A journey to another world starting from a sword

He himself was getting impatient, so he pointed upwards towards Asuna.

After receiving a nod in response, the two quickly floated up the cable. Dante turned to look at Asuna, who was only a few centimeters away from him. Her delicate skin appeared even whiter in the water, contrasting sharply with the surrounding blue world, making her look like a fairy in the lake.

Asuna turned her head to look at him, blinking her bright eyes as if she wanted to say something.

As the light grew brighter, they got closer and closer to the water's surface.

As soon as his fingers broke the surface of the water, a pair of hands grabbed him and pulled him out of the water.

“Got you,” Mitt said.

"Haha, I'm saved." Dante flipped into the Tirnier, shook the water off his head, and then manipulated the window to materialize the white cloak in his inventory, placing it on Asuna's head while she was still in the water.

"Thank you." Asuna whispered her thanks, wrapped herself in her cloak, and emerged from the water.

Dante, while wiping his body with a cloth, complained about the weather in Aincrad.

"It's really cold in the water."

"Really?" Asuna, sitting in her seat, touched her burning face.

“It’s winter after all,” Mitt said, leaning on his sickle as he sat on the edge of the boat.

It might snow soon, and it will definitely be even colder then.

After Asuna finished putting on her equipment, Diabel's ship slowly approached.

"A beautiful battle." As Diabel clapped his hands first, the Aincrad Allied Forces, even those with stern faces, still clapped a few times as a gesture of respect.

Apart from... Ya Wang and Lin De, these two seemed dissatisfied with Dante and his group taking LA, so they didn't say a word the whole time.

"I'll take my leave now." Agil and the others, who had given them a thumbs-up, waved and left the lake because they had other things to do.

A vertical cliff surrounds a deep blue lake about 300 meters in diameter. As they pass through this area, the scenery on the south side of the fourth floor begins to unfold before them.

"Hehehe, congratulations."

As they were on their way to the next village, "Usco," a familiar sound suddenly came from the side, a sound that seemed impossible to hear here.

"Argo!" Asuna exclaimed in surprise.

“Little Asia, it’s been a long time,” Argo said in a nostalgic tone, but in reality, this “long time” didn’t mean that much time had passed.

“On the water…” At this moment, Silica’s attention was drawn to something else about Argo.

"Haha, yeah, don't I look handsome now?" Argo joked.

Indeed, anyone who saw Argo, Aincrad's notorious intelligence broker, "The Rat," moving at the same speed as the Tirnier on the ship's port side would be astonished.

Simply because she wasn't swimming or riding a gondola.

Instead, she glided across the water like an insect resting on its surface after the rain.

"How did you do that?" Mitter was very interested in the principle behind it.

"Meow haha, this is a great find in the main street!" She glided along on her left foot with a "whoosh" while raising her right foot to show everyone.

Normally she wears boots, but this time her bare feet were covered with what looked like simple wooden floats, which appeared to be the props for walking on the water.

“Miss Argo, can we use this too?” Lingyin asked with great interest as she leaned over the edge of the gondola.

“I’m sorry, this equipment requires a very high level of agility,” Argo explained after shaking his head. “Moreover, you have to minimize the weight of the equipment when using it, and you will lose your balance if you move even slightly. It can only be used for normal travel at most.”

In other words, it should absolutely not be used in combat.

"But you don't look like you've reduced your equipment at all," Lisbeth remarked.

Argo was still wearing his usual hooded cloak, which is why Lisbeth said that.

“Ah, maybe I don’t have any equipment under my cloak at all.” Argo chuckled, twitching the three whiskers on his cheek.

"!"

"?!"

"Eh?"

Everyone gasped in surprise, and then, without prior arrangement, they all wanted to confirm it.

Dante originally wanted to take a few more glances, although he thought it was unlikely that Argo would take off all his clothes, but the penetrating gaze coming from below made him give up the idea.

"Ahem, come on up first. You don't want to glide along with us the whole time, do you?" He coughed a few times and invited.

“Oh, thanks. I’ll gladly accept.” Argo readily jumped onto the ship and sat down in the last row of leather chairs.

