๐๐๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐๐ต, ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฐ. ๐ฐ๐ด๐๐ต ๐๐น๐ผ๐ผ๐ฟ, ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ต. ๐๐ถ๐๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐ต'๐ ๐ฆ๐บ๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ฆ๐ต๐ผ๐ฝ, ๐ญ๐ฐ:๐ฎ๐ฌโฆ
The warm rays of Aincrad's virtual sun shone through one of the shop's windows, letting anyone see the simple but elegant way in which many weapons were displayed around. On the front counter, the NPC that attended the shop most of the time smiled like always.
On the back of the merry shop with the waterwheel, though, a certain pink-haired blacksmith was frowning as she stared at a small 'dagger' on her hands, tri-pronged and deadly-looking.
"Hmm, Silica's 'Lighting Cutter' is almost at its limit, uh?" muttered Lisbeth with a sigh while putting the weapon down.
Her 'kunoichi' friend was currently out somewhere, continuing with her 'extreme training' to become a Frontliner, using a spare dagger she had lent her while she repaired and Enhanced her precious 'kunai'.
She was still kind of dumbfounded, though, from the pigtailed girl's sudden change in 'Ninja Way'. Since that time some months ago that she had once again returned LATE from a recollection/training mission, Lisbeth had noticed 'something' was different about her friend.
It was more because of her silly smiles, her occasional reasonless giggles and the dreamy looks she would get sometimes than from her sudden obsession with joining the Front Lines, though. The blacksmith was PRETTY sure that her small friend had met someone on that last trip of hers, and that she had gotten a hard crush on the unknown boy. She also seemed to write messages to someone from time to time and then eagerly wait for the answers to come, only to deny she was doing such a thing when she asked.
Either way, Lisbeth supposed it was better than the nearly-obsessive crush that the ninja girl had had with that 'Superhero' guy. She still wasn't sure if it was worth it going to the Front Lines just for of a guy, though. And knowing that she would have to tell Silica that, at the rate she was going, her favorite 'kunai' would reach its 'Enhancement Limit' and she would need to get a new weapon, the pink-haired girl like the idea even less. Silica loved the weapon because, in her words, it made her more 'ninja-like', so Liz was sure she would be devastated when she knew she would need to drop it to keep going forward.
The possibilities of she ever getting a weapon even remotely similar to it were almost literally 0, so the blacksmith knew that wouldn't help, but perhaps if she let her have free shurikens for a while and made a replacement weapon as good as her Fuuma Shuriken maybe sheโฆ
That train of thought immediately made her freeze, then grimace, her hands unconsciously closing tighter around the kunai. Suddenly, a 'throb' she knew was only in her head seemed to fill her entire right arm, making it shake.
She could almost feel IT wanting to be used (As crazy as that sounded), wanting to show her how to be BETTER, how to do everything with NO EFFORT. She could almost see it, all it would take was a bit of concentration, an exact move of her arm and she would be able to make the last Enhancements of Silica's kunai last months instead of weeks, she could create a weapon that would be so much better and powerful without evenโฆ
"NO!" suddenly shouted the girl while dropping the kunai and grabbing her right hand with her left, GLARING at it. "I DON'T need it! I don't need fancy tricks to be a great blacksmith! I can do it by MYSELF, damn it! Andโฆ!โฆand I'm talking to myself once again." deadpanned Lisbeth before sighing and letting her hand drop, scratching the back of her head. "Fuck, I hope Silica comes back soon, I'm getting paranoid againโฆ"
She knew that all of 'that' was in her head, both the throbbing and the 'need' to use it, but she had been feeling like that since she had tested it out for the first time and created Silica's 'Beheading Star'. It had felt all so simple, soโฆ'cheap'. And yet, it had been the best, most beautiful and most powerful weapon she had made to date.
Maybe that had biased her and thus made her hate the 'other' abilities of the strange Skill the same way when she tested them. It made it all seem too easy, as if she didn't really need to try. She could probably even be an effective Front Liner despite being some 6 levels under Silica, and that only made her feel worse about the 'power' she had been given for no reason when she knew how much effort her best friend spent in training to level up.
That was why she had sworn to herself to never use THAT again. Oh, she had tried the 'others' out and leveled the Skill itself a great deal, but it had been more idle curiosity than anything else. She didn't need any cheap shortcuts to become a great blacksmith, and she wasn't looking to fight directly in the Front Lines, so she really didn't need to worry aboutโฆ
"Uhm, hello? Is anybody here?" the sudden sound of a vaguely familiar voice made the pink-haired girl blink and snap out of her thoughts, looking up towards the door that led from her workshop to the shop itself. "Ehm, a friend told me to search for a great blacksmith that works here?"
"One second, please!" quickly shouted Lisbeth while running upstairs and entering the shop. Any new client was always great for the business! "Welcome to Lisbeth's Smith Shop, how can Iโฆ?" freezing, the girl's eyes widened as she STARED in shock at the person standing in front of the counter. "It'sโฆit's youโฆ"
"Uh?" was Kirito's eloquent answer as he looked beyond the NPC in front of him (Who had been unable to help him get the owner, reason why he had called out loud). "Do I knowโฆ? WaitโฆLisbeth-san?"
To say that the pink-haired girl was shocked was putting it lightly. Lisbeth had always taken the 'rumors' about the exploits of the 'Black-White Blur' with a grain of salt, and even after his supposed 'reveal' she had still held some doubts, contrary to Silica's near-worshipping of the guy. Even more, to believe that she had indeed SEEN and TALKED with the supposed 'Superhero' and that he really did go around doing superhuman feats while dressed in the silly getup she remembered was almost laughable.
And yet, here he was. That same guy she met on that fateful day on Floor 1, the day she met Silica and decided to seriously dedicate herself to be a blacksmith. That same silly jumpsuit and cape, that same face and hair, even the same kind of cute looks on his slightly girlish face andโฆwhat the hell was she even thinking about?!
"Uhhโฆyo-you remember me?!" was the first thing she managed to say while shaking her head.
"Eh, kind of? You were selling weapons on the 1st Floor, right? I bought a rapier from you?" at the girl's slow nod, the boy sighed while smiling a bit. "Thank God, I wasn't really sure because you changed your hair, but I'm glad my memory isn't screwed up or anything." scratching the back of his head, the boy let out an awkward laugh. "Oh, also, I think the pink hair suits you."
"Re-really?" laughed Lisbeth while looking to the side. "Tha-thanks, I guess the color kind of grew up on me, I'm not sure why thoughโฆ"
"Yeah, I can see thatโฆ" vaguely muttered the boy while looking at the white and dark-pink outfit the girl now woreโฆwhich, honestly, looked more like something more fitted for a maid to wear than a blacksmith. "Soโฆyou really became a great blacksmith! I mean, you even have your own shop and people on the Front Line recommend you! Congratulations!"
"We-well, I HAVE been doing my best all this time, but thanks for that." putting on a bright smile, the girl crossed her arms and looked the boy up and down. "And you DO still wear that 'costume' of yours, uh? Weird, I would think that someone people call 'The Superhero of Aincrad' would dress coolerโฆ"
"Hey, it's not my fault! I can't unequโฆwait, they call me what?!"
"Ahahah, it's nothing, just a thing that a friend of mine likes to say." waved off the girl, ignorant of how REALLY popular said nickname had lately become thanks to Silica. "Anyway, you said you were here because of a recommendation from the Front Lines?" the sudden interest of the blacksmith turned into a frown when she recalled something else. "ButโฆI thought you fought only with your bare fists?" of course, she didn't fully believe that last bit.
"Uhm, kind ofโฆand the weapon it's not for me, it's for a friend of mine." answered the boy while scratching the back of his head. "She needs a new One-Handed Sword that's as strong or stronger as one I gave her, so I decided to come to get her one. I heard she had met a great blacksmith on this Floor some time back and that's why I cameโฆbut I never expected it to be you!"
"โฆmy name is on the sign outside the shop." deadpanned the girl while raising an eyebrow.
"Eh, yeah, about thatโฆI kind of came so fast that I didn't look at the sign before entering." accepted the boy with a sheepish smile.
