CHAPTER 16.2 - Shipwright

They are now sitting on the sofa inside the house of the NPC quest man named Taro he is a shipwright living in the main settlement of the 4th floor of the aincrad.

Taro is an old man whose wispy, balding hair and scraggly beard were bone-white, but his skin was well burned by the sun and the muscles of his arms and chest were taut. Taro also has sinewy hands with scarred and tattered fingers. He looked like an old sailor who had once boasted of his strength but now retired and drowning in liquor.

"Umm, we are here because-" Kirito did not finish his words when Taro suddenly spoke

"I'm not a shipbuilder anymore; I can't make any boat for you" He drank the bottle of liquor in his hand. Kirito started to think, he did not encounter this quest in Beta so he doesn't have any idea what quest is this

"You're a former shipbuilder? That was nice" Asuna said "I love those gondolas" That gives a hint to Kirito

"The entire 4th floor was surrounded by the water and we can only rent a gondola inside the Rovia," Kirito said, they were looking at him "Oh! Now I understand the quest" His face lighten he looked at Taro who was still drinking his wine "Can you please make us a boat"

"Hey! Kirito didn't you hear what he said" Kibaou whispered at him so the NPC man would not be heard what they were talking about "He is not making a boat anymore"

"You can ask us anything in return before making the boat for us," Kirito said. The quest will be making your own boat in that way they can access the whole 4th floor of the aincrad knowing that it was surrounded by water

"I will not why?" He said in a serious way

"Why not?" Liten said and pouted

"If we bring the materials you need, will you build a boat for us?" Asuna got it, the cursor at the top of the head of the quest man change into this! Cursor

"Look at his head," Argo said, meaning the quest will be started

"Very well. They haven't outlawed shipbuilding itself yet" Taro said "Are you sure you're up to the task?"

"Of course!" They said with fighting spirits

"First, go to the forest south of Town and acquire some bear fat" Taro instructed them

"The bare forest huh?" Kirito started to think

"Are the bears in SAO tough?" Asuna said

"Nah, they're no big deal," Liten said and their gaze diverted to her

"Then it should be easy," Lind said, he looks so excited same as Kibaou

"If they're normal bears" Liten continues "Apparently, there's a king bear around. I heard it secondhand so I don't know if it's true, but they said it wiped out a party of six" Lind started to count them

"Kirito-San, Asuna-San, plus two tanks, plus hooded short kid.." Kibaou said while he was counting

"Don't call me short kid!" Argo said and she kick Kibaou's fit

"So we are seven, I think we can defeat it," Agil said "And we must defeat it to have a boat"

"If I had a King bear fat, I bet I'd be able to build the best ship around," The NPC quest man said. After hearing that Kibaou, Lind, Liten, and Asuna become more excited

"We're going to make the best gondola ever!!" They said and started chatting about the design of their gondola

"Hays, I miss those old NPC quests in Beta" Kirito sight. Having upgraded NPC was sometimes is not a good idea

***Bear Forest***

The Bear Forest is a large forest located to the southeast of Rovia, it's like the forest of the third floor, the branches and leaves practically obliterated the view of the sky, but unlike the equivalent on the third floor, the ground of the Bear Forest is covered with thick, wet moss and little springs.

Growl~~

"Bears skull was hard, so you aim to attack its body specifically the heart," Kirito told them

"Okay!" The Answer, they are now in the Bear Forest looking for the King bear fat, there is a kind of Magna Bear monster that they encounter while looking at it. Asuna started to dash towards the monster and attack it with the moon kick, she look at Liten "Switch!" Liten block its attack using her mace and Asuna grab the chance and attack it by the linear in its hard, after that the bear become fragments

"That's what you could girls power," Agil said at Kirito "I thought having a girl could be hard however while watching at that two my mind suddenly change" Agil pointed in the direction of Kibaou and Lind who was currently fighting one of the bears

"I told you to switch!" They are now shouting at each other. Kirito and Agil just sigh while looking at them

"Let's keep up the pace, beat that bear, and put together the materials for our ships," Asuna said. After defeating the Magna bear they started looking for the King Bear

It's already night but still, they didn't find the King Bear, so they decided to take a rest

"Hays" Asuna sigh

"Hey, Asuna! Can I ask you something?" Liten sit next to her while Kirito was on his side, the other was started eating. Asuna nods "Why are you so set on making the best possible boat? When in fact we can use other materials on making it" Lind and Kibaou stopped arguing and started listening to Asuna and Liten, same as Agil and Argo "Unlike weapon, we won't be using that Boat once we pass this floor"

"That's right. The NPC quest old man.." Asuna bowed her head and started thinking about the shipbuilder "He might be look like a just a normal drunk old man, but when we got him to give us the quest, he had this look like just loved ships more than anything in the world, I think that more than me, or anyone else who might come along he's the one who most wants to build the ship" They are just listening to her "And that's why I want to give him the chance to build the greatest ship ever" They started smiling after hearing that

"Uhm, guys" Their attention was turned to Argo, "I think I found it, the King's Bear's marks" Argo was looking at the tree in front of her

"Wow, I didn't know it was that high up! No wonder I never saw it during Beta Testing" Kirito said

"You know what I'm worried about? The fact that the King bear marks were that high" Kibaou said looking at the scratch marks on the tree "Meaning that the King Bear was.."

"Gigantic.." Lind continues Kibaou's words. Their face was started to pale

"Did you hear that?" Argo ask them, after hearing an unusual sound

"Is that a sound of--?" Agil didn't finish when they heard a growl behind them

GROWL~~~~~

They all turned behind and they saw a gigantic Bear behind them "Don't tell me that's the King Bear!" They started to run away from the Bear and hide on the tree "AHHHHHH!!!"

"What kind of Bear is that?!" Kibaou said "I was expecting that it would be like the size of a teddy bear!" Imagining a huggable floppy bear

"It's a Magnatherium" Argo said hiding under Asuna's cloak "A-chan~~ I shouldn't have come along, I should have sold information to the players"