They slowly headed north, as the insects didn't give much useful loot. When they came out from under the cover of the tree and reached the pin on the northern half of the floor, they saw their next targets. Trembling Oxen, and their female variants, Trembling Cows. In another game, both would just be called Minotaurs.

  "Mas… Noah, do we really have to get close? They're almost naked! They're indecent!" compined Asuna.

  Noah ughed. "Yes, we do. They're going to drop plenty of leather pieces, which I'll put to good use. We're going to farm the hell out of them. Be careful about those, Asuna. Once you gain aggro from one of those, they will pursue you until one of you dies. They're tough, rather faster than their size might let you assume. The female variant can drop milk that may be used to make desserts."

  "Oh… Speaking of food, Noah, would you mind if I learned Cooking."

  Asuna looked at him with hopeful eyes, and he grinned.

  "Not at all. I look forward to tasting your food. And we can exchange recipes ter."

  "Great. I look forward to making and tasting all the different foods we can make."

  They walked within aggro distance from the first Trembling Ox. The minotaurs in the pin only had their natural weapons, but there would be armed variants in the byrinth capable of using sword skills.

  "Asuna, you start. I'll back you up if you get hit."

  She nodded and engaged the monster. Her attacks were probing, and she maintained a good distance with the Ox, ready to evade the monster's counter attacks.

  She almost got hit twice, but managed to bring the Ox down.

  "That was great, Asuna." He nodded, and she smiled back.

  "Thanks, Noah."

  "My turn, now."

  Noah took a deep breath and walked to the next monster. Now level 14, he had increased his agility further. His objective was to be able to more reliably overp damage lines, and use that mechanic to increase his ability to deal damage while also being faster and harder to hit.

  The minotaur made an exaggerated move to try to cw Noah's face with its left hand, and he ducked under the move while making a side-step to his right. He didn't forget to ssh twice at the monster's fnk as he did.

  -88, -88.

  "Graoooh!!!!"

  Furious, the monster lowered its head, its sharp horns pointing at Noah's chest at chest level as he turned. Noah guessed that the Ox was about to charge and got ready, flexing his legs and lowering his center of gravity. The Ox charged, and Noah jumped to the side while turning. As his feet touched the ground again, the Ox passed by him, jerking its head upward like a bull, and Noah was already facing its back.

  Since he had such a rge opening, Noah decided to try a sword skill he had only practiced a few times to far in the empty air, called Deadly Sins. A seven hits combo. Noah adopted the correct footing, his left feet forward and to the side, as he rested his sword on his right shoulder. His bde glowed yellow, and the sword skill was initiated.

  Noah's sword made a diagonal ssh from top-right to bottom left, as he spun on himself. A second diagonal ssh from bottom right to top left, making a cross pattern. As his body kept spinning, the third, horizontal ssh from left to right, then a vertical ssh upward as Noah's body made a somersault. The fifth ssh, from right to left, happened as Noah's body started another spin, followed by another diagonal ssh from bottom-right to top-left, and finally came the st mode, a full circle ssh at head level.

  -125, -125, -125, -125, -125, -125, -250.

  The Ox, cking the high HP amount or armor of monster byrinths or boss minions, took far more damage than he had HP, and its body disappeared.

  “Result.

  Exp: 38

  Cor: 100

  Items: 1”

  The experience gained was on the low side, but that was only because he was in a party with Asuna, and the exp was shared. The item dropped was a Low Grade Leather Piece. It was a base component for most leathercrafting patterns, and could also be crafted by using 3 Low Grade Leather Strips from the Boars on the first floor.

  "That was a beautiful sword skill." smiled Asuna.

  "Yeah. It did a lot of damage. But with almost a full second of post-motion freeze, it's just impractical against any strong opponent. You also have some nice sword skills with your rapier. If I remember correctly, there's one where you make three vertical sshes and three horizontal ones. And I’ve read something about an eight-hits skill. A bit less fshy, but faster to execute, with less post-motion freeze, and even if you end up doing less damage, it doesn't matter all that much when most of the damage I just did was overkill."

  "I haven't unlocked those yet. But I look forward to it... I don't really like asking, but should we separate to hunt monsters more efficiently?"

  "…Let's kill a few more of those monsters, to be sure we know their attack patterns, then we'll hunt separately, but while staying close to each other, just in case. Are you aware that there's been murders already?"

  "Ah? Murders?" Asuna's eyes widened, as she hard a hard time imagining someone stooping so low.

  Noah told her about what Argo had found, and she resolved to keep a vigint eye on her surroundings.

  The resumed their hunt, and after a while, Asuna stopped searching for more monsters and walked back to Noah.

  "Say, Noah, I have noticed since yesterday, but I'm sure of it now. Why are you letting yourself be injured? You are more than fast enough to avoid all of those monsters' attacks."

  Noah paused and considered for a moment, as he rubbed his chin. Then he nodded to himself.

  "Asuna, what I am about to say remains between us. Do not tell anyone, even Argo. If this became known, I might end up being accused of being Akihiko Kayaba in disguise, or some other simir shit. This isn't the case, but it would be difficult for me to prove the contrary, either. I might end up being lynched by an angry crowd."

  "That's… So serious a secret?" Asuna wondered, suddenly regretting asking.

  "There are three reasons, and two of them are reted to my backer." Noah lifted a hand and began to count."

