The main city of the third floor, [Danzac], was also built on the south slope of the tallest mountain of the third floor. The main street was a broad boulevard that relied on switch-backs to reach from the [Great Temple] that contained the Teleport Gate down to the [Main Gate]. That road would have been too steep otherwise. However, it meant that rather than crossing [Main Street], all of the secondary roads radiated outward from the switchbacks in Y-shaped intersections. They were counted downwards from the Temple, so the branch from the first switchback was [1st Street], the branch from the second switchback was [2nd Street], and so on up to [nth Street] for any given switchback.
However, after that, any sense of central planning immediately ceased. Whether any [Street] went up or down the slope was completely random, and it was impossible for tertiary streets branching off them to be perpendicular because then they would be too steep, so as a rule, every single intersection was at something like 30 degrees.
Well, as a result, navigating [Danzac] was a hassle because it was easy to get lost, and even before then, it was usually easier to stay in [Urbus] or the [Starting City] and just commute using the [Teleport Gates].
Of course, in compensation for that, it meant that it was even easier to monopolize the kind of hole-in-the-wall places that delivered a value of 150 for a cost of 120 like Kirito preferred.
His favorite kind of [Bed-And-Breakfast], this house on one of the nameless alleys that connected [2nd Street] and [3rd Street] rented out the entire third floor, an opulent room furnished with something like [Persian Rugs] for wall hangings, and cushions instead of chairs, was an exotic and interesting place to stay. As a bonus, the roof was a cafe-like place that served a meal that served delicious kabobs and something that was like coffee. The kabobs required talking to the landlady long enough to trigger a [Fetch Quest] on the [Second Floor]. Compared to a normal fetch quest that relied on tenuous connections and nonsense, gathering [Eight Cow Shanks] so that those [Beef Kabobs] could be made was completely logical. The only sacrifice to [Game Logic] was that only players that had completed the quest could order food.
The delicious food made possible by his own effort in completing a sensible quest, eaten on this high roof under a clear and crisp sky with a magnificent view stretching out across the whole Floor with a cup of warm [Almost Coffee] in his hands, was it even possible for this to get better?
"Hey, Kiribou." His companion said, nursing her own [Almost Coffee] with a slightly resentful look on her face. "I'll increase my offer to 200, but I won't go any higher than that."
Yes, there was a way for it to get better. And that was, while enjoying all of the above, to also be teasing Argo with her ignorance that she didn't know how to achieve such a thing. She would certainly be able to figure it out on her own, and she would even if the opportunity cost of the time she would spend doing so was worth more than 200 Col. That was guaranteed just so she could uphold her pride as the [Information Broker who Knows Everything].
On the other hand, even for someone who instinctively pinched every Col like himself, the chance to tease her was also worth more than those 200 Col.
"Hmm." Kirito sighed, closing his eyes and relaxing on the thick carpet, sprawled back from the low table leaning against a heavy pillow. "Since we're such good friends, I'll generously apply a discount, and tell you for a low price of 500 Col."
She gave him a suspicious look, her eyes almost glowing yellow between the hood and the cup raised in front of her face. "Is that all my friendship is worth to you?" She asked with a slightly sharp and offended tone.
"You're right." Kirito nodded in total agreement. "It's a complete mistake to mix business and friendship, so I shouldn't give you a discount." Then he raised his cup to sip, and deliberately made an obnoxious slurping sound effect as he did so, as a hilarious way to punctuate his sentence.
"Tch." Argo clicked her teeth and also nursed her beverage, letting the hood cover her eyes as she brooded. "If you make a mistake then the appropriate thing to do is own up to it, rather than pretending there's an undo button you can click whenever it's convenient for you." She looked up from her cup, staring at him in suspicion. "So, based on the counter-offer of 500, I'll go up to 250."
Kirito sighed, shaking his head. "Well, since I continue to learn from you, I suppose going down to 450 might be fine."
"Kirito." Argo said with an annoyed voice. "I'm beginning to think you forgot about what we were even talking about and just focused on [Winning the Argument]. Can you really say what you're offering is worth more than 300 at the absolute maximum?"
Kirito hummed, tilting his head to the side and resting it on his upturned palm. "So, you're offering 300, then?"
"No." Argo countered. "I wasn't offering 300, I was saying that it was shameless of you to ask for more than 300 in the first place." She sipped, perfectly mimicking the [obnoxious sound] he had made earlier. "So, after talking about it, I realized it was unrealistic to offer more than 150."
"Ugh." Kirito said, as the elbow resting on the table slipped and pitched out from under his head. "That's lower than before."
Argo stared at him with beady eyes, asking him if he was really asking such an obvious thing just with the expression on her face.
He sighed, before opening his trade window. "Fine, fine, 250 then."
"200." Argo shot back immediately. "And no higher."
"That's fine." Kirito agreed, giving in. He paused after clicking accept, as he realized that Argo had paid exactly the price he thought it was honestly worth. He shook his head, and explained the method of the quest.
He was just finishing up explaining the last dialogue tree when a holographic rectangle blinked into appearance before him. "Ah." He blinked, sitting up in mild surprise as he read the [PM] that had appeared in front of him.
