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  But her right hand struck, quick as lightning, and grabbed my left. She pulled until she was on her feet, and with that familiar surgical precision just light enough not to cause damage, she drove her knee into my stomach in the Muay Thai style.

  2

  “So what kinda of place is the main town of this floor?”

  Asuna strode south up the white hill, the soles of her leather boots grinding against the sand. She was back in her usual outfit of hooded cape and leather skirt.

  “Umm...”

  I tried to recall the sight of the town. I was back in my customary black coat.

  “You know what? Forget it. We’ll be there in a minute, and I’d rather see it for myself.”

  “That’s a good idea. It’s one of the fun things about MMORPGs,” I agreed, but the sight of the stone-built town was already flooding back into my mind from memory.

  If anything, it was not a particularly memorable town. Compared to the mountain-carved city of the second floor or the monstrous baobabs of the third, this one was structurally quite plain. If there was any odd feature to mention, it was that the entrance to every house was on the second floor, for some reason. In order to get inside, you had to use a set of stone stairs.

  “Oh, there’s the gate!” Asuna called, her voice about 20 percent more excited than normal. A mossy stone arch was coming into view at the top of the hill. I glanced down at my window, which was still open from putting my gear back on. It was nearly two o’clock.

  A few minutes after reaching the fourth floor, a few minutes at the water’s edge, a few minutes with the donut tree–these all added up to about fifty minutes since we’d conquered the boss of the third floor. There must be many players down below at this exact moment, just waiting for the teleport gate to open into the new town. I felt bad that we’d taken this long to activate the gate, but they’d understand when they saw the lack of a footpath.

  I followed after the fencer as she trotted up the hill. When she reached the arch a step before I did, Asuna bubbled with excitement.

  “Wow...It’s so pretty here!”

  Pretty?

  All I remembered was a drab gray town. I strode up the last several lengths, curious now. The instant I passed through the cobblestone arch, countless lights flashed in my eyes. The plain, boring town in the squared hollow I remembered from the beta was now sparkling like a jewel.

  The source of the light was the midday sun glittering off of solid blue water.

  Everything that had been a stone-paved street before was now a deep waterway. The stone of the buildings had gone from dull gray to bright white, which made the entire place look like a city of chalk floating in the middle of a square lake. On sheer beauty, it easily eclipsed those of the second and third floor. No wonder Asuna exclaimed in wonder.

  “...I see...This was supposed to be the finished version all along. That explains the doors on the second floor,” I murmured.

  My partner waved me over impatiently. “Come on, hurry!”

  “Coming!”

  We continued along the stone path, which was now descending. On the descent, a thought occurred to me: The theme for the fourth floor had to be “waterways.”

  Once through the massive front gate of the town, the Safe Haven label appeared in my field of view. Up ahead was a dock a good hundred feet long, complete with a number of small boats helmed by NPCs.

  “Oooh, look at the gondolas! It’s just like Venice!” Asuna marveled. I started to wonder if she had only seen Venice in pictures, or if she’d actually been there, then snapped myself out of it. It didn’t feel right to wonder about her personal life.

  The street ended at the dock, so we needed to use a gondola to get anywhere in town. I suppose we had the option of taking those swim tubes back out of storage, but Asuna’s eyes were currently gondola shaped, so I took the hint that my idea would be shot down instantly. I didn’t exactly relish the thought of showing off my cow boxers, either, even if there weren’t any other actual players in town yet.

  The gondolas at the dock came in a wealth of sizes, from small one-person boats (aside from the NPC gondolier) up to large cruisers that could seat ten or more. A number of copper plaques listed the prices, indicating that a two-person gondola cost fifty col for a onetime use. It was good to know that the price would be the same no matter where in town we were, but I didn’t like the idea of paying fifty col every time we wanted to visit a new place.

  For the moment, we didn’t have a better option.

  “Will this one do?” I asked, pointing to a nearby ivory-white two-seater. Asuna gave it a serious examination and nodded. We headed down the steps of the dock and hopped into the gondola, Asuna first. The burly gondolier, in his traditional straw hat and striped shirt, gave us a friendly greeting.

  “Welcome to Rovia, travelers! Fifty col, wherever you want to go!”

  “Take us to the teleporter plaza, then,” I answered, then wondered if an NPC would understand that terminology. Fortunately, he tipped the brim of his cap in acknowledgment.

  “Off we go!” he shouted. A purple payment window appeared briefly, then vanished. The gondolier gave one push of his long oar. The white ship slid away, and at the prow, Asuna pulled her hood back and cheered again.

  The gondola left the dock at the north end of the city behind and headed down the crossshaped main street that split the town into four quarters. Er, no, not a main street, a main–

  “Hey, Asuna, what’s the English word for a waterway?”

  “Channel!”

  The main channel of town.

  Boats of all colors filled the wide canal, which was a good sixty feet wide, with shops large and small lining the sides. The displays of weapons, armor, and items were very tempting to me, but it would not be easy to take detours in this situation. No doubt we could change destinations on the fly, but I had a feeling that every time we stepped off the boat, it would cost another fifty to get on again. On top of that, I didn’t even know if the gondola would wait for us there.

