Late that night, Asuna contacted Hachiman in a panic.
Hachiman headed to Lizbeth's weapon shop as she'd instructed, his mind racing.
(It's probably about that… but she sounded unusually freaked out.)
When he arrived, Asuna rushed toward him, her voice trembling. "Hachiman! Liz is in some dungeon, and I can't reach her! I don't even know where she Comms are down!"
"A dungeon?" Hachiman echoed.
He checked his friend list, confirming that both Liz and Kirito were indeed in an unreachable area. He recalled the quest details but couldn't remember any dungeon in that zone.
"Yeah, messages aren't getting through, so it's probably a dungeon," Asuna said.
"There shouldn't be a dungeon there," Hachiman muttered.
"You know where Liz is?" Asuna asked.
"Yeah. Kirito's messages aren't going through either, right? I bet they're together."
"What do you mean?"
Carefully avoiding mention of the Dual Blades skill, Hachiman explained that Kirito had likely asked Lizbeth to craft a weapon and that he'd told her about the Crystallite Ingot material the day before.
"So they're probably on the 55th floor," Asuna concluded.
"Yeah, but there's no dungeon in that area."
"What should we do?"
"With Kirito there, they're probably fine."
"The 55th floor shouldn't be too tough for them combat-wise, but let's check their tracks in pursuit mode," Hachiman suggested.
"Okay," Asuna agreed.
Asuna tracked Lizbeth's footprints, and Hachiman followed Kirito's. Both trails led in the same direction.
"They're definitely heading toward the mountain," Asuna said.
"Yeah. Let's keep following."
They cleared out a few wolf and yeti mobs along the way, eventually reaching what seemed to be the mountain's summit.
"Liz's tracks stop near this icicle…" Asuna said.
"Kirito's end here too… Hey, Asuna, come look at this."
"What'd you find?"
"Looks like they jumped into this hole from here."
"What!?"
"There's a footprint on the cliff's edge. Probably Liz got blown back by a dragon's breath or something, Kirito caught her, and they both fell."
"From this height? Are they okay?"
"They're still alive, so they must be fine."
Hachiman peered down, but the bottom was shrouded in darkness.
"Should we get a rope?" Asuna asked.
"No idea how long it'd need to be, but it's our only option right now."
"Let's head back, then."
"Yeah. We'll regroup when the NPC shops open. But can ropes even be connected like that?"
"Uh…"
"No choice. We'll consult Argo and head back for now."
"Okay… Liz, Kirito, hang in there," Asuna said, glancing back worriedly as they descended.
By the time they reached town, dawn was breaking. They contacted Argo, but since it was early, she didn't respond for a few hours. They started preparing ropes, and just as they were nearly done, Lizbeth and Kirito suddenly became reachable. The pair was heading to Lizbeth's shop, so Hachiman and Asuna thanked Argo and hurried to the 48th floor.
"Liz! I was so worried!" Asuna cried, throwing her arms around Lizbeth.
For some reason, Lizbeth seemed to be soothing Asuna while stealing glances at Hachiman.
(What's with Liz? She's looking at… Kirito? Eh, whatever.)
Hachiman turned to Kirito for details on what happened.
"No way, that was white dragon dung?" Hachiman said, incredulous.
"Y-Yeah… Kinda embarrassing when you put it like that," Kirito mumbled.
"And it's at the bottom of that hole? No wonder no one's found it."
"Total luck we did. Thanks to Liz getting knocked down there."
(Liz, huh? They got pretty chummy overnight.)
Asuna and Lizbeth joined them as they spoke.
"Wait, Hachiman and Kirito know each other?" Lizbeth asked.
(Oh, she's calling him Kirito too…)
"Yeah, Kirito and I go way back—longer than you and me," Hachiman said. "Honestly, I'm shocked you two hadn't met until now."
"What… You mean the Black Swordsman?" Lizbeth said.
"You know him?" Hachiman asked.
"I'd heard rumors about you and the Black Swordsman hanging out, but we'd never been introduced."
"Come to think of it, I don't think I've mentioned Kirito to Liz either," Asuna added.
