A journey to another world starting from a sword

"What?" "Ugh, so sleepy." "Is it dawn yet?" "What exactly...?"

"Fool-----!"

Her clenched right fist exuded a murderous aura that could be seen with the naked eye. Her straight punch, which showcased her agility to the fullest, was stopped by the crime prevention rules, and burst into purple sparks with an extremely loud bang.

-----------------

"Listen up, no one is allowed to sneak into Dante's room tonight!" Asuna gave the order as everyone gathered in the living room.

"That's what you say, Asuna, but you don't actually want to secretly... um... um..." Lisbeth was forced to stop Asuna before she could finish speaking.

"But...but..." Silica was about to say something after receiving permission, but when Asuna focused her gaze on her, she couldn't get the words out. "Yes~, I...I understand."

"Phew, really, one wrong move and..." Asuna released Liz's mouth, then looked at the culprit with a chilling glint in her eyes, "Aren't you going to say anything?"

"..." Dante, who was kneeling on the floor staring blankly at Asuna's beautiful legs peeking out from her thin nightgown, had no choice but to silently turn to Mito for help.

"Ah, um, Asuna, you don't need to be so angry. Everyone probably doesn't have any bad intentions, right?" Mito asked with a smile, but her smile immediately froze because when she looked over, none of them answered. Instead, they either looked away or covered their mouths, pretending to be deep in thought.

That look seemed to say: What did you just say? I didn't hear you~

No, Yuki blinked her bright red eyes innocently, seemingly unaware of the current situation.

"Ah, it will be dawn in 20 minutes," Argo suddenly said.

"Oh no, breakfast hasn't been made yet." Asuna realized this too, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The vice president was under a lot of pressure.

"I'll skip breakfast; we need to get into the labyrinth area first," Dante said immediately, getting up at the perfect moment to help. True to his Argonautical reputation, his timing was impeccable.

"Wait a moment."

Before he could walk out the door, Asuna caught up with him and threw him a jar.

"This is mulberry jam."

With a very simple sentence, Asuna tossed her beautiful chestnut hair and turned to walk briskly into the kitchen.

Dante paused for a moment, looking at the jar in his hand. Did this mean he should just eat black bread with jam to make do?

The thirtieth floor is composed of wetlands and swamps, and there are also many amphibious monsters.

His rhinoceros-hide boots were stuck in the wet mud, and the necks of five sea snakes were raised and swaying in the shallow water. The sound of scales rubbing together and the dripping of mucus sounded just like a broken water clock.

The nearest sea serpent suddenly lunged at him after spotting him, but Dante dodged to the side and used his gauntlet to catch the serpent's neck at its seven-inch mark. A cold light pierced from its skull to its jaw, and the sea serpent's HP bar instantly dropped by a third.

With two mechanical swings of "Melancholy Nocturne," the sea serpent's head and neck separated, dropping 450 Cor and a material called "Sea Serpent Skin."

In reality, snakeskin is usually used to make leather goods, but sea snakeskin is too rare, so giving it to Ashurai was just for practice.

The second attack came from the right. Dante leaped up, using the barnacle-covered rocks as leverage. His raven feather cloak, soaked in moisture, billowed out in an arc of water. The tip of his sword, propelled by the fall, cleaved the snake's mouth in two, the splashing red special effects representing blood dazzlingly bright.

The third snake, attacking from the side, tried to entangle his ankle, but just as its scales were about to tear his ankle, he swung his sword at the snake's eye. The force that erupted in an instant collided with the serpent's body, feeling as if his skull were shattering.

The remaining two sea serpents spotted him and attacked simultaneously. Dante lay back in the knee-deep puddle, and amidst the sea serpents' hoarse breaths, his blade precisely pierced the heart of the upper serpent. This weak point attack combined with a critical strike sent the serpent flying.

The last fang grazed the scales on his collarbone, and he seized the snake's tail and swung it at the rocks three times, five times, before pinning the snake's body to the mud. The mangled snake body was still twitching when it turned into pieces the next second.

The snake fangs that drop seem to be materials for enhancing short swords, and the venom can also be used to make paralyzing poison. Killing one can yield a profit of about 600 to 700 kor. He had just earned 3,000 kor in a short while. If it's just for kor, then farming this kind of monster is undoubtedly the best solution right now.

Moreover, while it takes an average player team one or two minutes to finish a battle, he cleared out this small area all by himself in just one or two minutes.

The efficiency is more than five times greater.

Unfortunately, he was focused on reaching the Boss room as quickly as possible and had no time to deal with the writhing monsters nearby. After eliminating the sea serpents blocking his path, he continued onward.

The cloak's concealment made it difficult for monsters in the corners to spot him immediately, which made traveling much smoother.

After most of the thirty-fifth floor of the maze had been explored, a narrow space suddenly appeared ahead of the unexplored area.

"Ah, is it almost over?"

