"Y–you said your level was pretty high, right…?" Rowa finally spoke, his voice hoarse, eyes wide open as if he couldn't believe what he had just witnessed.
There were no words that could describe what the two of them felt in that moment.
At first, they thought Ren had been joking, just a harmless attempt to reassure them.
But the way he had just taken down that swarm of wasps…
No one could joke with that kind of speed.
Hina looked at Ren's calm face, then glanced down at his chest.
Her eyes blinked rapidly, hesitant.
"Are… are you Lightning Flash Asuna?" The question hit Ren like a bolt, he nearly stumbled, while Rowa choked, coughing hard in surprise.
For months now, there had been two names everyone knew: "The Black Swordsman, Kirito" and "Lightning Flash Asuna", the two most famous players on the front lines.
If there was anyone capable of moving so fast that they left only an afterimage behind, it had to be one of them.
Ren blinked. "...I'm not. My speed's nothing compared to hers. But… I've always wondered, do I really look that much like a girl to everyone?"
"Uhm…" Hina tilted her head, studying his face closely, pale as porcelain, with features so delicate it was hard not to second-guess herself. Then she glanced down again, as if double-checking.
"…Hmm, no… I guess not."
Ren stared at her in silence, the corner of his mouth twitching.
Rowa turned away, pretending to study the map just to hide his laughter.
The air grew lighter, though still tinged with embarrassment, especially from Hina, who had just mistaken him for one of Aincrad's most famous players.
Their journey continued. The path that should've taken only fifty minutes ended up stretching to nearly twice that.
Not because Ren was lost in fact, quite the opposite.
He did it on purpose.
He wanted to use the time to help Rowa and Hina train a bit more. That way, if they ever decided to go gathering materials on their own again, they wouldn't have to risk their lives for a handful of herbs or a few low-level mobs.
It sounded strange, considering both of them were older than Ren. Rowa was about twenty-five, Hina nineteen. Ren himself would turn seventeen next year.
And while the two of them struggled through each wave of monsters, Ren quietly collected materials nearby. The creatures here no longer gave him any experience, after all.
Things went exactly as he expected. After several battles, both Rowa and Hina leveled up, thanks to the solid foundation they'd built from completing lower-floor quests.
Luck was on their side too.
Rowa picked up a sturdy armor set dropped by a beetle, while Hina obtained a longsword from a wasp's nest.
Yes... a longsword.
She actually wielded it, slashing through the monsters with that newly acquired weapon, mercilessly and without hesitation.
…
"There it is…" Rowa whispered, his voice barely more than a breath, as the three crept through the tall, damp grass.
In truth, hiding like this wasn't necessary, Ren could've simply used [Steal] to blink behind the target in an instant.
Not far ahead, within a narrow rocky valley, a large, bear-like creature was grazing. Their eyes followed its every move, muscles rippling beneath its rough gray hide, warm vapor rising from its breath in the cold air.
It was a Wild Tuskar, a beast resembling a mix between a bull and a boar, though it had no horns. Instead, a pair of long, curved tusks jutted from its cheeks, gleaming sharp as freshly polished spears.
"Alright… I'll draw its attention. You two cover me," Ren said, his voice calm, but his eyes glimmered with a terrifying focus.
Truth be told, he could take down this miniboss alone...easily.
But after traveling with them, even for a short while, he knew: Hina would never accept loot unless she'd fought for it herself, and Rowa wasn't the type to just watch from the sidelines.
So instead of going solo as usual, Ren allowed them to join in, a rare act of concession.
He gave a signal, just a single nod. In that instant, his body seemed to melt into the wind. His legs pushed off the ground, grass scattering behind him, bending along a trajectory so fast it blurred.
In the distance, the Wild Tuskar, the boar-like monster with tusks like blades, raised its head abruptly. Instinct flared within it; it let out a deep, guttural roar, eyes burning crimson as it stomped the earth.
The sound of cracking soil echoed.
It bellowed and charged, its massive body rolling forward like a living boulder, each step leaving deep impressions in the grass.
But compared to Ren, it was still far too slow.
A flash of blue light, thin, sharp, and almost invisible, Windslash.
The whistle of air torn apart echoed through the valley, followed by the dull, metallic thud of steel slicing flesh.
A deep gash tore across the creature's flank; blood or rather, bright red pixel fragments, scattered into the air like shattered sparks.
–122.
The damage number hovered, cold and vivid crimson.