"How does that make any senโฆ? Ugh, best if I just roll with it." putting a hand on her head, the pink-haired girl quickly put on her business smile once again. "So! You're searching for a strong sword, uh? Well, today is your lucky day! " saying those words, Lisbeth turned around and reached for something under the counter before standing again. "Here you have it, the best sword I have ever made!" with a big smile on her face, the girl let the caped boy take the sword as he looked it over with dubious eyes. "How do you like it?"
"โฆyeah, sorry, it's not what I'm searching for." nonchalantly commented the boy while putting it down again, making the girl freeze. "Don't you have anything better?"
"Whaโฆ?! What do you mean it's 'not what you're searching for'?!" raged the girl while putting an angry finger on the boy's chest, making him flinch with panic, as if he wasn't indestructible enough to take anything she could do without worry. "My swords aren't up to the standards of a mighty Hero, perhaps?!"
"N-no, it's not like that! In fact, that's a pretty good sword, one of the best I have seen even in the Front Lines, I swear!" the boy's quick declaration caught the girl off guard, almost making her stumble backward as he put a hand on her shoulder. "I-it's just that, the sword I gave my friend is an absurdly rare Boss Drop, from the one of the 50th Floor, so it's normal that few other weapons can match it, your ability has nothing to do with that! In fact, I'm pretty sure that you could make a sword equally great if you had the right materials!"
"โฆoh, yeah?" muttered Lisbeth while a smile slowly crept her way into her face, pointedly ignoring how the boy was still holding her (Which totally WASN'T making her feel nervous at all, no sir). "Well, what do you know? There is casually a Quest where you supposedly can get a super-rare Ingot from a deadly Almost-Boss-Level Dragon on a snowy mountain some Floors from here, but till now NO ONE has managed to obtain it! So, what do you say, Hero, want to go and try your luck with that?"
"Really? Which Floor?" asked the black-haired boy with a suddenly interested smile, making the girl blink. "I have a friend specialized in Information so I may know a bit about itโฆoh, and can you please stop the 'Hero' thing? Just call me Kirito, everyone doesโฆwell, everyone that I know personally, at leastโฆ"
"Wa-wait, that's it? You're not even going to hesitate or call me out for telling you we need to go do some super-complex and really difficult Quest when all you came here for was a better sword?"
"Nah, why would I?" waved off the boy before letting out a tired sigh. "Besides, everyone has been telling me to take a break from the Front Lines for more than a month, and I finally feel inclined to agree with them. I have been saving people non-stop the last 3 Floors, and Floor 68 seems kind of simple enoughโฆ.So, I think I will take this as a sort of mini-vacation."
"โฆyou're going to take doing an until now uncompleted Quest for a super-rare Ingot which includes facing a dragon on a frozen mountain as a 'vacation'?"
"Eh, can't be worse than stopping idiots from dying because they think themselves 'awesome' enough to go ahead the Front Liners when a new Floor is opened." shrugged the boy with an awkward smile.
"โฆ๐คโ๐๐ก ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐๐?" wondered Lisbeth while sweatdropping, before sighing in defeat. "๐๐๐๐, ๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐ ๐ก ๐๐๐ค ๐ โ๐'๐ ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐, ๐ค๐๐ข๐๐๐'๐ก ๐ค๐๐๐ก ๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐ก๐ก๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐ก๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ค๐๐กโ ๐ ๐ข๐โ ๐ ๐ค๐๐๐๐๐โฆ" coughing on her hand, the pink-haired girl crossed her arms over her chest and nodded. "Okay then, let me get my things and we will depart for Floor 55th in a moment."
"Wait, you're coming too?" blinked the boy in confusion.
"Well, duh, of course I am! They say that you supposedly need a high-level Blacksmith in your party to get the Ingot from the dragon, that's why no one has been able to get it yet!"
"Uhm, what about your shop? Is it alright for you to leave it alone for an entire day just to help someone who just like, barely knows you?"
"What are you talking about?! You were my SECOND client, remember? Therefore, it's only fitting that I help you with this!" grinning, the girl turned around to look at the NPC. "Hanna, I'm going away on special work, close the shop for the day and get everything in orderโฆoh! And if you-know-who comes back, tell her that she CAN'T get into my workshop. God knows we don't want a repeat of what happened the last time she let her pet in there."
"Hai, Lisbeth-sama." nodded the polite NPC before turning away and starting to put weapons inside shelves, making Kirito blink even as he followed the blacksmith out of the building.
"That wasโฆa lot of quite specific orders for an NPC. Can that REALLY get them all?"
"Eh, probably, I have told her similar things several times when I have to go out get some emergency Ingots or something and nothing bad has ever happened."
Lisbeth purposefully avoided mentioning that the times THAT had coincided with the end of one of Silica's training sessions it usually ended with the poor girl and her pet stuck outside the shop until she got back.
If only that self-proclaimed kunoichi would STOP losing her keysโฆ
"Well, then that's fine, I guessโฆ.so, Floor 55, right?"
"Yep, though I need to warm you, Hero, don't start complaining if this 'vacation adventure' it's too difficult for you." commented the girl while smirking.
๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ
๐๐น๐ผ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐๐ต, ๐ช๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ ๐ผ๐๐ป๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป. ๐ญ๐ฒ:๐ฏ๐ฌโฆ
"Brrrโฆco-coldโฆ" muttered Liz while shaking, even as she and Kirito walked through the icy roads that lead towards the snow-covered mountain's top. "Wh-why did Kayaba Akihiko had to ma-make thi-things like this so freaking re-real whe-when he bothered to turn pain into a simple numbing se-sensationโฆ?"
"You knowโฆthat's something I have been wondering for most of the game too." accepted the caped boy while crossing his arms and frowning.
"A-and how the hell are you pe-perfectly fine?! You're wearing a JUMPSUIT, for crying out loud!"
"โฆit covers every inch of my body?"
"Yo-you KNOW that that sho-shouldn't matter when it's so absurdly thi-thin!" stopping for a moment, the blacksmith allowed herself another deep shudder before cursing. "Da-dammit, I should ha-have been moreโฆ!"
"Here, grab this."
"Eh?" blinking in surprise, Liz suddenly found herself holding a big and warm-looking coat of fur, which made her look at Kirito in shock. "Wh-why do you carry thi-this if you ca-can't change your clothesโฆ?"
"You never know WHEN you will need something that you normally can't use." answered the caped boy before shrugging and smiling. "You would be surprised if you knew half of what I carry on my inventory these days."
"โฆyou DO know that that sounds kind of sinisterly ominous, right?"
"โฆmaybe." conceded Kirito before turning around, even as a relieved Lisbeth put on the coat. "Now let's go, Lisbeth-san, with luck we can finish this beforeโฆ"
"Liz." the sudden words of the blacksmith made the boy blink and turn around to look at her, looking at him with crossed arms. "If you want me to call you Kirito then stop with the 'Lisbeth-san'. My friends just call me Liz."
"Ohโฆwe're already friends, then?" joked the boy with a teasing smile, making the girl blush.
"Yo-you wish, idiot!" shouted the blacksmith before stomping past the Hero. "I-It's just a sign of respect towards my second client, nothing more!"
"Okay, whatever you say, Lizโฆ"
"Change that tone of yours or I'm NOT making that sword!"
Between bad half-jokes and bickering, the pair finally arrived at the top of the frozen mountain, where Lisbeth's face suddenly turned serious, a small bit of concern also showing on it.
"So, it's here?" asked Kirito with narrowed eyes, looking around the snowy area, the only 'remarkable' thing on it being the cave-like hole in its center.
"Yeah, the thing usually shows up around hereโฆthough it's weird that it's nowhere in sightโฆoh, shit." suddenly, the pink-haired girl facepalmed, repeatedly calling herself an idiot. "I totally forgot! It's too early, that thing never spawns until it's almost night!"
"Hmmโฆmaybe it's because it's nocturnal?" wondered aloud the caped boy before reaching towards one of the massive pieces of ice that covered the area, easily breaking a piece from it, much to the blacksmith's surprise. "Okay, this will doโฆ"
"Wait, what are you doing?" asked the surprised Lisbeth at seeing him walk closer to the strange hole-cave on the mountain.