The premonition that it was getting closer grew stronger, and when the dilapidated, enormous door appeared before them, it directly proved that Dante's premonition was correct.

Logically speaking, the 35th floor doesn't have a crystal nullification setting, so he could use the transfer crystal to teleport back to the main street at any time. Therefore, he simply reached out and pushed open the door.

A sudden rush of damp, cold air made Dante long for the warmth of the fireplace and the girl's body temperature.

As you step into this pitch-black space, until the door closes, a call like that of the deep sea resounds, and a distinctive sonic vibration comes from the depths.

When the tip of the Boss's tentacle first pierced the mud, Dante immediately assumed a battle stance, his eyes fixed on the front.

The brown tentacle was covered with tough keratin, and then, in just a few seconds, more than a dozen tentacles, each larger than a barrel in diameter, rose from below, piercing the air.

The tips of the tentacles slowly closed, like a carnivorous plant preparing to hunt, making a sound like the turning of a damp cellar door hinge.

The entire circular room lit up instantly, transforming the environment, which had resembled a deep-sea ruin, into a suitable battleground for players.

The Boss's full form and name are then revealed—"Swamp Kraken".

Dante initially predicted that the creature would resemble a squid or an octopus, but he was wrong. The main body, connected to the dozen or so tentacles with predatory flowers, was a huge mouth covered with ring-shaped serrations, capable of easily swallowing a person whole and shredding them into minced meat, even with a shield.

This is trouble.

If this main body is movable, no player can block it from the front, not even the "Holy Sword".

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As a rising guild, the headquarters of the "Knights of the Blood Oath" is located in a luxurious mansion that resembles a lord's palace in the main district of "Gildestan," which is comparable to the twenty-fifth floor of a metropolis.

Above the main gate, a deep red guild flag fluttered proudly, bearing the letters "KoB," an abbreviation of the guild's English name, "Knights of the Blood." The flag also featured a cross-shaped emblem.

Nochiras checked the time, walked under the flag, entered the mansion, and after asking a member of the Red and White Blood Oath Knights for directions, he went up the stairs in front of the hall and finally stopped in front of the guild master's room on the second floor.

I knocked carefully on the door, and a voice immediately came from inside saying, "Come in."

"excuse me."

Nochiras bowed slightly and went inside. The room was large, at least thirty square meters, but it was a little dark.

The afternoon sun did not shine directly in through the west-facing window. Near the window was a huge desk, nearly two meters wide, with dozens of parchment sheets piled up on it, almost forming a small mountain. Behind the desk sat a man.

From this angle, the man appears to be carrying the dark sky behind him on his back.

“Nochiras, may I call you that?” Heathcliff placed his hands on the table, scrutinizing the newcomer.

"Just call me Nochiras. How should I address you?" Nochiras bowed respectfully.

"Don't be so nervous. You'll be a member of our guild from now on. Just call me guild leader like everyone else," Heathcliff said, gesturing with his hand.

“Yes, Chairman.” Nochiras sat down properly in the chair in front of Heathcliff as instructed.

“Hmm.” Heathcliff nodded in satisfaction. “Although your rank is below the frontline average, Segulro said your combat awareness is quite good… your sword skills are quick to activate, your combat intuition is excellent, and you rarely fail to execute them even when your stance is broken…”

"No, no," Nochiras said modestly, suppressing his excitement.

"Hehe." Seeing the other party's embarrassed reaction, Heathcliff laughed out loud. "Go to Da Shan first to get the guild's equipment. These are all free. There are also craftsmen in the guild. The maintenance and enhancement prices for the equipment will also be lower than the market price. Of course, if you are not sure about their skill proficiency, you can go outside to find a famous blacksmith."

"Lisbeth?"

“Yes, yes, she seems to be quite famous,” Heathcliff chuckled.

“The other party is a member of ‘Eternal Garden,’ and they should be our competitors, right? Wouldn’t approaching them be considered aiding the enemy?” Nochiras asked with some reluctance for some reason.

“Haha, indeed, they are also an old-established guild, just like the ‘Dragon Journey Guild.’ It is said that the ‘Dragon Journey Guild’ is planning to merge with the ‘Sky Dome Legion.’” Heathcliff said, revealing the secret he had bought from the information broker.

This made Noziras proudly raise his head, and even the "Dragon Journey" chose to merge with another emerging guild in order not to fall behind the "Knights of the Blood Oath".

"So, between you and that man, who's stronger, President?"

Heathcliff put away his smile and placed his hands on the table.

"Yes... If it were daytime, I would probably be stronger than the other person."

Chapter 190: The most important thing for the strategy team is—intelligence.

"During the day?" Nochiras didn't quite understand what the guild leader meant.

"Let's not talk about that for now. We should be able to reach the twenty-seventh floor of the thirty-floor maze today. We've completed seventy percent of the map exploration, and we expect to find the Boss's room tomorrow or the day after. Although you might not be able to participate in the Boss battle yet, I believe that one day we will fight side by side."

