A journey to another world starting from a sword

If it weren't for the slightly ferocious faces on the tree trunk, the Boss's demeanor could undergo a complete 180-degree transformation.

The switched team members joined the battle one after another. A giant axe wielder swung his two-handed axe, which flashed with silver light, and chopped at the boss's tree trunk. The enormous force created a brand new wound on the bark.

Then, a lightly armed swordsman seized the opportunity to climb onto the tree-man and, using his agility, launched a fierce attack on the boss's vulnerable spots with his sword skills.

The battle raged on, and the giant tree spirit was not to be outdone. It waved its branch-like hands and slammed a player to the ground, instantly reducing his HP by more than half.

But this was just an accident. Normally, the Boss's attacks are heavy but slow, making them easy to block with a heavy tank or dodge freely.

With a roar from the Boss, its HP dropped to the last bar.

"Whoa whoa whoa!!!" The forty-odd players of the combined forces shouted in celebration of their impending victory.

Although the Boss's attack pattern differs slightly from that recorded in the closed beta test guide, it can frequently unleash wide-area poison attacks. However, thanks to Dante's reminder, everyone prepared a large number of antidotes, which were consumed quite quickly, and the Boss's HP dropped just as rapidly.

"Team D, retreat. Team E, switch." Diabel once again brandished his sword, issuing battlefield commands.

At this moment, the Boss, the Evil Treant Nereus, began to slowly change its form. The vines wrapped around its trunk became thicker and thicker. It frantically swung its giant arms, and the branches danced like whips, bringing with them a violent storm.

"Let's go." Dante casually tossed the empty antidote he had been playing with onto the ground.

The boss, now in a near-death berserk mode, is extremely dangerous, which is why the difference in combat power between squads has become so apparent.

Surprisingly, the player who contributed the most damage to the Boss was Asuna, who wielded a rapier. With her brand-new weapon, Asuna's attack power was significantly higher than all the other players present.

After several enhancements by Lisbeth, the blue rapier with its unique luster had reached the peak of the third level of power. Even Dante had to admit defeat, as it was clearly inferior to the Bear Slayer sword in his hand.

As time went on, the tree spirit's body bore more and more wounds, its bark began to peel off, and the tree spirit's movements gradually became slower.

The next second, the giant tree-like boss collapsed to the ground, its leaves falling and shattering into countless shards of glass.

In less than a week, the third floor of Aincrad was successfully conquered by the players.

Chapter 94: No Swimsuit

The light from the open door made my eyes squint uncomfortably.

At the same time, an incredible sound came to my ears.

It's the sound of flowing water.

It was like a duet composed of distorted bass notes and soaring treble notes.

The relief of "a traveler rowing a gondola-like boat" in the stairwell had already given me a glimpse of what was to come, but witnessing the scene before my eyes stirred up a complex and beautiful mix of emotions within me like waves.

According to Mitt's memory, the entire fourth floor should have been sandy, with a network of canyons crisscrossing and connecting the main towns, creating a desolate and oppressive landscape.

During the closed beta, players couldn't stand the atmosphere of this level and opted to clear it quickly, which meant she didn't stay on this level for very long.

Now, the dry canyon, which was the only passage during the closed testing period, has been transformed into a deep blue stream, forming a rapid current capable of stirring up white foam.

What is this...

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

“This is different from the information Argo gave me.” Asuna, with her hands behind her back, tilted her head slightly, her long hair swaying and casting faint particles of light in front of the pavilion where light and shadow intertwined.

Lingyin and Lisbeth, who had just been suspected of slacking off during the Boss battle, walked out of the stairwell.

"Shouldn't this be a barren valley?"

"Huh! This is completely different from what was reported in the intelligence!"

"Mite?" Asuna turned to look at the purple-haired princess standing next to her and called out in confusion.

“No, there really wasn’t a drop of water here during the closed beta test.” Mitt stroked his chin and pondered.

The terrain has completely changed, so the spawn locations of monsters and materials will likely change significantly as well, making the experience gained during the closed beta less applicable here.

"I wonder if there are any special materials here?" Lisbeth, with her craftsman's spirit in her heart, was full of anticipation for this change.

In the past two days, many frontline players have contacted her to customize weapons or metal armor. They all bring their own materials, since it's impossible for her to collect them all by herself.