"Well, if that thing is specifically nocturnal despite being big enough to be almost a Boss, as you say, then it's logical to think that Cardinal doesn't spawn it again every day, just makes it rest on a place where players can't normally access, soโฆ" rearing back his hand, the boy THREW the piece of ice down the hole, which flew at bullet-like speeds out of the girl's sight. A second later, an earth-shattering roar echoed and made Lisbeth squeak and take a step back. "Yes, I knew it! The thing was just sleeping down theโฆ!"
And that was as far as the boy went before the massive monster known as 'X'rphan the White Wyrm' flew out of the vertical cave like a bullet, catching him on his jaws and throwing him through the air like a ragdoll, his cape flapping wildly as he fell DOWN the mountain's side.
"KI-KIRITOOOO!"
A frozen, terrified and shocked Lisbeth suddenly found herself being stared down by a massive white dragon covered by scale-like shards of ice, his red eyes fixed on her as the teeth-filled jaws of the monster overflowed with an icy mist.
"Oโฆoh shit." muttered the girl while tightly gripping her mace, the feeling of horror at the 'death' of the boy combining with the realization that she was about to join him. Unlessโฆ"โฆfuck."
Releasing another roar, the ice dragon unleashed a massive breath-attack, countless icicles shooting at the pink-haired girl like bullets from a machinegun.
She, for her partโฆjust raised her right arm to the side, letting go of her mace as she closed her fist in a strangely specific way.
Suddenly, there was a 'flash', similar to the one caused by a Sword Skill, and Lisbeth's right arm had been 'changed', for lack of a better world.
The sleeve of her maid-like dress had vanished and now seemed as if it had been torn down right at the shoulderโฆto reveal her dark-silver 'arm'.
It was something 'strange' to see. At first look, one would think that the girl's arm, from the shoulder to the tip of her fingers, had been covered in some sort of tight armor, filled with strange marks and symbols. Yet, one just needed to look at it closely to notice that something was 'wrong' about it. The movements of the joints and the fingers were 'too fluid'; not experiencing any of the problems that anyone in SAO knew came with wearing full body armor, especially if you didn't have the necessary strength. And the entire arm, despite its clearly metallic texture, was warm to the touch.
The pink-haired girl knew, too, that if she were to look at her body without any clothes on it when it was 'activated' she would see that there was no 'armor', for her virtual skin and the metal fuse seamlessly right on the shoulder joint.
"Awaken, God Hand." whispered Liz with a clear distaste on her voice before rolling to the side, barely evading the worst of the breath-attack. Even so, the damage was clear and she saw how 20% of her HP disappeared from it.
A part of her couldn't help but feel grateful towards Silica at that, because if the girl didn't constantly insist in dragged her to one out of two of her 'training sessions', that would have probably left her on death's door.
Even so, the situation still seemed hopeless. X'rphan was already closing his jaws and opening his wings, taking flight and readying his mighty claws to crush the small player with viciousโฆ
Lisbeth once again moved her now metallic arm, closing some of her fingers in an exact way and making a certain specific movement with it.
The familiar shone of a Sword Skill being activated covered it, despite she being weaponless and in no attack stance like one would adopt for Martial Arts.
And her FEET started to glow too, a pale azure compared to the silver of her arm.
"Hermes Wings!" roared the young blacksmith before MOVING.
The dragon's claws closed around nothing, much to its 'confusion'. Snow was being thrown in all directions as the girl 'sprinted' through the mountain's top like a living bullet, moving faster than any human should be able to, almost reaching the speed of a motorized vehicle.
With a single and fluid motion, she recovered her mace and started to run around the once again roaring dragon, the red eyes of X'rphan trying to follow her every move even as she grimaced at the countdown on the side of her vision. Just 25 seconds remaining before her 'divine speed' returned to that of a 'simple blacksmith player', but she would have to make do. If she kept running around it like this then she should be able to confuse the monster enough for her to race to the path leading downโฆ
Lisbeth 'felt it' more than hearing or seeing it. Her awareness also had been heightened from the 'blessing' it seemed. Her head whipped to the side in time to see the dragon high on the air and starting to flap his wings with unreal strength and speed, creating a veritable gale on the area, which was unleashed directly against her. Her surroundings quickly became engulfed by a brutal snowstorm.
Fear gripping her being, the pink-haired girl shot to one side, half jumping and half rolling, hoping to get away from the worst of the area-wide attackโฆand she suddenly felt the ground vanish under from her, replaced by a seemingly endless abyss.
Her brain was barely able to realize that, unaware of her surroundings because of almost never using the speed of Hermes Wings, she had accidentally run too close, and ended up falling in, the cave-hole that was the monster's nest.
Then, she started to scream as she fell down into the abyss.
"LIIIIIIZ!"
Something similar to a sonic boom echoed into the background. Lisbeth could have sworn that she managed to see 'something', like a blur of black color shooting up from the side of the mountain and into the top even as X'rphan turned around in shock before she lost sight of the outside and she could only see the each-moment-further-away ceiling of the cave. Turning around in mid-air, she could see the bottom coming closer each second.
There was no way she would survive the crash. Unlessโฆ
Not stopping to think about the consequences, and vaguely aware of the sound of someone shouting her name from high above, Liz once again moved her right arm, this time not bothering on letting go of her mace as she extended it to one side and flexed her elbow to the front of her body, which in this case was the bottom of the cave.
Once again, the arm shone in bright silver, and the rest of her body was enveloped in the 'Skill Shine', this time of a soft-black color.
"Hades Armor!"
The Skill's light fadedโฆand Liz crashed face-first to the ground.
"NO!"
Something else crashed at her side a second later, Kirito's horrified face emerging from the cloud of snow that had been raised from both their crashes, the boy rushing at the girl's side and holding her body with one hand even as the other shot for his menu, despite knowing it wouldn't be enough.
She was probably a second or two away from dying and it was his entire fault forโฆ!
"โฆwell, I will be dammed. All those rumors about you ARE true." freezing, Kirito's eyes shot back to the pink-haired girl, who was looking at him with a mix of a grin and a wince. "Though you could have been a BIT faster, you know?"
"Whaโฆ?!" shocked, the caped boy's eyes shot to the edge of his vision, where the girl's HP was displayed (Since they had formed a Party for this mission)โฆand seeing how she still had HALF of it. "Ho-howโฆ?"
"I'm pretty tough." simply answered Lisbeth before standing up, letting the gamer finally notice her metallic arm, making her grimace at his surprised expression. "Iโฆcan explain that."
Said explanation, however, had to be delayed upon the crashing of X'rphan's mighty and roaring form, looking down at them with all the hate that the AI of the dragon could muster.
"The hell?!"
"Oh yeahโฆI was too worried about you, so I forgot about it." softly muttered Kirito even as the creature's head snapped down at them, Lisbeth readying her mace forโฆ"One sec."
That said, Kirito turned around and PUNCHED at the descending jaws of the dragon.
X'rphan's head exploded into polygons even as its body was thrown back against the cave's wall. It too vanished a second later, the dragon's mighty form crumbling into virtual dust.
The blacksmith STARED, open-mouthed for an instant before once again sighing and standing up, dusting the snow off herself.
"Yeahโฆstill absurdly unbelievable even if I see it with my own eyes. Huh, but I guess I will have to apologize to my friend for doubting her about youโฆ"
"Hey, Lizโฆabout the armโฆ?"
"Ohโฆthat. Well, you seeโฆ"
The girl's explanation was sadly interrupted once again as the entire cave started to shake, making both the players' eyes to widen.
"What the fuโฆ?!"
"GET DOWN!" shouted the black-haired boy while tackling the squeaking Liz to the ground, making she see with wide eyes how the upper part of the cave COLLAPSED over itself.
Her scream was muffled as the boy's body covered hers fully and everywhere around them echoed with the sound of massive rocks falling.
What seemed like an eternity later, but in truth had only been some seconds, Lisbeth opened her eyes to look at the concerned face of Kirito, barely a couple of inches from hers.
"Are you okay?"
"A-ah!" shouted the girl while rolling out from under him, her face burning red as she crashed against a rock and stood up. "Ye-yes, perfectly fi-fine, thanks for worrying!"
