Chapter 52 - The Sisters

Agil had once visited Venice with his wife, during their honeymoon. Standing on the pier of Rovia now, he reminisced about the unforgettable memories he made at that time.

Rovia was beautiful. Ancient buildings made of white clay. Crisscrossed by waterways, and there was even a beach inside the safe zone. There was no doubt this city would be one of the major tourist destinations in SAO in the near future.

"Say... What do we do with them?"

There were eight other individuals accompanying Agil on the pier. They were all looking at the water, where a few tens of swimming rings were abandoned, floating by themselves. Except two of them, which still had people in it.

Drifter and Kirito had fallen asleep during the trip downriver in the swimming rings, and even after arriving in Rovia, they had still to wake up. Basking in the sun while gently bobbing up and down in the water, they were having an enviable nap.

The other frontliners had already left to activate the teleporter, so the only ones who stayed watching the two players were Yuna, Asuna, Sinon, Nautilus, Agil, Liz, Wolv, Namate, and Shigio. None of them could bring themselves to wake up Drifter and Kirito, especially when the two were sleeping so soundly. Kirito was even smiling! When was the last time they saw such an earnest and true smile on his face? Probably never, not in SAO.

But all good things had to come to an end. While spending the rest of the day relaxing sounded like a great idea, soon the lower-leveled players would come flooding in to visit Rovia, as they always did whenever a new floor was opened. Besides, while no one would fault them for taking the rest of the day off, some amongst their ranks were anxious to meet their friend again.

"Right. Sinon, would you like to do the honors?"

"Gladly."

An evil smile crept its way into Yuna's expression as she looked at the archer. Sure, they felt it was a pity to wake up Kirito and Drifter. But, since they had to do it anyway, might as well make it fun.

From their place strapped to her chest, Sinon pulled out two of her throwing picks. They had been left without use for a long while, but she still kept them with her just in case. They would come in hand now.

Holding the throwing picks between the fingers of her right hand, Sinon took aim, and launched them. The projectiles flew true, piercing the swimming rings of Drifter and Kirito accurately, and dropping both of them in the water.

"Gah!"

"What the hell?!"

Splashing water everywhere, the two players resurfaced. Having been so abruptly woken, it took them a few seconds to gather their bearings. Once they did, a twin set of glares was directed towards the players laughing their asses off on the pier.

After they reached dry land, both Drifter and Kirito looked at their so-called friends while soaking wet. Sinon was the one who popped their swimming rings, but just by looking at their party, they knew from which mind the evil idea had come.

"Hahaha... Uh? Hey, hey! What are you doing?! No, don't you dare! Ahh!"

Drifter and Kirito exchanged glances, and, without a word, the two men grabbed Yuna by her arms and legs, and hurled her into the water. They smiled. What a beautiful splashing pattern.

...

Half an hour later, a much drier group of players entered a tavern. The establishment was as stereotypical as it could get, named The Rotten Fish, with dirt and stains everywhere, and a gruff NPC for a barman.

After sitting down and ordering some food, they started discussing what to do next. Normally, they would take the rest of the day off since they had just defeated a floor boss, but << Nerius the Evil Treant >> had been truly an easy enemy when compared to << Illfang the Kobold Lord >> and << Asterius the Taurus King >>. They weren't even that tired, and it felt like a waste to do nothing in the afternoon.

"So, what's your party thinking?"

"I don't know, Agil. The 4th floor of now is completely different from what I experienced, so much that I don't even think anything of the beta will be of use here."

"If Kirito's saying so, we can only play it by ear. We are going to continue the << Elf War >> campaign, we only have to find out where to start. What about you?"

Drifter looked at the black man, waiting for an answer. Their parties didn't necessarily need to work together, but they trusted each other, and that was a huge advantage. Keeping in touch was a must. Agil scratched his bald head.

"We are probably going to join the clearing efforts. Liz? You comin' with us?"

"Ehh... Maybe for a while? I want to see what new ores and materials I can get on this floor, and then set up my stall."