  "One, is that my backer hacked into the SAO game and made a few changes. I told you earlier that she was testing me, and as part of this trial, I have to do a few things that would be impossible for normal pyers. But to be fair, she also gave me a few perks."

  Seeing her expression, Noah snorted.

  "Think about it, Asuna. Do you really think that the leather harness you're wearing, or the gag and stuff, are really part of the original SAO? Kayaba is a sociopath, but he isn't a sexual pervert. Those things were added by my backer. She wants not just to test my ability to work hard to free the pyers, but also my ability to choose and recruit subordinates and train them to be completely loyal to me. And she gave me the ability to create those tools and the right to use that house as a reward for a difficult quest she assigned me. And I have a unique skill, that allows me to heal myself. You must have noticed that my HP was recovering fast, right?"

  Asuna nodded, too stunned to speak at the moment.

  "The thing is, that if I use it often enough, I can eventually unlock more unique skills, or upgrade them. By letting myself be injured and healing myself, over and over, I gradually become stronger. That's the first reason."

  "The second reason is that after being injured two thousand times, I just got the Battle Healing skill, that is a passive HP regeneration, and very useful. I highly recommend that you acquire it, too. This one is part of the original game, so all you have to do is fulfill the prerequisite."

  "Ugh… Getting injured two thousand times… Even feeling only 10% of the pain, that's scary. But I'll do it!"

  Noah patted her head affectionately, then he sighed. Asuna was definitely not going to like this one. He hugged her tightly.

  "As for the st reason. I want to develop some tolerance to pain, to still be able to function even after being injured. It will be useful in the future, and SAO is a good way to do it gradually. Besides, I wouldn't be surprised if some monsters in the upper floors could bypass the pain dampening feature in our interface."

  "…Are you going to do something dangerous after we get out of this death game?"

  "Yes... I told you both my backer and I want to better the world. And while you and I are going to do some charity work, goodwill only goes so far. There will always be some people who profit from the misery of others, and those people will try to stop us. Those people will have to be, neutralized. But it will be worth it. Both for the personal compensation I will get from it, of for the sake of all humans out there. And we're straying dangerously close to what I can't tell you at this point, so we'll discuss this matter after we're done with SAO."

  Asuna hugged him tightly.

  "Master, I… Whatever you do, wherever you go, I want to be with you. Even if it means facing more danger, I want to stay by your side."

  "…I love you, Asuna. I can't guarantee you we'll always be together. My backer might assign me objectives that will require me doing them alone. But I promise you that if I can bring you along, I will. Now, enough talking about this. This is a conversation we need to have, but it involves things I can only tell you about after we get out of the game, and I can tell you more about me and my backer. For now, we both need to become as strong as possible."

  Asuna thought for a moment, then sighed. Noah's tone made it clear that it was an order, and she decided to give up for now. But she would remember, and they would have that conversation. Besides, that was something else that worried her.

  "…Akihiko Kayaba. Isn't he going to notice eventually that someone hacked this game? Aren't you going to be in trouble?"

  Noah ughed.

  "He already knows. I got a private conversation with him on the very first night, and he really wasn't happy that someone had vandalized his life's work, as he put it." Noah made air quotes with his fingers to illustrate. "Not that I can't understand him. That was a stressful discussion, you know? Having someone who can end you at a whim being irritated with you. Anyway, we made a deal. I told him what I could about Lilith, my backer, and he agreed to leave me alone. That guy may have issues, but he doesn't seem to be the kind to go back on his word. He's likely spending his idle time searching information about her, to express his dissatisfaction or something."

  "Lilith…" whispered Asuna, committing the name to her memory. Suddenly, her eyes widened.

  "Eh?!?"

  Noah frowned as he looked at her. "Something wrong?"

  Asuna didn't answer, but he could see the expression in her face change quickly, from surprise to fear, to wonder.

  "…Asuna? Are you okay?" Noah was beginning to be concerned, as she didn't show any reaction.

  Suddenly, Asuna's eyes focused back on him, and she suddenly dispyed a radiant smile.

  "Master, Lilith-sama spoke to me!"

  "Ah? What did she say?"

  "She said that she gave you another mission. If you can master at least 20 proficiencies before the end of the game, not including those she added to the game for you, she will let you bring at least one of your companions with you on the next test.

  "Master, you are going to choose me, right?" She asked sweetly, but her eyes promised violence. Noah's internal yandere detector instantly burned out at 3.7 Yanderes, and he hurriedly went on damage control mode.

  "Of course. As long as you keep being a good girl, I would have no reason not to bring you with me."

  "That's great, Master."

  "And you can start by remembering that you are to call me Noah outside. I know our conversation has been quite intense, so I've let it slide until now, but you'll get punishment at the next mistake. This aside, did Lilith-sama also tell you about who she was?"

  Asuna's expression changed back to wonder.

  "Yes. Or rather, she allowed me to feel it. This is so incredible, but I have no choice but to believe. And that expins many things."

  "I'm very grateful to Lady Lilith for giving us the chance of staying together. But maxing 20 proficiencies won't be easy. So, let's work hard." Noah pointed to the recently respawned Trembling Oxen, and Asuna unsheathed her rapier.

  "Yes!" She instantly broke to a run toward the closest Ox.

  Smiling at her eagerness, Noah chose another monster and got to work.