I consulted my mental registry of famous clearers while Asuna hastily waved her hands.
“Y-you don’t have to guess!”
“In that case, I’ll just have to look forward to the day you show him to me. Feel free to put in a good word about me if he has any weapons needs!”
“You’re always looking out for your business, Liz. I’ll tell him about your work…Oh, crap! Can you sharpen that now?”
“Sure thing. Just give me a second.”
I stood up with Asuna’s rapier in hand and walked over to the grindstone in the corner of the room.
The thin blade was housed in a red scabbard. It was a rapier named Lambent Light and was among the greatest of all the weapons I’d handled in SAO. Even with the finest materials, the finest hammer, and the finest anvil I could find, the random nature of the crafting process ensured a range of potential quality. If I was lucky, I might craft a blade this fine once every three months.
I cradled the sword with both hands and lowered it to the slowly spinning grindstone. There was no real technique to sharpening a weapon—you simply held it to the stone long enough for the process to finish—but a masterpiece of this quality demanded to be handled with proper respect.
I slid the blade carefully across the stone from hilt to tip. The process produced a cool metallic noise and orange sparks, and the silver metal began to regain its former gleam. By the time I was finished honing it, the rapier was practically a translucent silver, glittering in the morning sunlight.
I popped the weapon into its sheath and tossed it back to Asuna, then caught between my fingertips the hundred-col coin that came flying back.
“Thanks, come again!”
“Next time I’ll need you to do my armor, too. But I’m in a rush today, so this is all for now.” Asuna stood up and hung the rapier from her sword belt.
“Now I’m really curious. Maybe I should tag along.”
“What? N-no!”
“Ha-ha-ha, I’m just kidding. But you’ll bring him here sometime, won’t you?”
“S-sometime.”
Asuna waved and darted out of the workshop as though fleeing. I heaved a sigh and sat back in my chair.
“…Lucky.”
I was surprised at the word that escaped my lips.
I wasn’t really one for moping. In the year and a half I’d spent here, I’d poured all of my enthusiasm into building this business out of nothing, but now that I’d practically mastered my Blacksmithing skill and set up my own shop, I was running out of personal goals and found myself lonely from time to time.
There are few girls in Aincrad, so I’ve received my share of suitors, but I never felt in the mood. I’d rather have someone who I loved myself. In that sense, I was jealous of Asuna.
“If only some kind of wonderful matchmaking event happened for me, too,” I muttered, then shook my head to clear it. I stood up and retrieved the glowing red ingot from the furnace, placing it back on the anvil. This is the only lover I need for now, I told myself as I swung the hammer down.
Normally the rhythmic clanging echoing throughout the workshop cleared my head, but today it couldn’t get rid of the cobwebs.
It was the next afternoon that the man came to my shop.
I’d stayed up too late trying to finish up all my orders the previous day, so I was napping in the large rocking chair on the porch of the store.
The dream was about elementary school. I was a good, hardworking student, but I always felt drowsy in the first class after lunch, and the teacher often had to snap me awake.
That teacher was a favorite of mine, a young man fresh out of college. I was embarrassed to be scolded for sleeping, but I kind of liked the way he woke me up. He’d place a gentle hand on my shoulder and in a low, calm voice—
“Uh, hey…”
“Y-yes! I’m sorry!”
“Whoa—?!”
I bolted upright as though on springs and shouted, only to find standing before me a male player with a startled expression on his face.
“Huh…?”
I looked around. It wasn’t my classroom, packed with rows of desks. There was only a road lined with trees, a waterway surrounding the wide stone path, and a lawn of grass. It was Lindarth, my second home.
Apparently I’d drifted off to sleep for the first time in ages. I coughed to hide my embarrassment and turned to my potential customer.
“W-welcome to my store. Is there a particular weapon you’re looking for today?”
“Uh, y-yeah,” he replied, nodding.
At a glance, he didn’t seem that powerful. He might have been slightly older than me. He had black hair and a monochrome outfit of a black shirt, black pants, black boots. A single sword was slung over his back. The weapons I sold required high attributes to wield, and I was concerned that he didn’t have a high-enough level to wield them, but I showed him in anyway.
“My one-handed swords are over in this case.”
I showed him the display containing all my pre-made models, but he smiled awkwardly and cut me off.
“Er, actually, I’m looking to do a custom order…”
Now I was really worried. Made-to-order weapons with special materials were exorbitantly priced. He was looking at a six-digit cost, at least. I never liked seeing people turn red or white after I showed them what their orders would cost, so I tried to head him off before we reached that uncomfortable point.
“The market for metals is rather pricy these days, so it will be a considerable cost,” I began, but I was shocked by what the man in black said next.
“Don’t worry about the budget. I just want the best sword you can possibly make.”
“…”
I stared at him, stunned, but somehow or another managed to find my voice again.
“…All right, but…I need to know what properties, what stats you’re looking for…”
My tone had lost a bit of its civility, but he didn’t seem to mind.
“Oh, good point. In that case…”
He pulled the sword harness off his back entirely and handed it to me. “How about something at least as good as this?”
