A journey to another world starting from a sword

With a friendly smile, Lingyin extended her hand to Lisbeth, "Haha, nice to meet you, Miss Lisbeth."

"Nice to meet you!" Lisbeth said heartily, grabbing Lingyin's hand. "Just call me Lisbeth, that's what my friends call me."

Chapter 84: Asuna, you big idiot!

"Wow! That's amazing, it's like a skyscraper."

"What is this?! This city is so beautiful!"

Three girls stood in a space surrounded by three towering trees, looking around. The trunks of these giant baobab trees were thirty meters in diameter, not to mention their height, which exceeded seventy meters.

Zmford is a city built by hollowing out the interior of three trees, with buildings surrounding the outside of the trees.

In response to Lingyin and Lisbeth's exclamations, Silica put her hands on her hips and pointed to the tree canopy.

"It's a building inside, I think it's up to twenty floors high."

"So that means we can go up and take a look?" Lisbeth asked excitedly, clenching her fists and pressing them to her chest.

Seeing that she was getting a little impatient, Silica nodded and said, "Of course you can go up. I slept up here last night. The view from the top floor is really amazing."

Seeing Silica's smug expression and Lisbeth's perfectly synchronized "whoa" sounds, Lingyin smiled knowingly. But then a question suddenly occurred to her, so she asked Silica, "Hey, Silica, how do you get up there from this height?"

"..." This question stunned Silica. She coughed lightly and then silently looked away. "We have to climb up."

"Sorry, I didn't hear you." A little incredulous, Lisbeth put her hand to her ear and leaned close to Silica.

“There’s no elevator here!” Silica said again, hands on her hips. Last night, Miss Mitt asked her where she wanted to stay, and she said without hesitation that she wanted to stay on the top floor. She only remembered that Miss Mitt’s expression was very special at the time. When she climbed up, she realized that there was helplessness behind that expression.

And of course, there's the doting on his little sister.

"Really...?" Lisbeth clicked her tongue and looked up at the tree canopy again, only to find it unreachable.

"Haha, I can climb up slowly, right?" Lingyin wasn't intimidated by the difficulty of climbing twenty floors. She put her hand over her eyes and gazed at the sunlight above the treetops.

After putting her hands down, she turned her head and smiled, "Let's find some time later to experience it properly."

“That’s true.” At this moment, Lisbeth finally managed to calm down the excitement of arriving in the new town for the first time. This excitement was even higher than when she arrived on the second floor, because the view on the second floor was not as spectacular as this.

If Silica knew what Lisbeth was thinking, she would definitely argue that the truly spectacular view on the second floor is the moment the staircase door opens—a panoramic view overlooking the entire second floor, a magnificence of a different style from here.

More importantly, it's about witnessing this unforgettable beauty together with everyone.

“If it were Dante, he would definitely say that there are even more beautiful places waiting for us further up.” Silica held up one index finger in front of their eyes, revealing a cute smile.

"Eh—" Lisbeth exclaimed, feeling a bit disoriented, then looked around and muttered, "So where is our student council president?"

"Ah, I've been wanting to ask you what's over there for a while now?" Suddenly, Lingyin pointed to the side, where a notice board was surrounded by players in an arc.

“Let’s go take a look.” Silica took the lead and walked in that direction, leaving the two who were still standing there.

"I'm telling you—does Silica think she's some kind of senior?" Lisbeth pouted and complained.

"Haha, I think so, but in terms of combat strength, she's definitely stronger than both of us," Lingyin stated a fact.

“I’m a blacksmith,” Lisbeth said, puffing out her chest, which was covered by cloth armor.

Actually, me too... Lingyin gave a few bitter laughs.

"Hey, you two—" Silica waved her hand dramatically, calling out to the two of them.

“Okay—” Lisbeth said, waving her right hand while placing her left hand near her mouth. “Coming.”

Then Lisbeth rushed over, and Lingyin shook her head with a light laugh when she saw this, before following behind the two of them.

On the steps between the transfer gate square and the town gate entrance stands a message board, with a piece of parchment bearing the notice pasted in the center.

The notice stated that the strategy meeting would begin at 2 PM.

