"Good morning, Kazuha."
"Morning, Kazuma! But seriously, you're amazing. You stayed up all night again, right? Doesn't that mess up your body clock?"
"You're not wrong, but I guess that kind of thing just doesn't apply to me."
I brushed it off like a joke, but Kazuha still looked worried. She kept peering around me, checking my condition.
She really was the caring student council president type.
Thinking that to myself, I reached out and planted a hand on top of her head to stop her from fussing over me any further.
"I'm fine. More importantly, raising your level matters a lot more. So let's work hard again today, okay, Ka.zu.ha?"
I tried to smooth things over with a smile, but apparently whatever expression I was making didn't look very reassuring to her, because she sucked in a sharp breath.
"U-um... Kazuma? I think your face looks a little scary."
"No way. I'm smiling, aren't I? Anyway, that kind of trivial issue doesn't matter. Let's start. Right now."
"Y-yes!!"
Kazuha answered in a hurry, a bead of cold sweat trailing down her temple. Mm-hm. A kid who listens well is a good kid.
Thinking something incredibly rude about my classmate, I held back a laugh and threw myself into the struggle of leveling Kazuha up.
**
"...So Asuna's upgrading her weapon today?"
As I blocked a monster's attack to match Kazuha's pace, I asked the question.
"Yeah. She told me this morning that she worked really hard hunting and gathered all the upgrade materials. She looked super happy."
"Hmm... Well, her weapon was the Wind Fleuret, right? That's a rare-grade weapon, so if the upgrade succeeds, it'll definitely get a lot stronger."
"Really? Even stronger than yours, Kazuma?"
At Kazuha's question, I tilted my head.
"Hard to say. It depends on what kind of stats Asuna's weapon is focused on, but judging by her personality, it's probably attack-oriented. If the upgrade works, then before long, her weapon should be about on par with mine."
That was a little vague, but not wrong.
My main weapon right now, the Anneal Blade, was the same one Kirito used, but mine had been upgraded one step further. I'd traded away two points of durability for that much more sharpness, so in terms of raw attack power, mine was definitely higher.
On top of that, one-handed straight swords were sturdier than rapiers to begin with, and the Anneal Blade was one of the strongest pieces of equipment you could get on the First Floor, strong enough not to lose out to the Wind Fleuret. For now, I didn't need to worry about gear at all.
"Woooow... I think this every now and then, but... aren't you maybe stronger than Kirito, Kazuma?"
I snorted at that.
If Kirito had heard her say that, he probably wouldn't have shown it, but he'd absolutely lock himself away in a hunting ground and grind like mad for a while. He didn't look the type, but in weird places, his competitive streak ran deep.
"Kazuha. Let me say this first: Kirito and I aren't getting stronger because we're trying to compete with each other. We're just doing everything we can to clear this game."
"Even so, haven't you ever thought, just a little, that you want to be the strongest?"
"Well... as a guy, I guess I'd be lying if I said I'd never wanted that."
Yeah. I really wasn't in any position to say much about Kirito.
**
We ate lunch out in the hunting grounds, and after finishing up our hunt late into the afternoon, we returned to town under a dark blue sky as night began to fall.
NPCs were running their shops under lantern light, people were passing by, and soft voices drifted through the streets. Somehow, it all felt strangely comforting.
"Today's... December 8th, right? Time really flew by before I knew it. Lately it feels like every day goes by faster and faster."
"Yeah, I know what you mean. But that's probably because all you do is hunt, Kazuma."
Kazuha puffed out her cheeks as she looked at me, like she was scolding me. Maybe because I'd pushed her a little harder today, there was the faintest trace of sincerity in it. No, not faint. Definitely sincere.
"Thanks to that, you're level 11 now, Kazuha. That means you're already one or two levels ahead of most other players, you know?"
I smiled lightly as I argued back, showing not the slightest hint of guilt.
This was a world of survival of the fittest.
Even if everyone said we had to combine our strength to clear the game, when humans gathered together, the strong would inevitably end up holding the advantage. Whether they wanted to or not.
"Ughhh~! But still—"
"Then I'll buy dessert today. That settles it, right?"
"Really?! Thanks, Kazuma!!"
The instant she heard the word dessert, Kazuha's eyes lit up.
I had no idea where that kind of sparkle could possibly come from in those dark eyes, but if buying one dessert was enough to cheer her up, then it was a cheap price to pay. That was the justification I gave myself.
**
Even after our meal started, we kept talking here and there. About what we'd done before meeting on the First Floor, how we'd been living, things like that.
Lately every day had felt so busy that we'd barely talked about anything except hunting, so maybe this was only natural.
