Summoner of Miracles

Wind Fleuret.

It was rare drop from high-level monsters in the labyrinth area. Despite being a weapon that excelled in attack speed, its attack power was second only to Anneal Blade among all weapons that could be obtained in the 1st Floor, which showed just how powerful this weapon was.

That weapon was so rare that Rozen only had one of it.

"I was planning to sell it, but on second thought, i'll just give it to you instead."

Rozen said to Asuna, who subconciously looked at the weapon in her hands.

She had to admit that was a good rapier.

Not in terms of looks, but the weapon's stats.

Asuna stroked the rapier gently and instantly realized that weapon would greatly help her.

However…

"……why?"

Asuna asked Rozen with a puzzled look.

"Why did you do this?"

Well, of course Asuna would ask Rozen that question, the've only met by chance once, they were not friends or anything. So, why would Rozen give her such a valuable weapon?

Although this weapon was only considered good at this floor, and not so much after they reached the next floor, but Rozen could get 10.000 Cor by selling it, and giving it to an acquintance or friends was one thing, but giving it to someone he barely knew at all was just strange.

Was it because Asuna was a female player that Rozen was biased?

Of course not.

"Didn't I say earlier?" Rozen clarified his reason: "I'm here to fulfill my promise with someone."

This certain someone was Argo.

"Please help Asuna."

That was the favor that Argo asked from Rozen.

"I'm worried about that lass."

This was the reason why Argo asked Rozen looked out for Asuna.

Rozen also got a lot of information about Asuna from Argo.

Rozen heard from Argo that this girl left Town of Beginnings only two weeks ago after cooping up inside her room in the Town of Beginnings.

In other words, Asuna just started to level up two weeks ago, and not only was she a novice, but she also had zero experience when it came to games, a complete beginner not only in SAO, but in games itself.

When Rozen heard about this, he was really surprised.

"A complete beginner who never played games can actually master Sword Skills to that degree?"

If Rozen didn't see it himself, he wouldn't have believed what Argo said either.

"Is this the so called gap in terms of talent?"

Rozen just sighed.

But at the same time, her ignorance about the game caused various problems. For example, when she became a red player in the labyrinth area.

If Asuna knew that attacking other player was a crime and will put her at a disadvantage, she wouldn't raise her weapon at a player even if by accident, right?

Also, Asuna didn't really care about equipments.

In this girl's view, equipments were nothing but fake strength that data created, she believed a player's real strength only came from their own technique and skills.

That was why Asuna always hunted the monsters only using the rapier she bought from the store, that applied to her armor as well. For her, it was just tools, that was not her own strength, so she didn't really care about it like other players

That was probably the reason why Asuna's Sword Skills were so amazing.

Talent was only one of the reason. The most decisive factor was because Asuna focused on improving herself rather than the equipments or any game-related knowledge, allowing her to make the most out of her one and only Sword Skill. She even could use Outside System Skill that only a few players could use to enhance her Sword Skill.

What she did wasn't mistaken. Of course, players's technique was the most important factor which could decide how far a player could go.

However, as Rozen said, players must use any means necessary to survive. Although technique was indeed important, the rest was just as important.

Asuna, who didn't know anything about the game, never completed a quest at all. In the past two weeks, all she did was hunting monsters to level up and earn Cor. If she was tired, she'd rest in a safe area, and once she recovered a bit, she'll push herself again until she ran out of strength. By using this method, Asuna managed to reach level 10 in just two weeks.

No player would be able to do this rigorous level up method, including Rozen.

"Setting armors aside, because if monster couldn't hit you, its durability won't be reduced, except for shoes since walking long distance will eventually reduce its durability. But, weapon is another thing. As long as you fight monsters, your weapon's durability will be reduced."

Even Rozen would leave labyrinth area and returned to town once his weapon's durability reached a certain level.

However, that was not the case for Asuna.

"She bought five Iron Rapiers in the town as spares, and used every Iron Rapier to the limit. When one of her Iron Rapiers broke as it ran out of durability, she'll take out the next one in her storage and continue leveling."

That was what Rozen heard from Argo.

That was the reason why Asuna could reach level 10 in merely two weeks.

During Rozen's conversation with Argo, he finally realized something.

"No wonder that young lady was in tatters when I first met her."

That must be because Asuna has been spending days in labyrinth area without going back to town to repair her weapons and armors.

Knowing how Asuna was, Argo felt uneasy about her.

"That young lady is too dangerous to be left alone, she might just die in the labyrinth area at this rate. That's why, help her."

And Rozen fulfilled Argo's request. He gave Asuna Wind Fleuret in order to tell her something.

"This game is not so simple that you can survive simply by using store-bought equipments."

Rozen looked straight at Asuna, and went straight to the point.

"If you really don't want to lose to this game and this world, then you should face it, not reject it."

Rozen then pointed to the weapon in Asuna's hands.

"You can use it to fight and see."

"When the time comes, you will understand."

Leaving that as the parting words, Rozen returned to the restaurant.

Asuna gripped the sword in her hand firmly and fell into a deep thought.