Aincrad, Floor 63. A lush jungle region encircling a murky swamp at the center of the floor. The entire landscape was a treasure trove for herbalists and leatherworkers, containing herbs for high-level potions and hides from powerful creatures. However, the real profits came from the swamp. Aside from the Labyrinth's presence and unique herbs, there were caves across the swamp containing special crystals for use in enhancing equipment. Since the front lines had moved to Floor 65, this floor was generally safe for most players up to that point to navigate.

Despite this, there weren't that many players exploring the swamps. The whole region wasn't even mapped out, as after players discovered the area's gimmick, they wanted to clear it as soon as they could. At all times, the swamps were clouded in a poisonous fog. It would sap the strength of unprepared players, slowly draining HP while quickly inflicting crippling status effects. Constantly using crystals to counter that simply wasn't viable. Vision was obscured while inside of it, and everything native to it was a sickly color. Everything reeked of death. The only reprieve was the occasional spire rising above the dark cloud, almost like a mini-oasis. Materials from this swamp were therefore quite rare, only gathered by well-equipped scouts like yourself. And as you learned today, hot-headed blacksmiths.

You were wandering the swamps alone, just looking for herbs on the surface. Typically, you traveled in parties for runs through dungeons and other dangerous areas, but you've come here often enough to consider it a day-to-day routine. The kind of stuff you don't need a party for. You came equipped with a mask resembling that of a plague doctor's, which protected you from the swamp's toxic gases. As if those weren't enough for unprepared travelers, there were also the monsters to deal with. Sneaky gators, swamp beasts, giant bugs, and other creatures called the swamp their home. Their constant buzzing and low growls reminded you that a swarm of enemies was never far away here. You couldn't handle groups of foes with your choice of weapon. Instead, you made strong use of your Hiding and Detection skills to avoid enemy encounters. What you didn't expect to see, however, was another player coming into your detection range.

A silhouette lingered in the distance, seemingly moving closer. The fog made it impossible to make out bodily details, but you could still notice their movements. They were swaying, like they were weakened. You looked around for a hiding spot, then decided to duck behind a nearby cypress tree. After getting a little closer, their movement seemed to stop momentarily. You then saw their body collapse into the mud and fade from your view. It seemed to you as if they were unprepared for the swamp's atmosphere.

You ran over to them, desperately hoping they were still alive. They were face-down in the mud, thankfully, so you could only see the back half of their body and pink hair. On their person was a red waitress uniform with metal plating, and brown boots. Their HP was already dangerously low, and kept dropping the longer the poison permeated their body. You had to get them out of there fast. Making sure the immediate area was safe, you took a piece of cloth and wrapped it around their face to slow the HP drain, if only a little. You then hoisted the player onto your shoulders, splashing mud onto your titanium breastplate. The two of you were pretty deep into the swamp, and you weren't confident that you could make it out in time. You had to find a spire quickly.

One of these safe areas lie on the path many players took towards the floor's Labyrinth. People that knew the area at least a little had likely heard of it. That's where you were headed. Carrying a player with you made sneaking around more difficult, as now you had more weight to every step. It took more seconds of hiding to get out of enemies' normal detection ranges, and time was the last thing you had access to right now. God forbid one of them actually noticed you and decided to attack. Despite the odds, however, you made it to a rock spire in time. It was nothing compared to the Labyrinth's figure towering in the distance, but it rose high enough to escape the poison. Wrapping around it was a small path leading to the top. You began to scale it, glad that both you and this mysterious player were safe. As the path ascended above the swamp, you could see actual greenery begin to grow. The light of day could finally be seen. These spires were pockets of life in a land filled with husks.

You dropped the mud-caked player to the ground as a wave of fatigue swept over your body. It should be safe to rest now that their HP wasn't dropping. The various status effects, fatigue, weakness, and eventually unconsciousness, should wear off eventually. They might not be happy with their current state of hygiene, but they were at least safe. At this point, you just had to wait. You could clean them off before they woke up, but you worried that would be a little weird to explain. "Yeah, I rubbed your entire body down to clean you off while you were asleep." That would probably earn you a hard punch, especially since this player seemed to be female. You simply decided to take off your mask and doze off for a bit.

Sometime later, you heard a rustling noise beside you. Seems like that girl had woken up. She had her back facing towards you, so she didn't notice you awaken. Right now, she was in her underwear. She was using the clean part of her clothing to wipe off what dried mud she could from her body. She was also muttering something under her breath, just enough for your high Listening skill to pick up.

"Dammit, this is going to take forever to get out." She gave up scrubbing herself after a bit. "What am I even doing up here anyway?"

You coughed to catch her attention, which seemed to have spooked her more than anything. She slowly turned around, her face already bright red. When she saw you sitting there, her initial reaction was to throw her clothes at you while backing away. She then pulled out her mace and adopted a defensive stance.