"What is it?" Argo asked.
"100 Col." Kirito replied without blinking, even as he read the [PM], before sitting back, thinking. Shirou had just sent him a short message of [stay where you are, I'm on my way], but he didn't include any further information. Kirito didn't think it was an emergency, so really he just wondered whether it would be presumptuous to order food or a drink for Shirou, or rude not to.
"You're no fun anymore." Argo complained with an aggravated voice.
"Hmm." Kirito mused. "Well, I learned this game from a great master, but I didn't realize she was someone that only had fun while she was winning." He sipped from his cup again.
"Even if you praise me that much it doesn't make me feel better." Argo retorted.
Kirito decided the best compromise would be to order a drink but no food for now, but offer it when Shirou showed up. Appropriately, he tapped the table to bring up the dialogue to buy more food, and ordered another [Almost Coffee], which instantly materialized on the table. That was another advantage of these kinds of secondary quests; because the programming didn't bother with adding all the interactivity of a waiter, the service paradoxically became better since whatever was ordered just instantly materialized like they were in a certain TV show.
"Just be patient and you'll find out." Kirito said easily.
"Hmph." Argo went back to her [Almost Coffee], crossing her legs more tightly as she turned partially away from him.
Thankfully, that was about when Shirou showed up.
"Hey." With a distracted wave, he came over.
"Here." Kirito said, pushing the [Almost Coffee] forward on the table. "I don't know if you'd already eaten or not."
"Huh?" Shirou said, blinking as he looked down at the cup, then up at Kirito. "Thank you." He said, sitting down and scooting forward slightly so he could rest his elbows on the table, reaching forward for the cup, although he paused before he brought it up, looking past Kirito. "Um." He said, slightly hesitant.
If it was Argo that had asked Kirito definitely would have whipped that super-reliable [100 Col] line out again, but since it was the other person who asked, that wasn't really an option.
"Shirou, meet Argo." He said by way of introduction, gesturing towards his original dining companion. "Argo, Shirou." He added, gesturing towards the new addition to the table.
"Oh?" Argo said, with an inquisitive smile as she shuffled around and forward to face fully towards the new person. "So, this is the super-famous [Sixth Ranger], huh?" Saying something a little strange, she inspected him as if he was sincerely fascinating.
"And you're Argo, the information broker, right?" Shirou said, returning her attention with his own steady gaze. When she nodded in confirmation, still with that sharp and slightly enigmatic smile that made Kirito a little nervous, Shirou also nodded, closing his eyes.
"I see." His eyes opened, and then he bowed deeply even though he was sitting, hands resting on his knees. "Thank you very much. I deeply appreciate everything you've done."
Argo blinked, slipping sideways slightly as her tension gave way to complete surprise. Kirito was also surprised at such a non-sequitor, but he also enjoyed the wide-eyed and gobsmacked expression on the girl's face.
"Um," Argo said, clearly searching her memory, before giving up. "For what?"
Shirou relaxed, straightening up, before returning her studying gaze. "For the [Argo's Guide]." He said, nodding seriously. "Because you freely provide such an excellent resource, many [Players] have been protected from danger. So, I want to express my respect and admiration for everything you've accomplished."
Argo's expression was slightly queasy, her smile a little guilty as her gaze darted over to Kirito, who just shrugged uncomfortably even as he nodded to prove that everything Shirou said was serious, that it wasn't being sarcastic.
Because, from Argo's perspective, information only went in the Guide once it became such common-place knowledge that the price dropped so low it wasn't even worth her time to sell it anymore. At that point, it was added to the advertising that continuously reminded everyone who the best info dealer was. Maybe there had been special additions released like before the [Illfang Battle], but that was an exception, not something that obeyed the fundamental rule of [Argo's Guide].
"It's nothing, really." Argo said, laughing uncomfortably as she brushed off the praise.
"Even if you think so." Shirou allowed. "It's still true, so I think it's important to sincerely thank you."
Kirito said nothing, using the cup as a prop to take another sip to keep himself occupied even though he wasn't thirsty. Argo was the kind of person that was weak against sincere praise, and when she felt it was undeserved, that was a coefficient of at least three.
Well, as someone who knew both of them, Kirito could understand both Shirou's gushing and Argo's discomfort. It was one thing to tease her, but this was something different.
"The last I heard," Kirito interrupted dryly, "you were holed up like a hermit, even neglecting the club activities of the [Sixth Ranger]." Ilya had expected that changing classes to a [Blacksmith] would mean more free time, but instead, Kirito hadn't even seen him since then. Based on her complaints when they were mapping yesterday, Ilya was barely better off, since he left early and returned late like a proper Japanese salaryman.
"Ah." Shirou shrugged uncomfortably as Kirito changed the subject, having the grace to look sheepish. "Well, it was frustrating that I couldn't work with [Steel], so I had to grind my skill to meet the minimum requirements."
"So it's true that [Takachan's Emporium] has also learned the recipe for steel, eh." Argo mused, returning to the conversation once she had re-centered as an information dealer. "Do you think he'd be willing to sell it to me? None of the other smiths will."