  I told myself that we had to prioritize activating the town’s teleporter and asked the gondolier a different question.

  “Will this boat take us outside of the town as well?”

  Fortunately, this question was part of his recognized list, and he gave a proper answer as he rowed the powerful oar.

  “I’m afraid I can’t do that. I only work here, in the town of Rovia.”

  “Would another ship take us out of town?”

  “Sorry, I can’t answer that.”

  Either the question didn’t fit his recognized parameters, or there was a reason he couldn’t answer it. There were plenty of other things I wanted to know, but based on my experience in the beta, the most in-depth information on a town had to come from the right NPC–like a bearded village elder, a fishy informant, or a know-it-all child.

  For a moment, I was reminded of the Dark Elf knight and her stunningly realistic vocabulary, but there were things to be done before I could dwell on my loneliness.

  We’ll open the gate, take a short rest, then go about collecting information, I told myself.

  A large wharf appeared ahead. It was the teleport gate plaza at the center of the town. The gondolier drew our boat level to the dock at the southern end of the square with expert skill, then put his hand to his cap again.

  “Safe and sound! Hope to see you again!”

  We thanked him and stepped off the boat. As I feared, the gondola immediately pulled away from the wharf and headed back to the entrance of the town. But there were other gondolas at the dock here, so we could use them on the way back. Opening the teleporter quickly was the matter at hand.

  When I turned, I found that Asuna still had stars floating in her eyes.

  “That was so, so much fun!”

  “Um...I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

  “Let’s ride another one back!”

  “I...don’t think we have another option.”

  I almost had to wonder if she reall
y was the same coolheaded, snarky fencer I’d been working with all this time.

  An hour after defeating the boss of the third floor, Asuna and I activated the teleport gate for the fourth floor and retreated to a corner of the plaza to watch the swarm of players that came barreling through the wavering blue portal.

  The rush of tourists, here for the custom of “town opening,” stood around in clumps within the plaza and marveled at the beauty of the town, but more than a few seemed to have a clear purpose in mind already. Middle-of-the-pack swordsmen who headed for the market area in search of better weapons, merchants after more valuable items to stock, and even a short-haired girl with a blacksmith’s hammer at her waist, poring over the map of the town.

  Glad to see that there were more fighters trying to catch up to the frontier group and crafters offering player support, I joined Asuna in entering a small inn at the outer edge of the plaza.

  We got two rooms this time, to avoid the mistake that happened in Zumfut down on the third floor, but we needed to have a meeting about our plans for the near future before we could lie down for a rest, and therefore, ended up on the sofas in my room. As usual, I had to be wary that her unnecessary danger radar was at max sensitivity, but with the gondola effect still active in her expression, her features were relaxed.

  I took a sip of tea from the set that was left in the room and looked at Asuna across from me.

  “Do you...like ships?”

  She blinked a few times and smiled shyly.

  “Not ships as a whole, really...but I’ve always wanted to ride in a gondola. I just never thought that dream would come true in Aincrad.”

  “I see. So it’s not all bad that the fourth floor got filled with water, then,” I noted. She seemed to realize something.

  “Oh...so there weren’t any of these canals and channels in the beta?”

  “Correct. It was just a boring, dusty, gray town. I barely remember anything about it.”

  “Then I like this one much more. I know the gondolas don’t go out of town, so we’ll probably have to deal with more swimming...but I can deal with it.”

  Despite being totally entranced with the boat ride, she’d still taken in every word of the conversation I had with the gondolier. I couldn’t help but smile at her capable nature.

  “That’s right. As for what’s next, we should take a break, then resupply, repair, and replace our stuff here in town; accept all the available quests; and find out as much info as we can about the fourth floor. Eventually we’ll have to leave the town for other locations, which means using those swim tubes again...”

  The dreamy look steadily faded from Asuna’s eyes, replaced by her typical cool expression.

  “I can handle the swimming–the problem is monsters. That lizard-tadpole thing earlier was a bit of a letdown when the body was barely larger than the fin, but it still had a bright red cursor, right? That meant it was a pretty high level...”

  “Exactly. And obviously that won’t be the only species of monster on the floor...We’d better try to outfit ourselves for underwater combat.”

  I only had a tiny bit of experience with that from the beta. Not only did a player have to deal with taking and holding breaths, but the resistance from the water was fierce as well. Fighters with big weapons had to be able to handle those weapons, while those with smaller weapons could only be so agile in the water. The most suited to water were spear-type weapons, with their long reach and jabbing attacks that met with minimal resistance from the water. And neither Asuna nor I had any spear skills.

  It was unrealistic to start training now, but Asuna could do her best with the spear-like jabbing of her rapier, and I could limit myself to thrusting skills...

  Suddenly, Asuna set down her tea and shouted.

  “Oh, right! I forgot, I need to make a swimsuit!”

  “Y-you were serious about that?”

  “Of course. I think I saw them selling some at the shops, but it would be a waste to spend that money when I’ve already got the Tailoring skill.”

  “W-well, you’ve got a point...Can I ask you to make me some swim trunks, too? Nice plain ones, no bull mark.”

  “Should I design it with that finned tadpole instead?”