"Remember that rule we set early on about not casually name-dropping the frontline crew?" Hachiman said. "That's probably why. Bad timing, I guess."
"Well, now we're officially acquainted, so let's get along from here on out," Kirito said.
"Yeah, I'll probably need you to make me weapons in the future, so it's great to meet you," Lizbeth replied. "Though I thought you were a total jerk at first for breaking my masterpiece."
"Oi, Kirito, what'd you do?" Hachiman demanded.
"Uh, haha…" Kirito laughed nervously.
Oddly, Lizbeth didn't seem angry at all—she looked almost happy.
"So, you making that weapon now?" Hachiman asked.
"Yup! I'm super pumped, so it's gonna be amazing," Lizbeth said.
"Then how about the four of us—"
"Asuna," Hachiman cut in, picking up on Lizbeth's vibe and sensing something. "Since we got the ropes ready, I'm thinking of upgrading my weapon too. Wanna help me grab another ingot?"
"Sure, I guess," Asuna said.
"Alright, let's go."
"Wait, Hachiman!" Asuna called. "And you two, good luck!"
"Be careful, Asuna!" Lizbeth replied.
"Don't fall, Hachiman," Kirito added.
"Yeah, yeah. Catch you later."
Hachiman, unusually forward, took Asuna's hand and headed toward the teleport gate.
"Hachiman, wait!" Asuna said.
"Oh, uh, sorry…" Hachiman let go of her hand and explained what he'd noticed about Lizbeth's behavior.
"You mean…?"
"Yeah. I got the feeling Liz might have a thing for Kirito. Figured leaving them alone might get her fired up to make an even better weapon."
"I didn't notice at all…" Asuna said.
"Well, you were too busy hugging Liz and crying your eyes out. You probably missed her sneaking glances at him."
"Was it that obvious?" Asuna wondered.
Asuna, intrigued by her friend's behavior, resolved to pay closer attention next time.
"So, we really going for the ingot?" she asked.
"Yeah, I do need it, but I'm beat. How about we head home, catch some sleep, and go this evening?"
"It's a rest day from the front lines, so that works."
"Cool, it's a plan."
"See you later, then!"
That evening, the two regrouped and headed for the white dragon's nest. As expected from a quest mob, the dragon had respawned, and they made short work of it before descending with the ropes. After scouring the area, they lucked out and found two ingots.
"I've got my weapon already," Asuna said, patting her sword. "You can use both, Hachiman."
"Really? Hmm, that thing's probably one-of-a-kind, so maybe I'll settle for making a small shield for my left hand…"
"What's 'that thing'? You're gonna use a shield?" Asuna asked.
"It's hard to explain with words. How about I show you once the substitute shield's done?"
"Sure."
"Alright, let's climb back up. Thanks for today, Asuna."
"No problem. Hope you get a great weapon out of it."
"Yeah."
The next morning, the four gathered at Lizbeth's shop. Asuna had a frontline day but came by since she had time. First, Kirito's new weapon was unveiled: a dazzling white sword, Dark Repulser. It looked every bit as impressive as Elucidator.
"Liz, you nailed it!" Asuna said.
"Thanks, Asuna!"
"What do you think, Kirito?" Hachiman asked.
"It's heavy—feels like a really solid sword," Kirito replied.
Asuna, out of curiosity, asked, "But with Elucidator, when are you gonna use this one?"
"Uh, well, you know, in a pinch, one sword might not cut it, so I really needed another one just as strong," Kirito said, fumbling.
"Makes sense," Asuna said, accepting his answer. She knew Kirito's weapon-collecting habits. Lizbeth, though, gave him a suspicious look.
Hachiman, sensing the mood, jumped in. "Alright, Liz, my turn now."
"Yup! Starting with the dagger!"
Even for someone as skilled as Lizbeth, crafting back-to-back high-quality weapons was tough. The dagger turned out solid but not spectacular. Lizbeth seemed disappointed, but Hachiman was pleased since it outperformed his current gear.
"Eh, it's okay, right?" Lizbeth said.
"Your standards are too damn high lately," Hachiman teased. "This is plenty good. Besides, the next one's the real deal, so don't let me down."
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