The gondola glided forward, leaving behind small ripples that spread across the water's surface. The three sat in silence, the only sounds were the steady rhythm of paddles cutting through the water and the ragged breaths that lingered from the previous battle.
Caldera Lake opened up like the gaping mouth of the world, its diameter so vast that their boat seemed no more than a drifting speck of dust.
The lake's dark water reflected the gloomy sky of the fourth floor, giving the eerie impression that they were gliding across a colossal mirror that might crack at any moment.
On both sides, sheer cliffs rose like merciless walls of nature, draped in moss and scarred with long fissures, remnants of lava that once flowed.
In some places, faint steam drifted upward from the cracks, carrying a sharp mineral smell into the air.
The sound of paddles echoed, only to be quickly swallowed by the oppressive stillness.
No birds, no insects, only the unnervingly flat water remained.
The deeper they went, the more that silence weighed on them, as if unseen eyes were watching from below.
Ren lifted his gaze, glancing at the swirling gray clouds gathering above, as though the whole sky was pressing down upon the lake's mouth.
He inhaled lightly, the damp air carried a faint, suffocating heat. It felt as though beneath this dark lake, the breath of an unextinguished volcano still lingered.
Asuna unconsciously drew her cloak tighter around her, her eyes skimming over the faint ripples. "Strange… the water's too still. No fish, nothing at all."
Kirito didn't answer, but his arms rowed harder, as if to escape this suffocating stillness as quickly as possible.
Ren set his hand on the hilt of his sword. The crossing had only just begun.
The journey was far from easy. Though Kirito held a clear direction in mind, the landscape had changed far too much from the Beta.
The sheer cliffs and narrow bends constantly forced them into detours, sometimes even halting to reassess their bearings.
The lake's stillness was unnatural, each stroke of the paddle echoing back as if into a void.
Ren could feel his arms beginning to ache, while Asuna's forehead glistened with sweat despite the chilling damp air.
"We… should rest for a while." Asuna's voice broke the silence, her breath forming pale mist in the cold air.
Kirito stopped rowing and nodded. "Yeah. Good idea, otherwise, we'll burn out before we get there."
Ren glanced into the hazy distance, narrowing his eyes. There, was that a figure standing on a small strip of land jutting out of the lake?
"Yoooo~!" A familiar voice rang out through the mist.
The three froze in surprise. Argo, wrapped in her oversized cloak and wearing her mischievous grin, was waving at them from a rocky spit not far ahead.
Ren couldn't help but chuckle. "No way…"
"It's her again." Asuna exhaled, caught somewhere between surprise and… relief.
Kirito immediately redirected the gondola toward the mouse-like informant who had appeared so suddenly.
"Congrats on beating that turtle." Argo's voice carried as they stepped ashore, arms folded and a sly smile on her lips as she leaned against a stone.
Ren blinked in surprise, then smiled back. "Thanks." He glanced around, then fixed his gaze on her as if trying to probe for something. "But… how did you even get here?"
Argo shrugged, her lips curving into that familiar, playful smirk, offering no immediate explanation. Instead, she flicked her eyes toward the towering cliffs behind her.
A chill ran down Kirito's spine. "Don't tell me you…"
"Exactly!" Argo replied lightly, as if it were nothing. "I climbed over all of that while you guys were busy shouting at the boss."
Kirito stared at her, twitching at the corner of his eye. Asuna tightened her grip on her rapier, disbelief written all over her face. "You… climbed over? But those cliffs are dozens of meters high, and dangerous!"
Argo grinned broadly, tossing her wind-tangled hair with a flick. "So what? I'm good at this stuff. Just a little thing for me. Besides…" She tilted her head, her eyes gleaming with mischief. "…I was waiting for you all. So, how about giving me a ride?"
Ren folded his arms, giving her a half-smile, half-serious look. "Waiting for us? And if we'd gone back after the boss fight… were you planning to stand here forever?"
"Well… maybe." Argo shrugged again, utterly unbothered. "I had it all figured out. And look, we still met up, didn't we?"
Ren sighed softly, while Kirito covered his forehead with one hand as if to say hopeless. Asuna, though clearly worried, let out a small laugh at Argo's stubborn, reckless spirit.
With Argo's addition, their journey grew far smoother. Thanks to her knack for "knowing every nook and cranny," they quickly established a clear route instead of fumbling blindly through the lake's twists.
Their next destination: Usco Village.
Usco Village lay to the southwest of Caldera Lake, tucked behind rugged mountain ridges and mist-draped forests. It was also the very first village players could reach after defeating the Area Boss.