"Good to knowโฆbutโฆ" the boy grimaced while looking up, prompting Lisbeth to do the same and feel her stomach drop.
Countless rocks totally blocked the 'exit' from the cavern, the only light still in it coming from small cracks through them.
"Oh Godโฆwhat are we going toโฆ?" the blacksmith's words were interrupted by the sudden sight of Kirito jumping and PUNCHING against the rocks over them, frowning and falling back down when all that happened was that the cave SHOOK and a window of 'Immortal Object' appeared over the rocks.
"Figures it wouldn't be that easyโฆdammit." turning to look at the shocked Liz, the caped boy sheepishly scratched his head. "I don't suppose your Teleport Crystals work, right?"
"A-ahโฆ?" shaking her head out of the shock, the pink-haired girl quickly proceeded to check that out, only to be disappointed. "Fuck, no, it must be one of those Anti-Crystal Areasโฆwhat now?"
"Well, first I would like to know more about that arm of yours. As for the other thingโฆI think THAT may be a clue." commented the boy while pointing behind Lisbeth, who quickly turned around to see that the only part of the wall they still had access to had suddenly become cracked, revealing some sort of passage behind the thin ice.
"An exit! Thank heaven that weโฆ!"
"Liz." interrupted Kirito while crossing his arms, making her stop cheering. "The arm."
"Ohโฆ" looking to the side, the pink-haired girl's good mood suddenly seemed to evaporate, something that the caped boy quickly noticed. "It's aโฆSkill. It's called 'God Hand', and my arm looks like that to indicate its 'activated' mode."
"Activatedโฆ?"
"Yeah, well, unlike most Skills out there, the 'stances' needed to activate the ones from its Tree are fairly simple and things that one may do unconsciously on everyday life, so it needs to be 'Activated' first before you can use themโฆat least that's what I think, I don't really know for sure." walking forward, the girl closed her fist in a very specific way and let the 'God Hand' vanish, her arm and dress-sleeve returning to normal. "Can we please drop it? Iโฆdon't like talking about it."
"Wait, what? Why?" questioned the gamer while following after her, stopping just behind the girl when she swung her mace against the ice wall and shattered it. "That's a Unique Skill, right? I know that by now almost EVERYONE in Aincrad should know what those are, especially someone who makes weapons for Front Liners from time to time! That's how you survived the fall, right? Why didn't you tell me you couldโฆ?"
"Because I DON'T like it, okay?!" Lisbeth's sudden shout froze the boy on his tracks even as she turned to glare at him, bitterness reflecting on her eyes. "I HATE this Skill, what it does and I wish I would have never gotten it! In fact, if it hadn't been to save my life, I WOULDN'T have used it!" that said, the girl stomped down the newest tunnel, leaving the now silent boy behind.
Some seconds later, he slowly followed after her.
๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ
"โฆ"
"โฆhey, Liz, sorry about before, okay?"
"โฆ"
"I-I mean, I guess you MUST have your reasons to don't like your Unique Skill, I didn't mean to make you this upsetโฆcan you please forgive me?"
"โฆKirito, to tell you the truth, I forgave you, like, an hour ago."
"Ohโฆthen why are you still so silent?"
"Because I'm starting to get freaking CLAUSTROPHOBIC in this damn tunnel and your talking is the only thing preventing me from going insane!" finally accepted the girl while turning around to look at the boy with panicked eyes. "What the hell is up with this place?! We have been walking for hours and we STILL haven't found the exit! And if it wasn't for these glowing rocks on the walls we would be in absolute darkness!" looking forward once again at the seemingly endless tunnel, the girl couldn't help but tremble a bit. "Wha-what if that cave falling down was an error in the game or something and we're not trapped here foreโฆ?!"
"Liz, calm down!" putting his hands on her shoulders and forcing her to look at him, Kirito got the girl's attention pretty quickly. "We're NOT trapped, okay? Just a bit lost. I know for sure that the game CAN'T let us trapped like this without reason, so trust me about that, okay?" getting a shaky nod as answer, the gamer smiled softly before standing. "Now wait here for a moment, okay? I will run ahead to see how far we're from theโฆ"
"NO!" forgetting any sense of dignity thanks to the fear, the blacksmith quickly grabbed the boy's jumpsuit with a vice-like grip. "Do-don't let me here all alone in the near-darkness, ple-please, anything but that!" taking a deep breath, Lisbeth tried to look as calm as possible when asking the next. "Yo-you have some sort of super speed stuff, right? Ca-can't you take me with you?"
"Ahโฆeh, well, I CAN do it, butโฆ" looking awkwardly to the side, Kirito once again scratched his head. "I-I would have to be holding youโฆis that okay?"
It wasn't that he cared about such things when he was saving people, but lately Argo had been so 'considerate' to point out how he more often than not ran into a situation when he would end up sweeping someone from their feet and running away with them on his arms, and that usually said 'someone' was a girl, and that he had started to take for granted that someone wouldn't mind if he grabbed them outside a dangerous situation just to make a trip or something easier. She had also pointed how 'some people' may take the 'coincidences' as sexual harassment, and that he should think about actually ASKING before carrying someone on his arms just for the sake of transportation.
She had also been refusing to directly meet his gaze, but still sent small glances at him, while saying that, though he had no idea of why. She had also suddenly asked if he could go with her to run some errands on the lower Floors before Asuna had shown up from nowhere and said that she would accompany her because she needed to search for a better sword. It was while his 'disciple' dragged the whiskered girl away, as they seemed to argue about 'something', that he had had the idea that had led him to his current situation andโฆ
While the black-haired boy was lost on his memories, Lisbeth was too busy trying to not let her face spontaneously combust from the sudden blush covering it.
Ye-yes, she needed to stay strong! So, what if she had never had a boyfriend before and as such hadn't ever had any similar to 'close contact' with a boy?! Thi-this had nothing to do with that, this was all for the sake of getting out of that frozen underground passage faster, yeah, that was all!
Nodding to herself and ignoring the drum-like beating of her virtual heart (?), he blacksmith looked at the boy and spoke with absolute confidence on her voiceโฆ
"O-of course I ha-have no problem wi-with it! C'mon, w-we need to ge-get out here fa-fast!"
โฆor so she told herself.
"Oh, okay then, if you're sureโฆ" after getting a final shaky nod of confirmation, Kirito quickly MOVED and the blinking pink-haired girl suddenly found herself off the ground, in the boy's arms. "Hold tight, this may be a bit shaky.
"Bri-bridal style?!" mentally shouted Lisbeth as she felt her brain was about to be fried by a very different reason than her Nerve Gear. "Wa-wait, I didn't knowโฆ!"
Whatever else the girl was going to say vanished in favor of a loud scream as the caped boy suddenly SHOT down the hallway like a shooting star.
Gripping at him for dear life, Lisbeth was both terrified and amazed as she saw frozen walls and ceiling past around them in mere seconds. Certainly, she could reach some unreal speeds with her 'Hermes Wings' Skill, but she was nowhere near this fast. Besides, the few times she had been forced to use it the experience had been marred by her dislike of her Skill.
Now, though, being carried and safely secured in the deceptively warm arms of the 'Superhero' Silica had told her so much about, her cheek pressed against his firm chestโฆthe feeling of super velocity was extremely cool.
She had just stopped screaming from fear and was now doing it from joy when Kirito suddenly stopped, Lisbeth blinking in a mix of confusion and surprise before noticing how they had exited the tunnel and were now in an open underground area, the cold floor seeming to reflect the pale rays of light that came from an absurdly big 'shining crystal' on the cave's ceiling. The only other noticeable thing about the room was the imposingly big door on the opposite sight, with some sort of inscription at its top.
Even as the caped boy let her down, she couldn't help but notice how beautiful the place was.
"That doorโฆit is some sort of Boss?"