"Oh?" Kirito said, raising an eyebrow. "Could it be that there's a secret that even the [Great Argo-sama] doesn't know?"
"I'll tell you this for free." Argo replied without looking his way. "You're not cute at all."
Kirito sighed with an exaggerated expression.
"So, I'll pay you 50,000 Col for the recipe for [Steel]." Casually, Argo made an almost outrageous offer. Kirito sat up, amazed.
"Don't misunderstand." Argo said, shaking her head, once she saw they both had incredulous expressions. "I'm not trying to sweet-talk you. Because the [Blacksmithing Skill] was clearly designed with the assumption that players had full access to wikipedia and the unlimited data of the internet, it was brutally hard. Even during the [Beta Test] no one discovered the recipe. It didn't matter because [Steel Ingots] were available for purchase by the end of the second week of the [Beta] when we reached the fifth floor. So the crafting players completely abandoned the quest, and I also abandoned it since there wasn't any profit." She crossed her arms, slumping in place. "But the situation is completely different, now."
Yes, Kirito understood. The difficulty of the game [SAO] had dramatically gone up. Certainly the unbalanced and strange [Thaumaturgy System] made it harder, but there was an even more fundamental reason. Compared to the maximum difficulty setting of a normal game that was called [Permadeath] where the character was deleted and you lost the tens of hours you sunk into the game, the difficulty setting of [Player Death], of losing every possible hour of your remaining lifespan, was thousands of times higher. Therefore, the benefit of a higher safety margin was also thousands of times more valuable. It was just a rhetorical trick, but in that sense spending 50k in this difficulty setting was the same as spending 50 Col in a game with a regular setting.
And there was no guarantee that [Steel] would be available on the [Fifth Floor], rather than the tenth, or the fortieth. The game was already too different, this desert-like floor full of giant centipedes was already far away from the [Elven Forests] of the [Beta].
"I see." Shirou mused. His brow was furrowed, and he was sitting with his arms crossed and a bothered expression. Even if the thought process was completely different, Kirito was confident his conclusions were the same.
Finally, Shirou slapped his thigh. "Well, if it's for the [Argo Guide], I'll tell you everything you want to know."
"...eh?" Argo asked, non-plussed. "Wait, the price..."
Shirou nodded, eyes closed with a serious expression. "Right. Ideally steel should be between one and two percent carbon by weight, so adding an appropriate ratio of the [Coal] item with an [Iron Ingot] during the [Metal Refining] step is the basic step. Well, depending on the quality of the coal you might need more to account for impurities like phosphorus and sulfur, and of course the inclusions of the metal should be identified so that you don't hit the target, but those can both be accomplished with [Structural Grasp] so it's not a problem."
"Wait wait, slow down." Argo said, furiously typing. "What was that about [Structural Grasp] again?"
Shirou studied her, watching her frantically type away, and then spoke. "You know what, I'll just PM you with the details."
"Really?" Argo said, glancing up at him with a suspicious and hopeful expression.
"Of course." Shirou said, nodding.
"Deal." Argo said, sticking her hand out.
Shirou blinked, and then shook her hand with a smile.
"Now, as for payment," Argo said, putting on a brave expression as she called up the trade window. Kirito sympathized. 50 kiloCol was a huge amount of money for this point in the game. Argo probably had a relatively large buffer of money compared to most players who turned it into gear, but spending so much at once would leave her dangerously overleveraged. In the worst case she wouldn't be able to buy new information until she recouped some of the investment.
"Like I said, that's not necessary." Shirou said, brushing her off.
"What?" Argo said, dumbfounded.
"Since it's something for the [Argo's Guide], naturally I'll tell you for free." Shirou nodded.
Kirito covered his mouth, as Argo's amazement turned to horror, as she realized that from the beginning he was the kind of guy that believed in the ideals of the utopian Free Software Movement and used Linux. Rather than charging a high cost, he offered a devil-like bargain that her cost would be zero, but her profit would be zero, too. Or rather, since he would tell anyone who asked for free, he was automatically setting the price of the information at zero. She never had a chance to profit from the [Recipe] from the beginning. The only choice he was offering her was "will it appear in the [Argo Guide] or not."
"That's..." Argo sighed heavily, slumping forward like she had taken critical damage from a psychic-type attack. "That's fine." Her conclusion sounded like someone being savagely forced to offer a concession.
"That's good." Shirou said, nodding.
"Is that information even yours to give away?" Kirito asked, voicing a suspicion. Even if he was hanging out with them a lot, he wasn't actually a member of the guild [Takachan's Emporium], so he might not have the authority to hand over their trade secrets so casually.
"Hmm?" Shirou said, with a confused look on his face. "What do you mean?"
Kirito thought for a bit, and when it sounded right in his head, he spoke. "Well, in stories when a master blacksmith teaches a disciple the secrets, it's with a strict condition of secrecy, like an oath at midnight to never speak them to an outsider or something like that." Kirito waved his hand in an appropriate accompaniment to his dramatic words. "So if Takachan taught you to make steel, is it okay for you to tell us like this?"
Shirou's expression only became more confused. "But they didn't teach me how to make steel."
