Drifter didn't see the attack before it hit him. One moment he was piercing his spear in the abdomen of << Nephila Regina >>, and the other something struck him and sent him flying until he collided with the wall. Worse yet, he didn't fall down, but was glued to the rocks by a sticky spider web.
The more he struggled to free himself, the tighter the web bound him. Worse still, he had no idea how long it would last, and even if he could free himself alone or needed someone's help.
"Drifter!"
"Don't worry about me! Finish it off!"
Raising his gaze, he saw this party still engaged with the field-boss. Nautilus yelled his name, but the shield-bearer was too occupied to come to his aid. The others also had their hands full, so, looking at << Nephila Regina's >> almost empty HP gauge, he shook his head and told them not to worry about him.
The battle against << Nephila Regina >> had started... Not great. Not only was the field-boss a fearsome monster in its own right, with huge, venom-dripping fangs, eight legs as sharp as spears, and the ability to shoot out webs to trap the players, but Kayaba had also made another of his... Nifty changes to the monster. Now, any contact with the needle-like hairs that covered << Nephila Regina's >> body had a chance to induce a paralysis debuff. Asuna was the first one to discover that, with nearly tragic consequences.
The fencer had just finished an attack by using the field-boss as a stepping stone, and somersaulting away. Right in the middle of the jump, her body froze, and she crashed on the ground.
While everyone was still stunned, trying to understand how that happened, << Nephila Regina >> hovered over Asuna, raising both of its front legs, ready to impale the defenseless player. It was only due to her quick reactions that Kizmel was able to block one leg, but the other hit Asuna directly, piercing the left lower side of her stomach and coming out of her back. Just that one hit shaved off more than half of Asuna's HP. If both attacks had landed, she would've died instantly.
The near-death experience sent left everyone feeling cold, not just Asuna. Just the other day they were joking that the 3rd floor mobs weren't as hard as they expected. Now, they almost paid the price for their arrogance.
After that scare, the party fought a lot more cautiously. Thankfully, the battle ended without any more accidents. << Nephila Regina >> was a field-boss, that was true, but she was designed to be handled by one, or at most two parties. What made the fight hard was the diversity of status effects it could apply: paralysis, poison, and that web which was as good as any crowd control skill.
Now Drifter could see exactly why Kibaou and his minions ran away from the field-boss. Knowing the muscle-for-brains, he had learned that << Nephila Regina >> had high attack but low HP and defense, and brought a party composed entirely of heavy hitters, hoping to overwhelm the field-boss. With this kind of strategy, it was a surprise that all of them managed to survive.
"Hey, is any of you going to free me, or are the drops more important?!"
"I dunno, Drifter. Should we? You look pretty comfy."
Drifter rolled his eyes. Great. Now even Nautilus was making fun of him. Where would his face go? But it couldn't be helped. His position now was really compromising, stuck to the wall with one arm twisted behind his back and his legs akimbo. He knew that if it was someone else from the party in his place, he would also be snickering.
"Har har har. Now get me down from here!"
In the end, it was Kizmel who took pity on him and cut him free. Drifter thanked the dark elf, and glared at his so-called friends. But he couldn't hold it for long before shaking his head and smiling wryly. He was not truly angry.
"Great fight, Kizmel."
Saying that, Drifter put up his hand, palm facing the dark elf, expecting a high-five. Kizmel just stared at his hand for a long awkward while, before putting her palm together with his, and holding it there. She tilted her head and looked at him.
"Is this another human custom, Drifter?"
After a stupefied second, the players burst out laughing. Kirito went up to them, and demonstrated how to do a proper high-five.
"It's called a high-five, Kizmel. It's a human gesture of commemoration."
"All right!"
The dark elf nodded, and, for some reason, her eyes shone with joy. Imitating Kirito, she clapped her hand with Drifter in a proper high-five. It was clear that she was very excited about it.
"I call dibs on the drops."
"You're gonna be disappointed, Drifter. Just some mats, nothing else."
"No way! Isn't that the boss we have to kill for the guild creation quest? How come it's so stingy?!"