  I was going to plead against it, but something else occurred to me first.

  “Uh, wait, hang on.”

  “Wh-what do you mean? I haven’t even started.”

  “No, I mean, I’m thinking...”

  I squinted, trying to pull the relevant information out of that conversation we’d had about tailoring back in the Dark Elf camp on the third floor.

  On the second floor, I’d seen the mountain of underwear that came out of Asuna’s inventory. Those weren’t meant to be worn, but were a by-product of her training to raise her skill proficiency.

  Afterward, she’d mentioned that she had already taken the Tailoring skill out of its slot.

  “...No, it won’t work.”

  “What won’t?”

  “You don’t have Tailoring in one of your slots anymore, do you? This might come as a shock if you didn’t know already...but once you remove a skill from its slot, the proficiency goes back down to zero,” I explained.

  She nodded without batting an eye. “I might be a beginner, but even I know that. Besides, it pops up that warning when you remove the skill from the slot.”

  “Oh...good. Er, I mean, are you going to train it up from nothing again?”

  She shook her head, exasperated. “I might be a hard worker, but I’m not that patient. As a matter of fact...”

  Asuna opened her game window, a skeptical look on her face. She flipped over to her inventory storage and materialized a small item.

  The small crystal bottle shaped like a nut thunked down onto the coffee table. There was a small amount of faintly glowing blue liquid inside the thick, transparent bottle.

  “...What’s this?”

  “You didn’t see one in the beta?”

  “No...not that I remember.”

  I reached out to pick up the vial, but she quickly cut me off.

  “Stop, if you don’t know what it is! Don’t you dare open it up.”

  “I-I know, I was just gonna read the description.”

  “I’m serious about that!”

  Her stern admonition made me just want to pop it open and gulp it down in one swift movement, but I wasn’t trying out to be a stage comedian, so I behaved myself. Carefully picking it up so as not to disturb the glass lid, I was surprised at how heavy it was for being just three inches long. I tapped the side of the glass with a fingertip and examined the properties window that appeared.

  “It’s called a...Crystal Bottle of Kales’Oh? Never heard of it. Let’s see here...This bottle allows you to save the proficiency of any skill currently equipped in a skill slot...Aha...”

  About three seconds passed.

  “Wh...wha...wha...huwhaaaattttuh?!”

  The shock wave of my scream put cracks in the walls, tears in the down blanket, and shattered every window in the room.

  Okay, in reality, it just caused a mere ripple on the surface of the teacup, but it certainly felt like it had that kind of destructive impact. My mouth was frozen open in shock. Asuna pulled the bottle out of my fingers and fiddled with the settings in the properties window, then promptly pulled out the stopper.

  The liquid at the bottom of the vial turned into a blue light that floated up into the air. She took a deep breath and sucked it into her nostrils, then breathed yellow light back into the bottle before replacing the cap. The contents now looked like lemon oil. She put the bottle back onto the table and smiled at me.

  “Now my Tailoring skill is back to its previous level, and my Sprint skill level is saved in the bottle.”

  “...I...I see...Erm, so, if I might ask, where did you get that item...?”

  “It was kind of chaotic so I couldn’t tell, but I think it was that one time. Remember right after we reached the third floor, and we helped Kizmel
fight that Forest Elf knight? I think it must have dropped from the elf knight.”

  “Ohhh,” I nodded, still not over the shock. Now that she mentioned it, Kales’Oh was the name of the Forest Elf nation that once existed down on the surface, according to Kizmel’s tale.

  In fact, that overwhelmingly powerful elf warrior–strong enough that players should normally be unable to win, as it was a story-event battle–had dropped a number of fairly rare items for me as well. But I was so startled by Kizmel’s very un-NPC-like dialogue that I never went back to check the loot out.

  Asuna couldn’t have figured out the properties of the crystal bottle until later that night at the earliest. We didn’t describe or ask for each other’s skill choices or inventory contents unless it was absolutely necessary, so a week had passed without me ever knowing that Asuna had such a tremendously valuable item.

  “Are you just going to sit there in shock the whole time? If we’re done talking, can I go to my room and start making swimsuits now?” she asked. It broke me out of my paralysis effect.

  “Oh, uh, ummm,” I mumbled, trying to organize my thoughts. I held up my hands. “Just...just hang on. There are a few more things I want to be sure of.”

  “...All right, but why don’t you settle down first?”

  “Y-yeah.”

  I gulped down my cold tea and let out a long breath. The Crystal Bottle of Kales’Oh was still sitting right there on the table. I stared at the sparkling yellow liquid made of pure skill proficiency.

  The liquid filled about one-twentieth of the capacity of the vial. Assuming that Asuna’s Sprint skill had been around 50 or so, and the amount of liquid directly correlated to the proficiency, then this bottle could even save a completed skill at the maximum proficiency level of 1,000.

  I took one more deep breath and looked up at her.

  “Have you told any other player aside from me about this bottle?”

  The fencer shrugged and shook her head.

  “You’re sure? Not even Argo?”

  “Listen, you’ve been traveling with me for the entire week since I got this item. When would I have had a chance to meet with Argo behind your back?”