Kirito was about to ask a stupid question like 'who taught you then', but revised it at the last minute so it was at least 30% less stupid. "You mean, you figured it out yourself?"
"Of course." Shirou said, blinking.
"Hmm." Argo leaned forward, rubbing her chin with a speculative expression. "You mentioned something about measuring the properties with [Structural Grasp]. Did you perhaps reverse engineer it from an existing [Steel Ingot] doing something like that?"
In Kirito's opinion that was definitely a time to respond with that [100 Col] line, but Shirou was still new at the game, so he made a beginner's mistake and answered for free.
"Well, something like that." Shirou said, looking off to the side, with a complicated expression on his face.
"What is your rank in [Structural Grasp] anyway?" Argo asked. Kirito recognized the question. Not specifically, but it was a standard tone and cadence that Argo used to ask a question she wanted the answer to but was trying to imply it wasn't worth charging for when she actually though it was. So she had to balance sounding interested so people would feel socially obligated to answer against sounding so interested they realized she'd pay for it. Even up to today Kirito still fell for it sometimes.
Shirou completely failed his saving throw versus Argo, so even though his expression got even more complicated and uncomfortable, finally he answered. "1,000."
There was no doubting it considering the delivery and the source, but frankly speaking, it was a ridiculous answer.
"You," Argo said, licking her lips as she bought time to work through her own surprise, "you already have a [Mastered Spell] this early in the game?" It was a weird spell to pick, too, Kirito thought. It was true that Shirou was apparently the kind of guy to focus on the basics, but there were limits, even so.
Shirou sheepishly nodded. "Well, I wouldn't say I've mastered it. There's still a lot of ways I could improve, but... I guess I've taken it as far as Cardinal can go, by comparison." What started off sounding humble turned into a completely outrageous claim.
"Why are you here?" Kirito asked, suddenly.
"Eh?" Argo turned to glance at him with a surprised expression as if she also realized he was there, but Shirou's expression was... strange. It wasn't grateful or surprised or sheepish anymore; it was deadly serious. Rather than uncomfortable, it was like the emotions were turned off and it was a machine that turned to look at him.
Belatedly Kirito realized he could have phrased that better. "I mean," he said, "why did you come here, to us, now? Rather than continue to sharpen your skills in your hermitage, that is." He chuckled uncomfortably. It had been a bad way to put it, but it had suddenly occurred to him that his own curiosity was distracting him from how uncomfortable Shirou was getting, until he belatedly tried to change the subject again.
But then Shirou had made such a strange reaction. Well, it was gone now, as Shirou went back to the same gentle smile he usually had.
"Um." Shirou said, quickly tapping through his menu. Finally, he paused, with his finger hovering over a button. "You said if I came across something better I should give it to you, so..." he tapped the button at that point, "here."
What he had pushed was the [Materialize Item] command. What appeared was a sword. It was a long and straight sword with a mild taper in a simple sheath made of black wood. The handle was wrapped in dark leather. The crossguard was simple but with an elegant curve that flared so the tips pointed straight outward and the pommel had a shape like a drop of liquid that was about to wick off the end of the handle.
Kirito automatically reached out to take the extended sword. He popped the blade free from the sheathe, drinking in the appearance. The very edges of the blade were polished to a smooth shine, but away from the edges the flat side of the blade was filled with complicated whorls that looked like the grain of wood or like swirls of ink in water. It was a beautiful sword.
And then he blinked as his eyes focused on the holographic rectangle that popped up between him and the sword, and when he read it, he couldn't hold back an amazed whistle.
It was the best sword Kirito had seen in the whole game. Not just in the [Official Launch] but even in the [Beta Test] this sword was the best, the greatest, the most impressive. It was on the heavy side of average weight exactly like he preferred but the [Durability] was high even for that. The damage parameter was incredible. The capacity for improvement with [Reinforcement] looked like an error, it was so high. It was magnificent.
And the name...
[MatchKirito.30Heaviness.007]
Kirito paused, taking it that software-development-like name. "Shirou," He asked, "about the name..."
"Hm?" Shirou said, blinking. "Oh, would you like me to change it for you?"
Kirito imagined having something like this listed in his inventory. "Well, yes." He admitted. "But mostly, I was wondering why it's named... the way it is." Having equipment named after him was a little... it made him feel like a seven-year-old who studiously wrote his name on all his toys.
"Well, the concept I used to make it was [Matching Kirito's style] and the hypothesis of the basic structure was to make [Heaviness at 30%], and that was the 7th attempt."
"The first six weren't good enough?" Kirito murmured, feeling self-conscious. Yes, if he was a seven-year-old boy, then he imagined this mix of giddiness and guilt would be his feelings if someone gave such a boy a present worth a huge amount of money.
Shirou shrugged. "I wasn't satisfied that I matched the image, so I broke them down to the materials and tried again."
This time, it was Argo's turn to interrupt and direct the conversation away from a friend's weakspot by asking a leading question. "So, why don't you give it a try?"
"Right." Kirito agreed, deciding to put down the awkward feeling and just pick up this amazing equipment for now. He stood up with an excited smile, pulling the sword out of the sheathe fully, swinging it experimentally in a circle around his hand, before he took a proper stance.
