Kaguya bit her lip tightly. She had been feeling rather defeated by these two siblings recently.
Their flawless movements, perfect combos, and seamless coordination, those magnificent and fierce sword skills made her envious.
Sometimes, she even wondered if these two from the Kazami Family just had some innate, monstrous talent for the sword.
"Hmph, I'll leave the party and go level on my own."
Kaguya was stubborn at heart, but also felt a bit wronged, 'It wasn't my fault she wasn't good at this game… it was my first time playing!'
'What right did this guy have to look down on me!'
Yusei, seeing Kaguya's unusual reaction, mentally cursed.
"Young Lady, if something happens to you, what am I supposed to do? I can't explain it to your grandfather."
"You don't need to worry about me. I'll explain it to Grandfather myself."
"If something happens to you, you die. How are you going to explain then?" Yusei looked at her strangely.
Kaguya was taken aback, then her face flushed slightly, seeming to realize the logical contradiction in her words.
But she still stubbornly insisted, "Anyway, you don't need to worry about me! I'm going to level up on my own!"
With that, she left the party and ran off alone into the depths of the forest, probably to find a place to grind.
Yusei sighed. A young lady with a stubborn, competitive, and willful personality. Heaven knows he just wanted the young lady to coordinate and switch off with him more, so it wasn't always just her playing solo and getting the least kills.
Then again, he couldn't be bothered to chase after her.
With Kayaba around, he could just send him an email to keep an eye on Kaguya.
If she died, he could just give her a cheat and resurrect her.
Yusei looked at Shiro, who was quietly waiting for him, and couldn't help but sigh, "Shiro is so well-behaved. Let's go do a quest!"
"Mm."
On the first floor of SAO, there were actually many hidden quests. Completing these could grant opportunities to obtain rare items or rare classes.
Kayaba had all this information, but Yusei didn't ask for it, preferring to find them on his own.
Last night, while he and Shiro were repairing their weapons at a blacksmith's shop, they overheard the NPC owner sighing to himself.
"If only a powerful warrior would appear..."
Kazami Yusei immediately recognized this as a special quest and tried to accept it from the owner, but was told that the quest required players level 25 or above.
Their trip to the fields today to grind to level 25 was specifically to be eligible for this hidden quest.
Returning to town, Yusei and Shiro navigated through the bustling streets filled with people and vendors, listening to the calls and shouts around them, and quickly arrived at that blacksmith's shop.
Perhaps because of its remote location, not many players frequented this place.
Yusei moved through the crowd, approached the owner, and smiled.
"Owner, is there any help you need?"
As he spoke, he displayed his level to the owner.
The blacksmith owner looked to be in his forties or fifties. The muscles on his exposed arms looked incredibly tough, and his calloused hands clearly belonged to someone who had wielded a hammer for years. It can be seen that he's a very experienced blacksmith.
At that moment, however, the old blacksmith was absentmindedly repairing equipment for players. Hearing Yusei, he glanced over instinctively, but his eyes still seemed distracted, as if his thoughts were elsewhere.
Until he saw Yusei's level...
Instantly, his eyes lit up. He even tossed aside the hammer he was using to repair a player's equipment.
"Closed! No more customers!"
Within seconds, a group of players were shooed out by the NPC owner, and the blacksmith shop closed its doors in broad daylight.
They left behind a crowd of dumbfounded players staring at each other outside.
Inside the blacksmith shop, in the main room.
The blacksmith owner attentively poured tea for Yusei and Shiro. Without waiting for them to ask, he took the initiative to speak with a sigh.
"Powerful warrior, I wish to entrust you with saving my daughter."
"My daughter went to the Frozen Forest in the western mountains last week to search for rare ore for me, and she hasn't returned."
"There is a Frost Dragon in the Frozen Forest. I suspect my daughter is trapped there."
As he spoke, the blacksmith owner began to cry like a real human, covering his face and weeping bitterly.
"It's all my fault. If I hadn't mentioned in front of her that I wanted to forge a peerless divine weapon, she wouldn't have gone on this risky venture."