"We didn't accept the quest, so the item didn't appear. Otherwise, players could just endlessly farm it, and it would lose meaning."
"Bah! All right. What's next then?"
"Hand in this quest, and continue the campaign. More importantly than the rewards, I think we should try to dig up as much information about the floor boss as we can. We don't want a repeat of the previous floors."
Several heads nodded, and Kirito led the party out of the cave following his map. It was when they were walking back and chatting that Drifter suddenly had a 'light bulb moment', as Yuna called it.
"Kizmel... The dark elves lived on the 3rd floor for a long time ago, right? And even now you still come here from time to time."
"Yes. Why do you ask, Drifter?"
"Well... You wouldn't happen to know anything about this floor's guardian, would you? Or know someone who does?"
Kirito froze. The party froze. And then, as one, they slapped their foreheads. Of course! The reason Kirito was so invested in this << Elf War >> campaign wasn't for the experience, cor, or items - even though they were nice. It was for information. Now, no one dared to fully believe the intel from the beta. Even Kirito and other beta-testers like him doubted themselves. But to make sure all of them survived, information was key. And there was a gold mine of it walking next to them, and they hadn't realized it until Drifter brought it up just now! Instantly, all of them turned to Kizmel with hopeful eyes.
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"Uhmm... I don't know much about the guardian myself, only that it is a corrupted treant. However, I can ask the commander when we go back to the camp. He should know more."
"Thank you! You have no idea how helpful that will be!"
The dark elf just waved off their gratitude, saying it was nothing. At the same time, her eyes shone with appreciation, and her already high approval of the humans grew even more. Though young, she saw not a sliver of hesitation in them, even when they talked about fighting an ancient and evil beast like the floor guardian.
Their way back to the dark elf camp to hand in the quest and start the next part of the << Elf War >> campaign was done in a joyous mood. It only got better when Kizmel quickly fulfilled her promise, and went to talk to the commander.
Drifter wasn't actually sure if their new friend really had a conversation with the commander - the NPC was a lot more rigid than Kizmel - or if that was simply the excuse the system found for inputting new knowledge in her head, but either way, when the dark elf rejoined them, she had a whole lot to tell the party.
Most of it was similar to what Kirito already knew from the beta. The 3rd floor boss was known as << Nerius the Evil Treant >>, a gigantic living tree that was rooted dead center of the boss room. It used its branches, roots, and vines to attack the players, and was a well-rounded boss, with high HP, high defense, and high attack. Its only major weaknesses were its slow attack speed, and the fact that it couldn't move.
Only, that last one was a lie. According to Kizmel, once enraged the floor boss would be able to use its roots as legs and chase after whoever was attacking it. In their heads, the players summarized that as its 'berserk phase'. Not only that, but Kizmel also said the boss was able to, in her own words, 'corrupt' opponents. She didn't know exactly what that entailed, since it had been centuries since the dark elves last challenged the evil treant, but that 'corruption' was what wiped out the armies they sent.
"Like we imagined, it will be different from the beta. Better let Argo know. And we also should do our best to finish the campaign as soon as possible."
"How about we split tasks? I need to go to Zumfut to enhance my << Caldea Fana >> and talk to Liz. I also promised to meet Agil, and I can see Argo along the way. Meanwhile, you guys continue doing the quests."
The party easily accepted Drifter's proposition. The next few quests in the << Elf War >> campaign were mainly fetch quests and escort quests, so unless there were any accidents, they could complete them without any problems, even if Drifter wasn't there. Not to mention, they had Kizmel to fill in for him.
...
Once back in Zumfut, Drifter's first stop was Liz's blacksmithing stand. Like on the floor below, she had set up shop in the main plaza of the city. By now, Lisbeth was already a well-known name, one of the best, if not the best, non-affiliated forgers. All the other renowned blacksmiths belonged to either the Dragon Knights Brigade or the Aincrad Liberation Squad.
Liz herself had received numerous offers to join the two soon-to-be guilds, but she rejected all of them. Her reason was that she wanted to help more players improve their equipment, and because of that she couldn't become an exclusive blacksmith for either group. However, Drifter always felt that was just an excuse, and that Liz was just waiting for the right group of people to invite her.