[Horizontal]. The sound of the sword swinging was more like a musical effect than a weapon effect.
[Diagonal]. The shining line was crisp, balanced so well that it was almost like the sword automatically jumped according to his thoughts rather than following his hand.
[Reaver]. It was an ominous flash and crack of lighting and thunder extending out from his hand rather than just a weapon.
"So, it's pretty good, huh?" Argo asked, dryly.
"100 Col." Kirito said. He tried to scowl, but he couldn't keep the delighted smile off his face.
"I'm glad you like it." Shirou said. His smile was wide, too, and even though it lacked the same giddiness as Kirito you could tell it was just as sincere.
"Hmm." Argo said, musing. "How would you like to accept a little [Quest] then, Shirou-san?"
Shirou blinked, and Kirito paused, his sword dipping slightly as he parsed what she said. She wasn't going to ask him to join just like that, would she? Ah, she would, if she thought she could profit from it.
"Even though Kiribou is a good friend and a lucrative client," Argo said, flashing him a superior smile as he scowled at that questionable endorsement, "I didn't join him exclusively for the pleasure of his company during breakfast. Since you've raised some flags, I'll offer you the same [Quest], to accompany the cute Argo as she explores a certain part of the floor. What do you say, would you like to help?"
"I would be happy to." Shirou said, smiling.
"Right." Argo nodded, pushing herself up from the table. "Well, let's go then."
"Right now?" Kirito asked. It was clear Shirou was thinking much the same thing.
"Yes." Argo said, putting her hands on her hips. "It wouldn't do to keep a lady waiting, would it?"
Kirito had already made three different jokes in response to that kind of remark, so it wasn't worth the effort since it wouldn't even be funny. Instead he just rolled his eyes as he muttered agreement. Well, to be honest, he didn't have any objections since he would get to try out his new sword.
I I I
"Right." Argo said.
They were huddled close beside a tall rock, or rather, a huge boulder, with an oblong shape resting over a crevasse that split open the desert ground. Off in the distance to the east the mountains were visible, but all around them were only rippling dunes of sand. They were in a valley between two such dunes, watching as the wind scattered whirls of sand across the edge of the dune. They were insulated from the wind here where it was calm, but they could still hear it blowing.
"This is one of three known entrances to the [3rd Floor Dungeon]." Argo explained, slapping the rock. "Our objective today is just to do some mapping, because I believe there should be another entrance." She nodded. "This matters because there are still a few undiscovered [Town] locations, and I think the [Last Town] will be right next to an unknown entrance."
Shirou guessed that she was saying it for his sake since Kirito had a completely unsurprised expression on his face.
"So let's check our gear, and then we'll descend into the dungeon." Argo concluded, and then led by example, opening her own menu and checking her equipment.
Shirou nodded, and opened his own menu, double-checking his equipment and items. He materialized his [Steel Scimitar], and flicked on his Circuit so he could [Reinforce] it. He noticed that Kirito was also checking the enchantments on his equipment, his expression distant but concentrated as he focused on using his Circuit.
Argo was just adjusting her equipment, shuffling around as she slid a pair of wicked-looking claws like gloves on her hands, flexing her fingers into fists and back to check the fit. She also adjusted a bandolier with things like needles in them.
"What are those?" Shirou asked.
"Throwing picks." Kirito answered. "They don't do much damage and the accuracy isn't too great, but they're the only ranged weapon in [SAO], so they're an absolute necessity for soloers." He paused, and gave Shirou a look. "Well, most soloers, anyway."
"I see." Shirou nodded, filing that away. It was something to consider.
"If we're ready, let's descend." Argo said.
"Right." Kirito agreed, shifting the sword in his hand.
"Of course." Shirou said.
Argo jumped, leaping with her feet pointed together and her hands up as she arced into the chasm that split out from under the bean-shaped boulder.
Kirito followed, and Shirou jumped third.
There was an instant of falling as he plunged into darkness, and abruptly the daylight filtering down switched off, even as the acceleration stopped and he just floated in place. After an instant of that, dim purplish lights switched on as he abruptly started falling again. He landed in a crouch, and then stood, sweeping his gaze around like his party members.
They were in an open cavern-like space, with tunnels shaped like cracks that branched outward in every direction. Compared to the dry desert air above, there was a slight dampness here, and there were occasional drip sound effects. Organic-looking blooms of rock rippled blob-like from the walls over small pools of water and moist fangs of rock slowly closed towards each other from the ceiling and the floor.
The only unnatural thing was the spiral staircase that was carved into the rim of one wall, circling up from the ground level to the top of the cavern where it ended in the absolute darkness of transition between the [Floor] and the [Dungeon].
The light was coming from smears of something like fungi or moss, that glowed a strange purple-green.
"Okay." Argo muttered. "We're heading north, so I'll light a torch item."
"I don't know that's such a good idea." Kirito muttered, glancing around. "The mobs on this floor are drawn to light, heat, and vibration, so we should be careful around here."
"That's why you two are along." Argo said patiently. That she was responding patiently was a pointed rebuttal to Kirito saying something she already knew.