"So, Kazuma... you left the Town of Beginnings right after that happened?"
"Yeah. If players are all packed into a limited space, leveling gets harder. Even if it meant pushing myself a little, it was way more efficient to move to another village and hunt there."
"...Weren't you shocked? Or anything like that?"
After hearing my answer, Kazuha hesitated for a moment before asking in a voice full of genuine concern.
"Sounds like it was hard for you, Kazuha."
"...Yeah."
To my question in return, she answered only after a pause.
"At first, I honestly just sat there blankly because I didn't understand what was happening. But once I realized the situation, I got scared. After that, I stayed shut up in an inn room for a while and cried... I kept living in that room, but eventually I had to deal with the lodging fees, so I joined a party."
"Once I started hunting for the first time and kept repeating it, I got used to it. So I decided to change the way I thought. Even if it was slow, I had to keep growing..."
That surprised me more than I expected.
Whatever change had happened inside her, the fact that she'd steeled herself to hunt while risking her life was, from my point of view, something admirable.
"You're strong, Kazuha."
"Huh? What did you say, Kazuma?"
It had only been a short sentence, but maybe she'd only just come back from her memories, because she hadn't heard me properly.
"Nothing. If you didn't hear it, then forget it. More importantly, looks like we finished dessert before we knew it, so let's call it a day."
I changed the subject and stood up, and Kazuha rose with me. We left the restaurant and started heading back to the inn, when I spotted a boy dressed entirely in black in the distance.
There was only one player wearing a long black coat like that: Kirito. So I headed in that direction.
"I see Kirito. Asuna's with him too."
"Oh, really? We're all heading the same way anyway, so let's ask if they want to walk together."
That was all we were thinking as we approached them, but...
Once we got close enough, Kazuha and I both flinched a little.
"...Did something bad happen?"
The words came out of my mouth on reflex. That was how different they looked from this morning. It wasn't Kirito that drew my eye, but Asuna, head lowered so deeply her hood almost completely hid her face.
"...My weapon was destroyed."
"...What?"
Kirito answered for her, and for a moment I couldn't process it, so I asked again. Kirito seemed to understand my reaction and gave an awkward look.
"Um... Asuna, are you okay?"
Kazuha moved to comfort Asuna as they walked together. I fell back a little and signaled to Kirito with my eyes, and we started walking a step behind them.
"...Is that possible?"
"No. At least in the beta, it wasn't. Even if an upgrade failed, the weapon didn't get destroyed. At worst, its enhancement level would drop."
"...How did that happen?"
In response to my question, Kirito explained the situation. From what he said, it had happened not long ago, around the time Kazuha and I were eating.
More importantly...
"That blacksmith's name was Nezha?"
"Yeah. A player whose name is spelled Nezha."
"I see..."
"Honestly, I suspect that Nezha guy. Even if things are different from the beta, if upgrades can destroy weapons, then your chances of survival drop massively."
He was right.
If weapons could be destroyed during enhancement, then just like Kirito said, the game's difficulty would become absurdly lethal.
Even setting aside rare items, the idea that a weapon could be destroyed starting from only +4 enhancement made no sense. It wasn't like the Wind Fleuret was some unbelievably rare item.
"I guess I'll have to tail him later... but I need to get something out of this."
"...Just in case, Kirito."
A possibility immediately came to mind, and I opened my mouth.
"Did Asuna try [Completely All Item Objectize]?"
"....................Huh?"
At my words, Kirito froze for a second. Then his pupils started widening more and more until his eyes looked ready to pop out of his head...
"Whaaaaaaaaaaat?!?!?!!!"
And then he let out a scream of pure shock.
Luckily, we'd already passed through most of the busy part of town, so there weren't many players around, but it was still more than enough to startle the girls walking ahead of us. Then again... yeah. He really hadn't thought of it.
"W-wait, Kirito... that voice—"
"That's right, that's right!!! Why didn't I think of that?!?! You idiot!!"
But Kirito ignored Kazuha and started viciously berating himself. I left him to it and walked over to Asuna.
"Asuna."
"......."
"When you get back to your inn, look for [Completely All Item Objectize]. I can't be certain, but there's a pretty good chance you'll find your weapon."
Even though she hadn't answered, the moment I finished speaking, Asuna jerked her head up so fast it was like her eyes had flashed open.
"What... do you mean by that?"
"Ask Kirito for the details. He'll explain it better than I can. And you should probably hurry back. There's a time limit on it."
When I turned back toward Kirito, he'd already calmed down. He met my eyes, nodded, and hurriedly took Asuna back toward the inn.