"Hmm, maybeโฆ" muttered Kirito before walking towards it, his eyes squinting as he tried to read the inscription. "Let's seeโฆ 'Those who have beaten the Guardian Beast inside its own Nest have been allowed inside my frozen domains. Step forward if you're brave enough, and face the wrath of the Dragon King. The Legendary Metal shall be yours in Victory, but you shall only find Death in Defeat.'โฆwell, look at that." uttered the boy while putting a hand on his cheek. "It seems we activated some secret event when I killed that dragon inside his caveโฆArgo surely will be ecstatic to know about thisโฆ"
"Wait, what was that about a legendary metal?" her interest piqued, the pink-haired girl walked to the boy's side to stare at the door. "Do you think that it's maybe something even more valuable than what the dragon back there was supposed to give?! We may be, like, the first players in Aincrad to know about this!"
"Heh, yeah, I think you may beโฆ.Uaaaahhhโฆ" the sudden interruption made Liz blink, turning to the side to see the boy loudly yawning even as he tried to cover his mouth with one of his gloved hands. "โฆuhhโฆsorry, I haven't slept since yesterday, and after all the emotions of the day I'm kind of tiredโฆ"
"Now that you mention it, I'm feeling really tired tooโฆand it's pretty late." giving a worried look at her menu's clock and praying that Silica still hadn't returned home, the blacksmith couldn't help but release a tired sigh. "I would suggest for us to rest and try to do this thing in the morning, but I think it's going to be difficult to sleep on the cold floโฆ"
"Do you mind using a sleeping bag?" questioned the boy even as Lisbeth turned to look his way once again, seeing him materialize a couple of said items from his menu.
"โฆdo I want to know WHY you carry those on you?"
"What part of 'never know when you need it' didn't you get?" smiled the boy with innocence, making the pink-haired girl grin.
Five minutes later, both of them were lying inside the sleeping bags, very close one of the other (To keep as much warmth as possible, as Liz had said), even as they stared silently at the ceiling, the massive crystal that generated the artificial light casting an otherworldly glow over them.
In the suddenly peaceful silence, however, Kirito didn't expect to hear a soft voice muttering something.
"It's a Self-Enhancement Skill."
"Uhโฆwhat?" blinked the gamer in confusion while looking at her.
"That's the concept it's based around. God Hand, I mean. You know, how many old games let you do stuff or spells that grant you boosts of attack, defense and such, and how SAO has some rare potions that let you do the same?" getting a nod from the boy, the pink-haired girl silently looked directly towards him. "Well, myโฆ'Unique Skill', as you call it, does just that. But to the absolute extreme." looking to the side, the blacksmith's eyes seemed to gain a sad tone in them. "God Hand's Skills allows me to DOUBLE the total amount of my stats, once. With no level limit, apparently."
"Whaโฆ?!" eyes wide and open-mouthed, the Kirito almost jumped out of his sleeping bag at the implications. "But that'sโฆholy hell, that's broken!"
"It kind of is, right? Of course, it's not as simple as it seems. There ARE limitations, and pretty severe ones at that. Take for example Hermes Wings, the first of its Skill Tree and the one I used to try and escape from that ice-lizard back there. It doubles my Speed for 30 seconds, but after that I can't use it for 1 hour and I get a 20% reduction of my normal Speed for 10 minutes. Hades Armor, the one that saved me from becoming a smear on the cave's ground after falling, doubles my Defense for 30 seconds, but it needs 4 hours before it can be used again and I get a 50% reduction of my DEF for half an hour." silently, Lisbeth raised her left arm in front of herself, looking at it in silence. "Any of the 'boosts' only last 30 seconds, but the cooldown time and the 'penalty' becomes bigger the higher in the Skill Tree they are. Ares Sword makes me twice as strong and turns my Mace Skills into basically a rain of annihilation, but it takes 10 freaking hours to recharge and I get stuck with a 75% reduction of strength for 45 minutes. And they don't 'stack', if you use one you immediately lose the benefits of the last one, even if the 30 seconds aren't up." she closed her fist, as if a part of her was wishing to summon the metallic arm that symbolized her unwanted power. "โฆit's strange, though, don't you think? I thought this game wasn't supposed to have magicโฆ"
"It's not magicโฆ" softly muttered the black-haired boy, getting the girl's attention while he still seemed lost thinking about how her Skill worked. "It's a very powerful self-enhancement, yes, but it's still something that can be considered a 'Skill'. Some of the ones in SAO, and the Unique Skills in special get pretty close that that limit, but still aren't."
His words were technically true, of course. After all, the Extra Skill known as 'Meditation' wasn't magic, but it still seemed to get a bit too close to breaking SAO's suspension of disbelief to consider that it was 'normal' to be able to quickly recover your HP by just entering into a Buddhist-like sitting position. Then, there was Vorpal Strike, which effectively weaponized the 'aura' of a Sword Skill to inflict damage beyond its range. Still not 'magic' by the game's standards, but also absolutely unreal compared to the real world.
The Unique Skills, obviously, were on a completely different level. Sachi's Infinite Spear made Vorpal Strike's concept seem childish in comparison; and, despite being the most 'normal' ones of the bunch, Kirito still would swear that anyone that had seen Asuna or Philia using Dual Blades or Battoujutsu would be truly tempted to call those 'sword magic'.
Then, there were Strea's Darkness Blade and Heathcliff's Holy Sword. Fucking Sword Art Online still declared there was no magic involved, but that didn't stop one from using some sort of unholy 'darkness' to inflict deadly effects on their enemies while the other summoned a 'divine light' to do anything from blinding to cutting any foe on its way, nevermind his Shield.
So, yeah, he was willing to believe that the incredibly broken self-enhancement Skill wasn't 'magic', especially with those limitations, which would normally seem severe, but he, as a Beta Tester, could still notice they maybe weren't 'enough' for such an amazing ability.
Brushing aside the Stat Points one could assign with every new level, Lisbeth's God Hand essentially let her have the stats she wished from a character almost twice her level. Even if the girl was just at level 70 or so, the current one of most Mid-Liners, she would still be able to hold the power of a player of at least level 130 for 30 seconds, which may sound like little, but in SAO any couple of seconds could be the difference between life and death. If she wanted, the pink-haired girl could easily become a very powerful Front Liner as long as she had a group in the Front Lines to support her.
So then, whyโฆ?
"You're wondering again why do I hate it, aren't you?" whispered the blacksmith as if reading his thoughts, making Kirito look at her with surprise. "It's all over your face, Heroโฆ" turning her gaze towards the luminous crystal once again, Liz let her mouth form into a thin line. "Itโฆit may sound kind of silly to you, the awesome guy with the power of shattering Bosses with one punch, butโฆI hate it because of my pride as a blacksmith."
"Yourโฆpride?" repeated the boy with utter confusion, clearly lost.
"It's about another of its Skills, the second one, Hephaestus Hammer. Takes 2 hours before I can use it again after activationโฆand it's the only Skill whose duration isn't limited to 30 seconds, but to one 'use'." her voice seemed to falter for a moment before she kept going. "Itโฆdoubles the value of my current Mastery over all and any non-combative Skills."
Once again, the gamer found himself surprised at the shocking implications of that. In SAO, the maxim 'Mastery' level for any Skill was 1000, from the most 'useless' ones like Cooking to even the Unique Skills themselves. If what Lisbeth said was true, then that meant that just by mastering one halfway to 500, she only needed to activate her Skill to get a perfect Mastery over it for one use, which was really useful even if restrictive to Non-Combative ones only: One could easily create a high-level item with things like Tailoring, and if the Skill wasn't restricted by 'limits' like the others were, then that meant that one could essentially have a Mastery of above 1000 and create even more amazing items with Skills like Blackโฆ
"Oh." exclaimed the boy while his thoughts came to a screeching halt, as if suddenly realizing something.
"Have you realized it?" asked Lisbeth while sighing sadly. "Yes, it's as you think. From the very beginning, I have been painstakingly leveling up my blacksmithing abilities. It may not have meant much if this was a 'normal' videogame, you can't really complain of getting an advantage on something you play on a screenโฆbut here, where not only are we trapped fighting for our lives, but I also had to swing my hammer down countless times for it, putting my best to get better slowly but surely? Suddenly getting something that made it all seemโฆ'meaningless', that made my effort seem like nothing and that let me create a weapon more amazing than I could have ever hoped for without even tryingโฆit enraged me. It made me feel very sad and outraged at the same time. I think even the name made me a bit paranoid, you know? 'God Hand'." closing her eyes again, Lisbeth released a mirthless chuckle. "Fitting, because its Skills seem like 'blessings' of the Godsโฆwhat a load of bullshit!" suddenly shouted the girl while slamming her fist on the cold floor.