Kirito just stepped back, holding his hands up defensively.
Argo sighed. "We're not trying to get through to the second layer as fast and safely as possible. We're looking for secret doors. So even if it gives us a penalty on encounter checks, the most important thing is to negate the penalty to spot checks."
"I see." Shirou nodded. His Circuit was still open, but the prana inside was quiescent. "Trace. On." He muttered; this was something he'd never specifically done before, so complete focus was necessary as he started the prana flowing, and poured it into his eyeballs, sharpening his sight, but especially increasing the light sensitivity. The room brightened to his perception, until everything was as clear as under a noonday sun. "There." He sighed, glancing around.
Kirito stepped forward, examining his face from close-up, before he finally spoke. "Did you use [Reinforcement] on your eyesight?" He asked.
Shirou nodded casually, a little surprised Kirito even had to ask. It was a pretty basic use of human Reinforcement.
"I'll also try." Kirito announced, breathing out. He closed his eyes, focusing, breathing deeply and slowly, before he also looked up. He blinked, looking around. "Huh..." He said, slightly amazed. "I feel like someone who put on the glasses they never knew they needed all along." He blinked, as his gaze traced along some of the glowing mold, frowning. "I think I got the color balance wrong though." He admitted.
"Your eyeballs are a strange yellow color." Shirou added.
"Uh, and I took a few points of HP damage." Kirito muttered, glancing at his HUD. "How embarrassing."
"You'll get it with practice." Shirou said with conviction.
"How nice." Argo muttered, watching them with her hands halfway between folded over her chest and reaching for her menu, like she didn't know what to do with them.
"If you're not confident in your [Reinforcement], then I can do it for you." Shirou offered. "You'll have to be careful about circulating prana in your head to avoid removing the spell though."
"I don't think that will be a problem." Argo said. She glanced at Kirito quickly, and seemed to straighten slightly at whatever she saw there, before stepping forward towards him. "Let 'er rip." She muttered.
Shirou reached up, placing his hand against her head, fingertips resting on her brow and around her eyes, breathing on. "Trace, On." He sighed, flowing prana into her head carefully.
She stepped back, blinking, as she looked around. "Wow." She said. The amazement in her voice was tinged with something sour, but her eyes were wide as they darted around. "So this is what you could do with [Magecraft], huh?" She said.
"It's something simple, so anyone could do it." Shirou demurred.
"Yeah, I guess." Argo said, before turning. "Come on, let's go."
She darted forward, running lightly to the north. "The area around the entrances are thoroughly mapped, so we need to get to the rims that weren't explored as completely." Kirito and Shirou darted after her. They juked along a winding series of passages, just following Argo as she confidently picked between different branching paths. They were ambushed by a [Cave Worm], but Argo just nimbly jumped over it and kept running, so the two boys also just ran past, letting it fall away behind them.
Their first stop was a shaft that cut straight down, where the cave ended abruptly around them. "This is a passage that skips all the way down to the fourth layer." Argo announced, pointing downwards. "But I want to see if it also goes up." She leaned over the edge, peering upwards towards the roof.
Shirou also looked, from a different perspective.
"This is a lot easier than I thought it would be." Argo said. "Compared to trying to guess from the light of a burning torch, this is really simple."
"Hm." Kirito said. "It looks like this is no good, though." He sighed, shaking his head, before glancing at Shirou. "You know, this is something I've noticed a few times, but could it be you already decided on your Aria?" He asked Shirou.
Shirou blinked. "Well, I suppose." He said. "I mean, I know it's a little atypical to use the same Aria for everything, but it works for me."
"That's not quite what I meant." Kirito said, shaking his hand. "I mean, since [Aria] is like an optional bonus rule for increasing the chance of spell success, most players haven't even... well, I say decided on it, but the NPCs make it sound like it's something you discover."
"There's also a faction that thinks they're a crutch." Argo added. "That if you announce your spells [Cardinal] will consider that, so eventually mobs will appear that keep track, and you'll end up giving yourself away."
Shirou pondered that. He thought about his own experiences. "If it's compressed into a single line," he decided, "then it doesn't really matter, because it's not like there's enough time to prepare between the Aria and the action."
"I see." Kirito murmured, rubbing his chin. "That makes sense." Then he nodded, before turning to face the quest leader. "Well, where to next, Argo-sama?"
"Just follow me." She replied, taking off at a run again.
They darted through corridors and winding paths, sliding over and around rocks. The broken and sharp edges where the earth had cracked open contrasted greatly with the almost organic appearance of the slowly growing deposition rocks.
They had just entered a cavern where the tunnel they were following opened up as it crossed over another, the floor falling away into a gallery. Shirou had pulled up next to Argo with Kirito on the other side, as Argo consulted her minimap, when it happened.
It was a vague but definite sensation, like walking up to a house in the cold of winter when your breath froze and the chill was sharp on your lungs and in your nose, and opening the door and stepping into the too-warm house, and there was a woozy sensation as something like a membrane of the hot air was pierced before the body could adapt.
His Circuit was already open and he had already squeezed Od into it, so all he had to do was circulate it. The sickly warmth of the effect was scorched away by the blast of prana, one heat chasing another out of him.