It didn’t look all that fancy. It had a black leather hilt and a scabbard of the same color. But the instant I held it in my hand—
It’s so heavy!!
—I nearly dropped the blade. This thing must have required a phenomenal amount of strength. As a blacksmith and mace-wielder, I’d built my strength stat up fairly high, but there was no way even I could swing this sword.
I pulled it out of the scabbard with hesitation and found a thick, meaty blade nearly black in color. One look told me this was an extremely well-crafted weapon. I clicked the blade with a fingertip to bring up a menu. CATEGORY: LONG SWORD/ONE-HANDED, NAME: ELUCIDATOR. There was nothing listed in the “crafted by” field. A fellow player had not created this.
The weapons of Aincrad fall into two large categories.
One is the “player-made” weapons created by blacksmiths within the game. The other is “monster drops,” weapons earned through adventuring. As you might imagine, we smiths don’t think much of dropped weapons. Some of us even use the terms off-brand or generic to describe them.
But this was clearly very rare, even among dropped loot. Normally, player-made weapons were higher in average quality than those dropped by enemies, but every once in a while, you found a truly monstrous blade among them…or so I heard.
At any rate, this had certainly gotten my competitive juices flowing. If I was a master smith, I couldn’t afford to be shown up by a stupid looted item.
I handed the heavy sword back to him, then pulled down the single longsword I had on display on the back wall. It was my greatest masterpiece to date, forged about two weeks earlier. The blade glowed a dull red, as though rippling with a gentle flame.
“This is my best sword so far. I doubt it’s inferior to yours.”
He took my crimson blade and swished it about in the air, then tilted his head in puz
zlement.
“A bit on the light side.”
“…Well, the metal I used is meant for speed…”
“Hmmm.”
He swung it a few more times, clearly unsure of it, then turned his gaze on me.
“Can I test it out?”
“Test it…?”
“The durability.”
He pulled out his own sword, then laid it flat on the shop counter. Standing still over it, he slowly lifted my glowing red blade…
I hurriedly called out when I realized what he was about to do.
“W-wait, don’t! If you do that, you’ll break your sword in two!!”
“And that’ll prove it’s inferior. If it happens, it happens.”
“But…”
I swallowed my protest. There was a sharp light in his eyes as he held the blade overhead. The red sword suddenly glowed with a pale blue visual effect.
“Seya!”
He brought it down with a flash. Before I could blink, sword met sword, and the shop rattled with the shock. The explosion of light was so fierce, I had to narrow my eyes and take a step back.
The blade split cleanly down the middle and burst into pieces.
Not his sword. My masterpiece.
“Aaaaagh!!”
I screamed and leaped onto his arm, wrenching the lower half of the sword away from him and scrambling about for the pieces.
There’s no fixing this.
I slumped my shoulders in despair, and a moment later, the half sword in my hand burst into polygons and vanished. After several seconds of silence, I looked up.
“What,” I snarled as I grabbed the collar of his shirt, “the hell was that?! You can’t just go around breaking people’s stuff!”
He jerked his face away in panic.
“S-sorry! I didn’t think the sword I was holding would break…”
I snapped.
“Meaning my sword was even weaker than you thought it would be?!”
“Huh? Uh, um, well…yes.”
“You admit it! You’ve got some nerve!!”
I put my hands on my hips and leaned forward.
“W-well, I’ll have you know that if I get the right materials, I can make a sword that will crush your stupid sword like an insignificant twig!”
“Oh?” He grinned at the bravado. “Well, that’s the one I want, then. A sword that will snap mine like a twig.”
He grabbed the black sword off the counter and sheathed it. Now the blood was truly rushing to my head.
“Well, if we’re really doing this, I’ll be involved in every step! Starting with retrieving the metals!”
My brain was screaming at me to stop, but it was too late now. His eyebrows rose and he cast an openly appraising gaze at me.
“Well…I don’t mind. But wouldn’t it be better if I got them myself? I don’t want anyone dragging me down.”
“Arrgh!!”
Could anyone be more irritating? I waved my arms wildly, stomping like a child having a tantrum.
“D-don’t you dare humiliate me! I’m a master weapons-crafter, I’ll have you know!”
“You are?” He whistled, clearly enjoying himself. “In that case, I ought to observe a master at work. I’ll start by paying you for the last sword.”
“I don’t need your sympathy! Once I make one better than yours, I’ll make sure you pay through the nose for it!”
“And I’ll do it gladly. My name’s Kirito. Nice to meet you, at least until this sword is finished.”
I folded my arms and turned my head in a huff.
“Likewise, Kirito.”
“Really? Not even a ‘Mr.’? Fine, Lisbeth.”
“Argh!!”
It was the worst possible way to form a new party.
2
It was just ten days prior that word of the mysterious metal spread throughout the blacksmiths of SAO.
Reaching the top floor of Aincrad was the grand quest, the ultimate goal of all, but there was an unlimited array of other quests to be undertaken, big and small. NPCs needed errands run, or protective detail, or certain items tracked down, but the rewards were never more than middling, and once an individual quest was finished, there was a cooldown period before it was available again. On top of that, some quests could only ever be completed once, by a single person, and everyone was on the lookout for those.
