A journey to another world starting from a sword

Ah, I really want to hug her and spin her around a few times.

Now, Asuna gets so excited about getting good equipment that she can't control herself.

At this moment, SAO should no longer be a cage that ruins her life.

Chapter 111: Please wear white socks, thank you.

Next comes Aincrad's highest level of pleasure: Dante and Asuna click on each piece of equipment in the pop-up reward list to check its attributes.

Mitt, Silica, Lingyin, and Lisbeth all crowded around, looking at the visualized window and offering their opinions.

"This is pretty good!"

"Hmm! It even rewards agility points!"

"Wow, isn't the area of ​​this fabric a bit too daring?"

Choosing them one by one would take too much time, but Yoferis did not show any impatience. He simply waited quietly, which truly demonstrated his noble demeanor.

Kizmel temporarily replaced the commander who had fallen into the water and went to gather and appease the dark elf forces.

"Hey, what equipment are you planning to choose?" With her hands behind her back, Lingyin gently bent down and asked Dante.

"Hmm... to be honest, I don't seem to be lacking anything right now." Dante thought for a moment, then glanced at Lingyin. "Speaking of which, how's your skill proficiency?"

"Hehehe." Lingyin laughed sweetly, "After completing the tasks in the castle, I've reached 150."

Not only did she receive blacksmithing tasks, but she also received a large number of orders for forging weapons while setting up her stall in the village, which greatly increased her proficiency.

This phenomenon only occurs on the fourth or fifth floor. As the maximum number of times equipment can be enhanced increases, players will gradually reduce the frequency of upgrading their equipment.

However, the reputation and brand effect accumulated now will bring long-term benefits. Even if other blacksmiths take away customer resources later, everyone knows who is more skilled and more trustworthy.

“Then there’s no need to worry about weapons.” Dante Chao Lingyin smiled and continued sliding the window.

You can use the ingots obtained from Lingyin to forge new two-handed swords. After all, it's not common for "magic sword" level weapons to drop. Aside from minor differences in performance, it doesn't really matter what you use for weapons of the same level.

He had just checked the durability of the "Bear Slayer". After the intense battle just now, its durability had dropped to a very low level. Although it was still some distance from being destroyed, to be honest, it would only take a few sword skills to destroy it.

Improper use can cause a weapon's durability to drop very quickly, such as using the blade to directly block sword techniques.

If the next sword has the same durability limit, he'll probably have to reconsider the focus of his upgrades.

"Yes! I'll forge the sword right away," Lingyin quickly assured her.

"No need to do it so early, just do it when you feel ready," Dante reassured her.

“I’m ready!” Lingyin said, pumping her fist in her chest.

"That's really reliable—" Dante smiled encouragingly.

"Hehe, Dante, your praise makes me a little embarrassed," Lingyin said, touching her back.

"Hmm." Turning his head back to look at the list, Dante lowered his head and fell into thought.

Once weapons are ruled out, all that's left is what's on your body.

The armor was made by Ashurai from the hide of a fire bear. Although it hadn't been delivered yet, he had great confidence in Ashurai's craftsmanship. She was also a woman with a strong sense of self-respect and would never hand over a defective product.

As for the hand and lower body armor, since it was just obtained on the third floor, it doesn't really need to be changed. As for the outer garment...

He looked down at the "midnight coat" that had been with him since the first floor.

Although he could equip it for a while longer and didn't need to replace it so quickly, he had just obtained the "Sun Cloak" dropped by the Forest Elf, a low-ranking knight.

The two equipment slots conflict. Regardless of whether they need to be replaced later, at least this equipment slot does not need a new substitute.

"So all that's left are shoes and a belt..." Dante pinched his chin, confirming the type of equipment he needed to choose.

"Have you chosen?"

Asuna's voice made him look up, and Dante said with some surprise, "What, you've already made your choice?"

"More or less." Asuna blinked repeatedly, a slight blush creeping across her face.

This made Dante a little curious about what she had chosen, but given that her weapon didn't need to be changed, it was most likely that she chose the clothes.