“Yes!” Nochiras immediately stood up and said.

"Ah."

After receiving the guild's benefits from the fat man in the KoB red and white uniform—that is, Mr. Dashan—Nochiras chose to return to his inn.

Even though the guild had assigned him a room, he didn't want to live there.

On his way back to the inn from the guild, Nochiras passed the central fountain in the commercial district.

Although there were many pedestrians at five o'clock in the afternoon, he found that there seemed to be too many. Soon, Nochiras saw a dense crowd gathered in front of the fountain.

Then, upon seeing a figure in a hooded cloak standing in front of the fountain, he immediately jogged toward it.

Because he knew that the player being watched was none other than his childhood sweetheart, Yuna, who had entered this world with him.

Because they lived close by, they attended the same school from kindergarten to junior high. Later, Yuna went to an all-girls high school, so the two separated during high school. However, thanks to their shared love of games, they maintained their friendship.

So when SAO was in open beta, he couldn't wait to invite her to play SAO together. Yuna's favorite game genre is music-themed, and she shouldn't have been interested in RPGs, but to his surprise, Yuna actually agreed, seemingly because SAO has skills for playing musical instruments.

Nochiras stood at the edge of the crowd, gazing at his childhood sweetheart. The trembling of the lyre strings echoed in the space. Yuna, wearing a blue lace dress and a hat tilted to one side, stood in front of the fountain.

Although she learned piano and classical guitar from a young age, Yuna's favorite music is actually pop music.

It's just that bastard Kayaba Akihiko turned SAO into a death game, which changed everything.

Just as Nochiras was once again filled with regret, a sudden commotion arose in the crowd, causing him to look up.

He saw a red-haired female player standing in the audience; she was the one who had caused the commotion among the players.

So it was her, Nochiras thought to himself.

Although it's unclear when the person used a prop to dye their hair red, they already looked like this at the victory celebration on the 25th floor.

Nochiras frowned at the thought of her guild, which often took Yuna to hunt monsters outside the circle, which was too dangerous.

"Miss Lingyin, would you like to sing a song too?" As soon as Yuna finished singing, a player immediately asked the red-haired girl.

"...Let's let it go for today." Lingyin apologized to her fans with her hands clasped together.

"Eh—" A disappointed voice suddenly rang out from the crowd.

"Sorry, sorry." Lingyin quickly made her way through the crowd, grabbed Yuna's hand, and fled the scene.

"Ah." Nochiras raised his head, stunned. He had originally planned to wait for Yuna to finish before having dinner together.

Soon, he saw Yuna running in his direction, then smiling and gently beckoning with her left hand, indicating that she had noticed him long ago.

Nochiras left the crowd in the opposite direction and then chose a suitable and concealed route to catch up.

They seemed to want to get away from the crowded shopping street, and by the time I caught up with them, they were already chatting.

"Arnold is so slow," Yuna said, turning back to look at Nochiras and laughing.

"Ah, is this the uniform of the Knights of the Blood Oath?" Lingyin noticed the clothes her best friend's childhood friend was wearing.

“That’s right!” Nochiras straightened his face and slightly spread his shoulders.

"Congratulations." Lingyin remembered that the other party hadn't joined the guild yet. Speaking of which, the last time they met was on the 25th floor, when Yuna brought him to the celebration party.

"Honestly, I told Arno he could join 'Eternal Garden,' but he just wanted to prove himself." Yuna pouted, seemingly complaining, but then grinned, after all, "Knights of the Blood Oath" was a well-known strategy guild.

"..." Actually, what Yuna said was not right. Nochiras just hated a certain man who used to stand with Yuna. Whenever Yuna cast a surprised look at him, he felt a dull pain in his heart.

"Oh right, we're going to a bar tonight, is Arno coming too?" With her left hand on her slender waist, Yuna pointed her right finger at Nochiras.

"Who are they?" Nochiras asked warily.

“Miss Lily, Mitt is going too,” Yuna said, listing them off one by one. “Miss Jeliska should be coming as well.”

"Then... won't your guild leader go to see that guy?" Nochiras asked Lingyin.

"I don't know, our president has been in the maze area for over a day now," Lingyin said, shaking her head.

After frowning for a moment, Nochiras softened his expression. "If I'm not busy..."

Then they headed toward the hotel where Yuna was staying. Lingyin took Yuna's hand and said, "I'm currently writing a song."

"What song?" Yuna asked with great interest.

"It was originally planned to be about romance, but it's not finished yet. I have no experience dating boys, so I don't know anything about this. I wonder if you, Yuna, can give me some inspiration."

“Hmm…” Yuna crossed her arms in distress. “I’m not very good at it either. In fact, I’m just like you. Why don’t you ask other people? Like Miss Jeliska or Miss Li, they might have some experience in this area at their age.”

If I'm not mistaken, there are only three adults in the "Eternal Garden".

"Hey, I don't want everyone to know," Lingyin said shyly in a low voice.