One such unique quest was spotted in a small village tucked away in a corner of the fifty-fifth floor. According to the bearded old chieftain, a white dragon dwelt in the mountains to the west. The dragon fed on crystals, which coalesced into a valuable metal ore within its belly.
It was obviously a quest to obtain weaponcrafting materials. Eager players formed a large raiding party and easily vanquished the dragon in its mountain lair…
But nothing came of it. The beast dropped a paltry sum of col and a few weak loot items, not even enough to pay for the potions and healing crystals used in the battle.
The next assumption was that the metal must be a random drop, so numerous parties approached the elder to initiate the quest and vanquish the dragon in turn. But again, nothing. After a week, white dragons had been slain in the dozens, but no one ever came away with the elusive prize. The eventual consensus was that there must be some hidden condition that no one had yet successfully met during the quest.
The man named Kirito nodded, cross-legged in the workshop chair, sipping on the tea I’d reluctantly made for him.
“I’ve heard that story, too. It’s supposed to be quite a promising material for crafting. But no one’s been able to get their hands on it, right? What makes you think we can just waltz in and succeed where everyone else has failed?”
“Some people are guessing that it won’t appear unless there’s a master smith in the party. And very few blacksmiths bother to raise their combat skills.”
“I see. Maybe that’s worth trying, then. Well, we should get going.”
“…”
I was slack-jawed in disbelief.
“I can’t believe you’ve survived with that attitude. We’re not going goblin hunting, you know! And we’ll need a full party to—”
“But what if we actually get the stuff, and then have to draw straws to see who gets it? Which floor did you say the dragon’s on?”
“The fifty-fifth.”
“Hmm, well, I can probably handle it on my own. You just hide where it’s safe.”
“…You’re either very, very good or very, very stupid. But all right—you’re on. I suppose it’ll be worth watching you cry and teleport out to safety.”
Kirito only snorted confidently, then downed the rest of his tea and set the cup on the workbench.
“Well, I’m ready to go whenever you are. Lisbeth?”
“Look, if you’re going to be so buddy-buddy, just call me Liz. The dragon’s mountain isn’t supposed to be that big, and I hear it’s short enough that you can do it and come back within the day, so I’ll be ready in a minute.”
I opened my window and equipped some simple armor over my apron dress. My trusty mace was in my item screen, safe and sound, and I had an adequate supply of crystals and potions.
When my screens were closed and I gave the okay sign, Kirito stood up. We headed out the storefront—fortunately, there were no waiting customers. I flipped the sign on the door to read CLOSED.
The light streaming onto the porch from the outer perimeter of Aincrad was still bright. There was plenty of time until nightfall. Whether we succeeded or failed at acquiring the precious metal—and it would certainly be the latter—at least I’d be back before too late in the day.
Or so I thought.
As we left the shop and headed for the teleport square, I couldn’t help but wonder, What in the world have I gotten myself into?
I didn’t think much of the black-clad man strolling nonchalantly beside me. At least, I didn’t think I did. His bold statements irritated me, he was grandiose and overconfident, and he’d smashed my greatest masterpiece to bits
.
Yet here I was, walking next to him. Not only that, I’d agreed to be in his party and go questing on a distant floor. In fact, as far as life in Aincrad was concerned, this might as well be a da—
Better force that thought straight out of my mind. This had never happened before. I was reasonably friendly with a few male players, but I always had my reasons to avoid spending time with them alone. I was afraid of crossing that line with any specific man. I always told myself that if I was going to do it, it had to be with someone I knew I loved.
But now I was here, walking with this strange guy. How had it come to this?
Oblivious to my inner turmoil, Kirito noticed a food cart at the side of the teleport square and rushed over to it. When he turned around again, there was a large hot dog stuffed in his mouth.
“Whum fhum, Wiffbeff?”
My anxiety instantly vanished. Worrying about this seemed pointless.
“Sure!”
And before the heavy aftertaste of the crispy hot dog—technically, a mystery food that only loosely resembled one—had left my mouth, we finally came to stand in the tiny village on the north end of the fifty-fifth floor.
The monsters along the way were no big deal.
Considering that the current frontier was the sixty-third floor, the foes here should have been worrisome. But my level was in the mid-60s, and for all his bluster, Kirito was pretty tough himself, and we made it through a handful of encounters with hardly any damage.
My only mistake was not realizing this floor had an ice theme.
“Bwa-choo!”
The instant we stepped into the safe zone of the village and I let down my guard, a massive sneeze exploded from my nose. The other floors were in early summer, but here there was snow piled on the ground and large icicles hanging from the roofs.
As I stood shivering in the bone-chilling cold, Kirito looked on in exasperation.
“Don’t you have any extra clothes?”
“…No.”
Despite not being outfitted for winter weather himself, Kirito fiddled with his menu, materialized a large black leather coat, and tossed it over my head.
“Are you going to be able to handle the cold yourself?”
“Unlike you, I’ve got willpower.”
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