That much advice should be enough.
Thinking that, I returned to Kazuha and headed back to our inn with her, watching as Kirito grabbed Asuna's hand and rushed off.
"...Will Asuna be okay?"
"She'll be fine. She'll probably get her weapon back soon."
Even if she didn't understand, Kirito definitely had.
"Did you already know something, Kazuma?"
"Something like that. I only thought of the method after hearing what happened, though."
"I see..."
Kazuha trailed off softly as she walked, then smiled at me.
It was that same smile I remembered from not so long ago.
"No matter what you say, Kazuma... you really are kind."
"No way... It's just that I feel like I'll be seeing those two a lot. Besides, it's not like this kind of information is something I can go sell somewhere. If it helps them, then maybe I'll at least earn a favor for later."
Even though my words were basically an excuse, Kazuha just kept smiling. I understood what that smile meant, but I didn't dig myself into a deeper hole. I just kept walking toward the inn.
**
Early the next morning, I headed toward one of the small woods scattered across the grassland.
By now, several days had passed, so there were already diligent players out on the plains hunting away. But I wasn't here to hunt, so I ran straight into the woods.
On the First Floor, maybe things were different, but on the Second Floor, forests were basically just decoration. There were no monsters, and at most you might occasionally spot a tiny animal that didn't even drop materials.
That was what every player thought.
But for today, this place was the perfect testing ground for me.
"No one around..."
"Based on the data gathered so far, player activity is low in the morning, so it's unlikely anyone will come this far."
"Yeah. That makes sense."
I nodded at Elia's added comment, then immediately opened my status window and looked through my skill list until my eyes landed on the one I wanted.
[Thrown Blade Arts]
It was a skill I'd acquired recently, but only now did I finally have the chance to test it.
The closest similar skill that came to mind was [Throwing Blade], one of the skills you could get on the First Floor. But the names were clearly different, so there was no way they were the same skill.
[Throwing Blade] was purely the concept of throwing any weapon, while the description for [Thrown Blade Arts] specifically stated that it could only be used with one-handed straight swords. Just like Elia had said, it was almost certainly a Unique Skill.
That said, I still didn't know how to use it, so I'd have to try it out now.
"First, the Thrown Blade Inventory really is exactly what it sounds like: an inventory that can only store one-handed straight swords... and the capacity is around four hundred. Saying it out loud makes it sound ridiculous already. And then there's this effect too."
I let out a quiet note of admiration as I watched a sword suddenly materialize in midair without me having to manually operate an inventory menu.
The reason was simple.
I'd deliberately focused on a point away from me before taking the sword out, and the sword had materialized remotely at the exact spot I imagined.
With a normal inventory, no matter what you did, you had to operate it manually, and the item would always appear in front of the player. But with this Thrown Blade Inventory, I could create a sword at any arbitrary location, as long as I willed it.
"So [Watcher's Eye] and [Spatial Awareness] are passive skills... I see. Come to think of it, ever since I got to the Second Floor, I've had this strange sense for the distance around me. So it was because of these?"
"Kazuma, what does that feel like?"
"Hmm... for example, that tree is about 7.35 meters away."
"...What?"
"I mean I can tell the distance between myself and objects almost exactly."
The moment I finished speaking, I raised the sword in my hand behind my waist and hurled it with all my strength.
Shrrk!
The spinning blade flew through the air and struck the exact tree I'd indicated.
Maybe because it reflected my attack power as-is, even though it was the cheapest sword on the First Floor, it pierced straight into the middle of the trunk and the tip came out the other side.
"Like that. Even if I throw it, I can hit almost perfectly."
"...That Kayaba person really doesn't seem to care about balance, does he?"
I gave a bitter smile and reluctantly agreed with Elia's exasperated comment.
Because really, while it was true that a sword was consumed every time I threw one, that weakness was easy to cover. Any sword lower-level than my own would have its damage fixed to match both my stats and the highest-attack sword I had when used for throwing. If I was worried about consumption, I could just use level 1 swords and completely bypass the drawback.
"If I had to point out a weakness, it'd be that you need to spend an extra skill slot on [Blacksmith]."
"Compared to the fact that, along with [Throwing Blade], this is the only ranged attack method in this world, that weakness is basically nonexistent."
"And the even more ridiculous part is this: setting aside [Thrown Blade Arts] itself since it's a proficiency skill, all the passive skills besides the active one are included under the single category of [Thrown Blade Arts]."
I explained that to Elia while looking at the skill icon in the corner of my vision, distinct from the one-handed straight sword skill icon.
