章 26: Chapter 25
Chapter 25: Third Floor II.
-On the stairway to the Third Floor-
The first floor of Aincrad was an "anything goes" floor, with no unifying design theme.
The terrain was rich and varied, with fields, forests, wastelands, and canyons—not to mention numerous smaller towns and villages outside the main city.
It added up to a welcoming atmosphere for new players, but now that the game was deadly, few people were in the mood to soak in the surroundings.
The second floor, however, had a very clear, unified design. The land was covered with green grazing fields and multi-layered, flat-topped mountains, and the monsters within were all animal types.
As a nod to the effort of beating the first floor, the wilderness of the second was not very difficult, which, combined with the visual style, gave it a laid-back, "pastoral" theme.
Most players called it the "cow floor," for obvious reasons.
Next up was the unconquered third floor.
As they climbed up the spiral stairs that led to the third floor, the doorway had already been opened.
Kibaou and the others would soon be heading over here, so it was best for Sharia's guild to be the first set of players to enter en masse.
Naturally, they all allowed him to go first, and as Sharia did, the third floor slowly came into view.
The third floor of Aincrad.
Its design theme was "forest," but this was forest on a scale unlike the woods around Horunka on the first floor or the southern area of the second floor.
Even the smallest tree here had a trunk at least three feet across and towered nearly a hundred feet in the air.
These vast, ancient trees stretched as far as the eye could see, and the golden beams of light that trickled through their endless branches and leaves were a magical sight.
"Wow."
Once again, Sharia was struck by the brilliance of Kayaba Akihiko. To perfectly replicate such a fantasy-esque floor like this was nothing short of wondrous.
"Woah."
"This place is insane."
"Yeah. I can't wait to begin exploring."
Sharia looked back at the excited players looking around before they turned their hopeful gazes to him. Diabel, on the other hand, had a wry smile on his face.
"You're free to do whatever you want; just take care of yourself."
Sharia turned towards them, addressing them as they pumped their fists into the air.
"Yeah!"
With that, they all scattered across different locations. Some went towards the road, others towards the woods, and others to wherever their curiosity led them.
Seeing that they had all scattered, Sharia was now left standing alone. He released a sigh, covering his mouth before wondering.
"Now where should I go?"
Before that, Sharia opened his menu, clicking open his inbox.
[Inbox]
[Private Message]
○ [Sharia: I'm sure you already know, but the gateway to the third floor has already been opened.]
She had been present during the boss fight but had obviously left by the time they cleared the second floor.
Like any other new floor, there was shopping to be done, quests to undertake, and levels to gain.
But for now, maybe he should take his sweet time and just chill out on this floor.
Yes. I'll take it easy on this floor.
Throughout the day, Sharia went around the woods unarmed. He had stored his longsword in his inventory, walking around with an air of nonchalance.
He wore the average fantasy-esque outfit: a short-sleeved shirt with long pants and fitting fantasy-esque shoes.
—As Sharia went down the wood path towards the west, for a moment his senses briefly picked up a shift in the air.
He could tell that the monster approaching was unlike any mob on the second floor.
Of course, by the time he turned, he saw a mob that stood—or rather, grew—like a thin, withered tree.
Its pale yellow trunk was only a foot and a half thick and six feet tall, far smaller than the behemoth specimens all around.
But pale lights shone in two small knotholes in the bark, and the branches stretching out to the sides waved like slender claws.
The dried-out tree and Sharia stared at each other for several seconds.
Eventually, it pulled a creaking root out of the ground and stepped forward. Next, the left root pulled out for a step, and it began to walk toward Sharia.
"Whazzat?"
Sharia raised an eyebrow at the strange-looking creature, on guard as it began to walk.
Then, as if walking wasn't strange enough—
The wobbling steps soon turned into a full-speed dash. A third knothole opened beneath the other two, and the tree warbled a howl.
"Molooo!"
"The heck!"
Its arm-branches, more like tendrils, shot out with great speed, forcing Sharia to dodge them by sidestepping.
"Moloo?"
The monster paused for a brief moment as if reconsidering something, then after a second of it tilting its body. It let out a strange howl again.
"Moloooo!!!"
Suddenly, it grew more branch-like tendrils out of nowhere, making Sharia's jaw drop. Why did he feel SAO's system was out for him?
"You can't be kidding me. What sort of Eldritch-type monster have I encountered?"
Sharia, even though he said that had began dodging the branch-like tendrils, and before he knew it—
[An external martial arts skill has been detected: «Sonic Sway» has been learned.]
Maybe it was because he was dodging the tendrils at close combat range.
It was obvious that Sharia was faster than the monster, and he used that chance to observe it closely.
'It's range isn't long, keeping enough distance from it would do the trick. But then, there's its speed.'
'While its speed doesn't come close to mine. It'd give a few others heart-attack.'
It had only been a little past thirty seconds. 'Alright I've seen what I need to see.' Then, as if having enough of it, Sharia seemingly disappeared.
"Moolo?"
Before the monster's artificial intelligence could register it, Sharia was already behind it, lodging his knees into the monster and sending it flying away.