Anyway, even though it was the middle of the day, there were quite a few players waiting in line in front of Liz's stand. The blacksmith saw him and nodded in greeting. He waved back, but didn't go up to her.
Drifter had a close friendship with her, and, exactly because of that, he wouldn't cut in line and cause her trouble, so he went to the end of the queue. Liz saw that, and stuck out her tongue at him, then grinned.
While waiting, Drifter started sending messages to Argo and Agil. The info broker was somewhere else doing who knows what, so she couldn't come meet him. Instead, Drifter just sent her everything his party had about the << Elf War >> campaign, plus what Kizmel told them about << Nerius the Evil Treant >>. He refrained from telling her about Kizmel herself, though. It was not that he didn't trust Argo, but he knew the dark elf was unique, unlike any other NPC. If news spread that she was anything other than a quest NPC, he could already imagine the fuss Kibaou and Lind would make. It would be the whole beater thing all over again.
[ Argo: Quite the harvest, hum, Dri-bou? I don't have enough cor at hand for that. ]
[ Drifter: Doesn't matter, this is info that should go into the guide anyway. You should especially make sure all frontliners know about it before the boss raid. ]
[ Argo: Ya got it! I'll put aside any juicy bits of intel I get for ya! Now I gotta go. Bye! ]
"Hey, dude, the line's moving."
The player behind him tapped his shoulder, and Drifter took his eyes off his menu. Nodding, he saw that it was already his turn. He greeted Liz happily.
"I like the hair, Liz."
"Thanks! I've wanted to dye it since forever, and I've finally found an NPC who sells what I needed!"
"Haha... You have to tell Sinon about it soon, then. She talked multiple times that she wanted to dye her hair too. If she comes to see you and you still haven't told her about it, you are going to suffer."
"Hehehe! Got it! And what do you have for me?"
Liz's hair was now dyed a light shade of pink, her bangs held up by a hammer-shaped hair clip. It suited her well. Drifter took out his new weapon, and handed it to her.
"I want to enhance it. It can go up to +8, so getting it to a +6 should be doable."
"Uhmm... The mats needed are all 2nd floor drops, but they are still quite rare."
"Don't worry, I've got them here."
"Great! I'll get started then! And while we wait, why are only you here today? You normally don't go anywhere without at least Yun' and Naut."
While striking down with her hammer, Liz made small talk with Drifter.
"They are following the elf campaign quests. I had to enhance this beauty, and I also promised Agil that we would try SAO's alcohol together!"
"What?!"
The blacksmith looked up from her anvil, stunned. She was having trouble discerning if Drifter was telling the truth or just joking. Surely she had heard wrong, right?
"Are you serious?"
"Yep."
"You... You really are something. How can you even have the peace of mind to go get drunk in our situation?"
"I never said I was going to get drunk, only that we are going to try it out. Besides... We just beat the 2nd floor with no casualties. If that isn't reason for celebration, what is?"
"Still..."
"Liz. I want to go back just as much as you and everyone else. But it isn't happening anytime soon. You need to loosen up every once in a while."
Whatever Liz wanted to say stopped in her throat. Drifter was right. If they didn't even commemorate the good occasions, would they even have the willpower to make it to the end?
Drifter had also left unsaid something else, but Liz didn't notice his underlying meaning. Even if, and that was a big if, they one day managed to escape SAO, how many of the people they knew would still be with them? Drifter didn't have any confidence in surviving, which was why he was so eager to enjoy the little moments.
"Here, your << Caldea Fana +6 >>. It's probably the second best equipment I saw 'till now, only behind Kirito's << Anneal Blade +6 >>."
"Thanks, Liz. We are lodging on the dark elf camp, so it might be a few days before we see you again. Good business!"
After bidding the blacksmith farewell, Drifter turned around to leave. There was still a long line of customers behind him, after all. But just as he was walking away, Liz called him.
"Drifter! When the strategy meeting happens... Message me, okay?"
Hearing that, many emotions flashed through Drifter's face. Surprise, curiosity, worry, admiration, joy. In the end, he grinned.
"Will do."