"Lizโฆ"
"I didn't ASK for this! I never wanted to have 'the right arm of God' or anything like that!" growled the blacksmith while starting to repeatedly slam down her arm, not caring for the cold or the numbing non-pain. "What good is all of this 'cheap' power if I can only see it as an insult to my and other's effort?! I don't need any stupid help to prove my worth, dammit! I can be a great blacksmith by my own merits, I don'tโฆ!"
An arm clad in white and black suddenly shot out, catching hers before it could slam down once again. Shocked, the girl's eyes shot to the side, only to be met byโฆunderstanding.
"I know." Kirito simply said, as if that was enough to explain what he meant. "I know."
Lisbeth's form slumped after the words were repeated, even as she kept staring at the boy.
He did know. The pink-haired girl could see it in his eyes. He understood how she felt.
And the gamer truly did. He could still remember, how he almost lost it when he first realized about his 'powers' and how they worked, how similar they were to those of Saitama. He had felt so utterly lost and confused that he had started to act like the fictional character just to not go insane.
"KiโฆKiritoโฆ"
"I never asked for this power of mine either. I didn't want it in the first place, but when this madness started, when SAO became a Death Game, I found myself with it and without any way to give it back. Iโฆwas overwhelmed by it, at first. I never intended to becomeโฆthis." muttered the black-haired boy while looking down. "Someone that almost everyone worships as a freaking Hero and a few despise as a cheater who believes himself better than anyone. I was justโฆa boy who wanted to play a videogame. And now, there are times I feelโฆso tiredโฆtimes when I sometimes forget who I was before all thisโฆ"
He was happy, with his friends. Fighting at their side, laughing with them, supporting each otherโฆbut they also knew him by who he was NOW. They had also built their image of him based upon the guy who couldn't be harmed, who could crush all kind of giant beasts and monsters with just one punch, who didn't fear anything.
It wasn't their fault, of course. It was mostly his, the 'mask' he had constructed around himself hadn't become so REAL that sometimes he himself had a hard time remembering his normal life, how things had been before SAO. Before becoming the 'One Punch-Gamer'.
The only moments when he allowed himself to drop his 'mask' were when he was alone in his bed at night, thinking about his parents, about Sugu, and how much he missed them, herโฆ
He didn't want to forget how to be 'Kazuto'. But it was very hard when here, in this world, everyone needed 'Kirito'.
Where was the line, in the end, that differentiated Virtual from Real?
"โฆbut you still used it. You still decided to become the 'Hero' of this world, even when you say you didn't want toโฆ" sincere confusion shone in the girl's eyes as she looked at him. "Why?"
"BecauseโฆI had to." he simply answered, closing his eyes and remembering the moment he 'exposed' himself, back in the battle against the 1st Floor Boss. To save Diavel's life from Illfang. "Because when someone needed a Hero, there wasn't anyone else with the 'power' to do so except me." opening his eyes once again, the black-haired boy looked directly at Lisbeth's. "A great man once said 'If the Heroes run and hide, who will stay and fight?' I'm justโฆfollowing that teaching. Because I think it's the right thing to do." chuckling, Kirito softly squeeze the blacksmith's hand a bit tighter. "At the end of the day, I guess I'm just a Gamer playing Hero for fun."
"Thatโฆ" Liz seemed unable to muster any coherent response to the boy's revelation. "โฆthatโฆthat was veryโฆHeroic of you."
Silence stretched between both teens.
Then, the black-haired boy slowly smiled, making the girl's heart skip a beat.
"Hehโฆthanks." whispered Kirito as he closed his eyes. "I think you're the first one to tell me thatโฆafter accepting how normal I really amโฆ"
The boy was sleeping barely a minute later.
Even as she also closed her eyes, Lisbeth could only think of how warm his hand felt against hers.
And as she fell asleep too, the girl idly realized that she wasn't feeling the imaginary 'throb' of her right arm anymore.
๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ
๐๐๐ป๐ฒ ๐ณ๐๐ต, ๐ญ๐ฌ:๐ฏ๐ฌโฆ
"Ready for this, Liz?" asked the caped boy once they had woken up and readied themselves, the pair now standing before the imposing door.
"โฆyeah, I am." replied the blacksmith with a soft grin, mace at the ready for anything. "Let's do this and get out of here already."
"Then let's do it." nodded the boy before touching the massive gate, the doors slowly opening with an ominous sound. "Stay behind me, I'm going to finish this quickly andโฆ"
The gamer's words were cut short when a roar that seemed to shake the entire underground cave EXPLODED from within the new room, making Lisbeth jump in surprise while Kirito's eyes widened.
The new area was massive, with a ceiling that was barely visible and walls that seemed to be too far away from where the two currently stood. More than two dozen dragon statues as big as X'rphan had been surrounded the area, and in the center one twice as big as the ice dragon had been stood.
Only that the 'statue' was suddenly moving, looking down towards them.
Scales of a dark emerald shone under the actual sunlight that came from somewhere above them, even as the beast woke from its slumber. Golden eyes shone on the icy cavern as it opened its mouth, roaring once again. Three horns rested over its head, and countless of deadly-looking silver spikes seemed to grow around the tip of its tail. Four giant wings unfurled from its back, even as 3 HP Bars and a name were finally revealed.
'Fafnir the Dragon King'.
"Woahโฆthat thing looks very tough." idly commented the pink-haired girl as the imposing beast took flight, shooting high into the air of the chamber.
"Maybe, but not for much lonโฆ." Kirito hadn't even finished saying the words when Fafnir ROARED for the third time and, suddenly, the statues around them started to fill with cracks. "โฆwait, are you kiddingโฆ?"
With a cacophony of beastly screams, the devastating battalion of 'Fafnir's Spawns' came to life, turning their heads towards the two players as a gaping Liz was suddenly hauled off her feet once again by the caped boy, barely evading being crushed by one of the Adds.
"What the fucking hell?!" shouted the blacksmith while once again clinging at the boy for dear life. "Isn't this a bit overkill for a Sub-Boss?!"
"It may be an Event Boss!" informed the black-haired as he spun through the air and evaded the jumping forms of the smaller dragons, which thankfully seemed unable to fly. "Also, I'm pretty sure this fight was meant to be taken by a group of high-level players, not by just two who accidentally fell back there!"
It made sense, in hindsight. After all, like with the Christmas Boss that Sachi was faced, there was a high probability that the secret for this one was meant to be told by an NPC, and given that only players of levels around the Frontline would be able to normally survive a fall from the absurd height of X'rphan's cave without dying AND also killing the Named Mob on its own nest, this was probably some sort of super-secret and highly dangerous Event.
Luckily, he only needed to keep Liz safe until he couldโฆ
"SHIT! FIRE!"
"What?!" shouted the boy, his eyes shooting up in time to see Fafnir unleashing a torrent of emerald flames upon them. Also, his dragon minions all seemed ready to eat them if they tried to descend. "Fuck! Liz, resist, okay?! I will be with you in a sec!"
"Wait, what do you meโฆ?!"
And then, the blacksmith found herself screaming once again as the boy let her go when he was about to land, her body rolling through the ground as the Spawns of Fafnir jumped and crashed against the point where the boy had shot to, only for the breath-attack of their King to cover them all in the next instant.
Not even bothering to look back, but remembering to berate Kirito for that later, the pink-haired girl ran while ignoring the sounds of dragons flying around and crashing against walls. She just needed to keep running until the caped boy finishedโฆ
The ground around her shook when Fafnir crashed in front of her, growling as it stood and roared at the frozen blacksmith.
Time seemed to stop as she looked at the Event Boss about to kill her. She had no way of outrunning the flying beast now that its attention was centered on her. Butโฆ
Her ring hand trembled. A torrent of confusing emotions exploded inside of herโฆuntil the image of Kirito's soft smile as he held his hand appeared once again.