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

After resting for a while in Kizmel's room, Dante came out of the bedroom and saw what Asuna had chosen.

This is a white knight dress with an elven style, mainly in white and red, showcasing an elegant and gorgeous style.

The upper body is made of fine fabric, decorated with ribbons and lace, giving it an incredibly pure look.

The waist design is full of details, with a leather belt and sequins or other decorations, adding a touch of luxury and elegance.

Needless to say, the skirt only revealed a sliver of her snow-white thighs above the stockings, creating an absolute territory that would make any man unable to resist taking a second look.

The amount of skin exposed is just right, making it both sexy and cute on a young girl. The fact that it can showcase these two different styles at the same time speaks volumes about how amazing this dress is.

Moreover, it must be said that this outfit is on a completely different level of fashion compared to the one Asuna wore before!

Previously, it might have been around 10+5, with the person scoring a perfect 10, but the clothes only scoring 5.

But after wearing this one, it becomes 10x10 in terms of beauty.

"H-how is it?"

Dante finally understood why Asuna had made that expression when they were in the castle's open space earlier.

Even now, she was holding her other arm with one hand behind her back, her face was slightly flushed, and her eyes were sparkling.

"Although Miss Ashura's clothes are quite nice, there aren't many good materials, and it's a bit of a stretch to always ask her to do things."

Indeed, due to the issue of materials, the equipment Ashura crafts is always replaced by various dropped items, resulting in a messy and mismatched style. Now, he finally has a set of clothes that looks very good and even has good attributes.

“Indeed, the clothes are really nice, but…” Dante’s gaze went downwards.

Asuna, too, thought something was wrong and looked down at her feet. "What's wrong?"

"Hmm, how about white stockings instead?" Dante suggested earnestly. The current black stockings didn't really match the white knight's dress; white would definitely be better.

"you......"

"You?" Dante tilted his head and asked in confusion.

"Is that what you're focusing on?!"

Asuna's right hand flashed out and grabbed Dante's left hand. Then, with a forceful pull, she delivered a powerful knee strike to his lower abdomen with the same beautiful, almost damaging force as always.

"Well--"

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

Saying goodbye to the host before leaving is a basic courtesy.

In the afternoon, Dante had Mitt and the others wait at the ship, and then he and Asuna followed Kizmel to the fifth floor of the fortress again.

This time, Yoferis did not hide in the shadows, but sat obediently at his desk handling official business.

After this great battle, there seemed to be many things he needed to deal with; a dozen parchment scrolls had already piled up on his desk.

"Are you going to challenge the guardian beast of the 'Tower of Heaven'?" Yoferis asked about their next plans.

"Yes," Dante said frankly.

“Is that so…we must be careful. I remember the guardian beast on this level seems to possess a strange power: it can cause water to gush from dry land, turning the area into a lake. Without a buoyancy spell, it can be very dangerous,” Lord Yoferis said.

The gist is that the boss can unleash a flood that sweeps players away, making it very difficult without the help of spirits.

"Could we ask the Dark Elves for help?" Dante asked, extending his hand.

"Huh?" Asuna turned to look at her companion in surprise.

“Yes,” Yoferis nodded calmly.

"Huh? Huh? Huh?" Asuna looked at the city lord in surprise again. This development... could it be...?

“Lord Yoferis, let me go with them,” Kizmel pleaded with a resigned expression.

"Yes, I grant permission."

"Eee ...

However, since the battle wasn't scheduled for today, Kizmel didn't follow the two directly, but instead chose to spend the night in the castle.

Therefore, Dante and Asuna decided to temporarily adjust their plans. The two would continue to use Yofer as their base, while Mito and the others would return to town first.

"Kizmel, there's something I need to ask you." Dante finally had the chance to say it.

"Just tell me what it is. As long as it's within my ability, I'll definitely help," Kizmel solemnly assured me.

"No, it's nothing serious. The main issue is the Tirneel. Asuna and I are going up to the upper levels, and there's really no way we can take the ship with us. So I'd like to leave the ship in Yofer City and entrust it to your care."

