-277- [ Wind Fleuret ]

On the other side.

As the players gathered in a high-end restaurant, indulging in a feast, one player stayed away from the crowd. Listening to the continuous laughter emanating from the restaurant, Asuna sat on a bench outside, holding a black bread that could be purchased by anyone for just 1 Col. She quietly ate while lost in thought.

No, Asuna's thoughts were quite simple.

"I never expected to see players laughing so genuinely in this game. You're probably thinking something like that, aren't you?"

A voice voiced Asuna's thoughts, freezing her mid-bite of the black bread. She looked up and directed her gaze towards the source of the voice.

She saw a young boy standing at the entrance of the restaurant, somehow having appeared without her noticing.

And as he walked, he tossed something in Asuna's direction.

Seeing the dark object flying towards her face, Asuna instinctively reached out and caught it.

"So hot...!"

In the next moment, the high temperature emanating from her hand made Asuna cry out in surprise.

Upon closer inspection, what had been thrown to Asuna and now rested in her hand was a white bread emitting both aroma and heat.

"At least you should eat this, right?"

Rozen smirked mischievously, showing no awareness of his impulsive action, which only served to irritate Asuna further.

For some reason, Rozen seemed to have a natural talent for getting under Asuna's skin, always managing to affect her emotions.

Originally, Asuna wasn't someone who was easily angered; in fact, she could be described as quite composed and rational. Thanks to her parents' guidance, she strictly adhered to their wishes both at school and at home. Her personality was cool and level-headed, with none of the rebellious tendencies typical of other kids.

However, precisely due to this, Asuna had a rather significant flaw.

Her sense of pride was quite strong.

In school, she refused to let her grades be surpassed by others.

At home, she refused to let her manners be surpassed by others.

Outside, she refused to let her reputation be surpassed by others.

In every aspect of her life, Asuna didn't want to lose to anyone. Otherwise, failure would render her useless, a principle instilled in her by her parents.

But when faced with Rozen, Asuna felt like she was losing on all fronts. And for some reason, he seemed to be able to read Asuna's thoughts, which only made her more annoyed.

Given this situation, all Rozen needed to do was provoke Asuna a little, and she would become irritated. Unfortunately, provoking was what Rozen was best at.

"Let me guess why you're not going in." Rozen said deliberately, "It's probably not because you're a girl and the place is filled with mostly obnoxious guys. It's more likely because you're here to 'beat the floor boss' rather than socialize, right?"

A direct hit.

This finally rendered Asuna unable to maintain her silence.

"Don't act like you understand me." Asuna lowered her voice, her tone icy, "What are you doing here again? You're probably not here to care about your teammate, right?"

Surprisingly, Rozen nodded in agreement with Asuna's assertion.

"I indeed didn't come to care about a teammate I barely know. I'm just here to fulfill a promise with someone else."

Rozen shrugged, looking at Asuna.

Or more accurately, he was looking at the weapon at Asuna's waist.

"Is that the 'Iron Rapier'?" Rozen immediately recognized it, saying, "Among the off-the-shelf weapons available in the shops on this floor, this is probably the highest-tier one in the rapier category. But ultimately, it's still a run-of-the-mill item available in stores, and its performance isn't that high either."

Hearing this, Asuna almost instinctively responded.

"So what?" Asuna spoke in a hushed tone, "Weapons and such are just items. Especially in this world, they're all composed of data and files, completely unreliable. So as long as they're functional, it's enough, right?"

For Asuna, who didn't want to lose to this world, this mindset indeed suited her.

Unfortunately...

"Items can also be good or bad. Besides, even if they're items, as long as you take good care of them, they can develop a bond too. Who cares what they're made of?" Rozen shrugged, saying, "Moreover, you should make use of everything you can to keep living. You should understand that much, right?"

Asuna was momentarily speechless.

Seeing Asuna like this, Rozen chuckled and then opened the main menu. He found the item inventory, scrolled through the displayed list, and selected a certain item, materializing it.

"Here you go."

Rozen presented the materialized item to Asuna in the same casual manner he had thrown the bread.

"This is..."

This time, Asuna was stunned.

What lay in her hand was a rapier stored in a sheathe.

Rozen continued, "This is one of the rare drops you can get on the 1st floor."

In Sword Art Online, the methods of acquiring weapons and armor could be broadly divided into three categories.

1. Drops from monsters or chests.

2. Rewards from completing quests.

3. Crafted items made by players or NPC blacksmiths, leatherworkers, and other production jobs using material items.

Performance-wise, there wasn't a significant difference among these three types of equipment.

At least, not as of now.

As more floors of Aincrad were conquered and players in production jobs began to develop their skills, blacksmiths and craftsmen would become more proficient. Skilled individuals might eventually be able to craft items surpassing the current floor's standards.

However, currently, there weren't any particularly skilled players in production jobs, so on the same floor, the difference between dropped items, quest rewards, and crafted items by NPC blacksmiths or craftsmen wasn't too substantial.

Of course, this referred to equipment of the same level.

Regarding performance, even on the 1st floor of Aincrad, there were still some high-performance weapons and armor available.

Rozen's "Thousand-layer Robe," for instance, was a drop from a mini-boss, of such quality that it could be considered among the top-tier armors available. This allowed a simple cloth garment to rival the defenses of heavy plate armor. Rozen's "Anneal Blade" was also one of the few high-performance weapons on the 1st floor, though it was a quest reward.

And in the context of the 1st floor, if one were to mention a rapier-type weapon, undoubtedly, this rapier's performance stood at the top.

"It's called the 'Wind Fleuret,'" Rozen mentioned the name of the weapon.