Then, summoning a rusty iron longsword he hadn't used in a while, he got into a throwing motion.
SHIEEN!
«Crimson Meteor Fall»
The Iron Longsword shone with crimson light as Sharia let it rip with a casual throw. It pierced the monster entirely, eviscerating it.
As that happened, the Iron Longsword exhausted its durability and shattered into several pieces.
"So, the skill uses a significant amount of a weapon's durability, huh? No wonder I was able to one-shot Asterios' two HP bars."
And that was using two swords with enchantments no less. Wouldn't that mean his «Centennial Longsword» is close to its durability limit?
"That can't be—"
«Centennial Longsword [+6 4S1D1Q]»
[Attack: 90]
[Durability: 55/70]
[4 Sharpness]
[1 Durability]
[1 Quickness]
After quickly summoning his longsword, Sharia viewed its stats. Seeing the longsword's durability rapidly decrease made him freeze.
"No friggin' way."
Shit. He cursed internally.
It looked like he might have to get his hands on an «Anneal Blade».
Buying one from the market on the second floor shouldn't be a big deal.
○ [Cor: 73,047]
After all, he had that much Cor lying around. Perhaps it was also time to change his outfit.
Regardless, he continued along the path until he came to a cave.
The cave looked like a dungeon, and judging by its entrance, there was probably a field boss inside.
Additionally, he was sure there'd be plenty of treasure chests in there. But did it really matter, though?
"Hm. As tempting as it is, let's pass on this one."
He murmured to himself, holding his chin, looking at the menacing Cave.
His current motive was to get a few days of respite without fighting, if he could avoid it.
Maybe he'd also think about some other things he'd been avoiding.
It was still afternoon, and about an hour or so had passed.
By this time, many players would already be rushing to the third floor.
So, it's best to leave the rewards for them instead.
Just as he turned to leave, heading away from the Spider Queen's Cave, he suddenly came face to face with a player.
The figure wore an outfit in black and dark blue, paired with a dark, tattered cloak.
"You…"
The figure spoke up first. From their voice, it was evident she was female.
"You're not heading in?"
She seemed wary of him despite the fact that he was unarmed.
Raising an eyebrow, he slowly raised his hand up as he replied.
"No. I don't plan on monopolizing the drops on the third floor."
His level was far higher than what this floor required.
[LV. 18]
—A/N: My mistake from the previous chapters actually (from chapters 5 to 10 I think).
Sure, if he continued grinding, he'd probably level up again. But one thing to note was that Kirito, at this point, was only around [LV. 15].
—A/N: Yeah. I confirmed this in the LN.
He was already three levels above the person who'd be considered the strongest, excluding himself, a cheat engine, and Kayaba, the literal GM.
"I see. Then, please excuse me," the female player said, walking closer.
Sharia gave her space, stepping away from the cave. But as he did, their eyes met—not for a brief moment, but for several long seconds.
She seemed wary of whether he might attack her. As for Sharia, he couldn't recall any female players who would have the guts to enter a field dungeon like this.
Was she planning to risk it all, or was there something else driving her?
He had no way of knowing.
Then, as their eyes met—her red irises and the faint purple strand visible under her cloak—his own eyes widened slightly.
Without a word or pause, they passed each other. She headed into the cave, and Sharia walked back into the woods.
Tozawa Misumi, huh? She exists here too?
Sharia frowned, glancing back toward the cave.
He knew of her thanks to his meta-knowledge about the Progressive movie.
But that was the thing—she wasn't canon even in the Progressive light novel.
However, she had been introduced in Unital, which now made things a little more complicated.
But now, knowing she was here…
"So that's how it is… I should probably keep an eye on her," he muttered to himself.
Now that he recognized her, he felt sure she'd survive, likely using her meta-knowledge from the beta test.
Perhaps when the guilds were established, he should send her an invitation.
"I doubt she'd accept, but there's no harm in trying, is there?"
Since he'd already encouraged Kibaou to establish the Aincrad Liberation Force, Sharia felt the need to balance things out with the Knights of the Blood Oath and whatever guild Diabel might create in the future.
After all, he was sure the Blue Knight would eventually form one.
…At the very least, even if she refused, there was nothing wrong with forming connections.
"Well, now that all is said and done, time to head out," he said, exhaling lightly before continuing on his way.
クリエイターの想い 
Brionac_
Brionac_ A/N: Must read!
Some might not agree with me not making MC grind, and yeah, it's to kinda fix my mistake.
When I started this shit, it was originally a Chinese fic. I got interested and read part of it. And then was like, why not use this as a template. So yeah, that quest on the first floor was also due to that Chinese Fic.
But the bullshit in that fic got out of hand and I decided to not follow it anymore. So, I stopped following it from the Prelude to the first boss raid.
I mean, Kirito was a girl, and there were other characters from other anime there too, and what I wanted was characters from purely SAO, whether Cannon or not. So I had done this instead.
And yeah, this is just a semi-way of balancing power and dynamics so it doesn't get too boring if Sharia alone could take care of everything. But of course, my MC still on top :3
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