The guild's policy is not primarily focused on making money, and its members are unlikely to proactively help her collect the necessary materials and items.

However, due to the scarcity of materials, the equipment crafted is basically the same, and its performance is only slightly better than the standard equipment sold in stores.

However, it would be wonderful if there were more of these kinds of good things: using materials that others have spent time and effort collecting to improve one's own skill proficiency, while also earning a considerable processing fee from them.

"Let's keep going anyway," Dante suggested to his companions as his eyes adjusted to the light and he left the shelter of the pavilion.

"Okay!" "Let's go, let's go."

The six of them walked down the south slope, stepping on the damp moss, and then stopped at the edge of the river, where they saw the wide river surface and the surging water.

Dante knelt on one knee by the river, the sunlight reflecting off the water like countless sparkling diamonds, gently undulating with the ripples, the light and shadow shifting like a dreamlike light show.

"I can see the riverbed," he murmured. The riverbed, covered with white sand, looked very clean. He wondered if the water here was drinkable.

"Ah, it's so cool!" Silica ran to Dante's side and squatted down, playfully dipping her hands into the river.

Because she was wearing a short skirt, Silica kept her legs together modestly. The fair skin of her calves and thighs, which were not covered by over-the-knee stockings, revealed a girlish innocence, like a green apple.

"How are we going to get across?" Asuna, standing to Dante's right, glanced across the river from left to right.

“Of course we’ll swim there, since there’s no boat.” Lisbeth said confidently, hands on her hips, stating that it was indeed the right answer.

"Be careful not to drown," Mitt warned helplessly.

In SAO, there is a drowning mechanic. If you are completely submerged in water, your HP will start to decrease soon. If you are unable to surface, you will eventually die.

"I'd like to ask, is there anyone among you who can't swim?" Asuna looked at her companions and earnestly discussed the feasibility of swimming.

"Would you consider my PE class level to be considered a swimmer?" Lisbeth asked with a hint of wryness after raising her hand.

"Um... I'm not very good at it," Silica muttered softly, sounding rather unsure.

The last person's answer was even more brilliant.

"...I can't." Well, as a returned overseas student, Lingyin has only had a handful of swimming lessons, so it's impossible for her to learn such a skill so easily with just a few swimming lessons in the summer.

"Huh...but...where is he?" Asuna was about to turn around and ask Dante for his opinion when she realized that he was gone.

"The person is over there," Mitt said, pointing casually to a spot not far away.

"Hey, what are you looking at? What should we do next?" Asuna walked to the tree and asked Dante.

We can't exactly go back to the third floor now to find a river to practice swimming; speaking of which, Zumford does have a moat...

"No, we really have to swim across."

Upon hearing this, Lisbeth immediately gave her a "See, I told you so" look.

“But…” Asuna was about to question him when she saw Dante draw his sword from his back, assume a swordsmanship stance, and the next second, blue light emanated from the sword.

"Boom."

The heavy sword strike hit the tree, causing the canopy to sway and unidentified fruits to fall to the ground.

"What is this?" Asuna only then noticed that there were fruits growing on the tree.

“Perhaps it’s a tool to solve the problem.” Picking up a fruit, Dante tossed it aside. “The game designers probably don’t want us to go back to learning to swim.”

"Eh—" Asuna thought he made a lot of sense, so she picked up a fruit that looked a bit like the pattern on a donut, and the stem looked a bit strange.

“This tree wasn’t there during the closed beta test.” Mitt also picked up a fruit.

"Can we eat this?" Silica asked curiously, moving closer to Asuna.

“You can give it a try.” Dante laughed happily, and then he blew a lot of air towards the stem.

The fruit instantly swelled up with a "bang".

"This is...?!" Everyone showed expressions of shock.

"Everyone, give it a try." With a smug look on his face, Dante picked up a tree fruit from the ground and tossed it to Lingyin, who was closest to him.

"I see." After nodding, Asuna pursed her lips and put the fruit stem in her mouth.

She leaned back and took a deep breath, then closed her eyes and blew it into the fruit.

With a second explosion, a swimming ring appeared in her hand.

"How amazing!" Such an interesting thing made her amber eyes sparkle.

"Well, it's just like a puzzle game." At that moment, Dante received a message from Argo asking about the fourth floor. He casually sent over the changes on the fourth floor, as well as information about the Swimming Ring Fruit.