At this point, the six-seater gondola is truly at full capacity. In fact, a six-seater can carry seven people, since the boatman is not included.

On the way, to pass the time or for some other reason, Argo chatted with Asuna, who was sitting next to her, and they laughed happily from time to time.

It was already noon when we arrived at the "floating village" of Usco.

After docking the Tiernell at the pier in the corner of the village, they decided to find a decent restaurant in the small village to have lunch together. That being said, compared to Robia, the "Water City," the lunches served here were like home-cooked meals.

After finishing her meal, Argo planned to return to the main town. The village was surprisingly small, and she had gathered all the necessary information. So she said goodbye to Dante and the others.

Originally, Dante should have asked Lisbeth, Lingyin, and Argo to return together, but since he was the only ship available, he had to take them back himself.

The raiding group would definitely aim to conquer the maze area, so after some discussion, they decided to move the entire guild's base to Usco.

Having two skilled blacksmiths on the front lines is a very welcome thing. At this time, it doesn't matter if Ke'er earns a little less for the sake of a good reputation.

On the way back, there were only three passengers on the ship, mainly Lisbeth and Lingyin who needed to retrieve items stored in the hotel's lockers.

“Um…” Suddenly, Lingyin turned around and looked at Dante somewhat awkwardly, as if she wanted to say something.

"What's wrong?" Dante smiled gently, encouraging the girl who seemed a little shy.

Being shy is actually because you haven't fully gotten to know someone yet. Once you're really familiar with them, they'll become a very bold girl.

"Actually, I think I got a dropped item." Lingyin took something out of her backpack, a thick, brownish-yellow rectangular object.

If it were a blacksmith, this should be a material of a very familiar shape and size, that is, a metal material.

"Huh?!" Lisbeth exclaimed.

"Mysterious Nether Crystal Ingot." This is the name displayed in the window when you open the properties of the metal material.

"...Did the Boss just drop this?" Dante asked incredulously after a moment of silence.

"Yes." Holding the metal block in her hands, Lingyin nodded obediently.

“That’s great, Dante, your next weapon is sorted out now.” Argo said with a grin, his hands behind his head.

Ah, indeed, this is probably the biggest loot we've gotten from defeating this boss.

Chapter 103: A Long-Awaited Embrace

With the main materials in hand, Dante didn't immediately have Lingyin help him forge a weapon. There hadn't been any important battles in the past few days, and he planned to wait until Lingyin's skill proficiency improved further.

However, compared to that, the LA reward I received, the "Neptunus Clipeus," is somewhat inferior.

Although Asuna, who uses a rapier, can equip a shield, she chooses not to because it would reduce the speed of the rapier.

Silica is the same; she was originally a light swordswoman who mainly focused on agility, so choosing to carry a shield, an equipment used for absorbing damage, is somewhat of a waste of her strengths.

All that's left is...

"Lingyin." After looking Lingyin up and down for a while, Dante asked, "Do you use a shield?"

"A shield?" Lingyin's body suddenly trembled upon hearing this.

"Yeah, don't you want to be a combat player rather than a production-oriented player?"

"Whoosh." Argo whistled softly. "I didn't expect Lingyin to adapt to life in Aincrad so quickly."

To survive properly in Aincrad, fighting monsters outside the town is an unavoidable part; players can't just hide in the main streets forever.

Of course, if you only want to do some errands in town and earn a meager amount of Cor, you can barely survive.

The kind of life where you stay in cheap hotels, eat regular restaurant meals every day, and can't save any money even if you try to be frugal, really makes you feel hopeless.

Moreover, even production-oriented players need to have the ability to gather basic materials in the wild, otherwise where will they get their initial capital? Ke'er and skill proficiency won't appear out of thin air, unless there is an "angel investor".

“Hey, Lingyin, you really…” Lisbeth began, but then hesitated to speak.

What did you say? That the battle was dangerous?

How could they not know that since joining "Eternal Garden," Miss Mitt has been dragging them outside the circle almost every day?

Therefore, Lingyin must have been prepared before making this request.