The people around the table nodded. Not mentioning the fact that Liz was the only blacksmith Drifter's party employed, she also had a pretty successful partnership with Agil and his merry band of warrior merchants. They sold all the excess equipment she made during training, for a commission, of course.

After thinking for a few seconds, Kirito opened his map of the 4th floor, setting his HUD to public. At the moment everything it showed was fog, apart from Rovia and a twisting stretch of blue - the river they traveled through to reach the city. After a few seconds, the swordsman pointed at a certain location.

"I know I just said we can't rely on my beta knowledge, but there used to be an active volcano right about here. It was somewhat dangerous, but there were some special kinds of metals and rocks in the periphery. And, from what I've seen and can remember, the general layout of the floor hasn't changed since the beta, only been filled with water. I'm guessing the volcano became a lake, so I don't know if there will still be a mining spot around, but it might be worth a try."

"Yay! Thanks, Kirito!"

Liz jumped up and hugged the black-haired boy, much to his embarrassment. Liz came from a family of swordsmiths in the outside world, and even though gorging in SAO was nothing like the real thing, it was still her passion. More than that, it was her anchor to sanity. Hearing that there was the possibility of finding higher-leveled crafting materials, she was obviously happy.

Soon after, Liz left with Agil and his party. Drifter, Kirito, Yuna, Nautilus, Sinon, and Asuna talked for a while more before getting up. According to the young swordsman, there was a dark elf fortress at the northern end of this floor. They might find clues to start the next quest in the << Elf War >> campaign there, and, if they were lucky, might even meet Kizmel.

However, soon after they made the decision to set off, they discovered a huge problem: Kirito had been right about the volcano becoming a lake, but how should they go about crossing it? They weren't naive enough to believe that they could swim their way across in the floating rings.

After two frustrating hours of circling the lake, only to discover that one side of it was blocked by a huge river, while the other fell directly from Aincrad's side, the party returned to Rovia.

After that, it took another hour for them to finally discover some clues about how to cross the lake. Mainly, they noticed DKB and ALS players frantically running around, and came to the conclusion that they knew something. Soon, they had an ALS player guiding them.

They could have sneakily followed that player - but it's hard for six people to do that at once, not to mention it didn't sit well with them. So, Asuna chose the second best option, walked right up to an ALS player, and asked if they knew how to cross the lake. Just because they were at odds with Kibaou, it didn't mean they hated everyone in his guild - and it helped that the one who asked was a pretty girl like Asuna, instead of The Beater Kirito.

As it turned out, they needed boats to easily move across this floor - Drifter kicked himself mentally for not thinking of that sooner. And the one who could give them the vehicle they needed was a shipwright NPC called Romolo. He had a complicated backstory, something involving being kicked out by the Water Carrier Guild and retiring, and whatnot, but Drifter honestly didn't care. He might have liked lore before, but now all he wanted was to beat Sword Art Online as soon as possible.

Basically, Romolo could build their ship for them, but they needed to gather the materials themselves. The first item needed was bear fat, used to seal the wood and prevent leaks. To gather it, they had to go to the aptly named << Bear Forest >> south of the town, where mobs known as << Enraged Black Bears >> could be found.

"Say, don't you there was something strange about that NPC?"

"He didn't seem quite right in the head, but nothing too weird. Why do you ask, Naut'?"

"Well, he gave us the quest to get bear fat, but he kept mentioning that Megno... Magna... M-something!"

"<< Magnatherium >>?"

"That's it! Unless I'm thinking too much into it, he wants us to hunt that thing instead of normal bears."

Drifter nodded. It did seem that way.

"Maybe the bear fat of that << Magnatherium >> is some kind of... Premium item? That doesn't feel right, but it's the best I've got."

"No, it makes sense, Sinon. Maybe the boat we get will be better if Romolo uses it."

The archer didn't seem convinced it was worth the effort, but she could already see the stars in Asuna and Yuna's eyes, so she didn't bother arguing. She knew the two perfectionists of the group would want to get the best of everything.

Once they entered the << Bear Forest >>, it didn't take long for them to find their first enemy. The three-tons bear wasn't exactly stealthy.