Argo, she only actively requests information from those she trusts.

I originally wanted to send it to Diabel, but they didn't seem to have left the maze area yet, so the message couldn't be sent at all.

Everyone, clutching their swimming rings, returned to the riverbank, and all that was left was... to take their clothes off.

Since there were no swimsuits available, and Dante couldn't inform them in advance, it was fine for his own, but it was even more difficult to prepare swimsuits for the girls beforehand.

Although in SAO, as long as your head is above the water, your HP will not decrease while swimming.

"For safety's sake, I think it would be better to remove the heavier equipment first," Mitt advised based on his own experience.

"Specifically?" Asuna suddenly realized something, and after quickly glancing at Dante, she hurriedly asked Mito for confirmation.

“Specifically…” Mitt’s gaze swept around a few times before finally settling on the person among his companions who was the heaviest equipped, “A coat, a two-handed sword, leather armor, metal gauntlets, and boots… that’s about it.”

Dante readily accepted the advice and took off all of them, leaving him with only a thin undergarment.

Everyone else did as instructed, except...

"Asuna, your leather skirt is actually quite heavy," Mito reminded her again after Asuna had taken it off.

“…” After glancing at Dante a few more times, Asuna, her face slightly flushed, made up her mind and took off her skirt, leaving her only in a corset.

In the sunlight, her chestnut hair was like sweet cream, and Asuna's simple, belted coat outlined her light and graceful figure.

The coat is quite long in both the front and back, so it won't expose the underwear, but it seems to actually add a certain destructive force to it.

The skin exposed from the thighs was as delicate and smooth as a shelled almond, shimmering with a dreamlike glow under the sunlight, while the outline of her small, delicate breasts was faintly visible under the tight fabric, revealing a subtle and graceful beauty.

Her long, slender eyelashes trembled slightly, concealing her inner struggle and shyness. Her delicate lips parted slightly.

"you......"

"You?" Dante looked up into her eyes, and the meaning in them was clear. No further explanation was needed, because Asuna had already made her move the next second.

Asuna threw the swimming ring so hard it hit him squarely in the face. "What are you looking at?!"

Her tone carried a hint of embarrassment and annoyance, yet it was unexpectedly provocative.

"Ugh." Dante let out a heavy groan as he was struck head-on.

“Hahaha…” Mite put his finger to his lips and chuckled, “Of course, that’s not foolproof. It would be best to take everything off and leave only your underwear on.”

"Mite?" Asuna exclaimed in surprise.

"Huh?" "Really?" "They're all off?"

"Just in case." Mito sighed in response to the girls' questions. "Just like how clothes become heavier when they absorb water in real life, there is also the possibility of clothes getting wet in SAO, which would be very dangerous... Even if we can't take them all off, we should try to reduce the weight as much as possible."

Mito set an example by taking off all her clothes except for her top. Her legs were much longer than Asuna's, and they were beautiful legs too.

Silica, on the other hand, kept only a slip dress without any burden, which was originally her usual private attire.

Lingyin's figure was more mature, probably due to her age; she had more flesh on her chest and thighs than Yasina.

Lisbeth is surprisingly well-endowed, and she's probably the one with the biggest breasts among them.

"Why isn't this guy taking anything off?!" Asuna pointed at Dante and said.

"..." After receiving a signal from Mitt, Dante shrugged and pressed the button to access all the clothing.

“No way…” Lisbeth murmured unconsciously.

Her marble-like figure instantly attracted the attention of all the girls present.

"Hmm?" Dante raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"President, are you perhaps working as a male escort somewhere?" Lisbeth asked first.

"Why do I have to become a male host?" Dante said, both amused and exasperated. In Japan, being a male host is not considered a respectable job.

Moreover, male escorts might not necessarily have such impressive muscles, given that they often stay up late and drink alcohol.

"I'll go into the water and try it out first," Asuna said, feeling that as the vice president, she should set an example.

Her shapely legs appeared even straighter during the movement. As she walked lightly towards the water, the water rippled and her chestnut hair, as black as seaweed, swayed in the water.

Even with the mysterious swimming ring, the fact that weapons have been removed means that they may be unable to fight in critical moments, which is somewhat dangerous.