"..." This sentence caused Kizmel to fall silent.

In SAO, it's usually not possible to transfer ownership of items to NPCs. The purple swimsuit that Asuna lent to Kismer a couple of days ago was returned at the undressing area.

But "taking care of" doesn't seem to require a transfer of ownership, so...

After a long while, as if breaking free from his wavering emotions, Kizmel raised his head and looked at the two of them with great tenderness.

"Ah—I'd love to."

"Let's go boating on the lake together again next time," Asuna said with a faint smile.

“Yes!” Kizmel nodded vigorously, and the three of them made an agreement.

Chapter 112: The Rift in Existence

“Such important intelligence, if it were me, I would sell it for a high price.” Argo nudged Dante’s side with his elbow and said regretfully.

On December 23, after holding a strategy meeting, the players of the frontline strategy group decided to conduct a boss battle on the fourth floor today.

It's a few minutes to 10 a.m. The allied forces are gathering in the village closest to the maze tower, with the next plan being to reach the Boss's room before 11 a.m.

In the past, Argo wouldn't have thought of participating in such a grand event, since she wasn't exactly a popular player and had little to say to the people present except for selling information.

Although she wouldn't normally be here to join in the fun, someone had given her a special mission, which required her to participate in the strategy battle and ended up here.

"Forget it," Dante shook his head. "I have no intention of making 'ill-gotten gains'."

“That’s true, and you’re the commander this time too. Hehehe…” Argo said casually, his hands behind his head.

"I didn't expect Diabel to hand over command to me." Dante crossed his arms and looked at Diabel, who was talking to his guild members.

“Well, like we discussed in the previous meeting, Dante, your contribution to the fourth floor strategy was immense.” Argo leaned back against the building wall without any surprise.

As she spoke, she looked to the side and said, "After all, besides intelligence, who knew you could actually bring in a whole team of elf NPCs? If we had known earlier that elves could participate in battles, everyone would probably have rushed back to the third floor to do elf quests."

Argo was referring to Kizmel, who was chatting with Asuna nearby, and the five dark elf soldiers she led.

"..." Dante fell silent at this moment, because he couldn't be sure whether the Dark Elves' ability to join the players' battle against the Boss was part of the original quest design or stemmed from the unique nature of Kizil.

I wonder if Fang Wang regrets not doing the Elf Campaign quest on the third floor, which resulted in the Lind Squad monopolizing this seemingly very rewarding quest chain in the later stages.

He then shook his head again and said, "There must be more than just that reason."

"Ah..." Argo exclaimed in surprise, as if he had thought of something, then lowered his head slightly, "Could it be that something has happened to the Aincrad Alliance?"

"Really?" Dante turned his head in surprise, having not heard of this matter before.

“Well, even an outsider like me knows about the conflict between the Linde faction and the Ya Wang faction.” Argo unconsciously curled the corners of his mouth when talking about “outsiders.”

"You're not an outsider at all, you're a well-informed intelligence broker," Dante teased. He didn't know much about the conflict between Linde and the King of Teeth either, but he always believed that Diabel could effectively suppress the negative effects of the matter.

“Hehehe, not entirely, but I just noticed some clues.” Argo raised his chin, gesturing for him to look towards the east side of the square.

Dante looked in the direction Argo pointed and exclaimed, "Ah—!"

The clue Argo mentioned came from Lind and Tooth King, specifically their positions.

Linde consistently positioned himself close to Diabel, always claiming to be Diabel's protégé, a view shared by many.

Meanwhile, the King of Fangs stood at a distance on the other side. Although it was also within the territory of the Aincrad Alliance, it was quite a distance away from Diabel.

"What are you talking about?"

Dante turned around and saw Asuna and Kizmel standing behind him. He briefly explained what he had just talked about with Argo.

"But doesn't the King of Fangs respect Diabel a lot?" Asuna murmured softly.

“It seems like that’s true,” Argo said.