When the animal charged at them like a runaway truck, even Nautilus wasn't bold enough to try and stop it. The party dodged out of the way, but the mob was nimble for its size. The << Enraged Black Bear >> lifted its gigantic left paw, and tried to hit Asuna. Thankfully, compared to the minotaur in the 2nd floor labyrinth, it was still a little lacking. Asuna bent backwards to avoid the attack, and retaliated.

Drifter couldn't see what she did as he was on the other side of the giant bear, but it must've hurt, because the beast reared on its hind legs and roared. Seeing the gaping mouth, Drifter put his spear through it.

Before the << Enraged Black Bear >> could reel back in pain, Drifter hit the butt of his spear with his knee as if he was hammering a nail in. The skill, named << Dirty Play >>, had very specific uses, in very specific situations, but this just so happened to be one of them. The guaranteed critical strike took out 20% of the mob's HP in one fell swoop.

The rest of the battle was intense, but without any mishaps. The << Enraged Black Bear >> managed to get a strike or two in before falling powerlessly to the ground and vanishing. Other than some cor and the bear fat they wanted, the party also received a high-quality << Black Bear Pelt >>, which Kirito kept. They had yet to find a reliable tailor, but Sinon and Yuna could do with some new leather armor.

For the next hour, the party hunted << Enraged Black Bears >> while searching for the fabled << Magnatherium >>. As more and more players discovered the shipwright quest, the map was getting fuller.

"It's almost dark. Do we keep going or..."

Drifter looked at Kirito. The black-haired boy thought for a few seconds before gesturing towards the deeper end of the forest.

"Another hour or so. But if we don't find it, I think we should just hand in the normal quest requirements. Sorry, Asuna, but we can't spend too much time on a boat."

"Hm, I know."

The fencer smiled, showing she didn't mind. With a plan set, the party continued searching for the special mob. To save time, they started going around the << Enraged Black Bears >> they found, avoiding fights when possible.

They were almost giving up when they finally found their target. It was already night by then, and most players had returned to Rovia, making the huge flaming bear all the more conspicuous.

The << Magnatherium >> was huge, even when compared to the other bears. Standing at three and a half meters tall, the mob had red fur, and a lightning bolt-shaped horn in its forehead, which was the source of the flames they saw from afar.

"Is that a field-boss?"

"No. Just one health bar, see? It's an elite mob."

"It's sure to hit hard, elite mob or not. Yuna, we will be relying on you to debuff it. Nautilus, Drifter, and I are going to be the main offense force. Asuna, Sinon, try to blind it. It worked with the << Enraged Black Bears >>, so it should work in it too."

The party launched into action immediately after that. One of Sinon's arrows accurately pierced the right eye of the << Magnatherium >> while it was still unaware of their presence. The players ignored the roars of the injured beast, and attacked relentlessly, carving wound after wound in its body.

The giant bear wasn't going to go down quietly, however. When it lost a fifth of its help, the flaming horn on its head shone brightly, and fire spewed out of it like a flamethrower, hitting Nautilus and Drifter directly.

Unable to bear it, Drifter fell back to put out the flames. While it didn't exactly hurt, the sensation was... Less than pleasant. Not to mention, it was eating away at his HP at an alarming rate.

"Heya! Oh! Ohhhhh!"

While Drifter was downing a health potion, there was a sudden outburst of noise as an unfamiliar player appeared out of nowhere, followed closely by two others.

"Ah, shucks! Someone's already fighting it. We are out of luck, sis!"

The first person had her sword pointed at the << Magnatherium >>, poised to attack, but stopped when she noticed Drifter and the party. Disappointment covered her face as she pouted. The other two players, also girls, lowered their weapons too.

"Be right with you, just give us a sec."

Seeing as they didn't plan on interfering, Drifter nodded curtly at them before focusing back on the battle. From the quick glances he got of them, two of them were identical, without a doubt twins. Their ages couldn't have been much older than Kirito, Asuna, and the rest. The third player seemed to be a bit older, but not by much. Sisters, maybe?