His attention immediately snapped around, looking for whatever had tried to enchant them, but next to him, Argo slumped in place. He reached out, grabbing her arm, before she could plunge forward off the ledge. He braced himself strongly, but it was unnecessary because Kirito reacted exactly the same way on the other side of him, grabbing her other arm so she wouldn't tilt forward. Kirito pushed Argo towards him, scanning around as his hand went to the [Picks] at his side.
Shirou gathered Argo up over his shoulder, pulling her off Kirito and stepping back from the edge to clear the line of attack for Kirito. Even so, his gaze scanned back and forth, looking for the attacker. When he saw something like motion, his eyes snapped to it, and the instant he noticed it, the cursor and HP bar of a monster popped up. "There." He pointed with the hand not supporting Argo.
"I see it." Kirito easily replied. He took a stance like throwing a dart, and whipped his hand forward, the needle-like pick in his hand glowing brightly as he launched it with the [System Assist] to pierce the enemy.
It was a corpulent worm-like thing, with a face like a tick and short legs it used to cling to the wall. It didn't have anything that looked like an attack mechanism like claws or mandibles, and it didn't look like it had high mobility.
Therefore, it was logical to assume there were other monsters here.
"Look..." Argo rasped, head down as she sagged in place. "For something green...usually there's one here." Yes. Clearly Argo had identified the effect on her and was aware of the threat. If she was telling him to look for something else, than that meant she knew of a second monster.
Since Kirito was scanning the front, Shirou twisted to look behind them.
An emerald green centipede was emerging from the wall, crawling out and soundlessly approaching. It paused when he turned, looking up towards him with multifaceted eyes.
It hissed, abandoning all pretense of stealth as it charged at high speed.
Shirou stepped around in a wide circle, putting his back between Argo and the monster as he set her down, before continuing to spin, keeping himself in between Argo and the monster as he smoothly stepped forward to slash the centipede with his scimitar.
It chittered, reeling back and around with abrupt and rapid motions, but he side-stepped, slashing it twice with a down and across motion. Like he anticipated, it was trying to get around him towards the paralyzed Argo. Rather than keep himself perfectly between the monster and Argo, then, he allowed himself to be slightly off the line. The monster would always try to approach through the apparent opening, so anticipating what it was going to do was simple. Once, twice more it tried to advance, and he drove it back.
"Clear over here." Kirito announced.
"Clear here." Shirou said, when the green centipede burst into pixels.
Kirito whistled. "Was that an [Emerald Centipreditor] that came from behind?"
Shirou checked the congratulations popup to verify the name. "Yes." He replied.
"A [Poison Mob] and a [Paralysis Mob]." Kirito mused. "It isn't typical to see more than one status effect type in one encounter, especially without any general attack mooks." He stepped forward, putting his hands on Argo's shoulders, pulling her upright. He stood for a moment, eyes closed, as he breathed slowly.
After a moment, he spook. "Better?" He asked. "I think I got the curse without removing the [Reinforcement], but..."
"It's fine."Argo said, standing up stiffly. "The effect is a little dulled, but it's still mostly there."
"I can reapply it." Shirou said.
Argo twisted to say something, but stopped herself, apparently thinking better of it. When she spoke, her voice was slightly subdued. "Thanks. I'll take you up on that later, but I'm still good for now."
"Alright." Shirou replied.
"This is where I wanted to inspect anyway." Argo said. She pointed up and forward. At the center of the gallery where the tunnels crossed, there was a large crack in the ceiling. "I wanted to climb up in there and look around, but I can't come here alone." She walked forward, touching the wall. "I probably have the highest climb skill in the game right now, but I'd appreciate it if you two spotted me as I go along." She added, with her back turned to them.
"Of course." Kirito agreed. He walked to the edge of the precipice, looking down, and carefully jumped, landing in a crouch on a flat slab of rock that jutted out from the side of the cave.
Argo was picking her way across the side of the wall, climbing sideways along the wall as the floor dropped off as it crossed the lower tunnel.
Kirito walked over, standing underneath her. Shirou jumped down to land on the same flat slab he had, and then picked across the floor to stand beside the other boy.
"The way falling damage is calculated in the game, it doesn't matter how far you fall, if someone else catches you, you don't take damage." Kirito explained, addressing the curiosity that Shirou couldn't quite articulate. "It's a compromise between making climbing straightforward and fun, and also between having realistic penalties. Well, it's easier on the game if it doesn't have to deal with all kinds of calculations for pitons getting ripped out of the rockface and stuff too." Kirito gestured at Argo, who was creeping sideways across the rockface. "So rather than have realistic climbing gear, the safety equipment is having a spotter to catch you."
"I see." Shirou replied. He watched intently as Argo worked her way sideways, extending a foot or hand out and feeling around for a gripping point, and then drawing her body, spider-like, across the rocks.
After Argo had gotten halfway across and had paused, craning her head back to look around, Shirou thought it was a good time to ask. "Hey." He began. "About... back there, what... what happened?"
Kirito was quiet for a long time, but since he was obviously thinking about how to answer, Shirou didn't press him, until he replied. "That's something you have to ask Argo about, not me." He said.