“Two o’clock…” Lisbeth frowned, while Lingyin immediately opened the game’s main menu to check the time.

"Hey, hey, hey, it's only twenty minutes from now?!"

"It's alright, it's alright. Although it took us quite a while to get to Miss Ashurai's place, at least we look like members of a major guild now, right?" After turning around, Silica looked up at the two of them with her head held high.

“Indeed…” Lisbeth was speechless.

"Haha, Miss Ashura is so enthusiastic," Lingyin said shyly, touching her back.

In the morning, they were wearing simple equipment, but now they have changed into super fashionable clothes, looking like high-level adventurers from a fantasy world.

Of course, you can't rely too much on the stats of this gear, because it's made from some common first and second-tier materials.

After leaving the town, Silica changed back into her original armor, which had been upgraded to its maximum level.

“Let’s head over to the venue first. Dante and Asuna should be waiting for us there.” Silica waved her hand and led the way. To be honest, she didn’t know the exact location, but she knew that they just needed to head north.

Because there is a semi-circular meeting place on the north side of the Transfer Gate Plaza that is similar to the first floor's Tolbana and the second floor's Taran, the first meeting of the Strategy Group on the third floor was held there.

Although there were still tourists on the road, they were already scattered, making the square seem very empty.

In contrast, the bowl-shaped space surrounded by three giant baobab trees was already packed with many players.

"Amazing—" Lisbeth exclaimed again, but this time not for the scenery, but for the gathering of powerful figures.

She considered herself to have a sharp eye among blacksmiths; the players here were all wearing rare equipment rarely seen in the lower levels, and their enhancement rates were quite high.

Then a strange player wearing a cross helmet and bandages came into her view. Because he was so eerie, she closed her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

The strategy guide group really has all sorts of guys.

"Um... Silica, where are we going?" Lingyin looked at the venue in surprise, finally fixing her gaze on her companion beside her.

“Yes, yes, there are so many people here.” Lisbeth looked around. “There must be at least fifty people.”

"Why are there so many people?" Silica was also a little overwhelmed, and many of them were unfamiliar faces, far exceeding the number of the combined forces.

However, after observing for a second, she realized that although there were many people, it wasn't really chaotic.

The reason for this is that the crowd standing in the center of the venue was clearly divided into two large groups, which can be described as distinct.

Silica quickly found Miss Mitt in the scattered yet seemingly surrounded crowd on the outer perimeter.

"Found it!" she exclaimed, then turned and said, "This way."

Entering from the entrance, after passing through the dense crowd, the view suddenly opens up.

“Hey, Silica.” Lisbeth nudged Silica, who had suddenly stopped in her tracks.

Lingyin covered her mouth and whispered to Silica, "Hey, could that blond handsome guy up ahead be our president?"

But her gaze was drawn to him like a magnet, unable to look away.

“…” Silica turned around blankly to look at her two companions, her expression seemingly saying, “I don’t know.”

She's only been separated from Dante for a day, how come she's changed so much?!

What exactly did Asuna and Mito do?

-----------------

They were teleported by Kizmel to the edge of the forest, and after returning to the pavilion where they started.

Dante and Asuna headed down the forest path to the right, and after only about five minutes, a wall made of logs lined up side by side appeared in front of them.

To be honest, the use of timber for the city wall was a bit too rough. The logs were only simply trimmed before being placed there. I wonder if you could see the gaps if you looked closer.

When he saw Asuna pull her hood up again, he began to miss his old cloak, as the "midnight coat" he was wearing now didn't have a hood.

"So this is 'Zumford'?" As Asuna stepped through the iron gate into the tunnel-like passage, bathed in the rising sun, her eyes sparkled with surprise and joy. For a moment, time seemed to stand still.

"Ah..." She bit her lower lip lightly, seemingly suppressing her excitement. "Um, can we go up there?"

"Let's go up and take a look after we help Mitt complete the guild quest," Dante said softly.

I received a message from Diabel early this morning, saying that the strategy meeting would be held at 2 p.m. today.

Therefore, they decided to complete the guild mission first, because Diabel's choice of this time meant that the "Aincrad Alliance" guild would have been established before then.