"G-Give me one good reason why I shouldn't cave your skull in right now, you freaking pervert!" Her mace was pointed toward you, just begging to be swung.

You peeled the girl's dirty clothes off of your face and tried to calm her down, feeling an intense blush yourself. "I'm really sorry, but if I didn't pull you out of that swamp, you were probably going to die. I didn't want to see that happen, so I helped you get to safety."

"Save me?" She lowered her stance, sounding worried. "Was I… really about to die?"

"Yeah. The air down there is poisonous, so you need special gear to make it through safely. You don't already know that?"

Now she had fully lowered her guard, believing you to be genuine. "No, I hadn't heard anything about that. If that's the case, then thank you."

"It's no problem." You looked down at her clothes on the ground. "You should probably take those back, you know. I can't keep staring at you like this forever."

"Then stop staring at me!" She pouted as she ran towards her clothes. You decided to give her a little privacy while she dressed, and turned around towards the swamp.

"This isn't a place most players travel in often. You must have a pretty important reason for coming."

"I heard this is one of the few locations I can find Entropy Crystals. A customer of mine wants a sword reinforced, and apparently this is one of the materials I need for it."

"So, you're a blacksmith?"

"Only the best in Aincrad." She sounded pretty confident in herself after putting on her clothes.

"Not just a blacksmith, but one of the best around?" You had to stop and think on that one. "Okay. I'll believe it. But what's stopping you from just paying a scout to get the materials for you?"

"I've seen some of their prices. There's no way I'd be able to make a profit by using scouts regularly. That's why I typically collect anything I can't buy in town myself. This time was supposed to be no different."

"But then everything leading up to this point happened."

"That's right." She looked toward the horizon, then back at you. "I get you want to help me return safely, but I'm not leaving without those crystals."

"I'd love to help with that. I really would. But you have no protection from the poison down there, and you obviously want to find those crystals yourself."

"I never said I was trying to do this completely solo." She turned her head towards the ground with her arms crossed. "Listen, if you're willing to be my guide, since you seem to know the area well enough, I'll follow your lead."

"I can do the guide part. That's easy. But again, poison."

"If it's that much of an issue, then tell me, how do you protect yourself from the poison?"

You picked up your mask and showed it to her. "A facemask like this. I wrapped a cloth around your face to bring you here, but that didn't completely block the HP drain. Not to mention the debuffs that come with it."

The girl sat thinking for a while, the thought of retreat clearly not crossing her mind. "I think I have the HP to handle it for a while if I wrap a cloth around myself. I've got a couple crystals, too. For the debuffs, I might be able to drink a potion to become resistant for a little while. Got any of those?"

"That sounds like quite the plan. I don't have any potions like that on hand, but how patient are you?"

"Depends on what you're getting at." She looked curious.

"Give me a moment. I can make a couple potions."

You produced several alchemical tools from your inventory. The herbs you had collected from the swamp could be used in potions to resist the poison's debuffs, so you didn't need to travel out to gather anything. It took a little bit of time to mix the concoctions, during which you and this player got to know each other a little better. While she was watching you mix, you were the first to ask questions.

"If we're going to be traveling together, I think I should at least know a few things about you. Let's start with your name." You demanded while still mixing a potion.

"The name's Lisbeth. Glad you finally asked. What about you?"

You told her your name as you finished the first potion. "Okay, next question. You're a blacksmith, but you're also clearly armed. You hold up well in a fight?"

"You're damn right I can!" She equipped her mace and shield. "I'm Level 60 right now, but I've got good enough equipment to smash anything that gets in our way." Now she kneeled down next to you, focusing on the dark sludge you were handling. "I'm more interested in what you can do aside from running around and crushing herbs all day."

You took a moment to finish the other potion. Then, instead of responding, you simply pulled out your weapons. Lisbeth seemed pretty surprised after seeing them. They were a pair of katars, made of a material common in floors much lower down. They utilized a combination of the One-Handed Dagger and Martial Arts skills. Since they were more of an extension of your fists, the game allowed you to use most Sword Skills despite using two weapons.

"I use these."

Lisbeth inspected them pretty closely. "I have to say, these are pretty unique. They seem pretty low-level though. How come?"

"Most player blacksmiths can't really make this kind of weapon. They need to have Martial Arts plus the usual weapon creation skills to craft them. I've found one that was able to, but I haven't been in contact with them for a while. My only other option for upgrading these weapons is to buy them from NPC shopkeepers, who usually don't have high-grade stuff."

"They need Martial Arts, huh?" Lisbeth seemed to be pondering something.

"I wouldn't worry about it. I've been able to get by. If you haven't noticed by now, I've finished the potions." You gave her the two dark purple liquids. "Drink up and get ready to move. Let's get you some crystals."