As they traveled southwest, the atmosphere around the lake gradually changed. The once-flat surface now broke into scattered spits of land and patches of reeds growing along the edges.
It was in one of those narrow bends that they first encountered a new monster: «Scuttle Crab».
From beneath the muddy shallows, massive claws burst out, scraping across the ground with an eerie kek-kek sound.
The crabs stood nearly waist-high, their mottled green shells like natural armor gleaming faintly under the murky water. Though their movements seemed clumsy, they darted with startling speed, hurling their whole bodies forward like boulders crashing into prey.
"Careful, they've got a charging skill that's hard to dodge!" Kirito quickly warned, raising his sword to parry the first blow.
Asuna twirled her rapier, thrusting precisely into the gap between the plates of one crab, the glow of her sword skill flaring bright.
Ren, however, was different. The moment he laid eyes on those hulking crabs, an unusual spark of excitement lit up in his gaze. "Amazing…" he murmured, the corner of his lips curling into a grin he couldn't hide.
Unlike the familiar forest beasts or wolves, these giant crabs stirred something fresh inside him, something thrilling, as though he were being tested in a truly new land.
He leaned forward, unleashing Phantom Arc with a Windslash. His blade cut across the crab's claw, leaving a streak of light that sliced the water. Red pixel shards scattered, forcing the crab back with a screeching "kek-kek."
"Ren, don't let it catch you!" Asuna called, frowning at his reckless advance.
"Relax, I've been waiting for this grab all along." Ren replied, eyes locked on the crab, body swaying with the rhythm of the water's spray.
In just a few minutes of coordination, the group brought down the Scuttle Crabs. Their bodies burst into shards of pixels, leaving behind chunks of shell and claws that could be used for forging.
Ren picked up a shell fragment, his eyes gleaming. "These guys are way more fun than I thought."
Kirito sighed, pressing his sword into the wet ground. "You really are strange. Who else gets excited over monsters like this?"
Asuna glanced at Ren and let out a small laugh. In that moment, his childlike enthusiasm seemed to ease the heavy tension that had lingered since the turtle fight.
The group stopped to rest on a small spit of land jutting out into the lake. Everyone was worn out after several back-to-back skirmishes with the Scuttle Crabs.
Kirito sat sharpening his blade, Asuna busied herself checking their newly acquired loot, while Argo… her eyes darted about, clearly searching for someone to tease.
Ren, meanwhile, said nothing. Quietly, he tucked one of the giant crab claws he had looted under his arm and walked off toward a dead tree near the water's edge.
With a few strikes, he gathered branches and lit a small fire. The flames flickered in his eyes, and before long, the faint smell of crab meat drifted into the air.
"Hmm… not bad." Ren muttered, turning the huge claw slowly over the fire, as though he'd done this before. "Aisen said this stuff tastes amazing."
"Hey..hey hey!?" A voice came from right behind him.
Ren flinched, instinctively shielding the roasting claw as if afraid someone might steal it. He turned to see Argo, arms folded, eyes narrowed with a sly grin tugging at her lips.
"What… what do you think you're doing, Ren? This is SAO, not some backyard BBQ."
Ren froze for a second, still clutching the half-roasted claw. "…Just testing if it's edible. I heard… it's really good."
Asuna and Kirito, overhearing, looked up. Asuna covered her mouth to stifle a laugh, while Kirito stared, dumbfounded.
"You really are… something else." Asuna said between soft giggles.
Argo didn't waste her chance. She nudged Ren with her shoulder, voice full of mischief. "Careful, or you'll end up famous, not for your sword skills, but for being the first in Aincrad to roast crab. Make sure to cut me in on the royalties when I sell that story, okay?"
Ren sighed, his face tinged red, but he kept calmly rotating the claw. "Go ahead and sell it. But… anyone want a bite?"
Suddenly, a puff of black smoke rose. "Wait...no, no, it's burning!" Ren panicked, fumbling to pull the massive claw off the flames. Too late, half the meat was already charred black.
Argo doubled over, clutching her stomach with laughter. "Hahaha! So this is your specialty? Ren-style gourmet?"
Asuna quickly raised her hand to cover her mouth, shoulders trembling as she tried, and failed to hold back a giggle. Finally, it slipped out as soft laughter. Kirito sat frozen for a beat, then also broke into uncontrollable chuckles.
Ren, still holding the scorched claw, turned red as a ripe tomato. He muttered, "…I swear, it looked delicious at first."
"No thanks."
Laughter rang out across the lakeshore. In the dark dungeon floor, where tension and danger usually reigned, that moment tore through the gloom, leaving behind a rare warmth—a bond stronger than battle, stronger than victory.