The Wild Tuskar roared, its eyes glowing like dying embers, and lunged with all its might, tusks stabbing straight into where Ren had stood a second earlier.
But Ren was already gone.
A soft whoosh cut the air. His body tilted to the side, sliding across the wet grass in a smooth motion, leaving a faint trail behind.
The tip of his sword shimmered with a pale moonlike light as he passed beneath the beast's belly, close enough to feel the searing wind of its missed strike brush against his shoulder.
In that fleeting instant, the wind howled, tossing Ren's black hair into a chaotic dance. And he smiled, just faintly.
A thin smile, sharp as a blade.
Rowa and Hina froze where they stood, unable to react.
"D-Did he just… give a signal?" Rowa stammered, his eyes still fixed on the empty space where Ren had vanished.
Just a short nod, a gesture that should've only marked the start of a plan yet, in the very next second, the Wild Tuskar was already howling in pain. Its HP bar dropped… by one-ninth.
No, not one-ninth anymore, a third, in just a few heartbeats.
Ren, darting like a flash of light among the jagged stones of the southern plains, had unleashed two perfectly precise slashes.
Each blow struck with three-digit damage, the crimson numbers bursting into the air, bright, violent, like lightning bolts tearing through the gray sky.
"...That speed…" Hina muttered, her voice hoarse with disbelief.
Ren wasn't just fast. He vanished into the wind itself, leaving behind only faint blue trails and the lingering metallic rhythm of clashing blades, like the heartbeat of the battle.
Both of them rushed in. The one-sided fight turned chaotic, filled with the roar of steel striking and the beast's guttural bellows echoing across the plains.
Ren remained at the center of that storm. He moved so lightly that his footsteps barely made a sound. Each time the Wild Tuskar lunged, his body tilted, sliding aside with nothing more than a whisper of wind.
A new skill [Dash], appeared on his system window as naturally as breathing, as if his body had simply awakened a latent instinct.
And it worked beautifully: each sidestep not only evaded the attack with perfect precision but also opened a clean path for a counter.
"Again!" Rowa shouted, his axe flaring through the dust.
"Hold it down a little longer!" Hina answered, lifting her longsword with both hands before swinging hard at the creature's flank.
Ren smiled, a fleeting, blade-thin smile.
He stepped back, giving them space. The Wild Tuskar roared one last time, its massive frame swaying before collapsing into the dirt, scattering into a burst of glowing red pixels that floated slowly into the air.
The battle was over.
Ren stood quietly in the fading light, his breathing steady, letting the system notifications flicker before his eyes.
He knew Rowa and Hina would gain most of the experience points, because he had deliberately let them land the finishing blow.
Not that it mattered. He wouldn't have earned any EXP from such a weak foe anyway.
"I didn't expect fighting to be this exhausting… but still… it was kind of fun," Hina said, planting her sword into the ground before sitting heavily onto the soft grass, her voice trembling from fatigue.
"But I still think… cooking suits me better." She sighed and gave a weak, sheepish laugh.
Both Rowa and Ren laughed softly with her. The sound drifted gently through the quiet plains. Ren sat down beside them, not because he was tired, but simply to rest with them. Meanwhile, Rowa and Hina were still catching their breath, sweat glistening across their foreheads.
While they recovered, Ren opened his inventory. The pale-blue glow of the interface reflected in his calm eyes. He quietly sorted through the loot, his fingers sliding over each icon.
The result exceeded expectations, five chunks of Wild Tuskar meat, far more than he anticipated. Without saying a word, Ren withdrew them all and placed them beside Rowa, who was still halfway through a recovery potion.
Rowa blinked, then accepted them, looking surprised. "That much? I only got three pieces…"
Ren merely shrugged, a faint, polite smile crossing his lips, courteous, but distant.
"That was your goal to begin with," he replied softly. "I think we can still hunt… maybe three more before taking a break."
As he spoke, his eyes flicked toward the system clock. The translucent light of the interface reflected off his composed face.
They had set out early, crossing half the plains to reach this hunting ground. Now, after their fight with the Wild Tuskar, the time had crept close to ten in the morning.
The air around them began to change. The rustle of grass was no longer the only sound, from afar came voices, the clatter of armor, and the rhythmic crunch of boots on damp earth.
Ren looked up. Through the thinning mist, figures began to emerge, groups of three or four players, all heading toward the same hunting zone.
He narrowed his eyes. The look wasn't one of suspicion… but habit. A reflex born from someone used to always staying one step ahead of the crowd.