This way, they might be able to win over some players who are still undecided at the meeting.

Determined to prove herself, Asuna decided to complete the guild mission today as well.

So in the mornings they would run errands in town or hunt designated monsters outside the designated area.

I also took on some convenient side quests, and the experience points from collecting materials and defeating monsters were quite generous. Even Dante's experience bar, which had been stagnant after reaching level 16, slowly started to increase a little.

When they presented the guild seal to the mayor, the mayor said he would give the seal to them because it was a symbol of unity, and those who could complete this series of tasks must also be able to inherit the legacy of their ancestors.

Indeed, just to get to the second level of the Queen Spider's cave, you need to defeat the boss first, which is a difficult task for one person, unless... you're already in the late game.

Unity... Unity...

As Dante rubbed the age-old marks on the stamp with his fingers, the story written in the background suddenly came to life, as if he were witnessing the history of the town firsthand.

"Still holding it in your hand? Is this thing really that good?" Asuna complained.

"Not really, it's just an ordinary seal." Dante glanced down at the item in his palm, then tossed it to Asuna.

"Waaaaah—" Asuna quickly caught it, slightly annoyed. "What if it breaks?"

"I'll leave it to the vice president for safekeeping," Dante said with a smile.

“There’s still a while before the time we agreed on with Diabel. What should we do next?” Mitt asked quietly from the side.

"It's only 9 o'clock." Asuna glanced at the time and tapped the floor with the heel of her leather boots with excitement. Even the exhaustion from staying up all night couldn't dampen her eagerness. "Shall we go up to the top 20th floor next?"

“Yes, and Silica and I are also on the twentieth floor.” Mito crossed his arms and assured Asuna, “The view is really beautiful, worth seeing at least once.”

Because the accommodation fee is only related to the size of the room and whether there is a window, although the view is better the higher you go, there is no elevator, so going up and down the stairs is very troublesome.

If you decide to live a leisurely life here, living on the top floor is not a problem.

"Hurry up, hurry up!" Asuna ran towards the stairs first, then stood on the stairs and waved to them.

She then nimbly and quickly stepped over the stair railing and climbed up the stairs.

"Shall we have a race to see who can climb to the top first?" Dante's lips unconsciously curled into a smile.

"Alright." Asuna's eyes instantly filled with fighting spirit.

Asuna, known for her agility and lightness of movement, continued her elegant ascent, while Dante, clad in armor, barely kept up, with Mito trailing behind.

"I won!" Asuna strode into the spacious hall, spoke to an NPC, and then brought up the menu window.

"Are there any good rooms?" Dante approached and found Asuna staring intently at the list of available rooms.

"Hmm, this place should be nice." Asuna declared as she pressed the confirmation button, then set the number of nights and paid the bill.

She then turned around and, with a rare smile, said, "I booked that really nice-looking room on the south side, and it's only half the price! It's over here!"

Then she pushed Dante's back and began to move quickly.

“…” Mitt stared blankly at the two departing figures, his raised hand frozen in mid-air. The room price should have remained the same.

Asuna probably didn't skip the number of guests input field on the window. If it's set to one person, then you have to pay the full amount yourself. But if you're in a group, two or more people will split the cost equally.

It's become obvious.

Asuna, you big idiot!!!

Chapter 85: A Peaceful Sleep

Mito quickly caught up and followed Asuna to the outer room.

"This is it, right?" Asuna checked the room number, then grasped the doorknob. The system recognized the person checking in and automatically unlocked the door.

The first thing that catches the eye is a large area of ​​windows on the south side, through which you can see the blue sky outside.

"Wow—" Asuna let out a short cheer and ran to the window, pressing her face against it. "You can see the whole Misty Forest from here!"

“Hey…” Dante heard Mitt’s voice, then looked down and saw her covering her mouth and whispering to him from close range.

"Did you notice that this is a double room?"

“I noticed.” It was obvious that there were two beds set up on either side of the room, so he knew perfectly well that this was a double room.

After glancing at Asuna's back, Dante rolled his eyes at Mitt.

"I can just rent another room later."

Or perhaps he went to Mitt's room to rest, leaving the two girls there.