She took her decision.
Fafnir's jaws started to fill with emerald fire as Lisbeth let go of her mace and closed her fist, spinning around to grab it once again before it fell down.
God Hand seemed to shine with an inner light as it materialized again, as if feeling the change on its master. Not wasting a second, the blacksmith GLARED at the Even Boss as she crossed her arms in front of her, forming an X pattern.
"I'm NOT dying hereโฆand I'm DONE running away!" shouted the pink-haired girl even as the dragon unleashed her breath attack. "ZEUS BLESSING!"
God Hand shone alive even as yellow-golden aura exploded around Lisbeth's body.
Fafnir's emerald fire engulfed her a second laterโฆand she shot out of them, like an arrow shot from a bow as the earth shook from her jump, the mace on her hand shining with a contained Skill.
If anyone could have seen her HP, they would seem that she only had lost 20% of it from that attack.
"EAT THIS, OVERGROWN LIZARD! VARIABLE BLOW!"
The 8-Hit Mace Skill crashed brutally against the Dragon King's head and its first HP bar almost seemed to be cut down with each blow until it reached nothingness. Not wasting an instant to even breathe, the pink-haired girl ran the moment she landed and unleashed a 'Mjolnir Hammer' Skill against the Boss' exposed belly, seeming more like a living hurricane than a player.
This was the power of God Hand's Ultimate Skill, Zeus Blessing. The arguably most dangerous to use of all the Skills in Sword Art Online.
Once activated, ALL of Lisbeth's Stats doubled for 30 seconds, and all recovery time from her combat-related Sword Skills was reduced to 0,5 seconds. In essence, she almost literally doubled her level without effortโฆat a deadly cost.
First, Zeus Blessing needed a brutal total of 24 Hours before it could be used again, making it literally impossible to use again on the same fight. And secondโฆit inflicted a 99% penalty on ALL of the Player's Stats for ONE HOUR the moment it vanished.
This was a Skill that should only be used as a last resort or as a triumph card, because once its effects faded the Player essentially became almost level 1 again, which in the middle of a battle on a higher Floor was equivalent to suicide.
Such was the price a mortal had to pay for wielding the Power of Godโฆor at least that was the 'explanation' Lisbeth had thought of the first time she read what it did. She had never actually used it, until this moment.
And yet, despite how she felt her fear and terror growing as the countdown on the edge of her vision reached 10, she couldn't help but also feel an exciting exhilaration as she saw her hammer crash against one of Fafnir's wings and seeing his second HP Bar emptying.
The disgust and self-loathing she had always felt when using the God Hand wasโฆnot gone, but more like 'muted'. Put on a second plane and almost forgotten, in favor of something else, something more important.
She wanted to survive. She wanted to get out of that damn cold cavern. She wanted to get that supposed 'legendary metal' and try making a weapon with it.
But, above all else, she โฆ
"๐ผ ๐๐๐๐ค."
"๐ด ๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ 'If the Heroes run and hide, who will stay and fight?' ๐ผ'๐ ๐๐ข๐ ๐กโฆ๐๐๐๐๐๐ค๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐ก ๐ก๐๐๐โ๐๐๐. ๐ต๐๐๐๐ข๐ ๐ ๐ผ ๐กโ๐๐๐ ๐๐ก'๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐โ๐ก ๐กโ๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐."
"๐ผ ๐กโ๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข'๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ก ๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐ก๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐กโฆ๐๐๐ก๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ โ๐๐ค ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ผ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐โฆ"
"DIE ALREADY, DAMMIT!" shouted the blacksmith as she slammed her hammer against one of the monster's wings once again, stopping it from taking flight in the last instant. Her countdown was down to 5 seconds, but she suddenly didn't feel scared anymore.
Four seconds were left as she dodged a direct attack of Fafnir's jaws even as two of the dragon Adds crashed near them, exploding into polygons.
Three seconds were left as she answered by hitting the head with a 'Trinity Arts' Mace Skill.
Two seconds were left and the wings of the Even Boss seemed to shine, probably ready to release a brutal Special Attack now that his last HP Bar was on the yellow.
One second was left and Liz knew she wouldn't be able to counterattack in time, her breath coming out of her in ragged gasps because of how unused she was to actually moving and fighting in that extreme way.
Yet, she felt no fear, not even when she felt the 'divine' power left her and be replaced by a crippling weakness or when she saw the deadly emerald light gathering on Fafnir's mouthโฆ
"Consecutive Normal Punches."
โฆbecause she knew there was a selfless boy playing Hero for others' sake in there.
The Dragon King never got to unleash his special attack, for his body EXPLODED into virtual-gore as it was shattered in all directions by a rain of punches that seemed to ignore the HP it had left. In the middle of the raining polygons, a worried-looking boy with a cape lowered his arms and looked towards the panting girl with her HP on the yellow, who was looking at him with a small grin even as the 'CONGRATULATIONS!' message appeared over them.
Lisbeth wobbled on her feet for an instant before Kirito was at her side again, holding her in his arms for the third time in two days. She weakly blushed while offering him a teasing grin.
"You know, if you keep doing this, I'm going to start thinking you LIKE holding me like this."
"A-ah, so-sorry!" apologized the gamer with a red face, not looking at her but not letting go either. "I-it just looked like you needed help, and those damn things already delayed me enough by jumping aroundโฆbut I'm glad you're okay, Liz." finally looking back at her, the black-haired boy gave her a grin on his own. "Also, that was FUCKING AMAZING. Some kind of Ultimate Skill?"
"Yep, exactly that, Heroโฆand that reminds meโฆ" absentmindedly dismissing the window congratulating them for their victory, the blacksmith's smile just widened at seeing the new object in her inventory.
Orichalcum Ingot.
"Did you get it?"
"WE got it, you mean. And yes, here it is." happily informed Lisbeth before letting her body relax. "Nowโฆwould you mind helping me back to my shop? I'm going to be kind of useless for an hour because of using that Skill."
"Yeah, no problem." nodded Kirito while starting to move towards the suddenly opened staircase at the other end of the room, not noticing any ulterior motive on the girl's request. "AlsoโฆI think I should stop taking vacations."
The blacksmith's laughter echoed loudly inside the empty cave.
๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ
Later, at the back of Lisbeth's Smith Shop, the boy clad in white and black looked on with interest as his newest friend finished all the preparations needed to forge a new weapon.
Then, she seemed to hesitate for an instant before turning and looking at Kirito, as if searching for something.
The boy could only blink in confusion at that, even more so when she only seemed to grin in answer.
"You wanted a sword that was better than any other, right?" at his hesitant nod, Lisbeth simply extended her right arm to the side. "Then let's give your friend something unique."
The caped boy's eyes widened in surprise and shock at seeing the metallic form of God Hand materializing around the blacksmith's arm.
"Liz, wait, you don't needโฆ!"
"But I WANT to." the girl cut him off, with a determined gleam in her eyes. "Youโฆwhat you told meโฆit made me think. About a lot of things. Not only this 'power' of mine but also about how everyone else here in Aincrad is doingโฆand about my family. I hadn't even realized that I was trying to not think about themโฆbut I miss them, a lot." closing her eyes, Liz let a smile blossom on her face once again. "And I realized that doing my best to help everyone get out of here, to help myself see them again sooner, is much more important than any dislike I may have towards this. So, that's whyโฆHephaestus Hammer!"
With a mix of surprise and fascination, Kirito saw how the pink-haired girl's other arm also shone with a similar silver light to that of her normal God Hand, before she hardened her gaze and started the forging process.
The gamer could swear there was some sort of strangely familiar 'fire' on her eyes as she started hammering down the Orichalcum Ingot, and he couldn't help but imagine there was an imposing aura around her as she did, as if the Blacksmithing God the Skill she had used was named after was truly lending her his powers.
It was something that should be silly and stupid to think for any rational personโฆbut then again, he was the one with the power to shatter giant monsters with just one punch.
Who could say for sure what mysteries existed in the virtual worldโฆ?
A couple of instants later, it was done. Before the boy's awed eyes, the ingot received one last strike from the hammer before shining and morphing, leaving only a glorious emerald sword with a dragon-like motif on the handle and guard.