"In other words, even if I end up with ten or twenty related skills, they can all be counted as one slot under [Thrown Blade Arts]."
"...At that point, maybe you should just clear this whole game by yourself..."
"No. No matter how good this skill looks, it's still a Unique Skill. That means I have to hide it from other people, so there's definitely a drawback there too. More than anything, the biggest risk I have to manage right now is keeping it secret."
"That's true... I wasn't thinking far enough ahead."
"It's fine. Either way, the fact that I gained another strong skill doesn't change... Once the Second Floor boss raid is over, I need to hurry back to the First Floor and learn [Blacksmith] first thing."
"Then until that happens, surviving is the most important goal."
"Yeah."
That short exchange between us ended when I slid the Anneal Blade back to my waist.
**
By the time morning had turned to late morning, I was waiting in the town square when Kazuha came hurrying over, giving me a small wave.
"Good morning, Kazuma."
"It's a little late to call it morning... but good morning, Kazuha."
"I agree. Unlike certain people, time in this world is perfectly accurate."
"Ow, ow, ow... I'm sorry, okay? Asuna, if you'd just let go of this..."
Following right after Kazuha's words, two familiar voices came from behind us.
At the end of Asuna's displeased glare, there was Kirito, looking as sloppy as ever while apologizing desperately.
Today, the four of us had agreed to set out together, since we were going to head deeper into the forest and seriously hunt the field boss.
"Honestly! Where did you even pick up that habit of oversleeping?!"
"Umm... naturally?"
At that absurd excuse, Asuna delivered immediate judgment.
Thwack!
"Gweh?!"
Kirito let out a strangled cry as his side got slammed.
"After what you pulled yesterday, that's still your attitude?! You really don't show any sign of reflecting on it at all, do you?"
As Asuna sighed deeply in exasperation, Kazuha and I both caught on the same strange phrase and spoke at the same time.
"What you pulled?"
At our words, Kirito's shoulders jerked so visibly it was almost comical, and seeing that reaction, Asuna gave a brief, devilish smile.
"Oh my, come to think of it, I never told Kazuha and Kazuma, did I? Really, after all the help you gave me in getting my sword back, I should at least tell you what happened yesterday..."
"P-please, Asuna...! If you say any more, I'll be socially ruined!"
Ignoring Kirito's desperate attempt to stop her, Asuna told us everything that had happened after we parted ways yesterday.
To summarize briefly, after hearing the hint I gave them, Kirito rushed straight to Asuna's inn room—apparently they'd shared locations—and immediately used [Completely All Item Objectize].
According to the information I'd gathered before starting this game, that command dumped every item in the inventory out into the room. And Asuna was a girl, and from everything I'd seen so far, she was clearly the refined-young-lady type.
To put it bluntly, the conclusion was obvious.
Kirito had seen all of Asuna's things.
In other words, he'd seen things she definitely wouldn't want shown as a girl.
My impression, in a single word, was this:
"You're quite the gentleman, Kirito."
"Guhk!!"
"Ugh..."
"Guhk!!!!"
My words hit Kirito like daggers. Watching him stagger in shock, I briefly wondered whether [Thrown Blade Arts] had somehow started applying to language too. Then Kazuha silently widened the distance between herself and Kirito and naturally hid behind me, landing the final blow.
Kirito ended up on the ground, trembling, looking completely beyond mental recovery. Seeing that, Asuna's lips curled upward in satisfaction, as if her anger had finally eased.
"Ahh~! That feels better. So then, shall we get going?"
"Yeah, let's go, Asuna!"
After watching the two girls head off first with bright smiles, I hauled Kirito back to his feet and asked quietly,
"...How was it? Yesterday."
"...Use an object. Use an object in that sentence."
"The weapon, obviously."
Kirito shot me a sidelong glare at my half-joking question, but the moment we got to the real topic, his mood shifted and he told me what had happened yesterday.
To summarize that too: while tailing Nezha, he reached the door of a tavern and found that Nezha wasn't alone. He was with companions.
And Kirito got the feeling those companions were probably the ones who had made Nezha do something like this.
"I see. Then won't they show up today too? We can get a better look at them then."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
Kirito tilted his head at my mutter, so I figured I'd better explain.
"Think about it. If Nezha stole good weapons through fraud or whatever, then aside from food and drink, the obvious thing would be to enhance those weapons or gear himself up better, right?"
"And normally, the reason you upgrade weapons is to use them in places like field boss fights or floor boss raids. What else would you save good weapons for?"
When I looked at Kirito for agreement after finishing, he was staring at me with his mouth slightly open and a look of surprise in his eyes.