"Hahaha..." Lingyin laughed bitterly, probably because she found it unbelievable that she had adapted to SAO.

Then she raised an eyebrow and looked at Dante with some hesitation. "Dante, I've never used a shield before."

The one-handed sword she used did indeed leave one hand free to use as a shield, but deep down she didn't know why she was reluctant to use it.

"Don't you want it? It's a rare piece of equipment dropped by the boss. It's very safe to hide behind the shield," Dante said casually.

"It's safe..."

This sentence deeply moved Lingyin. It wasn't that she suddenly decided to equip herself with a shield, but rather that she seemed to understand the reason for her resistance: she didn't want to "hide" in the back.

Having finally mustered the courage to go outside the town to fight the monster, she was afraid that using her shield would cause her to lose her hard-won courage.

“I don’t need it.” She lowered her eyes, then immediately looked up and smiled brightly. “Liz can be equipped too, so let’s give it to her.”

"Eh? Me?" Lisbeth pointed to herself, her gaze shifting back and forth between Lingyin and Dante, seemingly hesitant about taking advantage of something that didn't originally belong to her, since Dante had specifically requested Lingyin for this piece of equipment from the beginning.

"Then let's give it to Liz." Sensing Lingyin's determination, Dante decided to grant her wish. He then looked at the somewhat apprehensive Lizbet, "Don't overthink it. Just say what you want. Equipment distribution is based on who needs it most, so don't feel guilty. Aren't we comrades?"

Noticing Lisbeth's restless hand on her lap, he tilted his head and softly comforted her.

"Ah, if there's anything you can't say to me, it's okay to confide in our vice president. Asuna is very kind."

"Hmm..." After staring intently at Dante for a while, Lisbeth lowered her head and replied in a soft voice, "Okay."

She suddenly felt that joining the "Eternal Garden" was wonderful, and at that moment Lisbeth was infinitely grateful to herself for striking up a conversation with Silica that day.

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

"So what is a surprise?"

At dusk, the Tirniel, carrying the guild girls, set sail from Usco, heading southeast along the bright orange-red waterway.

"A surprise is a surprise indeed." Dante honestly took on the role of boatman, standing at the stern and rowing.

"...Hmph." Asuna vented her dissatisfaction slightly at Dante's suspenseful approach.

Her gaze swept over the dappled light and shadows swaying with the afterglow of the setting sun. She leaned over, dipped her palm into the river, closed her eyes, and felt the gentle current flowing through her fingers.

But... let's still look forward to it a little.

"That's the same as not saying anything at all," Lisbeth retorted.

“Since Dante said so, it must be a big surprise.” Silica trusted him as always.

Lingyin didn't participate in the conversation; instead, she imitated Asuna and reached her hand into the water. "Hey!"

"Be careful not to fall into the water," Dante kindly muttered.

"Okay~" Lingyin giggled and playfully splashed the water into the distance.

Around the corner, a colossal gray tower appeared in the distance, a tower that stretched all the way to the bottom of the upper level.

"You're not thinking of going into the labyrinth, are you?" Asuna asked suspiciously, tugging at Dante's trouser leg.

"How could that be?" Dante said, both amused and exasperated. "What kind of person do you take me for?"

"Hmph—talking about surprises, then leading us into the labyrinth, planning to conquer the entire labyrinth day and night, even eating and sleeping inside—I think you're capable of doing that." Asuna gazed into the distance and said in a flippant tone.

These words made Lisbeth turn her face around abruptly, as if she were making an "Eh" expression; she actually believed the child.

"Asuna is joking," Dante chuckled.

"I see." Lisbeth breathed a long sigh of relief.

“Hmm.” Dante nodded. “If we were really living in the labyrinth, I would have told you in advance.”

"Huh? What did you just say?" Lisbeth wondered if there was something wrong with her ears. Dante didn't answer but gave her a polite smile, which made her gasp.

“Actually, camping in a maze is quite fun,” Silica added.

“Are you... serious?” Lisbeth looked at Silica in disbelief.

At the same time, Lingyin turned her head with great interest and asked, "Really?"