"I see." Shirou replied. He didn't say anything more.
Argo had started moving forward and up, advancing along the roof, so they took turns between watching her and glancing down, checking their footing on the crooked ground.
When she reached the lip of the crevasse she had been aiming for, she reached in and flipped around, pulling herself up into some kind of cavern.
After a few minutes of waiting in anticipation, her head popped out over the edge. She shook it with a mildly disappointed look. "There's just a treasure chest up here." She shouted down.
"What was in it?" Kirito shouted back.
"100 col!" Argo replied.
"Cheapskate." Kirito muttered, before looking back up towards her.
"What's that?" Argo called down. "I couldn't hear it over the sound of the violin-based BGM for [my heart bleeds for you]."
Based on his expression, Kirito chose the better part of valor. "You coming down then?" He shouted.
"Yeah! So catch me!" She shouted, before leaping out. She hung in the air with her arms and legs spread out like a flying squirrel, but she tucked around as she fell, pulling her arms tight against her body and her legs up as she curved her spine.
She cleanly landed in Kirito's outstretched arms, her back across his right arm and her the crook of her knees perfectly on his left arm. With a practiced motion, Kirito dipped her down and she jumped forward, lightly landing on her feet.
She stopped in place when she saw that Shirou was watching them. "W-what?" She demanded.
"Nothing." Shirou said, shaking his head.
"That's not what people say when they really mean it's nothing." Argo tartly countered.
"You two really cooperate well, that's all." Shirou finally settled on.
"When you say it like that, it almost sounds like you're implying something." Kirito said with a heavy sigh.
"And why do you say that like it's disappointing?" Argo demanded.
Shirou winced, because Kirito had make the absolute mistake of just sighing again in response. Compared to all the girls Shirou knew, it was just the closest match rather than an exact match, but Argo had the same kind of personality as Mitsuzuri Ayako, where she completely lacked the sensibilities of a young lady but still had the sensitive heart of a maiden. Or to put it directly, she was someone who didn't act like a girl but swore revenge on anyone who said so.
"So what's the next location we're going to?" Shirou asked.
With a haughty sniff, Argo marched forward, brushing past them with almost comical exaggeration as she ignored them.
Shirou met Kirito's eyes, and they both naturally shrugged at the same time before turning to follow her.
They were in one of the lower tunnels compared to the entry of the gallery, but it sloped upward as they climbed, until it returned to approximately the same level as they had started out on.
Argo led them through two more intersections, but paused at the third. It was a room like an antechamber, where three tunnels converged, each sloping gently down and away. The roof sharply sloped up into shadow, but the angled surface was flat, so the room felt naturally slanted even though the floor was perfectly level.
She was frowning down at her map. "I want to check both directions, but I haven't decided which way I want to go." She explained without looking up.
Shirou nodded, but Kirito was frowning as he stared at the ceiling. He glanced down at Shirou, and since he had a quizzical expression, Shirou had to ask. "Is there something up there?"
Kirito shrugged, his head tilting sideways because he was unsure. "Well... because I didn't use that [Reinforce Eyesight] effect correctly, all the rocks have kind of a yellow hue, but the roof here is totally black."
Argo blinked, looking up from her map. "What do you mean?" She asked.
Kirito just shrugged again, repeating the gesture to accent his uncertainty. "It's like... it's almost like the roof of this room ends, rather than fading into darkness."
Argo tapped her lips. She was looking straight up into the shadowed top of the room, but her eyes drifted down, tracing the sloped wall that fed straight up into the darkness. "A flat wall angled away with plenty of handholds and footholds without gaps..." she muttered. "You know, this is the easiest-to-climb wall I've seen in the whole dungeon." She glanced at her companions speculatively. "Since you both use light equipment, I think you two should be able to challenge it without any problems, even if you don't have the [Climbing Skill] actually equipped."
She started forward, but stopped. "Even so, I'm going to go first to check, okay? So spot me first while I scout."
Without waiting to hear their reply, she turned back, running forward to get a jumping start, launching up with her hands and feet extended to smoothly catch on the wall, and without even pausing, immediately started swarming up the wall with the easy grace of a rat.
After she disappeared into the shadow effect, there was an expectant pause as they waited.
There was a light effect, and she materialized out of nothingness, hanging in the air, before she dropped down on the ground next to them.
"Good job, Kiribou." She praised. "Now come on up and check it out!"
Kirito glanced over at him, and when Shirou nodded his head with a gesture like 'after you', Kirito looked at the wall, then at Argo, then back at the wall. "Okay." He said, reaching out. "Let's do this."
Shirou watched as Kirito climbed.
"I'll go last." Argo said, once Kirito was high enough that there was room for Shirou to climb. "So that I can spot you if you fall."
"Will that be okay?" Shirou said, looking over the much shorter girl.
She seemed to understand his concerns, so she just nodded. "Yeah, it doesn't matter what level you are, even a level one character could perfectly catch someone no problems."
"Alright then." Shirou said, turning and reaching out. "Let's give this a try."
Methodically, he climbed up the wall and through the Dungeon Gate.