"...You're amazing. How exactly does your brain work?"
"I just thought about it normally."
"The fact that that counts as normal for you is what's amazing. Oops, I'd better catch up."
Even though I said it was nothing special, Kirito shook his head and hurried his pace to catch up with the others.
**
This was the Second Floor field boss area. According to Kirito's experience, there was only one field boss here, and I was currently staring at it: Bullbous Bow.
You could simply describe it as a cow with four horns, but its massive body, well over four meters tall, looked more than worthy of guarding the entrance to the labyrinth zone.
"Hah!"
With a short shout, Kazuha quickly slashed at its flank. I followed with a deep thrust, then ripped the blade free and cut downward in one motion.
Before the Bullbous Bow could even turn its attention toward us after taking hits to its weak point, battle cries rang out from the opposite side as Kirito and Asuna attacked too.
The current field boss raid force numbered nineteen, including us. There were six in Kibaou's group—that guy still rubbed me the wrong way—six in Lind's group, which was basically a guild in all but name, three reserve members, and the four of us.
And by now, the boss's HP was nearly at the bottom.
"Kazuha, keep pouring it on just like this. It'll die in less than a minute. When I give the signal, pull back immediately."
"Okay! I'm counting on you, Kazuma!"
Kazuha nodded quickly and focused solely on cutting into the field boss. Honestly, if I fought seriously, it would die in four hits, but my goal here was training Kazuha, so I only stepped in with two more well-timed slashes.
I'd hunted so much on the Second Floor that my experience gain had practically dried up anyway, so there was no point getting worked up over landing extra hits on the field boss.
Kirito and Asuna had already fallen back and were watching the three reserve members from the rear. I only glanced that way before turning my attention back to Kazuha. Thankfully, it seemed the field boss didn't have enough left in it to counterattack before dying.
Once I confirmed the field boss had dissolved into polygon fragments and vanished, I left Lind's party cheering behind us and walked over to Kirito with Kazuha.
"What are you watching?"
"Hm? Oh... so you noticed. Well, you see..."
"Those people were the companions who were with Nezha, according to Kirito," Asuna said.
"...Those guys...?"
I turned my eyes toward them, and just as expected, they were wearing some pretty high-end gear for what you could obtain on the Second Floor. Their names were Orlando, Beowulf, and Cuchulainn...
...Huh?
"Those are all hero names."
"All of them? Isn't Orlando the name of a paladin?"
Kirito immediately questioned my mutter, but I shook my head.
"If the others are all hero names, it'd be weird for only one of them to be a paladin. Orlando can also be read as Roland. One of Charlemagne's Twelve Peers."
"Woooow! Kazuma, how do you know stuff like that?"
"...Let's just say it's the power of Wikipedia."
I dodged Kazuha's sparkling gaze a little as I gave that vague answer.
"Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure those guys said their guild name was [Legend Braves]..."
"Then that means Nezha belongs to them too... but is Nezha a hero name?"
Kirito said it in passing, and Asuna picked up the thought and added her own guess. Looking at the pattern, Nezha probably was a hero name too.
But the hero called Nezha...
Nezha. Nezha.
I see.
"Yeah, he definitely belongs to them. Nezha, I mean."
"W-what?! Kazuma, you figured it out?"
"Seriously...? You're unreal."
"I told you. It's the power of Wikipedia. To get straight to the point, you two were reading it wrong."
"Reading it... wrong?"
Kirito still didn't get it, so I gave him the answer.
"It's Nezha. Like the Chinese hero Nezha, just written in English."
"Hhk............!!!!!"
Kirito and Asuna sucked in their breath before a scream could even come out, both wearing expressions of utter shock.
Kazuha, meanwhile, was looking at me with something close to awe mixed into her gaze.
No, really, this wasn't something worth praising me that much for.
"As expected of you, Kazuma. You're remarkably skilled at using knowledge others lack to bind your lover ever more tightly."
"I told you to stop collecting those pointless extra comments! I'm seriously going to crash your search portal one of these days!"
I hurriedly cut in at Elia's admiration, which was heading in a very strange direction, then gave a small cough to refocus everyone.
"Anyway, that's just my own guess. Go confirm it with Argo, or whoever that informant lady is. Better to make sure, right?"
"Y-yeah. Got it. I'll contact you once we know for sure."
"No, just handle it yourselves. I'm not directly involved in any of this anyway. Call me if you need help."
"...Thank you. Really, thank you, Kazuma."
"It's fine. Good luck with it."
I gave Asuna, who bowed her head in thanks, a light wave of the hand, then turned and headed back toward town.
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