"Woahโฆ" was all that the shocked Hero could say, knowing that, despite all the things he could do, creating something so beautiful would always be out of his reach.
"Uhโฆ'Fafnir's Fang', eh? Fitting, I guess, seeing how many problems that thing caused us." idly commented Lisbeth while her God Hand vanished and she grabbed the blade, giving it an appraising look before actually opening the screen with its data. "โฆwell, I will be dammed. I have never seen anything as amazing as thisโฆ" turning around, the blacksmith gave the black-haired boy an undecipherable look before presenting the sword to him, who grabbed it with firm hands, looking it over with awe and respect. "โฆI think that, this time, I can say without any regrets that this is my best work."
"โฆyes. You really can, and I can attest to that." replied the gamer before nodding at her with the utmost respect, letting a soft grin appear on his face. "Thanks for everything, Liz."
"I-it was nothing, re-really, ahahahโฆ!" awkwardly laughed the girl while suddenly feeling very self-conscious, confusing the caped boy. "A-and Kirito? I'm sure thatโฆeveryone will understand both the 'you' of here and the 'you' of the real world. In the end, they're both you, after all."
"โฆheh, you may be right Liz." he simply answered before smiling again. "You may be right."
The new silence that stretched between them was much more comfortable than any other before, and the pink-haired girl almost lost herself on the boy's eyes. Gathering her courage, she opened her mouth to say something elseโฆ
"Liz-san, we're home! And we brought a lot of items!"
"Kyuuu!"
โฆonly to be interrupted when a certain petite kunoichi opened the door with a kick and backflipped down into the workshop, landing with utmost grace, even as her feathered friend flew down following her.
Lisbeth was almost tempted to call upon God Hand's 'divine' powers to ask for strength to not curse her little friend to the depths of Hell, but thankfully decided against it whenโฆ
"Eh? Silica? Is that you?"
"Ahโฆ? U-UAAAH?! KI-KIRITO-SAN?!" shouted the young girl while almost jumping in shock, her face reddening while Pina managed the amazing feat of facepalming with a wing. "Wha-what are you do-doing here?!"
"Oh, I needed a sword done for a friend and I had heard that Liz here was an amazing blacksmith, soโฆ"
"Wait, you two know each other?" interrupted said amazing blacksmith with utter shock. "Ho-how?!"
"Well, I kind of helped her save Pina some months ago and we have been messaging each other since theโฆ"
"WAAAH! Kirito-san, do-don't say it out louuud!"
"Yo-you are the one with which she had been talking lately?!" shouted the girl while her mind spiraled around at the implications, her eyes shooting towards her young friend.
"โฆyeah? So, wait, the 'friends' both of you talked about were in fact each other?" finally realized Kirito while looking from one girl to the other, everything finally clicking on his head. "Ohโฆthat explains many things that I thought sounded curiously familiar while we were walking together yesterdayโฆ"
"WHAT?!" shouted Silica while her eyes shot as fast as her shurikens towards her friend. "Wha-what were you two doing walking together yesterday?!"
"Ehm, we wereโฆ"
"We were in a special mission to get the material needed for Kirito's new sword here." cheerfully informed Lisbeth with a suddenly bright smile as she moved to the boy's side, pointing at said blade. "He was just telling me how AWESOME I'm for doing it. We have become REALLY good friends, right?"
"Uhm, ye-yeahโฆ?" hesitantly confirmed the boy, wondering why Liz was suddenly so close to him and why Silica was suddenly flinching.
Meanwhile, both girls seemed to be having some sort of hidden conversation with just her stares.
"๐ฟ๐๐ง-๐ ๐๐โฆ๐ก๐๐๐๐ก๐๐!"
"๐ผ ๐๐๐๐'๐ก ๐๐๐๐ค ๐๐ก ๐ค๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐ข๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐คโ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐ค๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ข๐ โ๐๐๐ ๐๐, ๐๐ฃ๐๐ โ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐!"
"๐โ๐-๐กโ๐๐, ๐๐๐ค ๐กโ๐๐ก ๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐๐๐๐ค ๐๐ก, ๐ ๐ก๐๐ ๐คโ๐๐ก๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐ค๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐!"
"๐ฟ๐๐๐ โ๐๐๐! ๐ต๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ , ๐๐ก'๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ข๐ ๐กโ๐๐ก ๐พ๐๐๐๐ก๐ โ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐โ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐ก๐ข๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ก โ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐."
"๐ด-๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ก๐ก๐๐ ๐๐๐๐?!"
"๐๐๐ข ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ก, ๐๐๐ก ๐๐."
"๐ผ'๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐โ๐๐๐! ๐ผ'๐ ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐-๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐โ๐, ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฆ ๐ ๐๐ฆ๐ ๐ผ'๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ก๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐ ๐ค๐๐กโ ๐พ๐๐๐๐ก๐-๐ ๐๐!"
"๐๐๐โ, ๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐กโฆ"
Pina seemed content with flying to a nearby table, where a small number of sweets lay (For some reason), and watch all hell silently breaking loose even as the each-second-more-confused Hero looked from one girl to the other.
Then, something seemed to 'break' in the air as both girls declared one thing to one other with their gazes.
"๐ต๐ ๐ผ๐๐บ ๐ผ๐ ๐๐!"
"Kirito-saaaan!" happily sang Silica before seemingly teleporting at his side, clamping on one of his arm and making him squeak. "W-we're great friends, right?!"
"Ye-yes, but Silica, what are youโฆ?!"
"Aww, isn't she sweet?" asked Lisbeth while clinging to the boy's other arm, making him gap at her in shock while the kunoichi sent a death-glare her way. "She's very cute, right? Acting all childish all day, isn't she like a super sweet little sister?"
"I-I'm already a teenager, not a little girl! I will be 14 in October, a-and I'm already a very strong warrior!" shouted the pig-tailed girl while once again looking at the boy. "Yo-you have seen it first hand, Kirito-san! And I have been training to become stronger, as I have been telling you! Tell her!"
"We-wellโฆ"
"Heh, yeah Silica-chan, no one is doubting your worth as an amazing 'ninja' hereโฆ"
"Lies! You totally are!"
"Oh yeah? How so?"
"You know very wellโฆ!"
Wishing to truly understand what was going on, or at the very least get out of the (For him) senseless arguing between both girls, Kirito quickly racked his brain in search of a solution.
Surprisingly, that same part of his brain that always told him to NOT ASK in determined situations was the one who gave him a rather peculiar idea, though he wasn't totally sure how it would help.
Nevertheless, he was getting REALLY nervous with both girls clinging to him, so he decided to bet it all and try it out.
"Uhm, Silica, Lizโฆ"
"Yes?!" both asked at unison while turning at her.
"โฆhave you ever thought about joining a guild on the Front Lines?"
Both girls blinked a couple of times, then looked at each other. Still sitting on the nearby table, Pina sighed.
Later that day, Asuna would be looking open-mouthed and with shiny eyes at the Fafnir's Fang, exploding in endless thanks and praises to his Sensei, who would also inform everyone that they had kind of gained 2 new members.
That would, after several better not mentioned incidents, led Argo to say that they would need to get an official Guild House for everyoneโฆbut that's a story better reserved for another time.
๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ
๐ก๐๐ซ๐ง ๐๐ฃ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐๐ ๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ช!
"Well, here we're everyone! This is Lisbeth's, Aincrad's most awesome blacksmith coming to you with the preview for the next chapter (Whatever the hell that is). AhhโฆI went through a lot of things these last two days, uh? Thanks, Kirito, for helping me find my wayโฆwait, did I said that aloud?!...uhm, anyway! Next time on 'One Punch-Gamer': 'The Calm before the Storm'. Kirito has gotten a lot of friends and an unbreakable determination, and as peaceful days go by, nothing seems to be able to stop their way to freedomโฆbut, what will happen when the dark truth is revealed, and their True Enemy appears before them? Don't miss it!...wait, that bit about 'True Enemy' sounds really ominousโฆbut no matter, now that I'm also part of the famous United Heroes Association, nothing will get in our wa-!"
๐๐ก๐ ๐ข๐ ๐ง๐๐ ๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ช!