of disturbance. The ripples grew increasingly intense, finally erupting violently.
A pure white, beautiful, winged bird-like creature burst forth from the lake.
This white creature was covered in beautiful feathers, its entire body sleek and its form elegant. Its eyes were as pure as the azure lake water.
She gracefully opened her mouth slightly in mid-air, emitting a melodious sound from her throat. Her cry held an indescribable charm.
This was another world. This was a dragon belonging to this world.
The beautiful white dragon landed on the grassy shore nearby, curled up, and closed her eyes, seemingly preparing to rest and 'sleep'.
However, at that moment, a rift suddenly tore open in the space before her.
The rift continuously expanded, eventually forming a spatial wormhole. The other side of the wormhole revealed a beautiful scene.
The beautiful dragon tilted her head. Her large, curious eyes watched the wormhole in front of her, and she let out a cute, questioning quack, not understanding what was happening.
She tentatively crept forward a little, carefully touching the spatial rift with a small claw.
But unexpectedly... the spatial rift expanded rapidly. In almost an instant, it swallowed the white dragon whole.
The spatial rift vanished. All that remained on the grass where the beautiful white dragon had been curled up was a puddle of lake water. Nothing else remained.
Time in SAO passed quickly, and a month went by.
Within this month, player deaths had drastically decreased.
Having experienced the initial despair and dejection, most players had now begun to set foot on the path of leveling up... striving to conquer all 100 floors early and find the way back home.
The players in the group known as the [Capture Group] were like beacons for all players. They were formed based on the second-floor Boss Raid's team... born specifically for conquering Bosses.
They were undoubtedly all elite players, one could say they were idols in the eyes of all players. Many players took pride in being able to join the Capture Group.
At the same time, as the floors were progressively conquered, some guild organizations began to emerge. Among them, the famous ones were the four major guilds:
The Knights of the Blood Oath, the Divine Dragon Alliance, Fuurinkazan, and the Army.
And the ones who became the most famous during this month, with their names completely spread throughout SAO-
The Ice Dragon Siblings: Ice Dragon Prince and Ice Dragon Princess.
This title might sound a bit silly, but it was undoubtedly the players' most fitting description for Yusei and Shiro.
Because Yusei and Shiro, just the two of them alone, had conquered 15 floors. The current total number of floors cleared in SAO was only 25.
One could say, the Yusei-Shiro sibling duo, with just one pair, had conquered the majority of the floors. This led many players to view them as saviors and idols.
Simultaneously, the reputations of the Capture Group's [Twin Stars]: [Dragon Sword] Kaguya and [Flash] Asuna, were also significant.
These two, clearly just girls... yet they displayed crucial strength in Boss Raids.
In the remaining ten floors conquered by the Capture Group, these two [Twin Stars] could be considered the second greatest contributors.
Whether it was Asuna's rapier, which is too fast to see clearly, or Kaguya's fierce sword techniques, like a dragon tearing into enemies...
Their existence gave other players incomparable confidence.
Moreover, it's worth mentioning that Yusei's identity as the real-world Kendo Youth Champion, and Kaguya's identity as the real-world Kendo Youth Championship's third-place, were recognized by the players.
After all, there were quite a few players who had watched the Kendo Tournament.
With the same appearance in the game and reality, they were easily recognized. This gave players a strange idea:
That 'real-world swordsmanship can be applied in SAO'.
Although it sounded far-fetched, the achievements of these two made them feel it was possible.
As a result, anyone in SAO who had learned Kendo in reality became highly sought after by many guilds. They were also the highest priority for party formation.
It's hard to say if this was good or bad... but with this kind of drive, progress was indeed fast.
And so, before the players' soaring momentum, the floor progression quickly reached the 25th floor.
But unusually, recently, the players, specifically the Capture Group, had slowed their clearing speed.
The reason was none other than... Christmas was approaching.
For players constantly under high pressure and fear of death, Christmas was undoubtedly a rare time for them to catch their breath.
Aincrad, 20th Floor.
In the Christmas-themed town, Yusei and Shiro walked side by side.
Yusei held Shiro's small hand as they strolled through the snow-dusted town.
Because of the Ice Dragon Cloaks, they didn't feel the cold. In fact, their combat power even received a slight boost in cold areas.
Currently, many frontline players had returned to the town. Their purpose was partly to enjoy the rare Christmas time.
On the other hand, it was also to participate in SAO's special holiday... Special Boss Event.
According to information leaked by Beta Testers, a special monster would spawn in the wilderness church on the 20th floor during Christmas.
Defeating this monster would yield a Revival Crystal.
When this news came out, it caused a collective stir among SAO Players. A good half of the players fighting on the frontlines all rushed back, hoping to secure this crystal.
An extra life... a genuine second chance. Wasn't that enough to drive anyone crazy?
However, for ordinary players, this wasn't good news. It's because the four major guilds were involved.
They had powerful teams and resources, and lone players simply couldn't compete.
Even more hopeless was that the Capture Group's [Twin Stars] had also returned.
Their current status was Vice-Leaders of the Knights of the Blood Oath. They had brought their guild's members back to contend for this Revival Crystal.
That's right. Back during the conquest of the third and fourth floors, the already famous Kaguya and Asuna had been invited to join the Knights of the Blood Oath by Heathcliff.
As founding members, they were not only powerful but also experienced enough, so they now held the positions of Vice-Leaders in the Knights of the Blood Oath.